Chapter 22: Don’t Fall Asleep Yet

There are 6 missed calls: 3 from Wang Sinan, one from Zhang Zhao, one from Qiyang, and one from Zhao Xu. There’s also a flood of group messages, all from the “Lonely 5 Missing 1 Group.”

Chen Ciyi suddenly remembered—oh right, they had agreed to meet him at the school gate after school with late-night snacks. But then he left through the side gate with Li Wei, heading in the opposite direction. He completely forgot about the other four.

As Chen Ciyi untied the takeout bag, he opened WeChat. The little red notification circle on the group chat showed 151 unread messages. They had actually chatted this much without him knowing? He couldn’t be bothered to read through it all. These guys really had too much time on their hands. Even if he didn’t show up, the four of them were together—they could’ve just sent one message asking what happened and talked about the rest in person. But no, they had to keep chatting in the group, as if he wouldn’t realize they were ganging up to complain about him!

Though they probably wouldn’t dare. At most, they just gathered to… sulk together!

Chen Ci chuckled, closed WeChat, and directly tapped on the most recent call in his call log. He selected the top missed call from Wang Sinan’s number, dialed it, and put it on speaker. Then, he tossed the towel hanging around his neck aside and focused on opening the takeout box.

He ordered a bowl of noodles from a newly opened shop downstairs. The packaging was excellent—the noodles and broth came in separate containers to prevent sogginess. The only hassle was reassembling them now, as the broth was still quite hot.

Soon, Wang Sinan answered the call, just as Chen Ciyi finished unpacking his takeout and took his first bite of noodles.

On the other end, Wang Sinan seemed to hear the sound of him eating and was about to ask what had happened and where he had gone. But the words that came out instead were, “Hey, Brother Yi, what are you eating? What delicious food are you having? Didn’t we agree to have supper together? How could you ditch us and eat alone? You promised we’d get the broth if you got the meat! Are you even giving us a chance to show our filial piety? But we can wait!”

Chen Ciyi ate leisurely, waiting for him to finish his rambling before asking calmly, “Where are you guys?”

Wang Sinan, sounding like an abandoned wife—no, more like an abandoned senior wife, with numbers 2, 3, and 4 behind him—replied in a wounded tone, “Where else? At your school gate, of course.”

Chen Ciyi looked up at the wall clock. Though it wasn’t too late yet, an hour and a half had already passed since school ended. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt for forgetting about them. “Why didn’t you guys go back?”

“We couldn’t wait for you, so we just sat at the school gate and ate your midnight snack. Haha…” Wang Sinan’s teasing laughter came through, and even through the screen, Chen Ciyi could practically see him winking. “So, Brother Yi, what were you up to, ditching us this late? Were you strolling through the school grove with a girl? Was it that little bunny avatar from your QQ the other day? When are you coming out? To witness this monumental moment—your first-ever walk with a girl in your entire life—we’ll wait right here. Don’t worry, take your time. We’re not tired.” By the end, Wang Sinan’s tone was practically dripping with the pride of a proud parent watching their child finally grow up and get a clue.

Damn it!

Chen Ciyi was speechless—all that guilt was bullshit!

“Don’t wait up, I’m home already.” You guys can go to the grove yourselves, Chen Ciyi hung up directly and focused on eating his noodles.

The house was quiet—spacious but simply furnished. Only a warm yellow light was on in the living room. Apart from the sound of him eating noodles, there was just the occasional hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the wall clock.

After finishing his noodles, Chen Ciyi cleaned up the takeout box and tossed it in the trash. Then he remembered—the school uniform pants and black T-shirt he’d changed out of earlier still needed washing.

He went to the bathroom, tossed the black T-shirt into the washing machine, then picked up his school uniform pants. Although the color was dark, upon closer inspection, one could see not only dust but also what appeared to be bloodstains that had been smeared on at some unknown time. Disgusted, Chen Ciyi threw the school uniform pants directly into the trash bin. After starting the washing machine, he returned to his bedroom to study.

Originally, he had planned to go straight to bed after coming back. His biological clock had been completely messed up these past few days, and by the time school was almost over, his head had been buzzing with exhaustion. But after the ordeal with Li Wei and those vocational school students, he wasn’t sleepy anymore.

Not being able to sleep wasn’t so bad—it saved him from having nightmares at this hour. The only problem was the headache. Chen Ciyi took a painkiller, opened his “Five-Year Simulation, Three-Year College Entrance Exam” workbook, and started solving problems.

When Xu Yannuo arrived at the classroom in the morning, Chen Ciyi was already there, sleeping with his head on the desk. Xu Yannuo glanced at him. Coming in early just to sleep—how could he be so tired every day?

Xu Yannuo returned to his seat, put down his backpack, took out the book needed for the first class, and began his morning self-study.

Xu Yannuo recited English vocabulary for a while when Chen Ciyi, sitting beside him, woke up at some point. There was no teacher supervising the morning self-study today, and the classroom was noisy. Instead of passing Xu Yannuo a note, Chen nudged him with his elbow. His voice was still hoarse from just waking up, “Deskmate, why didn’t you wake me up when you arrived?”

Because Chen Ciyi would keep provoking you relentlessly every time you ignored him, displaying a fearless persistence. To avoid further annoyance, Xu Yannuo hesitated for a moment before turning her head to look at him.

He probably started sleeping as soon as he got to class, and in any case, he’d been asleep for quite a while. By now, the side of his face and his forehead were pressed red, with a crease mark still visible on his forehead. But his looks were genuinely good—even messed up like this, he still managed to look… well, attractive. No wonder so many girls in school crowded outside his classroom door the moment the bell rang.

Xu Yannuo gave him a cold look. “Why should I call you?”

Chen Ciyi clicked his tongue, then rested his head on his arm again, staring at Xu Yannuo without a word. After a few seconds of silence, both of them heard a soft, deliberate cough from a male student in front of them.

They both looked up at the same time and saw Li Wei sitting at the desk in front of them, though they didn’t know when he had arrived. He was straddling the chair backward, arms resting on the backrest, staring intently at Chen Ciyi. Meanwhile, Zhang Qi and Zhao Ying had already left—no one noticed when—but their seats were now empty.

Before them, Li Wei seemed hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin. His gaze remained fixed on Chen Ciyi, filled with unreadable emotions.

After about two seconds of eye contact, Chen Ciyi lowered his head and buried it in the crook of his arm, ready to go back to sleep.

“Hey!” Li Wei paused. “Chen Ciyi, don’t fall asleep yet…”

Chen Ci ignored him, still burying his head and lying face down, but Li Wei’s voice continued to come from above, “Last night… last night, you were okay, right? This was my fault. After all, we’re classmates, I…” For the sake of pride, Li Wei couldn’t bring himself to say things like “I didn’t mean it, I was just too scared.”