After all these years, this bad habit still hadn’t changed.
He slept through class in elementary school, and he was still sleeping through class in high school.
An Ling remembered how, back in elementary school, Li Yang would often doze off during lessons.
When the teacher called on him to stand and answer a question, he would secretly tug at the hem of her shirt so she could whisper the answer to him from below.
Back then she would always feel both annoyed and helpless, but she would still quietly tell him anyway.
Fortunately, the guy was decent at Chinese and had good reasoning skills.
In the final few weeks before exams he would get some extra help from the teacher, An Ling would explain the problems to him, and if he actually focused a little, he could still pull off pretty good scores.
An Ling had always thought that if Li Yang studied properly, his grades would definitely be better than hers.
An Ling pulled her gaze away and continued taking notes.
She couldn’t get involved in this guy’s business anymore. She shouldn’t let things get too entangled.
***
Time passed slowly, yet An Ling’s eyes kept being drawn to Li Yang.
She was already struggling to keep up with her notes. Her pen tip paused, and old memories kept surfacing in her mind.
Back then she used to sit right next to Li Yang.
Every time he fell asleep, she had to keep watch for him—if the teacher started walking over, she would quickly wake him.
Sometimes he slept so deeply that no matter how she called him he wouldn’t stir, and the teacher would catch him red-handed.
He would end up standing for the rest of the class as punishment.
Then during break Li Yang would grumble at her, complaining that she hadn’t woken him up.
Every time An Ling would sulk, and every time Li Yang would buy her snacks to apologize.
“Is there a new student in your class?” the math teacher suddenly asked.
An Ling startled and quickly stood up. “Here, teacher. That’s me.”
“Oh, good. Come up and solve this problem.”
An Ling glanced at the blackboard.
It was an analytic geometry question—not particularly difficult, but having to go up to the board still made her nervous.
Nervously clutching her textbook and draft notebook, she walked up to the podium.
She picked up the chalk and wrote out the solution steps one by one.
After each line she would glance at the math teacher, only continuing when she saw he wasn’t frowning.
It took her a while to finish.
After the final stroke, An Ling set the chalk down and looked at the math teacher.
The teacher adjusted his reading glasses and nodded.
“Not bad. The education in H City is pretty solid. What’s your name?”
“Teacher, my name is An Ling.”
“Alright, you may return to your seat. I just wanted to check your level.”
An Ling nodded and went back to her desk.
Zhou Meng leaned over and whispered, “Not bad at all, An Ling. You did well.”
An Ling shook her head.
“No, I just happened to know how to do this one.”
“Modest.”
Zhou Meng winked.
“I’m rooting for you.”
An Ling didn’t reply and lowered her head to look at her textbook.
But her ears caught a faint sound.
The teacher seemed to be looking this way.
An Ling’s hand moved faster than her brain—she subconsciously poked Li Yang’s back.
Li Yang wasn’t sleeping too deeply.
He instantly understood the familiar signal and sat up straight in a second.
The math teacher scanned the room once, then lowered his head back to the lesson plan.
Li Yang turned around, rubbed his eyes, and gave An Ling a thumbs-up.
Fine, An Ling thought speechlessly.
It’s exactly the same as elementary school.
Why does my stupid hand always insist on meddling?
Li Yang turned back toward the blackboard.
The handwriting there was familiar, only more refined now.
“You went up to solve a problem just now?”
“Mhm.” An Ling answered coldly.
Li Yang didn’t mind.
He turned back around and continued lying on his desk, but this time he didn’t sleep—he simply stared off into space.
This guy… after all these years, he hasn’t changed one bit. So carefree, like a kid, An Ling grumbled inwardly.
Her thoughts drifted to those memory fragments and the death she could never escape no matter what she did.
Her heart sank again.
What exactly was the “natural solution” Mom had mentioned?
All she knew was that, from the current situation, completely avoiding Li Yang seemed unrealistic.
They were in the same class, their seats were this close, and they saw each other constantly—how was she supposed to avoid him?
An Ling sighed and forced her attention back to the blackboard.
Whatever. She would take it one step at a time.
When the lunch bell rang, An Ling was about to head to the cafeteria when Li Yang blocked her at her seat.
“Let’s go eat.” Li Yang said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
An Ling looked at him.
“I can go by myself. No need to trouble you.”
“How could I let that happen?”
Li Yang frowned.
“You just got here. Do you even know where the cafeteria is? Or which window has the good stuff?”
“I can ask someone.”
“Asking someone is bothering them. It’s better to bother me—I don’t mind at all.”
An Ling wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t come up with a good way to do it.
When it came to verbal sparring, she was no match for Li Yang.
“Sigh! Come on, let’s go.”
Li Yang pulled her out of her seat.
“I can walk by myself.”
“Fine, then follow right behind me.”
Li Yang said as he headed out.
“Don’t lose me like you used to when we walked together.”
An Ling stood in place, watching Li Yang’s back. Her tail swished unconsciously.
This person… why is he still so self-assured about everything?
An Ling turned to look at Zhou Meng, her new deskmate.
“Go on, go on.”
Zhou Meng said with a smile from the side.
“I’m heading home to eat. My house is right next to the school, so I won’t keep you company.”
An Ling pressed her lips together, but in the end she followed him.
The cafeteria wasn’t far from the teaching building—just a few minutes’ walk.
It was peak lunch hour.
The place was packed, with long lines at every window.
Li Yang led An Ling through the crowd and expertly joined the line at one particular window.
“The braised pork ribs at this window are the best, but you have to come early. If you’re late, they’ll be sold out.”
Li Yang turned back to explain.
“Over there is the noodle window. The beef noodles are good too—the meat portions are decent and the broth is excellent, but there aren’t many noodles. It should be enough for you, but not for me. I always have to pay an extra yuan to add more. And over there is…”
An Ling listened to his endless chatter as her gaze swept across the cafeteria.
The cafeteria here was pretty decent—better than she had imagined.
There were quite a few windows; it would take more than a day or two to try everything.
There were also more beastkin students than she expected.
Various ears and tails swayed through the crowd.
There was even a tentaclekin with several huge octopus tentacles.
Judging by tail size, hers counted as large, but hers had more fur, so it didn’t actually look as big as it seemed.
“Oh right, what do you want to eat?” Li Yang asked.
“Anything. I don’t know what’s good.”
“Anything? Braised pork ribs? Or zhajiang noodles?”
“Braised pork ribs then. I’ll try that.”
“Got it.”
Li Yang turned back, then turned around again as if remembering something.
“Oh right, do you have a meal card?”
An Ling paused. “Not yet.”
“I knew it.” Li Yang pulled a card from his pocket. “Use mine for now. I’ll take you to get one this afternoon.”
An Ling looked at him, hesitated for a moment. It seemed she had no choice.
“Thanks. I’ll give you the money after school.”
“Why so polite with me?”
Li Yang waved it off and continued queuing.
An Ling’s gaze focused on the meal card in Li Yang’s hand.
There was a cute little wolf sticker on it that completely clashed with Li Yang’s carefree image.