Nie Yu's gaze followed everyone's to Li Qingling, but after only one glance, he guiltily looked away.

Li Qingling was somewhat disappointed. Her gaze swept past everyone and followed Nie Yu to his desk.

Because he hadn't been there for several days, his desk had been thrown into a corner at some point, while the other desks and chairs in the classroom were arranged in pairs. He was like an excluded student, and no one in the entire classroom wanted to be his deskmate.

Under the gloating gazes of the crowd, Nie Yu expressionlessly picked up the table from the ground.

When the table was turned towards him, the various sarcastic words written on it with colored pens also came into his view.

His classmates watched his reaction with amusement, but to Nie Yu, it meant nothing.

He ignored everything, pulled the table to a corner, and sat down, seemingly unconcerned about the words on the table, before lying down and starting to sleep.

The students were clearly disappointed by his reaction, and after a brief "hmm," they prepared to return to their seats.

Just then, the sound of dragging a desk and chair came from the center of the classroom. Everyone turned around and saw Li Qingling dragging her desk toward Nie Yu's seat.

Finally, he placed his desk next to his and sat down next to him as if nothing had happened.

The students were stunned. Nie Yu, who had been lying on the table, also heard the noise and looked up. When he saw Li Qingling, a hint of nervousness and surprise flashed in his eyes, but it quickly turned into indifference. "Your seat is not here."

Li Qingling turned her head, her eyes sparkling with Ling'er's gaze, and pouted, saying, "This is my desk, and I decide where it is."

Nie Yu wanted to say something more, but the class bell rang just then, and the teacher walked up to the podium with the textbook. He could only swallow his words back.

Nie Yu always played the role of someone who didn't like studying at school, to the point that he didn't even own a single book. Of course, part of the reason was that those naughty students snatched his books and tore them to shreds, and even the teachers didn't care at all.

Seeing that Nie Yu didn't have a book, Li Qingling took the initiative to push her own book between the two of them, indicating that he should read it together.

But Nie Yu had no intention of paying attention in class; she simply turned around and lay down on the table to sleep.

“Nie Yu, you can’t do this. Although you didn’t do well in school before, things are different now. I’m here with you now, so you need to be serious before you come.” Li Qingling reached out her small hand and tugged at his sleeve.

She always remembered what her mother had said: if a person wants to change their destiny, they have to work hard themselves.

If even he gives up on himself, then no matter how much she wants to help him, it will be useless.

Nie Yu was getting a headache from her nagging, so he could only obediently get up from the table. The moment he turned to look at her, a hint of amazement flashed in his eyes.

Li Qingling wore a half-high bun today, and the stray hairs falling around her ears were translucent in the sunlight, making even the light falling on her face appear exceptionally soft.

This was the first time Nie Yu had felt a tenderness in her heart.

Like tender green grass sprouting from the soil, for the first time, a glimmer of life appeared in that empty, dark heart.

He just stared at her quietly, the chaotic sounds in his mind seemingly frozen in that moment. He couldn't hear the sound of a pencil scratching on white paper, the sound of an eraser scraping across the blackboard, or the sound of the teacher lecturing with the little bee on her hat. He couldn't hear anything at all.

The only thing I could hear was my own heart beating incessantly.

"Nie Yu, are you listening to me carefully?" Li Qingling asked, tapping the multiplication table on the book with her pen.

Nie Yu then came to his senses and nodded as if possessed.

"Then recite it for me?" Li Qingling supervised her earnestly, like a little teacher.

Nie Yu tried to recall the multiplication tables from first grade, and as he thought about it, he couldn't help but laugh.

This was the first time Li Qingling had seen him smile. He had two faint dimples at the corners of his mouth, which would have been impossible to notice unless she got this close.

If Nie Yu had been born into a harmonious family with loving parents, he would probably have become a very sunny and cheerful boy.

The more Li Qingling thought about it, the more heartache she felt for Nie Yu.

"Don't laugh. You can't recite it, can you? It's okay if you can't, I'll teach you." Li Qingling picked up a pen and started doodling in the book, then earnestly began reciting the multiplication tables.

Nie Yu stopped talking and just watched her quietly until the bell rang and the classroom became noisy again. Only then did he reluctantly turn his gaze away.

...

During the afternoon's extracurricular activities, Li Qingling went to the restroom alone. As she was washing her hands at the sink, a man dressed in a cleaner's uniform and wearing a hat walked in.

Li Qingling was startled and quickly said, "Uncle, this is the girls' restroom. Boys are not allowed to come in."

The cleaner, holding a mop in one hand and pulling her baseball cap down even lower with the other, was about to take a small knife from her waist when Nie Yu's voice came from outside the door—

"Li Qingling, extracurricular activities are over, we should go back to the classroom."

The man was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand and began to mop the floor diligently with both hands.

Seeing that the person was ignoring her, and with Nie Yu outside urging her on, Li Qingling glanced at the cleaner in confusion, then turned and walked out.

On the way back, she couldn't help but complain to Nie Yu, "Nie Yu, why does the school hire an uncle to clean the girls' restroom? Mommy said that boys are not allowed to go into the girls' restroom, and I don't think that's right."

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