“Zheng Ziyan, you really have a cruel heart!”
After the first two morning classes ended and it was time for the morning exercises, Wei Lai suddenly hugged Zi Yan from behind, giggling.
“Eh?!”
Zi Yan was first stunned by the sudden hug, but then his cheeks flushed from the soft, youthful touch he felt on his back.
“Wow, this person must have watched too many Qiong Yao dramas last night.” The other girls leaving with Wei Lai teased.
“Ah, caught!” Wei Lai laughed, then asked Zi Yan, “Are you used to sitting here all by yourself?”
“Eh, ah, it’s okay.” Upon hearing that, Zi Yan understood what Wei Lai meant and quickly apologized, “Um, Wei Lai, I’m sorry. My body can’t handle sunlight, so… sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Wei Lai shook her head, then suddenly pinched Zi Yan’s chin gently with a mischievous smile and said, “Anyway, when our group’s seating moves to the third or fourth row, you’ll still be my deskmate. Little Zi Yan, you can’t escape, hahaha.”
“Wow, this person really did watch too many Qiong Yao dramas last night.”
“Hahaha, just kidding.” Wei Lai wasn’t offended by the teasing and laughed happily.
Yesterday was Sunday night when Class Teacher He Yanli held a small class meeting in the Grade Three Class 3-6 QQ Group.
The topic, of course, was about Zi Yan.
Teacher He briefly explained the situation: because of Zi Yan’s health, he can’t be exposed to sunlight, so he was arranged to sit alone on the left side of the podium.
Also, for the same reason, Zi Yan didn’t have to participate in activities like morning exercises, PE classes, or outdoor cleaning—things that would expose him to sunlight.
You could say Teacher He probably worried that the students might be unhappy with this special treatment toward Zi Yan.
After all, there were quite a few students who didn’t like doing morning exercises. In fact, today, one student even asked Teacher He for leave, claiming stomach pain, and didn’t join the exercises.
“No worries, we understand.”
But Teacher He’s concerns turned out to be unnecessary, as the class almost unanimously had no objections.
Except for Wei Lai—
“Teacher He, this is so unfair!”
Huh?
Wei Lai’s message made the students online in Class 3-6 all roll their eyes, thinking their class monitor must have suddenly gone full drama queen again.
By the way, Wei Lai had been the Class Monitor of Grade Three Class 3-6 since Grade One.
“Ahem, who’s that under the hall? What injustice is there?”
Teacher He, please don’t join the Class Monitor’s drama, okay?
The group fell silent.
“I am Wei Lai. When junior high just started, our class had an odd number of students. You made us draw lots to decide seats, and I got the single desk all to myself.”
At the beginning of junior high, due to an unexpected dropout, Class 3-6 had only 55 students. Teacher He decided to draw lots to see who would have to sit alone.
Unfortunately, Wei Lai’s luck was overwhelming—she drew the “A” ticket, the single desk.
That night, Wei Lai went home to complain to her dad about having no deskmate. But the principal just smiled and patted her head, saying, “Since it was decided by drawing lots, everyone had the same chance. There’s nothing we can do.”
“Teacher He, do you know how I’ve lived these two years without a deskmate?”
“No one talks to me, no one plays with me. Lonely to death, miserable to death, truly a pitiful and lonely soul.”
Yo yo yo.
Although no one replied, the students were all silently mocking their dramatic class monitor with perfectly synchronized side-eyes.
Class Monitor, you say no one talks to you?
Class Monitor, you say no one plays with you?
Class Monitor, you say you’re lonely and miserable?
Did you consider the feelings of the kids who hang out with you every day?
Well.
But the current Class Monitor seemed to be acting all cute and innocent, so it was hard to blame her.
Sigh, if you want Zheng Ziyan to keep being your deskmate, just say it outright.
“Oh? So what do you mean?” Teacher He typed, trying not to laugh.
“Zheng Ziyan has to be my deskmate,” Wei Lai typed quickly. “I know about Zheng Ziyan’s health issues, so when our seating moves to the third or fourth row, he won’t be exposed to sunlight.”
“So you get it, hehehe.”
The end result was naturally that Teacher He agreed to Wei Lai’s little cheeky request.
Ah, having someone to chat with during class is really nice.
So of course, the victorious Wei Lai was in a great mood!
“All right, all right.” Seeing Zi Yan’s face turn bright red, Wei Lai stopped teasing. “Bye~.”
The last few students who stayed behind left to do morning exercises, and only Zi Yan and a certain boy who had taken leave due to stomach pain remained in the classroom.
“…”
After hesitating for a long time, the boy nervously held a love letter wrapped in a pink envelope, his palm sweating.
This boy who faked stomach pain was none other than Lin Hualin, a talented student who had won second prize in the Hope Cup Composition Competition (Middle School Division) in Xijiang Province.
Of course, the stomach ache was fake, just an excuse to skip exercises.
As for the reason…
After a whole week of careful observation, Lin Hualin found out that the girl he admired usually arrived at school around 7:20 in the morning, ten minutes before class, so it wasn’t convenient to make a move.
At noon and after school, Zi Yan would open his umbrella and go straight home to eat. On the way to Zi Yan’s house, there were no restaurants, and it was in the exact opposite direction of Lin Hualin’s house.
So Lin Hualin just couldn’t come up with a plausible reason to bump into him.
The only chance was during morning exercises—the twenty minutes when everyone went outside to exercise!
Since Zi Yan couldn’t go outside because of his health, if Lin Hualin pretended to be sick and stayed inside one day, he could create an uninterrupted private moment with him.
And now, with everyone already gone, it was the perfect time for Lin Hualin to make his move!
Calm down, calm down, calm down!
Lin Hualin took a deep breath, then another, forcing himself to suppress his pounding heart and heated chest.
At this moment, Zi Yan had opened his umbrella in the classroom and was pacing near the window, watching the students exercise outside.
How do the protagonists in stories confess their feelings and hand over love letters? Yes, yes, like this.
Lin Hualin gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, his steps resolute as he quietly walked up behind Zi Yan.
“Um, Zheng Ziyan!”
Because of his nervousness, Lin Hualin’s voice was unusually loud and sudden, making Zi Yan jump.
“Eh?”
Zi Yan turned around, looking confused.
This person was…? He seemed to be Lin Hualin, whom the Chinese teacher had praised several times.
“…”
Seeing the beauty he had long admired up close, and the puzzled look in his wine-red eyes, Lin Hualin was momentarily stunned.
So cute!
“Lin Hualin?”
Only when Zi Yan’s delicate white fingers waved in front of him did Lin Hualin snap back to reality.
Come on, Lin Hualin!
Clenching the love letter in his pocket tightly, summoning all his courage, he said, “Um, Zheng Ziyan, I li—!”
Lin Hualin had planned to say, “Zheng Ziyan, I like you. Please be my boyfriend!”
But to his disappointment, before he could finish the word “like,” he was interrupted by a voice so familiar it could only be one person.
“Hey! You little brat, pretending to be sick to skip exercises?! Huh?!”
“Teacher He?!”
Lin Hualin’s body stiffened as he turned around, seeing Teacher He bursting into the classroom—she should have been outside supervising the exercises. At that moment, he felt like crying.
Ahhhh, no! This is so unfair!