Chapter 58
The soothing music for eye exercises flowed through the campus.
Luo Yan was prepared for Lin Li to make excuses to slip away, or to be distracted, just like before. She even mentally rehearsed how to take over his job more "naturally."
However, Lin Li did not.
He stood in the shadows of the corridor, skillfully pulling a pair of black-rimmed glasses from his school uniform pocket and solemnly putting them on.
The moment he put on his glasses, his carefree aura seemed to instantly subside and be contained. The liveliness in his eyes was slightly concealed by the lenses.
It made her fantasize about the composure, focus, and calmness of Zhou Mingfang and Tong Yao.
This sudden change startled Luo Yan, as if an unpredictable variable had suddenly entered a carefully calculated game of chess.
That familiar, carefree, and comforting smile (which even allowed her to reassure herself that "he's just immature") was now covered by a serious expression, making her feel unfamiliar, and even... somewhat afraid.
He turned to her, even nodding slightly, his voice lower than usual, carrying a clear sense of apology:
"I'm sorry, Luo Yan, for troubling you before. I will work harder in the future."
Luo Yan nodded silently, her throat feeling as if something was blocking it, unable to utter a sound.
She watched him lower his head and carefully fasten the red inspection armband to his arm, his movements meticulous.
The doubts in my heart grew wildly like weeds: Why? What happened? Was it because of Tong Yao? Or...?
During the subsequent inspections, Lin Li seemed like a different person. He no longer looked around aimlessly; his sharp gaze swept over each class, his pen scratching as he took notes. He even proactively discussed the details and standards of the inspection with her, his tone calm and objective.
During class, he was no longer the Lin Li who would sleep at his desk or secretly draw little figures.
He sat up straight, his eyes behind his glasses following the teacher's writing on the blackboard, occasionally jotting down notes. When Luo Yan encountered a physics problem she didn't quite understand and hesitated whether to speak up, he actually turned his head and lowered his voice, "This problem... do you need me to explain it to you?"
Looking into his eyes, so close to hers and magnified by his glasses, which seemed even more focused, Luo Yan's heart pounded uncontrollably. She nodded hastily, listening to him break down the problem with clear logic, his fingers scribbling neat steps on the draft paper.
This version of Lin Li was unfamiliar, yet it possessed a fatal attraction to her compared to her previous carefree demeanor.
It was a mature, reliable feeling.
The look in her eyes as she gazed at him grew increasingly subtle, a mixture of confusion, unease, and a deeper, more inescapable descent into depravity.
After gym class, she returned to the classroom. Lin Li's seat was empty, and her gaze fell on the black-rimmed glasses casually placed on his desk.
As if guided by some unseen force, she reached out, picked up the glasses with lightning speed, and put them on her face.
The cold frames pressed against my skin, and the world didn't become blurry and distorted as I had imagined. It turned out these glasses weren't prescription...
But a strange illusion, as if she had established some kind of closer connection with him through these glasses, made her heart pound.
She wore it for only a second before quickly taking it off as if she'd been burned, carefully placing it back on the table as if nothing had happened. Yet, the cold touch lingered on her fingertips, along with a secret, thieving pleasure.
However, an illusion is still just an illusion.
The afternoon political class is a mirror that reveals true nature.
As Lin Li listened, the mask of focused concentration on her face began to loosen.
He pushed up his glasses out of boredom, but eventually took them off and tossed them aside.
Then, he skillfully piled up his textbooks and supplementary books into a small mountain that could block the teacher's view, buried his head behind them, secretly took out his phone, and tapped rapidly on the screen.
Luo Yan took it all in. Politics was her best and favorite subject. Seeing Lin Li's undisguised annoyance and impatience, and witnessing his rapid return to his "original" behavior, a clear realization struck her: after Lin Li, she would absolutely never choose politics as her subject.
Ultimately, there is a chasm of preferences between them, and a fork in the road for their future choices.
A strong sense of loss and panic overwhelmed her, and she couldn't help but turn her head, her voice trembling with a hint of expectation she herself didn't realize, as she whispered:
"Lin Li, what subjects will you choose next?"
Lin Li was engrossed in her game and, without even looking up, gave a vague and ambiguous answer while her fingers continued typing:
"The place of historical transformation, right?"
He had always loved history and geography. But "chemistry"... a picture flashed through his mind of Tong Yao's profile as she calmly analyzed a chemistry problem. In his previous life (or rather, the path he subconsciously followed), upon hearing that Tong Yao had chosen science subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology, he had followed suit without hesitation.
This time, he hesitated. Tong Yao was too dazzling; he was struggling to keep up. Perhaps… he should try a different path? He thought to himself, "I'll ask Tong Yao about her plans after class."
"The land of historical transformation..." Luo Yan murmured to herself. No politics. Just as expected.
He wouldn't even give her a definite answer, remaining as casual and vague as ever.
The unrealistic fantasies that had just arisen because of Lin Li's brief "transformation" were like bubbles in the sunlight, easily bursting. The huge gap left her feeling empty inside, followed by a deeper sense of powerlessness that almost overwhelmed her and... a trace of resentment.
He may be serious, but that seriousness has nothing to do with her; he may have goals, but those goals do not contain the intersection she expects.
The glasses he wore were like a mask, briefly deceiving her, but ultimately unable to conceal their fundamental differences. And when he removed the mask, the truth revealed only pushed her further away.
Luo Yan lowered her head, her nails unconsciously scratching the cover of her political science book. Those eyes that always followed Lin Li...
For the first time, besides obsessive love and jealousy, a clear shadow of despair was revealed. If they couldn't even share a common path, how else could she keep him in her world?
Lin Li looked at Luo Yan, whose face was gloomy, wondering what was wrong with her, but he didn't bother to figure it out.
After all, it has nothing to do with me.
Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I wore these glasses. I'll go and ambush Tong Yao after school tonight and tease her.
Thinking about it, Lin Li couldn't help but chuckle to herself.
_
As night deepened, the lights in the teaching building went out one by one.
Lin Li dawdled until most of her classmates had left before stealthily pulling out her black-rimmed glasses from her pocket and solemnly putting them on.
He straightened his school uniform collar, his gaze traversing the empty corridor before landing precisely on the figure still hunched over his desk in the classroom. A gentle smile unconsciously curved his lips.
He approached silently, his footsteps light. His gaze swept over Tong Yao's slender shoulders and landed on the chemistry problem she was studying with a furrowed brow. After just a few glances, he saw the key, and his finger gently touched the step next to where she was stuck, confused.
Tong Yao suddenly snapped out of her daze and looked up.
The boy stood under the bright incandescent light in the classroom, wearing those familiar yet unfamiliar black-rimmed glasses, facing her with a wide smile that revealed his teeth, his little tiger tooth particularly noticeable under the light.
Tong Yao was stunned at first, then couldn't help but burst out laughing, her serious expression that had been tense for days instantly melting away.
"Why are you dressed like that?" she asked, her tone unabashedly teasing. "What, is our aloof, academic genius Lin Li back?"
Lin Li didn't answer. Instead, she reached out and pulled her up from her seat without saying a word. She deliberately put on a stern face, lowered her voice, and imitated a serious tone:
"Excuse me, this is from the Discipline Inspection Department! It's getting late, and the teaching building is about to be cleared out. Please return to your dormitory immediately!"
Tong Yao looked at his serious acting and shook her head with amusement, but still cooperated and started packing her schoolbag.
On the tree-lined path leading to the dormitory area, the interplay of moonlight and streetlights elongated the shadows of the two people.
Lin Li pushed up her glasses and spoke casually:
"Tong Yao, what subject will you choose next?"
"Physical transformation and life." Tong Yao's answer was decisive and straightforward, without the slightest hesitation.
As expected. Lin Li sighed inwardly. Her mindset had never changed; she still preferred the most challenging subject: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
"And you?" she asked casually.
Lin Li took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind: "I... I also want to choose Physics, Chemistry and Biology!" He couldn't bear to give up Physics, Chemistry and Biology. He had been tormented for so long in high school, and he couldn't let it go to waste. Moreover, he couldn't bear to give up the path that he could walk side by side with her.
"Oh?" Tong Yao turned her head to look at him, a hint of teasing in her eyes. "Then you'll have to work hard, you top student." She paused and added, "After the second year of high school, the school will divide students into two elite classes, one for physics, chemistry and biology, and the other for history, politics and geography."
"Yes!" Lin Li nodded emphatically, as if making a solemn pledge. "I will try my best!" As he spoke, his fingers slid down and naturally hooked Tong Yao's small hand hanging by her side.
Tong Yao's hand stiffened slightly, and she subconsciously looked around. Under the streetlights, several classmates hurried past.
"Someone's there!" she whispered, her wrist struggling slightly.
A sly glint flashed in Lin Li's eyes as she glanced at a side path—a trail leading to the back of the library, which also led back to the dormitory, but was unusually quiet and deserted at the moment.
With a slight tightening of his wrist, and a firmness that left no room for refusal, he pulled Tong Yao inside.
As soon as she stepped into the shadows of the path, Tong Yao immediately reached out her other hand warily and lightly pinched the soft flesh on his waist, like a little hedgehog with its quills raised, warning, "Lin Li, I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless!"
Lin Li pouted, feeling wronged, and complained softly, "What do you take me for? I just wanted to take a less crowded route..."
Even so, he held her hand without letting go at all.
Tong Yao snorted and pulled her hand away from his waist, but didn't shake off the one he was holding.
She looked up, using the dim light from the distant streetlights to examine his bespectacled face, and commented in a flat tone, "Do you know that wearing these glasses makes you look even more... weird?"
"A refined scoundrel!" she silently added to her mind.
"Pervert?" Lin Li raised an eyebrow, looked down at their tightly clasped hands, and said incredulously.
"I was just holding hands, and I'm being called a pervert for that?"
“You’re screaming ‘pervert’ all over.” Tong Yao stated expressionlessly.
"Fine!" Lin Li seemed to laugh in anger, her eyes darkening. "Since you've put it that way, then I'll show you what a pervert I'm capable of today!"
Before he finished speaking, he abruptly pulled Tong Yao towards the stairwell of the side entrance on the first floor of the library. The fire door creaked softly and then slammed shut with a thud, isolating the two of them from the outside world.
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