—— Last semester at the school gate, you cried.

Lu Che said this sentence very softly and gently.

Seeing Xu Xing still frowning, Lu Che explained, “I saw you at the school gate the day your sister fainted on the playground.”

“…”

Upon hearing this, Xu Xing’s brow furrowed even deeper, and he felt a mix of emotions that left him momentarily speechless.

Of course, Xu Xing remembered that day. He had been shocked to learn that Xu Yin had fainted during the flag-raising ceremony. But he didn’t remember encountering Lu Che at the school gate—after all, at that moment, Xu Xing’s mind was completely focused on Xu Yin, leaving no room to pay attention to anyone else.

Xu Xing stopped in place.

Lu Che followed suit.

The crowd at the school had all squeezed into the cafeteria, leaving only the gentle breeze and the rustling of trees beside them.

Lu Che’s lips curled slightly, and there was a smile in his eyes when he heard Xu Xing suddenly ask, “What happened next?”

Lu Che tilted his head slightly, puzzled, and replied, “Huh?”

Xu Xing looked at Lu Che with a complicated mood and asked again, “You saw me at the school gate, then what happened?”

Lu Che chuckled softly, saying, “Then, at that moment, I really wanted to get to know you.”

“…”

Xu Xing hesitated, pursed his lips, and asked, “What if… you had known me since the second year of high school?”

“Hmm?”

“… What would you have done?”

Xu Xing’s gaze wandered, and his voice trailed off hesitantly.

Lu Che burst into laughter at his question, saying, “Nothing, really. At that time, I just had a strong desire to know you, nothing else. My intentions were very simple.”

Lu Che’s eyes were deep and dark as he looked at Xu Xing in front of him. He had indeed not had any thoughts before, but if you asked him what he wanted now, he would say: I want to kiss you, I want to hug you, I want to sleep with you. He really wanted to.

“…”

Xu Xing muttered, “I see.”

Upon receiving Lu Che’s answer, Xu Xing felt a wave of indescribable disappointment. The cause of this negative emotion was simply the significant gap between the actual answer and the one he had hoped for inside.

Xu Xing thought to himself: If Lu Che had liked him since the second year of high school, that would be great…

If Lu Che had liked him since then, it would mean that Lu Che was not influenced by the red string.

Otherwise, the opposite would be true.

Seeing Xu Xing walk away without a word, Lu Che hurried after him, holding the bag of chicken stew, and couldn’t help but complain in a pitiful tone, “Class Leader, you were really too much back then.”

Xu Xing looked at him, “Huh?”

Lu Che continued, “I never had the chance to know you. And the day before my birthday, I asked Ke Di to invite you to my birthday party, and you said you couldn’t come because you had plans. At least you could have said happy birthday to me. I waited all day for you to say that, but you completely ignored me.”

Lu Che was indignantly accusing Xu Xing of his past coldness.

Xu Xing heard this and rolled his eyes at him, walking a few steps ahead while muttering, “You didn’t give me a chance to say it.”

That day after school—

Xu Xing chased after the class teacher and handed in the registration form, and when he returned to the classroom, he just happened to run into Lu Che walking out.

The two brushed past each other.

Lu Che kept a stern face as he walked away, just like the rumors described—cold and hard to approach. He walked quickly and didn’t notice that the person he brushed past turned around.

Xu Xing looked at Lu Che’s decisive back as he left, his lips slightly parted. He wanted to call out Lu Che’s name, but in that moment, he hesitated. Xu Xing remembered Ke Di saying that Lu Che’s birthday was the next day, and he wanted to say, “Happy early birthday,” but was deterred by Lu Che’s cold demeanor.

Xu Xing didn’t say anything because he felt that Lu Che wouldn’t care for an extra greeting.

·

Lu Che didn’t hear what Xu Xing had said. He caught up with Xu Xing and walked alongside him, asking, “What?”

But Xu Xing didn’t want to bring it up again, “Nothing.”

As they passed by the teaching building, Wang Zicong had been waiting there for a while. The three of them went to the cafeteria, where they each got a serving of white rice. With disposable gloves on, they shared two chicken stews, unwrapping the foil to reveal tender, juicy chicken, causing the nearby classmates to swallow enviously.

After dinner.

Xu Xing and the others returned directly to the classroom, where only a few people were sitting around quietly working on their homework. Some were dedicated to studying, while others were multitasking, staring at their pens while eavesdropping on gossip.

Fu Dai was also in the classroom. He sat at Xiong Huan’s desk, looking troubled as he apologized in a low voice, “I’m sorry, don’t ignore me.”

Xiong Huan sat upright, copying sentences from an English sample essay, ignoring Fu Dai completely.

Xu Xing and Wang Zicong returned to their seats, sitting awkwardly behind Fu Dai and Xiong Huan.

Fu Dai had been called into the school leaders’ office earlier that afternoon for a serious reprimand due to posting a humiliating photo on the school forum. His obstinate attitude and bad temper had made the teacher very angry.

But in front of Xiong Huan, Fu Dai was no longer the tyrant he usually was; he bowed his head and repeatedly apologized, fearing that Xiong Huan would really stop talking to him.

Wang Zicong cleverly turned around to sit behind them.

Seeing this, Xu Xing took out a physics notebook and leaned over to Lu Che’s desk to copy the exercises from the backboard.

Lu Che rested his chin on his hand, gleefully watching Fu Dai’s pitiful appearance as he sought forgiveness, and said to Xu Xing with a smirk, “If it were me apologizing, I’d just repeat ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I love you’~”

At least it wouldn’t be like Fu Dai being ignored the whole time; he could at least get a response like, “Shut up.”

Xu Xing shot him a glance.

More people gradually entered the classroom, including Ke Di and Zhou Mang, who arrived early. When they came in, Fu Dai was still busy apologizing. Ke Di sat down behind them, and when he saw that Xiong Huan finally softened, Fu Dai guaranteed, “Don’t be mad at me. I’ll write a thousand-word reflection tonight, and I’ll study hard from now on, aiming to score 50 more points in the midterms, okay?”

Xiong Huan sighed.

Ke Di joked, “Fu Dai is fighting for love! I have a lot of confidence in him!”

After all, Fu Dai had only scored 13 points in Chinese; getting an extra 50 points next time wouldn’t be an easy task, right?

Xu Xing, however, had confidence in Fu Dai’s feelings. After all, the red string connecting him and Xiong Huan was still vibrant and strong; it wouldn’t snap just because Fu Dai had done something foolish.

Xu Xing was curious about the reason for the red string appearing this time—was it to let him see Fu Dai and Xiong Huan showing affection?

“…”

After evening study.

Xu Xing returned to the dormitory to wash up, sitting on his bed with a small table, looking at example problems. During a break, he glanced at his phone and saw a message from a female classmate from middle school—

Middle School Classmate: Long time no see!!

Middle School Classmate: Good luck in your third year of high school! After the college entrance exam, we should all get together~

Middle School Classmate: By the way, is the boy in your profile picture the school hunk at your school? You must be close to him, right?

Middle School Classmate: He came to our school for a basketball game last semester, and all the girls from our school rushed to the gym; it was really over the top!!!

…

Xu Xing felt speechless as he scrolled through the unread messages with his thumb.

This girl was quite active in their middle school class, and she had organized small gatherings after graduation. Xu Xing occasionally kept in touch with her, unlike others who were only acquaintances.

The girl’s intentions were clear; she merely wanted to use the opportunity to inquire about Lu Che because she saw Xu Xing’s profile picture.

Xu Xing initially thought about replying that they weren’t familiar, but upon opening the chat window, he saw the girl had just sent: “Does your school prince have a girlfriend now?”

Xu Xing read the message, contemplated for a second, and replied in the input box, “He seems to like someone, but I’m not sure if they’re dating.”

Xu Xing’s response was vague, filled with words like “seems” and “not sure.” However, to the girl, the implication that Lu Che liked someone was equivalent to him being in a relationship; nobody considered the possibility that Lu Che might not be able to pursue anyone.

With that single reply, Xu Xing extinguished the girl’s curiosity, and their conversation quickly ended after a few pleasantries.

Xu Xing didn’t feel there was anything wrong with his reply. After all, he didn’t have the extra time to discuss Lu Che with a girl. It was best to end the chat quickly so he could focus on reading.

The next day was Saturday.

Xu Xing remembered that Xu Yin’s bus back to school was around one in the afternoon. After lunch, as he returned to the classroom close to one, he sent Xu Yin a message: “Have you left?”

Xu Yin’s phone must have been in her hand, as she replied immediately—

Xu Kunkun: “I left.”

Xu Xing was about to type, “Let me know when you get to school,” but before he could send it, another message popped up at the bottom—

Xu Kunkun: “Are you planning to bring Lu Che home and want to confirm I’m not around?”

Xu Xing: “…”

Xu Kunkun: “Can you guys keep it low-key?”

Xu Kunkun: “I can’t stop you from dating, but you need to prioritize. The college entrance exam is more important, and—”

The conjunction at the end of Xu Yin’s statement formed a separate sentence, broken up in a way that made it very frustrating to wait for. After quite some time, when Xu Xing saw another message pop up in the chat box, he got irritated.

Xu Kunkun: “The soundproofing at home isn’t great; you guys need to keep it in check.”

Xu Kunkun: “I hope you haven’t crossed any lines, but if you have… make sure to use protection.”

“…”

Xu Xing was bewildered. He didn’t realize that Xu Yin had jumped from “my little brother is secretly dating” to imagining “bringing someone home for a night of passion” like it was an 18+ movie.

Even if they hadn’t gone all the way, sharing a bed certainly wouldn’t lack for kisses, touches, or hugs…

Xu Xing was about to retort that Xu Yin was crazy when he suddenly remembered that he had indeed kissed Lu Che a few times, which made him feel a little guilty, softening his tone considerably.

Xu Xing: “Stop talking nonsense… it’s really not what you think, okay? We haven’t done that! What do you mean, use protection? I don’t need that at all.”

Xu Kunkun: “…”

Xu Kunkun: “Then make sure Lu Che uses it.”

“…”

Even Xu Xing, no matter how dense, understood what Xu Yin meant with that comment. He immediately yelled, “Get lost, get lost, get lost!”

Xu Xing was furious.

Lu Che said he fell for Xu Xing because of Xu Yin, but to Xu Xing, Xu Yin’s existence was like a black hole—no matter how he explained, she wouldn’t listen, and her misunderstandings about him and Lu Che just kept snowballing.