Li Mo
With final exams approaching, the school arranged a pre-exam diagnostic test, which is also the third monthly exam.
The results of this month's exam are out.
Qi Anxin remains in first place, while the previous year ranked second.
The second place went to Li Mo, who ranked sixth that year.
The monthly exams are over, and we're starting to change seats.
Since the turn of the millennium, Yuehai Middle School has implemented a teaching method of "high-achieving students helping low-achieving students"—high-achieving students sit next to low-achieving students, with the top student and the bottom student in a class of forty sitting together. If the low-achieving student improves their grades in the next exam, Yuehai will give the high-achieving student a corresponding reward or bonus, achieving two goals at once.
Although there may be occasional drawbacks and conflicts, it cannot be said that everything must only have benefits and no harm.
Except for a very few students who couldn't get along with their deskmates and complained to Yuan Hai, deskmates were basically assigned based on grades.
Li Mo transferred to Yuehai School. She was originally assigned to a single desk, but after this small test, she got her first deskmate, who was the second to last in the class, named Chen You.
Chen You was a very shy and timid boy. After Li Mo became his deskmate, it took her several days to see his face clearly. He always kept his head down and buried his face in his books. Whenever Li Mo talked to him for a few more words, his ears would turn completely red.
Li Mo was even more concerned about Chen You's grades than he was—she would receive a bonus if she could help Chen You improve next time.
Although it's not much, only a few hundred yuan, Li Mo really needs it.
She always tried to talk to Chen You.
Chen You, his ears and face flushed, stammered out a few words.
Li Mo felt that she had some difficulty communicating with him.
At lunchtime, Li Mo and Tang Keqing went to the cafeteria for lunch. Li Mo was biting into a piece of pork ribs in vinegar sauce when Tang Keqing nudged her with her elbow and said, "Mo Mo, look over there, my deskmate's 'dream man'."
Li Mo chewed on a rib and looked up.
She saw nothing, but instead saw Liang Xinchong walking into the cafeteria side by side with several of his male friends.
The boy stood tall and straight like a bamboo shoot, a refreshing breeze in the bustling and greasy cafeteria.
He was wearing a simple blue and white summer school uniform, and the wisps of hair on his forehead were slightly ruffled by the wind, but they did not diminish the handsome features in his eyes.
He walked with one hand in his pocket, a slight smile playing on his lips as he chatted and laughed with his friends. His nonchalant and carefree demeanor contrasted sharply with the huddled crowd of "starving ghosts" around him, easily capturing everyone's attention.
When other students finished class, they rushed to the cafeteria as fast as they could, like starving ghosts reincarnated.
Liang Xinchong was very different. He would either stay in the classroom for a while and then slowly come to school when there were fewer people. He wasn't picky and would eat whatever was left in the cafeteria.
Li Mo strongly suspected that he could eat anything, which was why he grew so tall in his first year of high school, much taller than his peers.
That's not the point. The point is...
Who was Tang Keqing's deskmate?
Is Liang Xinchong her deskmate's "dream guy"? No way!
Li Mo crunched the ribs in her mouth.
Tang Keqing nudged her again with her elbow, asking, "Where are you looking?"
Li Mo then came to her senses.
At this moment, Tang Keqing also noticed Liang Xinchong and his friend, and suddenly realized: "Liang Xinchong, you were looking at Liang Xinchong just now?"
Li Mo: "No."
"You were definitely looking at Liang Xinchong just now. I told you to look at Song Feiran, but you only saw Liang Xinchong. Song Feiran was clearly closer to us just now, okay?" Tang Keqing shook her head in complete bewilderment.
Li Mo felt a little guilty, afraid that she would get carried away and lose her temper if Liang Xinchong was mentioned, so she quickly changed the subject: "What Song did you say? What Ran?"
"Are you going to play Ma Dongmei with me? His name is Song Feiran, my deskmate's 'Prince Charming'," Tang Keqing said.
“Oh.” Li Mo nodded.
She thought to herself, "Thank goodness that the prince charming in someone's heart, or the god of her dreams, isn't Liang Xinchong."
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Li Mo froze.
Wait, does Liang Xinchong have some kind of relationship with her?
She abruptly lowered her head and ate two mouthfuls of rice, shaking these strange thoughts out of her mind.
However, Tang Keqing did not notice her unusual behavior and continued to share gossip with her.
It turns out that Tang Keqing's new deskmate is named Qin Yue.
Qin Yue has a crush on Song Feiran from the next class.
The more I hear the name Song Feiran, the more familiar it seems.
After thinking for a while, Li Mo finally remembered.
The person who scored two points lower than her in the last exam was ranked one place lower in the grade. No wonder she felt a sense of déjà vu when she first heard it.
Gossip is rampant at school.
XX likes XX, XX has a crush on XX... New stories every day, it's become commonplace.
Tang Keqing is a person who loves gossip. The monotonous high school life would be too boring without gossip.
Li Mo only overheard Qin Yue's apparent crush on Song Feiran and didn't take it to heart.
But later, she seemed to have discovered another secret.
Her deskmate, the quiet boy who was always silent, seemed to have his own teenage worries as well.
If she's not mistaken.
Chen You seems to like Qin Yue.
The reason is that during English class, the English teacher, Ms. Yuan Yuan, asked everyone to form in-class English discussion groups.
Somehow, Tang Keqing's table and Li Mo's table, along with two unfamiliar classmates whom Li Mo didn't know very well, formed a group.
Normally, when Li Mo talks to Chen You, even if he is shy, he can still answer her questions and will answer every question.
But in class, during English discussion groups, Chen You's back would bend even more whenever Qin Yue spoke. When Qin Yue asked him a question, he would inexplicably start to stammer: "I... um... this sentence is a relative clause..."
Qin Yue pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.
But if other classmates ask him, his stuttering suddenly stops.
Besides this time, Li Mo also noticed that every time get out of class started or ended, his gaze would unconsciously fall in a certain direction. When she was tired of studying and her mind was blank, she would follow his gaze and see Qin Yue's back every time.
No matter how many times the seating arrangement changed in the classroom, she could always follow his gaze and see Qin Yue.
At this age of budding youth.
Most teenagers have secrets in their hearts.
Li Mo realized that she seemed to have inadvertently discovered other people's secrets.
The school bell rang, signaling that this was a self-study period.
She looked away, trying to focus on her book, when she felt an intensely burning gaze upon her.
When that gaze falls on you, it's really noticeable. Once you realize that gaze, you become very uncomfortable and can't concentrate on studying at all.
Her gaze shifted to the left, and she caught the culprit that had distracted her.
The "culprit" himself even smiled at her without a care in the world.
When the results of the last exam were handed out, Li Mo had seen Liang Xinchong's scores for each subject.
Yuehai Middle School has a total of 600 students, divided into 15 classes. He ranked over 500th in the grade, which is almost at the bottom of the whole school.
Li Mo couldn't understand why he could stay in the science elite class for so long without any sense of crisis, since there were only five such classes.
Li Mo just stared at him, her mind wandering and making sarcastic remarks.
Liang Xinchong suddenly said in a breathy voice, "Why are you looking at me like that!"
Li Mo: "You were looking at me just now."
Liang Xinchong said shamelessly, "If you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?"
Li Mo took a deep breath and ignored him.
After self-study class ends, school is over. Boarding students eat, wash up, and go to evening self-study, while day students go home after school.
Li Mo is enrolled as a day student.
Yuehai Middle School requires separate payment for accommodation, tuition, and textbook fees. Tuition and textbook fees can be reimbursed through the poverty subsidy program, but accommodation fees must be paid separately.
Li Mo didn't want to spend the money.
Given her family's circumstances and the debts she owed, she had to be frugal wherever possible.
There are quite a few day students at Yuehai Middle School because there are too many students from well-off families who generally do not want to live in the dorms, where they have to queue to shower and sleep in cold beds.
It would be better to hire a tutor to come to your home for lessons.
Liang Xinchong was this kind of person.
After school that day, Li Mo went to the bicycle shed to get her bike, and when she turned around, she saw Liang Xinchong waiting for her at the entrance of the shed.
Again and again.
At first, Li Mo wondered why he was waiting for her, but now she doesn't anymore; she has gotten used to his presence.
There's nothing you can do if you're not used to it. Even if you try to get rid of him, he'll stick to you like a leech.
Li Mo stopped asking him why he was waiting for her and simply got on her bicycle and rode out of the school gate. He would automatically follow her like a puppy following its owner.
His bicycle was faster than hers, so he deliberately slowed down to wait for her and rode alongside her on the road.
Li Mo was at her wits' end with him, so she turned her head to look at him and said, "You're not allowed to come home with me."
"I'm not going home with you. I just want to ask you, can you come with me to the movies next weekend?"
"I'm not free next weekend, but I need your help."
Liang Xinchong sounded a little disappointed: "I'm busy again."
"Um."
"The week after next?"
"I'm busy every weekend."
"What about summer vacation?"
"I won't be free during summer vacation either."
Liang Xinchong remained silent for a long while before finally unable to resist asking her, "Do you hate me?"
Li Mo knew he might have misunderstood: "I don't dislike you."
"Then why do you always reject me?"
"I want to help out at my family's barbecue restaurant."
"..." Liang Xinchong paused for two seconds: "I'll go to your family's barbecue restaurant for dinner."
"No."
"Why."
"My mom might misunderstand and think I'm dating you."
Liang Xinchong suddenly burst into laughter, and then his laughter grew increasingly unrestrained.
Li Mo couldn't help but ask him, "What's wrong with you?"
Liang Xinchong finally managed to suppress his laughter: "I'll just bring a few of my friends along."
"..." Li Mo fell silent.
But why wouldn't you take the money that's offered to you?
"Whatever you want," she said.
Where is your shop located?
Li Mo: "Turn around and go home now. I'll give you my address on QQ when you get back."
"Okay." He obediently stopped the car.
Li Mo ignored her and continued riding her bike forward.
She knew that Liang Xinchong might do what he did last time: stay where he was and watch her departing figure disappear from sight before leaving.
She told herself to resist looking back.
But in the end, I couldn't resist turning back for one last look.
As expected.
As the sun sets, a young man on a mountain bike stands still, gazing at her from afar. The warm, golden afterglow of the sunset outlines a fuzzy halo around him, elongating his tall figure.
He didn't urge or show any impatience; he simply stood quietly amidst the flowing traffic and crowds, like a towering tree.
When he saw her turn around, he was taken aback at first, then a smile slowly spread across his face, bright and gentle. He raised his hand and waved vigorously at her, as if to say, "I'm watching you, go home now."
Li Mo looked away.
Just as she had guessed, she should have known better than to look back at him.
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