On the second day, Lin You went to school wearing a blocking patch. He specifically chose a large one with a strong peppermint scent, securely covering the small area of skin on the back of his neck.
However, Lu Qingyan seemed to have nothing better to do. Every now and then, he would reach over and touch his nape, intentionally teasing the edge of the blocking patch. Even when Lin You slapped his hand away, Lu Qingyan would just smile at him.
Lin You was so annoyed with him.
“Can’t you fucking behave?” During math class, Lin You scolded him in a low voice, “Bai Lu has been looking our way so many times this morning. Even Ye Nanshan asked if I smelled a cedarwood scent, thinking it was coming from you!”
Only god knows that when Ye Nanshan asked him that, his heart almost stopped for a second.
He finally realized how aggressive Lu Qingyan’s pheromones were.
The more powerful the pheromones, the longer the temporary mark would last. Lin You estimated that the mark on his neck would probably stay for at least a week.
At the thought of this, Lin You wanted to beat himself up for losing control yesterday.
How could he be so infatuated with Lu Qingyan’s charm that he would be okay with anything he did?
Lin You thought while fuming with anger, and accidentally poked a hole in the paper with his pen.
Under the table, Lu Qingyan brazenly held the hand that Lin You didn’t write with, yet still had the thoughts to look at the math problems Lin You was solving. “You made a mistake. The answer to the second question should be 8.”
Lin You shot another dagger-like glare at Lu Qingyan, but upon checking, he found that he had indeed made a mistake.
This made him even more frustrated.
·
During the break, Cai Xiaoguo entered the classroom and distributed a “University Application Preferences Form” to all the students, asking them to fill in the universities they wanted to attend after graduating from high school.
“This is to make you more aware that the university entrance exam is getting closer and closer. Your seniors are about to step onto the battlefield,” Cai Xiaoguo stood at the podium, looking at the still young and somewhat unripe faces in the class, “You should carefully write down your target universities and then work hard towards them in the coming year. You don’t need to submit it to me immediately; hand it in next Monday. But I hope you won’t just casually write down a name just to hand it in; it should be a genuine goal you’re striving for.”
Cai Xiaoguo spoke earnestly. This class of students wasn’t the first class that he was leading, but it would soon be his first third-year class to lead.
He genuinely hoped that each student would live up to their high school years and go to the place they wanted to be.
The students in the classroom gradually stopped their playful chatter. Instead, they were whispering to each other, asking where they planned to apply.
Lin You and Lu Qingyan glanced at each other and didn’t immediately write down their answers on the paper.
On the other hand, Bai Lu in front of them confidently wrote down the university of her choice.
Lu Qingyan held Lin You’s hand and gently stroked his fingertips, repeating one more time, “You can go wherever you want to go.”
Lin You smiled, switched to a red pen, and drew a circle on the back of Lu Qingyan’s hand.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ktf qijmf P kjca ab ub lr tfgf.”
Ds sbeg rlvf lr atf qijmf P kjca ab rajs atf wbra.
Oe Hlcusjc ecvfgrabbv ktja tf wfjca.
·
Ycf kffx ijafg, ktfc Olc Tbe reywlaafv tlr “Fclnfgrlas Cqqilmjalbc Ugfofgfcmfr Mbgw,” ja atf rjwf alwf, tf jirb tjcvfv lc jc jqqilmjalbc obgw ab agjcrofg ab atf jga ragfjw.
During the second years’ second semester, JinNan High School would usually receive around ten transfer applications. However, when the school administration saw Lin You’s name, the teacher in charge of processing the applications furrowed their brow and pulled out the grade-wide ranking chart from the last exam.
Lin You was ranked third.
“Cai-laoshi, is this Lin You from your class really going to transfer to the art class?” the teacher from administration asked Cai Xiaoguo, “It seems like a waste with such excellent grades.”
Cai Xiaoguo was also having a headache.
Lin You’s grades were more than enough to get into any of the top five universities in the country. Normally, the school wouldn’t interfere with students’ choices, but the school leaders had just called and asked him to find out if Lin You had encountered any difficulties. They couldn’t understand why he would suddenly switch to the art stream when he had such great academic achievements. If he wanted to transfer, he should have done it in his first year.
Cai Xiaoguo sighed, “I’m starting to suspect that I must have owed this bunch of brats a lot of money in my previous life, that’s why I have the misfortune of being their teacher in this life.”
However, he didn’t dismissively brush aside this application form.
That afternoon, instead of calling Lin You into the office, it was Lu Qingyan who was summoned by Cai Xiaoguo.
“Have a seat first, I just want to ask you something,” Cai Xiaoguo poured two cups of tea.
Lu Qingyan seemed to know what he was going to ask and politely thanked him after taking the tea.
Cai Xiaoguo didn’t beat around the bush, “I called you here to ask why Lin You wants to transfer to the art stream. Does he really like art and wants to pursue this path, or…” Cai Xiaoguo hesitated for a moment, gave up being indirect, and asked directly, “Or did he experience something that upset him? I’m afraid if I ask him directly, this kid won’t tell the truth, so I wanted to ask you first.”
Lu Qingyan couldn’t help but want to laugh. Who could possibly upset Lin You?
But he didn’t blame Cai Xiaoguo for thinking this way. Having been Lin You’s childhood sweetheart for so many years, he’s not surprised at what choices Lin You made. Lin You has always been like this – carefree and unrestrained, yet very decisive. He makes decisions faster than anyone else, and once he made a decision, he wouldn’t change his mind.
“The school strongly opposes his transfer to the art stream. He’s a promising talent with the potential to compete among the top in the city, you can imagine how much the school wouldn’t like that, right?” Cai Xiaoguo sighed, “I won’t go into that, but our school’s art class has had good results over the years. Many students started learning piano and drawing when they were young. Lin You’s academic grades are more than enough, but can he keep up with the artistic aspect?”
Lu Qingyan placed the teacup on the table and smiled, “It’s not a whim, he carefully thought about this. But that’s just how he is, when he thinks of something, he must do it, or else he’ll have a hard time with himself. As for the artistic marks, I don’t think you need to worry… Even though not many people know, his grandmother is a pianist, and his grandfather is a painter. Lin You has been learning how to draw from his grandfather since he was young, and he’s quite good at it.”
Lu Qingyan paused for a moment and continued, “He has always been good at drawing. In our third year of junior high, he was planning to attend an art school in another city. But he gave up on that because he wanted to be with me.”
This was something he had only recently recalled.
At that time, Lin You had just casually mentioned it to him, looking like he didn’t seem to care much, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.
But now, looking back, Lin You had already given up a chance because of him.
Cai Xiaoguo slowly took a sip of tea. Actually, compared to the school’s dissatisfaction, he was quite fine with it.
He always believed that everyone should be responsible for their own lives.
So, he didn’t actually want to stop Lin You.
“Alright, if your parents don’t object, as a teacher, I won’t interfere either,” Cai Xiaoguo said without pressing further, “Tell Lin You come to the office later.”
Lu Qingyan agreed.
However, before he left the office, he overheard Cai Xiaoguo muttering, “The school wants me to convince Lin You, but even if I force him to change his school choices, would that brat even listen to me?”
Lu Qingyan’s eyes carried a hint of amusement as he said nonchalantly, “Lin You said that if you guys don’t agree, he’ll bring a loudspeaker to the rooftop and threaten to jump, he’ll see whether you guys want to make the news or let him switch out.”
Cai Xiaoguo’s face turned green.
“This brat.” He cursed again.
In the afternoon, Ye Nanshan and them found out that Lin You was going to transfer to the art class.
Each one of them looked at each other in dismay, other than shock, they also felt a bit sad.
They had been classmates since the first year, and even after the division into science and humanities streams, they still ended up in the same class. The fate between them runs deep, otherwise, their relationship wouldn’t be as good.
But now, Lin You was actually going to transfer to another class without saying a word about it.
Everyone felt a bit down for the moment.
Shao An muttered, “Lin You is so ungrateful. Such a big thing like transferring classes, and he didn’t even tell us.”
Bai Lu kicked him from below, “It’s not like he’s transferring schools, what’s there to say.”
But even she didn’t feel too happy about it.
But even until the evening, there was still no movement from Lin You’s side, and he didn’t say when he would be moving his things to another class either.
Ye Nanshan couldn’t hold back and knocked on Lin You’s desk, “Lin-ge, aren’t you going to tell us which day you’ll be moving to another class? It feels like you only have Lu Qingyan in your heart and don’t care about us.”
Lin You looked up in confusion, “What do you mean moving to another class?”
The others turned to him, looking puzzled, “Aren’t you planning to transfer to the art stream? I remember there are only two classes for the art stream, Class 19 and Class 20. Aren’t you going to move your things there?”
Only then did Lin You understand and burst into laughter.
He leaned against Lu Qingyan, “Oh my, it looks like you all are quite reluctant to see me go. I was wondering why each one of you looked at me so sadly in the afternoon. Are you guys finally starting to appreciate my worth now?”
“Just get lost, you’re the most heartless one,” Bai Lu scolded him, “you didn’t even tell us about this.”
Lin You playfully tossed a candy into Bai Lu’s arms, “Don’t get mad, I never said I’m leaving. I talked to Cai Xiaoguo. I’ll still be taking the regular classes with you guys, but I’ll be doing the art training in Class 19 and participating in their art workshop during summer break. But I’ll still be here with you guys.”
“Then you’re… not changing classes?” Hou Zicheng asked him.
“Nope,” Lin You replied matter-of-factly, “I’ll always be part of Class 1.”
Those around him grabbed whatever was at hand and threw things at him, hitting him from head to toe.
“Get lost, you liar, toying with our emotions.”
“Our brotherhood ends today.”
Even Lu Qingyan wasn’t spared and also received a share of scolding.
“You too, Lu-ge. You didn’t even tell us. You two shameless men will be deported by us today.”
Lin You wasn’t annoyed, he happily leaned on Lu Qingyan’s desk and grabbed a handful of candies from the desk, then tossed them into their arms as bribes.
“Okay okay, so hot-tempered on such a cold day. I’ll treat you guys to fried chicken tomorrow.”
They ptui ptui at him a few times in disapproval, but still smiled because of the fried chicken.
“I want the large portion.”
“I want the honey mustard flavor.”
Lin You pursed his lip, “Alright fine, good sirs.”
But after they learned that Lin You was staying, the slightly solemn atmosphere in the corner dissipated, and everyone went back to enjoying candies or doing their homework as usual.
Lin You lay on the desk, looking at which art supplies to add to his collection.
Beside him, Lu Qingyan was writing today’s English homework, his pen flying across the paper at a rapid pace.
Outside the window, the streetlights flickered for a moment before returning to normal, casting a circle of gentle and bright light. Moths fluttered around the light bulbs, emitting soft, muffled sounds.
This was just another ordinary winter night.
Still nearly half a year left before they would enter their third year of high school.
Glad lu-ge is so supportive of his wifey’s dreams 🤭 sad to see this end so soon, I could read up to their uni life and until they get married 😭
Thank you for the chapter 💝