"Shiyan... Shiyan, Shiyan?"

Liu Zhiyue’s voice called out next to Zhou Shiyan’s ear, slowly becoming clearer from the initial fuzziness.

It was that call that finally pulled Zhou Shiyan out of her daze.

She turned her head to look at Liu Zhiyue, who sat beside her, and saw concern written across his face.

Liu Zhiyue looked a bit anxious.

Zhou Shiyan had been spacing out a lot lately. Her attentiveness in class had noticeably dropped. She used to take notes during the teacher’s explanations and improve them on the spot, but these past few days, she just sat with her head down, gripping her pen.

No one knew what she was thinking about.

Staring into her eyes, Liu Zhiyue asked,

"Are you feeling unwell? You’ve seemed distracted a lot lately."

"......"

Zhou Shiyan didn’t answer. She just kept looking at Liu Zhiyue for a while, then turned her gaze back to the textbook on the desk in front of her.

As if trying to cover something up, she picked up her pen and pretended to jot something down.

"Stop talking. Pay attention to class."

"Class is over."

"......"

She froze mid-motion. Through the strands of hair hanging down, Zhou Shiyan sneaked a glance at Liu Zhiyue beside her.

Then quickly looked away again.

"Let me see your class notes."

"Mm..."

Hearing her request, Liu Zhiyue handed over his notebook.

Watching her open it and start copying, Liu Zhiyue’s expression shifted slightly.

Resting his left elbow on the desk, he supported his chin with his hand and turned to look at Zhou Shiyan as she copied his notes.

He sensed that something was off.

Watching her diligently write...

"Did something happen at home?"

"......"

Her hand, gripping the pen, froze as soon as he said that. Zhou Shiyan didn’t answer right away.

"No."

"Really now..."

Hearing that, Liu Zhiyue’s expression turned serious.

"You know you’re terrible at lying?"

"What do you mean?"

"You always answer instantly—unless you’re lying. Then you hesitate a bit..."

Saying this, Liu Zhiyue sat up straight.

"Is something wrong with Aunt Lan?"

"......"

Her grip on the pen tightened for a second, but then she loosened it.

Zhou Shiyan deliberately set her pen near the edge of the desk. As expected, it fell to the floor. In the brief moment she bent down to pick it up, she quickly came up with a reason in her mind.

After returning the pen to the desk, Zhou Shiyan looked at Liu Zhiyue and said,

"Our place is being demolished."

"Demolished? You mean the store?"

"Yeah, the breakfast shop. The store’s getting torn down."

"That’s good news, though... So why have you been so off lately?"

"I’ve been thinking about what gift to ask my mom for."

"Gift?"

"Yeah. She promised that once we get the compensation money from the demolition, she’ll buy me a gift."

"So... all this time, you’ve just been thinking about the gift?"

When Liu Zhiyue asked that, he saw Zhou Shiyan nod.

Well... that explanation kind of made sense. Still, for some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something didn’t add up.

It felt like something important was missing.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and just as he was mulling over their conversation, Zhou Shiyan’s voice snapped him out of it.

"Can I borrow some tissues? I ran out."

"Mm."

He responded, then took out a small pack of tissues from his desk drawer and handed her the whole thing.

"Here, take it. I’ve got a few more packs."

"Okay."

Taking the tissues, Zhou Shiyan got up and walked out of the classroom.

Liu Zhiyue’s eyes followed her until she disappeared through the doorway.

Then he pulled his gaze back.

Looking at Zhou Shiyan’s desk, a faint smile slowly crept across Liu Zhiyue’s lips.

He looked away again.

Muttering softly to himself,

"I wonder which high school she plans to put as her first choice... I’ll ask her next time."

————————————————————————

Zhao Xuanwen pouted.

She had just come across a really tough question. Even though the teacher said in class that these kinds of problems were basically free points on the high school entrance exam...

Still...

"I can’t figure it out..."

She let out a groan, slumping over the desk as if her soul had left her body.

Her blank eyes stared down the aisle as she muttered to herself,

"If only Zhiyue were here... He’d definitely help me..."

If it were a simple geometry proof, Zhao Xuanwen could’ve just used a ruler to fake an answer. Maybe the grader would give her a few points for effort.

But... when it came to formula-based calculations, she was completely lost.

In that moment, she couldn’t help but picture Liu Zhiyue’s chubby figure from back in the day.

Back then, he was chubby but always serious when helping her study.

Though she liked to argue with him at the time, which wasn’t exactly ideal...

Thinking about that, she pressed her whole face against the desk.

Unlike Rocket Class, during the 20-minute break between classes, most of the students in Zhao Xuanwen’s regular class either went to the playground or the snack shop.

Only a handful stayed behind to study. The rest were either chatting or napping.

Even though the high school entrance exams were only about three months away, the class atmosphere didn’t reflect that urgency at all.

At the back of the classroom, the countdown on the wall changed every day, but Zhao Xuanwen didn’t feel anything from it.

She knew very clearly—someone like Liu Zhiyue, with his top scores, would definitely end up at No.1 High School, the one with the highest admission rate in the city.

But someone like her... even if her mom tried to bribe someone, it might not be enough to get her in.

With such a huge score gap, connections didn’t really help.

Unless she squeezed in as a guest student, but if that happened...

Thinking about that, Zhao Xuanwen sat up.

A determined look crossed her face.

She raised both hands and slapped her slightly chubby cheeks with some force.

Muttering encouragement to herself,

"It’s okay, you can do this. If you get into No.1 High School as a guest student, he’s going to be really disappointed!"

"Don’t give up!"

Her voice was so loud that it startled a nearby classmate who had been dozing off at his desk.

After a while, that sleepy face lifted up, eyes dazedly scanning the room.

Zhao Xuanwen ignored everyone else. At that moment, she opened her draft notebook again and vowed to conquer that difficult problem.

This... was her first step toward getting into No.1 High School!

Her pen hovered over the page but couldn’t write a single word.

Clearly, even this first step wasn’t easy for Zhao Xuanwen...

Just as she was racking her brain—

A student standing at the classroom door chatting suddenly shouted inside,

"Zhao Xuanwen, someone’s here for you!"

"For me?"

She snapped her head up, staring blankly toward the doorway.

When she saw Zhou Shiyan standing there, her head filled with confusion.

Why was she here?