"Huang Tian! Huang Tian!"
The purple-gold voice rang out with dazzling force beside Huang Tian's ear. At a stir of his will, he followed it with his gaze, and a scene came clearly into view:
Afternoon sunlight slanted through the windows. A few birds chirped now and then, and the classroom was a little stuffy.
At the lectern, a middle-aged teacher spoke from the textbook until her mouth went dry. She set the book down, unscrewed the cup on her desk, and drank several mouthfuls of water. Feeling better, she put the cup down and swept her gaze over the students.
"Hm?"
Her brows suddenly drew together. In the fifth row on the right, beside the wall, a fair-skinned boy's head was slowly sinking. Each time it dipped, he startled awake a second later and jerked it up. The pen in his hand moved a little too, as though the motion might convince the teacher he was not dozing—
But less than two or three seconds later, his head sank again. This time he slumped straight onto his desk, and the pen in his right hand went still.
Tap, tap.
Holding her textbook, the teacher continued explaining the lesson as she came down from the lectern. She stopped beside the boy's desk and gently rapped it twice with her knuckles.
The boy did not wake. If anything, he slept more soundly.
The students around him began whispering. A few could no longer hold back their laughter.
The teacher sighed, raised a hand, and lightly patted the arm he was using to prop up his head. "Huang Tian."
The boy jerked his head up and met her eyes. Embarrassment flashed across his face.
"Haha!"
Laughter suddenly broke out across the classroom. There was no mockery in it; they simply found it