Lin Tingwan and Jiang Yubai

Monday morning, Licheng No. 3 High School.

Jiang Yubai shook the raindrops off his black umbrella and casually slipped it into the umbrella stand beside the classroom door.

Since he lived fairly far away, and it was raining, more than half the class was already seated by the time he arrived.

Several girls had moved small stools together in twos and threes, huddling close as they quietly gossiped.

A few boys in the back row were bent over their desks, scribbling furiously as they rushed to salvage their weekend homework.

Jiang Yubai swept his gaze around the room, and his eyes unconsciously settled on the figure beneath the podium.

Lin Tingwan wore a crisp, spotless sky-blue school uniform. Her back was perfectly straight, and with her head slightly lowered, she focused intently on the textbook spread across her desk.

As a private high school, Licheng No. 3 High School was relatively lenient about uniforms and did not require students to wear them every day.

As a result, many appearance-conscious students quietly found ways to show off their own little touches within that limited freedom.

The girls would tie delicate narrow ribbons around their shirt collars or switch to dark, straight-cut trousers with a more flattering fit.

The hems were slightly short, revealing just enough of their nicely shaped ankles, paired with clean white socks and canvas shoes—brimming with youthful charm.

The boys kept things a little simpler.

They either wore brightly colored hoodies unzipped, or deliberately rolled up their pant legs once or twice, then threw on a pair of stylish sneakers and called it a day.

Yet amid all that bustle, Lin Tingwan remained the exception.

She was practically the only person in the class who wore the full sky-blue uniform properly every single day.

The top button of her summer shirt was always fastened, her jacket zipper pulled up to her chest, and her loose uniform pants neatly pressed, their hems falling smoothly over her shoes.

That completely unadorned uniform did not make her seem stiff at all. Instead, it brought out a clean, tranquil air about her.

Outside the window hung a gray curtain of rain, while she sat there like a quiet little corner amid the noisy patter.

"Jiang Yubai, what are you staring at so intently?"

A smiling voice sounded beside his ear.

Jiang Yubai came back to himself and realized that Zhao Yun, Lin Tingwan's deskmate, had somehow come to stand beside him.

Without drawing attention to it, he shifted half a step away and replied casually, "Nothing. Just spacing out for a bit."

After brushing her off, Jiang Yubai did not linger. He turned and headed toward his seat at the back of the classroom.

The instant he turned away, Lin Tingwan, who had been reading with her head down, lifted her eyes slightly. Then she quickly lowered them again, returning to the open pages before her as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Yun watched Jiang Yubai's retreating back, a flash of annoyance passing through her eyes.

Naturally, Jiang Yubai had no idea what had happened behind him.

He tossed his backpack onto his desk, then pulled out a still-warm plastic bag and briskly took out a bun, stuffing it into his mouth.

It could not be helped. Though school rules explicitly banned eating in the classroom, for someone like him, who lived far from school and wanted to devote every possible minute of the morning to his bed, that rule was a little too luxurious.

So the consequence of cutting things to the limit every day was that he did not even have time for breakfast. More often than not, he bought it and ate it after arriving in the classroom.

As for skipping breakfast? That was impossible.

Never mind whether he could handle a full morning of classes on an empty stomach—the steaming, fragrant buns, pancakes, and soy milk from the breakfast stalls outside the school gates...

For Jiang Yubai, tormented by both his own cooking and his remote neighborhood at home, they were simply an irresistible salvation.

How could he possibly pass up a meal like this?

He wolfed down the large bun soaked in meat juices in two or three bites, then licked his lips with lingering satisfaction and reached into the bag again.

He had just pulled out the second bun and had not even brought it to his mouth when his deskmate Li Yang leaned over, his familiar voice carrying a hint of flattery.

"Brother Jiang, um... emergency help..."

Jiang Yubai did not even raise his eyelids. He took a huge bite of the meat bun in his hand and replied through a mouthful, "Take it yourself. Left compartment."

"Got it! Brother Jiang, you're my second father!"

Overjoyed, Li Yang reached in and pulled out a math test paper. Then he turned to his own paper and began furiously borrowing from it.

Jiang Yubai glanced at the mountain of test papers piled on the desk and said speechlessly, "Do you not know how to pick just one and copy it?"

"No way. A man has to have loyalty," Li Yang declared righteously without stopping his pen. "Since I've acknowledged Brother Jiang as my big brother, I absolutely can't be half-hearted!"

"Bullshit. You just know more of my answers are right." Jiang Yubai rolled his eyes.

After swallowing the second bun, he wiped his mouth, stood up, and called out to the class, "Anyone who hasn't handed in their math homework, hurry up. Names are being recorded this time."

The moment he finished speaking, the few students who had been scribbling furiously sped up at a visibly faster pace.

For a moment, even the rustling scrape of pen against paper grew denser.

Jiang Yubai was about to say something else when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure pacing down the hallway from the corner of his eye.

He inwardly cursed and kicked Li Yang's chair.

Li Yang jolted all over. By reflex, he grabbed the Chinese textbook spread out on the desk and snapped it shut over the two test papers.

The next second, the classroom's front door was pushed open, and a stern-looking middle-aged female teacher in her fifties walked in.

"...Why is it Ms. Zhang?" Li Yang sucked in a breath and pulled the Chinese textbook farther forward to cover the papers.

The classroom, which had still been filled with faint murmurs, instantly fell silent. Students who had been whispering pulled back into their seats, while those openly copying homework raised their heads and hurriedly used their books to hide it.

"Talking, talking, talking! Out of the entire grade, your class is the noisiest!" Ms. Zhang slapped the desk. "Xie Rui, Fei Lixuan, and Fang Yu, bring your test papers up here!"

Several students handed over their papers sheepishly and obediently stood to one side.

Watching the people at the podium get scolded, Li Yang felt a layer of sweat break out across his back, his voice trembling slightly. "Dad, you gave me this life..."

"You're buying lunch," Jiang Yubai replied under his breath.

"No problem! I'll even get Dad a Coke after we eat!" Li Yang agreed immediately.

Once the students who had been caught had taken their scolding in shame, Ms. Zhang adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose, her tone full of frustration at their failure to meet expectations.

"You're seniors already! How many days are left until the college entrance exam? Do teachers still have to watch you like elementary school kids, making sure you don't copy homework and turn in your papers on time?"

She picked up another stack of recently graded test papers from the podium and waved them in the air.

"Last week's placement test results were extremely disappointing! Compared to the second semester of junior year, the average score dropped by nearly ten points!"

"Ten points! Students, raising your score by one point can put you ahead of a thousand people! But with this drop, you've practically handed over ten thousand places and let ten thousand people get ahead of you!"

The classroom fell completely silent, leaving only the steady patter of rain outside the windows.

Listening to this, Jiang Yubai felt no particular reaction. He was even preparing to sneak another bite of his last meat bun.

To be honest, he could clearly tell that the placement test at the start of the term had been raised to an entirely new level of difficulty. It was obviously meant to give them a warning right from the start.

A drop in scores was only to be expected.

Perhaps feeling that she had made her point, Ms. Zhang paused at the podium, and her tone softened.

"I emphasized this before. Starting this semester, we'll be rearranging seats based on the placement test scores and each student's stronger and weaker subjects. The goal is to seat students with complementary strengths together, so you can help each other and improve together."

As she spoke, she raised another list she had prepared long ago, her gaze sweeping across the students below, each wearing a different expression.

"Everyone, pack up your things. We'll finish rearranging the seats during morning self-study."

"Now, when I call your name, move to your new seat in order."

Ms. Zhang adjusted her glasses, looked at the list, and clearly read out the first pair of names.

"First, Lin Tingwan—"

The classroom fell quiet for a moment, and quite a few people instinctively pricked up their ears.

"—and Jiang Yubai."

Whoosh—

Almost the instant her words fell, the entire class turned their eyes toward a corner in the back of the classroom, their gazes filled with surprise, curiosity, or teasing.

At the center of all those gazes, Jiang Yubai looked up in bewilderment, half an uneaten meat bun still clamped between his teeth.

Huh?