Xiang Di was secretly very happy to be sitting next to Bo Jiangxin.
She had always dreamed of being deskmates with Bo Jiangxin, but when the day actually arrived, she became hesitant.
However, she had no choice; she didn’t dare defy the homeroom teacher’s orders, so she could only brace herself and move her desk.
When she saw her desk merged with Bo Jiangxin’s, Xiang Di felt a sense of unreality.
From head to toe, she felt light and airy.
She sat down lightly.
Usually, she wished her eyes could turn into a radar, searching for Bo Jiangxin twenty-four hours a day.
But now that he was right beside her, and she could see him with just a slight turn of her head, she didn’t dare look.
She really wanted to say hello to him, perhaps something like “please guide me,” but the words caught in her throat and she swallowed them back down.
It was better not to offer a warm face to a cold shoulder, right? Hadn’t she learned enough from the self-study lesson this morning?
The new seating arrangements were finalized, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.
After all, the quality of the seat and the deskmate directly impacted one’s enthusiasm for studying.
If you got a bad seat and an annoying deskmate, forget about studying; you wouldn’t even want to attend class.
Chen Jinghua said, “The seating is set. It’s all based on your individual circumstances. As for why it’s arranged this way, teachers have their own considerations. You just need to know that teachers will definitely not harm you; it’s all for your own good. With so many people in the class, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone.”
A boy sitting in the VIP seat by the podium suddenly muttered, “Then why am I sitting in VIP?”
“Wang Sichen, what are you complaining about? Don’t you know why I arranged you in VIP? You talk more than a vegetable vendor at the market all day long. If I gave you a deskmate, you’d be chatting with them all day. How would they even get into college?”
The boy named Wang Sichen argued, “Then teacher, you could have given me a deskmate who doesn’t like to talk.”
Chen Jinghua sneered, “Give you someone who doesn’t like to talk? Even if I gave you a mute person as a deskmate, you’d still be chatting away with them in sign language.”
Laughter filled the classroom.
Wang Sichen shamelessly pouted and said, “I’m just communicating with my deskmate.”
“You should just communicate with me, your teacher.”
“That’s so boring.”
“Then who do you find interesting to communicate with?” Chen Jinghua couldn’t help but smile.
“Giving you a female deskmate would be interesting, wouldn’t it? Do you want to communicate, or develop a relationship?”
Teenage students loved hearing such jokes, and the laughter immediately grew louder.
Wang Sichen’s face flushed, and he suddenly pointed to the prime seats in the middle of the classroom.
“If we’re talking about developing relationships, teacher, you’ve given both Bo Jiangxin and Ye Minjia female deskmates. Isn’t that creating opportunities for them?”
As soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes shifted to the two people he named.
Indeed, the old man’s seating adjustment this time was quite unexpected.
Usually, the old man tried not to arrange boys and girls as deskmates, and even if he did, it was carefully considered.
It was clear at a glance that these two would definitely not develop a relationship; they were purely study partners, or perhaps sanitation partners, where male-female cooperation doubled efficiency.
Ye Minjia and Liang Qianqian were fine; one was a class monitor, the other a subject representative.
But Bo Jiangxin and Xiang Di…
There’s no need to elaborate on Bo Jiangxin; those who know, know.
He was famously aloof and, as a top student, certainly had the capital to be cool.
As for Xiang Di, besides being more lively when she was with a few close female friends in class, she was usually quiet and didn’t talk much to the boys in class.
When the boys in class occasionally discussed her, they didn’t really know her well enough to evaluate or rate her.
To be fair, this girl was quite pure-looking, with facial features that were typically attractive to straight men: almond eyes, pink lips, and an oval face. Her beauty was not aggressive, and her skin was fair.
She was the type who you’d imagine smelled good, just like a girl next door.
Making fun of her somehow felt guilty.
By the way, do these two even know each other?
“Wang Sichen, why are you bothering with so much? First, stabilize your own grades. I don’t even want to mention your ranking in the last joint exam. If you’re the only one in class who doesn’t make it above the key line, how will you explain it to your parents?”
“Those few are different from you. They know what’s most important right now, and sitting with anyone won’t delay their studies. You think they’re like you, thinking about everything except studying all day long.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jinghua lifted his chin again and specifically called out, “Right, Bo Jiangxin?”
Bo Jiangxin, who was wondering when he would be free from the daily mental harassment of a certain person, was suddenly called out.
He was a bit bewildered but still gave face to the teacher with a faint “mm.”
Chen Jinghua finally began the class, asking everyone to take out the test papers distributed a few days ago.
Xiang Di quickly searched in her desk, wondering if fate was deliberately creating an opportunity for her to talk to Bo Jiangxin.
Among a pile of test papers in her desk, that one particular paper was nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t find it.
Someone said, “Teacher, that paper was given out so long ago, and there are too many papers; I can’t find it.”
Chen Jinghua tutted, “You can’t even keep one paper properly. Those who can’t find it, share with your deskmate.”
Xiang Di: [Oh my god, your assist is too good!]
[This humble believer is willing to offer you sustenance for a lifetime of balanced diet, effortless gains, freedom from worries, enjoying the fruits of others’ labor, and receiving unearned rewards—]
Bo Jiangxin: Taking and receiving.
[Xiang Di! Your great opportunity to make your secret crush a reality has come! Today, you’ll look at the same test paper; tomorrow, you’ll sleep in the same bed!]
[Then dating, engagement, meeting parents, marriage registration, and holding a banquet will all happen in one go. Your beautiful future with him is right before your eyes!]
[Whether you can grow old together with him in a rocking chair depends on your performance now. Go for it!]
Bo Jiangxin:
However, the person who was cheering herself on just a second ago suddenly slumped onto the desk the next second.
As loud as the slogan was, and as beautiful as the imagination was, her courage was just as small.
[Wuwu, I still don’t dare.]
Bo Jiangxin twitched the corner of his lips.
So what? What was the meaning of fate giving her an assist? What was the purpose of such a long prelude?
On the podium, the teacher was almost done with the multiple-choice questions. If this continued, the entire test paper would be finished, and she would still be cheering herself on.
Forget it. After all, she didn’t deliberately lose the test paper.
Just as Bo Jiangxin was about to move the test paper a little closer, Xiang Di suddenly sat up, turned her head, and said to Liang Qianqian, “Qianqian, I can’t find my test paper. Can I borrow yours to look at?”
“Huh?” Liang Qianqian blinked, looked at the back of Bo Jiangxin’s head, “You can look at one with Bo Jiangxin.”
“Oh, he definitely won’t lend it to me. Please, be a good person and lend me yours. I’ll treat you to roasted sausage.”
“You haven’t even asked, how do you know he won’t…”
Before Liang Qianqian could even finish, Xiang Di had already snatched her test paper and quickly turned her head back around.
With the test paper, Xiang Di finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Now she wouldn’t have to borrow a test paper from Bo Jiangxin.
Finally, she could concentrate on listening to the class.
She could concentrate on listening to the class, but Bo Jiangxin’s expression wasn’t very good.
What did that mean?
The slogans in his heart were louder than anyone’s, fantasizing about growing old together, annoying him to death, and the result was just “pulling down your pants to fart,” that’s it?
Either be honest and don’t have any thoughts about him, don’t disturb his peace, or be bolder.
Otherwise, what’s the difference between harassing someone, then midway through suddenly pulling up your pants and saying, “Sorry, I just realized this is illegal, so bye-bye”?
Harassed halfway, then stopped abruptly, so it’s not harassment?
Bo Jiangxin: “Xiang Di.”
Xiang Di, who was diligently taking notes, looked up: “Huh?”
Her eyes were innocent, as if the person who had just planned out their entire relationship and marriage in her mind wasn’t her.
Bo Jiangxin was momentarily stuck.
Xiang Di was still wondering why he called her.
She looked down and suddenly realized that she had been so focused on taking notes that she hadn’t even noticed her arm crossing the “three-eight line” (an imaginary line between desks).
It must be because of this!
“Ah, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
She quickly pulled her arm back, and also moved her chair further away, trying to keep as far from him as possible.
Then she smiled politely at him and continued to lower her head and take notes.
After doing all this, she felt quite pleased, thinking proudly to herself: [Hmph, good thing I’m clever enough, otherwise he would have disliked me.]
Bo Jiangxin suddenly didn’t know what to say and could only give up.
No matter how much she fantasized about him in her heart, at least on the surface, her sense of boundaries was impeccable.
She even seemed to avoid him, fearing that she might offend him, leaving him no excuse to criticize her.
Bo Jiangxin remained silent, his appearance still calm, but his heart was like a muffled volcano, boiling and churning, with the danger of erupting at any moment.
What was wrong with the homeroom teacher to suddenly arrange Xiang Di to be his deskmate?
He let out a low “tsk,” rubbing his brow hard, his fair and handsome brows filled with annoyance.
She thought pulling her arm back would be enough, she thought moving her chair away would be enough.
But what truly crossed the line and disturbed him was more than just an arm, or a chair.
Having her test paper snatched, Liang Qianqian had no choice but to say to Ye Minjia: “Class monitor, my test paper was snatched, let’s share one.”
Ye Minjia generously moved his test paper over and looked at it with her.
Looking at the backs of the two people in the front row, Ye Minjia looked thoughtful.
“Hey, let me ask you something.” He suddenly leaned closer to Liang Qianqian.
Liang Qianqian: “Huh?”
“You’re with Xiang Di every day. What do you think about her and Bo Jiangxin…” He paused, narrowing his eyes slightly, “How’s their relationship?”
“How is it?” Liang Qianqian said, “Not great, I guess.”
Ye Minjia: “Why?”
Liang Qianqian shrugged: “They’re not even willing to share a test paper, how good can their relationship be?”
Ye Minjia clicked his tongue: “You don’t understand this.”
Liang Qianqian was confused: “Don’t understand what?”
Ye Minjia looked at her affectionately, “Go home, child. Remember to sit at the kids’ table when you eat later.”
“Nothing.”
Liang Qianqian inexplicably glared at him.
Looking at the two people in front, they were deskmates, their desks right next to each other, yet it was as if there was a Milky Way between them. Ye Minjia’s heart suddenly felt even more certain.
Being open and generous is friendship. Being so cautious that you avoid even looking at the same test paper, that’s where something fishy is going on.
He was sure, there was definitely something going on between these two.
As soon as class was over, Xiang Di pulled Liang Qianqian to the restroom.
After Liang Qianqian was done, she asked Xiang Di if she was ready as usual.
Xiang Di said not yet.
Liang Qianqian said: “Then I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Don’t wait for me, I think I have a bit of diarrhea. You go back to the classroom first.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Mm-hmm.”
However, not long after Liang Qianqian left, Xiang Di crept out of the restroom.
She didn’t go back to the classroom either, standing in the corridor in a daze, staying there until the class bell rang, then slowly returned to the classroom just in time.
Throughout the day, as soon as class was over, Xiang Di would go to the restroom. Although girls liked to go to the restroom in groups, Liang Qianqian couldn’t accompany her every time.
Liang Qianqian was a little worried if Xiang Di had eaten something bad and asked if she wanted to ask for leave and go to the hospital.
Xiang Di said: “No, no, I’m perfectly fine.”
Leaving the classroom and feeling the breeze in the corridor, her heartbeat finally slowed down a bit.
The early spring night was still cool, perfect for clearing her mind, and Xiang Di continued to space out.
She just found it awkward after class because she didn’t have much to talk about with Bo Jiangxin, so she had to find an excuse to leave the classroom. But if she was really asked to take leave, she couldn’t bear to.
Xiang Di was a little angry with herself. She had yearned for this for three years, and now her dream had come true, so why was she chickening out again?
She thought she must have gotten used to secret crushes, used to quietly looking up at that person, used to being an observer. Secret crushes didn’t require any courage, because she was used to being a coward, so when she was truly pushed in front of that person, she became timid instead.
She even wanted to go to the homeroom teacher and ask for a seat change, she was more used to being a coward.
Sigh, some people are just destined to only have secret crushes in this life.
Xiang Di, as if by some strange impulse, walked to the office door.
Just as she was about to go in, she saw Bo Jiangxin there too.
Her heart tightened, and before she could hide, she heard the homeroom teacher ask him: “Do you have some conflict with Xiang Di? Why don’t you want to be her deskmate?”