Phew...
Taking off his helmet, Xia Yan let out a sigh of relief and glanced at the watch on his wrist. They still had plenty of time.
It was still ten minutes before one in the afternoon. Fortunately, Hua Xin's home wasn't very far from here.
When she felt the motorcycle stop, Hua Xin couldn't help shivering. Her hands, hidden inside her sleeves, tightly guarded both sides of her waist.
(Are we there? Don't gut me, okay??)
(Why is it so quiet?? Is this still China?)
Xia Yan parked the motorcycle, then lightly patted Hua Xin's... um... where was he supposed to pat her??
Maybe it was better not to make physical contact...
His hand stopped halfway out, then slowly withdrew.
Everyone's social anxiety manifested differently.
Some people were afflicted like Corn Syndrome, harboring pessimism toward the world and painful emotions toward themselves.
Others seemed just like normal people in everyday life, but might merely be "playing" that role. Once they lost the environment supporting that role, they could also develop extreme psychological issues.
Obviously, Hua Xin's condition was even more serious than the isolation and eighty-eight-two he'd experienced back in middle school.
After a brief silence, Xia Yan looked at Hua Xin, who was tightly shielding herself with her clothes, and his tone softened slightly. "Time to get off."
"Our classroom is on the fourth floor. Most people have a habit of arriving early, so there shouldn't be many people around right now."
"If you're late, all our efforts will be wasted. You'll have to make up today's attendance next week."
Hearing Xia Yan's words, Hua Xin lifted her head in confusion. Through the gaps between her strands of hair, she finally saw the scene around her.
Trees, a main road, rows of bicycles, buildings, and...
(People people people people?!...??)
The girl turned her head stiffly, like a robot with a stuck neck. A remarkably handsome, sunny face suddenly appeared in front of her, smiling faintly at her.
(Wait, handsome... who the hell are you, you creepy pervert?)
The spirit of male competition began burning in Hua Xin's heart?? and her hazy consciousness suddenly cleared.
How could anyone be more handsome than her?
Although she looked away after only one glance, that sunny, approachable smile was painfully dazzling to the girl...
It was like... like a shut-in rat hiding in a sewer, only daring to spout off online while peeking at other people's happy lives, suddenly seeing a handsome, rich, sunny, athletic, eight-pack-bearing normie like Peng Yuyan??
Her fists tightened.
Hua Xin remembered that this was the class monitor who had brought her to school.
The girl silently and slowly lifted her left leg over the other side of the motorcycle, supporting herself with her right leg on the ground.
(Get through class first... get through class first...??)
(Then I can go home.??)
(I have to stay away from him... the light of a normie will kill me??)
Seeing the silent Hua Xin move, Xia Yan picked up the girl's backpack as well.
Why was it so heavy...?
He puzzledly hefted the backpack, but the next moment, he heard a faint cry of pain.
"Thud."
Hua Xin, who should have been standing on the ground, was now sprawled across it. One shoe had fallen off to the side, revealing a little white sock with a trace of dust on it.
Xia Yan immediately carried the backpack over and helped the girl up, asking anxiously, "Are you all right, Hua Xin?"
(It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts????)
(I'm dying, I'm dying?? Where's the ambulance? Where's the ambulance??!!)
The girl nodded, then recoiled as if electrocuted, pulling away from Xia Yan's touch. She got to her feet and easily shoved her foot into the oversized shoe, standing off to the side.
"That's good..."
"Shall we go to class?"
Xia Yan breathed a sigh of relief, then took her backpack and led the way.
But he keenly sensed that something had been off about what had just happened...
Hua Xin was shorter than him, but were her feet really that much smaller too?
Her shoes seemed extremely ill-fitting, and besides... what had that sound just now been???
It had sounded a little... like a girl's voice?
Xia Yan promptly banished that absurd and bizarre thought from his mind.
What was he thinking?? He had seen Hua Xin's file, after all. Although the photo made her look rather thin and androgynous, it clearly said male right there.
The two of them had even been assigned as roommates.
Although Hua Xin still appeared calm and silent on the surface,
her tears had already soaked her mask. Since she was afraid of pain, she simply couldn't control her urge to burst into tears??.
But they were still outside, after all. She had to wait until she got home before crying.
(Silently shedding tears.)
(My knees hurt.)
(Waaah, waaah, waaah, waaah, waaah??...)
"Ding."
The elevator doors slowly opened. The classroom wasn't far away; it was the first room after turning left out of the elevator.
Thoughtfully, Xia Yan led her in through the back door.
(I can't see anything. I can't hear anything...)
(I am a big banana. Big bananas taste so good?? Big bananas are so fun. Being a big banana feels so wonderful. They're all Chinese cabbages, and I'm a big banana...)
Hua Xin silently hugged her backpack and shrank into the corner by the wall in the back row, escaping reality by letting her little head run wild with nonsense (how pitiful).
"Ring ring ring..."
"Oh, class is starting, is it?"
The white-haired old man reading at the podium stood up, then adjusted his glasses??.
"Let's take attendance."
"Xia Yan."
"Here."
Xia Yan, sitting beside Hua Xin, raised his hand.
But his calm and gentle voice still startled the girl.
(What's going on...??)
(What are we doing now?)
"Hua Xin."
Hua Xin immediately shrank back like she'd been struck by lightning, pressing herself tightly against the wall.
(King King King King... the King of Hell is taking attendance??)
(I'm still young??)
"Here."
Xia Yan raised his hand and pointed at the girl beside him.
The white-haired old man glanced at the corner in confusion, then belatedly remembered something. Realization dawned in his eyes, and he didn't ask any further questions.
"...Xiang Guan... here!...Mu Feng... present!...Chen Hao... here!..."
"Don't worry. Teacher Wang is very nice, and Director Li already told him about your situation beforehand. You don't have to be afraid."
Xia Yan lay on the desk, facing Hua Xin, who had buried herself beneath her backpack.
Seeing the girl hiding like a frightened little animal, he couldn't help giving a soft laugh.
Stepping out of a world of isolation and self-fear was incredibly difficult.
As if he had suddenly thought of something, Xia Yan saw that Hua Xin still wasn't answering him and simply took out his phone to send a message.
"Bzzz."
The phone in the girl's pocket vibrated.
Huh?
Hua Xin stopped letting her thoughts run wild and pulled the phone from her pocket.
Xia Yan: "How about we chat on WeChat?"
"It might actually be pretty fun this way."
The girl hesitantly raised her little head and, sure enough, saw Xia Yan smiling at her.
That sunny smile, as dazzling as a solar atomic black hole eruption powering a curvature engine, made her instantly lower her head.
(He wants to chat with me?)
(Does he want to be friends with me...?)
(But why...?)
She was clearly a boy right now...
(Could it be??)
(I've been exposed?)
But Hua Xin still replied to Xia Yan with complete, adorable honesty??.
Hua Xin: "Okay..."
He was sitting right across from her. If she refused, would he stop her from leaving the classroom, tie her to a chair, and give her a thorough eighty-eighting??.
With the class monitor in the classroom... he was basically a tall, tough county magistrate, huh?!
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