Six eyes met.

Xin An’an was the first to look away and explained, “…It’s not that I don’t like you, I just don’t dare to like you, Brother Yan, don’t overthink it.”

Shen Siyan: “…”

Xu Zhilu found her too cowardly.

She glanced at the person who had suddenly appeared, then looked away.

Shen Siyan, seeing her ignoring him, pulled out a chair and sat down.

The classroom was quiet; no one was surprised by Shen Siyan’s presence.

Gao Chi, who had just returned from playing basketball, called out upon seeing Shen Siyan, “Brother Yan! Why are you back?”

He tossed the ball to Shen Siyan, shouting, “Are you back to attend class?”

“No.”

Gao Chi raised his eyebrows. “Then to play basketball?” He looked at the time and said, “There’s still half an hour before class, how about another game?”

Shen Siyan threw the ball into the corner of the classroom, glancing at him and saying, “No.”

Gao Chi: “…”

He looked at Shen Siyan, instinctively asking, “Then what are you back for?”

Shen Siyan gave him a cold glance and didn’t answer.

The warning in his eyes was too obvious. Gao Chi fell silent and turned his attention to Xu Zhilu, who was lying on her desk.

He vaguely seemed to understand something.

Shen Siyan quickly withdrew his gaze, leaned lazily against the window, and pulled out his phone to play games.

He looked indifferent, seemingly not serious.

There was no more noise behind her, but Xu Zhilu knew he hadn’t left.

Shen Siyan had a fresh mint scent—not overpowering, just a faint, pleasant smell.

The wind blew in through the window, bringing the scent to her nose.

With half an hour left before class, Xu Zhilu, feeling a bit sleepy, planned to take a nap.

But once she lay down, she couldn’t fall asleep.

She tossed and turned, finding no comfortable position.

Xu Zhilu felt a vague irritation.

Taking deep breaths, she suddenly heard an annoying voice from behind.

“Brother Siyan.” Xu Zhijia had somehow gotten the news and came running over.

She looked delighted. “Why are you back at school?”

As she spoke, she walked towards Shen Siyan, not noticing Xu Zhilu sleeping with her head on her arms.

Shen Siyan frowned, looked at the person lying in front of him, and gave Xu Zhijia a cold stare.

Xu Zhijia was never intimidated by his looks. She moved closer and said sweetly, “Brother Siyan, what game are you playing? I want to play too.”

Shen Siyan frowned deeper, anger appearing in his eyes.

Just as he was about to reprimand her, the person in front of him moved loudly, making it impossible to ignore.

Xu Zhilu didn’t even glance at them. She grabbed her water cup and walked out.

Xin An’an was just coming back from the bathroom and, seeing Xu Zhilu’s expression, curiously asked, “Zhilu, where are you going?”

Xu Zhilu’s two-word response was emotionless, “Getting water.”

Xin An’an said, “Ah,” just about to remind her that they had already filled their water bottles after lunch, when she saw the people in the classroom.

“I’ll go with you.”

Xu Zhilu said nothing and walked off in another direction.

Watching her walk away, Shen Siyan’s frown deepened, and his face looked even worse than before.

Xu Zhijia continued to coquettish with him as if he hadn’t noticed anything: “Brother Siyan, I ……”

She reached out to tug on Shen Siyan’s clothes, but he deftly avoided it.

Shen Siyan radiated anger, but since she was a girl, he restrained himself.

He gave her a cold look and walked out with his phone.

As soon as Shen Siyan left, Xu Zhijia’s face turned much uglier.

Unable to hold back, she kicked the table next to her.

That table belonged to Gao Chi, who was also back in the classroom.

The table shook, and Gao Chi looked up at Xu Zhijia.

Meeting his gaze, Xu Zhijia showed no remorse.

Gao Chi couldn’t help but mock, “Little princess, come to our class to act cute?”

Xu Zhijia glared at him and said, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Gao Chi chuckled lightly. “Brother Yan considers a girl’s feelings and won’t get angry, but we’re different.”

He raised his chin and asked, “Don’t you think you owe my table an apology?”

“You…” Xu Zhijia was stunned by his audacity. “What are you saying?”

Gao Chi sneered, “It seems like you’re not just blind but deaf too.”

Immediately, Xu Zhijia was infuriated by his words, “Gao Chi, are you crazy?”

Gao Chi snorted, stood up, and looked down at her. “Who’s crazy?”

His fierce appearance, with dark and intimidating eyes, looked somewhat frightening.

He didn’t even bother to give Xu Zhijia a glance, “I advise you, don’t come to our class without a reason. Our classmates don’t really welcome you.”

He paused, then added deliberately, “Especially your brother Siyan.”

–

When Xu Zhilu and Xin An’an returned to the classroom, the news of Gao Chi scolding Xu Zhijia had already spread.

She overheard a bit but didn’t feel much about it.

Chen Jinghan was excitedly gossiping with Xu Zhilu, “You should have seen her face, it was so ugly.”

She glanced at Xu Zhilu and said, “You tolerate too much.”

Xu Zhilu smiled and shook her head. “Not really.”

She just didn’t want to argue with Xu Zhijia since Xu Zhijia wasn’t talking to her at that time.

Xin An’an listened to Chen Jinghan’s animated description and clenched her fist, “I regret it! Why wasn’t I in the classroom then? I could have enjoyed the show.”

Chen Jinghan laughed, “I guess she won’t be coming to our class for a while.”

She looked at Xu Zhilu and asked with a smile, “Feeling better?”

Xu Zhilu nodded, looking puzzled. “Huh?”

Chen Jinghan gave her a look. “Are you pretending to be dumb, or are you really dumb?”

She said, “Actually, Shen Siyan didn’t pay attention to her either, but you know, Shen Siyan never likes to argue with girls.”

This was true.

Shen Siyan had a bad temper and would fight, but he rarely argued with girls. Even if a girl bumped into him or broke his things, he wouldn’t scold them or demand compensation like others might.

He wouldn’t.

Shen Siyan had a gentlemanly respect for women ingrained in him.

Of course, if provoked, he would get annoyed and dissatisfied.

But he wouldn’t say hurtful things unless he was pushed to the limit.

Xu Zhilu lowered her eyelashes and took out a pen from her desk. “What’s that got to do with me?”

Xin An’an glanced at her and said, “You’re just pretending to be dumb.”

She propped her chin up. “Jinghan, don’t you think…Shen Siyan has always been pretty nice to Zhilu?”

Chen Jinghan nodded. “Yeah.”

The two of them took turns singing praises into Xu Zhilu’s ear.

Xu Zhilu ignored them, focusing on her homework.

The first class in the afternoon was physics, and as Xu Zhilu listened, her mind started to wander.

She turned her head and looked at the lush trees outside the window. In spring, the leaves had sprouted and turned greener and thicker, stretching into the room and looking particularly eye-catching.

Suddenly, Xu Zhilu thought of Chen Jinghan and Xin An’an’s conversation.

Shen Siyan had been pretty nice to her.

If Shen Siyan hadn’t stood her up, she wouldn’t have treated him this way.

Maybe she would have just maintained a normal classmate relationship with him, without harboring resentment.

But given the prior disappointment, Xu Zhilu couldn’t treat him like any other classmate.

–