Chapter 62 It's okay, you'll protect me.

Yu Qing gently nudged Lu Chi's table with her elbow, her voice low: "Thanks for earlier."

Lu Chi turned his head slightly, looking at him calmly, a faint smile appearing on his lips: "No...it's nothing."

Looking at Lu Chi's smile, Yu Qing felt a strange, inexplicable feeling welling up inside her.

Lu Chi's lips were slightly upturned, but the smile seemed to be deliberately sculpted; his lips were smiling, but there was no smile in his eyes.

Yu Qing sometimes even wondered if Lu Chi could never smile at all. Today's rare smile almost gave him a cold sweat.

Time passed slowly in the quiet classroom.

Until the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

Yu Qing slumped onto the table, utterly deflated, when his Chinese teacher's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Alright, that concludes today's lesson. Now, I'm assigning you one last essay, titled 'My Deskmate,' to be submitted before graduation."

The Chinese teacher stood in front of the podium, wrote the four characters "My Deskmate" in big letters on the blackboard with chalk, and then turned to look at the group of students who had been with her for three years.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "This essay has no word limit or format requirement. Feel free to express yourself. Who knows, it might become a valuable piece of writing to look back on later."

There was a two-second silence in the classroom.

Everyone started talking about it.

Yu Qing, who had been lying still, suddenly sat up.

He looked at Lu Chi, and Lu Chi looked at him too.

Both of them looked completely bewildered.

Are you kidding me?!

You need to write an essay about your deskmate.

He really didn't know where to start.

Yu Qing instantly deflated, slumping onto the table with a look of utter despair.

"Whatever, I'll just copy one from the internet!"

At this moment, Lu Chi noticed the dark circles under Yu Qing's eyes, making her look like she was about to die suddenly, and couldn't help but stammer, "You...you haven't been sleeping well lately?"

Yu Qing raised his head, the bloodshot veins in his eyes were faintly visible. He rubbed his temples, his voice slightly tired: "Yeah, I've been having trouble sleeping these past few days."

Lu Chi gently placed the water glass on the table, his voice as soft as a breeze rustling through the leaves: "Shouldn't you go see a doctor? This isn't good for your health."

Yu Qing shook her head: "It's nothing, I guess I've been under a lot of pressure lately."

Lu Chi was silent for a moment, then looked at Yu Qing's slightly pale face and asked, "Pressure? Is it because of the exam?"

He turned his head slightly, his gaze shifting to the view outside the window.

He replied perfunctorily, "Well, I guess so."

"If there are any questions you don't understand, you can ask me."

His voice remained gentle.

Yu Qing didn't turn around, but simply nodded casually, letting out a muffled "hmm".

Silence spread between the two.

Yu Qing's gaze inadvertently swept across Lu Chi's desk, and a somewhat old book caught her eye. The text on the cover was a little blurry, but it didn't seem to be a school textbook, because school textbooks weren't this thick.

"What book is this?" Yu Qing stretched out her finger and gently tapped the cover of the old book on the table.

Lu Chi followed his gaze, a barely perceptible ripple flashing in his eyes, and answered softly.

""Bible""

Yu Qing raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise in her eyes: "You have religious beliefs?"

Lu Chi shook his head: "It was a gift from someone else."

"Can you understand it?" Yu Qing picked it up and flipped through it casually, her tone tinged with doubt.

"There are many parts I don't understand, but I still find it very interesting," Lu Chi replied truthfully.

"Interesting?" Yu Qing was taken aback.

"The origins of species, the origins of humankind, the origins of sin, the origins of redemption, the origins of marriage and family, etc., can all be found in it. If you want to see it, I can send it to you."

"Although I'm not interested in this kind of book, it sounds interesting to you. I'll take it back and read it, then return it to you." Yu Qing readily put the book away in his bag, deciding to take a good look at it when he got home.

Lu Chi didn't say anything more. He had read this book countless times and could even recite it from memory. He could understand many things in it even without a teacher.

There was one sentence he just couldn't understand.

Hatred can incite conflict.

Love covers over all sins.

Or rather, this problem has been troubling him for a full seventeen years.

There seemed to be things in this world that logic couldn't explain, things he had never felt before—emotions.

He recalled the scene of his parents dying in a car accident when he was a child.

It was a gloomy afternoon. The hospital corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and the cries of people all around rose and fell, as if the whole world was grieving for this sudden change.

But he just stood there quietly, watching his parents' bodies being taken away, his eyes empty and calm.

Everyone around him was looking at him like he was a monster.

That was the first time Lu Chi realized his isolation from the world.

Some say that human suffering stems from emotions.

So, what exactly is emotion? And what is love?

...

After evening self-study.

As Yu Qing was packing his schoolbag, Lu Chi suddenly looked at him and asked, "Are you going for a run today?"

Yu Qing paused in his actions, realizing that the truth of the case had been revealed and there was no need to torture himself any longer. So he made an excuse: "I'm not running anymore. The college entrance exam is coming up soon, and I need to make the most of these few days to review."

"oh."

Lu Chi nodded in agreement. Yu Qing turned and left, but after walking out of the classroom, she suddenly turned back and said, "What are you standing there for? Come on, let's go home together."

"Okay."

Lu Chi quickly stuffed the books into his schoolbag and followed Yu Qing toward the stairs, and then walked out of the teaching building.

Lu Chi kept his head down and silently followed behind Yu Qing.

Yu Qing suddenly stopped, and Lu Chi bumped into Yu Qing's back without noticing.

Lu Chi reached out to adjust his glasses, which had been knocked askew, and looked up at Yu Qing with a puzzled expression. He didn't understand why the other person had suddenly stopped.

Yu Qing turned to look at him, her expression somewhat serious: "Why do you always walk with your head down?"

“I…I’m used to it,” Lu Chi stammered.

“This is a bad habit. If you go to university, people will think you’re easy to bully. You need to change it.” Yu Qing frowned, her tone serious.

"It's okay, you've got my back," Lu Chi said naively.

"It can't be covered."

"Why?"

"You're going to a teachers' college, and I can't get in. How can I protect you?"

"oh."

Hearing this, Lu Chi's expression instantly darkened. Seeing this, Yu Qing patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, I have a good friend at the Normal University. I'll give you a call, and no one will dare to bully you. After all, I'm your older brother."

"Um."

Lu Chi nodded, and the two continued walking side by side.

......

Yu Qing returned to her bedroom.

He took out the Bible that Lu Chi had given him from his bag. The edges of the pages were yellowed, as if it had been read countless times.

Yu Qing flipped through the pages one by one.

Just as Lu Chi had said, the contents were all about the origin of species, and Yu Qing lost interest after reading for a while.

I simply closed the book and tossed it aside.

At that moment, his gaze suddenly fell on the composition book in his schoolbag, and he remembered the composition his Chinese teacher had assigned that day.

Yu Qing took out her notebook and turned to a brand new page.

Then I turned on my computer and searched for several model essays online.

After watching it, I felt it was too sentimental.

It's better to do it yourself. Anyway, the teacher said there's no word limit, so just write something casually.

Yu Qing picked up her pen and quickly wrote a line of blessings.

"Dear Lu Chi, I wish you all the best in the days to come, may everything go smoothly for you, may you be blessed with good fortune and happiness."

After finishing writing it, I was very satisfied.

Then just toss it in the drawer and hand it in on graduation day.