Chapter 6: Has Su Qing Been Mimicking Her?

The chill of late October had already begun to seep into the classroom through the windows.

Lin Mo lay slumped against his desk, his mind still reeling from the events of the past two days.

“Hey, wake up! The report cards are here!”

His desk mate, Zhou Xiaoyu, poked him with her elbow, her voice bubbling with her usual gossipy excitement.

Lin Mo looked up dazed and saw their homeroom teacher, Ms. Li Xue’er, walking into the classroom carrying a stack of report cards. Her expression was solemn.

The entire class fell silent instantly — this was the result of the final City-wide Mock Exam before the Gaokao.

“The overall performance this time was acceptable, but a few individual students had significant fluctuations.”

“Come up and collect yours when I call your name,” Ms. Li began distributing the report cards.

“Lin Mo.”

He stood up and walked forward, glancing at his rank as he took the paper.

He was ranked seventy-eighth in the grade.

He had dropped fifteen places since the last exam.

The Gaokao was less than thirty days away, and with this score, even hitting the first-tier university cut-off line was a gamble.

“Certain students,” Ms. Li warned pointedly, “should not be distracted by things that have nothing to do with their studies.”

Lin Mo returned to his seat with his head down. He folded the report card several times and stuffed it into the deepest corner of his backpack.

“What was your score?” Zhou Xiaoyu leaned over and whispered.

“Don’t ask.”

“Oh, come on, let me see —” Zhou Xiaoyu reached out to rummage through his bag.

“Zhou Xiaoyu, yours.” Ms. Li’s voice cut through.

Zhou Xiaoyu stuck her tongue out and went up to collect her report card. She returned with a look of pure excitement.

“I made it into the top 100! My mom has to buy me a new phone now!”

Lin Mo did not respond. His gaze drifted unconsciously toward a seat by the window in the front row.

A girl with a red bow headband sat there, her head lowered as she organized her notes. She looked cool, elegant, and focused.

Shen Qingyue.

A frequent occupant of the top rank in their grade and the Study Representative.

She was the complete opposite of someone like the lively and gossipy Zhou Xiaoyu. Shen Qingyue was exactly like her name — as cold and distant as the moon, difficult to approach.

She rarely initiated conversation. During her free time, she was either reading or helping the teachers organize materials.

Lin Mo had only spoken to her a few times, and it was always about turning in homework.

“Hey, who are you looking at?” Zhou Xiaoyu followed his gaze and teased him knowingly. “Oh — Study Rep Shen. She’s definitely first place again.”

Lin Mo quickly pulled his gaze back, pretending to organize his backpack.

“I’m telling you,” Zhou Xiaoyu lowered her voice, “if you like her, go for it. Graduation is right around the corner. Why haven’t you made a move?”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Lin Mo frowned.

“Give me a break!” Zhou Xiaoyu grinned mischievously. “You secretly bought her cold medicine last time, didn’t you? You think I didn’t see that?”

Lin Mo’s ears began to burn. “How did you know?”

That happened two weeks ago.

During lunch break, he had passed by Shen Qingyue’s seat and saw her slumped over the desk. Her face was pale, and fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead.

On a sudden impulse, he had gone to the infirmary to buy medicine. When he returned, he placed it on her desk and left without saying a word.

“I was just being helpful,” Lin Mo said, feigning nonchalance. “She looked like she was in pain. Anyone would have lent a hand.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Xiaoyu arched an eyebrow. “Then why don’t you help anyone else?”

Lin Mo had no answer for that.

He remembered something from much longer ago.

It was during their first year of high school. Once, while he was doing homework with Su Qing, he saw that Shen Qingyue had taken first place in the grade again. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“How does Shen Qingyue get such good grades? I wish I had even half of her brain.”

At the time, Su Qing was solving a physics problem. Her pen paused on the paper.

“Do you like that type?” she had asked. She didn’t look up, and her voice was very soft.

“What type?”

“Smart girls who seem cold and distant.”

Lin Mo had laughed back then. “Who doesn’t like a Top Student? Besides, she’s not really cold, just quiet.”

Su Qing didn’t say anything else.

Since that day, Lin Mo felt that Su Qing’s attitude toward him at school had become colder.

They used to greet each other in the hallways occasionally, but later, she treated him almost like he was invisible.

He had assumed she was just too busy with Student Council work, but thinking about it now…

Could she have misunderstood something?

“Hey, why are you spacing out?” Zhou Xiaoyu’s hand waved in front of his eyes.

“It’s nothing.”

“Hey, hey, don’t walk away! I’m not finished —”

During the final period of the afternoon, the homeroom teacher announced the roster for the study groups.

“To help everyone support each other during this final sprint, the grade has decided to form study groups. Each group will have four people and will study together for one hour after school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

Ms. Li adjusted her glasses. “The list has been finalized. I will announce it now.”

The classroom fell silent.

Lin Mo lowered his head and twirled his pen, not paying much attention. That was until he heard his own name.

“Group Three: Lin Mo, Shen Qingyue, Wang Hao, and Li Wei.”

His pen clattered onto the desk.

Low murmurs broke out around the room.

Lin Mo felt several gazes land on him, one of which was particularly obvious — it came from Zhou Xiaoyu, who was winking and nudging him.

Lin Mo ignored her and instinctively looked at Shen Qingyue.

The girl remained sitting straight, still writing something in her notebook. Viewed from the side, her eyelashes were long, shading a pair of almond-shaped eyes, and her nose was small and delicate.

When the group results were announced, her pen hesitated for a split second, but her expression remained unchanged.

However…

If Lin Mo could have seen her notebook, he would have discovered a tiny, slightly crooked heart drawn in the bottom right corner of the page.

“Group study sessions begin next Monday. Each group will decide on their own location; you may apply for an empty classroom,” the homeroom teacher continued. “I hope you all make the most of this opportunity to help each other and progress together.”

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Students began tidying their desks and discussing the groups.

Lin Mo slowly stuffed his textbooks into his bag, his mind a mess.

“This is your chance, man!” Zhou Xiaoyu slapped his shoulder. “A beautiful lady is within your reach! Don’t blow it!”

Lin Mo replied, “I only admire the Study Rep because she’s good at her studies…”

“I get it, I get it,” Zhou Xiaoyu said with a look that clearly suggested she didn’t believe him.

Lin Mo knew that further explanation would only make things worse.

Being in a group with Shen Qingyue… that meant spending three hours a week alone with her.

If it were before, he might have thought this was a great opportunity. After all, Shen Qingyue was the top student in the grade. The teachers often joked that the only reason she didn’t get a perfect score was because the exam wasn’t worth enough points.

Being able to study with her would surely help his own grades and provide better study methods for the Gaokao.

As the teachers liked to say: “If you have a question you can’t solve, ask the class representative. If the class representative can’t solve it, ask Shen Qingyue. If even Shen Qingyue can’t solve it, don’t bother asking me; there must be a mistake in the question itself.”

But now, his first thought was Su Qing.

The Su Qing who would get jealous if he spoke to other girls. The Su Qing who would pretend to use Hypnosis to “interrogate” him.

If she found out he was in a study group with Shen Qingyue and would be spending three hours alone with her every week…

He instinctively glanced at Shen Qingyue’s seat and saw her packing her bag. Sensing she was about to turn around, Lin Mo immediately looked away.

Shaking his head, Lin Mo walked out of the classroom.

In the hallway, he saw Su Qing and several other Student Council members standing in front of the Notice Board, seemingly discussing an event schedule.

She held a folder in her hand, her profile looking serious and focused. She looked exactly the way a Student Council President should.

She was calm, professional, and maintained a perfect distance from everyone.

She was a completely different person from the Su Qing who had clung to him and kissed his cheek the previous night.

Lin Mo suddenly recalled Zhou Xiaoyu’s words and his own careless comment from their freshman year.

‘Do you like that type?’

‘Smart girls who seem cold and distant?’

Could it be… that Su Qing really misunderstood and thought he liked girls like Shen Qingyue?

Was that why she deliberately mimicked the “cold Top Student” persona at school?

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Lin Mo felt it might actually be the truth.

Lin Mo thought back to the changes in Su Qing over the years.

In elementary school, she had been a cheerful, rowdy little girl. In middle school, she started becoming more reserved. By the time they hit high school — especially after she became the Student Council President — she had become the definition of “cold and distant.”

He had always assumed it was just a natural part of growing up.

But now…

“Lin Mo!”

A voice interrupted his thoughts.

Shen Qingyue was standing at the classroom door, notebook in hand, her eyes looking at him calmly.

“Regarding the study group,” she said. “Shouldn’t we discuss the location and time?”

Lin Mo froze for a moment and instinctively glanced toward Su Qing.

Su Qing happened to turn her head at that exact moment.

Their gazes met in the air for a fleeting second.