NASAY CH 3

Luo Xing pursed his lips slightly, turned around without responding.

Huo Xingzhou glanced at Luo Xing’s back and curled his lips playfully.

Zhang Xuan was a scoundrel, always finding ways to shirk responsibility. If Luo Xing got involved with him, he’d surely be dragged into trouble and even risk getting disciplined by the school.

A well-behaved, obedient student receiving a disciplinary action on his first day of transfer? He’d probably cry.

When class ended, Zhang Xuan had already slung his arm around his friend’s shoulder and left for lunch, leaving his tutoring materials scattered all over the desk, with half of them dumped on Luo Xing’s desk.

A few lively classmates came over to chat with Luo Xing, asking about his previous school. Two girls even gave him a carton of yogurt and some candies, advising him not to bother with Zhang Xuan.

Luo Xing politely thanked them. He wasn’t used to such kindness from strangers and responded with controlled, restrained politeness.

After they left, Ye Qiaoqiao walked over, holding a folder.

“New student.” Ye Qiaoqiao knocked on the desk and placed some test papers on it.

 “These are this month’s exam papers. Finish them during the evening study session and hand them to me.”

“Thank you,” Luo Xing said.

Ye Qiaoqiao smiled and said, “You’re welcome.” Then she took a few cards out of her pocket and explained, “This is the meal card, and this is the water card. You can get them from the dorm supervisor for a 30-yuan deposit. Meals and water use the cards—no cash allowed. If you don’t like the food in the cafeteria, you can go out, but don’t go too far since the break time is short. Just stay near the entrance.”

“Okay.” Luo Xing nodded.

Ye Qiaoqiao noticed that when Luo Xing spoke, his eyes would seriously lock onto the person he was talking to, unlike Huo Xingzhou, who always wore a mischievous smile.

“The dorm supervisor should be off-duty now,” Ye Qiaoqiao added. “Use mine for now, and return it once you’ve got your own tomorrow.”

Luo Xing declined, “No need, thank you.”

He wasn’t someone who liked to get entangled with others—whether in terms of money or emotions. He always kept people at a distance.

Ye Qiaoqiao, having been taught well by Ye Ren, knew how to keep her distance. She was neither too warm nor too cold. Hearing his response, she nodded and left.

Once everyone had gone to eat, Luo Xing finally exhaled lightly. He pushed Zhang Xuan’s books aside and took out his own, arranging them neatly on the desk.

He had originally been assigned to transfer to City No. 1 High School but had requested to go to No. 2 High School instead.

One reason was Huo Xingzhou.

The other—

His phone vibrated briefly. He glanced at the contact name, paused for a moment, and opened the voice message. After plugging in his earphones, he turned the volume up to the max and listened.

“Luo Xing, why did you transfer to No. 2 High School? Weren’t you supposed to go to No. 1? Your mom caused quite a scene at school today—she even hit the principal so hard that he ended up in the hospital!”

Luo Xing opened another voice message.

“Luo Xing, your mom came to school looking for you today. Didn’t you tell her you were transferring to No. 2 High School?”

He listened to each message, all saying the same thing. After rubbing the bridge of his nose, he replied to each one.

When he finished, he checked the time. It was 5:48 PM—he could probably finish half a test paper before the evening study session started.

Luo Xing wiped the dust off his desk and drawer with a wet tissue, then cleaned up the trash Zhang Xuan had left behind. Only then did he lay out the test paper, take out scratch paper and a pen, and begin working.

His time was limited. If he didn’t use it well, he wouldn’t finish tonight.

Huo Xingzhou was sitting behind him playing on his phone. He laughed and cursed at someone on WeChat:

“Go to hell. When I was pinning them to the ground, you were probably off somewhere peeing and playing in the mud.”

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

Luo Xing didn’t lift his head and just quietly worked on his problems. Huo Xingzhou checked the time and figured the campus wouldn’t be too crowded now, so he lazily got ready to go eat.

He glanced at the new student sitting in front of him and, for some reason, couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, new kid, are you old enough?”

Luo Xing didn’t respond.

Huo Xingzhou had just asked casually, not really expecting a response, but being ignored started to get on his nerves.

Tsk… He had just helped this guy, and now he was being ignored? What a little brat.

Huo Xingzhou raised his foot and lightly kicked Luo Xing’s chair.

“Hey, kid.”

The chair tilted slightly from the kick, dragging Luo Xing along with it, causing his pen to scratch a long mark across the scratch paper. Luo Xing turned around, still caught in the emotions from those voice messages, and asked stiffly, “What do you want?”

Seeing his cold, hard expression, Huo Xingzhou suddenly realized he might’ve been out of line. No wonder the guy was upset.

Feeling a bit awkward, he muttered “Nothing,” and walked off to the bathroom.

Luo Xing watched his retreating back and instinctively raised a hand to rub his ear.

The food at Second High’s cafeteria was particularly bad—so bad that they managed to turn all sorts of bizarre things into dishes, adding everything except enough salt. Most students took the half-hour before evening self-study to go out and eat instead.

The school gate was lined with food stalls, as well as a few decently decorated milk tea and snack shops. About ten meters ahead was a food street filled with barbecue options. It was a favorite spot for students like Huo Xingzhou.

Feng Jia texted and asked if it was the usual order. Huo Xingzhou replied with a lazy “Yeah,” then strolled out of the bathroom.

The staircase was near the classroom’s front door. As he walked past, he glanced inside casually.

Luo Xing pulled out a battered stainless steel thermos from his bag, its paint flaking off in large patches and the lid dented.

His slender fingers twisted the cap twice, but it didn’t open. After shaking it a little, he tried again and finally managed to open it. He poured a little water into the lid, then took out a deformed piece of bread from his bag.

Holding it in his left hand, he chewed it slowly with an expressionless face, carefully swallowing each bite before taking a sip of water. His eyes never left the test paper in front of him the entire time.

Huo Xingzhou chuckled, took out his phone, and snapped a photo through the window. He planned to send it to Feng Jia on WeChat, telling him to burn incense and bow three times for good luck, hoping to absorb some of the top student’s aura.

Just as he snapped the photo, Luo Xing happened to lift his head.

Huo was surprised for a second. Luo xing still had a small bite of bread in his mouth, looking as though he hadn’t processed what was happening yet. His fingertip pressed the shutter button, capturing Luo in the shot.

While working on his problems, Luo Xing felt like someone had been standing outside the window for a while. He raised his head in confusion and caught sight of Huo Xingzhou holding his phone up, shaking it twice.

 He saw Huo Xingzhou’s lips move, but half of his face was obscured by the dirt on the window, so Luo Xing couldn’t make out what he said.

Luo Xing pressed his lips together, lowered his eyes, and when he looked up again, Huo Xingzhou was gone.

When Huo Xingzhou reached the snack shop, he happened to run into Liu Mengya, the dream girl of Feng Jia’s fantasies, from the next class over.

With his long legs, Huo Xingzhou arrived first, while Liu Mengya walked slowly with two other girls, arms linked.

Feng Jia and Li Lefan were sitting at the second table by the door. Both had already finished a bowl of rice noodles and were holding their stomachs in satisfaction, sipping on cola.

“Pregnant?”

Feng Jia immediately grabbed Huo Xingzhou and pinched his throat in a fake, coquettish voice, “Huo-ge, I’m carrying your child. You can’t abandon me, boohoo!”

Li Lefan laughed so hard he pounded the table.

“Get lost! We’re eating here! If you hug me again, I’ll face-plant into my rice!”

Huo tried to pull his arm free but couldn’t. He elbowed Feng Jia back. “Liu Mengya is here.”

Feng Jia instantly straightened up, scanning the surroundings. “Damn! Are you lying to me again?”

“Not lying. She’s really here.”

“If you’re lying again, I’ll bark like a dog!”

Huo Xingzhou was tearing apart a pair of disposable chopsticks when Feng Jia pushed him, causing a toothpick to stab into his index finger. Hissing in pain, Huo Xingzhou glared at him. “Feng Jia, lick the blood clean for me!”

The next second, Liu Mengya walked in.

“Woof, woof!” Feng Jia shrank back, barking twice as he begged for mercy. “Huo-ge, spare my life!” 

Li Lefan was laughing like crazy beside him.

Huo Xingzhou ignored him, finishing his meal and heading to the counter to pay. After scanning the QR code, he added an extra five yuan.

“Huh? Did you pay the wrong amount?” Feng Jia noticed the payment notification and turned around just in time to see Huo Xingzhou take a canned milk tea from the drink fridge.

“When did you start drinking milk tea?” Feng Jia paused, then grinned.

 “Oh, is it for the class monitor?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t respond, walking forward with the milk tea in hand. The image of that soft, innocent face popped into his mind again, making him chuckle lightly. 

“Mind your own business.”

“Bah!” Feng Jia spat, then joined Li Lefan in another round of laughter over who-knows-what.

Dinner break was only half an hour—barely enough time to eat. On his way back, Huo Xingzhou passed by the basketball court, where things were pretty rowdy. He glanced inside.

Class 6 was playing against Class 8. Both were senior honor classes, academically strong enough to collectively outscore Class 9, and they were known for their rivalry.

Someone called out from the court, “Huo Xingzhou, wanna play tonight?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t answer.

Li Lefan asked, “Why don’t you seem interested?”

“It’s not that I’m not interested. It’s just boring,” Huo replied, turning his eyes away. He raised the milk tea and headed toward the teaching building. After thinking for a moment, he added, “There’s not a single decent player among them.”

“Exactly!” Feng Jia chimed in.

“All those losers in Class 8 ever do is complain or flex their grades. So what if they’re good at studying? Our class monitor is the top student in the whole school, and we don’t brag about it.”

“…” Li Lefan, who wasn’t into basketball, glanced away awkwardly. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“Harsh?” Huo Xingzhou sneered. 

“You should’ve seen me pin them to the ground and make them call me Father. Their class monitor is trash—Feng Jia knows that.”

Li Lefan: “…”

By the time they returned to the classroom, there were about five minutes left before evening self-study. Most classmates had already come back.

Huo Xingzhou glanced around and saw that Luo xing was still working on his test paper, calmly and methodically writing on his scratch paper with almost obsessive focus.

Huo Xingzhou walked over, stretched out his arm, and placed the milk tea beside him with a soft thud.

Luo Xing looked up. “What’s this?”

“A gift,” Huo Xingzhou replied.

Luo Xing blinked, hesitating. The words rolled around on his tongue three times before he cautiously said, “I… I don’t think you need to compensate me.”

Huo Xingzhou popped the pull tab with his thumb, causing the classroom to fall into complete silence. Everyone turned to look, especially Feng Jia, who was dumbfounded.

Wait—wasn’t that milk tea supposed to be for the class monitor? Why was it on Luo Xing’s desk?

Huo Xingzhou leaned down slightly, meeting Luo xing’s eyes from above. “Still holding a grudge, huh?”

Luo xing instinctively bit his lip. He had always tried to hide his feelings for Huo Xingzhou, afraid he might be discovered. As a result, his deliberate restraint made his expression appear cold and indifferent.

Huo Xingzhou noticed the pen still in Luo xing’s hand, suddenly recalling how a girl had complimented his handwriting when he first arrived. His gaze flicked to Luo xing’s paper. His handwriting really was nice—like something from an old-style font.

Luo xing finally spoke, his voice barely audible, “You didn’t bully me… No need to make amends.”

Huo Xingzhou raised a brow at his straightforward logic, finding it both amusing and surprising. 

Since Zhang Xuan hadn’t returned yet, he plopped down in the seat next to Luo xing, resting his head on one hand and leaning in close.

 His gaze fell on Luo xing’s pale neck and the faint blue veins beneath his skin, soft and delicate—almost begging to be… bullied.

Huo chuckled, his voice low and playful. “So, if I give you a gift, does that mean I get to bully you?”