Chapter 4, The Subtlety of Affection

She refused to show it to him any longer, muttering under her breath that he was not human, achieving such high scores without caring for her, what kind of friend was that. Han Zhang squinted and smiled, saying: "If you won't show it, then you won't; who doesn't know you scored 128"

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the short boy Zhou Jianbin walked in. He had already finished his meal in the cafeteria and had come back to the dormitory to retrieve some study materials. He was an out-of-town student living in the student apartment. Upon seeing He Ruchu, whose eyes were red from crying, he was taken aback, clearly noticing that she had just been crying, and then he looked up at Zhong Yue.

After the evening self-study session, the girls had all left, and most of the boys gathered together to discuss the afternoon game between the Rockets and the Bulls. As they were talking, Zhou Jianbin suddenly asked, "Zhong Yue, why was He Ruchu crying at noon?" The boys perked up at this, asking if it was true, all looking at Zhong Yue in unison.

Zhong Yue took the key and said, "I am going to have a meal as well." The two of them exited the library together. At noon, when the sun was at its hottest, the concrete ground seemed to be melting. He Ru Chu had never had the habit of using an umbrella for shade, and today she wore a pair of cartoon-strap sandals with thin soles, feeling waves of heat penetrating directly into her feet. Her tears evaporated along with the sweltering heat.

Zhong Yue slightly shrugged his shoulders. He asked with concern, "He Ruchu, why are you crying? Stop crying, it's really unattractive—" He meant well in trying to get her to stop crying, but his words were not very pleasant to hear.

In an instant, all eyes were focused on Zhong Yue, some with envy, some with sighs, and even He Ruchu, who was filled with regret, was no exception. However, he himself showed little reaction, remaining calm and composed in the face of such high praise, a feat only someone accustomed to compliments since childhood could achieve with such unshakable poise

Han hummed a little tune with a smile as he returned to his seat

He widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "Who told you?" Han Zhang pointed to Zhou Jianbin in the front row and proudly said, "You don't even need to say it; it's obvious as soon as you ask."

Mother He brought the meal and said: "Have you had a conflict with your classmates? You are not a child anymore; you need to understand the importance of courtesy. They are all your classmates; how serious can it be? You are already in your third year of high school, and once you go to university, everyone will go their separate ways. It will be difficult to meet even once. At your age, still crying and making a scene is something to be laughed at."

Zhong Yue smiled and jokingly said, "How could it be like the beginning? Do you think everyone is like you?" He is studying alone in a foreign place, and everything must be done by himself.

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, realizing it was an argument. Someone even asked, "Wasn't she getting along well with Dai Xiao? How could they be arguing?" Immediately, a boy replied, "Girls, you know, they are always chattering and fussing, either crying or causing a scene. What is there to discuss?" Consequently, everyone dropped the subject and began talking about Yao Ming instead

At the school snack bar, I bought a bucket of ice cream, chatting while eating. I asked, "Where do you live? Is it far?" My voice was still a bit hoarse. Zhong Yue said he lived near the commercial street, about a ten-minute walk, quite close. She then asked him why he didn't eat at school. He replied that the food at school was unappetizing, and now he eats with his landlord, occasionally cooking a little for himself. She didn't believe him and tilted her head, asking, "Can you really cook for yourself?" He reiterated that the food at school was unappetizing, and now he eats with his landlord, occasionally cooking a little for himself. She still didn't believe him and tilted her head, asking, "Can you really cook for yourself?"

Mother He called out to him: "It's the afternoon again, and it's the weekend. Where are you going?" Father He only said he had something to do, opened the door, and left. Mother He hurriedly caught up and asked: "Will you be back for dinner tonight?"

Her words struck at Dai Xiao's sore spot. In the dead of night, when no one was around, she had once blamed herself for not being good enough; if she were among the top, how could Chu have pushed her down? Because of this, she had felt both guilty and angry for days, refusing to acknowledge her, even feeling disgusted at the sight of her. Upon hearing this, her expression changed dramatically. She pulled out a purple crystal necklace from her pocket and threw it in front of her, saying with a look of disdain: "This—returning it to you, from now on, we shall have nothing to do with each other."

Zhong Yue smiled slightly and said, "The teacher can only explain so much; you will understand more by looking into it yourself." He Ru Chu looked at him with admiration, gave a thumbs up, and said, "Zhong Yue, you are truly impressive. No wonder Xu Mo Tuo praised you like that just now; you truly deserve it." Zhong Yue smiled briefly and lowered his head to read.

Han Zhang said in a teasing manner: "You still have the mood to be sentimental; it would be better to work on a few more proof problems. I'm afraid there will be an exam tomorrow." This indeed shifted her attention, and she exclaimed: "Did we not just finish an exam today?"

Zhou Jianbin is somewhat of a bookworm, and he said: "But I clearly saw He Ruchu sitting on the steps crying, her eyes all swollen." Although it was unintentional, it was no different from fanning the flames. Immediately, someone clapped and exclaimed: "Oh, no wonder—when I saw He Ruchu enter the classroom last night, her eyes were indeed a bit red; it turns out she had been crying."

After thinking it over for a long time, I felt as if a heavy stone was lodged in my heart, making me feel quite uncomfortable. Lying in bed, I called Han Zhang and asked, "What are the criteria for entering the zero class? Is it based on the ranking of last semester's final grades?" Han Zhang replied, somewhat puzzled, "Why are you asking this out of the blue? Probably, yes."

Han Zhang did not know how to respond to the fact that Zhong Yue was also present when He Ruchu cried for the first time. Understanding the situation, he stood up to clarify: "Are you all just sitting around after eating? Xu Tao, you are really boring, making such random remarks. If He Ruchu hears this, she will definitely get upset with you! She cried after arguing with Dai Xiao at noon, so stop spreading nonsense. If you don't believe me, go ask Dai Xiao yourself; you live in the same residential building as her, don't you!"

Upon arriving at the entrance of the community, He Ruchu pointed to a building adorned in red and yellow, saying, "I have arrived home, so I will take my leave now." With a wave of her hand, she slipped through a small door beside her. Zhong Yue looked up, the building shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight, dazzling and impressive, and wondered which floor she lived on. Due to the angle of his gaze, his eyes were somewhat dazzled by the bright light, and after pausing for a moment, he lowered his head and returned along the street.

Zhong Yue paused with his chopsticks and asked, "What is the relationship between Han Zhang and He Ruchu? Are they very familiar with each other?"

She felt a chill in her heart and told him about Dai Xiao, saying in a strained tone: "If that's the case, I really don't want to join that so-called zero class". Why create such discord among friends?

Zhong Yue awkwardly retracted the handkerchief, seeing her cry like a tearful person, feeling a strange sensation in his heart, unsure of what to say. The two stood in the hallway like door gods, He Ruchu only focused on her sorrowful weeping, while he occasionally glanced at her, not knowing what to do. The usually calm and composed him was now flustered and at a loss.

He was not angry at all, thinking that the classmates would be back soon. Although there was a half-afternoon break, those in the zero class still went to study, unwavering. So he stood up, turned his back with his backpack and said: "I am leaving, I need to go home for dinner." He cried out of hunger

As she walked away, I could no longer hold back my emotions and stood in the middle of the corridor, letting out a soft cry. Being in school, I dared not weep loudly, so I had to stifle my sobs, my chest heaving violently, struggling to catch my breath, with tears and snot streaming down my face.

As she sat on the steps of the podium on the first day, crying in the empty classroom, her voice had quieted significantly, and her tears gradually ceased. He went outside to bring in the backpack she had left outside. She reached out her hand—he was puzzled, hesitated for a moment, and then extended his own hand—thinking she wanted him to help her up.

His attempts to conceal only serve to provoke further curiosity. Some, not willing to give up, chuckle and say: "How is it that there were no grievances in the past and no enmity recently? Perhaps there is now; think carefully about it. We know you, Master Zhong, are quite proud and hold yourself in high regard; have you perhaps hurt someone’s feelings? Speak honestly—" At this, Zhong Yue shook his head and remained silent, realizing that continuing the conversation would only make matters worse, so he chose to remain tight-lipped.

Everyone became even more excited, collectively pressing for the truth of the matter, showing a determination not to back down. Even the eloquent and adaptable scholar Zhong was nearly overwhelmed, vaguely stating: "You all should stop making a fuss, what are you causing a ruckus for? It really has nothing to do with me. I have no grievances with her in the past, nor any enmity recently; she has no reason to cry. That is a private matter of hers, and I cannot speak of it." I have no grievances with her in the past, nor any enmity recently; she has no reason to cry. That is a private matter of hers, and I cannot speak of it.

She gasped and said, "The backpack—" Only then did he understand, and he hurriedly handed it to her. The hand that reached out remained tucked in his pants pocket, as if trying to hide something. She pulled out the tissues from the backpack, blew her nose, wiped her tears, her eyes swollen and red, her face streaked with tears, truly devoid of any semblance of dignity

Han Zhang hurriedly said: "I thought it was something serious! It must be based on the comprehensive results of the past two years. Just listen to Dai Xiao Hu's nonsense; her grades have always been inferior to yours. She only scored three to five points more than you last time, so what is there to be upset about! I think you are being too weak; there is nothing to cry about. Dai Xiao is petty and troublesome, and I don't like her. It's surprising that you have been friends with her for so long; if you want to cut ties, just do it, what is there to be afraid of? This time, she was quite straightforward about it." He was naturally wholeheartedly on her side. Dai Xiao is petty and troublesome, and I don't like her. It's surprising that you have been friends with her for so long; if you want to cut ties, just do it, what is there to be afraid of? This time, she was quite straightforward about it." He was naturally wholeheartedly on her side.

Mother He noticed that she looked listless and was crying so much, feeling quite worried, so she came to check on her. Seeing her on the phone, she stood outside the door and managed to understand the whole situation clearly. Noticing that she was bent over the desk doing her homework, she decided not to go in and went downstairs, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Zhong Yue did not clearly hear what he said afterwards, stood up to pay the bill, and said he was full. Zhou Jianbin waved his hand: "Then you can go ahead. I live at school, it's not on the way." He nodded, and his tall figure disappeared into the shadows of the dim yellow streetlights.

It was not until the library staff urged them to turn off the lights that about ten boys reluctantly dispersed. Zhou Jianbin and Zhong Yue were eating wontons together, adjusting their thick glasses, and Zhou mumbled, "Han Zhang truly protects He Ruchu. Despite the fact that they argue all day long, they cannot tolerate anyone speaking ill of He Ruchu. For instance, today, as soon as Xu Tao made a joke about He Ruchu, he became displeased."

In fact, Father He has indeed mentioned asking Principal Han to take good care of his daughter, but He Ruchu would have no way of knowing such matters. Father He would not let her be aware of them.

He secretly cursed Zhou Jianbin for being a loudmouth and urged Han Zhang, "Go, go, go—class is starting, class is starting." Zhou Jianbin, hearing Han Zhang mention him, turned around with a confused expression, saw that nothing seemed to be wrong, and then dove back into the sea of questions, completely unaware of the situation.

This made her even more depressed. Dad He hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, always talking about her, you don't know how much grievance she has suffered!" He then comforted her, saying, "What’s wrong? Who bullied you? Tell Dad, and I will help you." She originally wanted to ask Dad whether he had intervened in her admission to the zero class, after all, she did rank ninth in the last semester's final exam, and Dai Xiao's words had indeed cast a shadow over her. But for some reason, the words stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back. She was vaguely afraid that things were indeed as Dai Xiao said, and she truly did not know how to face it. After all, she did rank ninth in the last semester's final exam, and Dai Xiao's words had indeed cast a shadow over her. But for some reason, the words stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back. She was vaguely afraid that things were indeed as Dai Xiao said, and she truly did not know how to face it.

The burden in my heart has finally been lifted, and my tone has become lighter as well. She hummed, "Anyway, you only know how to make sarcastic remarks! I feel really upset inside." Regardless of who is right or wrong, it is truly not a pleasant matter for friends to reach the point of severing ties.

Father He took the car keys and was about to go out when he saw her coming down, he stopped in his tracks and turned to ask: "What’s wrong with her? Is she still crying?" Mother He smiled slightly and shook her head: "No, she’s doing her homework. That child is truly perceptive." She relayed everything she had heard to him.

She sighed repeatedly and complained, so she had no choice but to spread out the exercises and immerse herself in them

After class, Han Zhang directly sat on her desk, wanting to see her exam paper, but she refused. He laughed and said, "Why are you hiding it? Let me take a look, how much did you score?" He Ru Chu asked him how much he scored, and he said one hundred forty-five, having gotten one fill-in-the-blank question wrong.

Upon returning home, Mother He urged her to eat quickly. Father He brought out a plate of chilled watermelon juice and said, "It's the middle of the day; you mustn't get heatstroke. Have something cold to cool down." She kicked off her slippers and sat silently at the dining table. Father He came over, looked up, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Have you been crying?" The area around her eyes was red, and he said with concern, "Oh dear—your eyes are all swollen from crying. What on earth happened?" She nodded vaguely but remained silent. Father He came over, looked up, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Have you been crying?" The area around her eyes was red, and he said with concern, "Oh dear—your eyes are all swollen from crying. What on earth happened?" She nodded vaguely but remained silent.

In the classroom, the only sound that could be heard was the rustling of pen tips moving across the paper.

Zhong Yue heard the sound of crying and hurriedly came out. Since he was not in the habit of carrying tissues, he handed her his own handkerchief, a white cotton one with blue stripes, which had become somewhat faded from washing, folded like a block of tofu and extended towards her. In fact, he had heard them long ago; their voices were so loud that it was hard not to listen, and he had understood a bit of the situation. He thought to himself that this was a matter between girls, and even if he wanted to offer advice, he had no standing, so he had not come out. Later, as he heard their conversation becoming increasingly tense, he thought it was going badly, and then he heard her crying. He thought to himself that this was a matter between girls, and even if he wanted to offer advice, he had no standing, so he had not come out. Later, as he heard their conversation becoming increasingly tense, he thought it was going badly, and then he heard her crying.

Father He paused for a moment and said, "No, I might come back very late. You should let Chuchu go to bed early. A teenager who stays up late and gets up early every day is even more exhausted than an adult; how can they bear it?" Mother He then gave him another round of advice, watching him enter the elevator

During the evening self-study session, the math test papers from Professor Xu were distributed. He shook a stack of papers, the sound of the sheets rustling, and said, "This exam is a reminder for everyone. If you want to enter a prestigious university, you must excel in mathematics. My requirement is a full score of 150 points, and for a class like ours, the average score must be above 138 points. Take a look, who has reached this average score, and who has not." My requirement is a full score of 150 points, and for a class like ours, the average score must be above 138 points. Take a look, who has reached this average score, and who has not.

How could she call out softly at first: "The demon lord has never mentioned this method—how do you know?"

When everyone had received their exam papers, he said: "I would like to especially commend student Zhong Yue, who scored one hundred and forty-nine points. In fact, he should have received a perfect score, but one question had somewhat disorganized steps, so I deducted one point. Of course, in the college entrance examination, points are generally not deducted for this, but I intentionally deducted this one point, hoping he will continue to work hard."

Someone jokingly said: "How did the talented scholar Zhong make the delicate He Light Beauty cry? Be careful, Han and Zhang might come to settle the score with you!" Everyone cheered and laughed, urging Zhong Yue to "confess for leniency, resist for severity." Matters of love are repeatedly prohibited by the school, yet they persist. The more they are forbidden, the more they sneak around, finding endless joy in it. Outside the dull and tedious life of studying, the sudden appearance of a bit of gossip and entertainment captivates everyone, who are even more interested than the parties involved.

Having spoken, he resolutely departed without looking back

Why is Xu the Demon called Xu the Demon? Have you thought about it? Isn't an exam just like having a meal? Do you think that if you have lunch, you can skip dinner? Just because the exam is over today doesn't mean there won't be one tomorrow; where is the logic in that

Father He shook his head: "Sigh, this child—it's not a big deal for Old Han to take care of her, especially since she is indeed quite good. But that little Han, he is just like his father."

As she first sensed the movement, she opened her big eyes and turned to look at him, realizing it was her own hair. She quickly apologized and took out a ribbon, casually tying her hair into a ponytail. This is the reason why she was reluctant to keep her hair long. When she was young, she was often teased by mischievous boys in the back seat who would pinch her hair with their pencil cases, leaving her in tears from the pain. However, if she cut it, it would look like a hedgehog, which was terribly unappealing, and it grew back quickly, requiring a trip to the hair salon every month to trim her bangs.

How annoying it is to hear him complain incessantly. He pulled out the test paper and spread it on the table, looking at the red marks on it, unable to help but sigh again. Zhong Yue glanced up, thought for a moment, and said: "Let me take a look?" He took the test paper, flipped through it, and pointed to one of the questions, saying: "What you did here is complicating the simplification; in fact, there is a simpler and clearer method that applies to all questions of this type. First, find the center of symmetry; this is the key, and the rest will be easy to handle..."

Zhong Yue only laughed and scolded everyone for their nonsense, saying: "You listen to Zhou Jianbin's nonsense, it was my turn to be on duty with He Ruchu at noon."

Zhong Yue caught a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose, and when he lowered his gaze, he saw a piece of satin as dark as ink clouds. His fingers instinctively brushed against the ends of the hair, and like an electric shock, they immediately recoiled. However, his heart was already in disarray, and after two or three such encounters, he was completely unable to control himself. He vaguely realized that the demon Xu had finished the fill-in-the-blank questions. He took a deep breath, refusing to allow himself to be distracted, and swept away the three thousand worries that troubled him from the desk.

The staff on duty at the library heard a noise and poked their head out to see what was happening, looking at him with a questioning gaze. He felt increasingly embarrassed and hurriedly said, "How about this, shall we go into the classroom and talk?" Seeing that she was crying and ignoring him, he was truly afraid of losing face, so he had no choice but to reach out and tug at her sleeve, pulling her back to the classroom like one would lead a dog.

When I first saw her crying, I was also so agitated that my eyes turned red. Without considering anything else, I shouted, "You can't enter because you didn't perform well enough in the exam; what does that have to do with me?" To be fair, she is no worse than Dai Xiao.

Zhou Jianbin nodded: "Actually, it is not surprising. They grew up together since childhood, childhood sweethearts, so it is not unusual for them to be close. Back when they were in the same class, they would argue all day long, and sitting next to them was almost unbearable for me—however, when it came to serious matters, Han Zhang would still give way to He Ruchu. Now, their seats have finally been separated, and I no longer have to suffer in between them, thank heavens..."

She looked down and saw it was a handkerchief. Afraid of getting it dirty and having to compensate, she found it troublesome and shook her head. She took out a small bag of snow-white scented tissues from her pants pocket, but unfortunately, there was only one left. She wiped her nose, while tears were still hanging on. She wiped them with her hand, and just as she finished, the tears rolled down like a broken string of beads.

The initial exam results were just as expected, not very good, scoring 128 points. Although this score is not bad in a key class, it is still a full ten points away from the average score mentioned by Xu Motou. Her mood became very low and she felt depressed. Even during Xu Motou's review of the exam papers, she could not muster any spirit, weakly leaning against the chair, her freshly washed long hair scattered messily across Zhong Yue's desk, like silk satin, yet she was completely oblivious, solely focused on how to bridge that ten-point gap.