Just a playful jest.

The weather was gradually getting hotter. In a southern city like Cinan, people had already started wearing short sleeves by mid-April.

As the weather warmed up, the school began urging students to wear their uniforms. During the flag-raising assemblies, the school leaders would even single out classes with mismatched uniforms.

There were only forty-five days left until the college entrance examination, and less than half a month until the grand joint exam.

"Graduation is getting closer and closer."

"Yeah... Did the graduation autograph book you bought arrive?"

"It's almost here, almost here... By the way, we're about to take graduation photos, right?"

"Yeah, sigh, I wonder if we can wear our own clothes..."

A group of girls gathered around chatting. The closer the college entrance exam loomed, the fewer things there were to worry about. Aside from taking graduation photos and the joint exam, there didn't seem to be anything else worth paying attention to.

Shen Nian leaned against the corridor railing, enjoying the breeze and listening to the girls chat.

Thinking about graduating in less than two months, Shen Nian actually felt a bit reluctant to let go.

Entering college meant stepping half a foot into society. You could make your own decisions for many things, unlike in high school where consent forms still needed a parent's signature.

Once they graduated, the students in the class might never see each other again. The next time they met might be at a class reunion organized by some random classmate.

And there was no guarantee there would even be a class reunion.

"Haha, if it isn't my brother Nian. What are you doing leaning on the corridor?" Chen Dong walked over with a smile and patted Shen Nian twice on the shoulder.

Damn, why did you leave a wet print?

Shen Nian sweatdropped. "Enjoying the breeze, what else?"

"Damn, so elegant. I'll join you."

And so, another guy joined him leaning on the corridor rail, letting the gentle breeze brush through his hair.

"What are you guys doing?" Ma Mingfan patted Chen Dong's shoulder. Seeing a soaking wet handprint suddenly appear where he just patted, he pointed at it in astonishment. "Holy crap, why is there water on your shoulder?"

"You think you're so funny."

Chen Dong couldn't even be bothered to roast him for acting innocent.

Ma Mingfan also joined the corridor-leaning squad. The long break was only so long, leaving no time to play anything else, so standing in the corridor to enjoy the breeze became the choice for most students.

It also helped to refresh their minds and keep them from getting too sleepy.

"The classroom reeks of essential balm, it stinks. Does rubbing essential balm under your eyelids really keep you awake?"

Ma Mingfan couldn't help but complain. The girl sitting in front of him applied so much essential balm that the smell wafted over to him, stinging his nose with a cold sensation. It was not pleasant at all.

"I don't know if rubbing it under your eyelids wakes you up, but I know a place where applying it will definitely wake you up."

"Now that you mention it, I know too." Ma Mingfan held back a laugh like Faker.

Shen Nian: "..."

Seeing the expressions on these two weirdos' faces, Shen Nian knew too.

Fuck.

"What's wrong with you? You're actually not talking trash today?" Ma Mingfan looked at Shen Nian.

"You don't understand my melancholy."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just feeling that specific kind of melancholy today." Shen Nian said expressionlessly.

No matter how Ma Mingfan looked at him, Shen Nian didn't seem melancholy at all.

But since Shen Nian said he was melancholy, Ma Mingfan would take it seriously, regardless of whether it was true or not.

They say a good song can effectively soothe emotions, and under the right circumstances, it can even redeem a supervillain.

"Let me sing you a song." Ma Mingfan said with a serious face.

To cheer up his good buddy, sacrificing a bit of his angelic voice was worth it.

Shen Nian tilted his head, a giant question mark popping up over him.

He had no interest in Ma Mingfan's singing, but since Ma Mingfan offered, he had to listen.

They were bros. Even if he sang as horribly as Haji-Chun, Shen Nian would still clap earnestly.

Ma Mingfan closed his eyes, brewing emotions from the bottom of his heart.

He slowly opened his mouth.

"Come back, PUBG Mobile, my proudest faith, G-Port is vivid in my mind, tears are inexplicably flowing..."

Shen Nian: ?

Chen Dong: ?

Shen Nian was moved to tears. He had heard this song a decade ago and thought it was lost to history. Thank Hajima for letting him hear this world-class masterpiece once again.

This was true cursed music.

"Are you cheered up now? If not, I'll switch to another one. Legend, Saga, Noa, the mystery of the Ultraman King, cannot compare to Tiga, Dyna, Gaia..."

"Enough, enough, I'm happy now, okay!"

"As long as you're happy. Shen Nian, remember, your bros are always your ultimate backup. Bros in the heart, always reachable by phone. If you ever run into trouble, call me, and I'll rush over immediately to laugh at you."

Shen Nian was dying of laughter.

He slapped Ma Mingfan heavily twice, making Ma Mingfan bare his teeth in pain.

After hearing Ma Mingfan's howling, he felt even more reluctant to part with him, afraid that he wouldn't be able to beat him up after graduation.

Class started, and the students in the corridor returned to their classrooms one after another.

The weather was twenty-four or five degrees Celsius. Although it wasn't too hot, it wasn't very comfortable without air conditioning either, especially with fifty people crammed together in a classroom. The windows on Shen Nian's side were all open.

There was a breeze today. The wind swept through the classroom, fluttering the small ponytail of the girl at the neighboring desk.

Shen Nian rested his head on his arms and stared blankly at Xia Yanchun for a while. The girl's side profile was adorable and looked incredibly sweet.

A sweet-type beautiful girl was simply too overpowered.

"Is there a flower on my face?" Xia Yanchun shot Shen Nian a fierce glare. With him staring so intently, there was no way she wouldn't notice.

"No, can't I just look?"

"..." Xia Yanchun didn't know how to respond to that. Letting him stare felt weird, but stopping him seemed unnecessary since he was just looking and it wasn't like she was losing a piece of flesh.

Seeing her stay silent, Shen Nian stopped looking at her and turned his head toward the window. Watching the students sprinting out of the tuck shop was also an interesting sight.

He remembered back in middle school, Xia Yanchun had given him a page from her graduation autograph book.

They literally lived next door to each other, visited each other every day, and bickered constantly. They couldn't be any more familiar with each other, yet she still did these superficial things.

According to Xia Yanchun, since she gave one to everyone else, not giving one to him would make her seem petty.

If Shen Nian filled it out wrong, Xia Yanchun would even scold him.

He still remembered those few sentences from Xia Yanchun.

"Why did you write your solar calendar birthday? You have to write the lunar one."

"What do you mean Pisces? You are clearly a Cancer, okay!"

"Your handwriting looks like chicken scratch. Who would believe your hobby is calligraphy?"

It was something everyone just scribbled on casually, but Xia Yanchun insisted he fill it out seriously and perfectly. She would check it item by item, just like grading homework.

Back then, Shen Nian thought Xia Yanchun was just being difficult. But now... ever since they got together, he always felt that many of her past words and actions carried a hint of ambiguity toward him.

Damn, was Haji-Chun planning to train him even back then?

Scared to tears by a bad woman.

Lunch break.

Shen Nian quickly finished his meal and, as usual, packed a large five-spice chicken leg for Xia Yanchun. When Xia Yanchun came back from lunch, he sat in Li Shiyan's seat and fed it to her.

"By the way, do you never get full from your meals?" Shen Nian quietly watched Xia Yanchun eat the chicken leg, her lips stained with a bit of grease, and asked curiously.

"I am full," Xia Yanchun blinked her almond eyes.

"Then how come you're enjoying that chicken leg so much?"

"Being full actually just means being seventy percent full. You can't possibly eat until you can't stomach another bite, right?"

"Damn, being full to you only means being seventy percent full?"

"Where did this glutton come from?"

Shen Nian looked astonished, his face clouding over with deep disappointment and sadness.

"I brought you a chicken leg, and just because I like to eat until I'm actually full, you call me a glutton... Xia Yanchun, I feel like being with you like this is so suffocating."

Xia Yanchun pursed her lips and hooked her small fingers onto Shen Nian's collar. "You didn't put your shirt on backwards either..."

"Now I'm even more suffocated."

"Stop suffocating, say ah..." Xia Yanchun tore off a piece of chicken meat and held it between her fingers.

The classroom door was closed, and the curtains were drawn. The lunch break bell was about to ring, and there was hardly anyone walking around the entire teaching building.

Right now, the classroom was a little private space just for the two of them.

"I'm mad. I'm not eating." Shen Nian turned his head away, putting on a show of sulking for Xia Yanchun to see.

"Hurry up and eat. I'll give you a lap pillow after you finish."

"?"

Why didn't you mention such a good deal earlier?

"I was merely jesting just now, don't take it seriously, Chunbao."

Shen Nian slurped the piece of chicken right from Xia Yanchun's fingers, taking the opportunity to playfully suck on the girl's fingertips as well.

Xia Yanchun: ...

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