Chapter 61 Part 1

Lu Ping arrived at school with even more exaggerated dark circles under his eyes than the day before.

He dragged himself listlessly to the fourth row and sat down, dropping his backpack before slumping over his desk, utterly devoid of energy.

When Chen Miaomiao saw him, she exclaimed loudly, “Lu Ping, what’s wrong with you? Were you out burglarizing last night?”

Lu Ping let out a huge yawn and asked wearily, “Chen Miaomiao, what’s wrong with you? Were you out being a gege last night?”

Chen Miaomiao flushed with a mix of shyness and anger, quickly raising her hand to cover her forehead. The homeroom teacher had issued a strict order the day before: Chen Miaomiao was forbidden from fiddling with her bangs using a small mirror anymore. From now on, she had to pin them all back with hair clips. If she was caught primping during class again, her parents would be called in.

With no choice, Chen Miaomiao endured the embarrassment and pinned her bangs up.

She had stepped into the school that day with her new hairstyle, feeling terribly unaccustomed to it. Her forehead felt cool and exposed, and she swore everyone in the world was staring at her.

Chen Miaomiao muttered, “My mom said this is a ‘bright forehead’—people with big foreheads are smart.”

Lu Ping thought to himself that if Chen Miaomiao really had a “bright forehead,” her monthly exam scores wouldn’t always hover near the bottom of the grade rankings.

Though Chen Miaomiao sometimes came off as Versailles, she was well-liked, and many girls loved gathering around her desk. Lu Ping found himself stuck in the middle of the group, listening to the girls’ chatter and chiming in occasionally.

Just as the conversation was heating up, a tall figure appeared at the classroom door. Shen Yuze strolled in with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

Though Shen Yuze rarely smiled or spoke much, it didn’t diminish his popularity among the girls—especially after he’d taken first place in the citywide English speech contest. His aura had doubled in intensity. As soon as he appeared, the girls’ voices hushed, and several pairs of eyes fixed on him, watching as he walked step by step from the door to the back row.

When Shen Yuze passed by Lu Ping, he deliberately slowed his steps. He didn’t say anything, just gave Lu Ping a slight nod by way of greeting. Lu Ping felt a pang of guilt, his mind flashing back to the bizarre dream from last night and the ridiculous morning routine of secretly washing his underwear. The boy quickly ducked his head, avoiding Shen Yuze’s gaze.

Only after Shen Yuze had returned to his seat did the girls’ chatter resume.

“He just nodded at us!”

“I’m so bummed I didn’t go watch the contest…”

“Why doesn’t the teacher pair any girls with Shen Yuze as desk mates?”

“Old Wu would have to want another ‘class couple’ in the room for that.”

“Lu Ping, I’m so jealous—you got to be desk mates with Shen Yuze for so long…”

Lu Ping, dragged into the topic, could only mumble vague responses.

The class bell finally rang, and the girls reluctantly curbed their gossip and dispersed. Before leaving, Chen Miaomiao grabbed a few bags of snacks from her bag and handed them out. Of course, she made sure to “spread the rain and dew evenly” and shoved one into Lu Ping’s hands too.

Yesterday, Lu Ping had just chatted a bit more with Chen Miaomiao and ended up under Shen Yuze’s scrutiny. No way was he taking her snacks now. He hurriedly pushed it back. “I don’t want any.”

“I’m telling you, these are super tasty—passing them up would be a mistake!” Chen Miaomiao pushed hard to sell them, forcibly stuffing the snack into his hand.

Lu Ping wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but during their little tug-of-war, he felt a faint gaze lingering on him… Was Shen Yuze watching?

Once class officially started, Lu Ping’s mind was nowhere on the lesson. Using his desk pocket for cover, he sneaked out his phone for a peek. His inbox was empty—no message from his former desk mate.

He’d thought there would be at least one.

Something like, “Lu Ping, I greeted you this morning—why did you ignore me?” Or, “Are the snacks from your new desk mate tasty?” Or even, “I was just kidding yesterday—you didn’t take it seriously, did you?”

Nothing. Not a single one.

Their chat history was still stuck at yesterday. After Lu Ping got off the bus last night, he’d received a text from Shen Yuze asking if he’d gotten home safely.

Lu Ping hadn’t replied then, and this morning, he had no idea how to respond.

Now, staring at the empty inbox, Lu Ping felt an inexplicable sense of loss envelop him.

He desperately wanted to turn around and look at Shen Yuze but feared drawing his attention with the movement.

One class passed, then two, then the entire morning…

During lunch break, Lu Ping was invited by the girls to eat in the cafeteria. As he stood up, he overheard the Class Monitor asking Shen Yuze, “Are you heading to the cafeteria for lunch, or did your family send food to school?”

Shen Yuze glanced toward Lu Ping and replied to the Class Monitor, “I’m going home to eat.”

Lu Ping: “…”

Before, they had always stayed in the classroom and eaten lunch together…

Guilt sprouted in Lu Ping’s heart like rampant weeds, shooting up wildly.

He ruthlessly sheared them all away. If Shen Yuze hadn’t said that “jealous” stuff last night, stirring up his wild thoughts, he wouldn’t be deliberately distancing himself today.

When Lu Ping reached the cafeteria, the girls who’d invited him looked visibly disappointed to see him alone. “Lu Ping, how come it’s just you?”

Lu Ping blinked in confusion. “Who else would there be besides me?”

The girls sighed in unison. “You and Shen Yuze are always inseparable—I thought you’d come together…”

Lu Ping was at a loss for words. He’d thought switching seats had finally skyrocketed his popularity with girls, but it was all just an illusion.

Lu Ping stammered, “Shen Yuze and I aren’t ‘inseparable’ or anything.”

“Uh… aren’t you, though?” Chen Miaomiao’s tone was ambiguous. “You were desk mates before—together in class, together after, to the sports field together, to the school store together. You even went all the way to cheer him on at the contest, and afterward, you two ditched everyone else to celebrate alone. None of the other boys in class are that close!”

Lu Ping: “…” Hearing her list it all out made his face burn, but he still tried to argue. “You girls go to the bathroom hand in hand too! He and I were just… a bit closer than that.”

“A bit closer?” Chen Miaomiao muttered. “You two even slept on the same mattress during that typhoon—talk about ‘close.'”

Luckily, Lu Ping didn’t catch the last part, or he wouldn’t have been able to finish his lunch.

…

Full and drowsy after eating, the afternoon Chinese class—dubbed the “nap class” by everyone—lived up to its name. The Chinese teacher’s slow, droning pace and classical Chinese full of “zhe, hu, zhe, ye” glued everyone’s eyelids together.

The classroom was deathly quiet, save for the hypnotic drone from the lectern.

Chen Miaomiao didn’t sleep, though. Restless as ever, she sneaked her small mirror out of her bag for a look.

But without her bangs, she looked all wrong in the reflection: oily forehead, messy eyebrows, high hairline… Unbearable!

The more she looked, the more depressed she got, but she didn’t dare let her bangs down for fear of the homeroom teacher’s scolding. With a wistful sigh, she pulled open the little trash bag hanging by her desk, intending to toss the mirror.

Lu Ping hated seeing things wasted and stopped her. “Why throw away such a good mirror?” he whispered.

“Out of sight, out of mind.” Chen Miaomiao huffed. “Want it? Take it if you do.”

Lu Ping chuckled. “I’m a guy—what would I need a mirror for…” He trailed off abruptly, doing a complete one-eighty and nearly biting his tongue. “You really don’t want it? Then give it to me.”

Chen Miaomiao didn’t ask why and tossed it over.

It was a small round hand mirror, smaller than a palm, that could stand upright on the desk for easy use.

High school workload was heavy, and nearly every desk was piled high with thick textbooks and workbooks like unclimbable mountains. Lu Ping hid the mirror behind his “mountain” of books in a corner. Lots of people used this trick. Back when he sat in the last row, he’d seen plenty of kids slacking off: girls checking mirrors, boys bolder, doodling grids on worksheets to play Go-Bang with their desk mates.

But today, Lu Ping wasn’t primping or playing games. He had something else in mind.

He carefully angled the mirror, tilting it toward the left rear.

A little more… a little more…

The tiny mirror reflected the scene behind him. He saw the girl in the row behind him lost in space, then the Class Monitor dozing with his eyes open.

Lu Ping’s palms grew sweaty. He wiped them on his pants, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he nudged the mirror just a tad more.