“Yes,” Xing Ye said.
Sheng Renxing took out his phone and waved it at him.
Xing Ye recited a string of numbers.
Sheng Renxing searched.
A QQ account called “Not Adding Friends” appeared, with a red X as its profile picture.
“?”
Sheng Renxing stared at the username and suddenly felt that his own “X” was no longer cool.
He looked at Xing Ye, who was seriously eating dumplings, and could not help laughing.
Xing Ye raised his head.
Sheng Renxing turned the phone around and showed him the screen.
“Your username is ridiculously pretentious.”
Xing Ye did not seem bothered. “Too many people added me. Annoying.”
Someone had once posted his account on the school confession wall.
After that, people sent friend requests every day.
Xing Ye became so irritated that he simply renamed himself “Not Adding Friends.”
Sheng Renxing laughed and gave him a thumbs-up.
Then he added his own name to the request and sent it.
Xing Ye took out his phone, accepted it right in front of him, then put the phone away again.
Sheng Renxing watched him and put his own phone away too.
For the rest of the meal, Sheng Renxing ate with great concentration.
He treated this six-yuan bowl of dumplings with the solemnity of French fine dining.
The taste was ordinary, however.
Unlike the noodle stall last time, it gave him no pleasant surprise.
Maybe there had not been enough buildup through disappointment first.
Overall, it deserved its price.
Xing Ye did not talk while eating.
Sheng Renxing himself had also been raised with the rule of no talking while eating or sleeping.
So as he ate, he devoted half his attention to quietly studying Xing Ye.
Then he discovered Xing Ye really might not have an appetite.
He ate slowly, chewing each bite carefully, as though he might close his eyes and fall asleep at any second.
This restaurant sat near the end of the alley.
It was small and not very crowded.
Sheng Renxing began suspecting Xing Ye had simply chosen the first place with few people.
At a table farther inside, two girls finished eating and prepared to leave.
Sheng Renxing and Xing Ye were seated near the entrance.
Sheng Renxing sat against the wall while Xing Ye sat beside the aisle.
When the girls approached, they stopped instead of passing.
Xing Ye glanced sideways and pulled his chair farther inward to make room.
Both boys had long legs.
Without paying attention, their legs bumped.
Sheng Renxing spread his legs apart without looking up.
The two girls still did not leave.
Sheng Renxing sensed something wrong and looked up.
They were standing there staring at them.
Neither wore school uniform, so he could not tell whether they were students.
One girl with short hair smiled. “Handsome guys, want to make friends?”
She shook the phone in her hand. “Add each other on QQ?”
Xing Ye acted as though he had not heard.
Sheng Renxing pulled a tissue and wiped his mouth, then said, “The handsome guy doesn’t have QQ.”
The other girl, with long hair, pouted. “I just saw you two add each other.”
Sheng Renxing’s gaze unconsciously fell to her lips.
For a moment, he could not tell whether the color came from lipstick or whether she had simply forgotten to wipe her mouth after eating.
He thought about it, then pointed at Xing Ye. “Which one do you want?”
Xing Ye raised his head and looked at him.
The two girls obviously had not expected that question.
For a moment, they looked deeply conflicted—serious as though choosing between Tsinghua and Peking University.
After a while, the long-haired girl made her decision and deliberately softened her voice.
“Can’t I have both?”
Sheng Renxing stared in shock. “You’re so greedy.”
The short-haired girl realized he was teasing them and had no intention of giving anything.
The other handsome guy had kept his head down eating and had not looked at them once.
Girls were thin-skinned.
She glared at Sheng Renxing and dragged the long-haired girl away.
A customer at the neighboring table had covered his face and laughed through the entire conversation.
Once the girls left, he gave Sheng Renxing a thumbs-up.
“Bro, that was incredible.”
A girl sat opposite him, probably his girlfriend.
She was still wearing No. 13 High’s uniform.
Sheng Renxing politely nodded, then looked at Xing Ye.
“Why didn’t you say anything just now?”
Xing Ye swallowed the dumpling in his mouth.
“Didn’t look like you needed a straight man for your comedy routine.”
There was still amusement in his eyes.
Sheng Renxing paused, then counterattacked.
“Didn’t know you were such a closet flirt.”
Xing Ye froze too. “What does that mean?”
Before Sheng Renxing could answer, the boy at the neighboring table eagerly cut in.
“Means you keep all your horny flirting hidden inside.”
Xing Ye looked at him, then back at Sheng Renxing.
Sheng Renxing thought the guy talked far too much.
He smiled at Xing Ye. “It’s a compliment.”
Xing Ye lowered his head, bit into another dumpling, and said nothing.
The boy beside them looked amused.
Then he said, “I know you. Xing Ye from Senior Two.”
“I heard you’re really good at fighting. People say you’re trying to take the top-dog position?”
Xing Ye turned his head and looked at him, apparently sizing him up once.
Then he shook his head.
The boy continued smiling. “The guy you beat last time was my sworn brother.”
Xing Ye kept looking at him, face expressionless.
He slowly swallowed his dumpling.
“Which one?”
Sheng Renxing’s gaze shifted between them.
First, the boy’s serious, self-important tone raised a whole armful of cringe-inducing non-mainstream goosebumps.
Then Xing Ye’s answer nearly made him laugh.
Although Sheng Renxing suspected Xing Ye had simply asked honestly without any mockery.
The boy clearly did not know that.
His smile could barely hold.
“You’re pretty cocky.”
The atmosphere stiffened.
Fortunately, the boy’s girlfriend decided things were going badly and tugged his hand.
“What are you doing? Didn’t you say you came to eat with me?”
The boy shrugged.
“Fine. Tonight, Busan Square. Tell Wan Guanxi and the others they can either apologize to my sworn brother or bring their weapons.”
Xing Ye nodded.
After delivering his threat, the boy took his girlfriend and left.
His girlfriend still had half a bowl of dumplings unfinished.
“You’re fighting tonight?” Sheng Renxing asked.
He did not think Xing Ye was someone who would apologize.
Unexpectedly, Xing Ye shook his head.
Sheng Renxing looked at him in confusion.
“I’m not going.”
“Oh.” Sheng Renxing nodded.
No one was sitting at the neighboring table now, so he stretched his legs straight.
The table was a little low and folding his long legs beneath it was uncomfortable.
Xing Ye lowered his eyes toward the legs swinging beside his chair and added, “Yellow Hair and the others won’t go either.”
“?” Sheng Renxing laughed. “You’re standing him up?”
Seeing Xing Ye’s completely calm face, he kept laughing.
“Not only are you a closet flirt, you’re secretly evil too.”
This time Xing Ye understood.
He copied the boy from before and shrugged, saying nothing.
Sheng Renxing was still curious. “Why not go?”
“Don’t fight at school,” Xing Ye said.
When he said that, it sounded like an adult telling someone:
Sheng Renxing could not resist asking, “Why?”
He remembered the “rules” Xing Ye had mentioned before.
Was this another rule?
While Sheng Renxing wondered, Xing Ye answered:
“Because then you have to pay their medical bills.”
“?”
Sheng Renxing froze, blinked twice, then sincerely said, “Fuck.”
After saying it, he could not stop laughing.
“Then just don’t beat them badly enough to need a hospital.”
Xing Ye shook his head. “Once a real fight starts, you can’t control that much.”
High-school boys fought recklessly.
They did not think about consequences.
When the two finished eating and walked out, Sheng Renxing said goodbye to Xing Ye and casually added, “See you this afternoon.”
Only after saying it did he remember Xing Ye might not come to school in the afternoon.
Xing Ye did not think that far.
He simply answered, “See you this afternoon.”
That afternoon,
Sheng Renxing changed clothes and even took another shower.
He entered school exactly as the bell rang.
Teacher Yu led him all the way to the fifth floor.
There were three classes on the fifth floor: Class Eleven, Class Twelve, and Class Thirteen.
There were also two empty classrooms.
One had been turned into an office, though both contained piles of desks and chairs.
When the floor had originally been built, they had made five levels because of superstitions around certain numbers, but the school did not actually have that many classes.
Later, after discussion, the two extra rooms were simply repurposed for students.
Uses included, but were not limited to: make-up exams, homework, written self-criticisms…
Nothing went to waste.
Because Sheng Renxing would be taking exams through tomorrow, Teacher Yu did not put him in the empty classroom.
She chose the office instead.
He had brought two papers: Chinese and Physics.
Sheng Renxing randomly chose a seat and took out a pen.
During the gap after showering at noon, he had gone to a stationery shop and stocked up on all kinds of study supplies.
He no longer needed to borrow pens from Chen Ying.
Teacher Yu extended a hand. “Give me your phone. You can’t have it during the exam, in case of cheating.”
Sheng Renxing replied, “I left my phone in the classroom.”
She nodded. “That’s fine.”
Then she placed both sets of papers on his desk.
“Before school ends, put them on the desk in my office.”
Sheng Renxing glanced at the papers. “Can I hand them in early?”
“Yes.” Teacher Yu did not look surprised at all. “Put them on my desk, then you can return to class.”
He nodded.
Without another word, Teacher Yu hugged the textbooks in her arms and hurried out.
Before leaving, she did not even say, “You may begin.”
Sheng Renxing waited for a while.
The teacher did not return.
Thinking, Is this really this casual? he opened the papers.
After looking for a while, he decided to do Physics first.
He picked up the pen and spun it automatically in his hand before reading the first question.
This paper was easy.
Easier than the ones he had done before.
That would have been fine for an ordinary quiz.
But this was a monthly-exam paper.
Sheng Renxing thought he had once again learned, indirectly, the general academic level of this school’s students.
Time passed quickly while doing the exam.
After finishing two pages, Sheng Renxing instinctively wanted to check the time.
Then he realized he had not brought a watch.
It had been too long since he last sat an exam.
He had forgotten to bring one to keep track of time.
There was not even an invigilator in the room.
No one to ask.
He raised his head and stared at the wall in front of him.
A voice came from behind.
“Almost three.”
Sheng Renxing nearly jumped out of his skin.
He spun around and saw Xing Ye sitting not far behind him, looking at him.
“Why are you here?”
The surprise was so complete that Sheng Renxing was genuinely confused.
Xing Ye pointed at several chairs pushed together beside him.
“Came here to sleep.”
“…When did you get here?” Sheng Renxing thought.
“More than ten minutes ago.” Xing Ye asked, “You’re taking an exam?”
“Mm.”
Sheng Renxing simply turned sideways in his chair to face him.
“Making up the first monthly exam.”
Xing Ye nodded.
Seeing Sheng Renxing stop moving, he asked, “You finished?”
“How could I be that fast?”
Sheng Renxing rested an elbow on the chair back.
“Taking a break.”
Then he asked Xing Ye, “Why do you sleep here?”
“When I want to sleep, I come here.”
“This morning too?” Sheng Renxing remembered him climbing the wall.
“When I’m not skipping class.”
Sheng Renxing found this interesting and lifted his brows.
“This doesn’t count as skipping?”
“I haven’t left school, so it doesn’t count.”
Reasonable and well supported.
Sheng Renxing nodded in agreement.
“So this classroom is your territory?”
“This room is usually empty.”
Xing Ye did not particularly agree with calling it territory.
He had not planned to come to school that afternoon.
But Director Li had somehow heard some rumor and insisted he stay on campus.
The classroom was too noisy and Xing Ye was sleepy, so he came here to rest.
Wan Guanxi and the others had originally planned to come play cards here.
Because Xing Ye was around, they decided not to.
Who could have guessed he would run into Sheng Renxing instead?
When Xing Ye arrived, Sheng Renxing had been supporting his chin with one hand and spinning a pen with the other, writing very seriously.
So seriously that Xing Ye had already been there for more than ten minutes.
He had even moved chairs around to make a bed.
Although he had deliberately kept the noise down, it had not been especially quiet.
Sheng Renxing noticed none of it until Xing Ye spoke.
His posture looked exactly like a top student.
If not for the fact that he spun the pen about three times, then answered a question without even needing scratch paper, he would have looked even more convincing.
Xing Ye had originally come upstairs to sleep.
Instead, he spent more than ten minutes watching Sheng Renxing guess his way through the exam.
Only when Sheng Renxing looked for the time did Xing Ye finally speak.
Now, seeing Sheng Renxing narrow his eyes and take his break very seriously, he asked, “Questions difficult?”
“Hm?” Sheng Renxing thought. “They’re okay.”
Then he remembered Xing Ye had already taken the monthly exam and casually asked back, “What about you?”
Xing Ye nodded toward him. “They were okay.”
Sheng Renxing was somewhat surprised.
So the real expert did not show himself?
Was Xing Ye actually a top student?
Then he thought of how Xing Ye always wore his uniform and whistled inwardly.
Sheng Renxing finished resting and prepared to continue the exam.
Seeing Xing Ye’s bed already assembled while Xing Ye still sat there, he asked, “You’re not sleeping?”
“In a bit.”
Xing Ye propped his head in one hand and basked in the sunlight, looking rather relaxed.
Sheng Renxing turned around and continued writing.
The soft swish of the spinning pen and nib touching paper made the sounds of studying from the classrooms outside feel farther away.
There was a quietness outside the bustle.
Xing Ye liked that sound.
He lay over the desk and stared blankly at Sheng Renxing’s back.
Sunlight covered half his desk.
Nothing made him sleepy as easily as the smell of sun.
He pressed a hand against his faintly aching ribs.
Without even lying on the makeshift bed of chairs, he simply watched Sheng Renxing’s back and fell asleep.
Xing Ye woke to the end-of-class bell.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Sheng Renxing’s straight back.
Exactly the same as before he slept, as though Sheng Renxing had not moved once.
Xing Ye was not talkative by nature, and Sheng Renxing was still taking an exam.
Whether he was guessing or seriously solving questions, speaking suddenly would probably scare him again.
While Xing Ye thought this, laughter and noise from students outside drifted in.
Sheng Renxing moved as though waking from the state he had been in.
He tilted his neck left and right, put down the pen, and stretched.
Then he turned his head and jumped at the sight of Xing Ye.
“Fuck.”
Anyone would nearly go into cardiac arrest if they turned around and found someone silently staring at them.
Xing Ye showed no remorse at all.
Instead, he seemed amused. “Finished?”
Sheng Renxing nodded. “On the second paper.”
He had already started Chinese.
If he wrote quickly, he could return to class after the second period.
But…
Sheng Renxing glanced at Xing Ye.
Not handing it in early would also be fine.
“You slept enough?”
“No.” Xing Ye remained lying on the desk as he spoke. “The bell woke me.”
Meaning he intended to keep sleeping.
Sheng Renxing looked at the completely unused chair-bed.
He licked his lips. “Want to sleep over here?”
He pointed to a seat in the same row as himself.
Xing Ye shook his head. “No sun there.”
Sheng Renxing froze.
The sun had lowered farther now and gilded Xing Ye in light.
Without making a sound, it softened the coldness he naturally carried.
Then Sheng Renxing saw Xing Ye invite him from inside the sunlight.
“Want to sit here? Get some sun.”
He pointed to a place slightly beside himself.
Sheng Renxing did not even have time to process being rejected before his heart took flight.
The desks and chairs here were not arranged neatly like a normal classroom.
They were scattered randomly, with distance between each set.
Xing Ye was pointing to a seat slightly ahead and to his right.
He had already moved the chair there.
As he asked, he stood, dismantled his “bed,” and pushed one chair over.
Sheng Renxing thought, He already invited me. How could I refuse?
So he happily carried his papers and stationery and moved house.
This spot had been in the sun the whole time.
The desk was warm.
For once, Sheng Renxing did not care that the desk might be dirty.
He pressed the back of his hand to it and felt the warmth.
The bell rang again soon.
The noise outside gradually returned to silence.
From the corner of his eye, Sheng Renxing saw Xing Ye rest his head on his arm and close his eyes.
The pen in Sheng Renxing’s hand spun faster and faster, while the speed of his answers gradually slowed.
