It is said that reciprocity is a traditional virtue.

The invigilator was Su Kexi.

It was rare to see Su Kexi dressed so formally, as if she had deliberately put in extra effort for the occasion.

Shen Nian understood completely. After all, invigilating meant sitting for an entire day, so of course a girl would want to look her best, perched prettily at the front desk like a solitary flower.

The first exam was Chinese, and since Su Kexi was also the Chinese teacher, Shen Nian couldn’t shake the feeling that her gaze kept drifting toward him. It made him too self-conscious to space out. Even after finishing his paper, he made a show of carefully reviewing his answers—just for appearances.

Unlike math, Chinese didn’t really require much checking. As long as he hadn’t misspelled or omitted characters in the classical poetry recitation section, he was golden.

Another male teacher shared invigilation duties with Su Kexi, but he was practically a ghost—sitting motionless in his chair, radiating zero presence.

"Some students should stop looking around and focus on checking their papers," Su Kexi suddenly announced. It wasn’t directed at Shen Nian, just standard procedure. Even if no one was actually cheating, she had to say it—if only to scare the would-be cheaters into pretending to be engrossed in their papers. Watching them jump and scramble to look busy always amused her.

Fun? Absolutely. She loved it.

Shen Nian, however, thought she was calling him out and immediately straightened up. After all, he had been glancing around.

Major subject exams lasted two and a half hours. By the time papers were collected, it was already 11 a.m. On exam days, dismissal was forty minutes earlier than usual.

As test papers were passed forward row by row, Shen Nian neatly stacked his and handed them to Su Kexi with both hands.

Handing something over with one hand was casual; using both conveyed respect. This was a lesson Shen Nian had learned from his middle school homeroom teacher, and he’d never forgotten it.

It was a small habit of his—a polite gesture that didn’t really matter. Most people, especially those his age (Gen Z, after all), didn’t care about such formalities, except maybe stuffy middle-aged folks.

Still, it couldn’t hurt. Maybe it’d even earn him a smile from the teacher.

Su Kexi nodded, glancing at Shen Nian’s paper on top. It was filled to the brim—a sight that gave her a little thrill.

What a model student. If Shen Nian ever got into a top-tier university, she’d proudly boast to other students about how she’d single-handedly transformed a mediocre student into elite material.

Don’t believe her? Go ask Shen Nian yourself.

The hallway was packed. Li Shiyan lingered by the wall, waiting to walk back to the classroom with him.

Their classroom was on a higher floor, so rushing to the cafeteria was out of the question. Meanwhile, Chen Dong, stationed on a lower floor, was already chowing down on a delicious roasted chicken leg.

Damn it.

Shen Nian should’ve asked Chen Dong to grab him a meal. Oversight of the century.

Now he’d have to eat later, stuck sharing a table with the girls.

"Xia Yanchun, let me check my answers against yours!" Two girls crowded around Xia Yanchun, comparing multiple-choice answers one by one. Reactions varied—some delighted, others dismayed.

"Only eight right? Ughhh."

"Hah! I got ten. Thirty points in the bag!"

Xia Yanchun covered her mouth, laughing. "My answers might not even be right, you know."

"Close enough, though!"

"Yeah, exactly!"

The girls giggled, but Shen Nian just squinted, bored out of his mind. Post-exam answer comparisons were peak cringe. He’d much rather chat with girls about taboo topics—the kind that’d get you hunted down on Xiaohongshu.

Girls were way better at stirring up drama.

‘Your fave could never compare to Wang Erbo.’

‘Wang Erbo wishes he had half my idol’s talent.’

While Shen Nian and Chen Dong were still stuck in hypotheticals like ‘What if I were XX…’, the girls were already inciting full-blown fan wars.

"Hey, let’s go eat," Xia Yanchun said, lightly tapping his shoulder.

"Sure, you’re treating," Shen Nian snapped back to reality.

"I’ll buy you seaweed egg drop soup. All you can drink."

"...That’s free in the cafeteria."

Shen Nian trailed behind as the girls walked ahead. Hmm… their class really did have a high ratio of attractive girls.

Science-track classes were stereotypically male-dominated, but in their case, the girls outperformed the boys. Chen Dong was the only guy who consistently held a spot in the top five; the rest only occasionally broke through with bursts of overachievement.

Shen Nian had set a modest goal for this exam: 600 points and a top-ten ranking in class. Victory achieved.

After lunch, Shen Nian dragged Xia Yanchun to the school store. "Let me treat you to a peanut ice cream bar. You know what they say—courtesy demands reciprocity. I’ll buy you ice cream, and you can show me your legs. Deal?"

Xia Yanchun gave him a deadpan stare, arms crossed. "Hard pass."

"Hah! Aunt Flo’s in town, huh? Guess I’ll just have to eat this ice cream extra hard in front of you. Heh heh heh."

"Ugh, grow up."

The uterus is freezing, ladies.

If she ever died at home from period cramps, Shen Nian would bear full responsibility.

"Wanna head out later?"

"Nah, I’m napping."

"Nap outside. Grab a milk tea, then crash at the bookstore with their AC. Otherwise, you’ll suffocate in here."

"..."

That… actually made sense. After a moment’s thought, Xia Yanchun nodded, went back to the classroom to fetch her tiny pillow, and followed Shen Nian off campus.

Under the blazing sun, Shen Nian started sweating after just a few steps. Xia Yanchun’s small bag contained a compact umbrella, which she opened, casting a sliver of shade just big enough to cover her petite frame.

"Share some shade."

"And what about me?"

"Roast." Shen Nian grinned.

"So my umbrella shades you, while I get sunburned? Why don’t you just hand me all your money and go dumpster diving for food?" She recoiled as he sidled up to her, visibly disgusted.

Shen Nian paused. "Honestly? Not a bad idea. Wanna be my sugar baby? I’ll go broke spoiling you."

"With what money? You couldn’t even afford two meals if you liquidated everything."

"Actually, I’ve been doing alright lately. If I run low, I’ll just go fishing. One catch sells for a few hundred. I’ll fish to fund you."

"You wish."

Unfazed, Shen Nian squeezed into her space. "Gimme some umbrella."

"There’s no room!"

"I’ll just… edge in."

"—Get lost!"

Xia Yanchun couldn’t fathom why her umbrella had to accommodate Shen Nian.

But resistance was futile. She relented, letting him share—on the condition that he held the umbrella.

"Move closer, or you’ll get sunburned."

"Too late."

"Hold on, we’re almost there." Shen Nian slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her snug against him—and took the opportunity to sneak a feel of her smooth skin.

"Hands off, creep!" Xia Yanchun glared.

"If you knew, why’d you ask? Silly Chun."

"Drop dead."

At the milk tea shop, Shen Nian wiped his forehead and ordered two fruit teas, handing the one without ice to Xia Yanchun.

She tugged lightly at her collar, fanning out the trapped heat. Sitting close, Shen Nian caught a whiff of her fragrance.

"Dude, you smell amazing." Sensing an incoming scolding, he quickly deflected. "Nap later?"

"Obviously. I brought a pillow." She patted her bulging bag, which had been stuffed to the brim—not just with the pillow, but also an umbrella, a mirror, nail clippers, tissues… Girls’ bags were basically bottomless.

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Single chapter today... orz

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