“Checkmate.”
“Joker Bomb.”
“Southern Barbarian Invasion.”
“I win!”
“What are you guys shouting about while playing Gomoku!”
Gu Yu, who had been woken up, was annoyed. The chaotic shouting in his ear made it impossible to sleep.
A graph paper notebook was spread out on Chen Yang’s desk, with most of the blank space filled with crosses and circles in pencil. He was currently playing against the student in the seat in front of him.
“It’s to boost morale. Gu Yu, do you want to play? I’ve won three rounds in a row.”
“I want to sleep.” Gu Yu buried his head back into the crook of his arm, leaving one eye open to watch them erase the marks and start the next round. “We’re already in Senior Three. Why do you guys still love to play so much?”
“It’s because Senior Three is so tiring that we have to play as much as we can while we have the time,” Chen Yang said, glancing at him. “Once we all go our separate ways in the future, there won’t be many chances to mess around together.”
Gu Yu ignored him and closed his eyes, trying to continue sleeping until the long break ended, followed immediately by self-study.
No teacher was supervising, so the classroom remained quiet. The rising and falling sound of voices was very soft, replaced mostly by the rustling of turning pages.
“Class Monitor~ Class Monitor~”
He heard Chen Yang calling He Yu in a hushed voice.
“Hmm? What is it?” He Yu turned her head and looked at him in confusion.
“Swap seats.” Chen Yang gestured with the thin graph paper notebook, his intention obvious.
“Whatever.”
He Yu picked up her homework, ducked her head, and quietly left her seat to give it to Chen Yang.
The slight movement beside him disturbed Gu Yu. He turned his head to take a look, then buried his head and went back to sleep, unconcerned.
He Yu opened her book to work on her assignments and asked casually, “How were the buns this morning? My mom made them herself.”
“They were delicious. Your mother’s cooking is excellent.”
“Do you want to eat them again tomorrow?”
Gu Yu hesitated. The pleasure of his appetite conflicted with his principle of not wanting to bow down to others. He swallowed his saliva, remembering the sticky, fresh, and sweet taste.
He Yu’s expression was cunning. Noticing Gu Yu’s tempted yet restrained appearance, she thought of his concerns. “Don’t worry, it’s not a handout. I have conditions; let’s make a deal.”
“What conditions? I won’t do anything illegal.”
“I’m not some mob boss’s daughter. I wouldn’t hire a small fry like you to take someone’s limbs,” He Yu said, just as unserious as him. “Occasionally, I can’t sleep at night. I’ll call you then, and you can tell me a bedtime story.”
“Are you just starting kindergarten?” Gu Yu looked at He Yu, who seemed as playful as an innocent little girl.
“Are you going to do it or not? You can trade 10 minutes for several breakfasts. Think it over…” He Yu raised an eyebrow and squinted at Gu Yu as he became increasingly tempted. “If I have time, I can even help you with your studies. That’s a bonus.”
“Luo Ming said she would help me.”
The original liveliness instantly turned into irritation. Her beautiful, thin brows furrowed, and He Yu snapped at him. “Luo Ming again. You like her that much? I never noticed you two were that close before. If you don’t want it, then go find her. Let her help you with your studies.”
“But I want to eat the buns.”
“Don’t even think about it. You blockhead, go back to munching on your bread.”
He Yu gritted her teeth and fixed her gaze on the homework in front of her. She ignored Gu Yu and focused her attention on the problems.
Gu Yu felt a bit helpless, not knowing why the girl had suddenly become angry. He closed his eyes to continue catching up on sleep.
Silence lasted for a few minutes. He Yu glanced at Gu Yu with a look of disappointment. His messy black hair was facing her, and he was sleeping quite comfortably.
“The teacher is here.”
He Yu leaned over and whispered a reminder. Her words were quick and urgent, as if it were really true.
Gu Yu looked up in a panic, picked up his pen, and flipped through his book, observing the classroom out of the corner of his eye.
“I just saw them through the window. They’ve already left.”
“You aren’t lying to me, are you?” Gu Yu stared at her suspiciously.
“Believe it or not. Besides, class is almost over. Stop sleeping.”
He Yu packed up her books and tapped Chen Yang, who had just finished his game, signaling him to swap back.
The bell rang a few minutes later, and the sound of moving chairs echoed through the classroom.
Gu Yu took his water bottle and squeezed through the gap behind his deskmate’s chair, joining the crowd moving back and forth in the corridor.
He heard many people talking about class placement. Many were lamenting that their friendship of over 2 years would have to be maintained across different classrooms. Acquaintances would become strangers, even though they would eventually graduate and part ways anyway.
The Elite Class seemed like a dividing line between the good and the bad. The original intention might have just been to give students with good grades a more suitable studying environment and teaching pace, but they all instinctively felt it was a symbol of being a “good student.”
This perception didn’t have much meaning. Compared to the division based on scores, students cared more about whether the friends they could chat with would be separated because of it.
Gu Yu did care about grades. Luo Ming and He Yu had already stepped halfway through the door of the Elite Class. He thought that he also needed to give it his all, for higher scores, and for an admission letter from Linyang University.
There weren’t many people around the water dispenser, and several faucets soon became available. Gu Yu moved his water bottle over to fill it, but the scalding stream didn’t align with the opening. It burned his finger, and he accidentally knocked the bottle over.
“Are you okay?” a girl asked him, her voice filled with concern. She helped him pick up the bottle he had knocked over. “Do you want to go rinse it with cold water? I’ll watch your bottle for you.”
“I’m fine. It’ll be better in a moment.”
Gu Yu blew on his reddened finger. Once the heat subsided a bit, he looked up at the girl who was tightening the cap. She was very beautiful, like a dusting of snow weighing down a branch.
“You’re here to… get water, too?”
“Yeah. As soon as I arrived, I saw you being a fool.”
Luo Ming’s school uniform was worn over a green hoodie, wrapping her tightly. The sleeves were long, covering the base of her fingers. She held a small glass cup, and her skin was pale with a hint of red.
“Here, yours is ready too.”
Luo Ming turned off the valve. The bottle under the faucet was filled to the brim. Gu Yu still had the lid in his hand. “Put the cap on yourself. I’m leaving.”
“Uh… thanks.” Gu Yu was a bit dazed as he carefully took the water bottle.
The temperature of the water transferred through the glass to her fair, delicate hand. It was a bit hot. Luo Ming’s hand retracted into the fabric of her sleeve as she gripped the side of the cup. The warmth spread from the cloth to her skin, then seeped into her blood vessels, traveling through her entire body.
She suddenly stopped and turned around to face Gu Yu, her emotions unreadable. “I just passed by your class and saw He Yu sitting next to you…”
“Oh, that. Chen Yang was playing a game with the person in front of him, so they swapped for a period.”
“You didn’t play with them?” Luo Ming breathed a sigh of relief, letting the forced casualness dissipate.
“I was catching up on sleep. Didn’t I have insomnia last night? I feel much better now.”
“Then study hard. If you need any help, you can tell me.”
Her voice was ethereal, mixed with the dryness of the autumn and winter air, making it feel more real.
Her collar went up past her snow-white neck. Saliva surged in her throat. Luo Ming hesitated before finally asking, “Are you and He Yu… close?”
Gu Yu thought for a moment and answered clumsily, “It’s all right. We’re ordinary friends. The Class Monitor… she’s a pretty good person.”
“She’s very good to you?” Luo Ming asked casually, sounding as if she were teasing him.
“Just ordinary friends… that’s all… but she really has helped me a lot.”
“Better than me?”
“What?” Gu Yu didn’t expect Luo Ming to ask that. He was a bit stunned. “There’s nothing to compare.”
“Heh, I was just asking.”
Luo Ming turned her head and walked away, disappearing from his sight at the entrance of Class 3.