ten

Zheng's class always changed desks after major exams such as monthly exams, selecting students in order of their ranking based on their scores.

Lu Yunian performed adequately in this exam. Unlike last time when he had a high fever and was completely out of it, resulting in a poor ranking, he did not perform exceptionally well either.

Twenty-one.

When Lu Yunian saw the results, his first reaction was that he could no longer be Ning Yi'en's deskmate. How awful.

Walking from the back of the classroom to the increasingly fewer empty seats according to their ranking felt like a public execution, especially for Lu Yunian, who desperately wanted a seat, making this period even more agonizing.

Ning Yi'en scanned the classroom and finally sat down in group four, seat number four—a central but not front-facing seat, suitable for both listening to the lecture and slacking off.

The other students in the top ten probably felt that this position was a bit too far back, so they gradually moved to a more front row.

Great, there are only ten people left.

Or perhaps Ning Yi'en had just finished a fight, his lip was still bruised, and his cold face and taciturn nature were typical. People who weren't familiar with him might have been intimidated by him, and by the time he reached the nineteenth position, no one had gone to his row.

Just as Lu Yunian breathed a sigh of relief, inexplicably feeling that victory was in sight,

"Senior, may I sit here?"

"Of course, if you'd like."

Tang Xuanling sat down in Group 3, Seat 4.

"Thank you. I thought you would want to leave the seat next to you for senior Lu Yunian."

“Thinking about it is useless,” Ning Yi’en said, reading a book without looking up. “I can’t decide the will of so many people in front of him, and I can’t ask you to leave just because you’re sitting here, right?”

It's okay. Although Group 4 and Group 5 are in two different large groups, there are no gaps between their seats, so they can be considered deskmates.

right! !

That's it!! Absolutely perfect!!!

Ning Yi'en had finished packing her books before changing seats, and since she hadn't been in this class for long, her belongings weren't messy or numerous. She moved seats very quickly.

When he sat down, the classroom was still in chaos, so Ning Yi'en asked for leave to go to the toilet to wash his face.

I didn't feel anything until the cold water splashed on my face, and I realized that my nose bridge seemed to have been cut, and I felt a dull pain.

It was probably one of the jingling ornaments on Luo Yao's wrist that scratched him when he raised his fist.

I leaned closer to the mirror and examined my face carefully—the corners of my mouth were a little red, and the marks on my nose were not very noticeable but much more painful than the corners of my mouth. However, it could also be because the mirror itself was not clear and there were many water stains.

"Do you have a small mirror?" Ning Yi'en asked Tang Xuanling after sitting back down in the classroom.

"I think I left it in my dorm room." She rummaged through her pencil case and the inner compartment of her backpack, then shook her head.

"Why don't you ask me?" Lu Yunian, who had been pretending to be taking a nap while writing notes, sat up and looked at Ning Yi'en when he heard them talking.

"Do you have it?"

"No." His answer was both natural and inexplicable; he wanted to laugh at himself afterward.

“But I can use my eyes to help you see, it will be clearer,” he added after thinking for a moment.

"Could you check if my nose is cut?"

"It does seem a bit like that." Lu Yunian leaned closer.

—The first thing I noticed was his eyes. The sudden eye contact made me feel flustered for no reason. I quickly looked down. I don’t know if it was because of the distance, the distance, or my nervousness, but Lu Yunian squinted at me for a while and still spoke ambiguously.

"Hey, come any closer. Are you testing my eyesight from this distance?" Yan Ting, sitting next to him, couldn't stand it anymore and gave him a light push.

They're even closer now...

Perhaps less than a fist's width, close enough to feel the other's breath, maybe even closer enough for their noses to touch.

I've had close contact with boys before, but I've never felt this flustered before.

But this was probably the umpteenth time Lu Yunian had encountered Ning Yi'en, and he didn't have time to think about it in detail.

He hastily attributed it all to Ning Yi'en being too handsome. He had never made friends with such a handsome guy before, and Ning Yi'en's existence was very special to him.

“It’s definitely broken.” If it’s still not clear at this close range, Lu Yunian’s most urgent task should be to ask for leave from evening self-study to go out and get his eyes checked.

"I'll go to the infirmary and get some iodine swabs, and then I'll put on a band-aid to prevent infection."

"No need to go, I have some in my bag." Ning Yi'en's thoughts seemed to have wandered off for a second, but she blinked hard to bring herself back to reality. "Thank you."

I hesitated for a long time before putting my backpack on my lap, then quietly looked down into the backpack, but my mind was completely blank.

It took me quite a while to remember that I was looking for something.

I opened the cotton swab intending to apply it myself, but after trying it, it was still very inconvenient without a mirror.

He hesitated for a moment before handing it to Tang Xuanling, but before he could extend it, he felt it wasn't quite right.

"I'll do it, it's no trouble." Lu Yunian took it and smiled at him, "It might hurt, hmm..."

"If you can't stand it, you can pinch me, maybe it will make you feel better."

"How could it hurt this much?"

Ning Yi'en was amused and said, "It's nothing, I've been injured quite a few times before."

After successfully applying the iodine solution, I peeled off the bandage. After hesitating for a few seconds between putting it on and not putting it on, I decided to show the bandage to Ning Yi'en.

"Should I put this on?"

It's not a regular band-aid, nor is it waterproof. It's the kind of cartoon band-aid that only kids would use, very... cute, or childlike—three simple cat heads printed on a light purple background.

Ning Yi'en rummaged through her bag again. It seemed that this was all she had, and this was already the simplest design. Judging from the colors that were faintly visible through the packaging, the others were all more... flashy.

"This one is fine, it's... good too, all band-aids are the same."

Although it seems a bit odd, no one should notice, and there are only a few hours left before school ends today.

If he could skip evening self-study today by getting a note to go home and reflect on his actions, that would be even better. Zhang Zixu wouldn't allow him to take three days off, so one evening self-study session shouldn't be a big problem.

Ning Yi'en wasn't sure whether to comfort herself or deceive herself, but it didn't matter, no one else would care.

However, even Ning Yi'en, who can quickly pass the final math and physics exams, sometimes makes calculation mistakes.

For example, right now.

"Teacher," a girl knocked on the door during the second half of the self-study period, "Director Zhang said that the top thirty students in the grade need to gather at the small square for a photo."

Actually, this kind of thing doesn't usually require calling people from their class, but this year is different. This year, Class 3 has Ning Yi'en, who is first in the grade and has won the top spot in all four subjects: math, physics, chemistry, and biology.

“Ning Yi’en,” Zheng called out to him, “Go.”

"Excuse me, can I just line up to take photos?"

When they got downstairs, the teacher in charge of taking photos was still setting up the equipment. The students next to them had probably lined up spontaneously. Many of them looked like model students and had brought their own practice problems to do while waiting. Ning Yi'en found a student who didn't seem to be in a rush and asked him a question.

The student glanced at Ning Yi'en, a new face he had never seen before, perhaps a dark horse among the other subject choices.

"Yes, but it's ranked by grades, and the thirtieth place is at the back." He pointed behind him and then looked down at his book again.

"Thanks."

Ning Yi'en walked forward. Why has this year become so troublesome? They even have to queue up for photos. Didn't they used to just post the photos on the student ID cards?

"Are you the first in line, classmate? You're ranked by grade."

The girl at the front of the line was probably memorizing political materials. When she looked up, perhaps her brain hadn't processed it yet, and her mouth blurted out, "So cute..."

Ning Yi'en looked at her in disbelief.

"Oh, I meant your Band-Aid."

After realizing what she had said, she laughed awkwardly and tried to cover it up, "Yeah, right, it should be first in front."

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Zhang Zixu finally chose a spot with great sunlight and a uncluttered background for them to take the photos.

“Ning Yi’en, what’s with that band-aid on your face…” He stood behind the camera with his hands behind his back, squinting at Ning Yi’en.

"I just cut myself, it hurts." Ning Yi'en stood there. Although the band-aid looked strange on his face, he didn't want to tear it off now. The wind outside would definitely make him uncomfortable, and if it got infected, it would be even more of a headache. He didn't want to have a scar.

"It's okay, go ahead and take the picture."

So Ning Yi'en stood there stiffly and awkwardly.

"Smile, isn't it great to be number one?" Zhang Zixu said again, then thought about it and realized that it was true... being in school might not be something to be happy about for Ning Yi'en, and it didn't matter whether she ranked well or not, so he added, "It's okay, anything is fine."

Perhaps people with good natural features will look good no matter what expression they make or how they are photographed.

Ning Yien took this photo without smiling. Her eyes were slightly lowered, and her hair looked very lively in the breeze. The sunlight made the blue color look particularly cool, and the redness at the corners of her mouth and the cartoon bandage on her nose added to the effect.

Compared to posting notices, it's more believable that the school bully was photographed and put on the bulletin board to warn other students because of a fight.

"Ning Yi'en," Zhang Zixu called out to him again as they were about to return to the classroom, "go and dye your hair back when you have time, it looks really bad."

"I understand." But he probably won't do it, as it's very damaging to his hair.

When I returned to the classroom, a heated discussion was taking place.

"Which do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?" Lu Yunian leaned closer and asked him.

"Bad news, but the more bad the good news, the more surprising it will be."

"Not really. Once you hear the bad news, you can guess the good news, so it won't be a surprise anymore."

"Then I'll listen to you."

Lu Yunian revealed a triumphant smile. "The good news is that Li Xue has been reported and suspended from his duties for investigation. We won't have to suffer from him in math class anymore."

"The bad news is that the new teacher is still very demanding, isn't he?" Ning Yi'en asked, half-guessing.

"No wonder you're number one in the grade, you're so smart, Senior Ning, you're my idol!"

“Yes,” Lu Yunian returned to the main topic, “the new teacher is the head of the grade, and he is frighteningly strict.”

"Listen to the lesson carefully, he won't do anything to you."

Actually, Zhang Zixu is a very good teacher, which Ning Yi'en has always known. "But you are definitely one of the first people he met in this class."

"Then I declare this to be even worse news."

“Aren’t you good at math?” Actually, Ning Yi’en couldn’t quite understand this emotion.

“You students who excel at everything can’t understand this,” Lu Yunian waved his hand. “This kind of teacher, just by standing there with his hands behind his back, exudes a frightening aura. People are naturally intimidated.”