Chapter 08: Lin An Yi
You can avoid someone for a while, but not for a whole day.
How much did Kong Yiyue not want to see Lin An Yi? It could probably be described with one word: she wished they could “never see each other again.”
But things didn't go as planned. Not long after evening self-study began, Kong Yiyue, who was buried in her homework, was approached by Lin An Yi, who was seated a short distance away.
Kong Yiyue arrived early, so when the bell for evening self-study rang, she noticed from her desk that Lin An Yi had been glancing at her from time to time since entering the classroom.
She suppressed the urge to throw her textbook at his face and calmly continued working on her homework.
Yuan Meng would habitually ask her when she encountered difficult math problems, and Kong Yiyue conveniently turned her entire face towards Yuan Meng's side.
After enduring half an hour, Lin An Yi finally made his move.
He stretched out his long legs, carelessly occupying the aisle, completely unaware of the inconvenience this caused to other students who wanted to pass by.
Kong Yiyue didn't even bother to look up from her workbook. She heard Lin An Yi's low voice, “Classmate, I don't understand this math problem. Can you explain it to me?”
Kong Yiyue glanced at the blank problem on the math workbook he handed over and answered without hesitation, “I don't know.”
Then she continued writing her homework.
Lin An Yi hadn't expected such a direct rejection. From childhood to adulthood, although he wasn't the most outstanding, his handsome appearance and decent grades made him quite popular with his classmates, and the number of girls who wanted to get close to him was not small.
Lin An Yi hadn't expected this classmate, whom he had just met tonight, to...reject him like that!
Lin An Yi asked in disbelief, “Aren't you Kong Yiyue?”
“So what if I am? So what if I'm not?” She still didn't even give him a glance.
Lin An Yi was stunned by her emotionless words, wanting to retort but momentarily at a loss for words.
His memories surged. He thought about the gossip among his classmates that morning. If he remembered correctly, the girl sitting to his right was called Kong Yiyue, and she had taken a sick leave today.
He remembered the gossip he had heard this morning, and confirmed again, “Didn't you get first place in the whole grade for math last time?”
Kong Yiyue didn't shy away from it, perhaps even deliberately, “That's because Jinting didn't take the test.”
“Hmm?” Lin An Yi took some effort to think: Who is Jinting? The name seemed familiar…
Then he remembered the name “Fu Jinting,” which he'd heard no less than ten times today. He suddenly understood. Could it be the boy who had sent her to the hospital this morning?
Lin An Yi had just enrolled today, and he didn't understand many things about Qinglin High.
Kong Yiyue didn't intend to engage with him much, “I really don't know how to do this problem. Ask someone else.”
Lin An Yi, having been so obviously rejected, couldn't save face and silently took back his workbook.
Seeing that his workbook was finally no longer on her desk, Kong Yiyue's expression brightened slightly.
In her previous life, Lin An Yi had transferred to Qinglin High School halfway through because of his parents' job transfer.
On his first day of transfer, during lunch break, he used the same trick—he brought a math workbook to discuss the solution methods with her.
At that time, Kong Yiyue wanted to take care of the new student, so she patiently spent half an hour discussing the problem with him.
Afterward, he praised Kong Yiyue for being very smart.
At the age of seventeen, receiving such praise from a male classmate felt sweetly joyful.
Later, Lin An Yi often discussed problems with Kong Yiyue during lunch breaks.
Once, a female classmate behind them saw the two of them discussing intensely and joined in.
After she joined, Lin An Yi inexplicably fell silent. It was Kong Yiyue who discussed the entire problem with the girl.
For several days afterward, Lin An Yi no longer approached her to discuss problems.
Yuan Meng jokingly said at the time, “Yiyue, does Lin An Yi like you?”
Kong Yiyue naturally denied it, “How is that possible.”
After a few days, Lin An Yi occasionally asked to borrow notes. Kong Yiyue rarely refused classmates' requests and always agreed.
Over time, their relationship became quite good. But Kong Yiyue never thought of it that way, and Lin An Yi never mentioned it.
In her senior year, because of her father's death, Kong Yiyue gradually became taciturn, and because their seats were far apart, they occasionally exchanged a few words. Gradually, with the pressure of studying, their relationship faded.
After graduating from high school, they went their separate ways.
Kong Yiyue thought that fortunately, the time they needed to spend together wasn't much. In this life, as long as she endured this year, she wouldn't have to be in the same class as him in senior year.
Qinglin High School arranged new classes each year according to the students' final exam results from the previous year. Class One was considered the top class, and Class Two was the second-best.
Now, Kong Yiyue was naturally confident that she could get into the top class in the final exam of the second semester of her sophomore year. Well, she could also have the opportunity to be in the same class as Fu Jinting. It was the best of both worlds.
So, in these few months, Kong Yiyue planned to keep her distance from Lin An Yi. If he didn't bother her, she would tolerate him.
After evening self-study, Kong Yiyue asked Yuan Meng if she could change seats with her starting tomorrow.
Yuan Meng was curious, “Why do you suddenly want to change seats?”
Kong Yiyue explained, “My left arm is injured, and sometimes when classmates pass by, they accidentally bump into me.”
“What if I accidentally bump into you with my right hand if we change seats?”
Kong Yiyue smiled, “It's okay, I know you're very gentle.”
Hearing her flattery, Yuan Meng knew that she really wanted to move her seat inwards. She simply said, “It's fine as long as the teacher agrees.”
Kong Yiyue showed a happy expression, “Okay, I'll go talk to the homeroom teacher now. She probably hasn't left yet.”
The next morning, as soon as Lin An Yi reached his seat, he keenly noticed that Kong Yiyue and Yuan Meng had switched places. The feeling in his heart was complex, and when he looked at Kong Yiyue, his gaze was scrutinizing.
Kong Yiyue was clearly expressing that she disliked him, wasn't she?
Lin An Yi thought about it. It seemed that he had only met her for the first time last night? How could he have offended her? Was it because he asked her about a problem?
Or was it because he asked if she was Kong Yiyue, which was presumptuous?
It couldn't be that, right?
Lin An Yi's final assessment of Kong Yiyue was: petty!
Since Kong Yiyue wasn't willing to get close to him, he didn't have to bother trying to get close to her.
Lin An Yi's curiosity about Kong Yiyue was entirely due to the fact that she had scored first in math. So, he had a good impression of her from the start. But as soon as he interacted with her, she turned out to be like this. Heh, he really couldn't compliment her!
Lin An Yi's thoughts raced, putting down Kong Yiyue's character as worthless.
Kong Yiyue didn't care. This was exactly what she wanted!
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Translator's Notes:
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