What Do You Want?

"Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating!"

"Can't you eat on the way to school? Can't you eat at home? How many times have I caught you eating in the classroom already?"

"Jiang Yubai, is this how you set an example as the class representative?"

Jiang Yubai stood obediently at his desk with his head lowered, assuming the standard pose of a well-behaved student being scolded.

But the half-eaten bun still stuck at the corner of his mouth made him look rather ridiculous.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Shufang became even more irritated and snapped impatiently:

"You're still holding it in your mouth! Get rid of that bun already! Stop dawdling and wasting everyone's time!"

Finally receiving instructions, Jiang Yubai nodded in satisfaction, stuffed the bun into his mouth in two bites, and asked through a muffled voice:

"Ms. Zhang, where am I moving to?"

He had nothing to fear. After all, he was his homeroom teacher's favorite math class representative.

Zhang Shufang urged, "Of course, the first row. Zhao Yun, move to the side first and make room for him."

Zhao Yun pursed her lips and nodded somewhat unwillingly.

The rest of the class was not particularly surprised by this.

Everyone knew that Lin Tingwan's hearing was not very good. Even when someone spoke right in front of her, she often acted as if she could not hear them.

So no matter how the classroom seating was rearranged, her seat had almost never changed. It was always firmly in the center of the first row.

Jiang Yubai quickly gathered the dictionaries and textbooks piled along the wall onto his desk, then swept his water bottle, pencil case, and other odds and ends into his backpack.

"Brother Jiang, take care..." Li Yang looked deeply emotional. "When you reach the front lines, don't forget this brother holding down the rear!"

"Get lost. It's not like I'm leaving the country. Don't forget lunch," Jiang Yubai said, rolling his eyes at him.

With that, he braced himself and lifted the somewhat battered desk, carrying it unsteadily toward the front of the classroom.

"Next, Meng Ze, Xiao Chengyun—"

Zhang Shufang continued calling out names group by group from the podium while Jiang Yubai carried his desk over and placed it beside Lin Tingwan's.

Without the wall ledge to lean against, there was nowhere to put those thick dictionaries, so he temporarily set them at the corner of the desk.

After arranging his water bottle and other belongings, Jiang Yubai clapped his hands, looked around, and finally turned his gaze toward his new deskmate.

Her waist and back were straight, her fair side profile was picture-perfect, and her high ponytail swayed gently. A few loose strands brushed past her ear, carrying a faint fragrance.

The sounds of desks being moved and classmates chatting rose and fell around her, yet Lin Tingwan seemed completely undisturbed.

With her head slightly lowered, her eyes rested quietly on the open book before her, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her.

Jiang Yubai quietly withdrew his gaze and rubbed his chin, still feeling somewhat awkward inside.

Before today, the class had always followed a rule of separating boys and girls, so this was Jiang Yubai's first time having a girl as his deskmate.

What was more... he had only met this particular girl yesterday.

"Lin Tingwan?" Jiang Yubai called out tentatively.

The girl beside him seemed not to hear him at all. Not only did she not respond, even her upright posture remained unchanged.

Jiang Yubai did not look surprised—or rather, this was the most normal reaction.

Whether it was boys or girls, no matter why they approached her to start a conversation, Lin Tingwan was always this silent.

Even when there were things that absolutely had to be said, the girl would only nod or shake her head before giving no further response.

After it happened often enough, the classmates could only attribute it all to her well-known hearing problem.

And over time, no one deliberately tried to talk to her anymore.

"Alright, quiet down, everyone."

Seeing that everyone had changed seats, Zhang Shufang patted the podium.

"Hurry up and get yourselves organized. Morning self-study proceeds as usual. No whispering to each other. Settle into studying as soon as possible."

After giving a few more instructions, she looked around, confirmed that nothing seemed amiss, then picked up her lesson plan and teacup before turning to leave the classroom.

The moment the homeroom teacher left, low murmurs spread through the classroom again.

Most of the students were organizing their desks and putting away their books, taking the chance to exchange a few quiet words with their new deskmates.

Jiang Yubai examined his new seat. The desk was practically pressed against the podium, so the view was naturally wide open. Yet the teacher would not easily notice this blind spot right under their nose. It was a perfect place for fooling around.

If his old deskmate Li Yang had been sitting next to him, that guy would have been overjoyed.

With that guy's personality, even passing notes with him or drawing a board on a textbook to play Five in a Row could keep them entertained for an entire class.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yubai's gaze drifted unconsciously toward his new deskmate again.

Despite her personality, Lin Tingwan's popularity in their grade had only ever risen. Almost no one failed to recognize her name when it was mentioned.

Aside from her well-known special circumstances, the greatest credit probably went to her flawless face.

It had to be said that good-looking people always had privileges.

If you had an utterly ordinary face and ignored people without speaking, you would probably be seen as a withdrawn freak.

But paired with a face like hers, that same silence and distance instantly became an air of individuality.

Jiang Yubai studied Lin Tingwan from the corner of his eye.

She was pretty, certainly easy on the eyes...

But... come on, man!

With a deskmate like this, who was he supposed to play Five in a Row with during self-study?

He could not possibly spend an entire class staring at her just to pass the time, could he?

As his thoughts wandered, Jiang Yubai suddenly remembered a strange detail.

Wait, why is Lin Tingwan still on this page of her Chinese textbook?

Even if the after-class questions were thought-provoking, she couldn't be staring at the same page for over ten minutes, could she?

Jiang Yubai frowned, his gaze moving from the textbook upward until it landed squarely on the girl's delicate face.

Hmm, she was still just as focused, in the exact same posture—aside from staring motionlessly at that page for more than ten minutes, everything seemed normal.

After thinking for a moment, he casually pulled out a brand-new notebook from his desk drawer, wrote, "Hello, Lin Tingwan!" and handed it over.

The notebook silently crossed the gap between their desks and came to rest on Lin Tingwan's side.

Jiang Yubai clearly saw Lin Tingwan's eyes flick toward it for an instant before swiftly returning to her textbook, resuming that statue-like posture.

Jiang Yubai grinned.

This girl... seemed to be avoiding him.

Hah. He pulled back the notebook, scribbled another line, and pushed it over again.

Lin Tingwan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but as if drawn by something, her gaze fell once more upon the open page.

"Did you manage to scrape together your sister's rent?"

The moment she saw that line, Lin Tingwan's shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly.

She took a deep breath, finally reached out to take the notebook, scribbled a few words quickly, and nearly shoved it back with some force.

Jiang Yubai took it and saw six large characters written across the page.

"What exactly do you want?"