Lin Jiandu Again

Following the instructions in the book, Cen Xia quickly got the experiment underway. Ding Yiheng couldn't do much to help, so he stood beside him, handing him things as instructed and recording the data.

After completing the final step, Cen Xia put his hands down.

Ding Yiheng said, "Done?"

Cen Xia said, "Done."

Ding Yiheng looked around and saw that the other students were either scratching their heads, unsure how to proceed, or only halfway through.

He looked at the girl wearing glasses in the front row. She had the best chemistry grades in their class, and even she was only on the last few steps.

Ding Yiheng's expression was complicated. "Didn't you say you were average at chemistry?"

His goggles had slipped down a little during the experiment. Cen Xia washed his hands and pushed the frames up. "I'm pretty good at hands-on work."

Ding Yiheng believed him. After all, everyone had their own strengths.

Take himself, for example. His grades weren't good, but his social skills were maxed out. There wasn't anyone he couldn't befriend... Well, except those favored children of heaven.

At that thought, Ding Yiheng stole a glance at the person beside him. School had been in session for quite a while, and he had gotten to know everyone in the class except this guy called Cen Xia.

He was too much of a loner.

He had never been seen saying anything in the class group chat, either.

Thinking of that, Ding Yiheng opened his phone, entered the class group chat, and found Cen Xia's account.

The profile picture was a cow cat that was snow-white all over except for a small black patch on its forehead. The kitten had its head tilted toward the camera and looked very silly.

Ding Yiheng said, "I sent you a friend request. Accept it."

Cen Xia hadn't expected a temporary classroom pairing for an experiment to result in a friend request. He marveled inwardly that Ding Yiheng really was the class's social butterfly.

He lowered his eyes, his fingertips stirring slightly. He really couldn't find a reason to refuse. So he fished his phone out of his desk. The screen lit up, showing a new friend request notification at the top of his uncluttered chat interface. With a light tap, he accepted it without hesitation.

Before long, the teacher finished checking each group's results and gave a few brief comments. Then the bell rang on time, announcing the end of the lab class.

The classroom instantly came alive. The students packed up their equipment and books and left in twos and threes.

Cen Xia picked up the schoolbag beside the desk with one hand, slung it over his shoulder, and followed the crowd out of the classroom, heading to another teaching building for his next class.

Ding Yiheng, who had fallen behind, hastily gathered his things and hurried after him.

"Hey, wait for me."

Cen Xia hadn't intended to make friends, but he wouldn't turn away someone who was being friendly, either.

Ding Yiheng walked up beside him and glanced up to compare their heights. Finding that he only came up to Cen Xia's ear, he said enviously, "I didn't realize you were so tall. I'm 1.77 meters barefoot. Even if I count three centimeters for my heels, I still only come up to your ear. Doesn't that make you over 1.85 meters?"

Cen Xia said carelessly, "I haven't measured. Around that, I guess."

Ding Yiheng said, "I think I can still grow. I'll drink another glass of milk when I get back tonight!"

Outside the lab building, everything was shrouded in gray. It was a rainy season, and although it hadn't rained for the past two days, the air was thick with damp. When the wind blew, it occasionally carried wisps of floral fragrance, making it reasonably refreshing.

The next class was in the regular teaching building. It was math, and listening to it made people drowsy.

Ding Yiheng was still sitting beside him, his head propped on his hand and his eyelids drooping.

As Cen Xia took notes, he looked up at the gray sky outside the window.

The weather really was good for sleeping.

There were thirty students in Class One, so it was plain to see who was distracted and who was asleep. But the teacher didn't care and just continued his lecture.

Every teacher had a different teaching style, like this math teacher of his. He was a man around forty, with a reasonably thick head of hair. In his class, it was fine if you didn't pay attention; it was also fine if you slept.

Whispering to each other and disturbing others was not.

He rarely said anything unrelated to the lesson in class. His principle was that whatever you did in class, he would settle accounts with you afterward.

Sure enough, as soon as class ended, three students, including Ding Yiheng, were asked to stay behind.

On hearing the terrible news, Ding Yiheng pulled a long face. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Cen Xia held up three fingers and said coldly, "I called you three times. Even the teacher glared at me, and you still didn't wake up. Who can you blame?"

With the determination of a warrior cutting off his own arm, Ding Yiheng headed for his battlefield.

Cen Xia packed up his things and went back.

Kanlitel didn't have evening study sessions, but that didn't mean students could come and go through the school gates as they pleased during that time. To leave campus, they had to submit an outing request through the system in advance and wait for the Disciplinary Group to review and approve it before they could pass through.

Cen Xia returned to the dorm, planning to rest for a while before going to the cafeteria to eat.

He was organizing his notes from today's classes when a message popped up on his phone.

It was from Ding Yiheng.

[Can you send me a copy of your class notes? The teacher told me to copy them ten times and show him tomorrow.]

A smiling emoji followed at the end.

Cen Xia tapped the side of his phone twice, a little puzzled. He and this Ding Yiheng had only met today, hadn't they?

He casually took two photos and sent them over, receiving a sticker of Ding Yiheng kneeling and kowtowing in thanks.

Ding Yiheng: [Have you eaten?]

Cen Xia typed "not yet" in the chat box, then thought better of it and deleted it.

Cen Xia: [I have.]

Ding Yiheng: [All right. I was going to ask you out to eat. The class monitor's family just opened a restaurant nearby, and a few of us arranged to go there for dinner tonight. But since you've already eaten, never mind.]

Cen Xia sent back a random sticker, ending the conversation.

This Ding Yiheng was a little too enthusiastic.

The cafeteria closest to the dormitory area was only a ten-minute walk away. The temperature was low at night, so Cen Xia threw on a jacket and went out.

The route from Cen Xia's dorm building to the cafeteria wasn't a straight one. Part of it went through a small grove beside the dorm building before turning onto the main road.

Past the entrance to the grove was a long, winding path paved with pebbles. Halfway along it, a circular area had been cleared, with benches on either side and a flowering tree standing in the middle. It wasn't flowering season, and its branches and leaves grew lush and thick, boughs overlapping in layers.

They happened to block the view ahead.

Cen Xia went around the flowering tree, but before he had taken more than a few steps, someone slammed hard into him.

The person had been running with his head down and crashed squarely into Cen Xia's chest. The pain made Cen Xia double over, and he couldn't recover for quite a while.

"Sorry, sorry!" The person had taken a hard knock too. He clutched his head and apologized repeatedly.

Only after the burning, dull ache in his chest subsided did Cen Xia slowly straighten up with a frown. He was about to say it was all right, but he froze the moment he saw the other's face.

It was Lin Jiandu.

The lights in the grove made his complexion look even fairer and more translucent, with only a conspicuous red mark on his forehead from the collision. His deerlike eyes shimmered with moisture as he looked at Cen Xia with a hint of apology.

Cen Xia lowered his eyelids and shook his head. "It's all right."

Lin Jiandu parted his lips to say something, but a man's voice suddenly came from behind him, cutting him off.

"Why are you running?"

Lin Jiandu's whole body trembled violently, like a kitten caught off guard by a fright. He hastily tossed out an apology and hurried away.

Cen Xia stood where he was. When he looked up, he saw Ling Xian strolling over.

Pei Huaiyi was a few steps behind him, looking down and scrolling on his phone. Whatever message he had seen, his brows were tightly furrowed.

Ling Xian seemed not to have noticed Cen Xia standing to the side at all, not sparing him so much as a sideways glance.

He clicked his tongue softly, sounding somewhat puzzled. "Why does he run every time he sees us? Do I look like I'd eat him?"

A few seconds passed before Pei Huaiyi spoke in a mild voice. "Us? Isn't it you?"

Cen Xia stood off to the side with his eyes lowered, motionless as a statue.

Ling Xian passed by him. Then the person behind him approached at an unhurried pace.

There was only one flowering tree in the grove, and the only scent people could pick up was the faintly bitter fragrance of the trees. But as Pei Huaiyi drew closer, Cen Xia smelled another fragrance.

It was very faint and seemed to carry a hint of bitterness too, a scent he couldn't quite place.

Cen Xia looked up instinctively. At that very moment, Pei Huaiyi turned his head, and their gazes collided without warning.

That gaze was utterly flat, no different from the way he would look at grass or trees by the roadside, indifferent and without the slightest ripple.

After an instant, without even pausing for a second, Pei Huaiyi withdrew his gaze and returned it to the screen in his hand.

Only after the two had left did Cen Xia continue toward the cafeteria.

As he walked, he wondered, Was my role today to hold up the protagonist for a few minutes so the male lead could catch up to him?

How utterly baffling.

After buying his meal from the cafeteria, Cen Xia retraced his route, entered the dorm building, and waited for the elevator.

He hadn't waited long when, with a ding, the elevator doors slowly slid open to either side. He stepped in, and his fingertip had just pressed the number "5" when a figure hurriedly rushed in from outside.

The young man had been running in a hurry, his chest rising and falling as he panted. The naturally curly strands at his forehead had all been blown back, leaving only a few sweat-dampened wisps clinging pitifully to his smooth temple.

Cen Xia looked away and stepped back into the corner. Why is it Lin Jiandu again? he wondered.