Liberal Arts

Having made their introductions, the three of them made their way towards the classroom on the third floor. The classroom was spacious and had about twenty students per room.

The arrangement was not flat and was instead similar to stairs with each row having four seats. The distance between the chairs had made it impossible to cheat.

Modernized classrooms were something Yang Mu had never thought he'd see in his homeland.

"Surprised?" Shi Fen gloated as he looked at the look on Yang Mu's face.

Yang Mu ignored the hostility and nodded. "Very much so."

Jiang Shen made her way towards the seat next to the window in the middle row. The wide floor to ceiling windows provided excellent lighting, discarding the need to open the lights. The other students were busy doing their own thing and did not even took a glance at Yang Mu's presence

"We usually hold classes from 8 am to 3 pm, depending on the schedule we have. Today, we'll probably only have four classes. Class Monitor Zhong Xiaowu told us two teachers are absent to attend a seminar in another Institute.

"You can sit beside Shi Fen. At the back. I've been sitting here since Year One so I'm used to sitting here. There's no seating arrangement and all in all, the Liberal Arts Department is actually quite lax."

Teachers assigned to the Liberal Arts department were lesser than the rest because of the few subjects they learned, but in turn taught outstandingly.

Yang Mu began to take note of every little thing Jiang Shen said. Whether it be trivial things, he nodded attentively. Even when she got sidetracked and told a completely different story, Yang Mu only listened on with interest.

Unknowingly enough, he began to like her.

Shi Fen shook his head and dozed off in his own seat when he saw the two of them conversing over who knows what.

When lunchtime came and the students hurriedly left the classroom, Jiang Shen went to wake up Shi Fen.

He was lucky that the Teacher was not strict and did not punish him from sleeping. "Shi Fen." Jiang Shen began to violently shake him from his nap.

It was the only way she could effectively wake him up. "It's lunchtime. Time for hasselback potato," she whispered in his ears.

True enough, Shi Fen woke up and tidied his appearance. With a groggy look he said, "There's hasselback potato in the canteen?"

Jiang Shen chuckled. "No but it's lunchtime so it's time to eat. Would you like to join us, Yang Mu?"

Yang Mu, who was busy putting away his books, looked up. Seeing the empty classroom and the two people, he suddenly felt shy.

Jiang Shen quipped, "Do you have a lunchbox?"

"..."

"So you do! Why aren't you taking it out?" Jiang Shen pulled out her own lunchbox, which was made by herself and arranged the table and chair next to Shi Fen. Similarly, he also pulled out his own lunchbox made by his older sister.

Yang Mu scratched his head and suddenly felt a little ridiculous. He had been used to buying lunch from the canteen overseas that he naturally felt that it was the same here. Lunchboxes weren't frowned upon but laughed by the others.

After calming down, he reverted back to his gentle aura and nodded. He moved his desk next to Shi Fen and pulled out the lunchbox from his bag.

Jiang Shen looked at each of their lunchboxes and said, "Everyone's lunch looks delicious."

"Here," Yang Mu didn't hesitate to give her a small portion of his lunch. He was used to eating little, sharing wasn't an issue.

"Go ahead." Shi Fen had the biggest lunchbox among them.

Her love of food instantly revealed itself as she happily shared her lunch with the two. Yang Mu couldn't help but also smile at how much she's enjoying herself.

She was like a golden retriever in that she acted so innocently adorable that made him want to take care of her.

When lunch had ended and the rest of the students returned to their respective classrooms, Jiang Shen felt sleepy as she forced herself to listen to the lecture.

But no matter how hard she tried, the lecturer's monotonous voice was like a metronome that made her want to fall asleep.

When she glanced at the back where Shi Fen and Yang Mu were seated, she caught the latter staring at her intently.

'/Listen to the lecture,/' she discreetly mouthed at him.

Yang Mu smiled and nodded, prompting her to secretly laugh. It looked like the new transferee loved to daydream.

When classes ended and school let out, Jiang Shen met up with the rest of her friends just outside the gate with Shi Fen. As for Yang Mu, they parted ways in front of their department.

"What are your plans?"

"I'm going to take Ju Sheng home," Cheng Muyi interjected. "I brought my bike so..."

Cao Wei waved her hands dismissively. "No need to ask for permission. Go take your girlfriend home."

Ju Sheng thanked them as she hopped on the back of Cheng Muyi's bike away.

"Always together, those two." Cao Wei couldn't help but sigh and cross her arms. "They're practically inseparable."

"It's not like we're not," Kang Shu said as she slung an arm over her shoulder. "If it wasn't because we're in different departments, I guess we'd stick to each other like glue!"

"By the way," Cao Wei said as she glanced at Shi Fen then at Kang Shu," what do you plan to do?"

"I'm going home."

Jiang Shen and Cao Wei exchanged looks and tacitly understood each other.

"Why don't you go home with them?" Jiang Shen said as she pulled him towards the opposite direction. "I'll be fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" the three of them lived in the same direction, save for her who lived in the opposite direction.

"Of course! I have my bike and besides," she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "This is your chance!"

Shi Fen turned his head and understood her plan. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to refuse her help. "Okay well... stay safe."

"You too! You guys stay safe," Jiang Shen waved goodbye to the three of them and happily approached her bike, when she was about to unlock the chain, a shadow loomed behind her.