Chapter 16: Sigh! School’s out & Capitalism

Back then, it was near the end of the semester, and Li Siheng didn’t have much time left before leaving District 16.

That gave Lin Zhiyan a perfect opportunity.

One day after school, she didn’t have a work shift scheduled. Since his route home happened to overlap with hers, they walked together.

It was a cloudy day.

Rain threatened to fall but never quite did. The air felt stagnant, heavy enough to suffocate people.

Lin Zhiyan’s mind was full of too much pressure, I’m collapsing, I want to vent, so she didn’t say a single word.

At first, Li Siheng tried talking to her, but after enduring her prolonged silence, he eventually only said:

“I really hate cloudy days. They’re so gloomy. They make people feel awful.”

After that, silence.

The two of them walked quietly for a while until they neared the intersection close to Lin Zhiyan’s home.

The area was cramped and twisted, densely packed with overlapping pathways. Strange people constantly wandered through—drunks, addicts, homeless people, all kinds.

Every time she parted with him there, Lin Zhiyan would pull out a defensive weapon from her backpack and walk while reading, carrying it openly to intimidate anyone lurking nearby.

But this time, after Li Siheng stopped to let her leave, she didn’t move.

She only looked at him.

Li Siheng seemed confused and lowered his head slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my defense device today.” Lin Zhiyan paused before saying softly, “Can you walk me home?”

Li Siheng looked startled.

His lips moved slightly before he nodded quickly.

“Okay.”

He accepted immediately and walked beside her.

After escorting her all the way home, Lin Zhiyan decided it was time to make her move.

Standing at her doorway, she said:

“When I think about next semester… nobody will walk home with me anymore. It feels kind of strange.”

The topic instinctively made Li Siheng resist.

His fingers tightened around the strap of his shoulder bag as he looked away.

“We’ll meet again someday.”

Lin Zhiyan nodded before returning to the topic he’d ignored earlier.

“Actually, I don’t hate cloudy days.”

“There’s no blazing sun, and unlike rainy days, you don’t end up soaked.”

Li Siheng froze slightly.

“But cloudy days feel depressing,” he said quietly. “They’re awful.”

“But they look like your hair.”

Lin Zhiyan smiled.

Li Siheng stared into her dark eyes silently.

“Gray-black is the color of cloudy skies,” she continued. “Like the waiting period after storm clouds gather but before lightning strikes.”

Then she added softly:

“I just don’t know what I’m waiting for.”

Li Siheng’s eyes widened slowly.

“What?”

Before the word fully fell, Lin Zhiyan had already grabbed his collar and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

Li Siheng panicked slightly. His body stiffened instantly, yet his eyes bloomed open like flowers.

His arms wrapped around her waist tightly, locking her against him as though instinctively seeking warmth from her body.

After that, everything happened naturally.

Even though Li Siheng repeatedly tried to stop himself, his cheeks still pressed tightly against her face, neck, and shoulders. Like a dog, he kept breathing in her scent and absorbing her warmth.

Inside the cramped, shabby room, he confirmed her existence again and again while repeatedly proving his own.

The dusty, humid scent unique to cloudy weather drifted in through the cracks of the door and spread through the dim room until it felt like the entire world contained only the two of them.

Several times Lin Zhiyan tried turning away, only for him to pull her back and force her to look at him again.

One of Li Siheng’s hands supported her waist while the other slid upward along her body until it reached her fingers. He intertwined his long pale fingers with hers and held tightly.

Sweat dampened his forehead, yet in the darkness his appearance seemed to glow softly, his cheeks flushed red.

Even at the very end, he still insisted on keeping her facing him, trapping her in his embrace.

There was light in his gray-black eyes, bright enough to illuminate her face.

It resembled exactly how she had described cloudy skies—like the brief radiance released after gathering energy for a long time.

That night had genuinely been stress-relieving.

For the first time in ages, Lin Zhiyan slept peacefully. Her constantly racing brain finally powered down, and she drifted past the gates of dreams without resistance.

Afterward, that kind of relationship continued on and off until Li Siheng eventually left District 16.

At first, Lin Zhiyan still responded to some of his messages out of basic conscience.

But after a while, she decisively changed her terminal ID and erased the entire relationship from her life.

Most importantly, the school later established a new high-value scholarship. After obtaining it, at least half her stress disappeared.

…Though by senior year, her stress meter exploded again anyway.

As for the past, Lin Zhiyan had always followed one principle:

If unnecessary, do not revisit it.

Once people became addicted to the past, they inevitably started romanticizing their own pain and using it as an excuse to stop moving forward.

So even though Lin Zhiyan understood why Li Siheng was acting this way now, she still couldn’t truly understand him.

She didn’t think that relationship had meant anything.

They had never officially defined anything, and aside from stress relief, there hadn’t been much romance involved.

…At least not for her.

Lin Zhiyan felt resentful.

But she didn’t dare say it aloud.

Because she had a feeling that if she openly described their relationship as “stress relief,” both she and her physical body might cease to exist.

After all—

he was the Education Minister’s son.

She thought sourly to herself.

At the podium, the lecturer’s voice rose and fell like sleep-aid audio.

Below the stage, students were either half asleep or completely mentally absent.

Li Siheng had already released her hand, but his gaze still lingered faintly on her face.

Lin Zhiyan pretended not to care while internally panicking.

Because besides his gaze—

there was also Le Mans’.

Le Mans sat in front of her, body turned sideways, clearly not listening to the lecture at all.

Meanwhile, Ai Wen was being unusually quiet.

Even during group discussion sessions, she looked deeply distracted.

All of it kept Lin Zhiyan’s nerves stretched painfully tight.

She didn’t know whether Le Mans would suddenly explode, whether Li Siheng would pull another stunt, or what exactly was wrong with Ai Wen—

but she knew she was surrounded by landmines and couldn’t move recklessly.

Time became long and agonizing.

Finally, the long afternoon class ended.

Lin Zhiyan let out a huge breath internally.

Finally.

Finally this was ending.

Li Siheng packed up his books and stood.

Lin Zhiyan turned toward Ai Wen.

“Ai Wen, want to get dinner together?”

She felt like maybe they needed to talk.

But before Ai Wen could answer, Le Mans interrupted:

“Not today. Ai Wen’s leaving with me.”

Ai Wen looked slightly apologetic.

“In a few days, it’ll be time for the family gathering. Everyone in the family has to eat together around this time.”

“It’s okay.” Lin Zhiyan nodded. “But before you leave, I want to talk with Ai Wen for a bit.”

“So you have nothing to say to me?”

Le Mans sounded dissatisfied, green eyes gleaming sharply.

“That can wait until after I finish talking to Ai Wen.”

Lin Zhiyan raised a brow.

Le Mans huffed.

“Do whatever you want.”

Li Siheng merely smiled.

“I have a meeting tonight, so I’ll leave first.”

With that, he packed his things and left, giving the remaining three space.

Lin Zhiyan led Ai Wen outside the classroom.

Ai Wen leaned quietly against the wall, red hair framing lowered green eyes. She looked gentle and subdued.

“You don’t seem to be in a very good mood,” Lin Zhiyan said after a pause. “Did what happened this afternoon upset you?”

Ai Wen shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

Lin Zhiyan could tell her “nothing” actually contained quite a lot.

“Are you angry at me?”

“…No.” Ai Wen hesitated before meeting her gaze honestly. Complex emotions flickered in her green eyes.

“Compared to being angry at you, I think I’m more angry at myself.”

Then she added quietly:

“I always feel my own inadequacy.”

“There’s nothing inadequate about you.” Lin Zhiyan thought for a moment before continuing, “Anyway, if something’s wrong, you can tell me. I might not be able to help, but I want to know why you look so sad.”

“Maybe I’m subconsciously worried about the family gathering.” Ai Wen forced a smile, green eyes flickering again. “Even though it only happens twice a year, I still overthink it every time.”

She thought about why her aunt’s family always shined so brightly.

Why Le Mans could possess everything.

Why everything she wanted always ended up belonging to Le Mans instead—

from toys to friends, from family background to bloodline.

Why was she always the inadequate one? The flawed one?

Lin Zhiyan could tell Ai Wen didn’t mean what she said, and she could sense her mood sinking lower and lower.

But she couldn’t understand why.

And Ai Wen clearly didn’t want to explain.

So in the end, Lin Zhiyan could only pat her shoulder gently.

At that moment, Le Mans emerged from the classroom.

“Finished talking yet?”

Lin Zhiyan nodded.

Ai Wen smiled faintly.

“I’ll wait in the car first.”

The hallway was mostly empty now, her footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Le Mans waved lazily. Once Ai Wen disappeared, he immediately grabbed Lin Zhiyan’s face with both hands.

Lin Zhiyan blinked while he squished her cheeks around for a while before finally declaring:

“I hate Li Siheng.”

Lin Zhiyan peeled his hands off her face.

“You can’t take it out on me.”

Le Mans rested his forehead against hers before sliding downward until his head leaned against her shoulder.

His voice sounded muffled.

“But he was right.”

Lin Zhiyan pushed at his head with one finger.

“What part was right?”

“Not telling you.”

Le Mans lifted his head and stared deeply at her again.

“I’ll probably be really busy over the next few days. But if I message you, you have to reply immediately.”

“What if I’m in class?” Lin Zhiyan deliberately challenged him. “What if I’m showering and don’t hear it? What if my terminal dies?”

“You—”

Le Mans looked dissatisfied by her answer. He raised a hand again—

only this time he suddenly hugged her head tightly.

“Then I’ll forgive you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he released her and turned to leave.

“I’m going now. I sent a driver to wait for you at the school gate to take you home.”

Lin Zhiyan laughed.

“Safe travels, young master.”

Le Mans turned back, narrowed his green eyes arrogantly, tipped his chin upward toward her, then walked away again.

He descended the academic building steps where the car was already waiting.

Le Mans got in and shut the door.

The vehicle slowly began moving.

Ai Wen looked out the window while Le Mans checked his terminal.

The silence inside the car grew heavy.

After a while, Le Mans looked toward Ai Wen with a frown.

“Why do you always look miserable? Like I bullied you or something.”

Ai Wen lowered her eyes without speaking.

Le Mans stared ahead.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been obsessing over that hair-color comment this whole time.”

Then he added:

“Even if your hair looks like weeds, it’s still prettier than Li Siheng’s. Doesn’t thinking that make you feel better?”

Ai Wen’s breathing grew heavier.

Several seconds later, she asked quietly:

“Do you know about what happened between Li Siheng and her?”

She never said Lin Zhiyan’s name aloud, but he understood immediately.

Thinking about that topic annoyed Le Mans.

“What happened? They were classmates for one semester. Such a shallow relationship, yet Li Siheng still acts proud of it like some pathetic creature.”

He sneered.

“What a joke. Attention-starved idiot.”

Ai Wen closed her eyes, pretending she couldn’t see or hear anything.

But then Le Mans suddenly called her name again, forcing her out of her withdrawn shell.

When she looked over, she saw rare seriousness on his usually proud and flamboyant face.

His turquoise-green eyes looked especially bright and translucent in the light.

He looked at her and asked:

“What kind of flowers do you think Lin Zhiyan would like?”

Ai Wen’s eyes trembled.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I just want to know. Is that illegal?” Le Mans frowned and looked away. “Forget it. You obviously don’t know.”

Ai Wen rubbed her fingers against her knee.

A guess suddenly surfaced in her mind.

But the moment it appeared, she forced it back down.

Panic rose inside her.

Was he really going to completely steal away her friend too?

The question circled endlessly through Ai Wen’s mind.

She couldn’t understand why Le Mans always took her things away.

Ever since childhood, people had only befriended her to gain favor with Le Mans’ powerful family.

And now, after finally meeting someone who saw her first instead of Le Mans—

that person was still going to be taken away by Le Mans too…

Ai Wen lowered her eyes once more, quiet and obedient as always.

Meanwhile—

Lin Zhiyan walked down the academic building steps.

Seeing all the other students’ drivers waiting directly outside the building, she raised her head proudly and pretended she was secretly some hidden rich heiress whose car could only wait at the school gate.

Thinking like that actually made her posture straighten confidently.

Unfortunately, after maintaining it for five minutes, she got exhausted.

Summer was unbearably humid.

Even though the campus had climate regulation systems, the school itself was absurdly huge.

And after-school hours were peak activity time for every club. The aerial shuttle cars were packed.

Rather than standing in line, she’d rather walk.

Inside the greenhouse forest, Lin Zhiyan stepped on thick fallen leaves. The faint crunching sounds improved her mood slightly.

But after only a few steps, she heard footsteps behind her.

Turning around, she saw a familiar face.

Li Siheng.

Lin Zhiyan closed her eyes in despair.

Wasn’t he supposed to be at a meeting?!

Li Siheng walked beside her calmly.

“Let’s walk together.”

“That’s unnecessary.” Lin Zhiyan increased the distance between them. “Le Mans’ car is waiting for me at the school gate. You don’t need to walk me home.”

“What if I insist?” Li Siheng asked softly.

Then he continued:

“I could walk with you all the way to the car. Then you’d get a phone call from Le Mans.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

“What exactly do you want?”

Li Siheng raised his hand.

Lin Zhiyan frowned.

“What are you doing?”

Was he going to hit her?

Instead, Li Siheng’s hand landed gently on her head, plucking away a flower petal that had somehow fallen into her hair.

Emotion flickered in his eyes.

“You’re afraid I’ll hurt you?”

Dear god.

What was this terrifying pressure?!

Lin Zhiyan replied stiffly:

“No.”

“You’re avoiding me.”

“Yes,” Lin Zhiyan deadpanned. “I put that flower on my head on purpose. Put it back.”

The moment she finished speaking, even she nearly laughed at her own nonsense.

Seriously.

Running to class all morning, getting tormented by Jiang Yi, being trapped in a social battlefield—she had already used up all her brainpower.

Could the universe please let her off for one day?!

Li Siheng placed the flower petal into his pocket and smiled.

“Now,” he said softly, “it’s finally just the two of us. We can have a proper conversation.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Lin Zhiyan paused before adding, “Why don’t you just say directly what you want?”

Li Siheng’s gaze slowly traveled across her face before settling on her lips.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly.

“What do you think?”

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