“Hello everyone, my name is Mo Yidong. Because of my parents’ work, I came here to study. There will be many things I don’t understand from now on, so please take care of me.”
“No problem, we’ll definitely look after you~”
“Sure, sure, after class, if there’s anything you don’t understand, just come and ask me.”
The clear and bright voices from the front row made several girls visibly pleased, eagerly welcoming the handsome new classmate with the pleasant voice.
His sharp, defined face emitted a faint cold aura.
The boy’s expression was relatively calm, sparse bangs swaying between fine eyebrows, and his clear, dark eyes reflected the curious and surprised gazes of classmates in the classroom, as if he had seen such a scene before.
Because of his family’s special work situation, Mo Yidong had moved around many cities since childhood with his parents.
At school, he wasn’t talkative and always maintained excellent grades every semester.
To those around him, beneath his handsome appearance lay a hint of aloof coldness, which made many girls quite fond of him.
“Hmm… Since the introductions are done, you can sit… in that empty seat.”
Teacher Qiu calmly interrupted the chatting girls in the front row and the new student, then proceeded to arrange the next important matter.
She had already been thinking about this student’s seating during Mo Yidong’s self-introduction.
Earlier, in the Chinese department office, Teacher Qiu had carefully reviewed Mo Yidong’s enrollment documents.
His grades were outstanding across subjects, and he had transferred from the top class of a key high school in another city to her rather ordinary class.
She even suspected there was a mistake in the school’s arrangement and had called to confirm, but still felt uneasy.
With an honor student added, perhaps the overall academic level and motivation of the class could be improved, even the average score might look better.
Looking around, the only empty desk was the one next to Xia Yu.
Putting a top student from a key school to sit next to the school’s most problematic student as deskmates… this was a big issue!
As the homeroom teacher, she couldn’t secretly swap other students to sit next to Xia Yu.
Besides, the test was just a week away.
They could rearrange seats after the results came out.
She didn’t believe Xia Yu, that troublesome kid, could pull off anything in just seven days.
“You’ll sit in the corner seat for now. After next week’s test results are out, seating will be arranged based on ranking.”
“Okay.”
Okay!?
Not okay at all!
Sitting in the last row corner, Xia Yu suddenly felt several burning gazes on him.
Even Mo Yidong walked over to him calmly.
The girls in the front row bit their lips, frowned slightly, clearly upset, their eyes filled with defiance, as if saying,
“Why does he have to sit there?”
If you’re so unhappy, go talk to the teacher then?
Xia Yu rolled his eyes in his heart.
That double desk with the perfect spot and no disturbances was now taken by the new student.
He was more annoyed than anyone.
“Before class starts, I need to add one more thing.”
Before entering the classroom, Mo Yidong had specifically mentioned not to talk about his grades or school during introductions; he didn’t want to attract too much attention.
As soon as Mo Yidong sat down, Xia Yu threw his new classmate a glare.
The next second, he turned to the front and saw Teacher Qiu staring at him intently!
It was as if her eyes were full of countless words, deliberately warning him not to bully the new student! Nor lead him astray!
It was well-known throughout the school that Class 2-7 in the second year was infamous for trouble.
The class had 35 students, and five of the lowest-ranked in the entire grade were from there—Xia Yu included.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to study; the teacher’s words felt like a lullaby.
Xia Yu tended to get sleepy as soon as class started, and he was about to do as usual—lay his head on the desk and sleep until the bell.
He was already drowsy when a distracting, overly attentive figure in his peripheral vision kept him awake for a long time.
Since sitting down, the two hadn’t said a word to each other, seemingly having forgotten their brief meeting in the Chinese department office.
“I say…”
Xia Yu was about to say something when he was interrupted.
“No talking during class.”
Mo Yidong stared straight ahead, his gaze following Teacher Qiu’s movements, quietly murmuring.
Damn!
Xia Yu rested his cheek on his palm, turning his head away to avoid looking at his deskmate, but even through the window, he could still see the other’s silhouette.
The early summer classroom felt somewhat stuffy.
Xia Yu noticed his deskmate instinctively rolling up his sleeve, revealing a black watchband on his left wrist wrapped with a red-and-black woven bracelet.
“Where did you get that?”
That was the bracelet Xia Yu had personally braided.
To differentiate it from the ones sold on the market, he even made a special mark inside.
“What?”
Mo Yidong noticed the classmate beside him staring at his bracelet and showed a look of surprise.
Indeed, it was a bit unusual for a boy to wear a bracelet.
For that reason, Mo Yidong also wore a watch as decoration.
From his new deskmate’s gaze, it was clear he recognized the bracelet and knew its origin.
Perhaps he had even received the same kind of gift before.
Thinking of this, Mo Yidong became restless, unable to stay quiet any longer.
A look appeared on his face, one he had never shown since arriving.
What he wanted to know most was where the person who had given him the bracelet so many years ago was now.
To protect it, he had reinforced the bracelet’s material with spiritual energy, which kept it intact until now.
“You know it?”
“I…”
Xia Yu hesitated for a few seconds before quickly returning to his usual cold expression,
“No.”
Mu Yiqiu, sitting nearby, pricked up his ears and quietly turned to see the two locking eyes in a silent stare-down.
“What? You two know each other?”
In unison, they answered:
“No.”
Xia Yu immediately shifted his gaze.
He had no idea why the thing he had given away as a child had ended up on Mo Yidong’s wrist.
“Earlier in the office, the spirit power limiter wasn’t adjusted properly, leaked a bit of spirit power, sorry about that.”
Oh?
Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, and replied quietly:
“Is it fixed now?”
“Yeah.”
“No more leaks?”
“No more leaks.”
“What are you guys talking about, ‘no’ and ‘not no’?”
Someone suddenly appeared in the back row, breaking the unusually quiet atmosphere and causing a small commotion.
Usually, the back seats were like nobody’s land after class started.
Xia Yu could sleep through the entire class, and only during breaks could he hear the noises behind him.
“Focus on your class! Stop eavesdropping on us!”
“Mu Yiqiu and Xia Yu! One more word from either of you and it’s standing in the corridor for punishment!”
Finally, class ended.
The girls from the front row flocked over to Mo Yidong, eager to dig up some gossip.
One of them also noticed Mo Yidong’s bracelet and curiously asked:
“Your bracelet is so unique, where did you get it?”
Mo Yidong looked down at the object on his left wrist, a faint trace of nostalgia in his expression, and calmly said:
“It was braided by my childhood friend, also my first love.”
Pfft—!
Many people stared in horror and concern at Mo Yidong’s face and the translucent black sugar stains on his clothes, falling silent and turning unified gazes toward Xia Yu’s panicked expression.
Just the second before, Xia Yu heard Mo Yidong’s introduction, had just taken a sip of cola, and the next second sprayed it all over Mo Yidong’s face.
This was bad…
Xia Yu’s face darkened, already imagining the hot topic for tomorrow’s school forum.
“New student bullied by school tyrant on first day…” was going to be headline news.