Xu Yan was already scared out of his wits by the female ghost on the whiteboard when Du Bo appeared silently behind him, causing Xu Yan to slump half-dead in his chair.
“Alright, turn on the lights. No more watching,” Du Bo commanded, and the lights in Class 2 of Grade 11 instantly brightened. Du Bo glanced out of the corner of his eye at Xu Yan, who was slumped in his chair from fright, and the strange feeling that had arisen in his heart was immediately suppressed again.
He was just a teenager who could be scared stiff by a horror movie. Holding hands was probably just out of fear, and it was just two boys being close. Du Bo didn’t need to make a big deal out of it.
Startled back to his senses by Du Bo, Xu Yan let out a long sigh and looked at Du Bo standing beside him with lingering fear. “Mr. Du, you’re not going to switch my seat with Ji Ran’s, are you?”
Du Bo looked at Xu Yan meaningfully, chuckled softly, placed his hands behind his back, and slowly walked to the podium to turn off the whiteboard before starting the performance analysis.
Xu Yan found Du Bo somewhat baffling, his eeriness even rivaling the female ghost that had just appeared on the whiteboard.
“The student with the most improvement in our class this time is Xu Yan. He deserves special praise. Xu Yan’s science composite score has finally reached 190 this time. Although it’s still far from our class average, the progress is significant.” Xu Yan was caught off guard by Du Bo’s praise and felt a bit smug, but he was immediately brought back to reality by Du Bo’s next words.
“However, Xu Yan, you still have a lot of room for improvement. Although you’re in the top 60 in the grade, you’re still at the bottom of the class.” Xu Yan calmly tugged at the corner of his mouth. Why on earth had he been assigned to Class 2 during the division? He felt completely out of place among these overachievers.
“One more thing. Although the midterm results were generally good overall, there’s still the December monthly exam next month. I hope what happened today—watching a horror movie together as a class—won’t happen again.” Du Bo on the podium looked serious, while the students of Class 2 below fell silent.
After a brief silence, the classroom erupted in groans: “What? There’s still a monthly exam in December?”
Seeing this, Du Bo nodded with satisfaction. How could high school students feel any sense of urgency without exams?
Xu Yan listlessly slumped over his desk, staring at the towering pile of test papers in front of him and sighing helplessly. He felt that his current life as a high school sophomore was far from what he had imagined. It was so annoying; he really didn’t want to study.
But he had no choice. He knew very well that if he wanted to leave the Xu family, studying hard was currently the only path he could control.
“Yanzi, what’s wrong with you?” Qiu Muyang had just finished getting water from the dispenser at the back door when he turned around and saw Xu Yan slumped over his desk, sighing repeatedly.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just don’t understand the material,” Xu Yan replied hoarsely.
Just as Qiu Muyang was about to respond, Sun Rui immediately cut in: “Yan, if you can’t get into studying, then don’t force it. You’ve already improved so much this time; don’t push yourself. Look at me—I study half-heartedly, and I still do pretty well. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of talent.”
“Hmm, that makes sense. It might really be a talent issue,” Xu Yan said, feeling dazed by the remark. He agreed with Sun Rui’s point and felt that he probably really didn’t have much talent for studying.
“Wait,” Qiu Muyang said, somewhat surprised. “Sun Rui, are you calling Yanzi dumb?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Sun Rui shrugged, smiling as he turned his head away.
Qiu Muyang’s sense of unease toward Sun Rui instantly peaked. His intuition told him that something was off about Sun Rui.
“Yeah, I guess I really am stupid,” Xu Yan admitted sheepishly, nodding as he stared at the increasingly confusing physics test paper and came to a dejected conclusion.
Just as Qiu Muyang was about to comfort Xu Yan, he was interrupted by Ji Ran.
“Not stupid,” said Ji Ran, who had been sitting next to Xu Yan all along. He glanced at Xu Yan struggling painfully with the physics paper and hesitated for a moment before adding, “It’s just that your method isn’t quite right.”
Qiu Muyang nodded in agreement, only to hear Ji Ran say something that left him utterly incredulous: “Your physics foundation is also a bit weak, but I can tutor you.”
“We have half a day off on Sunday afternoon. If you’re willing, come to my place, and I’ll teach you.”
Upon hearing Ji Ran’s words, Xu Yan’s usually slow brain finally sped up for once. He immediately responded, “Tutoring? Why do we have to go to your house?”
“Convenience,” Ji Ran replied without batting an eye.
Xu Yan hesitated for a moment before asking, “Does your house have internet?”
“No,” Ji Ran paused briefly, “but I have materials suitable for you to study physics.”
“Oh, alright then,” Xu Yan agreed quite readily.
Standing beside Xu Yan, Qiu Muyang glanced at Ji Ran, then shot a look at Sun Rui before silently returning to his seat. He had initially thought Sun Rui was the suspicious one, but now his intuition told him that the top student was actually the most problematic person of all!
Unable to hold back, Qiu Muyang turned and asked, “So, can I join in on this tutoring session?”
“No, you don’t need it,” Ji Ran coldly refused. Xu Yan, who had been about to say “yes,” immediately pursed his lips awkwardly at Ji Ran’s words.
If Ji Ran said no, then it was a no.
Xu Yan actually felt quite uncertain about going to a friend’s house. Throughout his life, he had never received an invitation to visit a friend’s home—not even from Qiu Muyang, whom he got along with quite well now.
The night before going to Ji Ran’s house for tutoring, Xu Yan tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. He wondered if he had agreed too impulsively. After all, he could have just watched online lectures and studied on his own. Besides, would going to Ji Ran’s house trouble his parents? Maybe he should just call it off.
Having made up his mind, Xu Yan picked up his phone, intending to message Ji Ran that he wouldn’t be going tomorrow. But just as his fingertips touched the keyboard, a message instantly popped up in the chatbox.
[Ji Ran]: I’ve found the materials. Come to my place tomorrow.
Xu Yan let out a soft sigh at the chatbox and soon saw the photo Ji Ran had sent.
He tapped the image with his fingertip and zoomed in. On a white desk lay several physics study materials.
Since Ji Ran had already prepared the materials, it would be better not to refuse. After a moment of silence, his fingers tapped back and forth on the phone screen. After nearly ten minutes of hesitation, Xu Yan coolly replied with a single word: Received.
On Sunday morning, Xu Yan stared at the classroom clock, counting down in his mind. When there were only ten minutes left before the break, he finally couldn’t hold back any longer: “Ji Ran, should I bring anything for your parents when I go to your house?”
“No need. No one’s home,” Ji Ran replied, looking up briefly from the problems he was busy solving.
“Oh…” Xu Yan tilted his head thoughtfully. “Then, will I be bothering you a lot by going to your house?”
“No,” Ji Ran replied, his tone slightly lighter, though his hands never stopped working on the problems.
He needed to finish quickly; he wanted to reserve the entire afternoon for Xu Yan.
“Then what should I bring?” Xu Yan continued to ask.
Ji Ran multitasked: “Notebook, paper, pen, physics textbook.”
Xu Yan lowered his head to gather the items as requested, then Ji Ran’s voice sounded beside his ear again: “Your brain.”
Xu Yan: “…”
He knew Ji Ran thought he was dumb too.
As Ji Ran worked on the problems, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Xu Yan’s lowered head and realized he had said the wrong thing.
He put down his pen, calmly looked at Xu Yan, and said, “Bring your clever brain.”
However, Xu Yan paid no attention to Ji Ran’s last-minute correction. He was focused on counting down in his mind: Three, two, one! The bell rang immediately, and Xu Yan excitedly said to Ji Ran, “Let’s go! To your place!”
“Alright.”
Unable to contain his excitement, Xu Yan chattered nonstop on the way to Ji Ran’s house: “Ji Ran, you’re the first friend to invite me to your home. Even though it’s for tutoring, I’m still really happy.”
“As long as you’re happy,” Ji Ran said flatly.
Xu Yan’s enthusiasm was instantly dampened by Ji Ran’s indifferent tone.
What did that mean? Ji Ran was the one who invited him, so why did it feel like Ji Ran wasn’t happy about it?
Xu Yan glanced at Ji Ran, silently keeping pace with him, and said nothing more.
Ji Ran didn’t notice the change in Xu Yan’s mood and was busy formulating a detailed and meticulous plan in his head.
This was an afternoon alone with Xu Yan, and he had to seize the opportunity, starting with lunch.
“What do you want for lunch?” Ji Ran asked in a low voice.
Xu Yan replied coldly, “Nothing.”
Ji Ran looked at him, somewhat puzzled. “Not hungry?”
For no reason, a surge of inexplicable anger rose in Xu Yan’s heart, and he stubbornly said, “Not hungry, I’m not hungry at all.”
“Then I’ll cook for you?” Ji Ran suggested, following the plan in his head.
Xu Yan was taken aback. “You can cook?”
“Yeah,” Ji Ran nodded, specifically explaining to Xu Yan, “There’s often no one at home, so I learned early on.”
Hearing this, Xu Yan felt inexplicably sad. Ji Ran was quite similar to him—both were people with no one looking after them at home.
Xu Yan looked up and smiled, agreeing, “Alright.”
As a result, after arriving at Ji Ran’s house, Xu Yan ate a bowl of tomato and egg noodles that was the blandest in his short 17 years of life.
“Is it good?” Ji Ran asked nervously, watching Xu Yan as he buried his head in the noodles.
Against his better judgment, Xu Yan replied, “It’s good.”
Ji Ran nodded and immediately launched into his tutoring plan.
He led Xu Yan to the study, which, once filled with cameras, was now clean and bright.
Before bringing Xu Yan home, Ji Ran had removed all the cameras from every corner of the house, especially the study. He had even cleaned the study spotless for this purpose.
Ji Ran proudly showed off his masterpiece to Xu Yan, but to his surprise, Xu Yan, maintaining basic manners at a friend’s house, walked straight to the desk without looking around, completely ignoring the spotless study Ji Ran had cleaned.
Ji Ran sighed inwardly and sat down beside Xu Yan.
“Let’s begin, Teacher Ji,” Xu Yan said, tilting his head and smiling at Ji Ran.
Ji Ran nodded, calming his restless heart, and began teaching in a low voice.
Ji Ran’s voice was cool and clear, and Xu Yan listened with rapt attention. Yet from time to time, their fingertips would brush against each other unintentionally. In the fleeting moments when their breaths mingled, the touching fingertips would swiftly part again.
These faint, almost imperceptible touches left Xu Yan’s breathing slightly unsteady, his heart inexplicably racing. He lifted his gaze to glance at Ji Ran beside him, who remained as composed as ever, calm as still water.
In the tranquil, quiet afternoon, within the spacious and bright study, the two of them sat close together, with only each other for company.
But it seemed that only Xu Yan was the one feeling restless and unsettled.
Only him.