When Li Yun entered the classroom, she was holding a stack of test papers.
A real stack. It looked like a copy of Gujin Guanzhi written in mathematical formulas, thick enough to be a tragic sight.
The classroom instantly fell silent. Everyone sat in neat rows, motionless and orderly.
Li Yun glanced at the blackboard. “The class monitor hasn’t finished writing the questions yet. Let’s wait a moment.”
The classroom remained silent. No one responded to Li Yun.
“For this transfer exam, Lu Xingheng passed and will sit in the last row, right behind the class monitor.”
“Our class doesn’t have enough students, so he won’t have a deskmate for now. For the sake of classroom aesthetics, I’ve placed an empty desk next to him.”
The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Li Yun: “…”
She tapped the blackboard with her pointer. “The last question isn’t difficult. Our class’s average score was half a point.”
“Jiang Wan handled this question the best.”
Apart from the sound of Jiang Wan writing on the blackboard, Li Yun heard nothing.
Unfazed, Li Yun stared directly at Xu Yichen. “Don’t think I’m afraid of you.”
Xu Yichen buried his head in his test papers. From the teacher’s podium, the 1.8-meter-tall boy was reduced to just a sliver of neck, looking as pitiful as could be.
Yet, heaven’s will cannot be resisted by human effort.
Li Yun asked softly, “Isn’t that right, Xu Yichen?”
“Huh?” Xu Yichen reflexively stood up.
Li Yun said nothing, quietly watching him.
Xu Yichen: “? … Is something wrong?”
Li Yun: “Nothing’s wrong. I just borrowed your voice to liven up the atmosphere.”
Xu Little Loudspeaker Yichen, confused, grinned foolishly.
“Alright, stop pretending. We won’t write the test papers this class. The questions will be handed out during evening self-study. I’ll just mark a few to do.”
The classroom erupted in noise, everyone speaking in unison.
“Sister Yun!”
“Big Sister Yun.”
“Beautiful Sister Yun.”
Li Yun was unimpressed. “Flattery won’t work.”
“You have to practice the questions.”
After a moment of commotion, the class half-heartedly called out to Jiang Wan, dragging out the syllables.
“Class monitor.”
“Class monitor.”
“Class monitoooor.”
Jiang Wan snapped the chalk in the chalk box, still holding his stomach. Pressured by the calls, he reluctantly reached out and flipped through the test papers. “It is a bit much.”
Li Yun: “Calling the class monitor won’t help. Even if you shout yourselves hoarse, you still have to do the papers.”
Jiang Wan and Jiang Wenyan sat together, both in front of Lu Xingheng. Ever since Lu Xingheng returned to his seat, Jiang Wenyan had been wearing a sour expression.
“Brother.” Jiang Wenyan casually pulled out Jiang Wan’s chair. “Does it still hurt?”
“It’s okay.” Jiang Wan took a wet wipe from Jiang Wenyan’s desk compartment.
“Don’t.” Jiang Wenyan lightly patted the back of Jiang Wan’s hand. “It’s too cold.”
“There’s dust.” Jiang Wan whispered, crumpling the wet wipe in his hand and carefully wiping his fingertips.
The phone in Jiang Wan’s pocket vibrated softly.
Bunny: Hello, Xu. How much do you want for the medical expenses? I’ll transfer it to you.
Xu: Two thousand.
Bunny: Oh.
Xu: Then give me the money.
Bunny: We fought together, and you started it first.
Xu: Your brother did.
Bunny: Jiang Wenyan wouldn’t.
Li Yun was getting into the flow of her lecture. “Class monitor, why did you think of taking the derivative of the composite function?”
Jiang Wan stood up and stared at the question for a moment, unsure which one Li Yun was referring to.
Li Yun leaned on the podium, not rushing Jiang Wan. “Speaking of the questions, the rankings are out. Jiang Wenyan is temporarily first in the grade, but—”
Xu Yichen slapped the table hard, silently worrying about Jiang Wan’s math all by himself.
Li Yun suppressed a laugh. “Has anyone noticed? I accidentally gave the class monitor 140 fewer points in math.”
“When I was tallying the scores, your chemistry teacher called me over. I only had time to write a ‘7’ and didn’t notice when registering the grades. You should all learn from the class monitor… what’s that idiom again, something about staying calm? Up until now, the class monitor hasn’t even mentioned this to me.”
“Mindset is very important. If it were anyone else, they’d have exploded long ago. Someone with a worse temper might even have cried.”
Jiang Wan knew nothing about this, but that wasn’t the point. He was afraid that if he couldn’t answer the question, Li Yun would feel embarrassed.
Jiang Wan: “Which part?”
Jiang Wenyan rubbed his face. “…I wasn’t listening.”
Jiang Wan tapped the desk lightly with his knuckles, seeking backup from behind. “Which question is Sister Yun explaining?”
Lu Xingheng didn’t respond.
Jiang Wan tapped the desk again. This time, before he could withdraw his hand, the back of his hand brushed against a warm touch.
Dry and warm. His palm also felt a little ticklish.
Jiang Wan whispered, “You…”
The tip of a pen lightly traced across his palm. Jiang Wan’s knuckles trembled slightly.
Lu Xingheng: “Does it hurt?”
Li Yun glanced over again. “Class monitor, briefly explain your approach.”
Jiang Wan quietly withdrew his hand. “Because the function is differentiable.”
Li Yun: “This problem is different from the ones we’ve done before. This composite function is differentiable.”
A faint ink stain had transferred to his palm. Jiang Wan rubbed it.
Under the desk, his phone lit up.
WWW: Hurt?
Jiang Wan leaned back slightly. “No.”
At the same time, Lu Xingheng’s phone also lit up.
Jiang Wan’s voice held a hidden laugh, clearly brimming with mischief, but Lu Xingheng still opened his phone to look.
Bunny: What are you asking about?
WWW: Don’t know.
Bunny: Then why are you asking?
WWW: Ibuprofen.
Jiang Wan thought for a long time before remembering. Before class, he had asked Jiang Wenyan to help him buy a box.
WWW: Yours.
Bunny: Lu Xingxing, have you entered power-saving mode? Typing just a few words at a time.
WWW: …
Bunny: Then I’ll save power too.
Lu Xingheng replied while taking notes.
WWW: Afraid of pain?
Lu Xingheng remembered the dawdling application of the medicated oil last night and the painkiller taken like candy this morning.
Jiang Wan didn’t reply—or rather, he didn’t reply with words.
Bunny: .
WWW: Can’t take ibuprofen for stomach pain.
Bunny: .
WWW: Hmm?
Bunny: .
Lu Xingheng raised an eyebrow. That chubby rabbit in the front row had really entered power-saving mode.
Halfway through the class, Jiang Wan started coughing, his hand clutching his stomach under the desk.
He didn’t get stomachaches often, but when he did, they were severe. Jiang Wan instinctively reached into his pocket for the candy jar.
He tried to twist it open for a while but couldn’t.
Lu Xingheng had screwed it on very tightly when he returned it.
After finishing the major problems, Li Yun started explaining the earlier fill-in-the-blank questions. Jiang Wenyan found it boring and began working on competition problems.
“Little brother…”
Jiang Wenyan was too focused on the problems, and Jiang Wan’s voice was too soft. Jiang Wenyan didn’t hear him.
Jiang Wan had no choice. He tugged at Jiang Wenyan’s sleeve, his fingertips trembling.
Jiang Wenyan whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Wan: “Do you still have any vinegar?”
Jiang Wenyan didn’t think much of it. He tore open a small packet of fruit vinegar and handed it to Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan took small sips. However, the nausea and urge to vomit became increasingly unbearable.
After drinking the entire packet, his mouth was filled with bitterness. He really couldn’t suppress it any longer.
Li Yun disliked being disturbed during class, teaching three consecutive periods in a row, so students who needed to use the restroom would slip out quietly.
The moment Jiang Wan stood up, dizziness washed over him. Clutching his stomach, he slumped back into his seat.
He was too weak to make much noise, but Jiang Wenyan pulled him up. “Your hands are so cold, you—”
“Shh, I’m a little sleepy,” Jiang Wan whispered softly, as if truly tired.
Jiang Wenyan said, “Alright. Go to sleep.”
Jiang Wan rested his head on the desk, hiding his trembling, pain-stricken fingers beneath it. Lu Xingheng saw everything clearly from behind.