The Concerns of Youth

For the entire forty-minute PE class, apart from running two laps to warm up, Shen Nian spent the rest of the time chatting.

Xia Yanchun was the same, sitting with Li Shiyan in a cluster of girls, chattering away, leaning against each other, squeezed together in a tight huddle.

Shen Nian really wanted to sit with Haji-chun, but unfortunately, Haji-chun was right in the middle of the girls, and the seats around her were all taken. If there was an empty seat, he might have dared to squeeze into the middle of the girls, but since it was full, he could only sit on the sidelines.

They gathered for dismissal and then scattered.

It was hard not to visit the campus snack store after PE class. Even Xia Yanchun, who hadn't done so in a while, dragged Li Shiyan towards the store.

Shen Nian bought a bottle of Pepsi. A gulp of ice-cold cola on such a hot day felt better than busting a nut.

"Haa—" Shen Nian took a massive gulp right after stepping out of the store.

"Anyone else would think you were dying of thirst, drinking in such a rush." Xia Yanchun slowly unscrewed her AD Calcium milk, her little mouth chattering away. "No matter how many times I buy it, I still feel ripped off. It's four bucks outside, but the school store sells it for five and a half. What a rip-off!"

"That's just how the campus store is."

"I'm done buying, let's go." Li Shiyan stepped out of the store a moment later.

She had browsed for a long time not knowing what to buy, and ended up just getting the same AD Calcium milk as Xia Yanchun.

Upon returning to the classroom, Shen Nian immediately spotted the sugar-free green tea on Ma Mingfan's desk and looked horrified.

"Who... who told you to put a giant turd on your desk? Get it off, quick!"

"How is sugar-free green tea shit?" Ma Mingfan was not pleased, looking as if he was ready to debate Shen Nian for three hundred rounds.

"Because it tastes like a giant turd."

"Even if it tastes like a giant turd, does that make it an actual turd?"

"Damn, so it's turd-flavored chocolate."

"..."

Suddenly, he felt Shen Nian's description was quite fitting.

Ma Mingfan covered his face. Though he really didn't want to admit it, he genuinely hated sugar-free green tea. It tasted absolutely awful, okay? Put it on the same table as sugar-free Assam milk tea, and anyone who's drank it would know.

"By the way, why did you buy this thing? Is it even meant for human consumption?" Shen Nian asked curiously.

"Liang Jing gave it to me."

"Holy shit, you actually have a girl buying you water."

My son Hajima already has the makings of a great emperor! Could playing a certain game all the time really help you find your own Hinata?

The moment a girl giving him water was mentioned, Ma Mingfan was no longer sleepy. He immediately pushed his bangs up. "Heh, is it so strange for a handsome guy like me to get water from a girl?"

"Give you an inch and you take a mile. Would you dare say that in front of Liang Jing?"

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

"Then go do it."

"Class is about to start, go my ass." Ma Mingfan cleared his throat.

"Uh-huh." Shen Nian grinned. How could he not know Ma Mingfan? It was fine to brag in front of the bros—the bros would just laugh it off. But he shouldn't trick himself.

Many boys were like this: loud and boastful in front of their friends, but instantly tongue-tied and stuttering in front of girls.

The old Ma Mingfan used to be exactly like that.

People with this kind of personality might get very nervous and awkward around girls. But once they were away from the girls, they would overthink everything they said to them, dissecting the hidden meanings and emotions.

It was worth noting, however, that the current Ma Mingfan no longer stuttered. Shen Nian had seen Liang Jing come look for Ma Mingfan several times, and he never saw Ma Mingfan look nervous.

Originally thinking these two were just gaming buddies, Shen Nian now felt there was something going on between them.

Shen Nian thought about it again. Ma Mingfan's grades were pretty good now. If he really got together with Liang Jing, they would probably end up in a long-distance relationship later on.

Liang Jing seemed to be studying very hard now, too. She often came to Ma Mingfan to ask questions, and sometimes she would ask Xia Yanchun... He just didn't know if she could improve. It was all too common to work really hard and see absolutely no progress.

Well, it had nothing to do with Shen Nian anyway.

During class, Ma Mingfan stared blankly at the sugar-free green tea.

He had a palm-sized English vocabulary booklet. During PE class, he had sat on the large steps behind the stage memorizing words to prepare for the big unified exam half a month away.

Liang Jing came up from who knows where and patted him on the shoulder from behind, nearly scaring him to death.

If it had been Chen Dong or Shen Nian, he definitely would have started cursing, but since it was Liang Jing, he had to swallow all his swear words.

'Going to the store?'

"Let's go after class."

"Oh."

He still remembered what Liang Jing said. They had agreed to go after class, but a little while later, Liang Jing brought over a bottle of sugar-free green tea.

Liang Jing had run to the store by herself.

Unlike Shen Nian, who could easily blend into the girls' circles, getting water from a girl was still a very novel experience for him.

Second only to telling Liang Jing to let him touch her hair.

But he didn't like drinking sugar-free green tea. After all, sugar-free green tea really was akin to a giant turd. He wouldn't normally give it a second glance, but Liang Jing mistakenly thought he liked it and bought it for him.

Disgusting! Giant turd!

But it was a gift from Liang Jing, the first girl his age to ever buy him water.

It tasting awful was a fact, but it wasn't actually a giant turd. Describing someone's gift like that was very impolite.

Chen Dong returned to the classroom right at the bell. Seeing Ma Mingfan staring blankly at a bottle of beverage, he also took a close look.

"Sugar-free green tea? No way, bro." Chen Dong hadn't forgotten the day Ma Mingfan tore off the wrapper, pretended it was regular green tea, and tricked him into drinking it.

"What's wrong, got a problem?"

"Great purchase, bro. Great purchase."

"Son of a bitch," Ma Mingfan laughed out of annoyance.

Shen Nian had the class monitor, Xia Yanchun. They had a great relationship, so giving each other water and snacks was a common occurrence.

Chen Dong had his own childhood sweetheart. Though he rarely brought her up, anyone who knew about childhood sweethearts understood. Who knew how flirtatious they got during the holidays.

Ma Mingfan felt he was caring a bit too much about this bottle of sugar-free green tea.

It made him seem like a massive simp.

Although he actually was.

Perhaps to Liang Jing, the act of giving water was just that—giving water.

For friends, giving water was perfectly normal, right?

Ma Mingfan and Liang Jing didn't really have any special relationship. The only thing that could count as "special" was that he touched her hair once. Just that one time. The rest was just everyday student stuff—playing games together, occasionally going to the store together, and asking homework questions.

Did this count as a mutual crush?

Ma Mingfan had never been in a relationship, let alone experienced a mutual crush. Naturally, the flirtatious classmates around him became his reference point.

A true mutual crush should be like Shen Nian and the class monitor. What he and Liang Jing had... was far too lacking to be called a crush.

Sugar-free green tea or whatever, let it become chocolate once he and Liang Jing actually had something going on.

The teacher click-clacked up to the podium, and Ma Mingfan shook the confusion out of his head.

Thinking about these things just added to his frustration.

Damn this sugar-free green tea, watch me refine and absorb it instantly!

Ma Mingfan was going to challenge himself to finish the entire bottle of sugar-free green tea with a straight face. Never underestimate the willpower of a strong man who could watch Candy Super Sweet twenty times over.