Shen Jingyan stood up with a resigned smile. Seeing that a classmate had brought a guitar, he borrowed it and walked to the center of the clearing.
His slender fingers gently plucked the strings, and the intro of the English song "Bleeding Love" began to play. His low, magnetic voice carried a slight huskiness, sounding exceptionally enchanting in the night air.
Jiang Shengyan looked at the boy under the moonlight. With his head slightly lowered, his eyelashes cast shadows on his face, and a subtle, elusive smile played at the corners of his lips.
Jiang Shengyan genuinely felt that appreciating a handsome guy was truly a wholesome and delightful activity for both body and mind.
After the performance, the four of them walked home together. Lin Mengke was still angry about Xu Jingyu's teasing and chased after him playfully. Shen Jingyan and Jiang Shengyan walked behind them, their shadows stretched long by the moonlight.
"You sing really well," Shen Jingyan said, looking at her with a hint of amusement.
Jiang Shengyan was slightly taken aback, then replied generously, "You're quite talented yourself."
Whether in her past life or this one, she didn't sing much, but she loved listening to music.
"I learned it for a few years back then because I really liked it. Later, when I started school, I didn't have much time, so I stopped."
"So you gave up on it?" Jiang Shengyan felt a bit of regret.
"It was just a hobby to begin with, so it's not really a matter of giving up or not," Shen Jingyan said indifferently.
"True, you just play whenever you feel like it," Jiang Shengyan nodded.
A hobby didn't necessarily have to become a life goal; sometimes, when it was treated as a task, it lost that pure passion.
Under the moonlight, the shadows of the boy and girl gradually drew closer. The sounds of Lin Mengke and Xu Jingyu playing and laughing drifted from ahead. The evening breeze brushed softly, carrying the coolness of early autumn, yet it could not dispel the fluttering warmth in the teenagers' hearts.
Unfortunately, the entire week of military training was filled with clear skies. Sweat trickled down the teenagers' faces on the playground, reflecting the vibrant image of youth.
Though it was hard work and everyone complained, they still completed the training conscientiously. Occasionally, a few students would slack off a couple of times and sneak away to rest—and of course, that included the four of them. Jiang Shengyan declared: training is wonderful, but resting is priceless!
After a week of military training, through sweating and striving together, everyone in the class became much more familiar with one another.
Thanks to Jiang Shengyan's meticulous sun-protection efforts, she successfully achieved her goal of barely tanning at all. Her sheer endurance left Lin Mengke full of admiration.
During breaks, Lin Mengke never took off her jacket in order to avoid the sun, though she had originally wanted to copy Jiang Shengyan. But it was simply too hot, and whenever she couldn't help it, she would take it off, remarking that being this untanned was entirely due to Jiang Shengyan's dedication. Jiang Shengyan just smiled without a word.
With military training over, classes officially began.
Jiang Shengyan threw herself into her studies. In Class Three, the academic atmosphere, driven by Jiang Shengyan's intense focus, made even Lin Mengke too embarrassed to slack off. This lifted the overall vibe of the entire class to a great standard, leaving Teacher Tang immensely gratified and convinced that her own judgment was truly spot-on!
In front of Lin Mengke sat Li Haoyu, the math class representative. Li Haoyu's deskmate—who sat right in front of Jiang Shengyan—was Qin Yanxi, the study commissioner. Gradually, the four of them formed a study group.
Qin Yanxi was the top student among the four, with well-rounded grades across all subjects. Li Haoyu excelled particularly in mathematics. Jiang Shengyan's grades were decent across the board without being extraordinary, while Lin Mengke's weak spot was math, though she was somewhat better at English.
The study group had such a strong academic atmosphere that even someone as undisciplined as Lin Mengke felt too ashamed not to study. It was clear that everyone's academic performance was improving.
Occasionally, Jiang Shengyan and Lin Mengke would still have lunch with those two from the key class, catching up on each other's recent lives.
Sometimes when doing homework at home and encountering a problem she couldn't solve, Jiang Shengyan would message Shen Jingyan. At first, she felt a bit shy about it, but as time went on, she grew more and more accustomed to it, and Shen Jingyan would patiently help her solve them.
By the end, feeling a bit embarrassed for constantly taking up the academic god's precious time with her questions, Jiang Shengyan offered to treat him to a meal another day. Shen Jingyan didn't refuse.
Life thus proceeded steadily day by day, and high school life gradually fell onto the right track.
Because of the talent show during military training, Jiang Shengyan's popularity skyrocketed overnight, earning her a wave of fans. Everyone in the school knew that Class Three had a gorgeous girl who sat as deskmate to the fairy-like beauty who survived on morning dew alone.
Upon learning this, Lin Mengke frequently bickered with Xu Jingyu, often extorting snacks from him as a result.
Outside the classroom corridor, many extra people wandered back and forth between classes for no apparent reason. Jiang Shengyan would occasionally find a few love letters tucked inside her desk drawer, and several posts about her popped up on the confession wall. Jiang Shengyan ignored every single one of them, carrying her aloof persona through to the end.
She even started regretting sitting by the window, deeply feeling that this wasn't a good thing, and hoped the hype would quietly fade away soon.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Shen Jingyan's popularity only continued to grow unabated. Swarms of admirers kept swarming toward him; people would shyly hand him love letters right on the street, and some even confessed their feelings quite boldly.
Jiang Shengyan felt she probably wouldn't have that kind of courage in two lifetimes.
Despite looking like an unrestrained, romantic young prodigy, who would have thought that Shen Jingyan could stand there with both hands in his pockets, wearing that captivating, cynical, and wicked grin, and utter the words, "My mom doesn't let me date; I'm a good boy who listens to his mother."
Jiang Shengyan summarized it thus: this was a natural-born talent, completely incomparable.
*
That evening at the Jiang household.
Jiang Shengyan ran into another difficult problem and couldn't make sense of the answer key either, so she casually picked up her phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Shen Jingyan.
JSY: "Are you busy? How do you solve this problem?"
After waiting a few minutes without a reply, she went ahead to work on other problems.
Twenty minutes later, a "ding-dong" chime rang out.
Disturber of My Dao: "Just finished eating. Give me a few minutes."
JSY: "Okay."
Five minutes later.
Disturber of My Dao: [Image]
JSY: "Thank you so much.gif"
She had to admit, Shen Jingyan's methods were always refreshingly simple and novel, with crystal-clear logic. Constantly asking him questions still made Jiang Shengyan feel a bit awkward, so she decided to treat him to a meal and sent another message.
JSY: "Are you free after school tomorrow? I'd like to treat you to a meal, and we can bring Xu Jingyu and the others along."
Disturber of My Dao: "I am. But are you treating me, or are you treating Xu Jingyu?"
JSY paused for a second, then replied with an amused chuckle.
JSY: "The main purpose is definitely to treat you to dinner, to thank you for all your help lately."
Disturber of My Dao: "Mm."
Suddenly, Shen Jingyan wondered why he was acting so childish, feeling a hint of petty jealousy. An illusion! It must have been an illusion, he was just clarifying things!
Gazing at the cold, single-character reply, Jiang Shengyan couldn't help choking up a little. How could this guy run hot and cold like a child, changing his attitude on a whim? Oh well, whatever!
Shaking her head, she put away her phone and plunged back into the sea of study problems, enjoying this special moment of peace.