The night was hazy.
Liang Zhiyi’s proud voice echoed in Pei Chen’s ear, like sparks crackling, igniting a warmth within.
Pei Chen took a step back, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he spoke after a moment, his tone still calm, “What I did was within the duties of a class monitor.”
She lightly responded with an “oh” and smiled:
“Alright then, I hope that everything the class monitor does in the future remains within the scope of your duties.”
Pei Chen met her gaze, his eyes rippling slightly, but he didn’t say anything, as if his emotions were completely hidden.
He spoke plainly, “Go sit in the infirmary.”
She leaned against a pillar, looked up at him, and blinked:
“Pei Chen, my foot hurts, I can’t walk anymore.”
With a pitiful expression, she asked, “Could you give me a hand?”
“Helping each other is a traditional virtue of the Chinese people.”
Pei Chen looked at her, and after a few seconds, he said lightly, “Then I’ll go into the infirmary and get you a crutch.”
“?”
“Or I’ll get you a wheelchair, and someone can push you back later.”
“…”
Liang Zhiyi replied, “Well, that wouldn’t be impossible.”
Then, with a bit more seriousness, she said she wouldn’t go into the infirmary; she would just stand at the door for a while. Just then, the instructor arrived, so Pei Chen led the instructor inside to check on Gao Jia.
As soon as Pei Chen left, Ji Fei’er came out and walked over to Liang Zhiyi, teasing, “I was worried your foot was really hurting, but it turns out you and Pei Chen were having a little alone time here.”
Liang Zhiyi smiled, “Did you help me out earlier?”
“Of course, I specifically told him that you had twisted your ankle, but were you deliberately acting helpless in front of him?”
Liang Zhiyi glanced at her, “Do you think I’d resort to such tactics?”
At that moment, she had seen that Gao Jia really couldn’t walk, so she did it instinctively. She wouldn’t go as far as to hurt her foot just to pursue someone.
Ji Fei’er smiled and leaned against the pillar, looking at her with a sigh, “Zhizhi, I never thought you’d be like this with Pei Chen.”
“Hmm?”
“Because in my mind, you’ve always been like a little princess. I thought it would always be others pursuing you. Hey, don’t you feel like you’re losing face by being so forward with Pei Chen?”
Liang Zhiyi looked up at the night sky, sighing, “I used to think like that too, but I just can’t help it.”
“Is Pei Chen really that great? Look at how mesmerized you are.”
Liang Zhiyi smiled without denying it, and then Ji Fei’er asked, “Are you going to stay out here? Not going in?”
“Yeah, I’ll wait until Gao Jia is rested and then call me.”
Ji Fei’er knew that Liang Zhiyi didn’t like the smell of disinfectant, so she didn’t insist. “I’ll go inside first.”
“Okay.”
—
That night, after Gao Jia’s fever subsided, the three girls returned to the dormitory.
The next day, Gao Jia took a sick leave to rest in the dormitory. Liang Zhiyi swapped beds with her so that she wouldn’t have to be directly under the air conditioning.
In the morning, everyone gathered downstairs. When Liang Zhiyi walked into the lineup, she noticed that Pei Chen had already arrived.
She took her place in the line, turned her head, and smiled at him, “Good morning, Pei Chen.”
Liang Zhiyi’s voice was sweet and clear. Hearing it, Pei Chen looked up and met her bright eyes, responding in his usual calm tone.
He then asked, “How is Gao Jia?”
“Her fever has gone down. She’s resting in the dorm today, so she should be fine.”
He acknowledged her response, and Liang Zhiyi pouted slightly, “Class Monitor, why don’t you show some concern for Student Liang?”
Recalling how energetic she seemed when he saw her come downstairs, he said indifferently, “You don’t look like you have any problems.”
She let out a soft snort. Just as they were speaking, a gentle female voice interrupted, “Pei Chen—”
Liang Zhiyi turned her head to see a girl with a gentle and serene demeanor walking up to them. She was quite pretty.
Sang Xunling, holding a small notebook of English vocabulary in her hand, approached Pei Chen with a bright smile. “Pei Chen, can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
“It’s this—why do you use this sentence structure…”
Watching this, Liang Zhiyi was stunned by how diligent these people were, studying even during military training. And what had she been doing all this time…
Pei Chen explained it to her, and Sang Xunling nodded in understanding, smiling, “As expected, you’re the best.”
After speaking, she turned her gaze to Liang Zhiyi.
Even up close, Liang Zhiyi’s beauty was breathtaking.
Sang Xunling quickly arched her brows in a friendly manner, “I know you’re Liang Zhiyi, the new transfer to our class, right? We haven’t had a chance to talk during these first few days of military training.”
Liang Zhiyi lightly arched her brows and responded, to which Sang Xunling introduced herself and then kindly said, “I’m the vice class monitor. If you need any help in class, feel free to ask me.”
“Okay.”
After the morning assembly, the instructor mentioned Gao Jia’s fever last night and praised the students who helped, particularly commending Liang Zhiyi for her helpful nature. Hearing this, the class’s affection for her increased significantly.
Over the past few days, the girls in the class gradually realized that Liang Zhiyi was not as difficult to get along with as they had imagined. On the contrary, thanks to the good upbringing she received from a young age, she was quite likable in many ways.
The boys had long been captivated by Liang Zhiyi’s looks.
During a break in the morning’s military training, Sang Xunling and a friend went to buy water. When they returned to the base, they happened to overhear a few boys from their class chatting under the shade of a tree:
“Liang Zhiyi is really beautiful. I think she’s the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen at this school.”
“Hey, didn’t you say the school beauty was the prettiest before?”
“That was before Liang Zhiyi came to our school. Besides, she’s tall, and her legs are so long and slender…”
“Dude, you’re always staring at her legs. That’s so creepy…”
As Sang Xunling and her friend passed by and overheard the conversation, Sang Xunling’s friend paused, clearly annoyed. “Lingling, don’t listen to those jerks. They’re disgusting. I think you’re the prettiest.”
Sang Xunling glanced at the distant figure of the fair-skinned, red-lipped girl and smiled slightly:
“She really is beautiful.”
Her friend snorted, “Don’t you think she’s been forming cliques since she joined our class? A lot of girls are flocking to her just because she’s rich. I think she’s really manipulative.”
Sang Xunling smiled gently, her eyes curving, “Don’t say that. She has nothing to do with us, and she seems like a pretty nice person…”
Her friend sighed, “Lingling, you’re just too naive and simple.”
Sang Xunling gave a small smile, but said nothing as she looked again at Liang Zhiyi in the distance.
—
For the next two days, the main tasks for everyone were practicing military boxing drills and organizing the formations.
The week passed quickly.
On the final morning, all the sophomore classes participated in a grand review of their military training results, and Class 9 earned first place.
Though there wasn’t any substantial prize, just a certificate, it was still a source of great pride.
After lunch in the cafeteria, everyone prepared to take the bus back to school. Even the usually stern instructor had become noticeably gentler before the farewell.
After a reluctant goodbye to the instructor, the students started boarding the bus one by one. Liang Zhiyi and Ji Fei’er boarded later, and at that moment, a row of seats in the middle happened to be empty.
Ji Fei’er took one of the seats, and as Liang Zhiyi was about to sit down, she noticed that the seat by the aisle was dirty. The fabric of the seat had some kind of stain on it, left from who knows what.
A bit of a clean freak, Liang Zhiyi asked Ji Fei’er, “Should we sit further back?”
“Huh? But the back is really bumpy, and I get carsick…”
Ji Fei’er had severe motion sickness and had nearly thrown up on the bus ride there a few days ago.
As Liang Zhiyi was pondering the situation, Ji Fei’er stood up, looked around, and then with a mischievous smile, tugged at her hand, “How about I do you a favor? You can sit next to Pei Chen.”
Liang Zhiyi turned to see Pei Chen sitting alone in the second-to-last row.
Just like last time, he was sitting by himself, and everyone had been wise enough not to disturb him.
Liang Zhiyi chuckled at Ji Fei’er, “Will you miss me if I go?”
“Go, go, go. I was just about to take a nap.”
So, Liang Zhiyi walked over. On the other side, Pei Chen was listening to music with his headphones on when he noticed someone sit down next to him out of the corner of his eye.
He turned his head and met Liang Zhiyi’s bright eyes. She smiled, “Class Monitor, you don’t mind if I sit here, right?”
Pei Chen’s expression paused for a moment before he coolly looked away, “I do mind.”
“Oh, if you mind, I hope you won’t mind too much.”
“…”
“Is there no seat available up front?” he asked.
She lied with a straight face and nodded earnestly, “The seat next to Ji Fei’er is a bit dirty, so I had no choice but to sit here.”
However, he pointed out directly, “There are other empty seats beside other people.”
Liang Zhiyi remained calm, “But I’m not familiar with them. It would be so awkward to sit with them.”
He glanced at her, his expression seemingly saying: *I’m not familiar with you either.*
“Don’t worry, I won’t bother you.”
“Or are you worried that if I sit here, I might disturb the calm of your heart?”
“…”
Pei Chen turned his gaze back, unwilling to engage with her any further.
As the boy focused on what he was doing, Liang Zhiyi had just taken out her headphones to listen to music when a female voice sounded beside her, “Pei Chen, I have a few questions about our class that I’d like to discuss with you.”
Liang Zhiyi looked up to see Sang Xunling standing next to their seats.
Oh, great, she’s here to ask questions again.
Pei Chen heard her and took off one side of his headphones. “What’s up?”
Sang Xunling glanced at Liang Zhiyi, looking a bit uncomfortable, “Zhiyi, I’m sorry, could you move to another seat for a moment? It’s a bit inconvenient for me to stand here…”
Liang Zhiyi met Sang Xunling’s gaze, then stood up gracefully and smiled, “Sure.”
She found another empty seat nearby and sat down casually. Sang Xunling turned her attention back to Pei Chen and sat down beside him.
Her heart beat slightly faster as she smiled shyly and began discussing things with him.
After a while, Pei Chen casually glanced up and noticed Liang Zhiyi sitting in a seat diagonally ahead. She had chosen a random empty spot and was now looking around, clearly bored, her ponytail swaying lightly from side to side, her cheeks white and smooth like porcelain.
Pei Chen lowered his eyelashes, while Sang Xunling continued talking to him. After they finished discussing the class matters, Sang Xunling glanced at Liang Zhiyi before continuing to sit beside him, casually chatting, “Ah, the military training is finally over. I’m so tired. I suddenly realize that studying is much better after all…”
Sang Xunling lamented for a while, but Pei Chen only responded briefly. Then, he asked her in a cool tone, “Is there anything else?”
Sang Xunling caught the underlying meaning in his words, her expression stiffening slightly, but she forced a smile and said, “No, nothing else.”
She stood up and left. Not long after Pei Chen lowered his head again, he suddenly felt someone sit down beside him, bringing with them a sweet, refreshing scent.
He turned his head to see Liang Zhiyi.
She met his gaze and asked, “Finished talking?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you two would chat for a long time.”
“Why did you come back?” he asked.
Liang Zhiyi stretched out, her eyes curving into a smile. “I still think this seat is the most comfortable.”
“…”
Pei Chen remained silent but didn’t tell her to leave.
Liang Zhiyi shifted in her seat, finding the backrest a bit too straight for sleeping. She looked around for a button to adjust it but couldn’t find one, so she asked Pei Chen, “How do you recline this seat?”
Without looking up, he replied, “To the left and behind, adjust it there.”
She searched for a while but still couldn’t figure it out, muttering in confusion, “I can’t seem to find it. How did you adjust yours? Mine doesn’t seem to work, it’s so weird…”
She chattered on like a little sparrow, and then suddenly, she was enveloped in a masculine presence as Pei Chen leaned over, reaching across her to adjust the seat, effectively trapping her in his arms.
Liang Zhiyi was caught off guard and instinctively shrank back, her wide eyes staring at him in surprise. “You, you, you…”
The next moment, the seat reclined back.
Seeing her exaggerated reaction, Pei Chen looked at her expressionlessly and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Blushing, Liang Zhiyi murmured in a small voice, “I thought… you were going to kiss me.”
Pei Chen: “…”