After the first class of the afternoon, Zhang Wei came over again.
This time she wasn’t alone. She brought her little followers, Wang Tingting and Li Yue, with her.
The three of them walked straight to Lin Mo’s desk, forming a small circle around him.
“Lin Mo, the Culture Festival is coming up soon. The homeroom teacher said every class has to put on two programs, and our class doesn’t have any yet.”
Zhang Wei smiled sweetly, her voice sounding cloyingly high-pitched. “Can you help out a little?”
“I don’t have any talents,” Lin Mo said without looking up.
Wang Tingting chimed in, “But your grades are so good! You could do a knowledge quiz or a speech…”
Before she could finish, Lin Mo shook his head and refused outright. “Sorry, I’m not interested.”
Zhang Wei’s smile began to falter. “Are you really not going to give me any face? This is for the class’s honor.”
Lin Mo finally looked up, his finger tapping against the desk. “Class honor is important, but it shouldn’t be maintained by forcing individuals. Students with talent should participate voluntarily, and those without shouldn’t be subjected to moral kidnapping.”
These words were a bit harsh, and several nearby students glanced over.
Zhang Wei’s face flushed. “What — what do you mean by that? How am I morally kidnapping anyone?”
‘Isn’t shouting about honor every second exactly what kidnapping is?’
Lin Mo lowered his head back to his book, unwilling to say more.
If this were his past life, he might have let it go to his head. Being surrounded by three pretty girls was the kind of youthful bragging right one could still bring up a dozen years later, especially when the leader was the class beauty herself.
But the current Lin Mo had already entered a high-intensity anti-predatory combat state. On the surface, he was reading, but in reality, he was using his peripheral vision to monitor Su Ran’s movements.
At the other end of the classroom, Su Ran was ostensibly getting water, but she was actually observing Lin Mo from a peculiar angle.
The two of them seemed to have gazes that could bend, piercing through the crowd to collide across the room.
Su Ran’s hand trembled, and water splashed out of her cup.
***
The second class was self-study.
Zhang Wei passed a note over.
‘Lin Mo, do you hate me?’
Lin Mo crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it into the trash can behind him.
Five minutes later, Zhang Wei handed over a second note.
‘If I’ve done something wrong, you can tell me.’
This time Lin Mo replied, but only with five words: ‘Please focus on studying.’
After the note was passed back, Zhang Wei made no further moves.
Lin Mo noticed her shoulders shaking slightly as the girl sitting next to her tried to comfort her.
The classroom’s public opinion began to shift subtly.
During the break, Li Yue said loudly on purpose, “Some people think they’re so amazing, but they don’t even have basic manners.”
Wang Tingting chimed in, “Exactly. The poor girl is crying.”
Lin Mo turned a deaf ear. He was working on physics problems, focused as if everything around him didn’t exist.
However, Su Ran couldn’t sit still anymore.
She suddenly stood up and walked to Zhang Wei’s desk. The entire class went silent instantly.
Everyone looked at Su Ran in surprise, only to hear her say in a cold voice, “Don’t harass Lin Mo while he’s studying.”
Zhang Wei looked up, revealing two eyes that were still red.
Seeing Su Ran’s face, which was no less beautiful than her own, she reached a breaking point. “What does it have to do with you? Get lost!”
“I am the Study Representative.” Su Ran spoke one word at a time, an invisible aura seemingly expanding around her.
Zhang Wei’s eyes widened, a hint of panic flashing in their depths.
In the eyes of her classmates, Su Ran was indeed an oddity. Even if it was just based on rumors, many people were afraid of her.
“When — when did I ever harass him? I was just communicating normally!”
“You passed notes, created public pressure, and tried to use collective emotion to kidnap him.”
Su Ran looked down coldly at the pitiful-looking Zhang Wei and said mercilessly, “That is harassment.”
“You… you’re talking nonsense!”
With a loud *thud*, Zhang Wei slapped the table and stood up. She asked furiously, “Who do you think you are? Lin Mo’s spokesperson? He didn’t even say I was harassing him, so what right do you have to interfere!”
Su Ran frowned. “I’m not, but I know he doesn’t like this.”
“How do you know? Did he tell you?”
Su Ran bit her lip. This question hit her weak spot.
Lin Mo hadn’t explicitly said so; it was a conclusion she had reached through observation.
“See? You can’t say anything, can you?”
Zhang Wei suddenly became smug and sneered, “What are you trying to pull? You’re just indulging in unrequited affection yourself. Neither of us is better than the other.”
Su Ran’s fingers tightened.
Lin Mo saw her fingertips turning white, a sign of her emotional agitation.
He immediately stood up, intending to go over and diffuse the situation, but Su Ran spoke first.
“Last Thursday, during the lunch break, you told Wang Tingting at the convenience store that Lin Mo was just acting holy. You said sooner or later you’d make him go soft — both in the physical and physiological sense.”
Under the shocked gazes of the entire class, Su Ran’s voice was as calm as if she were reciting a textbook. “Yesterday after school, you told Li Yue at the bike rack that the more he acted like this, the more you wanted to catch him. You said there wasn’t a guy Zhang Wei couldn’t handle.”
With every sentence Su Ran spoke, Zhang Wei’s face grew whiter.
Su Ran remained indifferent, seemingly unaware of how shocking her words were. “There is plenty of similar content on your phone. Do you need me to continue?”
Lin Mo frowned, thinking to himself that this was bad.
A deathly silence suddenly descended upon the classroom.
Zhang Wei’s face went from white to red, then from red to purple. “You… you looked through my phone?!”
“Your lock screen is your birthday. It was very easy to guess. Moreover, you never clear your background apps, so the chat interface appears immediately after unlocking.”
Su Ran continued like a runaway horse, every word sharp like a thorn. It was the kind of thorn that didn’t just hurt others, but also hurt herself.
“That’s an invasion of privacy!” Zhang Wei looked incredulous, her voice reaching a near-scream.
“Then what do you call spreading rumors and harassing classmates?”
Su Ran countered, “Do you need me to tell everyone about the rumors you spread regarding Teacher Su sleeping around for favors?”
Zhang Wei looked like a chicken being strangled, her voice cutting off instantly with a sharp gasp.
Su Ran turned and walked back to her seat. Her slender back was ramrod straight, and her footsteps were as steady as if she were fearless.
Only Lin Mo saw that her hands at her sides were clenched tightly and trembling slightly.
It proved that she wasn’t just socially awkward, nor was she as brave as people imagined. It was just that whenever something involved him, she would throw everything away and risk it all.
Lin Mo was completely stunned into silence, but the development of the situation didn’t allow him to get lost in thought.
He had to think about how to settle this properly.
Zhang Wei was crying, saying through her sobs that Su Ran was committing a crime.
Su Ran didn’t care at all. After sitting down, she opened her book and never looked up again.
However, her ears had quietly turned red — not from embarrassment, but from excitement.
It was the long-suppressed excitement of finally speaking her mind.
***
After school, Lin Mo waited for Su Ran at the bike rack.
She froze for a moment when she saw him while wheeling her bike out, then lowered her head and continued walking.
Lin Mo followed, walking half a step behind her. “Thank you for today.”
Su Ran felt as if a wall was pressing in from behind. Although she didn’t reject it, she couldn’t stop the nervousness from rising, her heart rate soaring.
“No… no need to thank me. I just stated the facts.”
“Mm…”
Lin Mo thought for a long time. Feeling that matters involving potential illegalities shouldn’t be handled too subtly, he decided to be direct. “Even if it’s the truth, you obtained it through improper means. Things like snooping through phones and invading privacy are wrong.”
Su Ran stopped abruptly. She turned back to look at Lin Mo, and it looked as if something in her eyes had shattered.
“You… feel that way too?” Her voice trembled, sounding as if she were already crying.
Lin Mo felt a pang of intense heartache, but he still spoke seriously. “Don’t be in a hurry. Let me finish.”
Su Ran had already lowered her head, not daring to look into Lin Mo’s eyes anymore.
She suddenly felt Lin Mo’s gaze was like a blade, scraping against her skin and causing pain, yet she didn’t want to leave.
Then, one sentence from Lin Mo made all the pain vanish. “First, I want to clarify that invading people’s privacy is wrong — but I am the exception.”
‘Eh?’
Su Ran didn’t look up, but her eyes suddenly widened.
What was he… saying?
Seeing that she had no reaction, Lin Mo leaned in closer on purpose and asked in a serious tone, “I said I’m the exception. You can invade my privacy however you want. Did you hear me?”
Only then did Su Ran nod, the movement incredibly small.
Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “I know your intentions were good, but next time we can use a more appropriate method to solve things.”
It went without saying that Su Ran had no interest in Zhang Wei at all. The reason she went to investigate Zhang Wei was definitely because of him.
Lin Mo thought this, but he wasn’t narcissistic enough to say, “You did all this for me.”
Besides, their relationship hadn’t reached that point yet.
Su Ran wasn’t stupid. She vaguely understood, and her shattered mood finally began to piece itself back together.
“What method?” she asked softly.
Lin Mo softened his tone. “Like you did before, you handled it well. If you don’t like something, tell her to stop. If she doesn’t listen, tell the teacher instead of using her secrets to threaten her.”
He saw Su Ran’s head drop even lower and quickly added, “Or you could just tell me.”
Su Ran shook her head. “That wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t listen.”
“She will from now on.”
Lin Mo said with a light laugh, “You exposed her in front of everyone today. She’s already scared. Next time you give a direct warning, she’ll listen.”
Su Ran turned around in silence and continued pushing her bike forward.
They walked to the school gate, where the setting sun stretched their shadows very long.
Perhaps afraid that Lin Mo would misunderstand her silence, Su Ran stammered in a low voice, “I… I’m sorry… I don’t know what to say.”
“I know.”
Lin Mo continued to follow behind Su Ran, his tone like he was coaxing a child. “That’s why I’m teaching you.”
Su Ran bit her lip, and tears gradually welled up in her eyes. “Why… why are you teaching me these things?”
“Because I want to be friends with you.”
Lin Mo suddenly stepped up to walk side-by-side with Su Ran, turning his head to look at her. “The kind where we don’t have to be sneaky, the kind without mutual suspicion, without one chasing and the other hiding. Just normal friends.”
Su Ran’s lips moved, but no sound came out.
Lin Mo waved his hand and smiled. “You can take your time to learn, and I’ll learn too.”
‘Learn to understand your ways, and learn how to make you feel safe.’
“…You’re learning too?”
Su Ran looked up at him, her expression full of confusion.
Lin Mo nodded and scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well, um, actually I’m very nervous too. This is the first… um… first time I’ve been like this with a girl… Tsk, I can’t explain it well. Basically, you’re my first female friend.”
“I don’t know how to deal with female friends either, so it’s perfectly normal.”
‘Nor… mal?’
Su Ran’s tears suddenly fell.
There was no loud wailing; it was quiet, the teardrops falling one by one.
She didn’t even seem to notice them, letting the tears slide down her cheeks and drip onto her school uniform collar, creating dark circles on the fabric.
Lin Mo saw them and felt an impulse to wipe them away, but he held back.
He pretended to look straight ahead at the sunset and said with some sheepishness, “Um, you don’t have to secretly record my information anymore. Or you can continue if you want, I don’t mind. Er… what I mean is, you don’t have to worry about me. If there’s anything you want to know, just ask me directly and I’ll tell you.”
“Would that make you feel a little more relaxed?”
The evening glow spilled over them, feeling as warm as the words Lin Mo spoke.
Only then did Su Ran raise her hand to wipe her tears, but more kept coming, and she couldn’t wipe them all away.
“I’ve… always… been so afraid.”
She sobbed, trying her best to suppress it, which made her voice sound suppressed and hoarse.
To be honest, it was a little scary, giving off a ‘yandere’ vibe as if she might pull out a knife at any moment.
Fortunately, Lin Mo was already used to her atmosphere, and instead felt a long-lost sense of relaxation.
As soon as the thought occurred, he cursed himself in his mind for being such a glutton for punishment. One day he’d step on a landmine and get stabbed twice, and that would be that.
“What are you afraid of?” he asked softly.
Su Ran’s mouth moved, but she couldn’t utter a single word for a long time.
Lin Mo leaned over and nudged her gently, smiling. “Tell me. Say it and make me happy.”
“…” Su Ran looked up and gave him a complex look through her tear-filled eyes.
Then she lowered her head again, sniffled, and said in a muffled voice, “Afraid… afraid you’d find out what kind of person I am and then, like everyone else, run far away.”
“Afraid you’d hate me. Afraid you’d… never talk to me again.”
Lin Mo still had a smile on his face, but his heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly.
In his past life, he had indeed done exactly that.
After discovering her “abnormality,” he had stayed far away for ten whole years.
And during those ten years, she had been waiting for him to look back.
“I won’t do that anymore.”
Lin Mo spoke softly but with absolute certainty. “I swear on the lives of everyone in our class — except you.”
Su Ran looked up at him again. Her tears were still flowing, but the corners of her mouth curled up.
It was a small arc, a morbidly trembling yet incredibly genuine smile.
“Pinky swear.” She suddenly held out her pinky finger.
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, thinking, ‘I thought you were going to stab me. You scared the life out of me.’
Then he smiled and extended his pinky to hook hers.
“Pinky swear. Whoever lies has to swallow 1,000 needles.”
“No.”
Su Ran shook her head. “Whoever lies has to be lonely for a lifetime.”
That was too brutal.
Lin Mo still nodded. “No problem.”
When their fingers separated, Su Ran quickly wiped away her tears and pushed her bike forward.
After a few steps, she turned back.
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
She got on her bike and disappeared around the corner.
Lin Mo stood in place, the cool sensation of her fingertip still lingering on his pinky.
He looked down and found a note on the ground.
Picking it up, he saw several fragmented notes written on it:
‘…Tell the truth… Don’t run away… See you tomorrow…’
Below that was a line of even smaller text:
‘If you break the contract, I will find you, no matter where you are.’
Classic Su-style sweet nothings.
Sweetness laced with threats, tenderness hiding obsession.
Lin Mo put the note into his pocket and couldn’t help laughing out loud. But the smile didn’t last long before it vanished, followed by a loud *slap*.
He gave himself a very hard slap across the face, aimed at the version of himself from his past life.
He cursed internally at that foolish person who had hurt both himself and others.
“I won’t do it anymore. I really won’t run away again.”
Looking in the direction Su Ran had gone, she was already out of sight.
But Lin Mo continued to stare in that direction for a very long time.
“I’m sorry. You’ve worked hard… and thank you.”