Lin Yi had once pondered a philosophical question: if you diagonally cut a bar of chocolate, take one piece away, and then put it back together, could you create a perpetual motion machine of chocolate?
Why was she thinking this? Because she was now considering infinitely dividing that can of black tea drink.
A 250ml can of drink, divided into two portions.
One portion was downed in a single gulp yesterday, sustaining two hours of intense focus.
But in reality, exams usually only require about an hour of concentration to answer most questions.
So today, she divided the remaining portion in half again, added warm water, and put it in her insulated tumbler.
She felt she had performed exceptionally well on yesterday’s Chinese essay.
Perhaps influenced by Writing Lv.2, she felt her pen moved as if guided by a god, her thoughts flowing like a spring!
Even more frightening was that this writing skill dealt penetrating damage across all languages.
Her English essay in the afternoon also went incredibly smoothly.
Truly terrifying.
This morning was the math exam.
Lin Yi faced it with equanimity.
If necessary, she wasn’t even planning to drink the beverage.
Because with math, if you don’t know it, you really just don’t know it.
[Detected Task Time Limit Day 1 completed. Distributing reward: Strength & Speed Double A Experience Card 1h*1 (Keep working hard, this is your future!)]
Abstaining from… certain pleasures, a piece of cake!
“Good morning, Lin Yi.”
“Good morning to you too, Su Kui.”
The girl still approached with her sweet smile, the faint fragrance on her making Lin Yi’s mood improve considerably.
Lin Yi noticed Su Kui had little dimples when she smiled.
“Su Kui, I’ve noticed you seem to wear the blazer uniform all the time except during P.E. class.”
Su Kui looked down at the bow on her chest and her pale legs under the black-and-red pleated skirt, smiling as she said, “Because it looks nice.”
“It certainly does.” Lin Yi gave a thumbs-up.
Su Kui shook her head, though.
“I actually think if you, Lin Yi, wore the formal dress uniform, you’d look even prettier than me.”
Really… Lin Yi hadn’t thought about that.
Firstly, the aura Su Kui carried was something she herself lacked.
Secondly, running with Yan Jianxing in the mornings meant she couldn’t exactly go out in a formal dress.
The math teacher walked in carrying the test papers.
Su Kui waved and returned to her seat, preparing for the exam.
Just like yesterday, the goddess of Class 1-1, Feng Chuyue, jogged in through the back door, barely making it to the classroom before the bell rang.
Hearing the soft panting behind her, Lin Yi couldn’t help but look back.
The girl’s slightly flushed cheeks were exposed to the air, her rosy lips slightly parted as she exhaled gentle breaths.
Feng Chuyue looked up and saw Lin Yi watching her with concern.
She immediately lowered her head, unsure where to rest her gaze for a moment.
‘Cute. Want to squish.’
That’s what Lin Yi thought.
Suddenly, Feng Chuyue’s eyes landed on Lin Yi’s clenched fists, and her gaze didn’t move away again.
Lin Yi looked at her own fists, puzzled.
What was so interesting about them?
But the Feng Chuyue before her was socially anxious, most likely with communication difficulties.
If she suddenly asked out loud, the beautiful girl in front of her might bury her head in her arms for the whole day.
Right!
The Mood Emoji skill!
Lin Yi hurriedly used the skill.
After expending some stamina, she saw a little yellow bean emoji with starry eyes inexplicably appear above Feng Chuyue’s head.
‘I suspect you, crappy system, are a veteran shitposter from the anti-bar, sun-bar, Li Yi bar, aviation bar, mouth-bar, and 2ch bar.’
It made Lin Yi feel a bit unable to hold back laughter whenever she saw this little yellow bean emoji now.
But these starry eyes… did they represent anticipation?
Then, as if enlightened, Lin Yi opened her hands, palms facing the other girl.
Feng Chuyue stole a glance at Lin Yi’s palms, then a second glance, before lowering her head without a word.
The little yellow bean of anticipation above her head turned into a little yellow bean of disappointment.
Could it be… this kid was hoping she’d write something on her palms?
Lin Yi quickly wrote on her hands, then gently tapped the desk.
Feng Chuyue looked up.
She saw Lin Yi with her hands open.
On her left palm was written “Good,” on her right palm was “Morning.”
Together, it was “Good morning.”
Although the girl’s facial expression didn’t change much, Lin Yi knew that the disappointed little yellow bean above her head had turned into a smiling little yellow bean.
‘Cute. Want to squish.’
This was the second time Lin Yi thought this in her heart.
“Alright, everyone settle down. I’ll hand out the math test papers now.”
Lin Yi turned back around, ready for the exam.
—
—
The math exam ended.
Lin Yi stretched, looking at the handwriting on the paper that she had struggled to produce, nodding in satisfaction.
Hmm, at least there weren’t large blank sections.
‘You old fogey grading this, even if I didn’t understand the questions, I’ll still scribble a whole paragraph of nonsense, making you squint through the pile of crap I produced, hng ah ah ah ah ah!’
With malicious intent, Lin Yi handed in her answer sheet, letting out a smirk worthy of the Crooked-Mouth Dragon King.
Lunchtime!
Just as Lin Yi was about to dash to the cafeteria, she saw Feng Chuyue sitting at her desk, motionless.
She suddenly grew curious about how this socially anxious beauty would handle her lunch.
Zhuming Girls’ High probably finished at 12 PM, with classes resuming at 2 PM.
But usually, morning classes ran over, and afternoon classes started early, so the actual break time for students was even shorter.
An hour wasn’t enough for day students to go home, so they most likely stayed in the classroom for a nap.
Either go to the cafeteria or bring a lunchbox.
‘Now, let me see what choice the goddess of Class 1-1 will make.’
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
During this time, people kept passing behind Feng Chuyue—some clasping their hands in prayer, some with hearts in their eyes, some pretending to smell flowers.
Only Lin Yi remained motionless at her seat, occasionally stealing a glance at Feng Chuyue.
No movement. Like a girl frozen in a beautiful painting, a delight to behold.
‘Beauty can indeed be a feast for the eyes,’ Lin Yi thought.
“Lin Yi!”
Yan Jianxing walked over, looking at the two inexplicably frozen figures.
“Aren’t you going to eat? I heard there’s a limited-edition sweet and sour carp today…”
“Oh, right, right. Just a sec, let me pack my bag.”
Lin Yi packed her bag, stood up, and prepared to go to the cafeteria with Yan Jianxing.
“Let me tell you, for the last big math problem today, I didn’t even understand the letters!”
“Huh?”
As the two turned past the desks, Lin Yi happened to catch a glimpse of Feng Chuyue’s small head and couldn’t resist using the Mood Emoji skill again.
It was the little yellow bean of anticipation again.
Could it be… ‘Kami-sama, do you want to eat with me?’
No, no, no, impossible, haha.
Someone like Kami-sama, if she raised her arm, the line of people wanting to eat with her would stretch all the way to Mars.
Ha… ha, ha.
‘She doesn’t seem like she can raise her arm at all.’
Lin Yi stopped walking and leaned down towards Feng Chuyue.
A scent of lavender wafted over.
Only then did Lin Yi see the face hidden beneath the bangs and short hair in front of her forehead—even more beautiful than she had imagined.
Like an exquisitely carved cute doll, with quivering lips and eyelashes, impossibly soft and fragrant.
“Feng, would you like to go to the cafeteria to eat with us?”
Feng Chuyue was startled, because Lin Yi was speaking right by her ear.
She hurriedly covered her ears and dodged to the other side.
Yan Jianxing reached out.
“Lin Yi, you’re inviting Yue-shen to eat together?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, she’s all alone here; it seems lonely.”
“Such a bold idea…”
Lin Yi shrugged.
Since Feng Chuyue was so scared, she wouldn’t force it.
She turned and left.
Feng Chuyue watched the two leave through the back door, slumped back into her seat dejectedly, head bowed without a word.
The classroom was empty now.
Only Feng Chuyue remained, alone, watching the curtains fluttering in the wind.
She rummaged through her backpack but still couldn’t find her lunchbox.
She did have her meal card, but she didn’t dare go to the cafeteria alone.
‘Guess I’ll just have to go hungry. A bit uncomfortable.’
‘Want to go home…’
Fifteen minutes later.
Footsteps came from the back door.
Feng Chuyue couldn’t help but look back.
Lin Yi and Yan Jianxing returned to the classroom, chatting and laughing, carrying takeout lunch boxes.
Passing by Feng Chuyue’s desk, Lin Yi placed a box of food down and then said to herself, “Oh dear, the limited-edition sweet and sour carp was just too delicious. I accidentally bought too much. What a bother.”
Yan Jianxing smiled without speaking.
Feng Chuyue stared at the lunch box in Lin Yi’s hand and swallowed.
“Perfect, you’re still here, Feng. I’ll give this box to you. Of course, if you’ve already eaten, just pretend I didn’t say anything. You can throw it away too.”
Feng Chuyue immediately grabbed the lunch box, then managed to squeeze out two words from her mouth.
“Th…ank you.”
“You’re welcome!”
Lin Yi smiled and returned to her own seat.
After all, in this world, no one could bear to see that crying little yellow bean hovering above a beautiful girl’s head forever.