Xie Ruan, who took pride in his reputation, wouldn’t even admit his fear of heights, let alone the fact he’d been caught red-handed sneaking around.
His face was flushed, all the way down his neck, as he silently repeated to himself: If I’m not embarrassed, the only one embarrassed is him.
*It’s just joining a fan group! So what? People face all kinds of challenges in life; this is nothing…*
D*mn it!
He couldn’t fool himself any longer. He had to get out of the classroom now.
But with Bo Jin’s solid chest in front of him and the wall behind him, escape was impossible.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Bo Jin teased, seeing Xie Ruan’s mortified expression. “You joined my harem group to be my ‘wife,’ didn’t you?”
Xie Ruan snapped back to reality, his face turning red with fury. “Get lost!” He shoved Bo Jin’s arm. “Who wants to be your ‘wife’?!”
He quickly stretched out a leg, used it to push the desk forward, and dashed out through the gap.
Watching Xie Ruan’s hasty retreat, Bo Jin stood up, feeling pleased, and whistled, sliding his hand into his pocket as he slowly followed him.
Xie Ruan dashed to the restroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed his face with cold water several times, finally feeling the warmth on his cheeks subside a bit.
He braced himself against the marble sink, eyes tightly shut, unwilling to face reality.
How could he have been so unlucky, getting caught by Bo Jin at that exact moment!
He admitted that Bo Jin was good-looking and capable, a heartthrob in the eyes of anyone interested in men, but that didn’t include him.
How could he make Bo Jin believe that his actions were purely out of concern for him without revealing the truth?
Xie Ruan couldn’t help cursing internally, wishing he could wring the neck of the one who tagged him at such a bad time. Could they have been a spy sent by Bo Jin?
After sulking for a while, his shame faded, and he calmed down.
Avoiding the issue wasn’t a solution. The most important thing now was to clarify things with Bo Jin. If Bo Jin truly misunderstood and thought he liked him, that would be disastrous.
With that thought, Xie Ruan took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
He jumped back half a step, staring in disbelief at the reflection in the mirror. “When did you get here?”
Is he part cat? How did he walk in so silently?
Bo Jin reached out to steady him, stopping him from retreating further, and smiled. “When you were all flustered.”
Xie Ruan: “…”
If your deskmate seems interested in you, shouldn’t they avoid you or at least pretend not to notice? What is going on with this guy?
Of course, he wasn’t referring to Bo Jin; he was just making an example.
Suppressing his embarrassment, Xie Ruan looked up at Bo Jin. “Uh… we need to talk.”
“Talk?” Bo Jin leaned lazily against the wall. “About what—dating?”
Xie Ruan felt an urge to punch him. He realized that with Bo Jin, you had to be direct; otherwise, who knew where the conversation would go.
“No, stop talking nonsense,” Xie Ruan said, trying to keep his patience. “I joined the fan group just to understand you better, nothing more.”
“Oh?” Bo Jin looked amused, as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe it. “So, what did you find out?”
If he’d actually found anything out, it wouldn’t be so embarrassing!
Xie Ruan felt defeated. Wasn’t this like a failed venture, collapsing before it even began?
“Nothing,” Xie Ruan grumbled. “My level is too low; I can’t even see the group files.”
Bo Jin watched his expression shift from embarrassment to frustration, and finally to annoyance, before laughing out loud.
So that’s why Xie Ruan had been glued to his phone today, he thought.
Xie Ruan glared at him. “Don’t laugh!”
After all, he’d done this for Bo Jin! Of all people, he had no right to laugh at him!
“Alright, I won’t laugh,” Bo Jin cleared his throat, pretending to stifle his amusement. “You want to get to know me, and it just so happens I want to get to know you, too.”
Xie Ruan was taken aback for a moment, then looked at him with some caution. What was this person up to? Why was he so interested in understanding what he was doing?
But before he could think further, Bo Jin asked, “By the way, how’s it been adjusting to our class?”
Xie Ruan was surprised by the seriousness of his question. For a moment, it felt like an old fox suddenly acting sincere. He thought it over and chose a safe response: “Pretty well. Your class… our classmates are nice.”
No way he could twist that!
“Got it,” Bo Jin nodded, chuckling. “So, joining my fan group wasn’t about fitting into the class; it was personal?”
Xie Ruan: “…”
D*mn it, he’d underestimated him!
“Didn’t expect it,” Bo Jin clicked his tongue, “Some people seem cold on the outside, but inside, they’re burning with passion—like someone joining a fan club under a pseudonym…”
He hadn’t even finished when Xie Ruan grabbed his collar. “Bo Jin!” he glared, fuming. “Are you asking for a fight?”
Having just washed his face, Xie Ruan’s abrupt movement caused water droplets to slide down his forehead, landing on his lashes. He blinked reflexively, eyes squeezing shut as a few drops splashed into his eyes, bringing a faint sting.
He frowned, about to rub his eyes when Bo Jin’s voice sounded in his ear.
“Just kidding. Don’t get mad.”
Then, he felt a light touch on his eyelid, wiping away the water, leaving a warmth behind.
In the darkness behind his closed eyes, he couldn’t see Bo Jin’s expression. He only heard him say, “I’m actually happy you’re paying this much attention to me.”
When Xie Ruan and Bo Jin returned, evening self-study was nearly over, and Sun Fuan was handing out stickers to each student.
Tomorrow was the midterm exam, and to prevent cheating, the school had arranged for first-year students to take the test in the second-year classrooms, and vice versa. As for the third years… they were too busy to participate in the reshuffle.
The stickers had the students’ names and ID numbers and were to be placed on the corner of the desk to help them find their seats.
As he handed them out, Sun Fuan reminded them, “Stick them on tight. Don’t lose or misplace them. If you disrupt the first-years’ exams, I’ll hold you responsible.”
“Got it,” the students replied lazily from their seats.
“Remember to stick it on the bottom right corner,” Sun Fuan continued, looking exhausted from all the details. “And if you have books in your desk, clear them out tonight. You can put them on the teacher’s desk, but not on the windowsill. And also…”
Sun Haoxiang plugged his ears, smearing glue on his sticker, and muttered to He Mingjie, “Sheesh, Old Sun nags more than my mom.”
“You just noticed?” He Mingjie had been waiting for the glue, and seeing that Sun Haoxiang was taking forever, he finally reached over and grabbed it. “Hurry up already.”
“I just didn’t want it to come loose,” Sun Haoxiang mumbled, glancing down to make sure the glue was evenly spread before sticking the label on the corner of his desk.
“If it falls off, it falls off,” He Mingjie said, unconcerned. “There’s a seating chart on the board anyway. As long as you’re not clueless, you can find your seat. It’s not as big of a deal as Old Sun makes it sound.”
He then tapped Bo Jin on the back. “Brother Bo, need some glue?”
Bo Jin turned around. “Yeah.”
Xie Ruan didn’t have glue since it wasn’t something he usually needed, so he hadn’t bought any. Originally, he planned to borrow He Mingjie’s, but he passed it directly to Bo Jin after using it.
Xie Ruan didn’t particularly want to talk to Bo Jin right now. It wasn’t that he was mad; he just felt a bit awkward and didn’t know what to say.
As for other classmates…
He scanned the room but didn’t see any familiar faces.
Forget it, he thought, deciding to drop it. He could go buy a bottle after school. There was still time to stick it on tomorrow morning.
Just then, his sticker was suddenly taken from his desk.
Xie Ruan turned in surprise.
Bo Jin met his gaze with a smile, holding up the glue. “Let me stick it for you.”
“Thanks,” Xie Ruan replied, reaching for the sticker after Bo Jin was done applying the glue.
Perhaps because the sticker was small or his movement was too quick, their fingertips accidentally brushed.
Xie Ruan froze for a moment, and worried that Bo Jin might misinterpret it, he immediately withdrew his hand as fast as he could.
Seeing his reaction, Bo Jin’s suspicion was finally confirmed—
Xie Ruan liked him.
It was obvious, really.
His unconditional support on the rooftop, the wolfberry water he bought to help him with insomnia, joining his fan group… now that he thought about it, all of these were signs.
Bo Jin had always been handsome and outstanding since he was young, with no shortage of admirers.
But he found it tiring more than anything.
Because of his hyperthymesia, he couldn’t forget anything. Every new person trying to enter his life only added to the weight of his memories.
But, strangely, he didn’t feel annoyed by Xie Ruan’s feelings.
Bo Jin looked over at Xie Ruan.
Xie Ruan was working on a math worksheet, frowning in concentration, biting the tip of his pen absentmindedly.
Bo Jin had tried to correct his habit of biting his pen several times, but it was no use.
Outside, the dark night stretched endlessly, while he sat under the classroom lights, standing out in bright contrast.
For the first time, Bo Jin realized how different Xie Ruan was.
From the moment he foolishly stood in front of him on the rooftop, he had been different.
Like a small rose blooming unexpectedly in the snow—surprising and one of a kind.
Because of tomorrow’s exam, the atmosphere in Class 1 was unusually relaxed. Even the hard-working students, who usually kept their heads down in their books, had put their pens down to chat and joke around with their classmates.
Top students didn’t believe in last-minute cramming; they relied on steady accumulation.
But Xie Ruan was the opposite.
He had been confident in himself until now, convinced that the past month of intense study had transformed him from a slacker to a real student.
But the closer the exam got, the more nervous he became.
One moment, he worried he hadn’t reviewed a particular unit; the next, he feared he hadn’t mastered a specific topic. All evening, he’d been darting back and forth like a headless chicken, his anxiety building.
To top it off, his classmates were particularly enthusiastic, crowding around his desk as soon as the bell rang. One offered him notes; another asked if he needed help with any questions, completely overwhelming his already fragile nerves.
Bo Jin noticed him frowning, picking up and setting down his book, unable to sit still, and knew he was getting anxious.
He glanced at the time, then took Xie Ruan’s Chinese book from his hands. “Come take a walk with me?”
“No,” Xie Ruan refused without thinking. Taking a walk before exams was a privilege for top students, not slackers like him.
“Come on,” Bo Jin said, holding onto his wrist and pulling him up. “I know you’ve been studying hard. A few minutes won’t make a difference.”
Xie Ruan wasn’t absorbing anything anyway; sitting in the classroom was just a way to calm his nerves. After a brief struggle, he relented.
The two didn’t take the main entrance but slipped through the safety corridor to the back garden.
When their school was built, a garden was specially designed between the main gate and the teaching building for aesthetic reasons.
Filled with flowers and ornamental trees, with cobblestone paths and small night lights, it looked beautiful at night.
But few people visited because the lush greenery attracted a lot of mosquitoes, and it was easy to get bitten.
Bo Jin found a clean spot to sit down and patted the space next to him, inviting Xie Ruan, “Sit.”
Xie Ruan sat down silently, completely different from his usual lively self.
Bo Jin waved his hand around, then took out a small bottle of insect repellent from his pocket and handed it to him. “Apply some on exposed areas. I can already hear the mosquitoes buzzing.”
Xie Ruan, deep in thought about the upcoming exam, hadn’t caught what he said.
Bo Jin called him again, and Xie Ruan finally snapped back to reality. “Huh?”
“Insect repellent,” Bo Jin said, shaking the bottle. “Do you want it?”
“Of course,” Xie Ruan quickly took the bottle and sprayed it on his arms and ankles. Being a mosquito magnet, he’d probably be eaten alive tonight if he didn’t apply some.
The rich scent of roses spread through the air.
“D*mn,” Xie Ruan muttered, looking at Bo Jin in distaste. “Rose-scented? Isn’t that a bit… girly?”
Bo Jin raised an eyebrow, giving him a suggestive look. “Don’t you know if I’m girly or not?”
The look instantly reminded Xie Ruan of the night they shared a bed. His cheeks warmed, and he quickly turned away, unwilling to say another word.
Bo Jin chuckled softly, unable to hold back. He reached out and ruffled Xie Ruan’s hair. Before Xie Ruan could protest, he asked, “Did you finish all the important questions I gave you?”
The shift to a serious topic caught Xie Ruan off guard, and the retort he had on the tip of his tongue got stuck in his throat. After a moment, he replied, “Yeah, I finished them.”
“Figured as much,” Bo Jin said, knowing that Xie Ruan needed a confidence boost and not withholding praise. “You’re smart and diligent. Those questions are nothing for you.”
It was the first time Bo Jin had complimented him so earnestly and directly. Xie Ruan froze at first, and then his heart swelled with happiness.
Bo Jin—the top student of their school—said he was smart!
Did this mean he had a bit of a knack for studying after all?!
Bo Jin noticed his reaction, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes, as he asked gently, “Are there still things you don’t understand?”
Xie Ruan thought for a moment. “Not with the questions you gave me. You’ve already explained everything I didn’t get, and I found a bunch of similar problems to practice on my own.”
After a brief pause, he hesitated. “But there’s still a lot of material from first year I haven’t covered.”
“That’s normal,” Bo Jin’s phone suddenly vibrated with a new message. He glanced at it, then put it away, smirking as he caught Xie Ruan’s slightly furrowed brow. “What, Student Xie? Ambitious, aren’t you? You want to learn in a month what others study all year? Planning to steal my title as the genius?”
Xie Ruan had been a little anxious, but Bo Jin’s cocky comment made him laugh immediately.
“You’ve done all you can to prepare,” Bo Jin said, casually throwing an arm around Xie Ruan’s shoulders with a smile. “So, what’s there to worry about?”
“Who’s worried?” Caught, Xie Ruan tried to cover up his embarrassment, scoffing. “It’s just an exam. I’m not nervous!”
Bo Jin didn’t say anything, just looked at him with a knowing smile, making Xie Ruan feel more and more self-conscious. Finally, Bo Jin gave a small chuckle and looked away.
“What are you laughing at?” Xie Ruan glared at him, thinking he must be mocking him.
“Nothing,” Bo Jin said lazily, stretching out his long legs and idly twirling a leaf between his fingers.
The more laid-back he seemed, the more convinced Xie Ruan became.
He squinted at him, deciding that today he had to teach Bo Jin a lesson or he’d really start thinking he was a pushover.
“Hey,” Xie Ruan smirked, reaching out to press down on Bo Jin’s knee. “You—”
Before he could finish, Bo Jin grabbed his wrist, pulled him forward with a surprising force—
And Xie Ruan, caught off guard, fell right into Bo Jin’s arms.
“Bo Jin!” Instead of teaching him a lesson, he ended up in an embarrassing situation. Angry and flustered, he struggled to get up.
“Shh—” Bo Jin tightened his hold on his waist, patting his back soothingly as if comforting a child. “It’s a genius’s hug, a bit of my luck for you. You’ll ace the test.”
Xie Ruan blinked, momentarily stunned.
Oh, right! How could he have forgotten that trick?
Seeing that he’d finally calmed down, Bo Jin’s smile deepened, his low voice brushing past Xie Ruan’s ear. “This is my secret weapon. Now you really shouldn’t be nervous.”
The night was deep, and everything around them was quiet.
The noise from the sports field couldn’t reach the back garden, where only the occasional chirp of insects disturbed the silence around the manicured trees.
Held in Bo Jin’s arms, feeling the strength of his embrace, the tension that had been building up within Xie Ruan quietly melted away.
That night, Song Xinghe had prepared a whole pep talk, ready to cheer up Xie Ruan. But when he got back to the dormitory, he found Xie Ruan in such a great mood that he looked like he could breeze through three math tests on the spot.
Song Xinghe raised an eyebrow. “What, did you take some kind of magic potion?”
Not that he could blame him for being surprised. Usually, Xie Ruan acted all cool and aloof, like he didn’t care about anything, but in reality, he was very self-conscious and often put too much pressure on himself.
Once he got stressed, it usually took him a long time to recover.
Today was definitely unusual.
Song Xinghe circled around Xie Ruan, inspecting him, but couldn’t find any clues. Finally, he walked over, saying, “Alright, out with it. Honesty earns leniency.”
“Don’t sit on my bed if you haven’t showered,” Xie Ruan quickly stretched out a leg to block him. “No magic potion. I just… had an epiphany, you know?”
With a smug smile, he flicked his hair, spread out his blanket, and summed up confidently, “I’ve done all I can, so I’ll leave the rest to fate.”
Song Xinghe: “…”
Wow, study a few days and suddenly he’s quoting proverbs.
Seeing that he wouldn’t get anything out of him, Song Xinghe just laughed, threw a playful insult his way, and went off to shower.
Xie Ruan rolled around on his soft bed a few times, relaxed, and soon fell asleep.
He slept so well that he arrived at the classroom about ten minutes later than usual the next morning.
The classroom was buzzing as everyone packed up, ready to head to the exam hall. A familiar classmate spotted him, came over, and held out a hand. “Hey, Little Xie, want some of a top student’s good luck?”
Seeing this, other classmates thought it was funny and joined in. “Come on, Xie Ruan, let me shake hands too!”
“Get lost, you only scored 130 in math, and you dare offer luck? Xie Ruan, shake my hand. I scored 136 last time.”
“What’s math? Let’s talk English. I totally outscored you there, don’t even deny it.”
“Listen, Xie Ruan, neither of them is worth it. You should go with me. I ranked eighth in the whole grade last time.”
“The fourth in our grade—is there anything I should say?”
Xie Ruan: “…”
How did this escalate into competition out of nowhere?
Only kids make choices—adults, of course, want it all!
Xie Ruan rolled up his sleeves, just about to say there was still time and he could shake hands with everyone one by one, when Bo Jin pushed him back down.
Xie Ruan, puzzled, asked, “What’s up?”
Bo Jin, leaning back on his chair with a slightly groggy expression from just waking up, lifted his eyes to the group all eager to shake Xie Ruan’s hand and said coolly, “The concentration’s too low; it’d just dilute each other.”
The suddenly insulted classmates: “…”
Shivering in silence, they dared not speak!
Xie Ruan blinked a few times, realizing Bo Jin’s meaning, and immediately protested, knowing he had the lowest “concentration” among them: “Hey, are you insulting me?”
“What would I insult you for?” Bo Jin chuckled. “I’m teaching you how to judge people.”
Xie Ruan froze. Judge people?
Bo Jin opened his arms, pulling him into a hug, and with a light laugh said, “The highest concentration is right here, so who else do you need?” He paused, leaned in closer, and whispered seriously in his ear, “Good luck on the test.”
After Xie Ruan left, Sun Haoxiang and the others finished packing up to head to the exam hall. Before leaving, he called out to Bo Jin, “Brother Bo, aren’t you coming?”
Bo Jin, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, just waved a hand without looking up.
Sun Haoxiang understood immediately and dragged He Mingjie and Pan Yu out.
“Why did you even ask him?” He Mingjie complained jealously once the door closed. “Didn’t he say he hates people approaching him all the time and won’t go to the exam hall until the last minute?”
Bringing this up made He Mingjie feel even more indignant.
He’d been chasing after Lin Lu for half a semester now, yet she still ignored him. But Bo Jin? Lin Lu had asked for his WeChat multiple times, and this jerk, annoyed by her persistence, simply handed her a QR code for a math problem-solving app.
Comparing oneself to others could really sour a person.
“Eh, just a slip of the tongue,” Sun Haoxiang said, patting his own slightly chubby belly and suddenly feeling hungry again. He turned to Pan Yu, “Old Pan, got any of those sunflower seeds left from yesterday?”
Pan Yu nodded. “Yeah, why?”
Sun Haoxiang’s eyes lit up. “Where are they? Give me the whole bag; the test is boring, and I need something to do.”
Pan Yu: “…”
The world of slackers really was colorful.
With a twitching mouth, Pan Yu unzipped his bag. “Help yourself.”
“You even carry it around with you?” Sun Haoxiang reached in to grab them. “You’re gonna snack during the test too? In that case, I won’t compete with you for it.”
Pan Yu, exasperated, replied, “Do you think I would? I just didn’t have anywhere else to put it.”
“Perfect.” Sun Haoxiang happily pocketed the seeds.
Not long after they left, other students in Class 1 gradually trickled out as well, leaving only Bo Jin in the classroom.
The freshmen from Grade 1 were already waiting outside. Bo Jin rubbed his temples, checked the time, and, still half-asleep, picked up his pencil case and lazily strolled out, earning admiring stares along the way.
His exam room was in Class 1 of the freshman building, right above Xie Ruan’s.
Unhurried, Bo Jin walked forward. Along the way, he encountered teachers who greeted him with nods, some stopping for a few words, making his trip down the corridor take twice as long as usual.
Most students had already entered their exam rooms by now, leaving only a few scattered people on the stairs. Ahead, three students walked side-by-side, chatting freely and unaware of Bo Jin behind them.
Frowning, Bo Jin was about to ask them to make way when he overheard their conversation and suddenly stopped.
“Hey, Li Mingliang, which exam room are you in? Class Twelve or Thirteen?”
“Thirteen,” Li Mingliang yawned, wiping a tear from his eye, “same as the ‘Young Master.’”
The one who spoke first looked baffled, “Young Master? Ugh, what a cringey nickname. Who is it? Shen Xingyun?” After saying that, he thought better of it. “No way, Brother Yun has good grades. Who else?”
Li Mingliang smirked meaningfully, “Xie Ruan.”
“Huh?” The other student turned in disbelief. “Is his family that rich? He doesn’t usually dress like it.”
“They used to be pretty rich,” Li Mingliang sneered with clear schadenfreude on his face, “but they went bankrupt.”
“D*mn, that’s really harsh,” the person clicked their tongue and said, “Who gave him that name? It’s too hurtful.”
The worst thing isn’t never having anything; it’s having it and losing it. And “Young Master” not only recalled former glory but also mocked his current decline. The contrast and irony would be enough to crush most people with a fragile spirit.
“No idea,” Li Mingliang said. “I heard it from an old middle school classmate of his.”
“Hey now,” another student chimed in, glancing at Li Mingliang with a smirk, “why are you so interested in Xie Ruan? Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on him? Gotta admit, he’s pretty good-looking.”
“Get lost!” Li Mingliang shoved him away in disgust. “Why the h*ll would I like him? I’m not blind.”
He sneered, “If he hadn’t ticked me off, I wouldn’t bother with him.”
After that run-in in the bathroom, Li Mingliang had planned to stay out of Xie Ruan’s way. But Shen Xingyun’s attention toward Xie Ruan seemed to be growing. On his birthday, Shen Xingyun had even gotten angry over not receiving a gift from Xie Ruan.
Jealousy makes people lose their minds, and despite the prior threat, Li Mingliang couldn’t help himself.
The first guy picked up on his implication and tried to throw an arm around Li Mingliang’s shoulders, but since he was shorter, his arm landed in mid-air.
Awkwardly adjusting himself, he said, “Old Li, sounds like you’re looking for trouble.”
“Looking for what trouble?” Li Mingliang said smugly. “I’m just calling a classmate by his nickname before the test. No rules broken.”
“Wow, what a ruthless move. That’ll really mess with Xie Ruan’s focus; he probably won’t be able to concentrate on the test,” one guy remarked, impressed by Li Mingliang’s plan.
Another guy scoffed, “Like it even matters for his grades whether he focuses or not.”
“Don’t say that,” Li Mingliang turned a corner, following the stairs. “He did say he wanted to study ha—”
But before he could finish, he glanced back and froze, missing a step and nearly tumbling down the stairs.
What the—?! Li Mingliang cursed in his mind. How did Xie Ruan and Bo Jin keep catching him every single time he badmouthed them?! It’s like they had some kind of sensor for this, with an alert going off the second he talked about them!
Li Mingliang tried to stay calm, hoping that maybe Bo Jin had just arrived and hadn’t overheard. No need to freak himself out.
“How did you manage to twist your ankle on flat ground?” one of his friends asked, catching him. When he noticed what Li Mingliang was staring at, he laughed, “What, see something—”
His words cut off abruptly when he spotted Bo Jin.
Almost everyone at Shijia High knew Bo Jin: the sharp looks, countless awards, and even trending online earlier in the year. He didn’t know why, but even though Bo Jin was just a good-looking student, his calm gaze sent chills down his spine.
They’d just been gossiping about Xie Ruan, who was known to be close to Bo Jin…
The guy swallowed hard, nervously shrinking back with his friend, hoping Bo Jin wouldn’t notice them.
But Bo Jin wasn’t interested in them; his attention was solely on Li Mingliang. “Li Mingliang?”
“Y-Yeah?” Li Mingliang stammered, gripping the stair rail tightly to avoid showing any fear. “What’s up?”
With the bell about to ring, Bo Jin didn’t bother with small talk. “August 7th, first break in the afternoon; September 23rd, third break; September 29th, lunch; October 11th, third break again. Fifth-floor restroom.”
Li Mingliang was totally lost. What nonsense was Bo Jin spouting?
Just then, Bo Jin gave a small sneer. “Enjoy spying on Shen Xingyun in the restroom?”
Li Mingliang’s head practically exploded.
How… how did he know?!
Li Mingliang gripped the rail even tighter, refusing to give in. “What are you talking about? I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh?” Bo Jin gave a slight smile. “Think the teachers won’t let me check the hallway cameras from those days if I ask?”
Li Mingliang’s legs went weak.
With Bo Jin’s status in the school, not only would the teachers gladly hand over the recordings, but they’d also offer footage of the entire year if he wanted.
If Shen Xingyun found out what he’d been up to…
A shiver ran through Li Mingliang as he imagined the consequences.
Bo Jin glanced at him with a cold smirk. “Stay away from Xie Ruan.” Then, without waiting for a response, he walked off.
Li Mingliang stood in a daze at the stairwell, slumping to the ground as soon as Bo Jin was out of sight.
The first exam was math. When Xie Ruan got his test paper, he took his time scanning through it, and the more he looked, the more his eyes sparkled—he recognized most of the questions. Bo Jin had drilled him on similar problems.
Despite Bo Jin’s usually tough approach to studying, making him redo any incorrect problems, Xie Ruan finally understood his diligence. The “study god” knew exactly what he was doing!
Xie Ruan felt a surge of confidence, and the little bit of nervousness he had was gone. He took out the prepared pen from his pencil case, focused, and started answering the questions.
Xie Ruan didn’t waste time on the difficult questions at the end. Those questions were too hard, and he had just recently started studying, so he couldn’t solve them. He only answered the relatively easier first questions, leaving the rest blank.
Even so, time was tight for him. He barely finished answering everything and didn’t have time to check before the bell rang.
Xie Ruan reflected for a moment; he wrote down everything he knew and took guesses on the rest. Overall, he felt no regrets.
As he watched the teacher collect the papers, Xie Ruan suddenly felt a sense of relief. He had done his best; whatever score he got was up to fate.
Packing up his backpack, he walked outside while pulling out his phone, worried that Song Xinghe might have messaged him.
But instead of a message from Song Xinghe, he saw one from Bo Jin.
Bo Jin said he had handed in his paper early and already got lunch ready for him, telling him to go straight to the second table by the window in the cafeteria after the exam.
To be fair, though Bo Jin was a bit annoying sometimes, he really showed up as a true friend when it mattered.
Xie Ruan smiled, replied with “on my way,” and headed straight to the cafeteria, holding his backpack close.
Although they hadn’t known each other for long, they had shared quite a few meals together. Bo Jin had already figured out Xie Ruan’s preferences, and every dish was something he enjoyed—nothing missed the mark.
Xie Ruan ate contentedly, even treating Bo Jin a little nicer than usual.
After they finished eating, they took their trays to the return station and were about to leave the cafeteria when they ran into Li Mingliang, who was holding his tray and looking for a place to sit.
Seeing the two of them, Li Mingliang’s face immediately changed, like an animal encountering its natural enemy. He quickly ran off, not even caring that some soup spilled from his tray.
“Hey, Bo Jin,” Xie Ruan put one arm over Bo Jin’s shoulder and nodded toward Li Mingliang, “Do you know him?”
Bo Jin replied, “Nope.”
“I knew you wouldn’t know him,” Xie Ruan tilted his face up, giving him a smug smile, “Let me tell you, he’s from Class 11 and used to be my classmate.”
“Mm.” Bo Jin adjusted Xie Ruan’s backpack strap to keep it from slipping down.
“Last time, he mouthed off and I ended up giving him a good beating,” Xie Ruan said with a proud smirk. “Did you see that just now? He scurried off the moment he saw me.”
Bo Jin smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I saw.”
Encouraged, Xie Ruan continued enthusiastically, “Don’t let my ‘good student’ act fool you; back in the day, I was a big deal around here.”
He patted Bo Jin on the shoulder. “So if anyone tries to mess with you, don’t be afraid. Just come to me, and I’ll make sure they back off.”
Someone like Bo Jin, who was popular with teachers, could still be a target for bullying. Until he understood the reasons behind Bo Jin’s earlier struggles, Xie Ruan wanted to consider every possible angle.
Bo Jin chuckled softly, but didn’t say anything.
Xie Ruan’s brow arched. “What? Don’t believe me?”
“Not at all,” Bo Jin said with a slight smile, looking down at Xie Ruan’s animated face. “I’ll count on you to have my back.”
