After Lin Yi’s regrettable defeat, she didn’t speak a single word the entire evening.
Yan Jianxing even thought that the cafeteria food from dinner had made Lin Yi sick, and considered messaging Su Kui to ask if she’d bring food tomorrow.
But Lin Yi wasn’t a psychologically fragile woman. It was normal for a person to encounter setbacks, but collapsing before them was something that could only happen to a hero in their twilight years.
After showering, Lin Yi lay on her bed, her fair and tender little feet propped up, as she tapped on her phone to reply to messages.
Feng Chuyue: Unhappy?
Lin Yi: You play badminton so well.
Feng Chuyue: The Children’s Palace taught me. I was first place back then.
Lin Yi: I’m ashamed to say it, but I’ve lived my whole life not knowing what a Children’s Palace is.
Feng Chuyue: It’s a place with many enemies. Everyone fights on the same stage, competing for first place.
Lin Yi: Like the Number One Under Heaven Martial Arts Tournament?
After a while, Feng Chuyue seemed to have deliberated for a long time before sending her next message.
Feng Chuyue: Do you… like eating boxed lunches?
Lin Yi: I like eating tasty boxed lunches.
Feng Chuyue: What about not tasty ones?
Lin Yi: That depends on who made it. If my mom worked hard to make it, I’d eat it no matter how bad it was.
Lin Yi waited for a while but saw no new message, so she got out of bed to get a cup of hot water.
Feng Chuyue: Can I be your mom?
“Pfft—”
“Whoa, Lin Yi, what’s wrong? Cosplaying as the Water Dragon King?” Yan Jianxing, who was browsing her phone at the head of the bed, heard the noise and leaned over the edge of the bed, looking surprised.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
“Are you okay?” Yan Jianxing climbed down the bed ladder and patted Lin Yi’s back. “Here, tissue.”
“Thanks.”
Lin Yi wiped her mouth, then picked up the mop and started cleaning the floor.
Lin Yi: I’ll think about it.
Feng Chuyue: I’m just afraid if I make it badly, you’ll be unhappy.
Lin Yi: The way you put it… no matter what, it’s your heartfelt effort. How could I possibly…
Lin Yi: Wait, do you mean… you want to make a boxed lunch for me?
Feng Chuyue: Mhm.
Lin Yi frowned, thinking it over, utterly perplexed.
She decided to consult Yan Jianxing, another beautiful girl.
“Yan Jianxing, under what circumstances would you want to make a boxed lunch for me?”
Yan Jianxing turned her head, looked at the ceiling for a moment, and answered, “In the circumstance where my grandma made a boxed lunch for me.”
Wow, skipping a generation.
“Why?”
“Then I could share a portion with you. My grandma’s cooking is delicious.”
This one belonged to the ‘borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha’ school, clearly not grasping the core point of Lin Yi’s question.
She decided to seek help from another beautiful girl, Su Kui.
Lin Yi: Su Kui, under what circumstances would you want to make a boxed lunch for me?
Ten seconds later, Su Kui sent a picture—a meticulously decorated bento box.
This one was even more of an action-taker, already in the process of making a boxed lunch.
But Lin Yi still couldn’t understand why Feng Chuyue wanted to make a boxed lunch for her.
Was it simply because she thought Lin Yi liked eating them and wanted to please her? Or did she want to show off her cooking skills?
Or perhaps, to compete with Su Kui?
However, Lin Yi didn’t ask further. She just sent Feng Chuyue one more message.
Lin Yi: It feels like too much trouble for you. Let’s talk about it next time there’s a chance.
After that, she brushed her teeth, washed her face, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
—
—
The gloomy weather still hung over Suzhou’s sky.
Although today’s weather forecast had already indicated thunderstorms, from morning until noon, it had just been overcast, with barely a few drops of rain falling.
The girls in the class were already discussing how annoying this typhoon, arriving on the tail end of summer, was.
“I heard it will pass through Shenzhen today or tomorrow, then head north through Suzhou.”
“Eh—so doesn’t that mean Friday and the weekend will be rainy weather?”
“You’re too optimistic. It might even be thunderstorms. Look, today’s marked as thunderstorms too.”
The voices reached Lin Yi’s side. Yan Jianxing also glanced at the leaden sky outside the window.
The feeling of damp, stuffy heat in the air was hard to shake off. Even without P.E. class, everyone felt sticky all over.
Especially Lin Yi. Right now, she had her hair tied up in a bun, with stray hairs often fluttering around her temples and the nape of her neck. It looked… very alluring.
“I heard this typhoon could reach Category 16 when it makes landfall,” Yan Jianxing said, taking out a small fan. “Do you know what Category 16 means?”
“Nope.”
“If it’s over the sea, it can cause waves over fourteen meters high!” Yan Jianxing made an exaggerated gesture. “Fourteen meters!”
Su Kui put down her chopsticks and looked at Lin Yi. “I wonder if classes will be suspended tomorrow.”
“At least they’re not suspended today.”
Class Monitor Huang Jinfei came in from the corridor, knocked on the podium, and announced loudly, “The school has decided! Evening self-study is canceled tonight. Go home after the last class this afternoon!”
“Great!”
“Maybe we won’t have classes tomorrow either! That would be Friday, Saturday, Sunday—a three-day mini-holiday!”
“Wake up. Even if it’s a three-day break, they’ll definitely assign homework in the group chat in the end. And with a typhoon outside, there’s no way to go out and have fun anyway.”
Huang Jinfei returned to her seat and complained to the girl next to her, “Dumbass school. The damn typhoon warning was issued the day before yesterday. They still can’t bear to give us a day off today. The Experimental Middle School next door suspended classes this morning.”
Lin Yi’s eyes widened like copper bells. It was the first time she’d heard curse words from a girl’s mouth.
And it was the class monitor cursing the school. Truly rare.
Su Kui clasped her hands together. “That’s much more relaxing. If we get three days off…”
Yan Jianxing, with a toothpick in her mouth, said, “You day students have it easy. We boarders will most likely still have to do self-study in the classroom. Who knows how the school will arrange things.”
Lin Yi lay face down on the desk. She had only eaten half of the braised pork rice she’d brought from the cafeteria. Today, she had temptingly ordered it, but the sticky air was making her feel a bit nauseous.
Yan Jianxing fanned Lin Yi with her small fan. Lin Yi grinned. “Yan Jianxing is still the one who’s good to me.”
“Of course.” After saying that, Yan Jianxing glanced at the classroom air conditioner. “Breaking down at just the right time.”
“Even if it were working, it’d be damn useless,” Huang Jinfei rolled her eyes beside them. “Fuck it. Setting it to sixteen degrees feels the same as thirty-six. Is the school even skimping on electricity?”
Feng Chuyue looked at Lin Yi lying soft and limp on the desk, hesitating to speak.
Finally, Lin Yi’s phone lit up.
“Huh?”
She opened her phone and saw a message from Feng Chuyue.
Feng Chuyue: If there’s a holiday, can’t we come to school anymore?
Lin Yi: Typhoon days aren’t a joke. Go home if you should go home.
Feng Chuyue: But it’s clearly not raining outside.
Lin Yi: Who knows? Don’t challenge the planet with your own self.
Feng Chuyue didn’t reply again. She glanced at Lin Yi’s half-eaten braised pork rice on the desk and blinked.
A faint vibration came from the windows. Plans couldn’t keep up with changes.
Everyone had thought they could still have classes in the afternoon, but halfway through the first period, the Old Class Teacher walked in from outside.
“Official Five Stops! Classes are suspended. Everyone pack your bags! Day students, go home! Boarders, return to the dormitory!”
“Hooray!”
“Long live the Old Class Teacher!”
With a wave of the Old Class Teacher’s hand, everyone packed their bags and flew out of the classroom door.
Lin Yi and Yan Jianxing walked out together through the back door, just as Class 2, Grade 1 had also suspended classes. Students were streaming out one after another.
Naturally, that included Jian Shuye, whose stunning looks couldn’t be obscured even by the overcast sky.
But Jian Shuye only gave Lin Yi a faint glance, her gaze not lingering, before turning and heading downstairs with her backpack.
Yan Jianxing whispered, “Hey, that Jian Shuye hasn’t been to the gym for a while. Do you know where she went?”
Lin Yi quickly waved her hands. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”
“Why are you acting so weird?”
“No reason, I’m perfectly fine, hahaha, the weather’s really nice today.”
“…”
“Let’s go, let’s go, hurry back to the dorm! Your underwear is still drying on the balcony!” Lin Yi dashed downstairs.
Yan Jianxing’s face flushed bright red instantly. She chased after her, shouting, “Don’t say that so loud!”