Chapter 39: I’m Sorry

Back in the classroom, the evening session was supposed to be an English class, but the English teacher had to take a sudden leave. Since it was early in the first year of high school and there were no regular evening classes, the teachers had already gone home. Surprisingly, no one took advantage of this perfect opportunity to claim the class, so Class 8’s English period happily turned into a self-study session.

A recently graduated teaching assistant was supervising the self-study session, sitting at the front of the class. She seemed gentle and soft-spoken, struggling to maintain discipline. However, the grade-level dean was patrolling the hallway restlessly, occasionally peeking through the back door window with a fierce expression, as if the entire class owed him money. As a result, although there was constant murmuring in the classroom, it remained at a low hum, with no one daring to speak too loudly.

Xu Yannuo sat at her seat memorizing English vocabulary, though she couldn’t really focus. With little homework assigned today—completed by noon—and the earlier commotion, concentrating on anything felt particularly difficult. Beside her, Chen Ciyi wasn’t working on test papers either, instead leaning back in his chair, engrossed in a mobile game with unusual seriousness—even more than when solving exam questions. Curious, Xu Yannuo stole a glance from the corner of her eye. Expecting some high-difficulty game, she was surprised to find him playing a stick-figure version of… Happy Link!

Come to think of it, the last time she saw him gaming, it was… Love Match-3! And he’d been playing the most basic level with minimal grids and zero challenge!

Xu Yannuo’s skepticism about his “top student” image resurfaced when suddenly—two distinct stomach growls interrupted her thoughts in quick succession. Both froze in mutual recognition.

She knew one growl was hers… which meant the other—

Xu Yannuo turned her head to look at Chen Ciyi, just as Chen Ciyi also stopped what she was doing to look at her.

The two locked eyes for two seconds when suddenly, Chen Ciyi’s gaze dropped to the corner of her eye, glancing at her school uniform pocket—bulging with the beautifully wrapped candies he had just bought.

Following his line of sight, Xu Yannuo also looked down at her own school uniform pocket—or rather, Chen Ciyi’s school uniform pocket, which she was currently wearing. She had stuffed the candies in there right after coming back.

Xu Yannuo’s eyes lit up, and she immediately pulled out the candies from her pocket, placing them on the table. The flowerbed area had been dimly lit earlier, and she hadn’t really been in the mood then. But now, feeling a bit hungry, she was more than ready to take a proper look.

The candies came in various sizes—the larger ones, about the size of tangyuan, were filled with chocolate, while the smaller ones had assorted fruit-flavored fillings. In the middle were two round, thick whistle candies.

Xu Yannuo glanced back at Chen Ciyi, who was staring intently at the candies before shifting his gaze to her. Their eyes met for two seconds, and seeing that she showed no intention of sharing, he simply reached out his hand. But Xu Yannuo, quick as lightning, scooped up all the candies and stuffed them into the other pocket of her school uniform. By the time Chen Ciyi reacted and leaned over to snatch them, it was already too late.

Then, Xu Yannuo raised her eyebrows and flashed a triumphant smile at Chen Ciyi. “They’re all mine. Stay hungry!”

Chen Ciyi’s handsome face twisted into a deadpan expression. “Have you no conscience? Who was it that went hungry and skipped a meal for your sake?”

Oh, still daring to bring that up? Xu Yannuo raised an eyebrow. “And who was it whose admirer made me the target of hatred?”

Chen Ci stiffened for a moment, then continued to play the game with his head down, but Xu Yannuo heard a faint “I’m sorry.”