This feeling… it was as bizarre as flipping open your familiar Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests only to find a page asking "What is love?" It completely emptied Lin Sitian's mind, leaving her frozen for half a minute.
Rainy days filled the air with the scent of damp grass and mud, mingling with the detergent fragrance clinging to Zhou Sheng. It made Lin Sitian feel unusually alert.
They stood under the eaves of the school building's first floor. Outside, the sky had darkened, but the rain hadn't stopped. Awkwardly, neither of them had brought an umbrella.
Lin Sitian's mind was still reeling from earlier events; the rain barely registered. Only when Zhou Sheng asked, "How will you get home?" did she snap back to reality.
Flustered, she stuck her hand into the rain for a moment, then pulled it back. "I'll just walk. My place isn't far. A little rain won't hurt."
Meeting Zhou Sheng's eyes, nervousness propelled her foot forward into the rain.
Might as well make a run for it. "I-I'll go ahead."
"Come back." Before her front foot could even land properly, Zhou Sheng grabbed her collar and hauled her back under the corridor cover. "Don't get soaked."
"But we don't have umbrellas, and this rain won't stop anytime soon…" she mumbled anxiously.
Zhou Sheng unbuttoned his school jacket, spread it open, and held it over both their heads like a canopy. "Let's go."
Lin Sitian felt like a chick sheltered under Zhou Sheng's wing as they dashed to a shop awning at the school gate. Apart from water splashing her legs, she was completely dry.
Zhou Sheng, however, had shielded her with most of the jacket. Strands of his hair were damp and sticking up slightly.
"Quick, put it back on yourself. I'm heading home." Lin Sitian reached up, smoothing down the stray lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead, pushing it aside.
Zhou Sheng didn't move.
It was late. The sky was black. The aroma of cooking wafted from restaurants lining the street.
"I'll walk you home," he said. "It's still raining outside."
"But you don't have an umbrella. Don't catch a cold."
Zhou Sheng turned, plucked an umbrella straight from the stand of merchandise outside the shop, and pulled out his phone. "I'll pay for it."
Lin Sitian was speechless.
Well, I could buy one myself… But that would seem ungrateful. Neither of them mentioned it.
The route from school to Lin Sitian's neighborhood included a sycamore-lined avenue.
During the day, the swaying, towering trees created a romantic canopy. At this hour, it was thick with darkness. The street's only lamp had broken weeks ago.
Walking was almost blind, relying on faint glimmers of light seeping from nearby houses to see the ripples where raindrops hit puddles.
They walked side by side, arms occasionally brushing. Lin Sitian glanced sideways at the space between them. Such a shame Zhou Sheng has to hold the umbrella. Otherwise, I'd definitely hold that hand.
"Is this road always this dark?" Zhou Sheng asked, concerned. It didn't seem safe for a girl to walk such a dark, tree-lined path alone at night.
"It's usually okay," Lin Sitian replied, unconcerned. "I'm usually not back this late, and today it's raining."
"I'll walk you home from now on," Zhou Sheng said.
"Oh, good! That's a relief!" Lin Sitian switched gears quickly. "You know, usually this path doesn't have many people, and even when it's not this dark, it's still pretty gloomy. I really get a bit scared walking alone…"
Zhou Sheng could hardly miss the deliberate shift. A faint smile touched his lips in the darkness.
Rain drummed steadily on the umbrella above them. Beneath its quiet shelter, it felt like their own little world.
"Ever since earlier, I've forgotten even what tonight's homework is," Zhou Sheng said calmly, listening to his own heartbeat in the rain. "Do you think I've been thinking?"
"What's the expression for the Law of Cosines?" Lin Sitian countered instantly.
"cosA = (b² + c² - a²)/2bc," Zhou Sheng rattled off without hesitation. "Also, c² = a² + b² - 2ab cosγ. Similarly, it can be described as b² = c² + a² - 2ac cosβ. There's also the angle form expression…"
"You liar!" Lin Sitian's face fell as he continued his fluent recitation.
Zhou Sheng flushed in the darkness. "No, you're asking the most basic—"
"Not only are you lying, you're mocking me!" Lin Sitian gave up, quickening her pace ahead.
Zhou Sheng hurried after her with the umbrella, tilting it determinedly over her. "I didn't mean it like that. That's not what I meant!"
Fortunately, Lin Sitian's home wasn't far. Their little chase soon ended at the entrance to her apartment building.
The ground floor hallway of the old complex was also unlit; motion sensors only activated further up.
Lin Sitian hopped up two steps onto the landing and turned, her expression still stiff. "I'm going in."
Zhou Sheng stood below on the sidewalk, umbrella raised, looking up at her.
"Don't be angry," he said.
The words themselves were feeble, but the tone he used to placate her offered Lin Sitian some comfort. What can you do when you fall for a nerd whose brain only holds textbooks? She sighed, glanced at the sky, and urged him, "Fine. Go home now. Be careful."
Lin Sitian suddenly thought… maybe the nerd wasn't so oblivious after all.
The next morning during self-study period, Lin Sitian arrived earlier than Zhou Sheng.
She pretended to recite her text, but her mind wasn't on it. Her gaze kept drifting to the window, waiting for the familiar figure of a certain boy to appear.
Self-study was about to begin when Zhou Sheng finally arrived. No dazzling clouds or ethereal glow accompanied him. Instead, surprisingly, he was wearing those bulky black-framed glasses again, and a black face mask. The heavy frames nearly obscured half his face. Lin Sitian was baffled.
As Zhou Sheng sat down beside her, before she could even speak, he coughed.
Lin Sitian immediately understood. "You caught a cold?"
Zhou Sheng nodded.
Remembering the likely cause of his cold, Lin Sitian felt a mix of embarrassment and guilt. "Th-Then what? The midterm mock exams are this week…"
Zhou Sheng pulled out his scratch pad, tore off a page, and wrote: It's fine. Not serious. Will be better soon.
He couldn't even speak! Lin Sitian smacked her forehead in remorse.
But Zhou Sheng wasn't as fragile as she feared. He hadn't even skipped her tutoring, preparing the problems last night and leaving them on her desk.
Can't explain today. Will write down key concepts you need. – he wrote on the pad.
"Missing one day of tutoring won't kill me! Forget about me and get some rest!"
Zhou Sheng shook his head firmly and wrote: No.
…Even sick he's this strict.
Well, since he insisted, she couldn't possibly waste his effort. She managed to solve a few problems independently that morning. During the long mid-morning break, seeing Zhou Sheng still looked pale, she got up and pushed him into her seat.
Zhou Sheng raised an eyebrow at her, confused.
"Block the draft. I'll sit on the outside." She placed her solved problems book in front of him and pulled Yang Xuelin away.
"So you're not dating Zhou Sheng?" Yang Xuelin asked on their way to the convenience store.
Lin Sitian's mind was still on Zhou Sheng. Her reaction was slow. "Huh? …No, we're not."
"But I feel like there's definitely something going on between you two." Yang Xuelin leaned in close. "Lin Sitian, be honest with me. Are you and Zhou Sheng… involved?"
Lin Sitian couldn't possibly confess everything. But she knew Yang Xuelin had an eagle eye; outright denial would only fuel her suspicions. So she said, "I think… I like him."
"No way, Lin Sitian!" Yang Xuelin's jaw practically dropped. "Since when do you like that kind of bookworm? Even if he looked pretty good without glasses yesterday, he's just… he's…" Yang Xuelin made an inexpressible face.
Lin Sitian frowned. "What's wrong with him? Ranked first in our year, smart, not bad-looking, kind-hearted. What's not to like?"
Yang Xuelin took a dramatic step back. "Lin Sitian, did he put a spell on you? Before you sat next to him, you used to tell me nerds like that were the most boring, and that he was just the teacher's pet…"
"He's not! When have you ever seen him tattle to a teacher?"
Well… he did kind of get her caught by a teacher once.
Ah, but that was me passing notes in class. That's different.
Lin Sitian mentally deleted that memory at lightning speed.
Yang Xuelin shook her head in despair. "You're done for, Lin Sitian. Completely done for." Hopeless. Send her straight to the crematorium.
"It's not that bad."
"Isn't it? This is destined to be a love that goes nowhere! How could that Zhou Sheng possibly date anyone? I doubt he even distinguishes between men and women. To him, the world is probably just 'humans'."
Wrong, Lin Sitian thought silently. It's humans and problems.
But Yang Xuelin's words echoed her own long-held doubts. If it hadn't been for yesterday's Zhou Sheng… she never would have admitted her feelings. After all, she was just the girl sitting next to him. How Zhou Sheng truly saw her remained uncertain, and she didn't dare ask him outright.
The only comfort now was that Zhou Sheng wasn't a completely immovable block of wood.
That meant she still had a chance.
Zhou Sheng pressed his thumb and forefinger against his throat, swallowing painfully.
A wave of warmth landed on his forehead.
He turned to see Lin Sitian handing him a bottle of honey pomelo tea.
"Drink this, it'll feel better. You can warm your hands with it first."
Zhou Sheng nodded and wrote: Thanks.
Lin Sitian leaned back on her desk, resting her head sideways as she studied him. "You're cute even when you don't talk."
Zhou Sheng's hand, twisting open the bottle cap, paused. He hadn't even taken a sip yet, but his face was already heating up. There was no good way to respond to that, so he just pulled down his mask to drink, hiding his embarrassment.
The teacher arrived. Time to prepare for class.
Just then, Zhou Sheng tapped her shoulder. Lin Sitian, still nursing a bit of a sulk, turned her head reluctantly. Zhou Sheng pointed to three new words he'd written on the scratch pad. Lin Sitian glanced over—
Contagious.
Three simple words. Vivid mental images of how that "contagion" might occur suddenly flooded Lin Sitian's mind. She slammed the scratch pad shut. "Class."
Even hidden behind his mask, the corners of his mouth unseen, the curve of his eyes above his glasses was unmistakable.
The day passed quickly. The final bell rang, and Lin Sitian started packing up.
"You should head home early and rest today. You're sick."
Zhou Sheng reached out and stopped her.
Lin Sitian's heart fluttered, thinking maybe he didn't want her to go. She was just starting to feel shy when Zhou Sheng slid the scratch pad he'd prepared before class ended towards her—
Midterms soon. Tutoring can't stop. Do problems today. I'll write explanations for what you don't get.
"..." Even sick, he won't let up on the problems. He really… I'm speechless.
Anticipating her refusal, he'd added another line below—
I'm fine. Just worried about infecting you. Keep your distance.
Lin Sitian eyed him skeptically. "You're really okay?" His color was better this afternoon, and he wasn't coughing much. But dragging a sick person into tutoring her made Lin Sitian feel guilty.
Zhou Sheng nodded firmly.
Lin Sitian would just be doing homework and reviewing at home anyway. Staying here meant her crush was keeping her company. She had no objections and sat back down.
Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhao, happened to still be there. He glanced at them. "Studying together again, you two?"
Mr. Zhao had a way with words. Not "tutoring," but "studying together."
Lin Sitian didn't beat around the bush. "Mr. Zhao, I've made a lot of progress lately, haven't I? It's all thanks to Zhou Sheng."
Mr. Zhao nodded approvingly, praised Lin Sitian for her improvement, then turned to Zhou Sheng. "Zhou Sheng, don't push yourself too hard when you're sick. Get some rest. A few days won't make a difference." He started to leave but paused, remembering something. "Oh, right… Ignore any gossip floating around the class. If you're upright and doing nothing wrong, just let it be."
Zhou Sheng smiled at Mr. Zhao. Whether it was guilt or not, the smile visible above his mask and below his glasses was distinctly shy.