Lin Le’s ears twitched. It was an unfamiliar voice. At the same time, the System reminded him, 【That is Han Jinyan.】
Lin Le understood. This was the protagonist in the receptive role of the novel.
Han Jinyan looked at Lin Le wearing Xiang Chi’s jacket and raised an eyebrow. Taking advantage of the fact that Lin Le could not see him, he boldly kept staring, looking him up and down.
No mission had appeared yet, so Lin Le did not dare act rashly. Nor did he notice Han Jinyan looking at him. After obediently telling the System that much, he simply stayed in his seat without moving.
He noticed even less that Fu Ji and Zhou Zhongshe, who sat behind him, were also looking at him.
Zhou Zhongshe noticed that the jacket on Lin Le belonged to Xiang Chi and felt puzzled.
Lin Le had always clung to the three of them like a ghost that would not go away. They ran into him everywhere, and it was annoying. Xiang Chi had also said many times that Lin Le was a nuisance. So how had Xiang Chi’s clothes ended up on Lin Le?
Lin Le did not sense the two pairs of eyes studying him. He was feeling over his textbook, familiarizing himself with the material.
What would group life be like?
Lin Le lay over his desk and wondered. The teacher was still interrogating Han Jinyan at the door, asking what he had been doing to miss class for so long.
Lin Le did not pay attention to whatever Han Jinyan said.
Suddenly, someone poked him from behind with a pen. Lin Le immediately shuddered and turned around. “W-What is it?”
He had learned from the System that Fu Ji and Zhou Zhongshe sat behind him, Xiang Chi was his deskmate, and Han Jinyan sat in front of him.
He was truly surrounded on all sides.
Zhou Zhongshe lowered his voice and asked, “Where did the clothes you’re wearing come from?”
Lin Le blinked and answered honestly, “Xiang Chi gave them to me.”
Zhou Zhongshe asked, “Why would he give you his jacket?”
Lin Le said, “I don’t know.”
Zhou Zhongshe frowned at the answer. He looked at Lin Le: his hair was slightly damp, his unfocused eyes stared blankly in Zhou Zhongshe’s direction, his face was pale with a touch of pink, and his lips were pink too.
For some reason, the longer Zhou Zhongshe looked, the more he found himself swallowing.
Fu Ji saw Zhou Zhongshe staring as if entranced and expressionlessly smacked him awake.
Lin Le waited for a long time. When Zhou Zhongshe did not continue speaking, he turned back around.
Seeing that only Xiang Chi was still absent, the teacher simply stopped waiting and told everyone to take out their textbooks so class could begin.
Lin Le’s textbook had been specially customized for him and was printed in braille. The teacher also spoke at a measured pace. To accommodate Lin Le, he would occasionally ask whether Lin Le was keeping up.
Lin Le was quite gifted at studying, and because he had previously received one-on-one instruction, he had actually learned a great deal. Every time the teacher asked, he obediently nodded. “I understand, Teacher.”
Halfway through the lesson, the teacher’s passionate lecture was interrupted by the sound of someone panting. Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Le raised his head toward the doorway.
Even though he could not see anything.
After catching his breath, Xiang Chi swept his gaze around the classroom and accidentally met Lin Le’s blank, direct stare. He suddenly grew nervous and raised a hand to straighten the hair the wind had blown into disorder—only then remembering that Lin Le could not see him at all.
The teacher saw Xiang Chi and held back his anger. “Where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?”
Xiang Chi said, “Teacher, I was doing a good deed. I went to the principal’s office and also called the police.”
The teacher’s expression immediately turned serious. He walked over, pulled Xiang Chi outside, and spoke with him.
A few minutes later, the two came back in together. The teacher’s face was stern. He first praised Xiang Chi and sent him back to his seat, then swept a sharp gaze over the class. “Just now, Student Xiang Chi stopped an incident of school bullying. That was excellent, and I commend him. I’m warning every one of you here: our school absolutely will not tolerate this kind of behavior. If I discover it, I will call the police immediately. It is absolutely forbidden. Do you understand?”
The teacher slammed the lectern with a bang, startling everyone. They all responded, “We understand, Teacher!”
Lin Le was startled too and joined in. Xiang Chi returned to his seat. Seeing Lin Le obediently shouting along with everyone else, he suddenly laughed. “Who could you possibly bully? You’re shouting along too.”
Lin Le stared blankly for a moment before realizing Xiang Chi was talking to him.
Because Xiang Chi had saved him, and because he was the first person in this world to show him kindness, Lin Le had unconsciously begun to trust him a little.
“Where did you go? Teacher was really angry just now.”
Xiang Chi said, “I went to deal with something. It’s fine. Didn’t he praise me when I came back?”
Lin Le gave a small smile, his eyes curving. “Thank you for earlier, Xiang Chi. It’s a good thing you came.”
Xiang Chi was dazed by Lin Le’s smile and stammered, “I-It’s nothing. When you see injustice, you draw your blade to help. Helping a classmate is what we’re supposed to do.”
Zhou Zhongshe watched Xiang Chi’s ears turn a suspicious shade of red and narrowed his eyes.
After the morning classes ended, it was lunchtime. Lin Le also found his white cane beside his seat. With it, walking was much easier.
No one wanted to take him to lunch, so Lin Le could only rely on the System’s directions and slowly make his way to the cafeteria.
The moment class ended, everyone wanted to hurry to the cafeteria. People walked quickly and urgently, and several students bumped into Lin Le, but each turned back at once to apologize.
Lin Le gently shook his head and edged along the wall little by little.
The sound of footsteps and voices around him was noisy. Unlike the quiet he was used to, everything was lively. From time to time, Lin Le caught snippets of amusing conversations, which made his mood brighten too.
So this was group life? It felt interesting. Fun, even.
By the time Lin Le slowly reached the cafeteria, it was already packed.
He carefully moved forward, joined a line at one of the serving windows, and followed the crowd ahead inch by inch.
When he finally got his food and held the tray in his hands, he discovered he could not manage it with only one hand. Perhaps the cafeteria auntie felt sorry for him, because she had piled on a great deal of food. The tray was heavy. One hand needed to hold his white cane, and the other could not support the tray alone.
He looked around blankly and tried several times, but still could not lift it properly. In the end, he tucked the white cane under his arm and held the tray with both hands. He seriously told the System, 【You have to guide me carefully, Mr. System. Don’t let me bump into anyone.】
The System hummed in acknowledgment and told Lin Le to walk slowly.
He had barely taken two steps when a pair of hands took the tray from him. An unfamiliar voice said, “Where are you sitting? I’ll carry it over for you.”
The tall boy carried the tray with one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other.
Lin Le’s eyes widened in delight. “Really? Any empty seat is fine. Thank you!”
Because he was happy, his voice rose slightly. It sounded obedient and soft, like sweet cotton candy that melted the moment it entered your mouth.
The boy quickly spotted an unoccupied table and led Lin Le over.
Once he was seated, Lin Le thanked him again. Only after the boy left did he begin eating.
He felt delighted inside. Everyone really was nice. Group life did not seem nearly as frightening as he had imagined.
When Xiang Chi and the others arrived, the first thing Xiang Chi saw was Lin Le eating not far away. He stared several times and only snapped out of it after Zhou Zhongshe hit him a few times.
Their cafeteria had several floors divided into different sections. The first floor was the main dining hall, where the food was inexpensive and good. The higher the floor, the more expensive the food became, and each floor served different things.
Xiang Chi and the others usually ate wherever suited their mood. Zhou Zhongshe wanted to try the steak on the fourth floor and tried to pull them upstairs, but Xiang Chi waved them off. “You guys go. I feel like eating here today.”
Fu Ji frowned slightly and said it outright. “You want to eat with Lin Le?”
Xiang Chi immediately became flustered. “N-No. What are you talking about? I just want to try the food here. I haven’t eaten it in ages.”
Zhou Zhongshe folded his arms. “Really? Didn’t you eat here the day before yesterday?”
Xiang Chi’s ears turned red, but his expression remained stubborn. “Yeah. Because it was so good. Am I not allowed to eat it one more time?”
Zhou Zhongshe watched Xiang Chi glance at Lin Le after practically every sentence and was instantly speechless.
Fu Ji walked off coldly. “If you don’t get your food soon, Lin Le will finish eating and leave.”
Those words knocked sense back into Xiang Chi, and he dazedly went over to line up.
While they were in line, Zhou Zhongshe asked, “What Teacher said earlier about school bullying—was that Lin Le getting bullied?”
Xiang Chi said, “Yeah. Wasn’t I going outside? Then I saw a bunch of idiots surrounding Lin Le. In the middle of winter, they even poured ice water on him. Isn’t that disgusting?”
Even Fu Ji looked shocked. “They poured cold water on him?”
In weather like this, that was no joke. Once someone was drenched in cold water and then hit by the wind, catching a cold was practically inevitable.
Xiang Chi nodded. “Yeah. You didn’t see it. Lin Le’s whole upper body was soaked, even his hair was dripping wet. So I immediately rode in on my white horse and rescued him.”
Zhou Zhongshe said, “Who do you think you are, Prince Charming? And Lin Le is some princess?”
Xiang Chi suddenly grew coy. “Honestly, I don’t think Lin Le is much different from a princess. I carried him—he was so light, like a feather. I lent him my jacket because I was afraid he’d get a fever. He even had to get an IV at the infirmary before he got better.”
Fu Ji and Zhou Zhongshe looked at Xiang Chi as though Lin Le had bewitched him and found it completely incomprehensible.
Zhou Zhongshe said, “Didn’t you dislike Lin Le before? Didn’t you think it was annoying that he kept clinging to us?”
Fu Ji nodded from the side. He glanced toward Lin Le, unable to understand what kind of charm Lin Le possessed that could make Xiang Chi fall for him so suddenly.
Xiang Chi abruptly became serious. “Actually, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him wanting to hang out with us. Think about it—he’s so weak, and he can’t see. Of course some students are going to bully him. We’re the strongest people in this school. If he doesn’t come to us, who else is he supposed to find?”
Xiang Chi launched into a grand speech until both Fu Ji and Zhou Zhongshe became impatient.
They pushed him forward to get his food.
Lin Le was shoveling rice into his mouth when, halfway through the meal, the tabletop suddenly shook. Someone sat beside him, and someone else sat across from him.
A nasty, repulsive voice said, “Hey, Lin Le. Do you know whose seat you’re sitting in?”
Lin Le froze, clutching his spoon, with no idea what was happening.
“You still dare look at us? The guys and I always sit here. What’s your problem? Trying to steal our spot?”
Lin Le said, “Ah, isn’t… isn’t this a public seat?”
“Public seat, my ass. Get up and get lost. Don’t disturb us while we eat.”
Lin Le was shoved and nearly fell. He struggled to grip the table and defend himself. “I-I was here first. Your names aren’t written on this table.”
Hearing that only made them angrier. “Well, damn, if my name isn’t written on it, does that mean it isn’t mine? I said it’s mine, so it’s mine. Come on, let’s move him.”
One person could not fight off four. Lin Le’s eyes widened, and just as he was about to be shoved away, someone steadied him. A loud, clear voice rang out
