Occasionally, someone would forget to bring their test paper, and sharing one with a deskmate was completely normal.
Hearing the math teacher, Su Ning naturally slid her stool a bit closer to Shen Yanli.
The young girl leaned in, her elbow grazing against his.
Even through the thick fabric of their clothes, Shen Yanli’s mind went blank for a split second, his breath hitching.
The test paper was pinched by the girl’s fair, slender fingers and tugged toward her side.
She did not ask for his permission, nor did she wait for him to slide the paper over himself.
Just like how she had not asked whether he needed help before charging straight into his life.
It was utterly overwhelming.
Sitting this close, the subtle scent of her skin blended into his breath.
His throat felt inexplicably dry.
A very strange sensation surged into his heart.
He dropped his right hand, pressing it hard against the bruise on the back of his left hand.
Only the sharp spike of pain managed to suppress the anomaly stirring deep inside him.
Sitting this close to an insanely handsome guy, Su Ning could not help getting a little distracted.
Her peripheral vision kept straying to that face, which looked as though the Creator had shown it special favoritism.
He was born with peach-blossom eyes, and his eyelashes were long and straight.
Ordinarily, eyes like that should look deeply affectionate, but because his gaze was always laced with cold indifference, it only gave off a thin, detached vibe.
Su Ning was just about to pull her gaze away after a good look.
The young man suddenly tilted his head, his pitch-black pupils locking onto her.
She had been caught red-handed in the act of peeking.
Su Ning’s heart skipped a beat. A thin layer of pink bloomed across her cheeks, and her toes curled inside her socks.
Outwardly, however, she remained completely unruffled, lowering her gaze to the test paper and acting as though nothing had happened.
As long as she was not embarrassed, the embarrassed person would be someone else!
She did not know that the person she had been peeking at had an even faster heartbeat than she did.
For the rest of the class, Su Ning did not dare let her eyes wander.
She listened to the lecture properly, keeping her hands neatly folded and resting on the desk, looking for all the world like a model elementary school student.
The boy and girl sat almost shoulder to shoulder.
Both of their backs were held straight, forming a picturesque scene in the eyes of the classmates behind them.
Only Su Nanye looked like he was about to grind his teeth to dust.
How could Shen Yanli possibly sit so close to his little sister?!
As soon as class ended, Su Nanye bolted over from the back and shoved his own test paper at Su Ning. “Look at mine instead!”
Su Ning took her brother’s paper, which scored a proud eight points, and asked, “Then what about you?”
Su Nanye replied, “I will just share one with Ji Yang.”
Su Ning smoothed out her brother’s test paper fold by fold and obediently answered, “Okay.”
Su Nanye glared daggers at Shen Yanli before retreating to the back.
Su Ning stood up. “I am going to the restroom.”
Shen Yanli stood up from his stool to make room for her.
Suddenly, Su Ning noticed that his ears were flushed red. “Your ears…”
Thinking Su Ning had just noticed he wore a hearing aid, Shen Yanli lowered his gaze. “I cannot hear.”
Su Ning blinked. “I did not mean that. I just meant your ears look a bit red.”
Shen Yanli raised a hand to touch them, realizing only then that they were growing hot. Unhurriedly spouting nonsense, he said, “This happens if you wear the hearing aid too long.”
Having never worn a hearing aid in her life, Su Ning believed him implicitly. Feeling a twinge of guilt for bringing it up, she pressed her lips together. “Sorry.”
Shen Yanli lifted his pale eyelids to look at her. “It is fine.”
The little princess was way too easy to fool.
Harboring a tiny pang of guilt, Su Ning walked over to the classroom doorway.
Then, thinking of something, she turned around and headed toward Chen Lanxin’s desk.
Chen Lanxin had another deskmate, but that person was not in their seat right then.
Su Ning leaned in close, smiling warmly. “Lanxin, would you like to come to the restroom with me?”
As she well knew, in school, going to the restroom together was the easiest way for girls to build a friendship.
It was not just because of Ji Yang; she had resolved that since she knew Chen Lanxin was going to face disaster, she would definitely help her.
That was a vibrant, living life they were talking about.
Chen Lanxin had originally intended to refuse.
Yet, the moment she looked up and saw Su Ning’s bright, charming smile, the refusal melted right off her tongue.
Remembering how Su Ning had invited her to sit together at lunch, she murmured, “Okay.”
Chen Lanxin stood up as well.
Su Ning immediately linked her arm through Chen Lanxin’s, rubbing against her affectionately. “Lanxin, you are the best!”
Chen Lanxin turned to look at her, ripples suddenly stirring across the stagnant, dead-water lake of her heart.
Maybe this world still held a sliver of beauty after all.
Once outside the classroom, Su Ning tugged Chen Lanxin along as they broke into a run, her high ponytail whipping through the air in a pretty arc. “Let us hurry to the restroom. I also want to drop by the school infirmary to pick up some medicine.”
Following along naturally, Chen Lanxin’s voice drifted on the wind. “What is wrong? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
Seeing Su Ning leave the classroom, Su Nanye dashed back to the front, planted himself next to Shen Yanli’s desk, and delivered a vicious kick outward.
Shen Yanli’s brow furrowed as he started to pull back.
With a loud clatter, Su Nanye’s kick landed squarely on Su Ning’s stool.
Originally, the two stools had been pushed tightly together, but now they were a mile apart.
Shen Yanli: “…”
The second period of the afternoon was English again.
Su Ning and Chen Lanxin dashed back into the classroom right at the final bell.
Watching the two of them rushing in like a gust of wind, Su Nanye curled his lip. “What on earth were those two up to?”
Ji Yang gazed dreamily into space. “The class monitor looks so pretty when she runs!”
All the hairs on Su Nanye’s body stood on end as he turned to glare at him. “Are you not even bothering to pretend anymore, kid?”
Ji Yang chuckled sheepishly. “Did not your sister tell me to pay more attention to the class monitor?”
Su Nanye was speechless for a moment. “That does not mean this kind of attention!”
Seeing Su Ning return, Shen Yanli immediately stood up to clear her path.
Su Ning sat down on her stool, slightly out of breath.
Shen Yanli turned to look at her.
Su Ning placed a small plastic bag onto his desk. “These are medicated pain-relief patches. Stick them on the back of your hand so the swelling goes down.”
Running had warmed her up, and the young girl unzipped the collar of her school uniform jacket.
A yellow, form-fitting sweater hugged the full curve of her chest, rising and falling with her breath.
It suddenly drifted into Shen Yanli’s line of sight.
His pupils constricted slightly, as if he had been scalded.
He instantly yanked his gaze away and focused on the patches sitting on the desk.
Brushing aside the sudden itch in his throat, he was filled with profound confusion.
Why on earth was she being so nice to him?
No one had ever gone out of their way to buy him medicine just because he got hurt.
Usually, people only cursed at him and dumped him at the hospital when he looked close to death.
Yet the head teacher had already walked into the classroom.
He had no opportunity to voice his questions.
The teacher was going over the mock exam papers from the previous week during this period.
Su Ning did not have a test paper either.
She was just about to turn toward Shen Yanli.
A hand tapped her elbow, and a soft voice spoke up: “Su Ning, you can share mine.”
It was Chen Lanxin.
She had noticed during the last class that Su Ning was looking at Shen Yanli’s paper.
And Shen Yanli had looked less than pleased about it.
That guy was always like that, loathing anyone getting close to him.
Chen Lanxin felt there was no need for Su Ning to subject herself to a cold shoulder.
It was just a test paper, anyway.
You could look at anyone’s.
Su Ning nodded, her eyes curving into crescents. “Okay, thank you!”
Shen Yanli, who had been about to proactively slide his own paper over, froze. A layer of gloomy shadow flashed across his cold pupils.
It was one thing for Chen Lanxin to snatch Su Ning away during the break, but why was she snatching her during class time too?
The thought came out of nowhere.
Yet Shen Yanli did not sense anything abnormal about it.
The stool that had already been sitting far away from him was now pushed even further.
And the girl looked as though she wanted to glue herself entirely to Chen Lanxin.
Feeling a surge of irritation, Shen Yanli picked up the bag of pain-relief patches with somewhat heavy-handed movements.
He pulled a patch out from inside.
Instead of applying it immediately, however, he reached out right under the teacher’s nose and tugged at the hem of Su Ning’s school uniform.
Su Ning turned her head.
And heard the very first sentence Shen Yanli had voluntarily spoken to her all day.
“How do you apply this patch?”