“So you’re not in the workforce either, you’re a student?” Jiang Jingshuo was astonished.
“Yeah.”
Damn! No wonder he ranks first every year, every time!
With his level of reading and breadth of knowledge, he’s long surpassed what a student should know, right?!
Jiang Jingshuo always felt that at his age, his quantity of reading and variety of subjects beat his peers comprehensively. Sometimes he couldn’t even discuss certain topics with his friends and had to go online to find dedicated book friends.
He also wanted the other person to have a similar worldview, to be able to articulate their thoughts and convince him, and to not resort to illogical arguments when disagreed with. Over the years, only Dragon had succeeded in engaging with him, clearly possessing a deeper knowledge base and sometimes even recommending books he wanted to read.
Because of this, Jiang Jingshuo always thought the other person must be a successful entrepreneur with a deep academic background, or perhaps a university professor or similar.
Never did he imagine that the other person was actually a high school student just like him.
Indeed, there will always be someone more capable than you, just as there will always be a taller mountain than any other.
“I never expected the two of us would actually be classmates,” Jiang Jingshuo exclaimed joyfully. “Please take care of me in the future, Lin Fei.”
As he said this, reaching out to pat Lin Fei on the shoulder, his hand was intercepted mid-air by another hand.
Jiang Jingshuo looked up to see it was none other than the person he had just inquired about — Ji Leyu.
He remembered his deskmate mentioning that Ji Leyu was also a prominent figure at school, consistently ranking second in their grade. Besides being good-looking, Ji Leyu had encountered confessions from girls and bold attempts from boys to date him, all of which he politely declined.
Most of the time, Ji Leyu only hung out with Lin Fei. Their relationship was excellent, and Ji Leyu was one of the few people who could make Lin Fei treat him differently.
“Hello,” Jiang Jingshuo greeted politely.
Ji Leyu returned his smile with a gentle tone, “Is there something you need?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Jingshuo replied, noticing the owner of the seat he was occupying returning. He stood up, voluntarily giving back the seat. “I just came over to say a few words to Lin Fei.”
Finishing his sentence, he naturally withdrew his hand and said to Lin Fei, “Hey, let’s exchange WeChat. You didn’t agree when I asked before, but now you can, right?”
Lin Fei thought for a moment, picked up his phone, and showed his WeChat QR code to him.
Jiang Jingshuo quickly scanned the code and sent him a friend request.
Ji Leyu watched their interaction with some confusion. What is going on?
How come Lin Fei suddenly exchanged WeChat with Jiang Jingshuo?
For so many years, Lin Fei had hardly added any peers on WeChat, but now, he added Jiang Jingshuo.
His eyes darkened momentarily, emotions swirling inside, but quickly disappeared.
The bell for class rang. Jiang Jingshuo said, “I’ll head back first,” and turned to walk towards his seat. Ji Leyu swung his long legs over and sat down in his own seat.
“Do you know each other?” He turned to look at Lin Fei, his tone gentle as usual.
Lin Fei nodded and looked up at him, “He’s Zhong Kou Shuo Jin.”
After saying this and noticing Ji Leyu’s lack of reaction, Lin Fei added, “I mentioned it to you before.”
Ji Leyu then recalled.
Indeed, there was such a person. About three years ago, Lin Fei downloaded a reading app to read books conveniently while on the go.
Occasionally, he would annotate while reading and write down his thoughts. Unexpectedly, this reading app allowed replies to annotations. Through this interaction, Lin Fei got to know some friends who read together, and “Zhong Kou Shuo Jin” was one of them. He was the most talkative and enjoyed discussing with Lin Fei the most.
At that time, out of curiosity, Ji Leyu had peeked at their chat records. He saw that they discussed literary topics that he himself wasn’t interested in, which reassured him.
However, he didn’t expect that after so long, they were still in touch and had even met offline.
Ji Leyu found it somewhat hard to accept.
From childhood until now, Lin Fei had always been alone, and Ji Leyu had always thought it would stay that way forever, with no one else getting close to him.
But now, a second person appeared.
“Did you know in advance that he was transferring here today?” Ji Leyu leaned on the desk, looking at Lin Fei.
“Yeah,” Lin Fei replied to him.
“But you didn’t tell me,” Ji Leyu said with a hint of grievance.
Lin Fei looked up and noticed the hurt in his eyes, and replied truthfully, “I only knew he was transferring to Yizhong.”
“So you agreed to meet at school?”
“No,” Lin Fei’s tone remained calm as ever. “I declined his request to meet. I don’t think just because he transferred here, we should meet.”
“Then what were you two doing just now?”
“But he ended up in our class,” Lin Fei explained.
When Jiang Jingshuo wasn’t in Class 1, Lin Fei wouldn’t meet him because there was no need.
But when Jiang Jingshuo appeared in Class 1 and they saw each other day and night, Lin Fei wouldn’t pretend not to know him either.
Ji Leyu understood what he meant and was momentarily unsure of what to say.
This was a situation he had never imagined. For so many years, Lin Fei had never been interested in making friends. He was naturally aloof, spoke little, and felt detached from everyone around him.
He enjoyed his own world and was content to stay in it.
Ji Leyu had a strong possessive streak and was happy to see things develop this way. He even felt fortunate that Lin Fei had such a personality, ensuring that Ji Leyu was always the only one by his side.
However, Jiang Jingshuo happened to be different from everyone else who appeared before Lin Fei.
He had built a three-year relationship with Lin Fei online, and only later accidentally stumbled into Lin Fei’s real world.
When he was just Jiang Jingshuo, Lin Fei wouldn’t pay him any attention.
But when he became “Zhong Kou Shuo Jin”, they had common topics and a three-year bond, so Lin Fei naturally didn’t treat him as a stranger.
Ji Leyu felt unprecedented frustration. He didn’t understand why “Zhong Kou Shuo Jin” had to overlap with Jiang Jingshuo.
Can’t he just be “Zhong Kou Shuo Jin” online, discussing topics of interest with Lin Fei, without appearing in reality beside him?
Why does he have to join their class?!
Why does he have to recognize Lin Fei and add him on WeChat?!
Does he really just want to be friends with Lin Fei like this?!
Is he even worthy?!
Ji Leyu was full of frustration but couldn’t vent it, and he didn’t want Lin Fei to notice.
He closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m going to sleep for a while.”
Lin Fei was used to Ji Leyu sleeping in class. After all, Ji Leyu’s academic performance didn’t rely on listening in class but on Lin Fei helping him understand things.
He responded and saw that Ji Leyu’s expression was still relatively calm, so he lowered his head to continue reading the book he hadn’t finished.
Teacher Zhao raised her head and saw her two star pupils: one sleeping on the desk and the other openly reading literary classics.
Teacher Zhao: … Is this a math class???
She’s the math teacher, right?!!
Reading literary classics!
Did you score 146 in Chinese like this?!
But he got 150 in math, Ms. Zhao couldn’t help but defend her star pupils again: He scored 150, so naturally, he can read whatever he wants.
Teacher Zhao silently turned away, pretending she didn’t see.
What could she do? Of course, forgive them.
At lunchtime, Jiang Jingshuo walked decisively to Lin Fei’s side and asked him to have lunch together.
Being new to the class, it was rare for Jiang Jingshuo to know someone, especially a friend he had been communicating with for three years. Jiang Jingshuo instinctively felt close to him.
Lin Fei listened to his invitation and replied, “Next time, I’ll treat you.”
“Okay,” Jiang Jingshuo readily agreed. “Then I’ll head off.”
“Mm.”
Watching Jiang Jingshuo leave, Ji Leyu suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a good thing Lin Fei didn’t agree. Otherwise, he might not have been able to eat lunch today.
But if he refused today, what about tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?
Now that Lin Fei and Jiang Jingshuo have added each other on WeChat and become friends, they will inevitably eat together in the future. It’s normal for friends to eat together, even if he doesn’t feel like it in his heart, he can’t stop it.
— After all, throughout Lin Fei’s life, this is the only friend he’s willing to make.
This is the only one he chooses himself.
Ji Leyu felt restless again, but he didn’t show it on his face. He smiled and calmly walked out of the classroom with Lin Fei.
He quickly devised a plan while eating and messaged Shi Qi.
Ji Leyu: [Starting from tomorrow, you’re going to have lunch with Jiang Jingshuo every day.]
Shi Qi: [Huh? You mean that new transfer student?]
Ji Leyu: [Yeah.]
Shi Qi: [Why though? I don’t want to go, we don’t even know each other.]
Ji Leyu sent him a red envelope worth 200 yuan.
Ji Leyu: [For the meal.]
Shi Qi: !!!
Shi Qi: [Don’t worry, from today onwards, he’s my blood brother from another mother!]
Ji Leyu smiled.
Ji Leyu: [That’s the best, then. Since he’s your brother, make sure to chat more after school.]
Shi Qi: …
Shi Qi puzzled: [Why are you so concerned about him?]
Ji Leyu: [Unity, kindness, caring for classmates, and creating a better class together. These are the duties every model student should fulfill.]
Shi Qi: […Do you think I believe that?]
Ji Leyu sent another red envelope.
Shi Qi: [Of course I believe it! Good brother! I’ll vote for you as the model student this year! Having you in Class 1 is amazing!]
Ji Leyu: [Don’t tell anyone else.]
Shi Qi: [Definitely not.]
With everything arranged, Ji Leyu finally felt less agitated. He put down his phone and looked at Lin Fei, smiling gently at him, like there was hidden sweetness, “I want to taste your soup.”
Lin Fei pushed the soup bowl towards him.
Ji Leyu picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful, tasted it, and then pushed it back towards Lin Fei.
He was waiting for Lin Fei to bring up inviting Jiang Jingshuo for a meal. Lin Fei had just said “next time,” not next week, not next month, but next time—a vague time, a day that could happen anytime.
However, Lin Fei never broached the topic. Ji Leyu stared at him, watching as he finished his meal, picked up the spoon that had been in the soup bowl and used it moments ago, scooped a spoonful of soup and brought it to his lips.
He’s using the same spoon he used, Ji Leyu thought, watching Lin Fei’s lips where he had just sipped from, suddenly feeling an indescribable sensation, a belated joy.
Even if Lin Fei and Jiang Jingshuo ate together, he wouldn’t use the spoon Jiang Jingshuo had used.
He wouldn’t even allow Jiang Jingshuo to scoop the soup he had already drunk.
He would only let Jiang Jingshuo order a new portion for himself.
Ji Leyu tilted his head and smiled slowly.
His joy was evident, his amber eyes gently curved like two crescent moons, resembling small bridges.
“I want to take another sip,” Ji Leyu teased.
Lin Fei put down the spoon, ready to push the soup bowl towards him, but heard Ji Leyu’s soft, coquettish voice, “Why don’t you just scoop a spoonful and feed me directly?”
Lin Fei: …
Ji Leyu blinked innocently, looking pure and innocent.
Seeing him in this state again, Lin Fei amusedly admired him for a while. Only when he had seen enough did he slowly raise his hand, scoop a spoonful of soup, and feed him.
Ji Leyu was delighted, drinking the soup following his gesture. Then, as if remembering something, he said seriously, “You’re not allowed to feed anyone else.”
Lin Fei: …
Lin Fei withdrew the spoon and stirred the soup in the bowl. “Normally, starting from the age of two, people can eat by themselves.”
Ji Leyu confidently retorted, “Well, I’m different. I’m a big baby. Even when I’m twenty, you can still feed me.”
Lin Fei almost burst out laughing at his shameless yet proud remarks.
He glanced at Ji Leyu, with three parts disdain, three parts helplessness, and four parts indulgent resignation.
Ji Leyu grinned triumphantly. “Anyway, you’re only allowed to feed me. I’ll write it down as Rule 375 when I get back.”
Lin Fei ignored him and took a sip of soup.
Ji Leyu watched as Lin Fei’s lips touched the same spot where his had just been, soft and moist. The clear soup from the spoon gradually entered his mouth, moistening his lips, making their gentle color even more vibrant. For a moment, Ji Leyu found it hard to look away.
He felt an indescribable sensation in his heart, soft and fleeting, like being brushed by feathers.
Ji Leyu pursed his lips, feeling that he wanted another sip of soup.
“I want another spoonful,” he couldn’t help but say.
Lin Fei didn’t even lift his head. “I’ll just order another serving for you.”
“No, I want to drink from yours.”
“Then I’ll order another for myself.”
“Do you dare!”
Lin Fei: …
Lin Fei looked up. “You’re so childish.”
Ji Leyu rested his chin on his hand, unabashed. “Well, being a big baby means I’m childish.”
With that said, he grinned and opened his mouth wide. “Ahh~”
Lin Fei chuckled softly and finally spooned some soup, feeding it to him.
Ji Leyu stared at him with a wide smile, feeling pure joy inside.
Author’s Note:
Lin Fei: He’s so childish.
Ji Leyu: I’m a big baby and proud of it!