Yu Shanshan polished off a bag of French mini bread, four mini steamed buns, and two bottles of yogurt.
"You good?"
Lin Yi looked at her. Although Yu Shanshan wasn't short, she looked rather petite standing next to him. Little thing could really eat.
"Mm."
Yu Shanshan nodded her little head.
"Then I'm going to play basketball."
Lin Yi walked toward the basketball court. He had finally managed to wait on this little princess. The lunch break was already short, and half an hour had already passed.
"I'm coming too."
Yu Shanshan didn't really want to return to the classroom.
At first, she had just sat by the sideline scrolling on her phone, until the basketball rolled right up to her, suddenly making her want to give it a try.
Seeing her walk over, the expressions of several junior students turned somewhat strange.
Yu Shanshan walked up to the free-throw line, imitated Lin Yi's form, and threw the ball straight toward the hoop.
To her surprise, however, the basketball began to drop halfway through its flight.
Yu Shanshan's cheeks burned a little.
A tall junior student picked up the basketball and ran over to her at top speed.
"Thank you."
Yu Shanshan smiled softly.
"No... problem."
The student's face instantly turned red. Senior Shanshan was just too cute when she smiled.
Yu Shanshan shot again. This one was a bit better than the last, at least not quite as ridiculous.
The student ran after the basketball once more, looking as happy as a husky.
"You can do it, Senior!"
Several juniors stood off to the side, cheering Yu Shanshan on. That little look of annoyance on the senior's face was simply too adorable.
"Forget it if you can't make it."
After a few tries, Lin Yi couldn't help himself. He still wanted to play.
"No way."
Yu Shanshan took a disgruntled shot, with the exact same result as the previous attempts.
"It's all your fault."
Yu Shanshan tightened her little face and glared fiercely at Lin Yi.
"What does that have to do with me? You're just terrible at it."
Lin Yi was utterly speechless. How could she blame that on him?
"You still talking? If you hadn't distracted me, I definitely would've made it."
Yu Shanshan looked like a startled little fox, fierce and cute all at once.
The eyes of several junior students lit up.
"Then keep going."
Lin Yi smiled faintly. These juniors had been acting normal just yesterday; how come the whole vibe changed the moment Yu Shanshan joined in?
It wasn't hard to understand, really. After all, they were pure-hearted high school boys, and they didn't usually get to interact with campus beauties like Yu Shanshan.
To them, watching Yu Shanshan shoot hoops was way more interesting than playing the game themselves.
Swish—
Under everyone's gaze, the basketball finally managed to hit the backboard.
Lin Yi really wanted to tell Yu Shanshan: I gave you a chance, but you just couldn't deliver.
"I'm done playing."
Yu Shanshan glared at Lin Yi and turned to walk toward the sideline.
Time flew by. Just as Lin Yi was starting to get into a rhythm, class time was about to start.
When he went to the cafeteria to wash his hands, Yu Shanshan followed stealthily behind him.
Taking advantage of the moment when Lin Yi wasn't paying attention, Yu Shanshan quickly turned on the tap, cupped a handful of water, and splashed it right into Lin Yi's face.
Seeing Lin Yi's bedraggled state, Yu Shanshan ran off with a giggle.
Hmph, that'll teach you to call me bad at it.
"Boring."
Lin Yi wiped the water droplets off his face, though he wasn't angry. He had known she was up to no good the moment he noticed her sneaking around behind him.
"Bleh~"
Yu Shanshan looked back and made a funny face.
Click.
Lin Yi quickly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of her right then and there.
Yu Shanshan froze in her tracks.
"So ugly."
Looking at the photo on his phone, the corners of Lin Yi's mouth curved upward.
"You're the ugly one! Delete it."
Yu Shanshan instantly bristled.
"You splashed me first."
Lin Yi turned on his heel and walked away.
"Are you going to delete it or not?"
Yu Shanshan grabbed firmly onto the sleeve of his school uniform.
"Nope, not deleting it."
"Lin Yi, I'm mad."
...
Right before class started, Yu Shanshan skipped back into the classroom. Lin Yi had ended up deleting the photo after all.
Jiang Manni frowned. She had heard the sound of the two of them messing around in the hallway all the way from inside the classroom.
The morning's scene resurfaced in her mind, and she decided to talk to Lin Yi after getting home.
All afternoon, Lin Yi only went to the bathroom twice, spending even the breaks studying with intense focus.
His learning talent hadn't changed just because of his rebirth, so he could only try his absolute best.
A few minutes before the end of the school day, Wu Zheng packed his school bag. The brain-dead thief had already been kicked from the guild, and they would continue progress raids tonight.
"College entrance exams are almost here. You could at least look at a book."
Lin Yi offered a reminder.
"With my grades, what difference does it make whether I look at a book or not? I've already talked it over with my family. I'll just find some private college when the time comes, and I'll still be going to university just the same."
Wu Zheng spoke with absolute confidence. Although his family wasn't as wealthy as Lin Yi's, they certainly weren't poor either.
He simply wasn't cut out for studying, and he had accepted his fate long ago.
Lin Yi didn't say anything more; he was like a clay Buddha crossing a river, barely able to save himself.
As soon as the end-of-class bell rang, Wu Zheng bolted out.
He was still feeling quite relieved. If the school hadn't canceled evening self-study, things definitely wouldn't be this easygoing now.
When Lin Yi walked out of the classroom, he happened to run into Jiang Manni and Qiyue coming out of the next class.
The two of them were chatting and laughing. Upon seeing Lin Yi, the smile on Jiang Manni's face vanished instantly, as if Lin Yi were a total stranger.
"Let's go."
Jiang Manni said expressionlessly. She didn't want to be like this either, but seeing Lin Yi always made her lose her temper a little.
"Then we'll first—"
Qiyue looked at Lin Yi, but before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Yu Shanshan.
"Lin Yi, will you walk me home, please?"
Yu Shanshan walked up to Lin Yi, familiarly grabbing the sleeve of his school uniform without caring at all about the surrounding gazes.
"Sure."
Lin Yi nodded.
Jiang Manni didn't say a word, but her tightly bitten lower lip betrayed her current mood.
Walk you home?
Don't you have legs of your own?
Have you no shame?
"You didn't have to do that. The two of them can't affect me."
Once they were out of the teaching building, Lin Yi looked at Yu Shanshan.
Yu Shanshan smiled without answering. She had indeed done it on purpose just now, and she was quite happy that Lin Yi had caught her drift.
What right did Jiang Manni have to give Lin Yi a cold face?
It was clearly Jiang Manni who had treated Lin Yi like a tool first.
"Can you get down first?"
Lin Yi pushed his electric scooter with a very helpless tone.
Riding was not allowed inside the school grounds. Even though Yu Shanshan was petite, she still weighed around eighty or ninety pounds, and she had just gone ahead and hopped right on.
"Not if you promise to run away."
Yu Shanshan gripped Lin Yi's school uniform, her eyes curving into two crescents.
"If Old Hu sees this, he's going to chew me out again."
Lin Yi sighed.
"If you dare to run, I'm not helping you solve math problems anymore."
Yu Shanshan hopped down from the back seat. She was still a bit afraid of Old Hu; Old Hu didn't care whether you were a student from his own class or not—if it was time to scold someone, he would scold them without the slightest hesitation.
As soon as they passed the school gates, Yu Shanshan quickly hopped back on.
There were still plenty of students at the school entrance, and gazes landed on the two of them from time to time.
Lin Yi didn't care at all, and neither did Yu Shanshan.
The electric scooter sped down the road. Golden evening glow filled the horizon, and everything was just so wonderful.