Late-Night Snack
Yun Mi was stunned for a moment, then said, "I... need to go back and do problems. There's a placement test at the start of the semester, and I want to get a good score..."
Chen Yiyang didn't move aside.
Yun Mi lowered her head and whispered, "Chen Yiyang, don't go too far."
Chen Yiyang looked down at her, his thick eyelashes shading his cold, dark eyes. He stared at her as if inspecting her, and said, "You haven't answered me yet."
Yun Mi had an answer in mind, but there was no way she'd show weakness in front of Chen Yiyang. She mumbled, "The senior is better than you."
"Oh," Chen Yiyang said, having expected that. He lowered his eyes. "You can ask me the problems."
"???"
"I might be more patient than others," Chen Yiyang said.
"???"
Chen Yiyang let out a mocking laugh. "If I don't know something, I can learn. But if others don't, they really just don't."
Yun Mi blinked. She saw Chen Yiyang step back two paces, and his tall, lean silhouette disappeared from her view.
Only then did Yun Mi realize that the roots of her ears were burning hot.
Luckily, the light in the tea room was dim, so Chen Yiyang probably didn't notice.
She gripped her thermos, recalling how Chen Yiyang had leaned in almost as if to kiss her. Her heart was pounding so wildly it felt like it might leap out of her chest, her heartbeat a tangled mess. Even holding the cup, she felt weak.
She let out an "Ah!" and snapped irritably, "Chen Yiyang, did you take the wrong medicine?!"
...
Yun Mi asked the senior and his prodigy girlfriend about the problem, then silently returned to her seat.
She sat in the far corner of the classroom, watching the people in the front row from a distance.
Xie Yue was always clinging to Ding Yuan. He must have been the one who brought Chen Yiyang along.
Not far away, the boy wore the simplest black short-sleeve T-shirt, his black hair slightly disheveled. He sat shoulder to shoulder with Xie Yue, occasionally discussing something in low voices, probably related to the informatics competition.
Chen Yiyang probably wouldn't participate.
Ding Yuan saw that Yun Mi was distracted and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Yun Mi lowered her head gloomily. Remembering what Chen Yiyang had asked her, she felt upset again.
Compared to asking "brother," asking the "senior" was more appropriate, wasn't it?
Yun Mi was just the daughter of a close friend of Wen Liangyu's before marriage.
How far apart would they be by the time they reached sophomore year?
Class 2 of Senior 2 was in the first classroom on the second floor by the stairs; Class 23 of Senior 2 was in the last room on the sixth floor. The teaching building of Shanfu was tall and spacious. Yun Mi had secretly timed the walk—it took three minutes and six seconds.
The round trip was six minutes and twelve seconds, and the break was only ten minutes.
How could she find a suitable excuse to catch a few extra glances at him during breaks or after school?
Yun Mi thought she would never return to that brief month in freshman year when she sat in front of Chen Yiyang. She gave a wry smile and said, "It's nothing."
Yun Mi worked on problems until ten o'clock that night before going home. Ding Yuan told her about Senior Ji and Senior Sister Shi's love story.
"They started dating early, but the senior sister's parents couldn't stand their daughter running off with someone. Then at a parent-teacher meeting... Senior Sister Shi Yun's dad said—" Ding Yuan walked beside Yun Mi, deepening her voice for role-play, "'Ah! Which brat is Ji Yuqin? Stand up and let me see you.'"
"Senior Ji was outside. When he heard himself being called out, he ran in and said—" Ding Yuan pinched her throat and said, "'Uncle, it's me, it's me. I've liked your daughter for a long time. I've already confessed, but I still want to get into Tsinghua together before we officially get together.'"
"Oh, and the senior added one more thing—" Ding Yuan recalled the story she'd heard, and as if performing, she saluted and said, "'I'm the second in grade, but I'll work hard to surpass your daughter.'"
Yun Mi laughed at that.
The red flag on Shanfu's playground fluttered long and wide.
Behind them, a boy shouted, "Da Yuan Zi, do you have to act so badly!"
Ding Yuan rolled her eyes and retorted, "Xie Yue, mind your own business?"
On the empty campus, Yun Mi saw Chen Yiyang staring at her.
The hem of the boy's shirt was lifted by the restless summer wind. Yun Mi pouted and turned her head, saying, "Let's hurry up and leave."
Ding Yuan suspected Yun Mi and Chen Yiyang had argued, but she didn't ask. As the two of them walked a few meters, Yun Mi heard light footsteps.
The next second, she felt a strong pull—someone had grabbed her backpack strap.
"..."
Yun Mi's expression soured. "Chen Yiyang, what is it?"
Her voice was flat and unruffled.
Chen Yiyang raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "Want to grab some late-night snacks?"
Yun Mi sensed Ding Yuan, who was spineless, tightening her grip on her arm. She knew Ding Yuan wanted to go, but Yun Mi firmly refused. "I'll gain weight."
Chen Yiyang said, "I called Zhou Shihui too. Our team won a gold medal, so we're celebrating together."
The reason was perfectly legitimate, and Yun Mi couldn't think of an excuse to refuse.