New Deskmate

The seven-day military training finally came to an end.

The originally fair and clean seventh graders now looked as if they had just been dug out of a coal mine. Except for their white teeth, their entire bodies radiated a healthy bronze, or rather, caramel color.

The ceiling fans in the classroom whirred, providing a negligible amount of coolness.

Chen Zhi lay on his desk, spinning his ballpoint pen out of sheer boredom.

"Quiet down!"

The homeroom teacher, Wang Qian, walked into the classroom in her high heels, holding a roster and a seating chart. She looked to be in good spirits today. Clearly, these little monkeys finally finishing their military training and returning to the classroom gave her a chance to put her skills to use as a homeroom teacher.

The classroom instantly fell silent, dozens of pairs of eyes staring at the podium.

"Although military training is over, this is just the beginning of your middle school life," Wang Qian habitually tapped the blackboard. "Next, we need to do two things. First, determine the class committee; second, adjust the seating."

At the mention of the class committee, a commotion immediately broke out among the students.

At this age, being a class officer was quite prestigious, and many were eager to try.

Only Chen Zhi buried his head even lower.

Please do not look at me, please do not look at me.

"Regarding the candidate for class president," Wang Qian's gaze swept across the classroom and landed precisely on Chen Zhi, who was trying to shrink himself into a pile of books. "During the military training, Chen Zhi performed excellently. Not only did he train hard himself, but he was also helpful and assisted the instructors in managing the class in an orderly manner. Does anyone have any objections?"

Chen Zhi jerked his head up, just about to raise his hand and say, "I object," when a round of enthusiastic applause erupted around him.

"No objections!"

"The class president is awesome!"

"We support Chen Zhi!"

These animals... Chen Zhi's mouth twitched. This was not support at all; it was clearly because this job was a thankless task, and they were more than happy to have someone else take the fall. Especially those few boys, smiling so slyly.

"Alright, since everyone unanimously agrees, Chen Zhi will continue to be the class president." Wang Qian did not give Chen Zhi a chance to refuse at all, making the final decision directly. "For the other committee positions, those interested can come to me after class to sign up. Now, everyone stand up, take your backpacks to the corridor. We are going to rearrange the seats."

After a clatter of desks and chairs colliding, the classroom emptied out.

Wang Qian stood at the door like a general calling the roll, reading the names one by one.

"Li Zihan, third row, middle."

"Li Jiahao, fourth row, by the window."

...

As the names were called out one by one, Chen Zhi noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Wang Qian had clearly put some thought into the seating arrangement, basically following the principle of "good students guiding poor students" or "balancing the active with the quiet."

"Lin Wanwan, second row, middle."

Carrying a pink backpack, Lin Wanwan blinked at Chen Zhi as she walked past him, mouthing the words: "Wait for me after school."

Chen Zhi rolled his eyes and ignored the girl.

Over the past few days, the news that he, Lin Wanwan, and Li Zhiyi were childhood friends had been spread by some loudmouth. Now, the whole class looked at him weirdly, especially the boys. Their envious and jealous glares could practically burn two holes in his back.

"Li Zhiyi, next to Lin Wanwan."

Hugging her backpack, Li Zhiyi hurried into the classroom with her head down. When she passed by Chen Zhi, her footsteps paused as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately, she just blushed and walked quickly away.

"Chen Zhi."

Finally, his name was called.

Chen Zhi picked up his backpack, waiting for Wang Qian's verdict.

"Fifth row, the seat by the back door." Wang Qian pointed to the corner.

That was the class's prime real estate. You could advance or retreat; it was close to the back door, making it easy to slack off, and far from the podium, making it hard to be hit by flying pieces of chalk. Chen Zhi was very satisfied with this.

He leisurely strolled over to the seat and sat down, stuffing his backpack into the desk drawer.

"Pei Ningxue, next to Chen Zhi."

Wang Qian's voice rang out again.

The originally somewhat noisy classroom fell into a brief silence.

Everyone's eyes turned to the aloof girl at the door.

Pei Ningxue tied her hair in a simple ponytail today, revealing a smooth and full forehead. Because she did not participate in the latter part of the military training, her skin tone was clearly on a different level than the rest of the class. Carrying a high-quality backpack, she walked into the classroom expressionlessly.

She walked straight to the empty seat next to Chen Zhi, put down her backpack, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

Her movements were smooth and flowing, not even sparing Chen Zhi a glance.

"Holy shit..."

Li Jiahao in the front row let out a suppressed low exclamation, viciously snapping the eraser in his hand in half.

His heart was bleeding.

Ever since he witnessed Pei Ningxue getting into that Maybach S-Class with his own eyes that day, Li Jiahao's worldview had undergone an earth-shattering change.

Forget Lin Wanwan, forget the school beauty; in the face of absolute financial power, they all seemed so pale and powerless.

Although Li Jiahao was only in the seventh grade, he was an ambitious man. He deeply realized that this was an opportunity to change his destiny. If he could woo Pei Ningxue, he would not just be winning a beauty; he would be skipping fifty years of hard work!

For this reason, he had reluctantly parted with his treasures over the past two days, shifting the target of the snacks he originally planned to give Lin Wanwan. He even spent a fortune buying a bottle of imported high-calcium milk, just to make his presence known to Pei Ningxue.

But now...

Chen Zhi! It was Chen Zhi again!

It was not enough for this guy to hog Lin Wanwan and Li Zhiyi, now he was going to lay his hands on his "wealthy family dream"?

Li Jiahao stared daggers at Chen Zhi. If looks could kill, Chen Zhi would be riddled with holes right now.

Chen Zhi did not think much of it.

Having a beautiful deskmate was certainly easy on the eyes, just a bit cold.

"Please take care of me from now on," Chen Zhi turned his head and greeted her out of politeness.

Pei Ningxue's hand, which was organizing her textbooks, paused. She turned her head, and those eyes, like deep pools, lingered on his face for two seconds.

"Mm."

She gave a faint response, then turned her head back to continue organizing her things.

Great, a conversation killer.

Chen Zhi shrugged, not wanting to ask for a snub, and lay on the desk preparing to catch up on some sleep.

As soon as the bell rang, Chen Zhi was about to go to the restroom. Just as he walked into the corridor, he saw a good show unfolding not far away.

A boy from Class 1 named Zhu Jianming, holding two bottles of fruit milk drink, was obsequiously blocking Lin Wanwan's path.

"Wanwan, I just bought this, it is cold, have some..."

"Zhu Jianming."

Lin Wanwan's voice was not loud, but her tone revealed an unprecedented coldness and hardness. She stopped in her tracks and, instead of being vague like before, directly pushed the two bottles of milk back.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Lin Wanwan frowned, her small face full of impatience. "I do not want to drink your stuff, and I do not want to be friends with you. Can you please stop harassing me from now on? It is really bothering me."

Zhu Jianming froze, his hands stiff in mid-air, his face flushing the color of pig liver. "No... no, I just wanted to..."

"What you think has nothing to do with me," Lin Wanwan interrupted him, her eyes clear and resolute. "This is a school, and I'm here to study. If you keep pestering me like this, I'll go straight to your homeroom teacher, or have my family talk to your parents."

After saying that, Lin Wanwan didn't even spare him another glance. She grabbed Li Zhiyi, who was standing next to her, and turned to leave.

Zhu Jianming stood frozen in place. The pointing and whispering of passing students made him wish the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Chen Zhi leaned against the corridor railing, having witnessed the whole scene, and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

Tsk tsk, this girl has grown up.

In the past, whenever something like this happened, she had to rely on him to act as her shield. Now, she had actually learned to fire back herself.

However...

Chen Zhi looked at the two returned bottles of fruit milk in Zhu Jianming's hands and sighed with regret.

"What a pity. No more free milk for me."

He shook his head, turned around, and strolled back to the classroom.

Just as he sat back in his seat, Chen Zhi felt a light tap on his arm.

He turned his head, only to see Pei Ningxue looking straight ahead at the blackboard, while her right hand secretly pushed a bottle of milk over from inside her desk.

It was a beautifully packaged bottle of imported milk, covered entirely in English words. It looked quite expensive.

Chen Zhi looked at her in confusion.

Pei Ningxue still didn't look at him, but the tips of her ears flushed with a faint, barely noticeable pink. She kept her voice very low: "I don't know who stuffed this in my desk. I don't like drinking it, so you deal with it."

Her tone was flat, as if she truly didn't care at all, assuming one ignored her slightly red earlobes.

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow.

Why did this scenario feel a bit familiar?

"Thanks, deskmate."

Chen Zhi didn't hold back. He twisted off the cap, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

The rich, mellow aroma of milk exploded in his mouth. It was indeed much better than the pure milk sold in bags for two and a half yuan at the school commissary.

"Burp—"

Chen Zhi let out a satisfied milky burp and casually placed the empty bottle on the corner of his desk.

Right at that moment, a crisp cracking sound suddenly came from the row in front of them.

Chen Zhi and Pei Ningxue looked up at the same time.

They saw Li Jiahao turning around, staring deathly at the empty milk bottle in Chen Zhi's hand. His eyes were practically popping out of their sockets, and his whole face was contorted.

That bottle of milk... he had saved up his food money for two days and specifically asked someone to buy it from an imported goods supermarket!

And now, Chen Zhi drank it?

And even burped?!

"Li Jiahao, are you alright?" Chen Zhi waved the empty bottle in his hand, asking with a look of concern. "You look terrible. Have you not recovered from your heatstroke yet? Do you want to drink some milk to replenish your energy?"

Li Jiahao's chest heaved violently, and his teeth ground together with a grating sound.

He looked at Chen Zhi's innocent face, then at Pei Ningxue beside him, who remained aloof as if nothing had happened, and felt a rush of hot blood shoot straight to the top of his head.

That was my milk!

That was my fucking milk!!

Li Jiahao opened his mouth to curse, but found his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton; he couldn't utter a single word. In the end, he could only turn back around in grief and indignation, burying his face in his desk as his shoulders heaved up and down.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was crying.

Chen Zhi scratched his head in bewilderment and turned to ask Pei Ningxue, "What's wrong with him?"

Pei Ningxue glanced at the trembling back in the front row. The corners of her lips curled up in an extremely subtle arc that vanished in a flash.

She opened her book and said faintly, "Probably. Was it good?"

Chen Zhi savored the aftertaste and gave a thumbs up. "Tasted great. Keep me in mind next time something this good comes along."

Hearing this, Li Jiahao in the front row stiffened violently, and then began to tremble even harder.