Tonight at 8:00 PM, the library’s closing bell rang on time.
Lin Mo looked up from a pile of physics problems, rubbing his aching eyes.
Outside the window, it was completely dark. Only the four of them remained in the group.
“I’m sorry, I talked for a bit too long,” Shen Qingyue said as she closed her notebook, her voice carrying a hint of apology.
She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingertips. This was the third time she had done this today. She always did this whenever she got deeply involved in explaining a problem.
‘He shouldn’t have noticed, right?’ Shen Qingyue thought to herself, stealing a glance at Lin Mo as she put her glasses back on.
“Not at all. It’s because I’m too slow. It took so long to understand just one problem,” Lin Mo said quickly.
“You aren’t slow.” Shen Qingyue put her glasses back on, her voice calm. “You’ve made great progress in Mechanics. You got three wrong on the last quiz, but only one wrong this time.”
Lin Mo was stunned. He hadn’t even remembered it that clearly himself.
‘Of course I remember,’ Shen Qingyue said in her mind. ‘I’ve recorded the types of mistakes you made on every paper in the back of my notebook.’ But she wouldn’t say that out loud.
As the Study Representative, she received the test papers for every subject before everyone else. Every time Shen Qingyue helped the teachers organize the papers and rank the scores, she would take note of Lin Mo’s grades and his mistakes.
Lin Mo, however, had no idea.
“It’s just this part of Electromagnetism…” Shen Qingyue opened Lin Mo’s paper and pointed her pen at several incorrect problems. “There’s a deviation in your understanding of the concepts. I was like this in tenth grade too. I got better after I made a dedicated summary of the topic.”
She took a thick notebook out of her backpack; its corners were already somewhat worn.
‘My God!! She started organizing and self-studying Electromagnetism in tenth grade, while I’m still…’ Lin Mo marveled internally.
“You can borrow this,” she said, pushing the notebook over. “It contains my physics notes from tenth grade until now. The key points and common mistakes are all marked. The Electromagnetism section is in unit three.”
‘Oh no, why did I have to show him this…’
The moment she handed over the notebook, Shen Qingyue suddenly felt a pang of regret. There were too many of her personal traces in this notebook.
But she still handed it over — he needed it, and… and he shouldn’t laugh at her, right?
Lin Mo took the notebook and flipped to the first page. He saw neat handwriting, clear diagrams, and detailed derivation processes next to every formula.
When he turned to the Electromagnetism section, he saw a tiny doodle of a person yawning in pencil next to a complex formula. The strokes were very youthful, looking like a spontaneous doodle.
Lin Mo couldn’t help but smile. “This is…”
‘He saw it! That… that stupid thing I drew while staying up until 3:00 AM!’
Shen Qingyue followed the direction of his finger, and the tips of her ears instantly turned red.
“That was… drawn in tenth grade.” Her voice became noticeably quieter. “I was too sleepy, so…”
“It’s quite cute,” Lin Mo said.
‘He said it’s cute…’
Shen Qingyue’s face turned even redder. She quickly packed her backpack. “That… you have to return the notebook to me after the Gaokao. It has my own summaries in it, so it’s not convenient to share it with others.”
“Understood. I’ll definitely take good care of it,” Lin Mo said solemnly.
Just then, his phone vibrated. It was a text from Su Qing: [What time are you coming back?]
It was concise, without emojis or any tone indicators. But Lin Mo could guess her expression at this moment. She must be pursing her lips, eyes fixed on her phone, waiting for a reply.
[Just finished. Coming back now,] he typed.
[Okay.] Just one word.
Lin Mo put away his phone, feeling inexplicably uneasy.
“Someone’s rushing you?” Wang Hao asked with a grin as he packed his bag. “Could it be a childhood friend waiting at the door?”
Li Wei slapped him. “You talk too much.”
Shen Qingyue had already put on her backpack and was standing by the table waiting for them. Seeing Lin Mo look over, she said softly, “I live in Jinyuan Community. It’s on your way for a bit.”
‘Actually, it isn’t completely on the way. I have to take a detour at a small intersection.’ Shen Qingyue knew this clearly, but she didn’t say it.
“Oh, okay.”
The four of them walked out of the library together. The autumn night was already very cold, and Lin Mo wrapped his coat tighter.
At the first intersection, Wang Hao and Li Wei went in another direction. That left Lin Mo and Shen Qingyue walking side by side on the campus path.
“Thank you for today,” Lin Mo said, breaking the silence. “I’ll study the notes carefully.”
“Mm,” Shen Qingyue responded. After a few steps, she added, “You’re actually very smart. You just have the wrong methods. The fact that you progressed so quickly in Mechanics shows that your comprehension skills are fine.”
She spoke very seriously, providing a classic top-student analysis.
‘Actually, I want to say that you’re very special, not like those people who only memorize things by rote.’ But she couldn’t say it out loud, so she could only express it through this “objective analysis.”
When they were almost at the school gate, Shen Qingyue suddenly stopped.
“Lin Mo.”
“Yeah?”
She took a pen out of her backpack’s side pocket — it was the black gel pen Lin Mo usually used, with his teeth marks on it.
“You dropped this.” She handed it over.
Their fingers touched briefly during the exchange. Shen Qingyue’s hand was very cold.
“Thanks.” Lin Mo took the pen.
“Also,” Shen Qingyue’s voice became even softer, “you don’t look too good. Have you been… sleeping too late recently?”
Lin Mo was taken aback.
‘Am I overstepping?’
Shen Qingyue’s heart was pounding, but looking at the dark circles under his eyes, she couldn’t help but speak up. “Studying is important, but your health is the foundation of everything.”
She looked at the ground as she spoke, the tips of her ears turning red again. After saying this, she turned around quickly. “I’m leaving now. See you tomorrow.”
Then, she almost ran away.
‘Oh no, what am I saying! This is exactly how my mom talks to me! Will he think I’m nagging and annoying?’
Lin Mo stood in place, a strange feeling in his heart. It turned out Shen Qingyue could be shy too. It turned out she didn’t just know how to study; she also knew how to care for people.
***
When Lin Mo arrived home, it was almost 9:00 PM.
He took out his keys, but before he could insert them into the lock, the door opened from the inside.
Su Qing stood at the door, wearing a Squirtle-patterned T-shirt, her hair loosely tied behind her head with a few stray strands hanging by her cheeks.
‘8:52 PM, 17 minutes later than the estimated time he should be home.’
Su Qing calculated silently in her mind. The library closed at 8:00 PM, and it took 20 minutes at most to walk back from school. Who was he with during that extra time? What did they say?
She had no expression on her face, just calmly looking at him. She stepped aside to let him in.
“You’re back.”
“Yeah. Why are you…” Lin Mo stopped mid-sentence when he smelled the aroma of food wafting through the house.
“My mom made dumplings and sent some over.” Su Qing stepped aside to let him in. “They’re warming in the pot. I’ll go get them.”
‘Actually, I made them, but if I say my mom did, he won’t feel any pressure,’ Su Qing thought as she took the dumplings out of the steamer. She had specifically made his favorite shrimp filling, each one pinched into a delicate, full shape.
Lin Mo changed his shoes and entered the house, seeing that two sets of utensils had already been laid out on the dining table. The TV in the living room was on, its volume turned low, playing a documentary that few people watched.
Everything seemed normal. But Lin Mo just felt like something was wrong.
Su Qing came out of the kitchen carrying two plates of dumplings, then turned back to get the vinegar and chili oil. Her movements were natural, and she was even humming a tuneless song — it was that old song from the TV when they were making dumplings together two nights ago.
“How was studying today?” she asked casually as she sat down and picked up a dumpling.
“It was okay.” Lin Mo sat across from her. “We went over Electromagnetism. There was a lot I didn’t understand, but they were quite patient.”
“They?” Su Qing looked up at him.
“The four of us in our group.” Lin Mo lowered his head to eat a dumpling. “Wang Hao and Li Wei were there too.”
“Oh,” Su Qing replied, asking nothing more.
What followed was a long silence, punctuated only by the sound of chopsticks hitting bowls and the low narration of the documentary on TV.
Lin Mo stole a glance at Su Qing. She was quietly eating her dumplings, occasionally picking up a piece of cold cucumber, her expression peaceful. Usually, she would follow up with details: What problems did you go over? Who talked the most? Did you understand?
But today, she asked nothing.
“Um…” Lin Mo spoke up voluntarily. “Shen Qingyue lent me her physics notes and told me to take a look.”
‘Shen Qingyue’s notes?’ That was a very personal thing. She just lent them to him like that?
“Mm.” Su Qing nodded. “That’s good. A top student’s notes should be very useful.”
Her tone was flat, devoid of emotion.
The feeling that something was wrong grew stronger in Lin Mo’s heart. He remembered the touch of their fingertips when Shen Qingyue handed him the pen, her red ears when she said “your health is the foundation of everything,” and the little yawning person in the notebook…
Then he looked at Su Qing in front of him. She was resting her chin on her hand, quietly watching him eat. The light shone down from above her, casting long shadows of her eyelashes onto her cheeks. The collar of her Squirtle T-shirt was a bit loose, revealing her clear collarbones.
This domestic, soft Su Qing was a completely different person from the cold Student Council President at school. And she was also different from the Shen Qingyue who drew little people in her notebook.
‘What is he thinking? I really want to hypnotize him… forget it, anyway tomorrow… Hmph… Stinky Lin Mo…’
“Stop spacing out and eat quickly. It’s going to get cold.”