It was Monday, time for school again, and Cheng Tian was still walking there alone.
Beep, beep- A car honked behind him. Cheng Tian turned and immediately recognized Bai Yun's family car.
The window rolled down, revealing Bai Yun's grinning face, with Lin Lin sitting beside him.
The two had been together from kindergarten through high school. Though they lived in different residential complexes, their homes were fairly close, and they occasionally traveled to and from school together.
"A-Tian, get in!" Bai Yun called.
Once Cheng Tian got in and the car started moving again, Bai Yun took out a bottle of Happy Water and handed it to him. "Why have you been walking alone these past few days? Don't want to ride with me?"
Cheng Tian unscrewed the cap and took a gulp. The fizzy sting of the soda in his mouth instantly cleared his mind. "No, I just wanted some exercise."
"Look at Cheng Tian. Why can't you walk to and from school every day?" Lin Lin said to Bai Yun.
"Yeah, sure, sure. I'll walk. But if I walk, you don't get to ride either. You can walk with me," Bai Yun retorted dismissively.
"Hmph." Lin Lin turned her little face away in a huff and ignored Bai Yun, but before long, she was back to saying "Bai Yun" this and "Bai Yun" that.
Cheng Tian was thoroughly used to this. Those two had force-fed him so much lovey-dovey sweetness over the years that he now felt immune.
"Oh? Cheng Tian, your necklace is so pretty!" Lin Lin suddenly changed the subject when she spotted the necklace around his neck.
Bai Yun noticed it too and curiously lifted it to take a look. "It really is. A-Tian, what suddenly made you decide to wear a necklace?"
Cheng Tian was speechless. He had simply forgotten to tuck it inside his clothes. Given how nosy these two were, they certainly wouldn't let it go until they dug out the whole story.
"I bought it myself on Sunday," Cheng Tian answered evasively, taking the necklace back as he spoke and tucking it inside his clothes.
"Heh, you're pretty protective of it. Some girl didn't give it to you, did she?" Bai Yun asked with a wicked grin. "Seriously, no. I bought it myself."
"Cheng Tian, you're different from the other boys. You don't even bother looking at shoes, and now you suddenly thought of buying a necklace? I don't believe it. Someone definitely gave it to you," Lin Lin declared.
And so, over a single necklace, the two pestered Cheng Tian the entire ride. When they finally reached the school gates, he jumped out as though fleeing for his life. "Come on, stop asking! I really bought it myself. Let's get to class."
The three entered their classroom, laughing and horsing around, only to find Sun Yanling already seated at the front. Seeing them come in like that, she frowned. "What kind of behavior is this, horsing around at school? Get back to your seats and take out your homework for inspection."
Holy crap, why is our homeroom teacher here? Cheng Tian wondered. As the three headed toward the back, they saw that Su Han had arrived early and was already sitting at their four-person group's desks.
Seeing Cheng Tian, Su Han smiled and raised a hand in greeting. "Good morning, Cheng Tian." He put down his backpack and sat down. "Good morning, Su Han."
The two behind them heard their exchange and immediately caught the scent of juicy gossip.
Those two sound much closer than before. What happened?
"Remember to take out your homework. The teacher wants it collected right now." Hearing her reminder, Cheng Tian opened his backpack and took out the homework he had done on Sunday.
Lin Lin asked curiously, "Why are we suddenly collecting homework first thing in the morning?" Su Han blinked and glanced warily around. Only after confirming that nobody was paying attention did she whisper, "Our homeroom teacher came early today, and as soon as she walked in, she saw some people finishing their Sunday homework. She flew into a rage and insisted on checking homework every morning from now on so nobody could finish it here."
Cheng Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had finished his on Sunday morning.
After three of them had handed in their homework, Su Han looked at Bai Yun in puzzlement. "Bai Yun, please hand in your homework."
"Uh..." Bai Yun looked embarrassed. Seeing this, Lin Lin began to gloat. "No way, no way! Surely someone didn't fail to finish their homework on Sunday?"
Bai Yun broke into a sweat. He had spent all Sunday training Chimchar and had planned to copy his homework after arriving today. Who could have known it would be collected first thing in the morning?
"I'm sorry, group leader!" Bai Yun hurriedly pleaded. "Could you stall for a bit?" Su Han stole a glance at Teacher Sun, who had her head down, writing something.
"Hurry. There's still a little time, so finish it now." Bai Yun felt as though he had been granted a royal pardon. Ignoring Lin Lin's protests, he grabbed her homework and started copying.
Cheng Tian instantly witnessed what it meant to have answers at hand and write as though guided by the gods. Bai Yun scrawled an answer beneath every question without caring whether it was straight or crooked, finishing everything in less than ten minutes.
"Done, done! Thank you, group leader!" Bai Yun handed over both sets of homework and let out a breath. Su Han nodded and delivered the three sets of four homework books to Teacher Sun.
After returning to her seat, Su Han noticed that Cheng Tian was still wearing the necklace she had bought him that day. Unable to hide her delight, she said, "Cheng Tian, you've been wearing the necklace I bought you all along?"
Cheng Tian: Uh-oh~ I'm doomed.
Sure enough, before Cheng Tian could speak, the two seated in front already had sparkling eyes. "Hahaha, I told you someone gave him that necklace! With Cheng Tian's habits, he'd never go out specifically to buy one."
Bai Yun looked eager for gossip. "Group leader, you bought that necklace for A-Tian?" Not understanding what was going on, Su Han nodded. "Yes. I bought it when we went to the mall on Food Street together on Saturday. Why?"
Cheng Tian was dying of embarrassment. My dear lady, please, stop talking!
Bai Yun and Lin Lin's grins were practically reaching up to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun. Clearly, this juicy scoop had thoroughly satisfied them.
Bai Yun grinned wickedly. "You have no idea, group leader. On the way here, I wanted to look at that necklace, but A-Tian treasured it so much he absolutely refused to let me see it."
Lin Lin followed up with another stab. "Exactly! Cheng Tian even said someone very important gave it to him, so he couldn't just show it to us!"
Cheng Tian couldn't take it anymore. "Stop making stuff up, you two!"
"Ooh~ Getting worked up, are we!" ×2
Cheng Tian: ☄ฺ(◣д◢)☄ฺ
Su Han, however, grew redder with every word. So he likes the necklace I gave him that much?
"What are you making all that noise about?" Teacher Sun scolded from the front. "You've come in first thing in the morning, and instead of getting ready for your first class, you're horsing around. What kind of behavior is that?"
Only then did the three quiet down, though Bai Yun and Lin Lin couldn't suppress the upward curve of their lips.
Speechless, Cheng Tian looked at Su Han. The instant she noticed his gaze, she blushed and turned away.
It's over. She's definitely misunderstood!
Almost every school across the country, aside from universities and kindergartens, held calisthenics after the first two morning classes.
They did Broadcast Calisthenics in spring, summer, and autumn, and group running in winter. When bad weather brought rain, snow, or smog, they stayed in their classrooms and did eye exercises...
Bingzhou No. 1 High School was naturally no exception. Halfway through the morning's classes, it was time for break-time exercises.
After the bell rang to end the second class, Sun Yanling gathered her things and raised her voice over the bell. "Class is over. Everyone, hurry down to the courtyard and assemble. Get ready for Broadcast Calisthenics."
Cheng Tian sighed helplessly. Nothing annoyed him more than these Broadcast Calisthenics, from the first routine all the way to the eighteenth. They were practically dancing their way from Dance of Youth into Martial Universe. What kind of training benefit could fifteen minutes of this every day possibly provide? Couldn't they use that time to catch up on sleep?
"Su Han, I'll excuse you after class. Go to the Copy Room and collect our class's test papers. We'll need them later." After Su Han stood and agreed, Sun Yanling thought for a moment. "You might not be able to carry that many papers alone. Why don't you ask a boy to go with you?"
Su Han instinctively started to say she could manage alone, but then she noticed Cheng Tian beside her, looking utterly unwilling to go exercise. The words on her lips immediately changed. "Teacher, I'd like Cheng Tian to help me carry them."
Huh?
Cheng Tian, who had been sprawled over his desk like a salted fish, immediately sat up and gave Su Han a grateful look. Skipping exercises was the best possible outcome. He would do anything else they asked.
Sun Yanling nodded. "Then you two can count out the papers and carry them back. There are forty-eight students in our class. Don't come up short."
Everyone else gradually left the classroom for exercises, while Cheng Tian and Su Han headed toward the Copy Room on the fifth floor.
"I helped you escape a round of break-time exercises. Well? Aren't I a loyal friend?" Su Han looked at him playfully, and Cheng Tian gave her a thumbs-up. "Nicely done!"
"Um, was everything Bai Yun said true?" Su Han asked shyly, her face red.
Cheng Tian hurriedly shook his head. "Don't listen to his nonsense." Su Han looked a little disappointed. "I really do like your necklace, but everything else was just him making things up." Only after hearing his explanation did her mood improve considerably.
They reached the Copy Room and knocked, but nobody answered. Cheng Tian called out, "May we come in?" and opened the door.
There really was nobody inside the Copy Room. Perhaps everyone was exercising or supervising their classes. The two walked straight in and began searching for the papers.
"Oh, here they are." Su Han found a stack labeled "Pokémon Studies test papers" on a desk.
Cheng Tian walked over, and they counted the papers together. He counted out thirty, while Su Han took eighteen. Before leaving, they also closed the Copy Room door.
Cheng Tian moved slowly and cautiously down the stairs. His larger stack of papers blocked his view below, and hurrying would make it easy to fall.
Just then, a gust of wind blew over and swept two papers out of Su Han's stack behind him.
"Oh, they blew away." Su Han crouched to retrieve them, having to hold her stack against her knee with one hand to keep it from falling. After finally picking up the fallen papers, she was about to stand and continue when her foot suddenly missed a step.
"Ah!" Su Han cried out. The papers in her hands scattered into the air as she fell forward.
Hearing her cry, Cheng Tian hurriedly turned to see what had happened, only for the falling Su Han to crash straight into him.
"Ah, holy crap!" Unable to withstand the impact, Cheng Tian toppled backward. Before he fell, a thought flashed through his mind.
This isn't a romance anime! Where did this falling-on-top-of-me scene come from?!
They hit the stairs with a smack, and nearly fifty papers scattered across the floor.
"Hiss... That hurts!" Cheng Tian felt the back of his head take a blow, leaving him completely dazed. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything.
F***! Did that fall give me a brain hemorrhage?!
Cheng Tian endured the sharp pain at the back of his head, only to suddenly smell a strange, delicate fragrance. Why does it feel so soft against my face?
Su Han opened her eyes groggily and realized that she had dragged Cheng Tian down the stairs with her-and that his face was buried in her chest.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Cheng Tian! Are you okay?" Blushing, Su Han hurriedly stood up. Only then could Cheng Tian see clearly. Apparently, he had just enjoyed a breast facial.
With that lingering softness still against his face, Cheng Tian suddenly felt that it didn't hurt quite so much anymore. "I'm fine." He struggled to his feet, only for his vision to suddenly swim.
"Are you really okay? Shouldn't we go to the Nurse's Office?" Su Han hurriedly steadied him and asked anxiously.
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