Achai

After the last English class ended, the bell rang. The lifeless atmosphere in the classroom was instantly swept away, and the students packed up happily to go home for lunch.

The sports committee member stood on the platform and shouted: "Monthly exams tomorrow, so no PE class today!! Come directly to the classroom in the afternoon, don't go to the playground!!"

A chorus of sighs arose.

As soon as they left the classroom, there was no air conditioning, and a wave of heat hit their faces as the temperature soared.

Xu Yan, feeling a little dizzy from the heat, hugged her books and homework in her arm, turned a corner and went downstairs.

The crowd was crowded, and there was noisy chatter and clamor.

The two girls in front were holding hands and chatting, their voices neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to reach Xu Yan's ears.

"Hey, have you heard? Just now, Chen Jingyi went to fight with the girls from the senior year liberal arts class. There were a lot of people watching."

"The senior year liberal arts class? Who?"

"It seems to be He Danlu, I heard she got hit in the face with a book at the entrance of the classroom."

"So arrogant? What happened, what happened?"

One of them had a tone full of gossip and curiosity.

"I heard from my friend too. It seems that He Danlu ran into Chen Jingyi while she and her friends were going to the restroom, and she called her a fox with a slutty smell. Then, Chen Jingyi slapped her on the spot."

"Ah?" The girl couldn't believe it. "Sophomores fighting with seniors?!"

Then she asked puzzled, "Why did she randomly insult someone?"

The other girl whispered, full of gossip, "It seems to be because of Chen Jingyi's ex-boyfriend. He Danlu was pursuing him but didn't succeed."

"Ex-boyfriend? Who is it? I don't know. Oh my god, this is so dramatic."

"Xie Ci, did you know?"

One of them paused for a few seconds before saying, "Who doesn't know him?"

After speaking, as if remembering something, she asked again, "Didn't he just break up with Qiu Qingqing? He was with Chen Jingyi before, right?"

"They were just playing around, you know. Those people around him are never short of pretty girls," said the gossiping girl casually. "Actually, the people in Class 9 are all jerks, but they come from wealthy families."

She turned a corner, and the voices ahead gradually faded.

Xu Yan descended the stairs step by step, not interested in listening to others' gossip.

She had only been at this school for a few days, and she didn't know many people in Class 9. Most of them were unfamiliar to her. But no matter where she went, she could hear those familiar names.

It was really a bit unsettling.

Lost in thought, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Xu Yan turned her head and saw her roommate standing beside her.

"Yan Yan, are you going to the cafeteria now?!"

"Uh-huh," Xu Yan nodded.

Her roommate grinned and grabbed her arm, shaking it. "Will you accompany me to buy some food outside the school? I don't want to queue up alone."

Xu Yan was not good at rejecting others. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "But I still have my books with me, is it far?"

"Not far, not far, just outside the school gate," her roommate said, pulling Xu Yan along without any hesitation.

It was lunchtime after school, and the area near the school gate was the liveliest. Several small shops were crowded with students gathered in groups, with some tall boys leaning against trees or squatting, smoking and chatting while waiting for someone.

They were queuing up at a fried noodle stall that had been around for quite some time and had a good reputation. There were already many people in front of them, with the queue extending outside the shop, mostly consisting of students.

Chen Xiao excitedly pulled Xu Yan to the end of the queue, tiptoed to look ahead and said, "Oh my, there are so many people, we might have to wait for a while. Achai, are you not hungry?"

She turned to Xu Yan and asked.

Achai was Xu Yan's nickname.

Last weekend, Chen Lizhi came to the dormitory to visit her and called her Achai a few times, which Chen Xiao found cute and started occasionally calling that too.

The two of them stood on the road, exposed to the scorching sunlight. Xu Yan was wearing long sleeves and a jacket, and her face was already sweaty. She shook her head and said, "It's okay, I'm not hungry."

Her petite face was pale and delicate, tortured by menstrual cramps, with lips devoid of color.

They had been waiting for a long time, but there were always sporadic attempts to cut in line ahead of them, and the queue seemed to hardly move, still stuck in place.

Xu Yan leaned against her waist with one hand, patting Chen Xiao who was playing with her phone, and weakly said, "I'll go squat for a while, you can continue waiting."

The throbbing pain in her lower abdomen made her want to curl up, hoping it would alleviate the discomfort.

Chen Xiao was startled by her weak appearance, quickly put away her phone, and supported her as she asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Xu Yan frowned, paused for a moment, and said slowly, "Menstrual cramps, it's okay."

"You can go back first, don't wait with me in the queue."

"It's alright, I'll go find a place to rest for a while, and you can call me when you done."

She squatted under a sparsely populated tree not far away, with a coffee shop behind her, and the crisp sound of a piano flowing gently.

Xu Yan took out an apple-flavored lollipop from her coat pocket and put it in her mouth, taking a bite.

The cramps in her abdomen were intense, even causing some spasms in her stomach, making it hard to muster the strength to breathe.

...

Inside the coffee shop.

Tu Youyou held Li Jieyi's hand tightly with her fingers interlocked. She leaned against his arm, acting spoiled as she said in a soft voice, "Where should we go to play this afternoon?"

There was someone nearby smoking, who retorted upon hearing her words, "Why not play in bed?"

"You're so annoying." Tu Youyou laughed and scolded, still acting coquettish.

Heh.

The person didn't lift his head, but chuckled softly and coughed.

Li Jieyi raised his hand and placed it on his girlfriend's shoulder, then turned to speak to the person, "A-Ci, how about playing cards this afternoon?"

"I'm not going." He sounded lazy, propping his arm on the chair and smiling with a crooked mouth.

"Why not? What's there to do on campus?"

Xie Ci retorted, "What's there to do even if we go?"

"You can do anything you want." Li Jieyi smirked suggestively.

Song Yifan walked over with his drink and overheard the conversation. He sat down at the booth and answered on behalf of Xie Ci, "He's only interested in playing with a girl from our class now."

"Really? Which girl? Have I seen her? Is she pretty?" Li Jieyi fired off a series of questions, his face full of curiosity.

Song Yifan said seriously, "No, no, no, they were just discussing studying, and that girl was teaching A-Ci English."

As he spoke, he revealed his true nature with a wicked smile, "As for how to have fun in the future, I don't know."

His ambiguous words were neither admitted nor refuted by the parties involved, as if it had nothing to do with them.

On the side, Wang Xiaoqian chuckled and said to Li Jieyi, "Are you still thinking about going out to play today? Tomorrow is the monthly exam. Didn't you say last time that your dad froze your card? Study well first."

Li Jieyi became impatient, "What's the point of studying well? Stop bringing up this topic, you joykiller."

Others laughed.

Lin City High School is quite wealthy, and everything is well-constructed, including the exam room shielding device. At that time, the school was confident that it was on par with the effect of the college entrance examination exam room. The students didn't believe it, but after experiencing it once, they were completely convinced. This gadget really works.

The mobile phone is completely unusable.

"Hey, you!" Wang Xiaoqian rolled her eyes.

Song Yifan flipped through the menu on the table and said mysteriously, "No worries, bro, we have a master in our exam room this time."

"What master?" Li Jieyi's eyes lit up as he urged, "Come on, don't keep me waiting. Don't make your bro die of impatience."

Song Yifan took a sip of his drink, picked up his phone leisurely to reply to a message, and said, "I've already inquired. This time, the transfer students and repeaters are all in the same exam room as us."

"Then what?"

"You idiot, I already told you about the new student who just transferred to our class. She has excellent grades and a good personality. We get along well, and I've already made friends with her. You can just copy from her during the exam," Song Yifan said.

Hearing this, Xie Ci raised his eyebrows lightly, his hand holding the cigarette paused. "You get along well?"

Song Yifan hadn't even replied yet, his gaze casually glanced elsewhere, then nodded.

After a few seconds passed.

"Hey, dude." Song Yifan stood up, walked forward with narrowed eyes, and patted Xie Ci on the back. "Do you see someone we know squatting outside?"

Xu Yan's soft and loose hair fell down, almost covering half of her face. She was squatting there with a stack of books in her arms.

Under the scorching sun, a gust of wind brought by the breeze rustled the dense tree shades, and cicadas kept chirping.

She lowered her head, bent her index finger, and rubbed her temple.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a pair of black sports shoes in front of her.

Xu Yan's gaze lifted up.

Xie Ci was wearing a black jacket and a t-shirt, slightly hunching his back as he tilted his head to scrutinize her. There was an unmistakable mischievousness on his face. "Classmate Xu, what are you squatting here for, waiting for me?"

Her raised face looked listless, with a slender pointed jawline and pale cheeks.

Xu Yan didn't want to pay him any attention, so she propped up her knees, preparing to stand up.

However, her legs had gone numb from squatting for too long, and when she tried to stand up, her balance was a bit unstable.

Xie Ci reacted quickly, and he reached out and grabbed her.

He held onto her forearm, with the sleeves of his school uniform jacket covering half of her hand, revealing her delicate, frost-white fingers.

"Are you stable now?" he asked softly, his eyes on her soft, black hair above her head.

His thin chest was pressed tightly against her.

Xu Yan nodded, trying to push him away. She was already impatient, absentmindedly thanking him in a low voice, "Thank you, you can let go of your hand now."

With a casual "oh," Xie Ci did not let go of her hand, but instead asked, "Are you doing this on purpose, falling into my arms twice a day?"

"Nong lao cuo qi o! (You're so annoying!)" Xu Yan was feeling uncomfortable, and now she was getting angry. She couldn't help but curse him loudly in her hometown dialect.

Then she pushed hard.

He stumbled back a few steps after being pushed.

Hearing her muttering in some incomprehensible language, Xie Ci tilted his head and chuckled, his thin lips curling as he asked her, "Nong what?"

Xu Yan turned around and walked away without looking back.

...

When Xu Yan went to find Chen Xiao, she was already in line and the boss was making noodles for her.

Xu Yan held her books and waited beside the queue.

The smell of oil was heavy here, with bursts of hot and fragrant steam wafting from the food.

Chen Xiao took the plastic bag from the boss and paid the money before saying to Xu Yan, "Let's go, I'm done."

Xu Yan nodded and followed her towards the side gate of the school.

They hadn't walked far when Xu Yan heard hurried footsteps behind them, accompanied by a shout:

"Hey, hey, wait up, little girl ahead."

Xu Yan and Chen Xiao turned around and saw a young girl running towards them. In no time, she reached them.

The girl was wearing a uniform with a green apron around her waist, and on it was the logo of the Wuyin Milk Tea Shop.

She was panting as she stopped, holding a cup of something in her hand, and she handed it to Xu Yan. "Little girl, someone just bought you a cup of jujube milk tea and asked us to give it to you."