Chapter 121

The morning experimental session quickly passed. The teacher praised everyone, with Mo Yin being the first to receive a commendation. He smiled faintly, not showing too much pride.

His palms were a bit sweaty, and he had sweated quite a bit, afraid of making mistakes, especially next to Li Xiu.

Initially, Mo Yin didn’t pay much attention to the name Li Xiu, but over repeated exams, Li Xiu consistently held the top position, which caught his attention.

This person had some ability and was qualified to be his opponent.

During the experiment, Li Xiu was much more proficient than him. Mo Yin didn’t boast; he indeed did well. Mo Yin closely watched Li Xiu’s hands, replaying all of Li Xiu’s actions in his mind. When it was his turn to operate, he did the same flawlessly.

After finishing, he sighed with relief and looked up to find Li Xiu leaning on the table, watching him.

Although Li Xiu didn’t smile with his mouth, there was amusement in his eyes, as if he found it amusing that Mo Yin had followed his actions during the experiment.

Mo Yin ignored it.

He knew Li Xiu harbored thoughts of amusement towards him, but it didn’t matter. He also wished Li Xiu ill.

“Alright, good work today. Let’s all go eat lunch.”

The physics teacher waved to everyone and left.

The lab instantly became lively. Mo Yin grabbed his bag from under the table and silently left alone.

Zhang Qiyuan came over, patting Li Xiu’s shoulder and pinching it hard, “What’s wrong with you, knowing how much pressure I have working with the beautiful girl?”

Li Xiu turned around and smiled, “You have distractions and blame me?”

“Damn you…”

Zhong Jiaming also grabbed his bag, glancing at Li Xiu and the classmates playing around, then at the lab door. His face showed a determined expression as he quickly walked out.

A figure brushed past like a gust of wind. Li Xiu turned to see Zhong Jiaming rushing out.

Zhang Qiyuan said, “Hey, why are you with the scholarship student? Do you two know each other?”

“We do,” Li Xiu picked up his bag, “but not well.”

Mo Yin was caught up by Zhong Jiaming when he reached the first floor.

He didn’t realize Zhong Jiaming was following him and quickly walked toward the cafeteria.

“Mo Yin.”

Zhong Jiaming called out to him, and he hesitated for a moment before stopping his steps because Zhong Jiaming was his backup choice for lab partners.

“You’re walking so fast.” Zhong Jiaming smiled when he saw Mo Yin stop and wait for him.

“I’m hungry,” Mo Yin said.

Zhong Jiaming smiled, “I’ll treat you to lunch.”

Mo Yin’s expression turned even colder. Zhong Jiaming momentarily doubted if he had said something wrong. Mo Yin replied, “Fine.” Then he turned and continued walking, still at a fast pace. Zhong Jiaming followed, wanting to talk about the test paper but decided it wasn’t the right moment.

The cafeteria was already crowded with students who hadn’t gone home for the weekend. Mo Yin found a window with fewer people, and Zhong Jiaming stood behind him in line.

After Mo Yin got his food, Zhong Jiaming extended his meal card and swiped it.

Mo Yin walked off with his food, and Zhong Jiaming, after getting his food, looked around but couldn’t find Mo Yin. He wandered around the cafeteria with his tray for a while before spotting Mo Yin sitting in a corner. Zhong Jiaming carried his tray over and sat opposite Mo Yin.

Mo Yin held a small vocabulary book in one hand, staring at it while eating.

“You shouldn’t read while eating,” Zhong Jiaming kindly suggested.

Mo Yin ignored him and continued reading while eating.

Getting no response, Zhong Jiaming felt awkward. Mo Yin acted as if Zhong Jiaming were transparent as if he wasn’t sitting right in front of him. This meal didn’t feel like Zhong Jiaming was treating Mo Yin at all.

Zhong Jiaming poked at his rice with chopsticks, took a few bites, and then looked up at Mo Yin. He lowered his head and picked up some greens with his chopsticks. The vegetables were overcooked today, tasting bitter in his mouth. Gathering courage, he said, “I saw the test paper we took in the meeting room. You were right about the last big question.”

Mo Yin still didn’t respond.

Zhong Jiaming continued, “Actually, if you didn’t want to tell me, you could have just said so. There’s no need to lie to me. I wanted to be friends with you, but I can also accept rejection.”

Finally, Mo Yin looked directly at him. His eyes, because of his large pupils, appeared innocent and studious, not like someone with a dark psyche. Mo Yin pursed his lips and said, “I don’t want to be friends with you.”

Zhong Jiaming’s expression froze instantly.

Mo Yin stared at him, unsure if it was because of anger or shame that his cheeks flushed red. Feeling indifferent, Mo Yin lowered his head and continued eating.

Zhong Jiaming left with his tray.

Mo Yin didn’t lift his head; he finally felt some peace.

Zhang Qiyuan lowered his voice and said to Li Xiu, “He’s gone, he’s gone.”

Li Xiu ate with his head down, “You’re like a frontline reporter, always reporting in real-time.”

Zhang Qiyuan chuckled, “You really don’t have good people skills as a special-needs student. Even your classmates don’t want to talk to you.”

Li Xiu smirked but didn’t respond.

“Hey, I think he’s itching to cut you down in front of everyone, top scorer. What do you think?” Zhang Qiyuan said.

“It’s fine.”

“Wow,” Zhang Qiyuan saluted mockingly, “Impressive, no pressure at all.”

Li Xiu smiled and shook his head, “Let’s eat.”

There was still an hour before afternoon classes. Zhang Qiyuan invited Li Xiu to his dorm room for air conditioning, but Li Xiu declined, saying, “I’ll take a walk first, digest my food.”

“As you wish. I get sleepy after eating,” Zhang Qiyuan waved goodbye and went back to his dorm to nap.

The sun was scorching outside. Li Xiu walked out of the shadow of the building and returned to the laboratory.

The lab door was slightly ajar. Leaning against the back door, Li Xiu looked through the square glass pane and saw someone conducting experiments inside.

During the morning’s experiment, Mo Yin had copied much of what Li Xiu did, but now he felt uncomfortable, thinking Li Xiu might have been mocking him. Mo Yin focused on his own work, trying to block out distractions from Li Xiu’s actions.

After successfully completing the experiment again, Mo Yin sighed in relief and smiled. However, he suddenly felt someone’s presence and turned to see a face leaning against the glass at the back door.

They locked eyes. Li Xiu’s expression remained calm, showing no sign of guilt as if he hadn’t been caught peeking.

Mo Yin left the lab.

They stood at the front and back doors of the lab, staring at each other across the entire length of the room.

If looks could kill, Li Xiu would have been dead a thousand times over.

Li Xiu realized Mo Yin was angry, or perhaps just disliked him.

Their experimental classes were next to each other. Li Xiu sometimes felt someone outside the classroom looking at him with unfriendly eyes. He wasn’t particularly popular at school, so he was curious who could dislike him enough to glare at him whenever they passed by their classroom.

Later, he found out it was the second-ranking student from the next class over.

“You did well in the experiment,” Li Xiu leaned against the door with his hands folded.

Mo Yin gave him a cold glance.

Li Xiu continued, “You’re improving fast.”

It was meant as a compliment, but it made Mo Yin unusually angry, much like how Li Xiu’s constant smiles irritated him.

Mo Yin asked, “Are you pleased with yourself?”

His tone was calm but chilling.

A studious personality combined with a gloomy temperament could be quite unsettling. However, Li Xiu seemed unfazed by Mo Yin’s attitude and still smiled, “Do you think I’m pleased with myself?”

Mo Yin turned and walked away.

During the afternoon theoretical class, Mo Yin sat far away from Li Xiu and Zhong Jiaming. He struggled to find a suitable spot and finally sat down when almost everyone else had settled.

At a quarter past three, the teacher announced the end of class. Mo Yin stayed behind to ask two more questions. The physics teacher patiently answered, and Mo Yin listened attentively, concluding with a “Thank you, teacher.”

Walking out of the school gate, Mo Yin replayed the two questions he hadn’t fully grasped. Lost in his thoughts, he almost bumped into a bus stop sign but stopped just in time.

Mo Yin touched his chest, exhaled deeply, and then heard a mocking laugh. He turned around, and Li Xiu stood behind him with a shoulder bag.

Without looking at him, Li Xiu stood behind the bus stop sign, hands in his pockets, earphones in, looking up at the sign as if he didn’t know Mo Yin and hadn’t been laughing at him earlier.

“Strange,” Mo Yin thought to himself. He lowered his head to review his notes, pretending Li Xiu didn’t exist.

In the heat, the buses were slow and languid, emanating hot air as they stopped.

Li Xiu glanced back at Mo Yin before stepping onto the bus. With his long legs, he easily climbed two steps at once and looked back at Mo Yin once more.

Mo Yin gathered his notes, head down, with dark hair falling over his forehead.

The driver was sipping from a water cup. After the bus card “beeped,” Li Xiu leaned against the glass next to the driver’s seat. Few people boarded at this time. When Mo Yin got on the bus, he already had two coins clenched in his pocket. Seeing Li Xiu’s tall figure blocking his way, and his eyes fixed on him, Mo Yin’s hand froze, hesitating to take the coins out of his pocket.

Two passengers who boarded later had already swiped their cards and gone inside.

The bus was quite empty, with seats still available at the back. Passengers were dozing with their eyes closed.

Mo Yin looked sideways at Li Xiu.

Li Xiu was smiling again.

The driver finished his drink, closed the door, and started the bus.

Suddenly, Li Xiu reached out, grabbing Mo Yin’s arm. Mo Yin’s hand was still in his pocket, clutching the two coins.

What was he going to do? Expose him for fare evasion?

Mo Yin’s lips moved slightly, about to say something forceful, when Li Xiu pushed him forward gently. “There are seats at the back.”

The coins slipped from Mo Yin’s sweaty fingers back into his pocket. He was taken aback, not reacting quickly enough, as Li Xiu pushed him to a seat at the very back, and then sat down beside him.

The air conditioning above them blew cool air, rustling Mo Yin’s hair. He turned to look at Li Xiu.

Li Xiu took off his backpack and placed it on his lap, still composed with folded hands.

Mo Yin stared silently at Li Xiu. There was no one in front of them. He whispered, “Don’t think you’ve caught me.”

Even if caught fare dodging on the bus, he would calmly apologize, claiming forgetfulness. If Li Xiu wanted to talk about it at school, where rumors about him were already circulating, his reputation mattered little to him. Besides Li Xiu’s current decent academic performance, there was little else that impressed or could affect him.

After Mo Yin’s somewhat warning-like words, Li Xiu smiled. His mouth curled high, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His shoulders shook slightly for a moment. He relaxed his neck against the bus seat, turned to Mo Yin and said, “Do you listen to music?”

Mo Yin remained silent.

Li Xiu removed the earphone from his right ear and gestured towards Mo Yin.

Mo Yin turned his face towards the window, leaning against the right side of the car window.

After a while, Mo Yin’s left arm was nudged. He turned his head, his gaze cold and sharp, as if to shoot Li Xiu a deadly look, but instead, he found Li Xiu looking at his phone screen, typing a line in the memo.

“[Next time, cover for me.]”

Mo Yin’s gaze passed over the phone. Li Xiu looked earnestly ahead.

“Do you have a problem?” Mo Yin asked.

Li Xiu retrieved his phone, “Just a little.”