7

Under Mr. Yu's bizarre arrangements, Lin Tiao and Jiang Yan officially became desk partners, though they had little interaction.

After the afternoon incident, Jiang Yan didn't say much during the evening self-study period and instead lay on the desk watching dramas.

Lin Tiao, on the other hand, took the opportunity to catch up on sleep, dozing through two classes.

When she woke up, Jiang Yan was no longer in his seat, but his phone, left on the desk, continued to play videos.

She glanced at the screen and saw the title flash by.

— "Today's Law"

"..."

Even the big shot's taste in dramas is so unique???

While Lin Tiao was still watching the phone screen, the window next to her suddenly slid open with a clatter.

She turned to look.

Jiang Yan was standing by the window, supporting himself with one hand. Before she could react, he bent his arm and swung himself in from the outside.

"..."

Such agility clearly meant he was used to climbing walls.

Once Jiang Yan sat down, he noticed Lin Tiao's shocked and speechless expression. He considered explaining but decided against it and put his headphones back on to continue watching his drama.

Lin Tiao didn't pay much attention, reaching for her hair, feeling a bit thirsty. She reached into her bag and pulled out a partially drunk bottle of mineral water.

Unfortunately, she struggled for a while with the bottle cap, unable to open it with one hand.

Noticing her struggle, Jiang Yan glanced over and saw the bottle in her hand.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, turning his gaze back to his phone screen.

A few minutes later, Lin Tiao gave up trying to open the bottle and put it on the desk, pulling out her phone to message Meng Xin, "Tragedy! A new student in the second year was found dead in the classroom due to thirst on the second day of school!"

As soon as she sent the message, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, grabbed her bottle, and put it back with the cap already twisted off.

Lin Tiao glanced at Jiang Yan, who was still in his original seated position, eyes glued to his phone, seemingly unaware of her.

It was as if the person who opened the bottle wasn't him.

Perhaps because she was staring too obviously, Jiang Yan took off one of his headphones and looked at her. "Aren't you going to drink?"

"Hmm…" Lin Tiao nodded, and as she turned her gaze back, she said thank you, though Jiang Yan seemed not to hear.

Neither of them paid much attention to this minor detail.

The rest of the evening self-study passed peacefully.

When school ended, Jiang Yan left early with his three friends, carrying nothing but wearing a short-sleeve shirt.

Seeing his shirt, Lin Tiao remembered that his jacket was still in her bag.

She had stuffed it into her bag when changing seats in the afternoon, and with the new seat arrangement, she had forgotten about it.

Now, Lin Tiao took out Jiang Yan's school jacket from her bag, initially planning to leave it on his desk, but worried about his potential cleanliness concerns, she decided to wash and dry it at home instead.

The next morning, when Lin Tiao brought the cleaned jacket to school, Jiang Yan noticed the fresh scent and asked, "You washed it?"

"Yeah." Lin Tiao nodded, "I did."

Jiang Yan didn't say anything else and casually put the jacket into his desk drawer, pulling out a packet of small bread and placing it on her desk. "As a thank-you gift."

Lin Tiao accepted it.

This was the closest they had to a normal conversation, which could be considered progress towards a harmonious desk partnership.

Over the next few days, Lin Tiao and Jiang Yan had a relatively smooth time together, exchanging almost the same few lines of dialogue daily.

"What class is this?"

"Move aside, I'm going out."

"Move aside, I'm coming in."

"Is class over?"

"When does class end?"

...

Jiang Yan's daily small talk was quite repetitive. Lin Tiao noticed that he spent most of his class time either playing games or watching dramas, occasionally dozing off at his desk.

Aside from legal programs like "Today's Law," his shows included large-scale domestic family dramas.

Once, Lin Tiao saw him catching up on "Desperate Housewives."

"..."

The big shot's taste is really hard to compliment.

---

The last class on Friday was physical education. In the second year, the science classes often mixed with a liberal arts class for PE.

Lin Tiao's class, along with Meng Xin's Science Class 14 and Liberal Arts Class 6, combined for PE, totaling over a hundred students, with more boys than girls.

As soon as the bell rang, the students from the three classes gathered on the playground, forming separate groups.

The new PE teacher, Mr. Zhou Li, who had graduated from the Sports University less than a year ago, was handsome and had many female fans in the school.

When Mr. Zhou walked over with the roll call, Lin Tiao noticed many girls from the adjacent liberal arts class pulling out their phones.

The girls from the science classes did the same.

It seems all girls are the same.

Mr. Zhou whistled, "Gather!"

The students from the three classes quickly split up, lining up in height order.

Lin Tiao, being tall among the girls, stood at the end of Class 18, next to Jiang Yan and his three friends.

They were chatting about something when Lin Tiao approached, and she overheard Hu Hanghang say, "... Damn it, don't let me catch him by the tail or I'll..." before Jiang Yan kicked him.

"Can you keep it down, Hu Hanghang?" Jiang Yan, with one earphone in, glanced at Lin Tiao before returning his attention to his phone.

Hu Hanghang turned to Lin Tiao and smiled, "Classmate Lin, what a coincidence."

"…"

Lin Tiao guessed that their earlier conversation was something not meant for the fifth person to hear. For her own safety, she wisely turned her head away.

Soon, Meng Xin circled around to Lin Tiao's side from the front row. Looking at the tall figures around, she commented, "I feel like I'm in a land of giants."

Lin Tiao played along, "How's the air up there?"

"Shut up." Meng Xin patted her plaster cast. "When can you get this removed?"

"In about a month. If it heals well, maybe earlier."

"So pitiful." Meng Xin shook her head, glancing at Jiang Yan. Her eyes were ambiguous as she asked, "How's it going?"

"What do you mean, how's it going?"

Meng Xin lowered her voice, "You're desk partners with the big shot."

"Successfully transitioning from confrontation to peaceful coexistence."

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking about your feelings! Do you understand feelings? Feel!" Meng Xin practically shouted in her ear.

Lin Tiao laughed and pushed her away, "No, really, there's nothing much to feel. We don't talk much, just ask for the time."

Meng Xin looked at her, "It's definitely your charm that's not working." She glanced at Lin Tiao's chest with a complicated expression.

Lin Tiao noticed her gaze and immediately reacted, threatening her, "Do you believe that the day my cast comes off will be your end?"

Meng Xin dodged to the side, laughing uncontrollably. Her laughter reached the front of the line, and the PE teacher heard it. He shouted, "Who's laughing so loudly in the back? Come here, you'll be the PE monitor."

"..."

Lin Tiao almost laughed out loud.

So, Meng Xin was inexplicably made the PE monitor for the three classes, with the PE teacher also selecting two boys as her assistants.

---

Halfway through the PE class, Jiang Yan and his three friends left, showing no sense of responsibility for the class.

Lin Tiao and Meng Xin sat under a tree on the side of the playground for the rest of the class.

When class ended, Meng Xin was called to the teacher's office by Mr. Zhou, and Lin Tiao went with her.

Mr. Zhou's office was in the old ideological building, rarely visited by anyone.

Mr. Zhou's office was on the third floor. As they entered, a strong smell of smoke hit them. He quickly walked over to open the window.

The air circulated as Lin Tiao and Meng Xin entered the office, one after the other.

Mr. Zhou stood by the window, spraying water from a watering can onto plants, looking at the rarely visited old garden behind the building. His expression changed, and he shouted down, "What are you all doing down there!?"

Lin Tiao and Meng Xin exchanged glances and hurried to another window.

Below, a few boys were sprawled out on the ground in disarray, with three boys standing over them, their feet on the boys' chests.

Behind them, a boy squatted by the flower bed and looked up.

The ones standing were familiar faces: Hu Hanghang, Song Yuan, Xu Yichuan, and the one squatting was Jiang Yan.

It seemed that the sudden shouting startled everyone, and they remained frozen in their positions, creating a somewhat awkward scene.

Mr. Zhou, leaning out of the window, continued shouting, "Hu Hanghang, Song Yuan, Xu Yichuan, move your feet off them!"

Lin Tiao was actually surprised that Mr. Zhou remembered those three after just half a lesson.

It seemed that someone downstairs had alerted the authorities. After Mr. Zhou's shout, the disciplinary director and several teachers rushed out of the building.

Li Kun pointed at the group, "Fighting in groups! You all thought you were above this, huh? Stand still!"

The five boys lying on the ground were assisted by the teachers and lined up, while Jiang Yan and his friends stood on the other side. Li Kun looked extremely angry, and the group faced a severe reprimand, with possible further punishment.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Mr. Zhou was about to speak when a furious shout came from below, "Jiang Yan!"

He looked out again and saw that one of the previously standing boys was now back on the ground, with Jiang Yan standing next to him.

"What now?"

Lin Tiao, who had been standing by the window, couldn't think of a response. Her mind was overwhelmed by the image of Jiang Yan pressing someone's head to the ground with one hand. She could only think: How could she have been so bold as to challenge someone like him?