Bian Heng was different from Shen Mo in that he was the host and didn't need to be so restrained. Moreover, he was also in the student union, so he had the convenience of moving around.
The students on both sides of Lin Shicha kept silent, but they didn't deliberately look up at Bian Heng.
When Lin Shicha was holding hands with Bian Heng, she slowly grasped his hand back, which brought Bian Heng back to his senses. He moved his finger, but still didn't let go.
Lin Shicha asked, "You look a bit strange, is it because Shen Mo came here and you're not happy?"
How could Bian Heng admit that he was actually demonstrating against Shen Mo? Although he and Lin Shicha hadn't reconciled, she was still his... well... as the first person who had a relationship with Lin Shicha among the four, the other three were all f*cking green hats.
After these days, he also realized that he hadn't let go of Lin Shicha. The two of them looked down and avoided looking at each other. How could their affection be extinguished when Shen Mo came to fight for Lin Shicha, and so did Bian Heng?
This was what they called a crisis in love.
"I don't." Bian Heng coughed and couldn't help but squeeze Lin Shicha's soft hand a few more times. "I have to go first. There are some things I haven't arranged in the backstage."
"Okay." Lin Shicha also didn't insist further and let go of Bian Heng's hand.
As for the question of whether Shen Mo really cried, there was no conclusion for the time being. At eight thirty, the math competition officially began, which was also an exercise in mental arithmetic and computation speed. The question posed by the host had a time limit of fifteen minutes, and the solution process would be announced when the time was up.
Several math teachers from the school were judges.
The students in the audience also worked on the problems.
On Lin Shicha's left was the literary and art student, Yaying Liu. Last time in the cafeteria, Yaying was asked by the class monitor if she had broken up with Bian Heng. Seeing Bian Heng being so intimate with Lin Shicha this time, she couldn't help but ask, "Hey, Lin Shicha, did you and Senior Bian Heng reconcile?"
Lin Shicha was solving problems in her notebook, without lifting her head, she replied, "No."
"So, what are you now...?" Yaying Liu was puzzled.
"Why do you care about this?" Lin Shicha finally reacted, turned her head and looked at Yaying Liu curiously.
Yaying Liu's face turned awkward, "It's nothing... I'm just curious. Senior Bian Heng seems very fond of you. Did you just have a fight before? What about Shen Mo? Did you also have a relationship with Shen Mo?"
Yaying Liu's curious questions made her heart race and she blurted out many inappropriate questions in a moment of confusion.
"Shen Mo..." She didn't conceal her answer, or rather, she didn't even consider the possibility of lying. After thinking for a moment, she simply said, "We had a relationship." and left it at that.
"Ah?" Yaying Liu was dumbfounded. After thinking for a while, she eventually held back more questions and left with waves of shock and turmoil in her heart.
After that, Yaying Liu told her best friend Tu Yue about this news. Tu Yue was greatly shocked, and then she told the senior sister Su Ya in the third year. Su Ya, sitting at the back, looked at the information repeatedly and felt extremely discouraged.
The person next to her asked, "What's wrong?"
Su Ya completely lost her fighting spirit, "Lin Xiaomei has had a relationship with Shen Mo. Did you see them talking in front just now? Both Shen Mo and Bian Heng like Lin Xiaomei. This kind of girl must be very good. How can I possibly compete?"
"I've lost my love. Sob, sob, sob." She teary-eyed, stretched out her hands and sought comfort in her best friend's embrace.
Her best friend was shocked and allowed Su Ya to hug her. After looking at her phone for a long time, she widened her eyes and blurted out a curse, "Damn it!"
She was shocked not by whether Lin Shicha was a good person but by the fact that she had a relationship with Shen Mo. Who is Shen Mo! These two people are completely unrelated!
This news also spread to the inter-school BBS, but unfortunately no one believed it. They all thought that the person revealing the information was just making up stories about Shen Mo and trying to flatter Lin Shicha.
Some people even jumped out to mock the poster.
34L: Don't joke around, how could the little angel Shen Mo be in a relationship? If he were, wouldn't we all know?
49L: He's definitely a well-prepared idol reserve. The girls in our school are crazy about him as if they're possessed. If he had a girlfriend, the girls at our school would have dug her out long ago.
89L: Did LSC (Lin Shicha's initials) date Bian Heng and feel so awesome that she made up a rumor about Shen Mo? That's disgusting.
As a result, numerous threads about Lin Shicha were opened.
[Topic] Honestly, I really don't think LSC is that good-looking. I find it strange that she got so many votes in the campus flower contest... I suspect she's been manipulating the votes.
[Topic] LSC always wears a pure and innocent smile, I'm going to be sick. She's definitely not really naive, she's pretending to be clueless on purpose, it's so fake and pretentious.
[Topic] LSC is indeed quite pretty. I remember that the whole school was in an uproar when she entered the school, and there were many seniors itching to have a cross-grade relationship with her and confess, but she kept them hanging, her attitude was too casual. I can't accept it.
...
And so on, there were countless posts.
LCS, LSC, when someone came in and didn't understand the abbreviation and coincidentally asked in the post: "Who is LSC? Am I too old? Just missed a day, what happened?"
Here is the faithful English translation of the given text:
Below there is a well-intended deciphering: Lin Shicha, the school belle of Shuilu No. 1 Middle School.
At Shuilu No. 3 Middle School, after the mid-class exercises.
The last time, after the mid-class exercises with Huo Yinan, the girl who had pushed her black-framed glasses silently approached Huo Yinan and asked seriously, "The person with the tattoo on your hand, is she called Lin Shicha?"
Huo Yinan, who had just finished running and was sweating, was drinking mineral water when he heard this, and he suddenly choked, unable to breathe, as the water entered his respiratory tract, making his eyes turn red.
The girl was stunned, "..." Sorry, I probably asked the wrong question.
As soon as she thought about it, a girl outside the classroom called out to Huo Yinan, "Huo Yinan, your darling is on fire!" The girl who violated the school rules had waist-length hair and a slightly curled tail, wearing suitable makeup for school, making her look delicate and beautiful.
She waved her phone at Huo Yinan with a smug expression.
Huo Yinan wiped his mouth and blackened his face, "Shut up!!"
The girl was the strong competitor of Lin Shicha, who was vying for the title of the school belle of Shuilu No. 4 Middle School: Gu Yin.
Gu Yin smiled and came in, sitting on the desk in front of Huo Yinan, revealing a pair of long and straight legs, swaying a few times. She propped herself on the table with one hand with great interest, "What? Am I wrong?"
"She's not my darling." Huo Yinan paused and said calmly, "You don't know anything. Go back to your class."
Gu Yin pretended to be surprised, "Huh? I haven't said who it is yet? Why are you rushing to admit it?" Then she leaned down and said softly, "Do you not like her anymore?"
Unable to bear it any longer, Huo Yinan's face turned cold, "Gu Yin!" Seeing that she was just playing for fun rather than toying with him, Huo Yinan ultimately didn't say anything harsh, "You don't understand anything, go back to your class."
Gu Yin clicked her tongue and jumped down, answering nonchalantly, "Maybe I don't understand, but I know you like her. Since you like her, why are you restraining yourself from doing anything? What if someone takes advantage of her being single and tries to pursue her?"
"Then you'll be completely out of the game, won't you?" Gu Yin didn't quite understand, muttered something angrily, and took a few steps, "Don't come to me if you end up crying." After walking a few steps, she couldn't help but continue, "Look at the inter-school BBS. There are already outstanding people appearing. You may not be able to compete with them."
The girl wearing glasses beside them quietly stepped back, thinking, "I seem to have heard something incredible. Maybe I should pretend I didn't hear anything at all?"
Gu Yin was Huo Yinan's childhood friend. Although they didn't get along well enough to wear the same pair of pants, they were not distant. However, with the introduction of gender differences as they grew up, they gradually drifted apart. In high school, they attended the same school, and that's when they reconnected. But they both had their limits. Gu Yin would ask for help, and Huo Yinan wouldn't refuse if he could help. Gu Yin always maintained her boundaries when talking to him.
This was the first time she had made such an uncharacteristic statement.
Huo Yinan had calmed down, but Gu Yin's words kept echoing in his mind. He only raised his eyebrows slightly, and his long, narrow eyes didn't show any special expression.
One minute later, the bell for the class rang, and everyone turned to look at Huo Yinan, who was usually calm and composed, peeking at the forum during class time.
His study partner for the first time saw this top student playing with his mobile phone during class. She was shocked.
Lin Shicha, Bian Heng, Silent.
Huo Yinan closed his eyes. Upon reopening them, he saw the three letters near his wrist. Unconsciously, he rubbed them with his fingers, his face turning cold and lonely, gradually adopting a different expression.
He had the tattoo done at the tattoo shop two months after starting to date with Lin Shicha.
Huo Yinan had always been good at his studies and had numerous admirers and pursuers. Even some younger female students waited by the door to hand him love letters, but he had never considered dating anyone. In his mind, spending time with girls doing unproductive and boring things was not interesting.
Lin Shicha was different.
She was very different.
He had forgotten how it was when they first became familiar, but after getting used to each other, she had become inseparable from his world. When she called his name, she didn’t act cute; her voice was natural and clear, with warm stars in her eyes.
Even if they were together doing nothing and not speaking a word, Huo Yinan didn't find it boring.
On the day of the tattoo, Lin Shicha said she also wanted the same one with his name initials, HYN, but she was afraid of pain. She found carrying a bag for a while tiring and made her hands ache, so how could he bear to let her have a tattoo.
He said, "It's okay, I'll do it alone."
She accompanied him at the tattoo shop for a long time, falling asleep on the couch. The winter sun warmed her cheeks like a bright light, and she slept so soundly, just like a squirrel cuddling pine cones in a tree hole.
Only when you love someone deeply, after breaking up, do you suddenly start to doubt yourself, especially when you have been deceived by the other. The confidence you have built up all comes crashing down.
Even someone who has always been proud and aloof may start to wonder if they are worthless.
Huo Yinan looked dazed, his gaze unfocused, like a motionless statue.
He wanted to hate her, to dislike her, but at the mention of her name, his heart collapsed. No one knew how Huo Yinan got through that period.
His life was not so colorful; it had always been black and white, and after she lit it up, she heartlessly left.
Would he return to the black and white world again?
Resentment, pain, disgust, and other emotions surged and eventually turned into helplessness and pallor.
"Huo Yinan."
The classmate next to him suddenly nudged him with his elbow. Huo Yinan was startled back to reality, and all the students in the class turned to look at him, curious about what had happened. The teacher at the podium furrowed his brow and tapped his cane in his hand.
It was 10:20 AM, the midpoint break during the math competition at Shuilu No. 1 Middle School. The break lasted for half an hour.
A senior student and a few of his friends went to the convenience store to buy water, chatting and laughing. As they passed by the bamboo-lined path behind the wall, they were suddenly startled by someone jumping out.
The person jumped down from the high wall, and the straight, tall bamboos swayed, casting mottled shadows on the pebble path. Following close behind was the tall and thin teenager who straightened up, clapping his hands.
He turned his head and casually swept his gaze around.
The three high school seniors saw the person's face and suddenly tensed up, their faces stiff, not daring to speak. They wanted to act as if nothing had happened and continue walking forward as if they hadn't seen him.
"Hey."