He took it to heart; all he thought about was how to avoid He Qinghuan and Jiang Chi.
The monthly exam results were out, and next came the seat changes. Li Shuya decided how they would be arranged, and she had already drawn up the seating chart in her office.
Seeing Li Shuya enter the classroom, Song Zhiyan turned toward Gu Wang and tried hard to look tearful. "Wangwang, I don't want to leave you."
Gu Wang had scored three hundred this time, while Song Zhiyan had scored over two hundred. The gap wasn't large, so there was little chance they would be assigned as deskmates.
Gu Wang took an exercise book out of his desk. "These are questions I put together for your current level. Work on these first, and come get more when you're done."
Song Zhiyan: "..." Gu Wang was now an emotionless studying machine.
As soon as Li Shuya entered, the classroom gradually quieted on its own. She looked around with a smile. "Several students in our class made significant progress on this monthly exam. There's only a year left until the college entrance exam. It seems those students have started feeling the pressure."
"What I mainly want to discuss today is the seat change. I'll give the seating chart to the League Branch Secretary, who will be responsible for putting it into effect. Anyone with a problem can come see me in the office." Li Shuya handed the chart to Wen Ting in the front row and left.
Most miscellaneous class affairs fell to the League Branch Secretary. He Qinghuan was the class monitor; keeping everyone in line was enough.
The moment she left, the classroom erupted into noise.
"I don't want to move. Dawei and I get along great."
"League Branch Secretary, can you check who my new deskmate is?"
"I want to know too!"
Their chatter gave Wen Ting a headache. She stepped onto the platform and called, "I'll read it out. Remember your own names, then move your things once I'm finished."
"Guo Wei, Zhou Xing."
"Deng Fangfang, Yu Aimin."
"Meng Ou, Song Zhiyan."
Song Zhiyan had been draped over Gu Wang's shoulder, lamenting as though they were about to be parted forever. The moment he heard his name paired with Meng Ou's, he perked right up.
He was so excited he could barely speak coherently. "Wangwang, did I hear that right? I'm going to sit with Sister Xiao Ou!"
Gu Wang: "..." It was hard to imagine that just a second ago, Song Zhiyan had been clinging to him and wailing, "I can't live without you."
Most of the class had been called. Gu Wang hadn't given the seat change much thought; he had no objection to sitting with anyone.
Fewer and fewer names remained unread, until only Gu Wang and He Qinghuan were left.
The outcome was obvious.
"He Qinghuan, Gu Wang."
Gu Wang: "..."
That video of Gu Wang on the forum had essentially announced the official end of his unrequited love for He Qinghuan. But now that they had been assigned as deskmates, it was hard not to read into it.
Life really was a soap opera.
Song Zhiyan's excitement about sitting with Meng Ou vanished without a trace when he heard that Gu Wang would be sitting with He Qinghuan. As Gu Wang's buddy, he didn't want him to have anything to do with He Qinghuan again.
Wangwang had finally managed to resolve to stop liking He Qinghuan.
It wasn't that Song Zhiyan doubted Gu Wang's resolve. He doubted He Qinghuan. The lethal appeal of that face was no joke. Even Shen Zhao sometimes couldn't help saying a few good things about him.
Song Zhiyan frowned. "How about going to talk to Li Shuya?"
Gu Wang gave an absentminded hum of assent. He gathered the books on his desk, then walked around behind Song Zhiyan. Song Zhiyan thought he was going to see Li Shuya, but to his surprise, Gu Wang stopped beside He Qinghuan's seat.
The classroom was noisy, everyone busy changing seats, and for the moment, nobody noticed what was happening there.
Except He Qinghuan's deskmate, Yang Le. Sensing an unusual hint of danger, he hunched his shoulders and pretended to be invisible.
He Qinghuan's ink-black eyes met Gu Wang's pale amber ones, which reflected his face clearly.
He Qinghuan found it hard to imagine that anyone in the world could have eyes so clean and clear.
He Qinghuan's cool, pale fingers rested on his textbook. He seemed neither displeased nor surprised that Gu Wang was his new deskmate. For a moment, Gu Wang felt bewildered. Something seemed wrong.
Gu Wang looked at He Qinghuan for a while, then lowered his eyes and softened his voice. "He Qinghuan, let's go see Ms. Li. I know you don't want to sit with me. I don't want to either."
After saying it, he felt relieved. He Qinghuan would definitely agree, right?
Yang Le huddled beneath his desk, poking his fingers together. Gu Wang really doesn't like the class monitor anymore?
Author's note: He Qinghuan: I don't agree.
Chapter 17
"Aren't you leaving?" He Qinghuan turned toward Yang Le, his expression revealing nothing.
Startled, Yang Le immediately jumped up with his schoolbag in his arms. "Going right now, going right now!" The class monitor was heartless. They had been deskmates for a year, yet he was sending him away just like that. But Yang Le didn't dare protest and quickly finished packing his things.
Looking at the now-empty desk, Gu Wang was momentarily speechless. He didn't understand what He Qinghuan meant.
Forget it. If He Qinghuan won't go to the teacher, I'll go myself.
He was just about to leave when He Qinghuan suddenly looked up at him and smiled. "Hello, new deskmate."
Seeing Gu Wang return with a dark expression, clearly defeated, Song Zhiyan asked what had happened.
"Nothing," Gu Wang said stiffly, beginning to pack his things. Fuming, he shoved his books into his bag so forcefully that everyone around them looked over.
"You didn't go see the teacher?" Song Zhiyan asked.
"The teacher won't agree," Gu Wang said glumly.
Last time, Gu Wang had already stated his wishes to her face: he didn't want to be tied to He Qinghuan. Yet they had still ended up as deskmates this time. Especially since He Qinghuan didn't seem opposed either, Gu Wang's objection alone was useless.
Perhaps his improvement this time had given Li Shuya great hopes, making her think sitting with He Qinghuan would help him study better.
In despair, Gu Wang felt as though he had taken another step toward death.
Song Zhiyan helped Gu Wang pack as he said, "Then don't make the same mistake again, Wangwang. I don't think He Qinghuan is simple."
Gu Wang was a little surprised. "How could you tell?"
"A man's intuition. I feel like he hides a lot." Song Zhiyan glanced toward He Qinghuan a couple of times. The latter was leisurely flipping through a book. He was staying in his original seat and didn't have to move.
Gu Wang nodded in agreement. "I think so too."
In the book's plot, He Qinghuan always appeared unruffled and seemed to get along reasonably well with everyone. Because of his family background, countless people curried favor with him, openly and otherwise.
But He Qinghuan was actually an exceptionally heartless person, cold to his very bones. Gu Wang didn't recall seeing anyone enter He Qinghuan's heart in the book, nor had anyone received special treatment from him.
On the contrary, none of those who provoked him failed to meet a good end; they all suffered terribly, either dying horribly or ending up destitute.
Gu Wang could only say he was decent at studying and barely passable at socializing, but compared with He Qinghuan, who came from an established family, he was completely outclassed. He Qinghuan was unfathomable, not someone Gu Wang could afford to provoke.
Yang Le's seat was on the inside. For Gu Wang to get in, He Qinghuan had to make room for him to pass. To minimize interaction with He Qinghuan, Gu Wang handed all his books to the person behind his new seat and asked them to put them on his desk.
After sorting everything out, Gu Wang took a deep breath, walked up beside He Qinghuan, and said quietly, "I need to get in."
He Qinghuan raised his eyes. His beautiful, cool gaze swept over Gu Wang a few times before he stretched out his legs, leaving a narrow passage.
Gu Wang had to brush against He Qinghuan to get through.
Their thin summer clothes rubbed together. It only lasted a few seconds, but to Gu Wang, each second felt like a year. Who knew whether He Qinghuan would chop his legs off?
He Qinghuan watched Gu Wang dart past and shift farther away even after sitting down, then lowered his eyes, his emotions unreadable.
The girl sitting behind Gu Wang was named Zeng Xiao. She patted his shoulder and said excitedly, "Hi, Gu Wang!"
The girl had a standard mushroom haircut, and her bare face showed no malice toward him. A beat late, Gu Wang said hello.
He had no impression of this girl. She had never appeared in the book at all. Perhaps it was the butterfly effect; originally, Gu Wang wouldn't have sat with He Qinghuan.
Realizing this, Gu Wang instantly turned to stone. So after all his efforts to avoid getting involved with He Qinghuan and Jiang Chi again, he had achieved the exact opposite.
Seeing Gu Wang's expression of utter hopelessness, He Qinghuan lowered his brows and eyes, concealing the gloom in his gaze.
Because they had to prepare their National Day performance, Gu Wang and Meng Ou were spending noticeably more time together. Song Zhiyan benefited from his association with Gu Wang too, trailing after them all day.
While Meng Ou rehearsed with Gu Wang, he and Shen Zhao stood in the corridor outside the classroom holding milk tea, their free hands clutching Chinese textbooks as they memorized passages. Gu Wang had assigned them that task.
On the evening of National Day, they had to go to the auditorium.
Unsurprisingly, He Qinghuan hosted major events like this every year, though his cohost changed each time.
After getting his makeup and costume done backstage, Gu Wang still had to return to the classroom and go to the auditorium with the rest of the class.
Gu Wang frowned as he endured several girls applying things to his face. When he saw Meng Ou approach with a lipstick, he hurriedly backed away. "Why do I need lipstick too?"
Meng Ou wore vivid makeup and a red strapless tulle dress. Raising the corners of her eyes, she told the girls around them, "Hold Wangwang down."
Gu Wang: "..."
Makeup naturally made the girls look much more striking. If Gu Wang went barefaced, he would look too plain. Once the stage lights hit his face, he would appear pale and washed out.
"Press your lips together," Meng Ou said.
Gu Wang pretended not to hear.
Meng Ou tugged his hair. "Hurry up. Press them together."
Gu Wang did so a few times halfheartedly.
Meng Ou broke into a smile and patted Gu Wang's shoulder. "Done. Let's go back to the classroom."
Gu Wang stood up, but Meng Ou caught him again. "Wait, let's take a photo together as a keepsake."
Meng Ou rested her face against Gu Wang's shoulder, put on a picture-perfect smile, and snapped several photos. Looking down at them, she muttered to herself, "How are you prettier than a girl? Look at those long eyelashes, that fair skin. Your makeup is so light, too."
Gu Wang lifted the curtain that trailed on the floor. As Meng Ou went down the steps, he followed behind and bent over to straighten her skirt a little. When he straightened up, he came face-to-face with Li Shuya.
At first, Li Shuya didn't recognize him. Gu Wang had delicate, handsome features and had been growing increasingly well-behaved lately. Now he wore a loose white shirt with its collar casually open, and the hair that usually lay over his forehead had been swept back.
To make him look more mature, Meng Ou had also shaped his eyebrows and darkened his lash line with eyeliner. With contouring added, Gu Wang's brows and eyes looked somewhat sharp, but his other features softened that sharpness. Poised between boyhood and manhood, Gu Wang was breathtakingly handsome.
Neither too callow nor too worldly.
Li Shuya paused, then teased, "And who is this handsome young man?"
Gu Wang smiled shyly.
Seeing Gu Wang's embarrassment, Li Shuya waved a hand. "Hurry back. Come down with everyone else when you hear the announcement."
Gu Wang and Meng Ou had only taken a couple of steps when Li Shuya called him back. "Gu Wang, remember to remind He Qinghuan to bring his hosting script."
Gu Wang froze briefly. "Okay."
On the way back to the classroom, Meng Ou posted the photos she had just taken with Gu Wang to her Moments, with the caption: [Successfully snagged one hottie /heart/heart]
This was the first time Meng Ou had publicly posted a photo of them together since they began rehearsing.
Gu Wang and Meng Ou had quite a few mutual friends. Meng Ou asked him to like her post, and after he did, he could see all their mutual friends' comments too.
[Is this... making it official?]
[My goddess is taken!]
[Oh my god, is that Gu Wang? Oh my god, his eyes look so innocent yet so seductive. I'm in love.]
[Looking forward to your performance, goddess. You've got this!]
[Wow, does this mean we can ask for wedding candy?]
[They somehow look perfect together. Ice-cold queen v. reformed bad-boy puppy!]
When Gu Wang saw "reformed bad-boy puppy," he was speechless.
Meng Ou rested one hand