Pure Friendship

?

??

Jiang Yubai froze where he stood, unable to process what he had just heard.

A few seconds later, he finally asked in disbelief, "They said I was... what?"

Li Yang still wore that solemn, dignified expression as he nodded.

"Brother Jiang, you heard right. They all say—you're the principal's son."

Jiang Yubai: "..."

"No," he said with an exasperated laugh. "Where the hell did this rumor come from?"

At that, Li Yang stopped copying homework altogether and eagerly began analyzing the situation.

"Brother Jiang, they said someone saw it with their own eyes—at noon on the day you finished your punishment run, Ms. Zhang personally waited for you at the classroom door and handed you the principal's phone."

Jiang Yubai: "?"

"They didn't hear what you said, but they all thought you sounded especially impatient."

"And then... everyone found out that Dong Chengze hadn't received a disciplinary warning at all. He was transferred directly. How was that any different from being expelled?"

Jiang Yubai's mouth twitched.

"No, what did Dong Chengze have to do with me?"

"Brother Jiang," Li Yang shook his head, "even if he started the rumor, you flipped his desk over!"

"Flipping his desk wasn't enough—you ran five laps around the field like it was nothing, while Dong Chengze only moved his mouth a little, and then he and all his bedding got tossed right out of school."

"Plus, Ms. Zhang looked like she was facing some great enemy, and she personally handed you the phone. No wonder people thought you were the principal's son."

At that, Li Yang paused and suddenly eyed him suspiciously.

"Come to think of it, Ms. Zhang usually has a straight face, but she actually looked pleasant when she saw you..."

"—Brother Jiang, you aren't really the principal's son, are you?"

"Get lost, get lost. If I were the principal's son, you'd be the first one I expelled." Jiang Yubai rolled his eyes hard.

What the hell was all this? They even made it sound so convincing.

"Didn't they say it was 'in accordance with the wishes of the student and their parents'? He got caught spreading rumors about someone in front of the goddess and his classmates, then humiliated himself that badly. Wasn't it perfectly normal for him to want to transfer?"

As for everything else... he could only count himself unlucky. He had just happened to run into the leaders who were there for an inspection.

After casually explaining it, Jiang Yubai asked again, "What else? Any other rumors?"

Li Yang hesitated. "Other rumors? Brother Jiang, what kind are you talking about?"

What kind?

Jiang Yubai thought about it. "Like... rumors about Lin Tingwan and me. Are there any?"

Hearing that, Li Yang's mouth twitched, his expression turning rather peculiar.

"Brother Jiang, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Jiang Yubai narrowed his eyes. "What's the lie?"

"...The lie is that there aren't any at all. You two are completely innocent, so no one even has anything to work with."

What did he mean, the lie was that they were completely innocent?

Jiang Yubai said irritably, "Then what's the truth? That rumors about us are already everywhere?"

"Heh, heh." Li Yang gave an awkward dry laugh. "The truth is... there really aren't any rumors."

"There really aren't?" Jiang Yubai was stunned, frowning. "That's not right. Then why was everyone staring at me when I came in this morning?"

"Brother Jiang, don't rush. Let me finish."

Li Yang held back a laugh, as though he were trying to restrain something.

"Even though you and Lin Tingwan—one of you always arrives early every day, while the other always comes in right as the bell rings—walked into the classroom together today for the first time ever."

"Even though Lin Tingwan never pays attention to anyone, but whenever you go over there, Brother Jiang, you keep giving her snacks and passing her little notes, and the key is, she actually takes them."

"Even though, Brother Jiang, you flew into a rage for a beauty and directly flipped over the desk of the person spreading rumors..."

Li Yang looked utterly sincere.

"But! Everyone still firmly believes that the two of you share a pure friendship. Really."

Jiang Yubai: "..."

He stared at Li Yang speechlessly, while Li Yang finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

"I mean, Brother Jiang, who would dare spread rumors about you two now? The last person who did got driven into transferring schools by you, okay?"

"Even if the two of you really kissed in the woods, everyone would firmly believe that Lin Tingwan got sand in her eye, and you, Brother Jiang, were just helping her blow it out!"

Jiang Yubai didn't want to talk to him anymore. He tossed out one sentence and turned to leave.

"Get lost. We really are just classmates with a perfectly innocent relationship."

Fine, this was good too. As long as no one gossiped behind their backs.

"Hey, Brother Jiang, take care~"

Li Yang waved with a grin, finding the whole thing far too entertaining.

But as he laughed, his expression suddenly froze.

Fuck, my test paper!

After morning self-study, it was time for the usual weekly flag-raising ceremony.

Jiang Yubai listened to the student representative's impassioned speech on the podium, his bored gaze sweeping across the field.

Licheng No. 3 High School did not require students to wear uniforms, but Mondays, when the flag-raising ceremony was held, were the exception.

The weather in mid-September had not fully shed the heat of summer, and with the sunlight especially bright today, the girls around him in their summer uniforms looked especially fresh and eye-catching.

As he watched, his gaze unconsciously settled on a certain figure again.

Lin Jianxia stood toward the middle-rear of her class's line, straight and tall like a young bamboo shoot.

Her blue-and-white school uniform accentuated her slender neck. Her high ponytail swayed gently in the morning breeze, its ends gleaming softly beneath the sunlight.

She really... was kind of pretty.

And so, throughout the entire flag-raising ceremony, Jiang Yubai openly kept his eyes on that high ponytail swaying in the breeze.

After the flag-raising ceremony.

Inside the classroom.

Lin Jianxia looked warily at Jiang Yubai beside her, feeling that there was something strange about his gaze.

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment, picked up his scratch paper, quickly wrote a line, then placed a small bread roll on top and pushed them over.

Lin Jianxia took the bread roll with practiced ease and glanced down.

"Your ponytail's a little low. It'd look better tied higher."

?

What did that mean?

What did he mean, it would look better tied higher?

What? Just because he said to tie it higher, she was supposed to tie it higher?

Expressionless, Lin Jianxia pushed the notebook back and turned away, deciding to ignore him.

Jiang Yubai seemed not to care. He pulled out his math paper and started spinning his pen.

"..."

But... could it have been tied crooked?

Could it really look bad like this...

Lin Jianxia wanted to take a look, but she didn't have a small mirror nearby.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she secretly glanced to the side—Jiang Yubai was bent over correcting his mistakes, seemingly not paying attention to her at all.

...I'm only fixing my hair. It's definitely not because of whatever nonsense that guy was muttering.

Thinking that, she bit her lower lip, reached up to loosen her hair tie, and quietly moved her ponytail a few centimeters higher.

The moment she lowered her hand, a soft laugh came from beside her.

Lin Jianxia's ears instantly turned bright red.

Jiang Yubai withdrew his gaze in satisfaction, feeling that much of his resentment over having to come to school on a Monday had disappeared.

Just then, the classroom's front door was pushed open.

Ms. Zhang entered carrying a stack of test papers. Expressionless, she set them on the lectern and swept her gaze across the class.

"The results of last week's weekly test are out," she said sternly. "The teachers for each subject have reported back, and the overall results were unsatisfactory."

She paused, letting her gaze linger briefly on several students who lowered their heads and looked away.

"I'll emphasize this once again—moving your seats was not meant to make it easier for you to chat, much less to let certain people 'help each other out' by copying homework."

"These seats were arranged this way in the hope that you would truly supervise and learn from one another, and improve your grades."

Ms. Zhang adjusted her glasses, her eyes passing over every face below the podium.

"After discussion by the grade-level faculty, we have decided to introduce the Study Partner Points System."

"Starting today, every desk-mate pair will become fixed study partners. Each month, you will receive a comprehensive score based on the degree of improvement in both students' weaker subjects and the quality of completed homework."

"After every major exam, in addition to individual grade rankings, we will add rankings for study partner improvement."

"At the end of the term, the top five pairs in the points rankings will receive additional rewards—including the school's special Improvement Scholarship."

As soon as she finished speaking, a faint stir went through the classroom.

Jiang Yubai raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at Lin Jianxia beside him.

What the hell was the school up to now?

From the sound of it... he and Lin Jianxia weren't just desk mates anymore. Their scores were tied together too?