After Pei Xingche finished choosing his seat and stepped down from the stage, Old Wang was quite surprised when he saw the computer screen.
Pei Xingche and Yun Xiang?
Those two names were like parallel lines that never intersected, so their sudden convergence was indeed unexpected.
When Shen Zhe, ranked fifth, took his turn to choose a seat, he stared hard at those two names sitting side by side, clenching his jaw as he made a silent resolution.
He was going to expose Pei Xingche and tear off that fake mask in front of everyone!
Ten minutes later, the self-study period ended with the bell.
Old Wang projected the final seating chart onto the blackboard, picked up his thermos, and strolled out while leaving a parting remark.
“Everyone, use the break to switch seats. Then take out your math problem sets before class—I’ll be going over them.”
The students: …Damn it, Old Wang, you really are a master of time management. You just silently hijacked our beautiful twenty-minute break.
Still, changing seats always brought a certain inexplicable excitement, so the complaints weren’t too loud.
Pei Xingche’s first glance went to Yun Xiang. His long fingers tapped the desk as he held himself back, then held himself back again, and finally couldn’t resist getting up to help Yun Xiang move her seat.
【Yeah, I know this makes me look eager, but Bro is playing it straight and going all in right now.】
【Heh heh, Bro is going to piss off that piece of trash Shen to death.】
Yun Xiang watched Pei Xingche swagger over with an arrogant look on his face and pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh.
Shen Zhe naturally saw it too, his face turning black with anger. But he also wanted to get under Pei Xingche’s skin.
“Xiangxiang, unfortunately, I won’t be your deskmate for a while.”
He handed his science notebook to Yun Xiang. “This notebook is for you. If you have any questions you can’t solve, you can still come find me.”
Pei Xingche’s sharp brows furrowed slightly, looking genuinely puzzled.
“Why would she ask someone who hasn’t even cracked the top twenty in the grade, instead of asking the number one?”
Shen Zhe was rendered speechless by Pei Xingche’s casually dismissive remark, his face turning green.
He glanced sideways at Yun Xiang and was shocked to see the girl actually nod in agreement. That sent his blood boiling with fury.
But the anger had nowhere to go at the moment, so he could only clench his fists and grit his teeth to endure it.
Soon, Yun Xiang and Pei Xingche settled into their new seats.
Yun Xiang was happy. This was a seat she had chosen herself, and in a sense, a deskmate she had chosen herself too.
Under the desk, the girl gently swung her feet.
Remembering something, she looked at the boy beside her, as if confirming something, and sniffed the air as she leaned slightly toward Pei Xingche.
There really was a faint, pleasant scent.
Caught off guard, Pei Xingche turned his shoulder to talk to Yun Xiang and accidentally bumped into something soft.
“Ah.”
A very soft, muffled sound.
“Are you okay?” The boy’s voice was rarely flustered.
Yun Xiang covered her nose and pulled back, shaking her head slightly. “I’m fine.”
【How could she be fine? That must have hurt!】
【I’m such an idiot. How could I be so careless? Aaaah, my delicate, helpless wife who can’t take care of herself! (self-reproaching puppy)】
Yun Xiang: …Not necessary.
“I’m sorry.” Pei Xingche said in a low voice, his expression still grave.
“I’m really fine.”
Yun Xiang shook her head. Seeing that Pei Xingche’s expression hadn’t relaxed, she added clumsily, “Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“Thank you for helping me switch seats.” Yun Xiang’s voice was soft and gentle, her beautiful doe eyes focused intently on Pei Xingche.
Her gaze was clear and bright, her beautiful pupils dark and deep. When she looked at you with such seriousness, it was like a pool of starlight—mesmerizing, with ripples spreading layer upon layer.
Pei Xingche averted his gaze from Yun Xiang and hastily grabbed a pen, clutching it in his palm.
His voice was faint: “Mm. And thank you for being willing to be my deskmate.”
Contrary to the boy’s calm expression, the little Ala on his head was frolicking joyfully.
Its curly little tail wagged back and forth, its almond-shaped eyes half-squinted, and its fluffy ears were a soft pink.
So cute.
Yun Xiang suddenly wanted to ruffle it.
“Pfft, hahaha.”
Her thoughts were interrupted by a burst of laughter from behind.
She turned around and saw a short-haired girl at the desk behind them looking at them with curved, smiling eyes.
“Why are you two thanking each other back and forth like that? So polite and proper with each other.” The girl teased with a laugh, the freckles on her doll-like face lively and playful.
Yun Xiang and Pei Xingche exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away.
The girl’s soft cheeks flushed with a hint of red, while the boy’s ears turned redder and redder.
“Watch your proper usage of idioms.”
The girl beside her, who wore a high ponytail, reminded her. Unlike the short-haired girl’s cheerful and lively voice, hers was cold, carrying a rational, detached tone.
“That’s a test point in the sentence-correction questions—’treat each other with respect’ can only be used to describe a married couple.”
“I know, alright?”
“You got that exact type of question wrong on the Chinese exam.”
“That’s different. This one was much harder.”
“The core is the same.”
“An Wuyang!” The short-haired girl raised her voice, her cheeks puffing up in anger. “You’re so annoying!”
“Xu Ran, you’re annoying too.”
An Wuyang raised an eyebrow, her voice carrying a hint of helplessness and affection that was hard to detect.
Yun Xiang watched the two of them bicker for a while, then quietly turned back around.
She knew both of these girls.
Xu Ran was the class’s arts and entertainment committee member, while An Wuyang was the math class representative and also the perennial top student in the class.
However, this time around, because of Pei Xingche, her ranking had slipped down one spot.
The two girls had been deskmates for years, inseparable even on campus—so much so that even Old Wang remarked on how close they were.
Yun Xiang hadn’t expected these two girls to become her new deskmates behind her, nor had she expected their dynamic to be like this.
They constantly called each other annoying, yet they genuinely adored one another.
How wonderful—friendship like that was truly wonderful.
Yun Xiang felt a twinge of envy. Ever since those things had happened, she hadn’t dared to make friends for a long time.
She spent her days curled up in her shell, afraid of everything the outside world had to offer.
But Yun Xiang remembered.
Back in middle school, she too had once had a very, very close friend.
That girl, however, had gone abroad to study after finishing middle school, and their interactions had gradually dwindled.
When they parted ways, the girl had given her a postcard.
On it was written: “Life is like a train, and only you yourself ride from the starting point to the end. I’m so glad I got to share a part of the journey with you. But at this stop, I have to get off!”
Yun Xiang had always treasured that postcard, hoping for a reunion while sitting on the empty train.
Occasionally, on the bustling streets, she would poke her head out to look at other trains, envying their lives.