When Xu Xing and Lu Che returned to the classroom one after the other, the bell signaling the start of evening self-study had already rung.

Xiong Huan’s desk mate had taken a leave of absence and didn’t come for evening study, so Tang Mian grabbed her books and worksheets and quickly sat down in the empty seat. When Fu Dai noticed this, he regretted it immediately and urged her, “Hey—Tang Mian, go back to your own seat! Or how about we switch seats?”

Tang Mian wanted to sit next to Fu Dai and Lu Che, but she didn’t have the courage. Relying on Xiong Huan to back her up, she wrapped her arm around Xiong Huan’s and ignored Fu Dai’s attempts to threaten or bribe her, saying, “What are you huffing for? You think you’re walking a horse or something?”

Xiong Huan turned around and said to Fu Dai, “Stop it.”

Fu Dai immediately quieted down and behaved.

After school that afternoon, Wang Zicong didn’t join Xu Xing and the others for dinner. Instead, he went off-campus to pick up a package.

After collecting the package, he went straight back to the dorm, happily unwrapped a big snack gift pack, and stuffed his backpack full of snacks to bring to the classroom to share with others.

Wang Zicong took out two packs of dried jackfruit, handing them to Tang Mian, and then offered a whole box of milk-flavored white chocolate to Xu Xing, smiling as he said, “Xing Xing, here’s your favorite milk-flavored white chocolate candy!”

Wang Zicong’s fair, rosy face was beaming, his smile was as thick as the flesh on his cheeks, revealing two small tiger teeth, and the dimples on the corners of his lips looked especially sweet.

Xu Xing accepted the entire box of chocolate from Wang Zicong’s hands and teased him, “You’re giving me the whole box? Are you sure you can part with it?”

Wang Zicong nodded earnestly.

Tang Mian, however, unceremoniously exposed him, “Zong Zong is just temporarily entrusting that box to you. It’ll end up in his stomach in the end.”

Hearing this, Wang Zicong blushed shyly and solemnly raised his chubby hand, promising, “No, no, I swear I’ll eat less this time…”

Xu Xing was about to respond with “Eat as much as you like,” when someone behind him interrupted—

Lu Che asked, “Isn’t this the class rep’s favorite candy? Class rep, do you like it too?”

Xu Xing found Lu Che’s question a bit odd. He didn’t particularly like sweets, and milk-flavored white chocolate wasn’t really his favorite. But he didn’t want to hurt Wang Zicong’s feelings, so he vaguely replied, “This candy is pretty sweet. My family buys it often.”

Lu Che laughed and said, “I think the class rep is more like milk-flavored dark chocolate—bitter on the outside, sweet on the inside.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Tang Mian jumped in, “The convenience store used to sell this kind of chocolate, but I haven’t seen it in a while. Oh, I remember Xu Yin also loved this candy!”

Xu Xing scoffed, “Yeah, my sister got addicted to it.”

When Tang Mian was younger, she often followed Xu Yin around. As soon as Xu Yin was mentioned, she opened up and started asking if Xu Yin would be coming home for National Day, whether she was adjusting to college life, if military training had ended, and if she’d gotten tanned—

It wasn’t until the chemistry teacher, who was supervising evening study, walked into the classroom that Tang Mian stuck out her tongue and quietly turned back to her workbook.

That night.

After the dorm lights went out, Xu Xing set up a foldable table on his bed to do his homework. He had brought several workbooks back with him, and when he opened one, a piece of scrap paper suddenly fell out—

It was the draft of the Five-in-a-Row game that Lu Che had slipped him during class.

The paper was folded in half. Xu Xing, feeling conflicted, unfolded it. The page was filled with black and red circles and crosses, seemingly random, but the red heart-shaped pattern in the center stood out. The hearts connected together made the page look more organized.

The small desk lamp cast a soft, warm light on the yellowing draft paper, adding a touch of ambiguity.

The more Xu Xing looked at it, the more uneasy he felt. He began to think that every red circle on the game board looked like a heart.

Had Lu Che lost his mind?

It couldn’t be, right?

Xu Xing frowned slightly and was about to throw away the paper, but just then, his roommate on the top bunk leaned over and asked, “Class rep, did you bring back today’s English Weekly? I need it to check the answers.”

Startled, Xu Xing hurriedly shoved the Five-in-a-Row draft under his pillow. He looked up and replied, “I did, wait a sec.”

Another roommate mumbled, “Class rep, you guys should go to sleep. I’m not trying to hint that your light is bothering me, but seeing you both working hard under that little lamp makes me feel guilty about falling asleep. Sigh…”

That roommate turned over and glanced at the bottom bunk, where he saw Wang Zicong soundly sleeping with a smile on his face, his lips moving slightly, probably dreaming of eating a feast.

Xu Xing chuckled, “Alright, I’m about to turn off the light and go to sleep.”

He then turned off the light, lying down with the Five-in-a-Row paper tucked under his pillow, thinking he’d throw it away in the morning.

The next morning.

The early class was making everyone sleepy. The English teacher, noticing the students yawning, said, “Let’s pick a student to come up and answer a question.”

As soon as those words were spoken, it was like a magical cure. The entire class instantly perked up, each student pretending to calmly read their books, trying their best to avoid the teacher’s gaze.

Ke Di, who had been dozing off, was startled awake and hurriedly wiped away his drool, sitting up straight.

The English teacher’s gaze lingered on Ke Di, making him uncomfortable. In a panic, Ke Di grabbed a tissue from under his desk and loudly blew his nose.

Typically, teachers wouldn’t call on a student who’s in the middle of blowing their nose, figuring that both parties were busy. After all, it would be awkward to ask someone to stop and blow their nose in front of the whole class, right?

Ke Di had dodged many times using this clever trick.

English teacher: “Fu Dai, come up and write the answers for the cloze test.”

“Ugh…”

Fu Dai cursed under his breath, dragging his feet as he waited for Zhou Mang to toss him the English Weekly from under the desk. Just then, the teacher called another name: “Xiong Huan, come up and write the answers for the reading comprehension.”

The class burst into laughter.

One of the most amusing moments in school life is when the teacher calls up two students with some romantic tension to solve problems together at the board. The girls blushed inexplicably, and the boys were so excited that they wanted to play a wedding march.

Fu Dai’s mood brightened instantly. He excitedly walked to the front, making the aisle feel like a red carpet procession.

Ke Di, sitting with his legs crossed, mercilessly mocked him, “It’s over, it’s over. Our Er Dai is really smitten, grinning like an idiot. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he’d hit the jackpot, when really, he’s just going up to solve a problem.”

Fu Dai reached the board before Xiong Huan and busily cleared a space for her to write, even handing her the chalk.

Lu Che, stretching out his long legs and twirling a pen, casually remarked, “Taking care of your girl is normal, right?”

Ke Di chuckled, “Looks like Brother Che has his own stories too, huh?”

Lu Che just smiled without responding, his gaze falling on the figure ahead—

He was inviting Xu Xing to be a part of his story.

At noon.

Xu Xing and Tang Mian went to the cafeteria together. After getting their food, they had only walked a couple of steps when they saw Lu Che standing in a prominent spot by the counter, waving to them.

Lu Che: “Class rep~ I saved a spot for you here.”

It was the peak time in the cafeteria, and all the seats were full. Xu Xing had no reason to refuse Lu Che’s offer.

He and Tang Mian walked over with their trays. Lu Che was sitting at a table with Ke Di, Fu Dai, and Zhou Mang, with two empty seats next to them.

Ke Di, holding a spoon in his mouth, turned around and greeted enthusiastically, “Class rep and Tang Mian! Come sit here.”

Tang Mian smiled and sat down next to Ke Di, leaving Xu Xing to sit across from her, right next to Lu Che.

It was just a meal together at the same table, nothing for Xu Xing to get upset about. He forced himself to act composed and ate with them.

Xu Xing usually spoke little at the table, and he noticed that Lu Che wasn’t eating like he did last time, alternating between a bite of rice, a bite of vegetables, and a bite of meat. In just a few days, Lu Che seemed to have overcome his compulsive behavior, which was quite surprising.

Ke Di ate more casually. Halfway through his meal, he stretched his chopsticks over to Lu Che’s plate and picked out a piece of chicken from the spicy dish.

This was usually no big deal, but Lu Che instantly frowned and snapped, “How many times have I told you not to pick from my plate with your chopsticks? There’s a clean spoon right there for you!”

Lu Che’s side profile looked sharp, and his brows furrowed tightly.

Xu Xing thought, Is this guy for real? It was such a minor thing—why get so angry? But lately, Lu Che had been either acting all cute or playing around in front of him, so Xu Xing had almost forgotten that Lu Che had a bad temper.

Ke Di, still biting his spoon, blinked innocently and apologized, “Oops, sorry, brother Che. I’m just used to picking from Zhou Mang’s plate.”

Then he quickly grabbed the clean spoon that Lu Che had resting on his tray and scooped up all the pieces of red and green peppers he had touched with his chopsticks, explaining to Xu Xing and Tang Mian, “Don’t be scared by Brother Che, you two. He’s just a bit of a germaphobe and thinks that if someone uses their chopsticks on his food, it’ll get saliva on it. Haha, I’m actually a little worried for Brother Che—what’s he gonna do when it comes to kissing?”

After laughing, Ke Di raised his hand to cover his mouth and leaned over to Tang Mian, whispering a “secret” that everyone else could hear, “Tang Mianmian, did you catch the key point? It’s Brother Che’s germaphobia that’s keeping him from his first kiss, hahaha.”

Tang Mian couldn’t help but giggle but tried not to laugh too loudly in front of Lu Che.

Lu Che, still wearing a cold expression, said, “Is that the same? I’d rather die than kiss you indirectly.”

Ke Di pouted, feeling wronged, and turned to Zhou Mang, pursing his oily lips and muttering, “Brother Che is so mean. I need some comfort from wuli Mangmang~”

Zhou Mang, used to this, calmly turned Ke Di’s face back and asked, “How do you say ‘eat quietly’ in English?”

Ke Di thought for a moment and said, “Eat quietly?”

Zhou Mang nodded succinctly, “Yes.”