Since that day, Jiang Xiyue hadn’t appeared again.

Yu Guang didn’t dare to ask in front of Ye Si, only hearing bits and pieces from others.

“I didn’t expect such a normal girl to have self-harming tendencies… it’s a pity she dropped out of school.”

“I heard she bled a lot when she went to the infirmary.”

“Really? Isn’t Jiang Xiyue also a campus beauty? Why haven’t any photos of her circulated on the school wall?”

“…”

Yu Guang speculated that the reason why there were no photos circulating online was because of Ye Si.

Ye Si hadn’t taken things to the extreme and had given her some dignity.

Yu Guang couldn’t understand why someone as inherently indifferent as Ye Si would do things halfway, puzzling over it for a long time before suddenly realizing a possibility:

Perhaps it was because he had once used Jiang Xiyue’s blood.

With this explanation, everything made sense.

Because Jiang Xiyue used to be Ye Si’s blood donor, she knew Ye Si’s secret, which was why she threatened him in such a commanding tone that day.

Ridiculous.

But while he found Jiang Xiyue amusing, he also felt a twinge of envy.

Ye Si needed blood, so she gave it to him.

To some extent, the blood donor undoubtedly held the initiative.

But he was greedy,

If he could steal Ye Si’s love, he didn’t care whose hands held the initiative.

He could passively accept everything from Ye Si—

Love, desire, even the blood that sustained his life.

Ye Si tacitly accepted all of his obvious actions.

Every morning when Ye Si had early classes, Yu Guang would queue up to buy two of his favorite custard buns, giving one to Ye Si and keeping the other for himself.

Although he had never seen Ye Si eat one, the other party did accept the gesture.

Yu Guang occasionally overheard classmates who shared a class with Ye Si discussing him.

They said he was the next Jiang Xiyue, the umpteenth school grass pursuer who would die young.

He didn’t like this description, but he didn’t want to confront it either. He just picked out their assignments from the Marxist class and crumpled them into a ball, throwing them into the sewer during a class when everyone was handing in their work.

This incident didn’t have any serious consequences; the teacher just asked them to submit a new assignment.

But Yu Guang secretly rejoiced for a while, like a cat that had successfully stolen fish.

Another thing that seemed to lift his spirits was related to Ye Si.

Chen Zhongguo resigned.

On the day after his public embarrassment, Chen Zhongguo ‘voluntarily’ submitted his resignation letter, and there was almost no approval process. On the same afternoon, photos of Chen Zhongguo dragging his luggage out of the teachers’ residential area were already circulating on the campus wall.

The calligraphy class teacher was replaced by a woman who loved wearing cheongsams.

The only thing that remained unchanged was Ye Si staying on as the senior mentor.

Yu Guang didn’t pay much attention to the news on the campus wall. He nearly coughed up blood from laughing too much.

So it was when he walked into the calligraphy classroom and saw a pleasant-looking teacher standing at the podium that he had a premonition.

Sure enough, after the female teacher wrote down her name on the blackboard, she said, “Your teacher, Mr. Chen, has resigned due to personal reasons, and I will be substituting for him this semester.”

Yu Guang was momentarily stunned, not knowing whether he felt more joy or relief.

Ye Si was sitting just two fists away from him.

The faint scent of wood drifted in, inexplicably comforting.

He glanced sideways at Ye Si, who was effortlessly writing a few lines of poetry, his movements imbued with an ancient scholarly aura.

It was as if he had truly experienced the vicissitudes of life.

Yu Guang gently tugged at the corner of Ye Si’s clothes.

Ye Si’s pen paused slightly, and he twirled the residual ink on the inkstone before turning to look at him.

His black eyes were like a calm sea surface before dawn, into which Yu Guang felt himself sinking, soft, cool, and fluctuating.

It wasn’t until Ye Si’s distinctly knuckled hand shook in front of him that he snapped out of his trance.

“That… it’s nothing, it’s just… about Chen Zhongguo resigning.” Yu Guang paused before continuing, “Thank you.”

Ye Si glanced over faintly but mentioned something else.

“How’s your progress with the cursive script?”

“Ah? Oh… you want to see?”

Under Ye Si’s gaze, even this trivial matter of picking up the brush became incredibly moving.

Yu Guang’s hand holding the brush trembled slightly, and the excess ink was affected by the shaking, almost dripping.

Suddenly, the trembling brush tip stabilized.

The scent of pine wood filled the air, gently enveloping him.

At some point, Ye Si had moved behind him, reaching over to hold his hand.

The pleasantly cool warmth of the senior’s hand made him feel flushed all over, as if his face was as red as a cooked shrimp.

Stiffening all over, he instinctively leaned back—

Into the embrace of his broad chest.

It was only then that Yu Guang realized, this posture… really resembled a hug.

A hug that surrounded him from behind, full of security and possessiveness.

“Relax your hand.”

Ye Si’s deep voice sounded in his ear, from a distance he had never been this close before.

The voice seemed to resonate through the close proximity of their bones.

For Yu Guang, this was significant.

He took a shallow breath, trying to remember this unfamiliar yet addictive feeling. But he was suddenly pinched on the back of his hand by Ye Si.

“Concentrate. Relax your hand.”

“Ah… okay.”

With Ye Si guiding his hand, they dipped the brush in ink and wrote on the yellowed rice paper.

With each stroke, a neat and coordinated character ‘遇’ (encounter) leapt onto the paper.

“The cursive script of ‘遇’ requires a wave-like stroke, a slight upward curve at the end, and a gradual release of pressure at the end.”

The magnetic voice continued to speak as the brush tip moved swiftly, quickly forming another beautiful character, ‘避’ (avoidance).

But Yu Guang’s thoughts were completely elsewhere, his heart skipping a beat as he stared at the place where Ye Si’s hand and his hand intertwined.

Ye Si’s hand was as beautiful as a piece of art on display, and it felt just as cold, giving off an air of preciousness and aloofness.

He half-raised his head in Ye Si’s embrace, turning his face to stare closely at Ye Si’s sharply defined profile.

In the periphery, there seemed to be an unfriendly scrutiny, but he had no mind to look at others now, his heart and eyes full of Ye Si.

But today, his bangs didn’t obey, not swept aside but pressed against by Ye Si’s chin, completely covering his eyes, itching.

So, Ye Si’s handsome face was obscured among the strands, making it impossible to see through.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, he raised his hand to push his bangs aside.

But Ye Si seemed to have misunderstood something. He quickly let go of him and pushed himself to a safe social distance.

The faintly cool scent of wood also drifted away with him.

Yu Guang’s heart trembled violently for a moment before returning to silence, empty and hollow, as if something important was missing.

Although it was only a few minutes of closeness, he felt a bit addicted.

“Have you finished writing?” Ye Si asked nonchalantly.

Yu Guang wanted to answer ‘no’ in order to seek more opportunities for intimacy, but he was afraid of upsetting Ye Si and losing the chance for personal guidance in the next class or the one after.

After pondering for a while, he nodded silently and said, “Yes.”

With his head half-bowed, he could still feel Ye Si’s gaze heavy on the top of his head.

Plain yet sharp, as if possessing the power to see through people’s hearts.

For a moment, he felt as if his lie had been ruthlessly exposed.

But Ye Si just tapped the table with his fingertips lightly and said calmly, “That’s good.”

Just as the bell for the end of class rang, like a life-saving straw.

Yu Guang suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, he saw Ye Si giving him a meaningful smile and continued, “I’ll check your work next Monday.” His long and narrow eyes curved slightly, “I’ll let you off the hook for today.”

Yu Guang picked up the inkstone they had used and followed the crowd out of the classroom, feeling a hot gaze on him like a shadow.

The gaze wasn’t very friendly, and he didn’t know why.

After each calligraphy class, the restroom sink became a sought-after place, with students crowding around to wash their brushes and inkstones at the few available taps.

Yu Guang was lucky to be waiting behind a classmate who moved quickly, and soon it was his turn.

He watched as the ink dispersed by the flowing water, the gray-black sewage swirling into the drain. As he washed, his elbow was suddenly bumped.

The force was heavy, and the inkstone in Yu Guang’s hand knocked against the edge of the sink, instantly shattering.

“Hiss—”

The shattered ceramic shards cut his index finger deeply.

At first, there was numbness, and then the pain gradually spread after a few seconds.

His fingers connected to his heart, Yu Guang gripped his right wrist with his left hand but couldn’t stop the trembling of his right hand due to the pain.

Then his shoulder was forcefully pushed, and he stumbled a few steps before regaining his balance.

The crowded restroom instantly cleared a circle around them, with classmates retreating to a safe distance to watch.

“Are you pursuing Ye Si?” A slightly hoarse voice of a young man.

Yu Guang subtly raised his eyes and glanced through the sparse bangs.

It was a somewhat familiar classmate, probably from the same class as him.

The malicious looks during class probably came from him.

Yu Guang pursed his lips and remained silent.

His right index finger wound was still bleeding, dripping onto the off-white floor, glaringly visible.

The boy was irritated by his silent attitude and stepped forward, grabbing his collar and pulling him forcefully.

“How dare you? With such a cowardly appearance, are you even worthy?” The grip on his collar intensified, “Don’t think Senior Ye Si’s gentleness means he likes you. I advise you to watch yourself!”

As he looked into the burning eyes of the other, Yu Guang suddenly noticed Ye Si’s reflection in the mirror.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Guang’s lips moved, but he remained silent and closed them.

The next moment, the sense of restraint around his neck disappeared.

He was pulled behind by Ye Si, and the boy who was just standing arrogantly a moment ago was now lying in the corner, his clothes stained with ink, looking miserable.

Ye Si didn’t say a word, just gave him a cold glance.

Yu Guang was dazedly led away by Ye Si, and the classmates automatically made way for them, with countless eyes watching them. Yu Guang felt somewhat uncomfortable.

It wasn’t until they reached a quiet corner that Ye Si stopped and looked at him, seeing his bleeding finger.

After a while, he gently took it into his mouth.