The sound of chairs scraping replaced the morning recitation, and everyone dragged themselves up.
No time to guess at Bo Jiangxin’s strange behavior, Liang Qianqian urged Xiang Di, “Forget about them, let’s go down first.”
Xiang Di agreed, and the two girls left the Classroom arm in arm.
They had to go line up. As the Class Monitor, Ye Minjia would need to call roll soon. He complained, “Bro, seriously, how long are you going to hold onto me?”
Trying again to pull away, Bo Jiangxin pressed down even harder, his expression dark. “Did I say you could move?”
He tightened his grip, in case Ye Minjia slipped away again.
Ye Minjia:
So domineering.
Normally, Bo Jiangxin hated physical contact, as if anyone who touched him would sully his pure and noble self. Now, with the sun rising in the west, here he was, checking someone’s pulse.
In no time, the Classroom emptied. Ye Minjia rolled his eyes—he really had no idea what this guy was up to, but he knew Bo Jiangxin, and had a way to make him let go.
“Dude, if you keep this up, it’s starting to feel a bit ambiguous…”
Bo Jiangxin’s brow twitched and he immediately let go, his face contorted in wordless disgust.
Ye Minjia rubbed his wrist, wincing: “Damn, how are you that strong?”
He looked so refined—how did he have such a grip? If it were a skinny girl instead, he’d snap her arm.
Hard to imagine. Hope his future girlfriend is sturdy enough to withstand that grip.
If he didn’t leave now, he’d be late for roll call. As Class Monitor, Ye Minjia had to keep order, so he said, “I’m not waiting for you, you come down when you’re ready.”
Bo Jiangxin didn’t respond or move. He sat in his seat, looking complex and thoughtful.
He’d just held Ye Minjia’s wrist for at least three minutes, and Ye Minjia’s nagging inner monologue hadn’t stopped once.
From wondering “Did he find out I played on his King of Glory Account?” to “Damn, he’s going to change the password and I won’t be able to show off to girls anymore,” to “Just finish me already, why are you still holding on?” and finally, “This is getting ambiguous…” which had startled Bo Jiangxin enough to let go.
As long as he maintained physical contact, he could hear Ye Minjia’s inner thoughts.
But he couldn’t hear Xiang Di’s anymore. Even with the Biological Link gone, when he helped Xiang Di just now, he should have been able to hear her thoughts too.
Earlier, when Xiang Di patted him, he’d frozen—not because he disliked her touch, but because he still couldn’t hear anything.
His grandfather had told him before—because there were no real medical cases for their inherited illness, the chance of a cure was slim to none.
If he didn’t want to hear people’s inner voices, he’d just have to avoid contact.
Just then, someone patted him from behind. Bo Jiangxin turned around—it was the Class Teacher, Chen Jinghua.
Chen Jinghua had entered from the back door. Seeing only Bo Jiangxin left in the Classroom, he came over.
“Bo Jiangxin, why aren’t you heading down?”
[What’s up with this kid? Just sitting here like a Buddha?]
Chen Jinghua asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Bo Jiangxin shook his head. “No, I was just thinking about a problem.”
“Oh, then go on down, think about it after the ceremony.” Chen Jinghua said,
“After you go down, tell Ye Minjia to keep an eye on class discipline. I need to go to the Principal’s Office, but don’t tell the others, or they’ll know I’m not around and cause a ruckus.”
As he finished, the phone in Chen Jinghua’s pocket rang. He quickly answered, “Headmaster? Oh, the student has arrived? All right, I’ll be right there.”
Before leaving, Chen Jinghua reminded Bo Jiangxin to close the door behind him.
The Class Teacher hurried away.
Bo Jiangxin closed the door and headed downstairs.
All the way, he was puzzled. As long as he had physical contact, he could hear Ye Minjia’s thoughts, and even the Class Teacher’s, but with Xiang Di—nothing.
Why was the contact-based link failing for Xiang Di alone?
When he reached the Playground, Ye Minjia had just finished counting heads and waved him over.
“Old Master Bo, you’re finally here,” Ye Minjia said, “Hurry up.”
Ye Minjia pulled him into the boys’ row. The guys were standing a bit too close, and Bo Jiangxin caught snatches of complaints about the school from two boys.
Bo Jiangxin frowned, moving to the side to put some distance between himself and the others.
The Flag-raising Ceremony was about to start. The national anthem would play any minute, and all the Class Teachers stood at the front of their respective lines.
Ye Minjia muttered, “Why isn’t the Class Teacher here yet?”
Bo Jiangxin said coolly, “He went to the Principal’s Office.”
Ye Minjia was shocked: “Our Class Teacher’s finally been fired?!”
“Nonsense.” The boy behind Bo Jiangxin stuck out his head.
“I heard from Dan Laoshi that we’re getting a transfer student, arranged personally by the Headmaster. The Class Teacher is handling that.”
“A transfer student, now? Our region’s college entrance exam is easy, but not that easy—are they that confident?” Ye Minjia said. “Isn’t this a bit much for the exam year?”
The boy shrugged. “No idea.”
Ye Minjia suddenly nudged Bo Jiangxin.
“Hey, a transfer student’s coming—what do you think?”
Bo Jiangxin’s tone was calm: “What’s there to think?”
“What if their grades are better than yours?” Ye Minjia teased. “Scared?”
Bo Jiangxin shot him a bland look, too lazy to answer.
“Oho, so confident?” Ye Minjia said. “What if it’s a guy, and he’s even more handsome than you? Then all the girls will fall for him, and you—the former campus heartthrob—will be yesterday’s news.”
Bo Jiangxin frowned. Just as Ye Minjia thought he’d finally shown some anxiety, Bo Jiangxin curled his lips, his dark eyes gleaming, and let out a cold chuckle.
“That would be perfect.”
Perfect for some peace and quiet.
Bo Jiangxin didn’t know why he was so bothered, or why he cared about not hearing Xiang Di’s inner thoughts anymore.
What was there to care about? Of all the minds he’d heard, Xiang Di’s was the loudest, the most distracting—crude and full of daydreams, distracting him so much he couldn’t stand being at school, even at home he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Now that he couldn’t hear her anymore, wasn’t it perfect?
Just as she wished—they’d split seats and pretend nothing ever happened, and he’d finally be free.
The Flag-raising Ceremony finally ended. Xiang Di stretched, stomach grumbling after standing so long. She planned to go to the School Canteen with Liang Qianqian to get more food.
Just as she linked arms with Liang Qianqian, someone called out to her.
A striking but rather sullen face—it was Bo Jiangxin.
Remembering how he’d shut her down earlier, Xiang Di felt a bit afraid, worried he’d scold her again. She shrank her shoulders and meekly asked what he wanted.
Bo Jiangxin said, “Come with me to find the Class Teacher.”
Xiang Di remembered—it was about changing seats.
She hadn’t expected him to be in such a rush, and though she felt a bit disappointed, she didn’t show it. Nodding crisply, she said, “Okay, let’s go.”
The School Canteen trip was out, so she asked Liang Qianqian to bring her back a bread roll.
Liang Qianqian glanced at Bo Jiangxin, then at Xiang Di.
Her suspicions grew. Maybe Ye Minjia’s guess was right after all.
Not daring to ask what the two were off to see the Class Teacher about, she just asked Xiang Di, “What flavor do you want?”
Xiang Di replied without hesitation, “Meat floss.”
Hearing her answer so firmly, Bo Jiangxin’s brows eased a bit.
The two of them didn’t return to the Classroom, heading straight for the Teacher’s Office instead. The walk was quiet.
Xiang Di was very quiet. So, after the link disappeared, she could be this silent.
Obediently walking a step behind him, she seemed content to stick her hands into her oversized school uniform sleeves, head down, silently watching the back of Bo Jiangxin’s shoes, fidgeting with her sleeves like a little kid, not even trying to talk.
Even with her so quiet, was it the morning breeze rustling her bangs, her light footsteps, or just her breathing? Whatever it was, Bo Jiangxin couldn’t ignore her.
Bo Jiangxin sighed helplessly and stopped walking.
Suddenly, he was bumped from behind.
He turned, and before he could say anything, Xiang Di had already jumped back.
“Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t looking! I didn’t mean to!”
Afraid he’d think she’d touched him on purpose, Xiang Di took another big step back, putting plenty of distance between them.
She dutifully said, “Let’s go. This way, I won’t bump into you again.”
Looking at Xiang Di, now so far away that, if he were near-sighted, he wouldn’t even see her face, Bo Jiangxin wondered—why not just back up to the end of the world? If she was so scared of touching him, why not leave Earth altogether and emigrate to another planet?
Bo Jiangxin’s face darkened. He stepped closer, and Xiang Di retreated again.
That was the last straw.
Her repeated backing away—and the fact that he couldn’t hear her thoughts, not knowing why she acted this way—finally pushed Bo Jiangxin to the edge.
With a low, frustrated voice, he frowned at her and asked, “Xiang Di, do you think I’m going to eat you? What are you so afraid of?”
He almost blurted out, Weren’t you the one who liked me? The one who called me ‘husband’? The one who fantasized about me? Why are you scared to even come near me?
You can’t even stand close to me—is this what you call ‘liking’ someone?
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