The day before the end-of-month exams, during lunch break, Ansheng sat in the classroom. The weather was already turning a bit chilly. While he used to take off his uniform jacket at school before, he decided it was safer to keep it on now.
Just as Ansheng was blankly staring at the ginkgo tree planted outside the window, Ren Wen walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey!"
Ansheng’s body tilted from the pat. He turned his head to look at Ren Wen, who wore a confident expression, and felt somewhat surprised.
"Weren't you just wailing about not reviewing your notes a few days ago?"
Ren Wen nodded, the corners of his mouth splitting into a smug grin. "Yeah!"
"Oh? Did you find a method? Did you get the test answers in advance, or did you bribe a teacher?"
"Hey, hey, do I look like that kind of person?" Ren Wen retorted.
Ansheng looked Ren Wen up and down and nodded earnestly.
"…You really have no manners."
"Then why do you suddenly look like you just won five million on the lottery?"
"Just won five million on the lottery, that's all."
Ren Wen dropped these casual words, causing Ansheng’s eyelids to twitch. "I've just adjusted my mindset, that's all."
"What mindset?"
"The mindset of accepting that I'll place last in the class in advance!" Ren Wen put his hands on his hips, striking a heroic and ambitious pose, yet his words sounded so... well, incredibly stupid.
Ansheng’s mouth twitched, but before he could retort, his phone vibrated.
He picked up his phone and looked at it, surprised to find a message from Miaomiao.
Because Miaomiao was far too conspicuous, they had decided to communicate via phone as much as possible when they had business to discuss, avoiding idle chatting at school.
Back when Ansheng was working as her assistant, crowds of people had rushed over to ask Miaomiao what was going on. Miaomiao had only managed to dodge a bullet by lying that it had been arranged by the teacher.
During that time, Ansheng had been stared at every single day by that whole basketful of Miaomiao's suitors with looks that could kill... which also counted as being unexpectedly conspicuous.
The message from Miaomiao read:
【Don't mock him just yet. Think about whether you were acting the exact same way back then.】
Ansheng glanced sideways at Miaomiao, who was sitting right in front of his desk, her body trembling slightly as she seemingly tried her best to suppress her laughter. After a moment of thought, he stretched out his foot and kicked the legs of her chair directly.
"Eep—!"
Miaomiao was startled by the sudden movement of the chair beneath her and let out an involuntary gasp. Realizing immediately that Ansheng had kicked her stool, she turned her head around and glared at him with fury.
Ansheng simply replied calmly, "Sorry, classmate Miaomiao, I accidentally kicked your stool."
With that, he averted his gaze and resumed his conversation with Ren Wen, leaving Miaomiao with no choice but to swallow her frustration.
I really want to go up and punch him right now...
Glares of bitter resentment followed, but Miaomiao could only emit a light hmph and turn back around.
"Hey, hey—" Ren Wen leaned down, moving close to Ansheng’s ear. "I think Miaomiao is into me!"
Pfft—
Ansheng actually laughed out loud this time. He forcefully suppressed his amusement and asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Didn't you notice that Miaomiao seems to have been secretly glancing over in my direction this whole time?!" Ren Wen said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"What good would it do her to glance at you?"
"I'm handsome!"
"..." Ansheng looked this skinny boy—who was even a tiny bit shorter than himself—up and down from head to toe, and couldn't find a single trace of handsome anywhere.
He couldn't help but retort, "Shouldn't our primary objective be to grow a few centimeters taller first?"
Hearing this, Ren Wen took a heavy blow, looking thoroughly wounded.
"Bro, I have to say, that’s a bit devastating."
"My bad," Ansheng shrugged.
Ren Wen sighed and unceremoniously pulled himself up to sit right on Ansheng's desk.
"Well—I know full well it's impossible for Miaomiao to like me, I was just making a joke."
"She gets great grades and is pretty, whereas I can't do a single thing right~"
Ansheng nodded, acknowledging that Ren Wen at least possessed a clear sense of self-awareness.
Among Miaomiao's suitors, there was no shortage of boys with outstanding academic performance and striking appearances; pull out just about any one of them and it would be a dimensional reduction strike against him.
...Ah no, against himself too, even though he had zero designs on Miaomiao in the first place.
"How does it feel to sit right behind the ultimate campus belle?" Ren Wen chuckled with a sneaky grin.
How did it feel? Ansheng curled his lip. "Do you think she'd ever strike up a conversation with me? Actually, it's no different from sitting behind an empty desk."
Ren Wen pondered this. "That's true. The probability of you talking to her is pitifully small."
"What? You still harbor fantasies about 3D girls?" Ansheng asked. This fellow enthusiast was not like him.
Ren Wen nodded. "No matter what, I'm still a normal guy. I'll always have a certain impulse toward normal females, even though I also like 2D fictional characters."
With that, Ren Wen continued curiously, "Actually, I feel like you're really quite amazing."
"How so?" Ansheng propped his head up with one hand.
"Back when you said you weren't interested in 3D girls, I didn't believe it, but after observing you for a month or two, it turns out you really are..."
Ansheng frowned and interrupted, "You've been observing me for a month or two? Sorry, I have even less of that kind of interest in guys."
"…Get lost. Anyway, I just notice that you're basically busy with your own stuff during classes and never spare a single extra glance for the campus belle sitting in front of you."
"Look at the boys sitting near Miaomiao. Every single one of them looks at her multiple times. That right there is what you call tender affection."
Ansheng fell silent. "Why does that sound a little disgusting to me?"
"Hey, anyway, I just think you're a supernatural being, truly supernatural." Ren Wen spread his hands, expressing his fascination.
Ansheng crossed his arms behind his head with indifference, leaning back in his chair until the front legs lifted off the floor.
"I think Miaomiao is just like that. She's a human being, nothing more."
Ren Wen looked somewhat helpless. "That's why I'm saying..."
Bam—
Suddenly, Miaomiao’s chair crashed backward.
Ansheng was still leaning back with his chair tilted when his desk was shoved backward a few inches by the impact of Miaomiao’s chair. The desk leg happened to trap and block the legs of Ansheng's chair just as he tried to plant them on the floor.
The chair could only tilt back further, but Ren Wen, startled, jumped down from the desk and accidentally shoved the edge of Ansheng's chair with his hand.
Crash—
The chair tipped all the way backward, and Ansheng fell flat on his back.
"Ah, shit!" Ren Wen immediately stepped forward to pull him up. "What's going on here..."
Ansheng rubbed his head with a grimace, and as he stood up, he saw Miaomiao wearing a face of "concern."
"Classmate An, are you alright?"
She reached out a hand toward Ansheng, as if intending to pull him up.
Ansheng understood instantly—that violent study monster definitely did that on purpose just now!
His teeth felt itchy with annoyance, and he said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your concern, class monitor."
With that, he actually reached out and firmly grasped Miaomiao's hand. Miaomiao was taken aback; she had originally just been putting on an act, never expecting that Ansheng would actually dare to grab her hand?!
"Wait..." Miaomiao’s face flushed red as she whispered.
Ansheng stood up with a "grateful" expression, tightening his grip on Miaomiao's hand with a bit more force.
"Since the class monitor cares so much about her classmates, it's only right that I show my gratitude!"
Miaomiao felt a stab of pain. Her brow furrowed involuntarily, and she pressed her lips together without a word.
Ansheng shook her off after holding on for a moment, and shouted to the stunned Ren Wen, "Let's go, to the restroom. It's almost time for the lunch break."
Miaomiao stood in place, watching the two figures receding into the distance.
Did she just imagine it, or did Ansheng actually flash her a trace of a... sneer?
Although she had been feeling a bit gloating just now, she had also genuinely been a little worried that she might have gone too far, which was why she had come over to check on Ansheng's condition.
With that punchable attitude of his, she really shouldn't have wasted any worry on him at all!
Out in the corridor, Ren Wen looked at Ansheng with envy. "You managed to grab the hand of the high-and-mighty flower on the peak. How was it?"
Ansheng rubbed his wrist. "How was what?"
"That's Miaomiao! The campus belle! It's hard enough for any guy to even get close to her, she was just showing so much concern for you, and you even held her hand... What did it feel like?"
Ansheng waved a hand dismissively. "Feel like? Just a normal girl's hand, small and soft, that's all. You know I'm not interested in her. Campus belle or not, if the winner of the Miss World pageant stood in front of me, I wouldn't feel a thing either."
Ren Wen looked at Ansheng with a sigh, then suddenly said,
"I always feel like you're easily mistaken for being gay or..."
"Or what?" Ansheng asked, looking at Ren Wen, who had stopped speaking halfway and seemed to be secretly chuckling.
"Ahem—" Ren Wen cleared his throat and assumed an earnest expression. "Impotent."
Ansheng paused in his tracks, and with a benevolent smile, quickly closed the distance to Ren Wen.
"Next time you ask me to help you pick up a bargain-priced collectible, I'm charging a service fee."
Ren Wen froze and let out a wail, "No way!"