“I have something to tell you,” Jiang Chizhou said, placing both hands on the wall, trapping the slender girl between his arms.

They were standing very close, and the sound of their breathing gradually grew louder in her ears. Yan Xi held her breath, her face turning red as her voice suddenly became raspy. “If you’re going to say something, just say it. Don’t wall me in like this.”

Being cornered like this by Jiang Chizhou brought a strange pressure, one she couldn’t quite explain but that made her feel uncomfortable.

“Yan Xi, can you stop misusing idioms?”

“….” The awkward atmosphere immediately dissolved, and the discomfort vanished as Yan Xi looked up and asked, “So, what exactly do you want to say?”

The feelings Jiang Chizhou had buried deep inside him started to surface as he lowered his head, his gaze more serious than ever. Finally, his words came out, “Let’s make peace.”

Yan Xi: “???”

His words startled her so much that she jumped back a full meter.

After a moment of shock, she moved back toward Jiang Chizhou, placing the back of her hand on his forehead for a few seconds, then feeling her own, mumbling, “You don’t have a fever…”

What kind of nonsense was he talking about?

Unable to find an answer, Yan Xi smacked her own forehead and looked at him with wide eyes, “Jiang Chizhou, did you do something behind my back that’s making you feel guilty?!”

This wild guess was something only she could come up with.

It was clear from his reaction that Yan Xi still hadn’t picked up on what was really going on. Or maybe she had never considered that their relationship could be anything more than constant bickering.

Jiang Chizhou pushed down the words lodged in his throat, once again suppressing the feelings inside. “Forget it.”

“Forget what? Now you’re hiding things from me? Chizhou, you’ve been acting so strange lately. Did something happen to you?” Yan Xi asked, genuinely worried by his sudden change in behavior.

This girl had the persistence to ask questions, but she was going down the wrong path entirely. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t stumble upon the secret he was keeping inside.

To prevent her from coming up with even crazier ideas, Jiang Chizhou quickly deflected, “No, I just wanted to apologize for what happened on Saturday. You’re a girl, after all.”

His repeated apologies dissolved the tension and suspicion she’d been holding onto.

She wasn’t really angry, just feeling like something was off but unable to pinpoint what it was. Now that he had apologized, Yan Xi saw no need to hold onto any pride. With a grin, she stretched out her hand. “If you want my forgiveness, you’ll have to show some sincerity.”

“I’ll bring you Yakult tomorrow.”

“Just tomorrow?”

“A whole week.”

“Deal!”

With the promise of a week’s worth of Yakult, Yan Xi’s mood lifted, and she happily bounced back into her home.

As he watched her walk away, Jiang Chizhou let out a long sigh, leaning against the wall. His head tilted back slightly, catching the soft glow of the motion-activated lights in the hallway.

The warm light illuminated his face as it spread across the ceiling, and he could hear his own heartbeat thudding in his chest.

Lowering his head, Jiang Chizhou pressed a hand over his pounding heart. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he muttered softly, “Idiot.”

–

Yan Xi, ever carefree, was easy to appease. After Jiang Chizhou apologized, her good mood returned, and she hummed happily to herself at home.

Xiao Ran heard the noise and stepped out of her room, holding a book in her hands. Leaning against the doorway, she asked, “Sis, did you and Jiang Chizhou make up?”

“Sort of. He even promised to bring me Yakult for a week. No harm in taking advantage of that,” she said, no longer clinging to the “enemy” label she used to insist on.

Xiao Ran’s face softened into a slight smile. “That’s good.”

She was about to return to her room when she stopped in her tracks and hesitated. “Sis, I have another question.”

“Go ahead,” Yan Xi replied, turning her head as she played tug-of-war with Bian Bian.

Xiao Ran finally gave in to her curiosity and asked, “Does Jiang Chizhou have a germaphobia?”

“Germaphobia?” Yan Xi thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah, he does. He doesn’t like sharing things with others or making physical contact.”

She had noticed this back in elementary school, though at the time, she hadn’t fully understood the concept of germaphobia. She only knew that Jiang Chizhou wouldn’t use things other people had touched, nor did he like physical contact, regardless of gender.

As these memories flashed through Xiao Ran’s mind, she nodded lightly. She suddenly understood a lot more.

That day, Jiang Chizhou hadn’t wanted to help her directly because of his germaphobia. But today, he had patiently massaged Yan Xi’s hand—that was because… he liked her.

When Yan Xi didn’t hear a response for a while, she turned around and saw Xiao Ran standing there, deep in thought. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “Why are you suddenly asking about him? Do you care about him or something?”

Xiao Ran immediately snapped back to reality, nervously fumbling with the edges of her book. “N-no, it’s not that. I just noticed some things he did… and I was worried you were upset.”

Yan Xi stared at her silently, not blinking.

Xiao Ran grew even more flustered, unsure of what to say or do.

After a moment, Yan Xi suddenly broke into a bright smile. “Nah, I’m feeling pretty good.”

The tension in the air melted away with her cheerful grin. Xiao Ran relaxed and gave a small sigh of relief. “Alright, I’ll go back to studying.”

“Go ahead, go ahead,” Yan Xi said casually, returning to playing with Bian Bian.

Once Xiao Ran’s door closed, Yan Xi’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a thoughtful frown.

Why was Xiao Ran suddenly so interested in Jiang Chizhou? When did those two get so familiar with each other?

Oh, right. It must have started on Saturday.

Xiao Ran’s injured foot would have made it difficult for her to get up the stairs, and since she and Jiang Chizhou had come back together, he must have helped her up.

Piecing it together, Yan Xi bit her lip. The cheerful tune she’d been humming earlier now stuck in her throat.

–

The day after the monthly exams, the math test results were handed back.

The math teacher, sporting a middle part in his hair, scolded the class as he distributed the papers, “I’ve told you over and over again, high school is not the same as middle school. I keep telling you to take things seriously, but look at these scores!”

Other subjects followed, and soon everyone was busy calculating their total scores.

“I just hope I’m not at the bottom.”

“I wonder who will come out on top in our class.”

Since this was their first major high school test, there were no previous rankings to compare against, so anyone had a chance.

The class representative for language arts let out a dramatic sigh as she looked over her test, “Why did I lose points on this question? Is it the distortion of human nature or the collapse of morality…”

Her deskmate, Shen Xiaoyan, poked her with a pen. “Xi Xi, what’s your total score?”

“I haven’t added it up,” Yan Xi admitted, holding up her notebook. She had neatly recorded her scores for each subject, leaving blank spaces for the ones she hadn’t received yet, but she hadn’t bothered to calculate the total.

Even without adding it up, it was clear from her individual scores that she had done well. Shen Xiaoyan let out a small envious sigh. “You did so well.”

Yan Xi’s scores weren’t the very best, but she didn’t have any particularly weak subjects, so her overall average was stable.

“You call this good?” Yan Xi pointed at the language arts class representative sitting next to her and whispered, “Look at the real top student here. She got 135 in math, 140 in English, and her other subjects are all around 90. She’s still crying about it.”

The class rep had a good sense of humor, and their small group burst into laughter.

Everyone had different expectations for themselves. From Yan Xi’s perspective, she was content with her performance. She and Shen Xiaoyan high-fived. “Anyway, now that the exams are over, we’ve got half a month to relax.”

As they chatted, Yan Xi’s gaze drifted toward Xiao Ran.

Students loved comparing their scores with friends, so out of curiosity, Yan Xi asked, “Xiao Ran, how did you do?”

Xiao Ran shook her head lightly, lowering her head. Yan Xi couldn’t tell if she had answered or not.

That evening at home, Yan Xi overheard Xiao Ran talking to her aunt on the phone, probably about her scores, though she didn’t catch the details.

During dinner, Zhao Qiujing couldn’t help asking, “Xiao Ran, how did you do this time?”

Xiao Ran hid her hands under the table and quietly replied, “Not very well.”

It was an awkward moment.

Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Zhao Qiujing didn’t press the issue, and Yan Xi’s father quickly changed the subject. “Let’s eat, let’s

eat. These braised eggplants turned out really well…”

Yan Xi decided not to join in on the conversation about grades.

She didn’t know Xiao Ran’s exact score, but Xiao Ran had always been top of her class at their old school, so her idea of “not very well” was probably similar to the language arts rep’s.

Later, Yan Xi gave her mother some advice in private. “Mom, asking about our grades is like a curse for us. You know what I mean? It’s like a spell that makes us feel anxious.”

“If you want to ask me, that’s fine. I can handle it. But please don’t ask Xiao Ran directly. If you really want to know, I can quietly tell you once our class rankings are posted.”

“Alright, alright, I got it,” her mother replied, grateful for the insight.

When the class rankings were finally posted, Yan Xi was surprised by the results. She ranked 97th in the entire grade!

As for Xiao Ran? She did even better—85th.

With the scores settled, Yan Xi was as happy as a bird freed from its cage.

Now that Xiao Ran’s foot had healed, and with approval from their mother, Yan Xi happily went out with Shen Xiaoyan, not returning until 7 p.m.

As the evening darkened, Yan Xi parked her bike downstairs in their apartment complex, holding a stack of novels she had collected that day.

Up ahead, a familiar figure caught her attention. Without needing to see his face, she confidently called out, “Chizhou!”

The person turned around—it was indeed Jiang Chizhou.

He was holding a cup of bubble tea. When she caught up, he stopped and waited for her. Yan Xi eagerly shared her excitement, “I made it into the top 100 in the whole grade!”

“That’s impressive,” he complimented her without hesitation, offering her the bubble tea in his hand. “This is for you as a reward.”

“Thanks!” Yan Xi said, trying to grab it, but her hands were full. “I’m holding too much stuff right now.”

Jiang Chizhou smiled and silently tore open the wrapper on the straw, inserting it into the cup.

With her hands occupied, Yan Xi leaned forward to take a sip.

But just as she moved closer, Jiang Chizhou mischievously pulled the cup away. Yan Xi instinctively followed, her lips missing the straw entirely and instead landing on something soft.

Yan Xi’s brain froze—

She had kissed Jiang Chizhou’s face!