Tang San's Discomfort in Class

Nuoding Academy's schedule was fairly relaxed.

There was one theory class in the morning and one practical class in the afternoon, with the rest of the time free to arrange as they pleased. Compared to the days in Lin Chen's previous life when classes had filled his schedule from morning to night, this practically felt like a vacation.

But today's theory class had a somewhat subtle atmosphere.

The teacher was surnamed Liu, an old Soul Master in his forties. His soul power was not particularly high, only level thirty-two, but he made up for it with his wealth of experience. When teaching the fundamentals of martial souls, he explained everything clearly and methodically.

On the podium, he spoke animatedly about the classifications of martial souls and the ways their attributes countered one another. Below, some students listened, some daydreamed, and some secretly passed notes.

Lin Chen sat by the window, propping his cheek up with one hand as he stared blankly at the osmanthus tree outside.

Xiao Wu sat beside him, drawing little figures in her notebook with a pen. She drew one stick figure knocking another into the air while muttering to herself.

Tang San sat two rows behind them.

Ever since class began, Tang San's gaze had kept drifting forward. He stared at the back of Lin Chen's head, then looked at Xiao Wu's scorpion braid tied with a red ribbon. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words.

He had too many questions he wanted to ask Lin Chen.

For example, where Lin Chen and Xiao Wu had gone yesterday; why Xiao Wu had begun moving her luggage when they returned; why the two of them had moved into that separate little building behind the academy; and why no one had informed him about it.

Those questions had spun through his mind all night, leaving him unable to sleep well.

But he did not dare ask.

What if Lin Chen asked him, "What's it to you?" How was he supposed to answer? He truly had no standing to meddle in Lin Chen's affairs. Although they had come from the same village, Lin Chen had never said he needed to report everything to him.

But Xiao Wu was different.

Tang San himself could not explain why, but from the first moment he saw Xiao Wu yesterday, he had felt that this girl should belong to him. The feeling was so strong that whenever he saw Xiao Wu chatting and laughing with Lin Chen, his chest felt painfully tight.

"Student Tang San."

Teacher Liu's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Tang San abruptly snapped back to his senses and found the entire class looking at him. Teacher Liu stood at the podium with a piece of chalk in hand and asked with a smile, "Give me an example of the attribute counters I just explained."

Tang San's mind went blank. He had not listened to the lesson at all.

"...Blue Silver Grass counters... earth attributes?" he answered tentatively.

The classroom fell silent for two seconds before erupting in laughter.

"Blue Silver Grass counters earth attributes? Tang San, did you not sleep well last night?" Teacher Liu shook his head helplessly. "Blue Silver Grass is a plant-type martial soul. It is countered by fire attributes, countered by metal attributes, and countered by nearly all offensive martial souls. The conclusion you gave would be more accurate the other way around."

Tang San's face flushed crimson. He lowered his head and said nothing more.

Lin Chen turned around and glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly before he turned back.

Xiao Wu also looked back, but her gaze lingered on Tang San's face for only a moment before she withdrew it and went back to drawing her little figures.

After drawing for a while, she seemed to grow bored and poked Lin Chen's arm with the cap of her pen.

"Brother Chen."

"Yeah?"

"If I drew you, what animal do you think I should make you?"

Lin Chen thought for a moment. "A rabbit."

"Why a rabbit?"

"Because you're a rabbit. If I become a rabbit too, then we'll be the same kind."

Xiao Wu froze for a moment, then her face instantly turned red. She grabbed her eraser and threw it at Lin Chen. "You're the rabbit! Your whole family is rabbits!"

Lin Chen caught the eraser and returned it to her with a smile. "Fine, fine, I'm a rabbit, okay? Then draw me as a handsome rabbit."

"In your dreams!" Xiao Wu snorted. She lowered her head and drew a crooked turtle lying belly-up in her notebook, then wrote three words beside it—"Lin Chen Turtle."

She pushed the notebook in front of Lin Chen and said smugly, "Look. Doesn't it look like you?"

Lin Chen glanced at it and could not help laughing. "That turtle's drawn pretty well, but its shell needs a few more patterns. Here, let me add some."

He took the pen and drew several lines on the turtle shell, then added two more legs. Finally, he drew a pair of rabbit ears on the turtle's head.

"There. Now it's a rabbit-eared turtle. A rare breed—there's only one in the entire continent."

"Pfft—" Xiao Wu covered her mouth as she laughed, her shoulders shaking. "What the heck is a rabbit-eared turtle? It's ugly as hell!"

"Ugly? I think it's pretty cute."

"Cute my ass! Give me back my pen!"

The two bickered back and forth, having a grand time. The nearby students could not help glancing over at the lively pair of newcomers.

Tang San sat in the back row and took it all in.

He saw Xiao Wu's eyes curve into crescents as she smiled. He saw her bump Lin Chen's arm with her elbow. He saw their fingers touch when she tried to snatch back her pen.

It felt as though something had lodged in his chest, suffocating him until he could barely breathe.

He lowered his head and stared at the textbook before him, unable to take in a single word on the page.

Why?

Why could she play around with Lin Chen so naturally, while he did not even have the courage to say one sentence to her?

He was clearly no worse than Lin Chen. They had both come from Holy Soul Village, both enrolled as new students this year, and both met Xiao Wu on the same day. Yet Lin Chen had already moved in with her, while he did not even know her full name.

This was unfair.

Tang San clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms and leaving pale marks.

The laughter at the front continued.

Xiao Wu finally snatched her pen back, but Lin Chen had already scribbled all over her notebook. Pouting angrily, she tore out that page, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into her desk.

"You owe me a notebook!"

"I'll buy you a new one tomorrow."

"That's more like it." Xiao Wu huffed, then suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Brother Chen, let's team up for practical class this afternoon, okay?"

Lin Chen turned his head and saw her sparkling eyes right before him. Her eyelashes were long and curled, like two little fans.

"Sure." He smiled. "But don't cry if you lose."

"Who's going to cry?!" Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "I was careless last time! I'll definitely beat you this time!"

"Sure, sure. You win, you win."

"That tone of yours is obviously just brushing me off!"

"When have I ever? I'm being very serious."

"Serious my ass!"

They traded a few more barbs before Teacher Liu coughed twice from the podium, and only then did they each quiet down.

But before long, Xiao Wu secretly nudged Lin Chen's shoe under the desk with her toes. Lin Chen looked down and saw that she had taken off her shoes, her bare foot resting atop his shoe.

He looked up at her.

Xiao Wu pretended to listen attentively, staring straight ahead, but a sly smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Lin Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not expose her and simply let her keep stepping on him.