She took a deep breath at her chest, ran until she was almost at the classroom before she stopped.
Slowing her pace, Xu Yan pushed open the back door of the classroom, raised her hand, and softly called out, "May I come in?"
The English teacher was holding an exercise book and explaining a problem. She looked at Xu Yan for a while, then asked slowly, "Where were you?"
This teacher's surname was Zhang, a middle-aged woman going through menopause. She was particularly harsh towards students, but Xu Yan, being new, didn't know that.
Xu Yan bit her lip, not wanting to waste class time, and stuttered, "I'm sorry, teacher, I went to the restroom."
"Xie Ci, what about you? Were you in the restroom too?" Teacher Zhang asked.
What?
Xu Yan was stunned.
She heard laughter behind her and turned her head abruptly, startled.
Xie Ci had somehow appeared right behind her, standing very close. His tall figure leaned against the door frame, his jacket slightly open, revealing a skull head on his t-shirt, just like his confident expression towards Xu Yan's face.
Seeing Xu Yan's puzzled expression, Xie Ci laughed even harder. He leaned in close, using a voice that only the two of them could hear, and asked ambiguously, "Classmate, are you in such a rush to leave after seeing me?"
There were jeers from the back row.
"Xie Ci, I bet you feel uncomfortable when you're not late for any of my classes, right?" Mrs. Zhang slammed the exercise book onto the podium, her sharp voice piercing through the classroom.
Xu Yan felt her heart race with fear and dared not speak to Xie Ci anymore, keeping her head down in silence.
A few seconds passed.
The person behind Xu Yan looked up and asked casually, "How do you want me to feel comfortable?"
The whole class fell silent, followed by explosive laughter and commotion.
The boys in the back were making a fuss, whistling and laughing so hard that some of them were bending over, unable to straighten up.
Wu Pengfei shouted at Xie Ci, "Brother Ci, let's keep it civil. Why suddenly turn vulgar?"
Their carefree and unrestrained behavior made the teacher even angrier. Her face turned red with suppressed anger, but she held back from losing her temper due to the large number of people.
As a result, Xu Yan was allowed to return to her seat, while Xie Ci was punished to stand outside the classroom for one class period.
However, he wasn't that obedient. After just a few minutes, he disappeared from outside the classroom.
Teacher Zhang took back her book, shook it, and said sarcastically, "We have a test the day after tomorrow. Let's see if you'll still be as happy when the results come out."
Upon hearing this, there was an immediate outcry in the class.
Someone asked, "Teacher, we've only just started the school year."
"It's precisely because we've just started the school year that I need to remind you."
Xu Yan took out all her books, placed her palm against her abdomen, and rested her chin on the table as she started working on the third English reading assignment.
Feeling unwell, she had to use doing homework as a way to distract herself.
As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of class, the teacher left the room and the classroom immediately became noisy. Xu Yan slumped on her seat, looking pale and listless.
Zheng Xiaolin, who was sitting in front of her, had just turned around with paper and pen in hand, ready to ask for help with a question, but was startled by Xu Yan's weak appearance.
She put her things aside and leaned in to Xu Yan, asking, "Classmate, what's wrong with you?"
"She's not feeling well, stomachache," Fu Xueli said as she popped sunflower seeds into her mouth, taking the opportunity to answer on Xu Yan's behalf.
As another girl, Zheng Xiaolin immediately understood, nodding in acknowledgement.
Xu Yan lifted her head weakly from her arm and asked, "What's up? Do you need something?"
"It's nothing, I was going to ask you about a question, but if you're not feeling well, it's okay," Zheng Xiaolin replied.
"Which question?"
Zheng Xiaolin pointed at a English question in their exercise book and asked, "Why is 'feel' placed in this part of the sentence? The teacher was speaking too fast, and I didn't catch it."
"I'll take a look." Xu Yan took the book and carefully read the title.
Her stomach ached, waves of pain hitting her.
Cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She licked her dry lips and explained to Zheng Xiaolin, organizing her thoughts: "Feel is a linking verb, followed by a predicative complement, which describes the situation of the subject, so-"
Xu Yan struggled to gather her energy and continued to explain the problem to Zheng Xiaolin.
After a while.
Zheng Xiaolin suddenly realized, "Oh! I understand now!"
She looked grateful as she thanked Xu Yan, clasping her hands together, "Oh wise one, thank you thank you! I'll write it down in my error correction book right away."
After finishing her sentence, she turned away.
Xu Yan couldn't hold on any longer and slumped back onto the table.
After a brief moment of relief, when the contraction passed, she reached into the drawer for a water cup, propped herself up on the table, and prepared to go to the water dispenser behind the classroom for some hot water.
Xie Ci sat in his seat in the third row by the corridor, with his long legs casually crossed, stretching into the aisle, chatting casually with Song Yifan.
He was absent-minded and caught a glimpse of Xu Yan stopping nearby with his peripheral vision.
"Classmate, I want to get some water. Can you let me pass?"
She lowered her head, her face pale, her voice barely audible amidst the noisy chatter.
Xie Ci didn't know if he didn't hear her or deliberately ignored her, as he didn't even lift his eyes.
Xu Yan waited in place for a while, realizing that he didn't make any effort to move his feet. She was too tired to continue talking to him, so she decided to step over him directly.
Suddenly, Xie Ci smiled, and with the tip of his tongue pressing against his cheek, he continued talking to someone else, but he unexpectedly blocked her with his right foot.
Xu Yan's ankle was caught off guard by him, and they bumped into each other. She couldn't stop her movement, and her body fell forward. Her hands flailed in an attempt to grab onto the edge of the table to stabilize herself, but her balance was off.
In the chaos, she felt her arm being forcefully pulled to the side.
Beside her, Song Yifan's mouth formed a perfect "O" shape as he watched Xu Yan, in a split second, fall onto Xie Ci.
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind: Did Xie Ci do this on purpose?
Xie Ci was struck by the incoming water cup, and he winced in pain, but he instinctively opened his arms and caught Xu Yan in his embrace.
He bumped into the table behind him, letting out a muffled groan.
The commotion they caused in the classroom was significant. With a loud crash, it seemed like the world suddenly quieted down, and everyone's gaze turned towards the ambiguous scene.
His warm breath sprayed against her ear with each inhale and exhale.
It felt like it happened in an instant, yet also like a long time had passed.
Xu Yan hadn't recovered from the shock yet, and it took her a few seconds to react. Trembling heavily, she quickly pushed away from Xie Ci and tried to stand up.
Her ears were filled with malicious whistles and jeers from the surrounding classmates.
Xie Ci had one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist, feeling the soft touch of the young girl's body through the thin school uniform. He could even catch a faint scent of jasmine from her.
"You, you let go of me!" Xu Yan struggled, her throat tightening as she spoke.
She felt her face flush with embarrassment as Xie Ci's face came closer, his voice low and husky. "I offered myself as a cushion for you, and you don't even say thank you?"
Xu Yan was shocked by his shamelessness, and for the first time in her life, she didn't want to talk to someone. She bit her lip, her face blushing furiously, and she tried to break free from his grip. "Classmate, please let me go first."
"What do you mean 'classmate', don't you know my name?" He clicked his tongue, laughing even harder, his chest vibrating with amusement.
As the two of them continued to struggle, the jeers from the onlookers grew louder and louder.
"Hey, you two should be more mindful of your behavior in class," someone whistled from the side.
Others chimed in, "Yeah, in public, you guys should be more appropriate, bro Ci."
"Xie...Ci, please let go of your hand," Xu Yan said slowly, each word filled with embarrassment. Even though she had a good temperament, her patience was wearing thin in this situation.
Xie Ci smirked and said leisurely, "Wasn't it you who refused to leave my side?"
Fu Xueli heard the loud noise and quickly turned around. After a few seconds, she walked over quickly, grabbed Xu Yan and frowned, "Ci, you're going too far."
Xie Ci shrugged indifferently, his lazy smirk remaining unchanged.
Once Xu Yan regained her balance, she whispered a thank you to Fu Xueli. Then, under the gaze of the surrounding crowd, she silently squatted down, picking up the books that had fallen to the ground one by one and placing them back on the table. Without lifting her gaze or uttering a word, she slowly walked back to her seat.
The oversized school uniform jacket draped over Xu Yan's body, making her figure appear even more delicate.
"Hey, what are you doing, acting like a hooligan?" Song Yifan finally realized what was happening and blurted out.
Xie Ci didn't respond, his dark eyes fixed on Xu Yan's retreating figure.
Fu Xueli furrowed her brows and accused, "Xu Yan wasn't feeling well to begin with, and you deliberately bothered her."
"What? What's wrong with her? Is she sick?" Song Yifan exclaimed in shock.
"You idiot, you're the one who's sick!" Fu Xueli exclaimed angrily, giving him a smack. "Why would you say that about a girl who's not feeling well?"
Xie Ci remained silent, calmly bending down to pick up the blue water cup that had fallen to the side.
...
Xu Yan propped her forehead with one hand, biting her lip tightly, as she repeatedly wrote down math formulas on the draft paper.
From trigonometry to solid geometry, points, lines, planes, square roots, parentheses, decimals...
She had been writing for a while, but her mood was still extremely restless, and she couldn't calm down.
Lowering her head, she was just about to pull out her math exercise book from the drawer when her face suddenly felt hot.
Xu Yan was startled and reflexively looked up.
Xie Ci was lazily leaning against her desk, a faint smirk on his lips, holding a cup of warm water that he had just filled, pressing it against her face.
He lowered his eyelids and slightly leaned forward, whispering softly in her ear, "Hey, don't be angry, okay?"