25

As Lin Tiao was leaving, Jiang Yan was still snoozing with his face on the desk. Hu Hanghang and the others were not in a hurry either, engrossed in a game on their phones.

Jiang Yan, face down against the wall, faintly heard a girl say she was leaving and then the sound of chairs scraping on the floor.

When the classroom was almost empty, Jiang Yan finally woke up, got up to wash his face in the bathroom, and then the group headed downstairs to get something to eat.

Class 14 and Class 18 were on different floors, one on the third floor and the other on the fourth.

As they were heading downstairs, Jiang Yan was still half-asleep. Song Yuan hooked his shoulder, while Xu Yichuan kept chattering about his and the class flower's daily interactions.

Hu Hanghang teased him, saying he was a "flower in cow dung."

Jiang Yan laughed at this.

Song Yuan, noticing Jiang Yan's weary look, asked, "Are you working the night shift tonight?"

Jiang Yan rubbed his eyes, which were red at the corners, and replied drowsily, "No, I'm off tonight."

Hearing this, Song Yuan sighed and said nothing more.

As the four of them reached the third-floor stairwell, they heard a female voice from the corridor carried by the wind. "Do you think that now you have someone backing you, you're something special?"

Another voice replied from a distance, quiet and hard to make out, but Jiang Yan felt it sounded somewhat familiar.

He turned to look down the corridor, halting his steps.

The others stopped as well, following his gaze. Hu Hanghang was the first to react. "Wow, isn't that Sister Tiao? Who's that girl with her?"

Before anyone could answer, the first girl spoke again, "Do you think Jiang Yan will always be on your side?"

When Jiang Yan heard this, he squinted and saw Lin Tiao's sarcastic smile. He walked towards them, picking up the conversation, "Why wouldn't he?"

As he spoke, Jiang Yan was already standing beside Lin Tiao, his expression cold as he stared at Tang Yushi. He repeated, "Why wouldn't he?"

His tone was as cold and aloof as his expression.

Tang Yushi, seeing Jiang Yan approach, faltered. Her long legs trembled, and she shrank back, her voice trembling as she said, "How would I know?"

Jiang Yan, unimpressed, sneered, "You don't know? Then why run your mouth?"

Tang Yushi was so scared she couldn't speak, her face alternating between red and white. Her eyes were wide, and it looked like she might start crying any moment.

Jiang Yan glanced at her a few times, his memory connecting the dots. He turned to Lin Tiao and asked, "Is she the one who threw the ball at you on the court?"

Lin Tiao instinctively nodded.

"Has she apologized?" he asked again.

Lin Tiao replied honestly, "Yes, she has."

"Alright then." Jiang Yan rubbed his neck and casually addressed Tang Yushi. "Since you've apologized, this matter is over."

Tang Yushi's breath hitched, and Jiang Yan added, "I never hit girls, but if you cross my line, I'll hit you regardless."

Jiang Yan's gaze was intense and his voice low, "My desk mate is my bottom line."

After all the commotion, Lin Tiao and Meng Xin ended up eating with the four boys.

Meng Xin had been caught sleeping in class and scolded by the teacher, delaying them a bit. Since none of them liked the cafeteria, they decided to eat at an off-campus restaurant.

As they dawdled and walked to the school gate, they found that the usually open gate was now only a small gap, and there were only a few students at the entrance.

"What's going on?" Xu Yichuan ran to the gatekeeper's office, familiar with the staff because he often skipped classes.

The others waited while Xu Yichuan investigated.

Less than a minute later, they saw Xu Yichuan being dragged out of the gatekeeper's office by Li Kun, who was scolding him, "Going out to eat in the middle of the day? Is the school cafeteria not good enough for you?"

Xu Yichuan bent over, "Hey, hey, hey, Director, Director, Director."

Li Kun didn't let go and glanced at the five standing beside him. "Alright, you five, come here."

The five of them stood there, speechless.

After a lengthy and senseless scolding from Li Kun, it was already quite late, and the six of them were personally led by him to the school cafeteria.

"Everyone, get in line," Li Kun said, kicking Xu Yichuan, who was at the end of the line. "Starting today, you're not allowed to leave school during lunch. If I catch any of you out of school at noon again, you'll have to stay in the office and write a self-criticism."

Everyone was speechless.

Lin Tiao stood at the front of the line, took an empty metal tray from a nearby basket, and walked forward with the crowd, Jiang Yan following behind her.

They arrived late, and although the cafeteria food wasn't great, most students at school chose to make do with it for lunch.

So, Lin Tiao glanced around and picked two simple home-style dishes, like green pepper stir-fried potatoes, which mostly had green peppers in them.

Jiang Yan, who followed her, glanced at her tray but said nothing. He raised his hand and knocked on the glass window of the serving counter. "Auntie, I'll have this, this, this, and this."

He ordered several dishes in a row.

Lin Tiao looked back at him and said, "Aren't you not fond of the cafeteria food?" His way of ordering didn't seem like someone who disliked it.

Jiang Yan looked at her without speaking, then leaned over and took her tray from in front of her, handing it to the serving auntie. "Put everything on this tray for me."

When he leaned over, there was a faint scent of mint from him. Lin Tiao looked up and saw his chiseled jawline close to her face.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but think of what he had said in front of Tang Yushi.

A strange emotion surged in her heart.

Once the six of them had finished getting their meals, Li Kun gave them another lengthy lecture. Finally, noticing the time, he concluded, "Alright, you can eat now. I'm going out for a meal with Teacher Yu and Teacher Yang."

The five of them looked up, shocked.

This was truly unreasonable.

Only Jiang Yan kept his head down, eating his food while occasionally checking his phone. After a while, he suddenly got up and went to the snack shop in the cafeteria.

"Brother, get me a bottle of water," Hu Hanghang called out.

Jiang Yan didn't respond or turn around; he walked straight to the shop. After a few minutes, Lin Tiao saw him come out with a bag.

The young man's figure was upright, his features clean and sharp. His skin was much whiter than average, and he wore a simple white T-shirt and black pants, exuding youthful energy.

Jiang Yan sat down in front of Lin Tiao and took out two cans of Coke from the bag, handing the rest of the water and drinks to Hu Hanghang.

He placed one can of Coke beside Lin Tiao and, noticing her arm in a cast, reached out again with his hand.

His hand, elegantly defined with prominent knuckles, was positioned gently on the edge of the can. He pulled up the tab with a soft "click," opening it.

His hands were incredibly attractive, with clearly defined bone structure, and Lin Tiao could even see the faint lines of veins on his fingers.

Every detail about him was strikingly handsome.

"Dinner's ready," Jiang Yan said, retracting his hand. Seeing Lin Tiao staring at him, he softly added, "You can eat now."

"Oh." Lin Tiao quickly looked down, shoveling a few bites of rice into her mouth to cover up her distraction.

After eating, the group couldn't wander around like they used to outside school and had to return to the classroom to pass the time playing with their phones.

Back in the classroom, it wasn't yet everyone's break time. Aside from a few girls at the front who were immersed in their exams, the others were chatting, playing games, and doing various things.

Lin Tiao, who hadn't slept well the previous night, started feeling drowsy after eating. She rested her head on her desk and said a few words to Jiang Yan before falling silent.

When Jiang Yan spoke to her and got no response, he turned to see that the girl had fallen asleep. Her breathing was shallow, and she seemed to be sleeping uneasily, with her eyelashes fluttering lightly.

He looked down for a moment before pulling out a school uniform from his drawer and placing it over her head. He then glanced back at Hu Hanghang, who was still laughing, and said, "Fatty, be quiet."

Hu Hanghang was speechless.

In Lin Tiao's dream, the sudden quiet around her made her aware of a familiar scent. She turned her head slightly and fell deeper into sleep.

When the class bell rang, Lin Tiao jolted awake, knocking the uniform off her.

Startled by the bell, she was momentarily disoriented. Rubbing her eyes, she noticed the school uniform next to her and realized it was Jiang Yan's.

She picked it up, and Jiang Yan, sitting next to her, took off his glasses and looked at her. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No." She shook her head, then noticed his glasses and asked, "Do you have myopia?"

"Not really; I just have a bit of astigmatism."

Lin Tiao nodded, handing him the uniform she was holding. She then noticed the exam paper spread out on his desk. "What are you working on?"

"An exam paper," Jiang Yan paused and explained, "It's for the physics competition."

Lin Tiao raised an eyebrow, looking at his usual demeanor and still found it hard to believe. She leaned closer and asked, "Jiang Yan, tell me the truth."

Her breath fell on Jiang Yan's arm, making it feel warm and tingling.

Jiang Yan turned his head to look at her, subtly moving his arm away. "What is it?"

"About the last time when you showed me the physics competition results, you won first place, right?" Lin Tiao licked her lip and tentatively asked, "Be honest, did you have someone take the exam for you?"

Jiang Yan was taken aback.