“What are you thinking about? You’re spacing out just washing your hands.”
Wang Hao finished washing his hands and was about to pull out a tissue to dry them when he noticed Li Yang standing in front of the sink, eyes empty, blankly letting the water keep running over his hands.
“Oh, oh.”
Li Yang came back to himself, turned off the faucet, and dried his hands.
“Nothing. Let’s go back to the classroom.”
Li Yang of course wouldn’t deliberately ignore An Ling just because he was angry with her.
This morning he had also been thinking the whole time, his mind completely occupied with how he could uncover An Ling’s secret.
Although he would rather hear it from An Ling’s own mouth, since An Ling wouldn’t tell him, he could only find a way himself.
He walked down the corridor together with Wang Hao. People came and went along the corridor.
A few girls from the neighboring class passed by. One of them with a ponytail glanced at Li Yang, said something quietly to her companions, and then the few of them laughed together.
Wang Hao looked back once and lowered his voice.
“Hey, those girls seem to be talking about you. That girl looks pretty good.”
“I can’t control what other people want to talk about.”
Li Yang showed little reaction.
“Whether she’s good-looking or not, I’m not interested either.”
“You guy.” Wang Hao shook his head and leaned in a little closer.
“So many girls like you. How come you have zero interest in girls? You’re not gay, are you?”
Li Yang didn’t even stop walking and shot him a white-eyed look. “Don’t make me beat you up.”
“Then what is it? It’s impossible that you’re naturally so Buddhist that you have zero interest in worldly desires, right? And I see you going around with An Ling every day. What’s the relationship between you and An Ling really? Are you truly just childhood friends?”
Li Yang’s steps paused for a moment. “What else would it be?”
“Nothing much. I just feel you two are too close.” Wang Hao scratched his head. “Going to school together and leaving together every day, even eating lunch together. People who don’t know might think you two…”
“Think what? Is there a problem with childhood friends going to and from school together?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. The key is that classmate An Ling looks too much like… you get what I mean, right? It’s very easy for people to misunderstand.”
Li Yang’s expression turned serious and he glared at him.
“Don’t say these kinds of words in front of An Ling. If I find out you did, I’ll definitely peel a layer of skin off you.”
“Alright, alright. I’m only saying it to you.”
Seeing Li Yang like this, Wang Hao quickly backed down.
The two reached the classroom door. Li Yang pushed it open and went in.
The classroom was noisy.
Classmates were gathered in twos and threes chatting.
An Ling sat in her seat with her head lowered, flipping through a textbook.
Her tail hung beside the chair, and her ears were also listlessly drooping.
Zhou Meng wasn’t in her seat.
She had probably gone to the office to hand something in.
Li Yang walked back to his own seat and sat down.
He felt a gaze from behind.
That gaze stayed for a few seconds and then moved away again.
The second period was math.
The math teacher walked into the classroom carrying a stack of test papers, pushed up the reading glasses on the bridge of her nose, and swept her gaze around the classroom once.
“We’re not covering new material today. We’re doing a small quiz.”
A wave of wails immediately rose in the classroom.
“Teacher, why another test?”
“Isn’t there still a big exam next week? Why test today too?”
“Can we test next time instead?”
The math teacher knocked on the podium.
“Quiet. Just one small paper. Two periods of time. Everyone do it seriously. I’ll look at them one by one.”
The papers were passed from the front to the back. An Ling received the paper and first quickly scanned through it once.
Fortunately, it was all content covered recently. Not too difficult.
She picked up her pen and began working on the questions.
The first few multiple-choice questions were very simple.
She finished them quickly.
When she reached the fill-in-the-blank questions, they were a little harder, but after calculating a bit she could still solve them quickly.
As she wrote, her gaze unconsciously drifted forward again.
Li Yang had his head lowered writing the paper. She couldn’t see his expression, only the back of his head and the hand holding the pen.
He was writing very seriously, occasionally stopping to think, then continuing to write.
An Ling withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to continue working on the questions.
Forget it. I’ll talk to him when we eat lunch. At that time the two of them will be alone together, and anything will be easier to say.
Thinking this, her heart settled a little.
The two periods of quiz time passed quickly. An Ling finished all the questions and checked them twice more before the dismissal bell finally rang.
“Pass the papers from back to front.” The math teacher patted the podium. “Anyone still writing doesn’t need to hand it in.”
An Ling passed the paper to the person in front, then took a deep breath and prepared to call out to Li Yang.
“An Ling.”
Li Yang turned around first.
“Huh?”
An Ling froze for a moment, then hurriedly answered.
“What’s up?”
“A bit hungry.” Li Yang said, his tone no different from usual.
“Rooftop?”
An Ling’s tail couldn’t help swaying, and her ears also stood up energetically again.
“Okay. Wait for me to grab the lunch boxes.”
Li Yang stood up and stretched. “Starving.”
An Ling took out the two lunch boxes from her backpack, then stood up and followed him out.
The two walked out of the classroom, crossed the corridor, and went up the stairs.
The rooftop door was still closed. Li Yang skillfully climbed in through the window and then opened the door.
An Ling walked in, sat down in front of the put-together tables, and opened the lunch box.
The aroma of curry immediately drifted out. An Ling removed the divider.
Golden curry sauce flowed into the rice. Several golden, crispy fried meatballs sat on top of the rice, looking very appetizing.
“Whoa! So fragrant.” Li Yang praised An Ling the same way he always did.
An Ling looked at him. It was as if the events of this morning had been a dream she had made up.
An Ling’s tail swayed, her mood no longer so gloomy, and she said happily, “Try it. I haven’t made curry in a long time. I don’t know how it tastes.”