4

Lin Tiao stared at Jiang Yan's beaming smile for three seconds before she chose to look away, pretending not to know him.

Although, in reality, they had only met a few times.

Jiang Yan didn't pay much attention to Lin Tiao's reaction. He wiped the smile off his face, went straight to his seat, and pulled out a pen from his pocket.

The pen looked very ordinary, so plain that it didn't even have a cap. Through the transparent barrel, you could clearly see that the black ink cartridge inside was almost empty.

It was very much at odds with his big shot image.

When Xu Yichuan came over to give him some blank papers, he saw the pen and couldn't help but ask, "Bro, are you planning to conquer the world with this pen?"

Jiang Yan lounged back in his chair, reached into his jacket, and pulled out a black ink cartridge, laying it on the desk. "Do you think I'm as clueless as you?"

"..."

That's how a big shot operates—always so unique.

With ten minutes left before the exam started and the supervising teacher, Director Li Kun, still not arriving, the students in the exam room began chatting.

"Why isn't the supervisor here yet?"

"Could something have happened?"

...

"Hey, where are you all planning to go during summer break?"

"Where else to go? My mom said if I get last place again, she'll hire a tutor for me to study at home for two months."

"No way."

Feeling a bit bored, Lin Tiao, who was sitting there, was poked by the girl who sat behind her during the exam yesterday. "Lin Tiao, can you help me out again with today's exam?"

After returning home last night, Lin Tiao accepted the girl's friend request, and they had a brief chat on QQ.

She found out that the girl's name was Tao Jia, from Class 16 upstairs.

"Do you trust me this much?" Lin Tiao turned to look at her. "We're in the same exam hall, and all the bottom-ranked students from every class in the first year are here."

Tao Jia, eating a candy, said, "I've heard of you. You're quite famous in our class. You only passed one subject in the midterm exams, but you managed to be the top scorer in that subject. Our Chinese teacher mentioned it several times in class."

"..."

Lin Tiao felt that passing only one subject in the midterm exams didn't seem like something to be proud of.

Tao Jia, curious and somewhat envious, asked, "Why didn't you come to the exam back then? Don't your parents care?"

As Lin Tiao was thinking about how to answer her question, an unfamiliar teacher hurried into the classroom, holding a stack of test papers. "Students, your supervising teacher is unavailable due to an emergency, so I'll be overseeing the exam today. Please put away any books related to the exam. I won't go into details about the exam rules—you should know them."

Just as the students were celebrating the news of their usual supervisor's absence, the new invigilator took a piece of chalk and wrote a large letter "Z" on the blackboard.

What's this about?

"New exam seating arrangement?"

The new invigilator quickly clarified, "Please rearrange your seats according to the shape of this letter."

"..."

The classroom erupted in confusion. "Teacher, we've always arranged seats in an S-shape for exams. Are you sure you understand how to arrange the seats?"

"We'll start distributing the test papers in two minutes. If I see anyone in the wrong seat, you'll be asked to leave," the new invigilator said, staring at the students with a blank expression. "One minute and fifty seconds left."

With that, everyone in the classroom quickly stood up.

As students moved around, Lin Tiao heard someone complain, "Which class is this teacher from? I've never seen them before, and they're even replacing the usual invigilator."

"Damn it, I don't want to take the exam anymore." The speaker was Xu Yichuan, who had moved from the back row to the second row.

Lin Tiao ignored the commotion and found her seat according to her exam number. Just as she sat down, Jiang Yan walked over from behind and took the empty seat to her right.

"..."

Their eyes met, and Lin Tiao, fearing he might flash his eight-teeth smile again, quickly looked away.

"Wait." Jiang Yan called out to her.

Lin Tiao ignored him.

The invigilator didn't give them any time to catch up. As soon as everyone was seated, they started distributing the exam papers and, once finished, announced in a businesslike manner, "Start the exam."

This chemistry and biology exam was crucial for the next semester's science class placement, so Lin Tiao didn't slack off. As usual, she chose to skip the physics section first and tackle the other two subjects.

By the time she finished, just over half the time had passed.

She rubbed her sore wrist and glanced unintentionally at Jiang Yan sitting beside her. He had somehow pulled out a pair of glasses and was wearing them, looking quite the part.

After a few observations, Lin Tiao noticed that his moments of not writing were very brief—almost as soon as he finished reading a question, he started writing. The draft paper beside him remained mostly untouched.

To be fair, Jiang Yan was indeed good-looking, definitely in the top tier of the school's most attractive students.

However, from what Lin Tiao had observed during their interactions, she felt that looks alone weren't enough; intelligence was also crucial.

Time flew by during the exam, and Lin Tiao didn't let herself get distracted. But shortly after she resumed writing, she noticed that Jiang Yan beside her had already put down his pen.

He also removed his glasses, completely shedding the scholarly look he had moments before, now appearing as lazy and disheveled as a student who had just woken up.

Jiang Yan rested his head on his hand, his gaze becoming unfocused. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. The invigilator walked over, glanced at his answer sheet, and, holding back what he wanted to say, lightly tapped Jiang Yan's desk with his finger.

Time ticked by slowly.

Lin Tiao was stuck on the last major physics problem, having filled an entire sheet of scratch paper but only managing to solve one of the smaller sub-questions.

She rested her head on her hand, staring at the problem without much progress. When she glanced to her right, she met Jiang Yan's gaze.

Before she could react, Jiang Yan suddenly lifted his answer sheet and placed it on the other side, intentionally covering it with a book as if to hide his answers from her.

"…"

I can't even see it if I wanted to.

-

After the exam, some were happy while others were distressed.

Lin Tiao was infuriated by Jiang Yan's behavior during the test and planned to settle scores with him after the English exam.

However, Jiang Yan skipped the afternoon English exam entirely, not showing up at the exam hall, and even his three lackeys were absent.

Lin Tiao was fuming.

When she talked about this to Meng Xin during the summer break, she was still seething with anger, "Just thinking about him makes me explode."

On the other end of the line, Meng Xin was scrolling through endless gossip posts about Jiang Yan and Lin Tiao on the school forum.

- Shocking! Big shot Jiang Yan actually did something so inappropriate to a girl in front of everyone!

- Crying! The big shot actually likes girls! What happened to staying gay forever?

...

Such posts have been continuously featured on the school forum since the day of the integrated science exam. However, Lin Tiao isn't fond of browsing forums, so she mostly relies on Meng Xin to screenshot a few comments for her.

"You see this?" Meng Xin handed her another screenshot. "Hahaha, someone actually said you skipped the midterm exam to accompany Jiang Yan for his orthodontics."

"…"

"The creativity of these students is on another level," Meng Xin laughed. "But you were really impressive back then. To fall into a ditch while riding a bike and end up with a concussion—I'm genuinely in awe."

"…"

Lin Tiao sighed. She's always had poor balance and, after practicing for half a year, still couldn't ride more than a meter. While other girls in middle school leisurely rode their bikes along the tree-lined paths, she could only feel the cold wind on her face from riding behind her father on the motorcycle.

"Such painful youth"

Meng Xin was laughing uncontrollably on the other end of the computer.

For a moment, Lin Tiao seriously considered climbing through the internet to give her a beating. When Meng Xin finally stopped laughing, Lin Tiao gritted her teeth and said, "I've made up my mind."

"Made up your mind about what?"

"I'm going to learn how to ride a bike over the summer!"

"Forget it, isn't living enough?"

"…"

Lin Tiao hung up the video call.

Meng Xin persisted in sending her messages: "Don't forget to buy extra insurance. If that doesn't work, get your bike insured too! It won't survive your crashes!"

"How fragile it is!"

"So, maybe consider learning to drive a car instead? At least with four wheels, you'd have airbags to protect you."

Lin Tiao blocked her.

—

Lin Tiao was someone who meant what she said. The next morning, she took her keys and went down to the bike shed to pull out her two-wheeler.

Lin Tiao mentioned to her father in the evening, "Dad, could you teach me how to ride a bike this weekend when you're not busy?"

"Hm?" Lin's father replied, flipping through his newspaper. "What bike? Public transport is much better—safe, comfortable, warm in winter, and cool in summer."

"…"

Lin Tiao gave up seeking his help. The next morning, she continued practicing alone in the plaza.

After more than half a month of practice, while her classmates had learned to ride bikes and even carry passengers, she could only manage to glide forward with her feet on the ground.

Lin Tiao didn't give up, and by the last few days of summer vacation, she finally learned to ride a bike. Although she could only ride a little over a meter, it was still progress.

That evening, she called Meng Xin to the plaza to showcase her new skills.

Meng Xin: "…"

She really didn't want to admit that this person was one of their school's top students.

"Without taking small steps, you can't reach a thousand miles. I think I'll be able to ride to school soon," Lin Tiao said, sitting on the bike, her feet on the ground, occasionally pushing the pedals.

The bike slowly rolled forward, and Meng Xin followed alongside her.

As Lin Tiao passed the lawn, a dog suddenly darted out from the side. She couldn't avoid it, and as she tried to steer clear, she accidentally pressed down on the pedals, causing the bike to lurch. She lost her balance and fell off the bike.

"Lin Tiao!" Meng Xin hurried over and helped her up from the ground. "Are you okay?"

"My arm—ugh." Lin Tiao winced in pain, nearly in tears.

After persevering in learning to ride the bike for over a month, she hadn't mastered it but managed to break her right arm. Congratulations to her, I suppose. :)

-

Lin Tiao spent a week in the hospital. On the day she was discharged, it coincided with the start of the new school year at Shi Zhong. Since she needed to handle class assignments that day, her father drove her to school immediately after she was released.

The campus was bustling with activity as the new semester began.

Lin Tiao found her class on the assignment list posted in the plaza: Class 28 of the second year. The new class meant a new classroom in a different building.

As she passed the sports field, she saw the freshmen from the first year undergoing military training, which gave her a sense of revitalization.

She arrived a bit late, and when she found her new classroom, the new homeroom teacher was already there, arranging things. Lin Tiao knocked on the door and announced, "Reporting in."

Everyone in the classroom turned their heads toward the door, and a few girls recognized Lin Tiao with curiosity.

The new homeroom teacher saw Lin Tiao's arm in a cast and looked concerned. "Come in. What happened to your arm?"

Lin Tiao didn't want to admit she got hurt while learning to ride a bike, so she made up an excuse. "I accidentally fell."

The new teacher didn't press further. "Well, you should quickly—"

Before the teacher could finish, another voice called from the door. "Reporting in."

Everyone in the classroom turned to look, and the entire room burst into laughter.

Lin Tiao was puzzled and turned around.

Jiang Yan stood at the door wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, showing off his well-defined calf muscles. He was backlit, holding a backpack in his right hand.

Jiang Yan's left arm was also in a cast.

"…"

As soon as Lin Tiao saw Jiang Yan, she felt as though the revived part of her had just died again.