Chapter 19: The Beauty of First Encounters (11)

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Ye Xiangwan lowered her gaze, staring at her unresponsive fingertips. Amid the noisy ringing covering everything else, she slowly exhaled, unsure if it was relief at last or a sudden, inexplicable sense of loneliness. Her arm bent slightly, the outstretched fingers relaxed and curled back, falling gently at her side.

She didn’t look at Feng Jinyan or Jiang Huan, only nodded lightly and turned her steps directly backward.

"Ye Xiangwan!"

Suddenly, her falling hand was caught by a burning palm, damp and gripping tightly.

Ye Xiangwan’s steps halted; her fingers instinctively clenched briefly, then gently relaxed. She turned her body and glanced at Feng Jinyan, his face serious with a hint of urgency.

In the dim weather, all the office lights were on, casting a cold white glow that made his handsome eyes shine with a polished gleam.

"Your homework... well, actually, I wasn’t—no, that’s not right—I was actually on purpose..."

Boys in adolescence were especially stubborn, never willing to share things with adults. Losing face meant getting into a fight; making mistakes meant stiffening their necks and refusing to admit fault. Opening up honestly was like smearing makeup remover over a girl’s carefully applied face—awkward and unsettling.

His hand unconsciously gripped tighter, moist. Ye Xiangwan turned fully around, her eyes brushing past their entwined hands. After a moment, she bent her thumb to gently press twice on the knuckle of Feng Jinyan’s hand.

She nodded softly. "Mm, I understand."

Her voice carried the faint hoarseness left at the end of puberty—low, soft, yet clear.

The teacher’s office was on the top floor; their classroom was on the second floor, farthest from the stairs.

By the time the two of them walked side by side to the classroom door, class had already been underway for nearly ten minutes.

Of course, the distance wasn’t much of an issue. When they left the teacher’s office, both had naturally turned toward the restroom—one to wipe sweat, the other to wash hands.

Ye Xiangwan finished washing and leaned against the wall, scrolling aimlessly on her phone. The restroom in Longchuan even provided wet wipes; Feng Jinyan stayed inside wiping sweat for quite a while.

"Hmm? You’re not leaving?"

When Feng Jinyan came out, droplets clung to his brow and hair, his face pale with a flush.

"Are you overheated?"

Ye Xiangwan said this and then returned her gaze to her phone.

"What?"

The sentence was too short; Feng Jinyan didn’t catch it clearly.

"I asked why you’re so hot—are you overheated?"

Ye Xiangwan pressed the phone’s sleep button, pocketed it, and straightened up.

"No, I feel pretty stuffy today. Maybe my kidneys are just too strong."

Ye Xiangwan: "..."

Why did she have to say something so unnecessary?

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Ye Xiangwan turned with a speechless expression and took a step forward.

"Don’t rush off, or Jiang the Devil will see and want to shake hands again."

Feng Jinyan stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

Ye Xiangwan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Not what you think."

Feng Jinyan understood she had misunderstood his words and kindly explained, "It’s not that I don’t want to be close to you; I just don’t like that weird way of making up."

Only then did Ye Xiangwan stop walking, waiting for Feng Jinyan to catch up before continuing forward, though her expression remained displeased.

"I find you really awkward."

Feng Jinyan clicked his tongue, then lifted his arm to hook around her neck. Caught off guard, Ye Xiangwan staggered and steadied herself against the wall, looking up at Feng Jinyan.

The top-floor corridor was very quiet; all office doors were tightly shut. The floor was scattered with chaotic muddy footprints—someone had run out in the rain just moments ago. Even in this gloomy, rainy season, there were always people brimming with restless energy.

Ye Xiangwan was half a head shorter than Feng Jinyan. She raised her eyes slightly to look at the arm draped over her shoulder as they both carefully stepped around the muddy patches.

"Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to be close to me? Now you admit you didn’t mean that, right?"

Ye Xiangwan said nothing, only stared at the arm resting on her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" Feng Jinyan squinted and lightly hooked his finger under her chin. "Maybe you’re the one who’s not used to it?"

Ye Xiangwan was forced to lift her chin, meeting the boy’s smiling face. Off-topic, she said, "There are still some things."

"What?"

"Like the next class is math."

Besides the dreaded English teacher Jiang, their class had another formidable one—Math teacher Da Lin.

She loved interacting with everyone; when engaged, she praised and encouraged, but if not, she’d line them up like stakes in a row. And for something like being late, the punishment was guaranteed: standing through the whole class.

"I almost forgot about Da Lin..."

Feng Jinyan suddenly realized. "Punished for a whole class already and still punished again? Afraid my family wouldn’t know? If my dad found out about such disgrace, I’d be off wandering the world with a bowl in each hand!"

"..."

Ye Xiangwan turned her head, a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"Hmm?"

Feng Jinyan’s gaze settled on her pale face, eyes narrowing. "Did you just smile?"

"...No."

"You smiled and won’t admit it—I saw it!"

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"...No."

"You definitely smiled!"

"No."

The two bantered as they reached the back door of the classroom, standing side by side.

"Reporting!"

"Reporting."

"Oh, so you do know how to come back?"

Da Lin paused her writing and glanced at them. "Feng Jinyan, you’re all smiles—what were you two up to with Ye Xiangwan just now?"

"??"

Ye Xiangwan: "..."

The whole class burst into low whispers. Everyone knew they had just been called by Jiang the Devil for a talk, which should have meant a harsh scolding. Yet, somehow, the atmosphere between these two didn’t seem quite like that.

"Alright, back to your posts... Ugh, you two disrupted my train of thought. You both come up. No, both of you. One writes the first two questions, the other the last one."

Da Lin lifted her chin and handed them two pieces of chalk.

Feng Jinyan stepped forward, took one, and casually snapped it in half. As Ye Xiangwan passed by, she took the remaining half from his open palm.

Feng Jinyan glanced at the half-chalk in his hand and smiled slightly.

Da Lin watched these two students, both excellent in looks and academics, standing side by side without even a word, then began writing the question numbers.

Feng Jinyan: (1).

Ye Xiangwan: (3).

"Such harmony, you two must get along well."

*Snap!*

Both chalks broke against the blackboard at the same time, setting off a wave of suppressed laughter in the class.

That was already the fourth time today they’d heard the word “relationship.”

Ye Xiangwan bent over to pick up a suitably sized piece of chalk from the tray and sneakily glanced toward Feng Jinyan amid the noise.