25 – Lin Yaojia’s Cement-Sealed Heart
Cheng Yan crossed his arms and said coldly, “Then stay up there.”
Pang Meng was about to scold him when he turned his head and suddenly locked eyes with a pair of small eyes.
The small eyes were behind black-framed glasses, with a large bald patch on top of the head. Holding a small stick, the gaze was sharp and piercing, like a demon-revealing mirror.
Sitting on the wall, Pang Meng felt as awkward as a chick exposed in its true form.
His legs went weak for a moment, but the spirit of brotherhood still lingered in his heart. Puffing out his chest, he greeted in a clear, loud voice: “Director Yu, good morning!”
Cheng Yan, who was just about to climb over the wall, took off running as soon as he heard this.
The balding man sneered, too lazy to pay attention to such petty tricks.
He pulled out a loudspeaker from his electric scooter: “Student Cheng Yan! I advise you to give up and surrender! Student Cheng Yan, stop running, Cheng Yan…”
Just the volume of the loudspeaker alone could reach the teaching building.
Cheng Yan couldn’t bear the embarrassment, so he jumped down from the wall and turned himself in.
The chick squad gained another key member.
The balding man, with his beer belly puffed out, said triumphantly: “Just from hearing one word of your voice, I knew it was you.”
Sitting on the wall, Pang Meng interrupted his boasting with a pained expression: “Director Yu, I was wrong. Can you get someone to help me down?”
The balding man turned his head: “You’re quite something too. I’ve been catching people in this little corner for seven or eight years, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone who can’t get down.”
He waved his hand, signaling Huo Songjin and Cheng Yan to pull him down.
Over the next half hour, five more chicks were caught in succession.
“Come on, line up.”
The group reluctantly shuffled into place. Once they were aligned, the balding man took a commemorative photo of the row of latecomers.
“Five-thousand-word self-criticism, due in my office by Wednesday morning.”
New semester, new atmosphere—even the balding man showed some leniency.
Otherwise, according to his usual habits, the chicks present would have had to read their self-criticism on the stage in front of everyone, becoming infamous across the campus.
…
The group made their way toward the teaching building one after another.
Cheng Yan pulled a phone and a bag of breakfast from his backpack and handed them to Huo Songjin: “I really can’t believe you—you even forgot your phone.”
Huo Songjin yawned: “Stayed up too late and got confused.”
Lin Yaojia, seeing this, quickly expressed concern: “You didn’t sleep all night?”
“Yeah,” he nodded slowly.
Lin Yaojia put on a serious face: “Staying up late is bad for your kidneys. You really need to get proper sleep.”
“…”
Huo Songjin slowed his pace for a moment.
Everyone else fell silent.
Lin Yaojia didn’t notice, her mind filled with the contents of the book.
In the later stages, Huo Songjin developed kidney disease and didn’t have much time left.
“Once a man gets kidney disease, it’s no joke—he won’t be able to pee properly.”
Lin Yaojia still remembered how, after reading in the book that Huo Songjin had developed kidney disease, she had looked it up on Baidu.
Then she cried like an idiot.
It was simply because she felt that someone as proud and arrogant as him—unable to play esports, having lost his family, and now suffering from such an embarrassing illness—must have been utterly devastated.
For this reason, Lin Yaojia had genuinely cursed the original author a few times.
Huo Songjin curled his lips, his eyes devoid of any amusement. His jacket was open, revealing a plain black T-shirt without any patterns.
He reached out and pushed Lin Yaojia’s head: “Thanks for your concern, but my kidneys are just fine.”
He emphasized the last two words.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cheng Yan, Pang Meng, and Xia Chanyi were bent over laughing like idiots.
Lin Yaojia sighed.
She knew saying more wouldn’t help—this major task of kidney nourishment could only be quietly and subtly achieved through her own efforts.
Cheng Yan, being a sports student, was assigned to Class 22, where the entire class consisted of sports students.
Classes 1 to 12 were science classes, with the top two classes being the key classes.
Pang Meng couldn’t compete academically, but he successfully entered Class 2 by relying on his father’s influence.
Class 7 was on the third floor. Lin Yaojia followed behind Xia Chanyi and turned to ask Huo Songjin, “Which class are you in?”
He carried his bag over one shoulder. “What about you?”
“Class 7.”
“Me too.”
Lin Yaojia was pleasantly surprised. “Really?”
With that expression and tone, Xia Chanyi thought to herself, If this isn’t a crush, what is?
She turned her head and sighed.
Among these three hopeless brothers, could it be that Song Ge is the first to get into a relationship?
I even bet a hundred bucks that Cheng Yan would be the first to find someone, and I was so confident about it.
Sad jpg.
Huo Songjin’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he turned his head and said, “Would I lie?”
Lin Yaojia’s eyes curved into a smile, genuinely happy.
Now she could rest easy—since they were in the same class, it would be convenient for her to bring him meals later.
All the homeroom teachers were in a meeting, so with no one to keep order in the classrooms, everything was chaotic and noisy, even more so than a marketplace.
The three of them stood by the back door. Inside, only a few seats remained empty.
“See that? The last row by the window in the big group inside—I had someone save it for you,” Xia Chanyi said to Huo Songjin. “Both seats are taken, so Jiajia can sit there too.”
With that, she quietly slipped inside and sat in the outer seat of the second-to-last row.
Inside was a girl with a low ponytail who looked very quiet and reserved.
Lin Yaojia looked at Huo Songjin pitifully. “Can I be your deskmate?”
“…” He closed his eyes. The word “no” was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
After a moment, he nodded, and the words that came out were, “You sit on the inside.”
Lin Yaojia took the seat by the window on the inside, which happened to face a large grove of ginkgo trees outside, offering a beautiful view.
She could sense that as soon as Huo Songjin sat down, several girls in front of them secretly glanced back.
Then, with flushed faces, they began whispering among themselves.
Lin Yaojia was all too familiar with these young girls’ thoughts.
Back when she was in school, she was just like them—always eager to catch a glimpse of the handsome guys around campus.
She had even followed the trend once, joining other female classmates in pursuing a particular good-looking guy.
Lin Yaojia was pretty and was a frequent guest on the stage reading self-criticisms.
She often wore light makeup and styled her school uniform with subtle flair.
Before she could even make much of an effort to pursue him, the handsome guy himself asked her out to watch a movie.
At the time, Lin Yaojia was feeling bored. The young idol she had just started liking a few days earlier had debuted only to have his career collapse immediately—chat logs revealing he was simultaneously dating three beautiful girls were exposed online.
The moment Lin Yaojia saw it, she felt disgusted.
The next second, she swiftly changed her WeChat profile picture.
Without hesitation, she agreed to the handsome guy’s invitation, and the two of them went to the cinema to watch a horror movie.
Lin Yaojia had a strong stomach for scares, and the more she watched, the less thrilling it felt.
In contrast, the handsome guy beside her grew increasingly frightened as the movie played. By the end, he was red-eyed, calling his mom while still watching the screen.
She even overheard his mother comforting him, saying, “Sweetie, don’t cry, don’t be scared, my baby is the strongest…”
From then on, Lin Yaojia sealed her heart with cement.
“The handsome guy” in her words became “that guy.”
But Huo Da Ge was definitely different from other guys.
She rested her chin on her hand, quietly watching him.
He showed no expression as he stuffed his backpack into the desk compartment and took off his school uniform jacket.
He tossed the jacket onto the desk, then leaned forward decisively, resting his head on his arms with one hand draped over his neck, and began to sleep.
“…”
He wore only a black T-shirt, and the exposed skin appeared even paler in contrast.
His fingers were long, and his wrist bones were prominent.