Zhou Le hadn’t expected Liu Yanyan to get him a milk tea—a peach oolong, which looked pretty and delicious.
And it was expensive.
The price sticker hadn’t been removed—34.6 yuan.
Over 30 yuan for a cup—it was almost as much as the ribs he and his mom had eaten that day.
Zhou Le stared at it for a while, not willing to drink it right away.
He sent Liu Yanyan a long thank-you message on WeChat.
Liu Yanyan generously replied: “No need to thank me! I ask for your help often too. If it tastes good, I’ll buy you another one next time. I ordered it with 70% sugar so it wouldn’t be too sweet. Is it okay?”
Zhou Le glanced at the milk tea.
He hadn’t tasted it yet and didn’t know, so he went along and replied: “Not sweet, the flavor’s perfect. I can taste the peach, and I really like peach! Thanks!”
Zhou Le: “Stick figure hugging heart pic.”
Liu Yanyan responded with a shy emoji.
Zhou Le, looking at it, smiled down at his chat screen.
“Math worksheet.”
Suddenly, a cold, emotionless voice came from above him.
Zhou Le looked up in surprise. “Class rep!”
His eyes lit up instantly.
Usually, Zhou Le didn’t talk much with Lu Jingran. One sat in the front row, the other in the back; one was a top student, the other middle of the pack.
They rarely interacted since Zhou Le didn’t excel at tasks like problem-solving or basketball. If it hadn’t been for Liu Yanyan’s “order,” Zhou Le thought, he might never have become friends with Lu Jingran in his life.
Seeing Zhou Le’s happy expression, Lu Jingran’s face softened, and his tone became gentler. “The math worksheet from yesterday.”
Zhou Le paused.
He didn’t seem to remember it.
After flipping through his things, he finally found a blank worksheet. It was as spotless as his face.
Uh-oh, he hadn’t written a single thing!
He had spent last night delivering orders for Uncle Zhou, and by the end, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he laid down, without any time to do it.
Lin Xiaoxiao was shocked. “You didn’t do it?”
“Old Wang’s math assignment, and you didn’t do it?”
The rule in Class Three was that you could skip assignments in any subject—except math. Their math teacher, Old Wang, loved collecting and checking homework, and the last time someone didn’t hand it in, he spent the whole period scolding the class instead of teaching.
Since then, Old Wang had become the teacher everyone feared most.
Zhou Le clutched his head, feeling doomed and desperate.
Xia Linchuan, chewing on a lollipop, mocked him, “Farewell, my dear friend.”
What to do? He didn’t want to be scolded for an entire period!
Now, only a miracle could save him—
Zhou Le looked up at Lu Jingran pitifully and asked cautiously, “Class rep… could you lend me one to copy?”
He had so many papers with him; he could copy just a few parts!
Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened: Is that even possible?
Xia Linchuan thought to himself: Bro, are you for real? This is like asking the teacher for permission to cheat on an exam. He’s the class rep!
But just as this thought crossed his mind, Xia Linchuan watched in astonishment as Lu Jingran handed Zhou Le the top worksheet from his stack.
Xia Linchuan: “…”
Lin Xiaoxiao: !!!
Zhou Le: Ahhh! I just witnessed a miracle!
Zhou Le: “Thank you, class rep!!!”
Without wasting time, Zhou Le buried his head and started copying furiously, his pen moving so fast it seemed like sparks were flying off the paper.
Noticing he’d copied one answer wrong, Lu Jingran quietly corrected him, “C.”
Zhou Le: “Hm?”
Lu Jingran pointed at his paper, and Zhou Le quickly explained, “I did that on purpose. I can’t copy everything exactly the same, or it would be too obvious.”
Lu Jingran withdrew his finger. Standing in front of Zhou Le, he held a stack of worksheets and waited obediently for Zhou Le to finish copying.
At the same time, his eyes drifted to the peach-flavored milk tea on Zhou Le’s desk.
It hadn’t been touched yet; the straw was still in the cup.
Lin Xiaoxiao, watching the scene, felt like she was going crazy… or maybe it was Lu Jingran who had gone crazy… no, it must be her.
Lu Jingran! Letting Zhou Le copy his worksheet!
As class rep, he was actually helping Zhou Le cheat!
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xia Linchuan exchanged looks, each seeing disbelief and shock in the other’s eyes.
When Zhou Le finally finished and Lu Jingran walked away, Lin Xiaoxiao grabbed Zhou Le by the collar, leaned close, and demanded, “Tell me, what kind of dirt do you have on Lu Jingran?”
Zhou Le thought about it seriously. “None!”
Lin Xiaoxiao: “Then why is he so nice to you? Letting you copy his worksheet!”
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Le smiled and said, “Maybe he’s just that nice.”
His smile was meant to be grateful, but it looked more like a little bragging from the outside.
In the front row, Chen Nan, who had also forgotten to do his math homework, saw this scene and felt a glimmer of hope.
When Lu Jingran came by, Chen Nan stretched out his hand with a grin. “Brother Lu, mind if I get a copy too?”
Without even looking, Lu Jingran slipped Zhou Le’s worksheet into his stack and said, “Get lost.”
Chen Nan: “….”
—
Chinese class.
During a reading comprehension exercise, Xu Yue asked, “The protagonist gave their friend a pair of gloves in the story. Can someone explain why?”
At first, there was silence in the room. After a few seconds, some murmurs began.
“Because he considered him a friend.”
“To ask for a favor…”
“Maybe he thought he’d like them…”
After some discussion, Teacher Xu summarized, “Now, let’s answer the first question: Why did the protagonist give the gloves, and why didn’t the friend understand?”
“The answer is simple, right? It’s because the protagonist liked the gloves so much that they instinctively wanted to give the best thing they had to their friend. Even though the gloves were brand-new and unused—something they were reluctant to use—they thought they were the best.”
“Isn’t that similar to how we give gifts to our friends in real life? When you want to give a friend a gift, wouldn’t you choose something precious to you?”
“Though the gloves seemed ordinary, what were they, really? You were all correct—they were the protagonist’s most cherished possession.”
Most cherished…
Lu Jingran suddenly thought of the milk Zhou Le had given him.
So… was that his most cherished thing?
A seven-yuan carton of milk.
Had he even drunk it?
After school, everyone made their way outside.
Chen Nan, carrying his backpack, seemed agitated. “I don’t want to go to cram school. It’s so annoying! Sheng Qian, I’m coming to your place, and if my mom asks, cover for me.”
Sheng Qian: “No way.”
Chen Nan got more frustrated. “Why not? Did you forget who covered for you when you wanted that piano? Whose allowance did you use?”
Sheng Qian paused.
His funds had been tight, and it was true Chen Nan helped him buy it.
Sheng Qian: “Fine, come to my place.”
Chen Nan grinned.
Sheng Qian: “But I’ll tutor you.”
Chen Nan wanted to strangle him.
“Why is studying so necessary? Will I die if I don’t?”
Sheng Qian: “You’re in senior year. You’re an adult now. You can’t keep messing around.”
He paused, then added, “If you keep this up, how will you afford an Omega in the future?”
Chen Nan scowled, sucking on a new lollipop.
Sheng Qian glanced at him but said nothing.
Just then, someone whizzed past them on a bicycle.
—Zhou Le.
As he passed, he didn’t even look their way, nodding his head to the beat and humming.
Chen Nan felt even more unbalanced. “Why is he so happy?”
“He’s not good at studying either, right?”
Sheng Qian looked in the direction Zhou Le had gone, squinting. “Maybe it’s because good things are happening to him.”
Chen Nan: “What do you mean?”
Sheng Qian: “Didn’t you see? There was a milk tea in his bike basket.”
“…”
“Peach-flavored, courtesy of Liu Yanyan.”
Chen Nan instantly got it, muttering, “D*mn.”
Sheng Qian glanced at Lu Jingran, who was nearby, and said leisurely, “Zhou Le probably doesn’t want to drink it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still have it.”
Chen Nan frowned. “I can’t afford an Omega, but can Zhou Le? That’s Liu Yanyan we’re talking about.”
Liu Yanyan came from a wealthy family; she was the school beauty with great genes and long legs, from a well-known family. Zhou Le, a poor Beta, could barely support himself—how could he ever provide for Liu Yanyan?
Sheng Qian: “Maybe he won’t need to. The Liu family owns so many restaurants; they can afford to support one Zhou Le.”
After a moment, Chen Nan replied, “When you put it like that…”
Before he could finish, Lu Jingran walked past them without a word.
Even Chen Nan, oblivious as he often was, sensed something was off. Watching Lu Jingran’s retreating back, he asked, “What’s up with him lately?”
“He seems even more irritable than me.”
Sheng Qian gave an ambiguous chuckle.
Chen Nan: “What are you laughing at? You’re just as annoying.”
Sheng Qian: “…”
