Chapter 3

The next morning, Song Qiuxuan ate breakfast at home and rode her bicycle to school. Along the way, she observed the students wearing Lianyan No.1 Middle School uniforms who were riding bicycles or walking on the sidewalk, but she did not see Cheng Xun among them.

When Song Qiuxuan arrived at the classroom, most of the boarding students had already arrived. Some were standing outside in the corridor eating breakfast. When Song Qiuxuan walked to her seat, she saw that Cheng Xun's seat was still empty.

There is a 20-minute self-study session before the first class. With five minutes left before the self-study session, Song Qiuxuan took out her English textbook and started memorizing vocabulary.

"Excuse me." A pretty girl standing outside the window called out to Song Qiuxuan, glancing at the seat behind her.

Song Qiuxuan looked up from her book and gazed at the girl with a puzzled expression.

"Has Cheng Xun from your class not arrived yet?" The girl leaned against the windowsill, a pink envelope between her fingers. It seemed that morning self-study time was approaching, so there was a hint of anxiety in her tone.

"He didn't come."

"Okay." The girl's expression instantly turned somewhat disappointed. She reached through the window and handed the envelope to Song Qiuxuan: "Please put this envelope on his desk for me, thank you."

Song Qiuxuan was stunned for a moment. It was only the second day of school, and a girl had already come to deliver a love letter. His presence was not insignificant at all.

"Hey classmate? Can you hurry up? Morning self-study is about to start." The girl waved the pink envelope and urged impatiently.

Song Qiuxuan seemed to have just come to her senses. She took the envelope and placed it on Cheng Xun's desk. The girl saw this and left the window reassured.

"Hey, who sent this love letter?" Lu Chengzhou swaggered into the classroom, munching on a steamed bun while looking at the envelope with a heart pattern and asking vaguely.

"Song Qiuxuan, are you sure you didn't put it in the wrong place?" Lu Chengzhou leaned back in his chair, resting his hand on Song Qiuxuan's desk, eating a steamed bun bite by bite.

“That’s right, she’s talking about Cheng Xun.” Song Qiuxuan unzipped her backpack and took out the draft paper she bought this morning, intending to use the morning self-study period to memorize vocabulary.

The large meat bun that Lu Chengzhou was eating had a strong smell that wafted between the back rows of the first and second groups, attracting several classmates to give him disgusted looks. However, he didn't care and continued to eat with relish.

Lu Chengzhou complained, "What kind of taste do you have? Shouldn't my handsome face attract more attention?"

Song Qiuxuan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What's with that laugh? Don't you think I'm more handsome than the student behind you?" Lu Chengzhou asked incredulously, clearly overly narcissistic.

Song Qiuxuan pursed her lips, suppressing a laugh: "Let's not talk about this. Morning self-study has already started. Let's be quiet."

Cheng Xun entered the classroom just in time for morning self-study. He immediately noticed the pink envelope on the desk. He showed no surprise, pulled out a chair, sat down, picked up the envelope, and tossed it into the desk. He then spent the entire twenty minutes of self-study sleeping on the desk.

*

Song Qiuxuan adapted well to the high school courses and kept up with the pace of the classes. At noon, she waited for Sun Shan in the corridor to go to the school cafeteria for lunch together.

Before long, Sun Shan came out of Class 19's classroom, ran to Song Qiuxuan's side, and affectionately took her slender arm.

"Xuanxuan, let's go have lunch together."

"Hmm." Song Qiuxuan smiled and was about to walk towards the corner of the stairs when Sun Shan suddenly pulled her towards the back door of the classroom. She turned around in surprise and saw Sun Shan peeking into the classroom.

"Wait a minute, I heard there's a super handsome guy in your class, what's his name, Xun? Is he still in the classroom? I want to find out."

Song Qiuxuan's eyelashes fluttered, and her gaze fell on the seat near the door. A tall stack of textbooks and workbooks was piled on one side of the table, which was convenient for blocking the teacher's view.

Song Qiuxuan reached out and tugged at Sun Shan's sleeve. Before she could tell Sun Shan that Cheng Xun, whom she had mentioned, was very close to her, she saw Cheng Xun take out his phone from his bag, stand up, and walk out.

Cheng Xun was very tall, dressed in a clean and refreshing blue and white school uniform, exuding a youthful charm unique to his age. He walked past them with his eyes downcast and his body turned sideways, emanating a faint, cool, and comfortable scent of shower gel. One button of his school uniform shirt was undone, revealing his prominent collarbone.

Song Qiuxuan raised her eyes and made brief eye contact with Cheng Xun for a second. Perhaps it was because he was too good-looking, but Song Qiuxuan was momentarily dazed and even forgot to move aside to give him more space.

It wasn't until Cheng Xun's warm arm inadvertently touched Song Qiuxuan's hand that Song Qiuxuan suddenly lifted her foot and moved towards Sun Shan.

A few boys from other classes leaned against the corridor railing. When they saw Cheng Xun come out, they gathered around him. The boys chatted and joked around, and then walked up the stairs arm in arm.

"So handsome! The girls in our class were right, the school heartthrob should look like him." Sun Shan was very excited, her eyes still following Cheng Xun's departing figure.

The scorching sunlight streamed into the corridor, making Song Qiuxuan's cheeks burn. Her pupils shone amber in the sunlight as she said, "His name is Cheng Xun."

“Oh right, I just remembered now that you mentioned it.” Sun Shan pulled Song Qiuxuan along. “Let’s hurry downstairs, maybe we can run into Cheng Xun in the cafeteria.”

However, Song Qiuxuan and she stood downstairs and watched helplessly as Cheng Xun and his friends left the school gate. Most students in the school ate lunch outside the school, and they were obviously eating outside the school.

Song Qiuxuan watched Cheng Xun's figure. Although Cheng Xun was wearing the same school uniform and blending into the crowd, his outstanding figure and appearance made him stand out.

The midday sun was glaring, and Song Qiuxuan raised her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding light. A gust of sultry wind swept by, and Song Qiuxuan looked away.

*

In the first few days of school, Song Qiuxuan did not make any friends in class. Perhaps it was because she sat at a single desk, perhaps it was because she stayed out of the dormitory and had little interaction with her female classmates, or perhaps it was because she was not a proactive person.

Because of their seating arrangement, Song Qiuxuan would occasionally exchange a few words with Cheng Xun.

For example, the class representative would ask the students to pass their homework up from the back to the front and hand it to the first row. Cheng Xun often slept or daydreamed and didn't hear it. Song Qiuxuan would usually turn around and remind him. Sometimes Cheng Xun would ask her which subject's homework he was handing in, and sometimes he would simply not hand it in.

For example, in class, the teacher asks students to discuss a problem with their deskmates, while students sitting at single desks discuss it with the students in front and behind them. Whenever this happens, they have to pretend to discuss a few words to appease the teacher.

On Thursday, it was her and Cheng Xun's turn to clean the classroom. During the morning break, the blackboard was covered with dense mathematical calculations. Song Qiuxuan looked up at it, then turned to look at Cheng Xun.

Cheng Xun rested his face on his arm, his eyes closed quietly. The golden sunlight shone on his eyelashes, making the fine hairs on his face clearly visible. His nose was high and straight, and his black hair was messy. When he was asleep, he looked less indifferent and arrogant.

The corridors and classrooms were noisy during the long break, and students would burst into laughter from time to time after hearing jokes. It was hard to imagine how Cheng Xun could fall asleep in such a noisy environment.

Song Qiuxuan glanced at him for a few seconds, intending to ask him to help erase the blackboard, but seeing that he was sleeping soundly, she went up to the podium herself.

Song Qiuxuan had to stand on tiptoe and stretch her arms to clean the top of the blackboard. After finally finishing, she walked back to her seat and saw that Cheng Xun had already woken up. He looked like he had just woken up, with tired and sleepy eyes. His droopy eyelids and tightly pursed lips revealed a hint of fierceness.

Cheng Xun leaned back lazily in his chair. He had just woken up when he saw the student in front of him struggling to stand on tiptoe and stretch out his arm to wipe the blackboard. Cheng Xun rubbed his eyes and looked at Song Qiuxuan, who was unscrewing a water bottle, and said, "Why didn't you ask me to wipe the blackboard?"

Song Qiuxuan took the water bottle, gulped down the little water inside, and said nonchalantly, "Weren't you asleep just now?"

Cheng Xun seemed very puzzled and said, "You can wake me up."

Song Qiuxuan leaned against the wall, her hand holding the water bottle paused, and she slowly turned her head to look at Cheng Xun, questioning his words: "But I saw your friends come to see you, and every time they woke you up, you looked very angry."

Cheng Xun raised an eyebrow slightly. The drowsiness had passed, and his mind was clearer. He looked directly at Song Qiuxuan with his dark eyes: "It depends on the situation. If you need anything, just call me. I usually won't get angry."

Song Qiuxuan nodded knowingly, "Oh."

During the breaks of the remaining classes that day, Song Qiuxuan would see Cheng Xun walking up to the podium to wipe the blackboard.

She stood up, wanting to go up with him, but Cheng Xun turned around and looked at her indifferently, saying coolly, "I'll go. It's too much trouble for you to even wipe the blackboard with your small frame."

After Cheng Xun finished speaking, he looked Song Qiuxuan up and down. She was wearing a school uniform, had a slender figure, thin arms, and stood by the window with dazzlingly white skin.

Upon hearing Cheng Xun's sarcastic tone, Song Qiuxuan gave him a resentful look and simply sat back down in her seat: "Fine, you're tall, so you have an advantage. From now on, you'll be in charge of cleaning the blackboard every day."

Looking at her somewhat exasperated and helpless expression, Cheng Xun suddenly curled his lips into a smile, turned around and went to the podium, easily erasing the blackboard until it was spotless.

*

On Friday nights, first-year high school students do not need to attend evening self-study sessions. They can go straight home after school in the afternoon. The last class in the afternoon for Class 20 is the homeroom teacher's math class.

Song Qiuxuan and Sun Shan made plans to go to a dessert shop on Donglin Street after school to try the latest desserts. Perhaps because she was finally going to eat the desserts she had been longing for, she seemed to have some kind of support and listened to the lessons with extra attention.

In the last ten minutes, Liu Zhanyan looked at the restless state of the students below. Some of them had already started whispering before get out of class was even over.

"That's all for today's class." Standing on the podium, Liu Zhanyan picked up his thermos, took a sip of tea, and scanned the students below with his sharp eyes.

The class erupted in excitement, thinking that Old Liu had taken pity on them and was going to let them leave get out of class early, but their illusions were shattered the next moment.

"Everyone, take out your scratch paper." Liu Zhanyan wrote a slightly difficult math problem on the blackboard, tapped the blackboard with his fingers, and said, "You have eight minutes to do this problem. In the remaining two minutes, exchange scratch paper with your deskmate. I will give you the answer, and your deskmate will help you correct it. After you have corrected it, hand it to the first row, and the class representative will collect it in my office."

A chorus of wails erupted from the classroom.

"So, the lesson ended here because no new material was being taught, it didn't mean the get out of class was over."

"It's better to go to class."

"Exactly, I can even slack off during class."

"Whoever wrote this out, I can borrow it to copy."

Song Qiuxuan had always done well in math during junior high school. During the summer after the high school entrance exam, she studied some of the material from the first semester of her first year of high school at home in advance. In high school, she consciously improved her learning efficiency, and now she has solved this problem easily.

Liu Zhanyan kept glancing at his watch: "Time's up, exchange draft papers with your deskmate."

Students sitting at single desks usually assume that those sitting in front of or behind them will group together, so Song Qiuxuan naturally turned around and handed Cheng Xun the draft paper with the solution process written on it that she had just torn off.

Song Qiuxuan's gaze fell on the blank draft paper on Cheng Xun's desk. She paused in handing the paper over and looked up at Cheng Xun's face.

Cheng Xun looked relaxed as she slowly stopped twirling her pen, lazily leaning her right shoulder against the wall. She lifted her eyelids to look at the draft paper handed to her by the desk in front of her. Her handwriting was delicate and neat, making her blank paper look rather tragic in comparison.

"Are you sure you want to revise it for me?" Cheng Xun poked his draft paper with the tip of his pen, his tone somewhat playful.

Song Qiuxuan said matter-of-factly, "Didn't the teacher say we should take turns grading? This is the only way."

She glanced at Cheng Xun's draft paper. "Don't you know how to write it, or do you just not want to?"

Cheng Xun didn't seem to think it was a big deal that he couldn't write, and said casually, "I can't write."

"If my answer is the same as the teacher's, I can teach you."

She and Cheng Xun sat in front of each other, which was equivalent to being deskmates. It was only natural for classmates to help each other, Song Qiuxuan thought, and then voiced her thoughts.

Cheng Xun remained silent for a while, staring into Song Qiuxuan's clear eyes. He suddenly curled his lips slightly, as if he didn't really need her help: "Forget it, I wouldn't understand even if you explained."

Cheng Xun disliked having others explain problems to him. In junior high school, because his grades were always at the bottom, his parents often asked his older brother Cheng Ting to tutor him. However, Cheng Xun hated that Cheng Ting would belittle him before even starting to explain the problems, saying things like he couldn't understand why the brothers' IQs were so different.

If Cheng Xun still didn't understand after the explanation, Cheng Ting would get annoyed and impatient, and would angrily poke Cheng Xun's head. The tutoring results were unsatisfactory, and eventually Cheng Xun stopped wanting to listen to his explanations.

Seeing Cheng Xun's indifferent attitude, Song Qiuxuan assumed he was just being perfunctory in his studies, so she didn't say anything more. She took back her draft paper, turned around and looked up at the solution process that the teacher had already written on the blackboard, and corrected it herself.

While his classmates were grading their homework, Liu Zhanyan went downstairs to observe how they were working on their problems. When he got to Cheng Xun's seat, he stopped abruptly, frowned, and looked at the blank draft paper. Not only had Cheng Xun not written anything, but he was also not paying attention to the blackboard. Instead, he casually turned his head to look out the window.

The corridor outside the window was empty and deserted, with fiery clouds hanging in the sky and the beautiful sunset casting golden afterglow across the entire corridor.

Liu Zhanyan angrily raised his hand and slapped the stack of books on Cheng Xun's desk, causing the desk to shake a few times with his movement.

Hearing the noise, Cheng Xun propped her chin up and looked calmly at Liu Zhanyan's solemn and angry face.

Liu Zhanyan said sternly, "Have you finished your homework? Did you come to school to study or just to pass the time? What kind of behavior is it to leisurely look out the window during class time!"

Several classmates around looked up as if watching a spectacle, and Song Qiuxuan couldn't help but cautiously turn around to look as well.

Neither his words nor the gazes of his classmates made Cheng Xun feel embarrassed or ashamed. He said, seemingly helplessly, "What can I do if I can't write?"

"Isn't the solution process written on the blackboard? If you can't write it, can't you just look at the process and slowly understand it? It's only been a week since school started, are you planning to give up on yourself for the next three years with this attitude?"

If it weren't for knowing Cheng Ting, such an excellent and diligent student, Liu Zhanyan wouldn't have paid much attention to Cheng Xun, much less made such serious remarks.

Liu Zhanyan learned about Cheng Xun's middle school entrance exam results, which were mediocre, barely enough to get him into Lianyan No. 1 Middle School.

However, he felt that Cheng Xun might have the same excellent potential as Cheng Ting, and was a promising talent waiting to be nurtured. He would feel sorry if Cheng Xun were to give up on himself.

Cheng Xun remained calm and composed. After a long silence, he said, "Teacher, my attitude towards learning is quite good. I didn't sleep in class or play on my phone. If I really gave up on myself, I simply wouldn't come to school."

Liu Zhanyan frowned, speechless for a moment. Cheng Xun clearly knew what he meant, but he tried to defend himself from another angle. What Cheng Xun said were the standards a student should have, not the serious learning attitude that he hoped Cheng Xun should have.

The bell rang at just the right moment, and the whispers in the classroom gradually grew louder as some students began packing their bags.

Liu Zhanyan said helplessly, "Tear off the draft paper and hand it in to the first row, then get out of class is over." After a pause, he added, "Don't forget to finish your homework on the weekend either."

Liu Zhanyan glanced at Cheng Xun with disappointment, sighed, took a step forward, and noticed Song Qiuxuan's draft paper. She had done the problem very well, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

After listening to the teacher, Song Qiuxuan packed her weekend homework into her schoolbag one by one. Just as she stood up with her draft paper, she heard the teacher standing by her desk call out to her: "Song Qiuxuan, I think you got this question right. Stay for a few minutes and explain it to Cheng Xun."

Song Qiuxuan let out a soft "ah," looked at Liu Zhanyan, and then turned to look at Cheng Xun. He had probably heard what the teacher said as well. He put his math textbook behind the tall stack of books, slowly raised his head, and his expression was indifferent and brooding.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, and then the teacher tentatively called out Song Qiuxuan's name again.

Song Qiuxuan was the kind of student who followed the rules and listened to the teacher at school. She could explain a problem in just a few minutes, so she nodded in agreement with the teacher, even though she saw Cheng Xun's displeased expression.

Song Qiuxuan took out her phone from the inner pocket of her backpack and sent a message to Sun Shan, telling her to wait a few minutes.

"No need to say anything more," Song Qiuxuan heard Cheng Xun say after clicking send.

After Teacher Liu left the classroom, only a few students remained who weren't in a hurry to go home. Cheng Xun lowered his dark eyes and blatantly held his phone in one hand, checking messages.

Song Qiuxuan turned her whole body around to face Cheng Xun: "Explaining a problem is quick and won't take up my time."

Cheng Xun turned off her phone screen, her tone tinged with annoyance at being exposed, but her expression remained indifferent: "When did I ever say that I didn't want you to talk because I was worried about wasting your time?"

Song Qiuxuan smiled and said, "I didn't say it, but I promised the homeroom teacher, Cheng Xun. I don't want to be blamed for breaking my promise."

After saying this, Song Qiuxuan turned the draft paper to a blank page, picked up her pen, and explained the problem-solving approach to Cheng Xun.

She had just written down a mathematical formula when Lu Chengzhou, who was walking towards the back door of the classroom, passed by their table, looked at her with pity, and said boastfully, "Song Qiuxuan, I'm leaving first, see you next week."

Song Qiuxuan waved to him: "See you next week." She gave a perfunctory reply and continued writing the formulas, earnestly explaining the problem to Cheng Xun.

Seeing her serious expression, Cheng Xun looked down at the formulas on the draft paper, leaned closer, rested his hand on the tall stack of books, and listened to her explanation.

After briefly explaining his problem-solving approach, Song Qiuxuan noticed that Cheng Xun grasped the concepts quickly. Once he was deep in thought, Cheng Xun frowned slightly and pointed out some points that he didn't quite understand.

After Cheng Xun asked the question, he looked up at Song Qiuxuan's face. She did not show any impatience or dislike for his many questions. Instead, she patiently thought about how to explain it in a way that would allow him to absorb the information quickly.

Outside the window, trees swayed in the wind, and the afterglow of the setting sun slanted in, casting a golden halo around them like a movie filter. Everything looked tranquil and serene, and Song Qiuxuan's gentle and calm face looked exceptionally tender.

"Did you understand?" Song Qiuxuan put down her pen.

Cheng Xun wanted to say "I understand," but swallowed the words back, pretending to understand but not quite: "I still don't quite understand."

After he finished speaking, he looked up to observe Song Qiuxuan's expression.

Song Qiuxuan stopped turning around, put down the draft paper, picked up the pen again, and looked determined to explain it to him until he understood.

In fact, Song Qiuxuan enjoys the small sense of accomplishment that comes from explaining a problem to others and getting them to understand it, so she is always very patient whenever someone asks her a question.

"Xuanxuan, what are you doing?" Sun Shan waited in the classroom for a few minutes, then, feeling bored, went to Class 20 to see what Song Qiuxuan was doing.

Ever since Sun Shan found out that Cheng Xun sat at the desk behind Song Qiuxuan, she often asked her about Cheng Xun's gossip. However, Cheng Xun was a very dull and aloof person, and kept a low profile on campus. There was no interesting or sensational gossip about him.

Luckily, he has that face; otherwise, he would have been an unremarkable and inconspicuous student at school.

Song Qiuxuan looked up and replied, "Explain the problem."

"Oh, how much longer? I'm getting a little bored." Sun Shan leaned against the windowsill and pouted.

Song Qiuxuan didn't want to keep her waiting too long, so she took out her phone and said to Cheng Xun, "I'll add you on social media. I'll tell you the question when I get home, okay?"

"Okay." Cheng Xun raised his voice at the end and gave her his phone number.

Song Qiuxuan added him on WeChat, hurriedly picked up her schoolbag and left the classroom to go to the dessert shop on Donglin Street with Sun Shan.

Cheng Xun stepped out of the classroom and caught a glimpse of the slender, fair-skinned figure walking around the corner of the stairs, her hair swaying in a beautiful arc.

Cheng Xun's gaze softened for a moment.