Chapter Thirteen

Tao Ran stared at Qiaoye in a daze, and the black signature pen in his hand made a deep and abrupt mark on the paper. Tao Ran's eyes were particularly clear, covered with a layer of seemingly innocent tears, as if tapping on people's hearts with a small drill bit when looking at them.

Qiao Ye's heart became unsettled for a moment. Hurriedly, he closed his eyes and childishly wrinkled his brows and muttered in a soft voice, "I'm too lazy to play with you. You're just a narrow-minded person..."

Tao Ran remained silent, with a momentary vacant look in his eyes. After a while, he adjusted himself and waited for the next class teacher to arrive.

During history class, Qiao Ye unsurprisingly did not wake up. In reality, the teacher's lectures were very interesting, and Tao Ran could understand them clearly even without a textbook in hand. They spent the remaining half of the class doing review questions printed by the teacher, which covered a wide range of knowledge. Tao Ran felt a bit overwhelmed looking at the densely packed lead characters, but was surprised when they started doing the questions themselves.

He was very familiar with those questions.

It feels familiar, like staying up late to study by the dim light of a lamp, like the ease that comes after solving many problems through hard work, like the mastery that comes after memorizing six books. It feels like treasuring every stroke when pursuing a dream. When the teacher came to inspect the exams, he focused on the new student's paper and asked gently, "Did you transfer from a key school outside the province?"

Tao Ran shook his head in confusion and hadn't snapped out of it yet when the teacher left. It took a while for him to slowly realize that these... maybe some of his original abilities. They were not something that Tao Ran's body possessed, but rather things that could prove his own abilities. When he thought of this, he was even moved to tears.

Before class ended, Qiao Ye woke up slowly and saw that Tao Ran had already finished working on the large four-page worksheet.

"Oh, didn't expect you to be such a big academic star.", he said in a pleasant voice, though his nonchalant Beijing accent revealed a hint of roguishness. Tao Ran didn't mind it, feeling like he had long grown accustomed to this kind of attitude.

"...Do you want to copy it? The teacher said he will check during the next class."

Qiao Ye raised his sword-like eyebrows high. He initially wanted to say, 'Which teacher dares to make trouble for me?' But he swallowed those words back since even he couldn't understand them clearly. He rested his chin on his hand and gave him a frivolous smile as he said, "You better write it well for me."

Tao Ran is not a blank sheet. He instinctively felt that Qiao Ye's laughter was somewhat mischievous and worldly, like teasing a little girl. However, he still didn't want to quarrel with his new deskmate on the first day: "Alright, I'll save the study period in the afternoon to write it for you."

"Where do you want to eat for lunch?" Qiao Ye asked without thanks, sitting up straight and quickly changing the subject.

"Isn't there a canteen?" Yang Yanxue had already prepared his meal card for him.

"The food in the canteen is so bad, I'll treat you to lunch." Qiao Ye propped his leg up and took out his phone from the messy table that looked like porridge, saying, "I'll send a text to my brother first so he won't come looking for me."

"No...it's okay.", Tao Ran quickly waved his hand and fabricated an excuse, "My older brother doesn't allow me to hang out with classmates randomly."

Qiao Ye's eyebrows furrowed fiercely and his small, sharp, snow-white tiger tooth gleamed as he spoke harshly: "You're not going off to have sex with your girlfriend, so why can't you just have a meal with a male classmate?"

Tao Ran stuttered: "My...my brother is very strict with me..."

Qiao Ye fiercely tossed his phone back onto the table, not knowing if the tempered glass protector was still intact. Although Qiao Ye was angered, he didn't go completely crazy just because his goodwill gesture was rejected; he ultimately didn't explode in rage.

Qiao Ye couldn't sleep after attending Geography class, which was a rare piece of news for Class 26. During the second half of the class, they played with their phones and chatted with their buddies in the corner. It caused quite a stir in their group chat.

"Qiao, what does she look like?" The crowd thought that someone with such an aloof and proud demeanor must surely be a girl, otherwise the leader would have already swung his arms and beaten her up.

Qiao Ye didn't really get a good look at the 'she' in class. He glanced over at Tao Ran, who was listening attentively, and quickly replied with his fingers, "Looks pretty good."

"Wow, Boss, you seldom praise people!"

"Looks just like Baymax with those big eyes.", Qiao Ye typed and hit send, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"How many days do you plan to flirt before getting?"

"What?!"

"Qiao, you have some confidence in yourself. You are so handsome that within half a month, you will definitely be a triple threat."

"f**k*ng can't believe it!" Qiao Ye couldn't control his outburst and cursed out loud. He threw his phone directly on the ground.

The teacher glanced over and saw that it was Qiao Ye who didn't respond, but it was Tao Ran who asked with a questioning look.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just want to change my phone."

Tao Ran silently turned his head back.

Qiao Ye seems to be struck with a blow, unable to sleep or play with his phone. He surprisingly solved two questions with ease. He didn't even move for dinner time. He just arrived here and none of his friends were around. His brother also warned him sternly not to skip school and to behave himself.

"I'm so annoyed." Qiao Ye feels as uncomfortable as Sun Wukong with the tight-fitting headband curse.

"Do you want me to bring you some food? What would you like to eat?" Tao Ran thought for a moment before asking this question.

"No.", Qiao Ye glanced at him and said, "Hurry up and come back after you finish eating."

Tao Ran sat back and said, "I'm not hungry, I won't go. Do you need something from me?"

Just now, that information popped back into Qiao Ye's mind. He prides himself on being straightforward, and he's seen his brother being intimate with all kinds of pretty boys before, but today is the first time he's felt the heat rising to the tips of his ears.

Tao ran and felt a little awkward when he saw him not talking. When he caught a glimpse of the messy desks of Qiaoye, his hands itched with a compulsive urge. "Can I help you tidy up the desks?" he asked.

With the help of his new deskmate, Qiao Ye finally enjoyed a tidy and spacious desk area after half a month. He was so happy that he felt even his sleep quality had improved. The leader of Class 26 was delighted and decided that as long as Tao Ran cleaned his desk for a day, he would have one more little brother to rely on.

Tao Ran expressed his insincere pleasure.

It was truly unexpected how well the two of them got along while spending time together.

At 8 o'clock during evening study, Qiao Ye eagerly asked Tao Ran if she wanted to try out his newly modified motorcycle. Tao Ran almost couldn't hold back her laughter and quickly replied that her strict and overprotective elder brother would never allow it.

Perhaps thinking too much would bring about what was being thought of. At the moment of stepping out of the school gates, while sitting in the back seat of their own Mercedes, they saw the face of Li Zekun. Tao Ran was so shocked that their breath was held for a few seconds.