She frowned in frustration. “Pei Chen, this chair is so noisy. Where can I get a new one?”
“Just don’t move around too much.”
“If I don’t move, I’ll turn into a statue…”
She sighed in exasperation, pouting, “This chair is so noisy, I don’t even want to sit next to you anymore.”
Pei Chen continued marking his paper without looking up, “Then I’ll help you find another seat in the class later.”
“……”
That’s too much!
Liang Zhiyi huffed and turned away, lying on her desk in the other direction, deciding she didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
By Monday morning, most of the subject scores had been released, and by the afternoon, the grade rankings were also posted.
Once again, Pei Chen was ranked first in the grade.
His skills in math, physics, and chemistry were so exceptional that his top spot remained unchallenged.
However, when everyone looked at the name listed as second place, they saw a new name:
Class 9, Liang Zhiyi.
Everyone: What? She’s second in the grade??!
The key point was that she was only seven points behind Pei Chen. In previous years, Pei Chen usually had a lead of more than ten points over the second place, but she had nearly a ten-point lead over the third place.
Sang Xunling only ranked fifth in the grade, with Liang Zhiyi scoring fifteen points higher than her.
Pei Chen and Liang Zhiyi were practically in a league of their own.
The girl’s scores in English and Chinese were higher than Pei Chen’s, and their math scores were almost the same. Her only slightly weaker subject was the sciences, but even there, she ranked among the top.
After the results came out, everyone was amazed by the girl. Many marveled at the strength of someone who had transferred from another school and taken the top spots in the grade. To top it off, she was stunningly beautiful. Soon enough, a thread appeared on the school forum discussing how the top two students in the grade were also the most attractive boy and girl in the entire school. The combination of good looks and academic excellence seemed almost unfair.
Later, someone in the thread leaked that Liang Zhiyi was pursuing Pei Chen, causing the forum to explode with gossip, and many started shipping them as a couple.
But at that moment, Liang Zhiyi wasn’t concerned with any of that.
As evening fell and school ended, her classmates gradually left the classroom. When Pei Chen returned from the office, he noticed that Liang Zhiyi was still at her desk, doing her homework.
He was surprised and casually asked, “Not leaving?”
Liang Zhiyi put down her pen, packed her bag, stood up, and turned to glare at him with mock anger:
“Seven points. I will never forgive you.”
Pei Chen: ?
It was only after Liang Zhiyi left that Pei Chen realized what she meant, and he couldn’t help but smile slightly.
As Xuan Xia finished packing his bag, he turned to Pei Chen, “Are you ready? Let’s go?”
Pei Chen seemed to remember something and said, “You go ahead. I have something to do.”
With that, he left the classroom.
Five minutes later, he returned from the equipment storage room to find Xuan Xia still in the classroom, waiting for him.
Xuan Xia wasn’t in a hurry to leave and was playing on his phone. When he turned and saw Pei Chen, he asked, “Hey, why did you bring back a chair?”
Pei Chen didn’t say anything as he took away Liang Zhiyi’s old chair and replaced it with the new one he had just brought.
Xuan Xia asked, “Why are you switching out her chair?”
Pei Chen replied calmly, “The old chair was a bit broken.”
She had mentioned that morning that she didn’t even want to sit next to him because of the noisy chair—what if she was serious?
Lowering his gaze, Pei Chen quietly replaced her chair with the new one.
The next day, when Liang Zhiyi arrived in class and sat down, after a while, she noticed something was different.
Wait, why isn’t the chair making any noise?!
Looking down, she realized it was a new chair.
Surprised that her chair had been replaced, she went to ask Pei Chen about it. The boy didn’t say much and seemed unaware, so she just let it go.
After class started, Pei Chen suddenly noticed that Liang Zhiyi wasn’t chatting with him as much and was instead paying extra attention to the lesson.
He wondered if something was bothering her and tried to start a conversation: “This math problem you’re working on…”
But the girl quickly cut him off:
“Let’s talk after class. I need to focus.”
“…?”
After class, Liang Zhiyi closed her book, turned to Pei Chen, and straightened up proudly, “Pei Chen, just because I like you doesn’t mean you’re not my competitor.”
Pei Chen: ?
She pouted slightly and whispered, “I’m definitely going to outscore you. Just wait and see.”
Then she slumped forward onto her desk, continuing with her homework.
Pei Chen watched her, the corners of his lips curling downward slightly.
Why is her competitive spirit so cute?
Despite her words about being rivals, she wasn’t truly upset with him.
Ever since she was a child, Liang Zhiyi had always held herself to high standards, striving to be the best. To her, Pei Chen was someone she both admired and wanted to surpass.
She giggled to herself—she was determined to both catch up to him and outscore him.
On Wednesday evening, the second group match took place, with No. 1 High facing Lincheng No. 18 High.
Because it was a Wednesday, and with a light rain falling outside, not many students came to watch the game.
Most of the spectators were from No. 18 High, and their energy was noticeably stronger than No. 1 High’s.
As they warmed up on the sidelines, Lan Zhi joked with a sigh, “Today, if we don’t score, it’s going to be dead silent in here, isn’t it?”
Everyone laughed, and Xuan Xia replied, “No worries, we’ll make sure those who came to watch go home full of frustration.”
Just before taking the court, Pei Chen suddenly noticed a familiar figure in the stands—Liang Zhiyi.
She was waving in their direction, and when their eyes met, she flashed him a radiant smile. “Pei Chen, good luck!”
Pei Chen looked at her, momentarily stunned.
She had said she didn’t want to miss any of his games, and even though it was raining, she had still come.
But she wasn’t alone. Liang Zhiyi had brought Ji Fei’er, Zhi Mian, Fan Gao, and several other students from No. 1 High, both boys and girls, some even carrying glow sticks and support signs.
Fan Gao and the others waved excitedly at the team, shouting, “Go, No. 1 High! Give it your all!”
Seeing their support, the team members were instantly energized.
“Who said No. 1 High doesn’t have supporters!”
“Our school is the best! We have to win! We can’t let them come out here for nothing!”
As the game began, more and more students from No. 1 High showed up to watch, proving that even the faintest lighthouse in a vast ocean can provide enough strength to keep going.
Although the cheers for No. 1 High weren’t as loud as the opposing team’s when they scored, the players knew they weren’t fighting alone. There were still people beside them, battling together.
…
In the end, No. 1 High won the second group match smoothly.
Their opponents in the first two matches weren’t very strong, so the games weren’t too difficult. With two consecutive wins, No. 1 High was now leading their group in points.
On Saturday evening, they would face their third group match, the most crucial one yet.
On Friday afternoon, during the fourth period, the school team held a pre-game meeting. Since the next game was a home match, No. 1 High was responsible for logistics, and a few representatives from the logistics team also needed to attend the meeting.
Liang Zhiyi had volunteered to be the logistics team leader, so she, along with the teacher in charge of logistics and another student, were also going to the meeting.
After gym class that afternoon, Liang Zhiyi headed to the physical education office with Pei Chen and Xuan Xia.
As they passed by the small convenience store, Pei Chen went in to buy some water, while Liang Zhiyi picked out a few snacks.
As they left the store, she handed a bag of shrimp chips to Xuan Xia and then offered another to Pei Chen with a bright smile. “Want some?”
“No.”
“Oh, then I’ll eat it myself.”
Seeing how happy she was, Pei Chen couldn’t help but show a hint of exasperation. “These aren’t good for you. You should eat less of them.”
“Let me tell you, these kinds of snacks were never allowed in my house growing up. My mom never let me have them. Now that I’m at school and she can’t stop me, I’ve got to make up for lost time, right?”
“…”
She struggled to tear open the shrimp chip bag but couldn’t manage it. Then, the bag was suddenly taken from her hands.
Pei Chen tore open the bag and handed it back to her.
The girl accepted it with a cheerful smile, while Xuan Xia, standing nearby, handed his own bag of shrimp chips to Pei Chen, teasing in a mock-pouty voice, “Pei Chen, I don’t have the strength either. Can you open this for me too?”
“…”
Pei Chen was clearly disgusted. “Get lost.”
“Hey, don’t be so biased!”
Liang Zhiyi burst into laughter. “Xuan Xia, if you were a girl, maybe you’d have a chance, hahaha…”
Xuan Xia retorted, “Ha, even if I were a girl, it wouldn’t work!”
It was clear that only Liang Zhiyi had this kind of influence on Pei Chen.
The three of them joked and laughed as they made their way to the administration building. As they began to climb the stairs, Xuan Xia clutched his stomach. “I can’t do this. My stomach hurts a bit.”
Liang Zhiyi asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Maybe it was those shrimp chips you gave me.”
“Get out of here, there’s no way you digested them that fast!” she shot back, especially since she was perfectly fine.
“I need to hit the bathroom. Wait for me here…”
Xuan Xia hurried off to the restroom, leaving Liang Zhiyi and Pei Chen waiting in the stairwell.
No one else was around at that moment, and Liang Zhiyi turned to face Pei Chen, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Pei Chen, I found out something interesting today.”
The boy was sipping his water, looking down at her as the sunlight outside filtered through, casting a warm glow on his white shirt.
With a playful smile, she continued, “I heard from Xuan Xia this afternoon that you were the one who switched my chair. And here you were, pretending you didn’t know anything.”
Pei Chen was silent for a moment. After finishing his water, he calmly screwed the cap back on and said, “I just happened to pass by the equipment room and thought of it, so I replaced it for you.”
“I don’t believe you did it just ‘by the way.'”
Pei Chen remained silent. Suddenly, the girl snatched the bottle of water from his hand and hid it behind her back, looking up at him with a mischievous smile. “Come on, admit it—you act like you don’t care, but you actually care about me a lot, don’t you?”
Seeing that he still wasn’t responding, she pouted playfully. “Fine, if you won’t admit it, I won’t give you your water back.”
She slowly took a few steps back, but just then, Pei Chen stepped forward, raising his hand. In one swift motion, he cupped the back of her head.
Her head was safely cradled in his palm, narrowly avoiding hitting the wall.
She found herself pressed against the wall as he withdrew his hand. The next moment, he leaned in slightly, his powerful presence overwhelming her, as if he were about to pull her into his arms.
Her eyes widened, her heart pounding like a drum. All she could see was Pei Chen reaching behind her, retrieving the water bottle from her hand. Then, he looked up, meeting her wide, water-bright eyes, and spoke in a low, raspy voice:
“Don’t mess around.”