Chapter 86: Morning Routines and New Encounters

In the early morning, Zhong Tian, as always, awoke before his alarm. He silenced the device, entered the washroom, and began his morning routine.

Su Linxi had risen even earlier than Zhong Tian. Donning the uniform of Taisugi High School, she now wore an apron, expertly frying eggs in a non-stick pan.

Having finished his ablutions, Zhong Tian put on a spare apron and joined Su Linxi in preparing breakfast.

As was their custom, they prepared a portion for Zhong Jing. After eating, the two mounted their bicycles and set off for school.

****

Zheng Qiao sat on the bus, still somewhat drowsy.

Last night, the story had ended at such a thrilling point, leaving her utterly consumed by the need to know what happened next, tossing and turning sleeplessly.

‘How could even Zhong Tian be a cliffhanger fiend?’

She was now pondering how to pester Zhong Tian for updates.

****

Because he was carrying Su Linxi, Zhong Tian had slowed his cycling pace, arriving at the school gates a little later than usual. However, Zhong Tian habitually arrived twenty minutes early, so this slight delay had no real impact.

Zhong Tian locked his bicycle in the shed. “Let’s go, I’ll take you inside the school.”

“Zhong Tian,” Su Linxi said, following behind him. “Perhaps, in the future, I could ask the butler to drive us to and from school.”

“You have to carry me every day, it’s too much trouble for you.”

“Hmm, I think it’s fine. You’re very light, so carrying you isn’t tiring at all. There’s no need to specially trouble the butler to adjust their schedule for us.”

“……”

Su Linxi offered no reply, simply following Zhong Tian through the entrance.

Since Su Linxi didn’t have a student ID, Zhong Tian led her into the guard’s office and explained the situation to the security guard.

“Hello, this student is a new transfer today, named Su Linxi. Our teacher mentioned they had already informed you.”

“Ah, yes, I was told.”

The security guard looked at Su Linxi beside Zhong Tian, then opened his WeChat group, cross-referencing the information. After confirming, he opened the gate for them.

“Go on in.”

“Alright, thank you for your trouble.”

With only ten minutes remaining until morning reading, Su Linxi, lacking textbooks, naturally couldn’t participate. Consequently, Zhong Tian escorted her directly to the office to find their homeroom teacher.

Without Zhong Tian needing to speak, Homeroom Teacher Wang Changgeng already understood their purpose. He retrieved a box from beneath his desk.

“Here are all the textbooks and workbooks, Zhong Tian. Please help the new student carry them back,” Homeroom Teacher Wang Changgeng said, rising with his hands clasped behind his back. “The new student’s seat is in the last row of the fourth group—that’s Yu Naixi’s deskmate.”

‘Yu Naixi’s deskmate…’

An increasing sense of caution bloomed in Su Linxi’s heart.

While her enrollment was primarily to assist Yu Naixi, this objective was contingent upon ensuring her own safety. If she were to be Yu Naixi’s deskmate, the one-way mirror glasses and pepper spray she carried might prove ineffective.

However, if Yu Naixi’s condition was as dire as Su Linxi predicted, she would likely be on leave, staying at home or elsewhere, making her presence at school improbable. ‘I don’t need to be overly anxious.’

The box was somewhat heavy, yet Zhong Tian managed to lift it with relative ease. Despite his somewhat feminine appearance, his strength was considerable.

Su Linxi looked as if she wanted to help, but the box wasn’t large enough for her to get a grip, so she simply followed behind Zhong Tian back to Class 3, Grade 11.

Su Linxi stood at the doorway, gazing at the familiar classroom, the familiar students, and the familiar scene of morning reading, countless memories surging within her.

‘Those times were truly wonderful.’

She didn’t linger in her recollections for long. Her gaze shifted to the last row of the fourth group in the classroom—where two empty seats awaited.

One of the seats held books and notebooks, clearly belonging to Yu Naixi, who had taken leave.

As soon as they entered the classroom, they drew the attention of most of their classmates, primarily focusing on the new student, Su Linxi.

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know, a transfer student maybe? I don’t remember our eleventh grade having such a cute, mixed-race beauty.”

“She looks like a middle schooler.”

“I think I’ve seen her once before. It was on the last day of the cultural festival; I remember Zhong Tian brought her into the school.”

“Oh, I remember now too.”

“She’s really so cute…”

“She seems to have a personality similar to Zhong Tian’s.”

As the students discussed, Homeroom Teacher Wang Changgeng walked into the classroom, his hands clasped behind his back.

The moment he stepped through the door, the students in the class, with unspoken默契, began reading aloud in unison.

“I’ll take you to the convenience store to buy notebooks after morning reading.”

“Okay.”

The two took their seats, officially beginning their morning reading.

Due to her vocal condition, Su Linxi didn’t read aloud like the others, instead silently flipping through her textbook with an expressionless face.

Each textbook, in a way, held her memories. Even the act of turning a page had become a deeply engaging experience.

She opened her math book—a subject she had once detested above all others—and ran her fingers over the pristine pages.

If her emotions could be outwardly expressed, she would undoubtedly be smiling now.

‘Ugh, Zhong Tian, I don’t want to study math! It’s so damn hard!’

‘Don’t curse…’

‘Is your focus on my language? Your girlfriend is being tormented to death by math, aren’t you worried?’

‘Well… you still have to learn it…’ The Zhong Tian in her memory smiled helplessly. ‘Linxi, you’re quite good at all your other subjects. With a little more effort, math definitely won’t be a problem.’

‘Ah, I don’t care, I’m taking a break.’

‘Alright, then let’s take a break.’

As Zhong Tian spoke, he took her math book and, using a marker, highlighted some key concepts for her.

Su Linxi immediately lay down, using Zhong Tian’s lap as a pillow.

‘Your thighs are so soft, really just like a girl’s.’

‘You always say that.’

‘It’s true.’

‘You’ll have to get up and continue studying math in ten minutes.’

‘No.’

‘…Then twenty minutes?’

‘Still no.’

‘…Then let’s compromise at fifteen minutes.’

‘Hmph, no persuasion will work on me! I’m staying put, no matter what.’

‘……’

Zhong Tian, finding himself at a loss, could only sigh and continue making notes for her.

Su Linxi could still recall the contents of the notes Zhong Tian had written for her. The things that once caused her so much distress now evoked a certain fondness.

As she reminisced about the past, morning reading time concluded.

Some students in the class rose at the sound of the bell, heading out in small groups to get water or use the restroom.

Zhong Tian put away his books and waved to Su Linxi in the back row. Together, they left the classroom and walked toward the convenience store.

“Linxi, that’s the convenience store.”

Zhong Tian pointed out the school’s convenience store to Su Linxi. She merely nodded, indicating her understanding.

The two walked alongside many other students on their way to the convenience store.

Among the students heading there, Su Linxi recognized a few familiar faces. However, in this lifetime, those individuals didn’t know her, so she merely glanced at them from a distance before entering the convenience store with Zhong Tian to select notebooks and ballpoint pens.

She specifically chose several plain, solid-colored notebooks with hard plastic covers—these notebooks had more pages and were more practical. For ballpoint pens, she bought black, blue, and red ones. Although the school convenience store also sold pens that combined four, five, or six colors, she always found those pens too thick and awkward to use, thus excluding them from her selection.

Having chosen their items, Su Linxi and Zhong Tian proceeded to the checkout counter.

The school used campus cards for payment, which Su Linxi, being newly enrolled, naturally didn’t possess. So, Zhong Tian instinctively took out his campus card and paid for her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

****

Yu Yinlian felt this was the earliest she had ever woken up.

Having finished typing out the first three chapters last night, she had finally gone to bed around midnight.

Stepping out of her dormitory, she looked up at the morning sky and, as she basked in the gentle sunlight, an inexplicable sense of contentment bloomed within her.

It seemed her ability to observe her surroundings had sharpened considerably.

Perhaps it was because she was no longer bound by school, living freely and without constraint, that she could now perceive the inherent beauty in ordinary things.

Within this world, invisible to others, Yu Yinlian had come to understand the true meaning of ‘life’.

Wearing her school uniform, she walked towards the second-year teaching building.

At this hour, it was the break time after morning reading, and she intended to show Zhong Tian the first three chapters of her novel.

Just as she entered the second-year building, Yu Yinlian saw Zhong Tian and Su Linxi returning from the convenience store.

She took out her phone to note the time, then transitioned back into the real world.

“Zhong Tian!”

She jogged up to Zhong Tian. “Good morning!”

“Oh, good morning.”

“I’ve finished the first three chapters of my novel! I’d like you to take a look and give me some feedback. Then, once I’ve built up a small backlog, I’ll publish the book!”

“Okay…”

Beside him, Su Linxi watched Yu Yinlian hand her phone to Zhong Tian, a flicker of confusion in her heart.

She didn’t recall Zhong Tian having such a friend in her previous life.

This meant Yu Yinlian was another ‘variable’ in this current timeline.

Su Linxi reached out, tugging gently at Zhong Tian’s sleeve. “Zhong Tian, who is she…?”

“She… her name is Yu Yinlian, she’s a friend of mine.”

Although Zhong Tian knew that Su Linxi would forget Yu Yinlian’s existence once she returned to that unobservable world, he couldn’t simply choose not to introduce them. Even a fleeting acquaintance, a shallow bond, was still a connection, and Zhong Tian wished to forge as many as possible for Yu Yinlian.

While the principle of ‘gain comes with loss’ was undeniably cruel for Yu Yinlian, abandoning all attempts to form connections would only plunge her deeper into despondency, ultimately leading to true solitude.

Yu Yinlian certainly couldn’t achieve this on her own; thus, she needed Zhong Tian, the only person capable of remembering her, to help her.

“Linxi is quite a well-known novelist; she’s published physical books and even had works adapted into comics,” Zhong Tian explained to the bewildered Yu Yinlian. “She can offer you more professional advice on writing.”

“That’s amazing…”

She looked at the middle-school-aged Su Linxi, somewhat disbelieving.