Chapter 68: Passing Notes Between Front and Back Desks

Students who are vibrant and youthful during the day gradually quiet down by the time evening self-study begins.

As if all courage had followed the setting sun down the mountain.

The evening self-study sessions in senior year of high school also involved classes—analyzing handouts, breaking down question types, or practicing key and challenging topics.

Little Fatty Zhang Ming quieted down as soon as he entered the classroom, obediently returning to his seat.

“Here, pass these back. Do these two reading passages; we’ll review them next class,”

said the Chinese language teacher Yu Luo, standing at the podium. She divided a stack of practice papers into six piles and handed them to the student at the front desk of each group.

To prevent desk-mates from whispering, every student had their own single seat in the classroom. You Huo glanced around the room, which held 46 people in the class, and noticed that two desks were empty at the back of one row.

As soon as he and Qin Jiu entered the classroom, they attracted everyone’s attention. The little ghosts craned their necks and whispered across the aisles.

“Who are these two?”

“No idea, I saw them earlier on the field.”

“I heard the principal invited them here.”

“For what?”

“What else… use your head and think.”

“Using witchcraft to catch ghosts?”

“Shamanistic dance rituals?”

“Shamans look like this?!”

This is a guy.

“……”

“!!!”

These are the girls.

They don’t say a word; they simply grab the arm of the nearest girl and shake it frantically. Facial expressions and eye contact are more than enough—no need to open their mouths.

This is the unspoken understanding between face fans.

You Huo walked straight to an empty seat, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

Qin Jiu sat behind him.

Although the chairs at these two positions were empty with no one sitting, there were books and pencil cases on the desks. Perhaps the students who originally sat here were injured and didn’t come.

Those kids took advantage of passing out the exam papers to turn their heads and look back.

Yu Luo leaned on the podium and cleared her throat. The little devils turned their heads back, but their eyes were still darting around, not quite ready to settle down.

It left her torn between irritation and amusement.

She thought to herself, if seeing a handsome face a few more times could cure nightmares, the principal would probably plaster photos of these two all across the land.

But sadly, that’s impossible.

A brief moment of excitement couldn’t possibly achieve that kind of effect; she knew these little rascals all too well.

As expected, the students soon settled down and buried their heads in their exam papers.

Only the girl at the end of this group still had a flushed face.

She placed the extra exam paper on You Huo’s desk, then sneaked a glance at him and Qin Jiu before asking softly, “Do you two need one?”

Before You Huo could answer, she said “Here” and hurriedly turned back around.

The exam paper stopped at You Huo’s desk and wasn’t passed further back.

After all, this was meant for students, and neither of them had any use for it.

You Huo casually flipped open the exam paper, lowering his gaze to skim the reading passage.

Yu Luo carefully followed the suggestion from the psychological counseling room, deliberately selecting two humorous readings. On one hand, it was to divert the students’ attention; on the other, it aimed to ease the atmosphere in the evening.

With such well-intentioned efforts, it was hard to say whether it would truly help the students.

You Huo scanned the lines rapidly, while no one in the classroom spoke.

Under the cool, pale light…

Amidst a stretch of silence, someone tapped a finger against his back.

The touch was gentle and also a little ticklish.

You Huo’s downcast eyes and brows twitched slightly, yet his gaze remained fixed on the exam paper.

A while later, he finally leaned back in his chair, pressing against Qin Jiu’s desk, and tilted his head.

He was waiting for Qin Jiu to speak.

Yet several seconds passed in silence from behind, with no follow-up.

You Huo turned his head.

There he saw Qin Jiu leaning back in his chair, one hand resting on the desk, fingers twirling a pen.

His gaze lingered on You Huo’s profile, seeming to momentarily drift away in thought.

It was only when You Huo turned his head that he snapped back to attention.

In the classroom, some students were whispering softly, while others were quietly borrowing pens or correction fluid.

The gentle rustling of pens on paper formed a soft background hum.

Gin just looked at You Huo like that for a few seconds, then tilted his chin slightly and said softly, “I suddenly forgot what I wanted to say. You go on.”

You Huo glanced at him, still leaning back against the edge of the table.

No students were murmuring now, and the classroom fell quiet again.

He didn’t speak, only turning back after a moment.

The pen in Qin Jiu’s hand spun a circle, when You Huo suddenly raised a hand and passed a test paper backward, landing it on Qin Jiu’s desk.

Aside from the printed questions, there were two handwritten marks on the test paper.

One was in the name column, where someone had filled in “Yi Mou.”

The other was on the blank line for the first reading question, where an extra sentence was added— “The student in front is Han Ling.”

The chubby kid’s enthusiasm was useful; at least it gave them some information.

Including some things they didn’t dare tell the teacher.

Such as…

This “Dream Invitation” game actually spread from their class, and the first person to play it was Han Ling.

She found an old book in the library, its pages yellowed, published in some era of the last century and priced at 0.36 yuan. At a glance, it seemed perfect for fostering superstition.

Students of that age are exceptionally curious, especially about mystical, enigmatic things like this.

Han Ling took pictures of the game’s content and pulled three other friends into trying it once.

Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about it day and night: at the time, she had just lost an expensive pen, and that night, she dreamed of finding it. Midway, she opened her eyes, and the pen was right there beside her pillow.

In the dead of night, such an occurrence is truly terrifying.

At that moment, Han Ling didn’t feel any joy at all; instead, she was instantly jolted awake with fright.

According to the little fatty, Han Ling didn’t dare move an inch that night. She stared stiffly at the fountain pen for over two hours, only mustering the courage to sit up when her roommate got out of bed to use the bathroom.

That entire night, neither she nor her roommate slept again, doing nothing but staring wide-eyed at the fountain pen.

The next day, the game spread far and wide.

Later, one person told ten, ten told a hundred, and as the confusion spread among the thousand or so people in the school, the origin of the rumor became blurred.

Then, later on, such a major incident occurred, making them even more afraid to mention it to anyone.

……

You Huo and Qin Jiu chose to stay in the classroom because they wanted to talk with this Han Ling.

Qin Jiu looked at the messy yet forceful handwriting on the exam paper, pressed down the spinning pen, and replied with a line written every other row.

Within a couple of seconds, You Huo felt another poke on his back.

Qin Jiu folded the paper a few extra times, tossed it directly over You Huo’s shoulder, and let it land on the desk.

You Huo opened it to see Qin Jiu’s reply: “Teacher Jia, from what I can see, there are six students in front of you. Are you referring to that little girl who blushes after just one glance at you?”

You Huo: “…”

Although he knew it was meant to be playful, those words struck an odd chord.

You Huo moved his lips, gripping the pen and staring blankly for a moment before setting it down again with no intention of replying.

* * *

The first period of self-study flew by in the blink of an eye.

As soon as the bell rang, the students suddenly came alive.

The sounds of zippers on pencil cases and the rustling of folding test papers rose and fell in succession, while the buzz of conversations swelled instantly.

It was like releasing a mountain of bees all at once.

Some students remained reserved in their seats, glancing at the two visitors while talking about their fears of the night.

The bold students directly gathered around, chattering away with their questions.

You Huo didn’t say much to outsiders, only uttering a few words at a time, giving off an aloof and unapproachable vibe.

Qin Jiu, on the other hand, joked around while skillfully fishing for information with a few questions.

Han Ling, that little girl, couldn’t resist being teased, or perhaps her judgment was clouded by their good looks.

The words I’d never dare to speak normally were poured out freely to You Huo and Qin Jiu.

That was when they learned…

At first, this dream-come-true phenomenon only affected a few people, genuinely coming true, and the aftereffects persisted even during the day.

Later, it spread more widely, affecting more and more people. By the time the entire school fell into its grasp, the power of dream-come-true had changed, and its duration had shortened.

It only took effect around 2 a.m., with the pandemonium lasting a few hours, only to vanish suddenly after sunrise.

The living things one dreams of will materialize, but the setting does not necessarily follow suit.

Some clear objects, such as tables and chairs, will appear exactly as they do in the dream. However, large-scale scenes like towering buildings and bustling traffic often do not accompany them. This might be because the city in dreams is mostly just a vague silhouette, lacking clarity.

Han Ling also touched upon the matter they were most concerned about.

That is—how can one determine whether it is thoroughly cleared?

Han Ling secretly showed them the photo she had taken, because the book had already vanished from the library.

In the photo, a passage mentioned in the book, translated into plain language, was:

If they could completely eliminate all materialized demons and monsters within the school before sunrise, the power of this “dream come true” would disappear forever.

In other words, only by clearing out the grand spectacle presented by the entire school’s teachers and students within a mere four hours could they leave this place.

This condition is indeed rather vexing.

However, no matter how vexing things got, they never disrupted You Huo’s sleep.

That night, he fell asleep just after 10 p.m.

Then, his face was metaphorically slapped as he, for the first time ever, dreamt of a scenario…