It's fine, they're not heavy

As the campus grew noisier around noon, Chen Shi'an emerged from his wandering trance and slowly opened his eyes.

He had studied with intense concentration throughout the morning's classes, so some fatigue was inevitable. But after a brief session of seated meditation, he was already back in peak condition.

The main problem was how tightly the school packed its schedule. If he had a little more time, he could even find a cool patch of shade beneath a tree and take a nap.

Just as he would after waking from an ordinary nap, Chen Shi'an interlaced his fingers and stretched, then picked up his water bottle and took a few sips.

When he turned to look, the seven classmates who had stayed in the classroom to study were already slumped over their desks. The warning bell had only just rung, leaving ten minutes before class began. Having pushed through the entire lunch break without sleeping, they could no longer hold out and were rushing to squeeze in a nap during those last ten minutes.

Unlike Chen Shi'an, the other students could not quickly restore themselves through seated meditation. They either had to take a proper nap or perk themselves up with instant coffee and the like.

As high school students, they never got enough sleep, on top of never getting enough to eat.

His bottle was empty, so Chen Shi'an stood up and took it over to the water dispenser to refill it.

He was using an ordinary mineral water bottle.

After filling it with cold water, he noticed that the dispenser's jug was empty and lifted it off.

He had watched other students replace it that morning, so he knew how.

All he had to do was peel the seal off the new jug's opening, turn it upside down, and slot it into place.

Only, unlike the other students, he did not struggle at all. The jug weighed several dozen pounds, but in his hands, it was no different from the empty one. With a click, the new jug settled securely onto the dispenser.

"Daoist Master, you're so strong!"

The speaker was Dong Wenyu, who had just woken up and come over for water too. He was about as tall as Chen Shi'an, but built like a bamboo pole, with glasses perched on his nose. Apart from his large hands, his arms and legs were so skinny that a strong gust looked liable to blow him apart.

"It's all right. It's not that heavy."

"You call that not heavy?"

Refusing to believe it, Dong Wenyu crouched down and tried lifting another full jug sitting nearby. As he lifted it, Chen Shi'an could see his whole body trembling like a butterfly beating its wings.

All right, all right, don't fall apart on me, buddy! Even with lotus roots, I couldn't put you back together!

"...Whoa, whoa?"

Seeing Dong Wenyu about to topple over, Chen Shi'an reacted instantly, taking the jug with one hand and steadying his shoulder with the other.

A solid, steady force came through his shoulder, allowing Dong Wenyu to regain his footing. That little effort alone had left a sheen of clammy sweat on his forehead.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine... I stood up too fast after squatting, and everything suddenly went black..."

Chen Shi'an: "..."

Are we really the same age? Even the seventy-year-old men in the village at the foot of the mountain didn't black out when they stood up!

Well, strictly speaking, they were not the same age. Chen Shi'an had asked Wen Zhixia, and most of the students in their second year of high school were seventeen, about a year younger than him. Since they called one another "Dad" despite being the same age, calling him "Daoist Master" was hardly out of line...

One glance was enough for Chen Shi'an to tell that there was nothing seriously wrong with Dong Wenyu. He was simply inactive and lacked exercise, while overworking his brain, sleeping too little, and indulging himself too much. His mind, body, and kidneys were all depleted.

"You really need to get some exercise," Chen Shi'an advised earnestly.

"It's fine! I just don't have time normally. Once the college entrance exams are over, I'll definitely fix my schedule and start exercising properly!"

"..."

Chen Shi'an was not particularly convinced. From what he knew of most people, finishing something enormously stressful usually led to even greater indulgence.

"Want some coffee, Daoist Master? I've still got some. Shall I get you a packet?"

"Thanks, but no."

As he made his coffee, Dong Wenyu asked in surprise, "Were you sleeping sitting up just now, Daoist Master?"

"Not exactly sleeping. Seated meditation."

"Awesome! Does it work?"

"It does. You can try it sometime."

After filling his bottle, Chen Shi'an returned to his seat and put it away. Other students were gradually filing into the classroom.

Since class had not started yet, Chen Shi'an decided to make a quick trip to the restroom.

Dong Wenyu followed him over.

"Going to the restroom, Daoist Master?"

"Yes, to take a leak."

"Let's go together."

"..."

By the time they returned from the restroom, most of the class had arrived.

Apart from Dong Wenyu, the other six students who had stayed in the classroom to study had woken up too. Every one of them looked wilted, with messy hair and vacant eyes. They had only slept for about ten minutes.

The students who had gone back to the dorms for an hour's sleep were not much better off. They were yawning constantly and could barely muster the energy to speak. Back in kindergarten, they had thought nap time was torture. Now that they were in high school, they wished they could sleep themselves dead in bed.

Beds did not ask questions. Beds did not criticize you. Beds were soft and warm, and always there waiting for you. Beds were wonderful!

"When will these miserable days finally end?!" some monkey yelled, acting up again.

Chen Shi'an returned to his seat and sat down. The seat beside him was still empty; Lin Meng Qiu had yet to arrive.

Just as he was wondering about her, footsteps sounded behind him, and the girl entered through the classroom's back door.

Before she could say anything, Chen Shi'an stood up to let her through.

Lin Meng Qiu took her backpack off her shoulder to avoid bumping the books on the desk behind her. It looked rather heavy, its strap digging into her delicate fingers and leaving faint red and white marks on her skin.

She pulled out her chair and sat down, setting the backpack on her desk with a distinctly heavy thud.

She did not speak to Chen Shi'an, simply attending to her own affairs once she was seated.

First, she took out a packet of tissues and wiped the light sheen of sweat from her face and neck, then threw the used tissues into the rubbish bag hanging beside her desk.

Chen Shi'an had no bizarre penchant for collecting tissues used by pretty girls. His gaze rested on Lin Meng Qiu's face.

From the moment she entered the classroom, he had noticed a mysterious hint of resentment about her. Even the way she stepped into her seat and put down her bag was a little more forceful than usual.

Chen Shi'an was puzzled too. Surely he had not offended her? He thought he had been pretty quick about standing up to let her through.

The afternoon sunlight blazed outside the window. She looked as though she had walked quite a way, her fair, pretty face flushed. A few strands of hair clung to her lovely cheeks, and she hooked them away with her slender, delicate fingers and smoothed them back into place.

Lin Meng Qiu was about to drink some water.

As she unscrewed the cap, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Chen Shi'an was looking at her.

So she turned toward him too. She said nothing, but there might as well have been a question mark floating above her head.

Lin Meng Qiu: "?"

"Is the Teachers' Dormitory far from the classroom?" Chen Shi'an asked curiously.

"No."

"Then why do you look like you've walked a long way?"

"I went home."

"Oh-"

Another "oh"! So snide! One point deducted!

Chen Shi'an did not ask why she had gone home, so Lin Meng Qiu did not explain.

She had not originally planned to go home. Although she lived nearby, only a little over ten minutes away on foot, the round trip would leave her too little time to rest at noon.

It was all because she'd promised him that morning to lend him her middle school workbooks and study materials!

Although she had said that morning she would bring them over when she went home for the weekend, she happened to be the sort of person who could not stop thinking about a promise until she had dealt with it.

After getting her lunch packed to go at the cafeteria, she thought it over and decided she might as well take it straight home.

Her father, who was eating porridge at home, was startled by her unexpected return. After asking why, he said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I happened to have some free time today. If you'd told me, I could have cooked a few dishes. You could have invited Shi'an over, and we could've had a meal together."

Lin Meng Qiu's face practically twitched as she listened! Her father was acting stranger and stranger. If Chen Shi'an had not looked so unlike him, she might have suspected that Chen Shi'an was her half brother from another mother!

Normally, she took a half-hour nap in the Teachers' Dormitory during lunch break. Today, she had not slept at all. After eating, she had stayed in the study, searching for the math workbooks, test papers, and other materials she had used in middle school.

The search took the entire lunch break. She found so much that bringing it all was impossible, so she selected only what she thought would be most useful. Even then, it filled her backpack.

She somewhat regretted agreeing to help him, but now that she had fulfilled her promise, Lin Meng Qiu breathed a sigh of relief.

[Ziiip-]

It was the sound of the backpack's zipper being opened.

Chen Shi'an turned to look curiously.

Lin Meng Qiu took out nearly ten workbooks of varying thicknesses, along with a rolled-up bundle of stapled test papers.

With a soft smack, she placed the stack of workbooks and papers between their desks. Her overburdened backpack seemed to sigh with relief along with her, collapsing into a loose, flattened heap.

"The workbooks I'm lending you."

Lin Meng Qiu spoke without expression. "They're all seventh-grade math, for both semesters. Once you've worked through these, you should more or less have it down. As for the later ones... we'll talk about those later."

Chen Shi'an was briefly taken aback, then his expression lit up with delighted surprise. He moved the workbooks from between their seats to his side, leafing through them as he said, touched:

"So you went home specially to get the workbooks for me? Didn't we agree you'd get them when you had time to go home over the weekend... Class rep, thank you so much!"

"...I just happened to go home, so I picked them up while I was there."

"I'm still really grateful! Sorry for the trouble, and for keeping it on your mind."

"..."

An awkward blush colored her face. She had just rested a while and was no longer so hot, yet now her cheeks felt warm all over again.

Chen Shi'an made her feel thoroughly appreciated. Both his expression and the words he spoke left a soft, ticklish feeling deep inside her.

She fanned herself with her small hand, but could not stop sneaking glances at him. Seeing him study each workbook intently and turn every page with care, she immediately felt that all her effort finding the books and carrying them over to lend him had been worthwhile. Her earlier irritation vanished.

"This is already so much just for seventh grade... How about this? Next time, I'll go over and carry them myself, so you won't have to work so hard, class rep."

"It's fine, they're not heavy."