19

The three of them—Xu Yichuan and the others—did not believe Jiang Yan's answer at all, not even a punctuation mark of it.

However, Jiang Yan kept his mouth tightly shut. No matter how they tried to bribe him or threaten him, he refused to say another word, and they didn't dare to press him further.

Later, the topic was cut off when Lin Tiao walked into the room.

As soon as she entered the private room, Hu Hanghang and the other two seemed to have hit a switch. They all stood up simultaneously, holding their chairs awkwardly.

The three of them walked around the table.

In the end, Jiang Yan kicked Hu Hanghang's chubby butt, slapped his phone on the table, and said, "We're just having a meal. You three don't need to act like you're performing a ritual."

Xu Yichuan, being the quickest to react, immediately set his chair down, sat properly, clasped his hands together, and said, "Brother Fish, Brother Chicken, I'm sorry for today. I had no choice for the sake of making a living. May you reincarnate well and become a human in your next life."

Lin Tiao, standing aside, "…"

Jiang Yan, both angry and amused, threw a pair of chopsticks at Xu Yichuan, saying, "Stop being so spooky all the time. You're scaring my deskmate."

Xu Yichuan caught the chopsticks gracefully, placed them back on the table, and turned to Lin Tiao with a smile, "Sister Tiao, come and sit."

"…" What's with this new nickname?

During the meal, when the waiter brought out the crucian carp tofu soup that Song Yuan had ordered, Xu Yichuan clasped his hands together and said the same prayer, then Jiang Yan physically dragged him out of the private room.

Lin Tiao found the meal quite calm overall. However, she noticed that every time they ate out, it almost took up a whole lunch break, and sometimes they only reached the school gate by the time the first class of the afternoon had already started.

For instance, right now, the five of them had just staggered out of Chen's Small Restaurant when they heard a deafening voice from the entrance of the school, "Is the school cafeteria not good enough, or is it that the lady who serves the food can't satisfy you? Running outside every noon."

"…"

The remark sounded really strange.

A row of students who seemed to be late stood at the main entrance of Ten High School. Jiang Yan hesitated between "going over to get scolded and write a self-criticism" and "climbing the wall, which might get us discovered and also scolded and have to write a self-criticism." He chose the latter.

He patted Lin Tiao on the head, "Let's go, I'll take you over the wall."

"?"

Climbing the wall?

Lin Tiao was still in a daze when she was pushed toward a small path on the side.

Ten High School has three gates: one each to the west, south, and north. The northern gate is the main entrance, facing the bustling snack street.

The southern gate is the back gate, usually for staff vehicles. During school dismissal, the flow of people is heavier, and the school has regulations that only vehicles can pass through the back gate; students use the main entrance.

The western gate was originally the main gate of Ten High School, but with city development, the area was constantly noisy and dusty. For student safety, the school moved the main gate.

Over time, the main gate here was dismantled and bricked up.

At this moment, Lin Tiao stood at the base of the wall, looking up at the wall, which was about one and a half times her height. The sunlight overhead was glaring and blinding.

She glanced at it for a moment before shifting her gaze away.

As for climbing walls, Lin Tiao wasn't new to it. Back in middle school, she went through a rebellious phase where she spent all her time thinking about climbing walls to catch stuffed animals.

She met Meng Xin during that time. Like her, Meng Xin was also in a rebellious phase and had been kicked out of class for sleeping during lessons.

Meng Xin had skipped class that day and was just coming back after playing games outside.

The two girls bumped into each other at the wall, chatted casually, and surprisingly hit it off right away.

For the next half semester, they would climb the wall together every day. When Meng Xin went to an internet café to play games, Lin Tiao would watch TV nearby.

When Lin Tiao went to an arcade to catch stuffed animals, Meng Xin would play video games with kids nearby.

Those days were quite lively, but if it hadn't been for being caught by the director later…

Lin Tiao shivered at the thought of the inhumane punishment she endured during that time and couldn't help but shudder. She quickly pushed those thoughts away.

While she was lost in thought, Xu Yichuan and the other two had already climbed over. From the other side of the wall, they whispered, "No one here. Hurry up and come over. We'll go back to the classroom and cover for you."

Soon, footsteps could be heard gradually fading away until they were no longer audible.

Lin Tiao looked at Jiang Yan, who was standing next to her. "Why don't you go first? I can't get over with my arm like this."

"Do I really look like someone who would abandon a friend?" Jiang Yan clicked his tongue. "As if you could climb over just because your arm isn't in a cast."

"…" Lin Tiao didn't respond.

Jiang Yan looked at the height of the wall, then sized up Lin Tiao. He took off his school jacket and threw it over the wall, which landed neatly on top.

Underneath, he wore only a plain white T-shirt with no designs.

Then, Lin Tiao watched as he walked to the corner of the wall, crouched down, and tilted his head, exposing the line of his neck and a protruding vertebra. His voice was carried by the wind, "Come over."

"Huh?" Lin Tiao stood frozen, not moving.

On a serene afternoon with sunlight streaming in, under the whitewashed corner of a wall, the boy's smile was as refreshing as a gentle breeze under the bright moon. "Come on, step on my shoulder to climb up. Otherwise, do you really want to go back and write that reflection paper?"

Lin Tiao recalled the three-thousand-word reflection paper she hadn't yet written, and her hesitation vanished instantly. She walked over quickly, hesitating for a moment at the sight of his clean T-shirt, unsure about stepping on it.

"How about I put a piece of clothing on top?" Lin Tiao asked, puzzled by why he had removed his school uniform jacket earlier.

"Wouldn't stepping on such a white T-shirt just dirty it?"

Jiang Yan squatted down and did not move, looking at the ants crawling on the ground, chuckling softly. "I didn't realize you were so particular. Stepping on a shoulder requires a piece of clothing underneath? Do you walk on a red carpet while strolling, too?"

"…"

Annoyed, Lin Tiao thought about how it wasn't her clothing getting dirty, so it wasn't her problem. She put one hand on the wall and stepped onto Jiang Yan's shoulder.

"Hold onto the wall," Jiang Yan said, reaching up and holding her ankle through his pants.

The girl seemed slender, and he was surprised to find her indeed very thin. His hand could wrap around her ankle, and his middle and thumb fingers almost touched.

Despite her usual hearty appetite, he wondered where all that food had gone. Jiang Yan's mind wandered until he heard Lin Tiao's voice from above, "I can reach it."

"Okay." Jiang Yan responded, closing his fingers a bit tighter and stopping his thoughts.

When Lin Tiao sat down on the wall, she realized Jiang Yan had removed his jacket to cushion her ascent.

The wall was about two meters high. She turned to see Jiang Yan take a slight step back, then sprinted up using the loose rocks and debris, easily leaping to the top.

Sitting on the wall, Lin Tiao clapped her hands in surprise. "Good skills."

Jiang Yan smiled but didn't stay up there long. He lightly jumped down, landing gracefully. Looking up at Lin Tiao, he asked, "Can you come down?"

"Of course." Lin Tiao looked down, seeing that the area below had been trampled by many people, with the wild grass and soil exposed beneath.

Keeping her head down, she cautiously moved forward a bit.

Jiang Yan watched her struggle and sighed in resignation. He took a step forward and spread his arms. "Never mind, I'll just—"

Before he could finish, a figure dropped from above, landing perfectly into his open arms.

Lin Tiao hadn't expected him to react so quickly. As she landed in his arms, her cheek brushed against his thin shirt.

At such a close distance, she noticed a faint fragrance, a blend of orange blossom and a hint of cedarwood—fresh and clean.

Lin Tiao thought he would withdraw his arms, so she quickly steadied herself and turned her face, continuing to speak, "If I didn't have a cast, I could really climb ove-"

The word "come" didn't make it out because of the fleeting touch on her lips.

Lin Tiao froze.

Did she just kiss the big shot's ear?