“Sorry, Zhang Chen. My friend was a little worked up last night.”

In the end, though, it was still Li Mo who had to clean up Tang Zhe’s mess.

They’d left in too much of a hurry last night, so she had no idea whether he was actually mad. All she could do was apologize the next day.

Mad or not, her new deskmate hadn’t done anything to her. Getting yelled at by Tang Zhe like that was definitely out of line.

“It’s fine. I’ll copy faster this time.”

When Li Mo handed over the notebook, her new deskmate looked like he didn’t care on the surface. As for whether he really cared, Li Mo had no clue, and couldn’t be bothered to dig into it.

Her apology had been made, and he’d accepted it. So she didn’t stay by her seat any longer. She turned and went over to stand by Zhang Wanting’s desk and started chatting with her.

Even though they’d always gotten along pretty well, Zhang Wanting and Li Mo hadn’t talked as much as Li Mo did with Liu Shishi before.

But now these two sisters-in-arms had gotten way closer. Every night, they’d go buy dinner together.

If not for Li Mo’s habit of using the quieter restroom in the connected administration building next door, these two probably would’ve already leveled up into the sacred bond of going to the bathroom together.

“Momo, what even happened last night? Did Tang Zhe and Zhang Chen get into a fight or what?”

It was gossip time. Zhang Wanting went straight for the topic.

She’d obviously been there last night too. She’d even said they should all go home together, and then in the next second, Tang Zhe had rushed over and whisked Li Mo away.

“That guy has no idea what kind of weird stimulus he’s been under lately. He just seems to have it out for him.”

Li Mo slightly lifted her chin and glanced toward her new deskmate.

“Every time he sees me talking to him, he acts like a cat with its fur standing on end.”

“...Don’t tell me you seriously can’t tell what that means.”

After hearing Li Mo’s explanation, Zhang Wanting’s lips curled up slightly.

Anyone with eyes could see it.

When a guy sees the girl he likes getting close to some random dude who popped out of nowhere, of course he’s going to get anxious.

And someone like Tang Zhe, who’d grown up with Li Mo, who was already super close to her with basically no distance between them, and whose emotional intelligence... wasn’t exactly high—

For him to not even try to hide it, and just straight-up bristle in front of her, was completely normal.

Though Li Mo was kind of dense too. These two really were a match made in heaven.

“I think I kinda get it... but, ugh... our situation is really complicated.”

Li Mo had a splitting headache. Sure, it was obvious enough that anyone could see it, but she still couldn’t be sure.

“You know what? Every time I joke around with him about that kind of thing, he always stresses that there’s no way we’d ever develop in that direction. A while ago, he even got all fierce and told me not to make those jokes anymore.”

And she herself had never once liked a girl while thinking of herself as a boy, so she couldn’t make sense of what Tang Zhe’s whole string of actions and reactions was supposed to mean.

So lately, whenever things like this came up, the feeling Tang Zhe gave her turned strange and hollow.

That old sense of safety she used to have around him was completely gone.

“The way he acted last night scared me at first too... The feeling he gave me wasn’t really that he liked me. It was more like... uh... possessiveness?”

Yeah. That was probably it.

“This guy hasn’t seriously never dated anyone before, right?”

Li Mo’s complaints once again refreshed Zhang Wanting’s understanding of Tang Zhe.

Just based on looks alone, someone at Tang Zhe’s level really did seem like one of those popular, normie-type guys. Zhang Wanting had never really believed he had zero dating experience. She’d just thought he was kind of dense.

Now, though, it was basically confirmed.

Back when Tian Jungang had just started dating Liu Yan, that guy had also been insanely possessive toward her best friend.

Maybe it was just a common symptom of boys in their first relationship. Tang Zhe’s current state was really similar.

But since Li Mo said their situation was complicated, Zhang Wanting couldn’t really say much more. She just patted her.

“It’s fine. Just take it one step at a time. Wait for him to figure it out and come chase you. If he never figures it out, then that’s his loss!”

That’s not really the issue here...

“Momo, Momo?”

Great. She’d just been saying this morning how he’d acted all mysterious and not gone to school with her, and now here he was again, coming to bother her.

Good thing she wasn’t at her own seat.

“A-Zhe, seriously, go study. We go to school together, leave together, and even live next door. We see each other all the time. You don’t need to come find me several times a day.”

She frowned, complaining as she walked to the door.

“What is it this time?”

If he said he was bored and just wanted to chat again, she was absolutely kicking him down the stairs.

“My lunch. I still haven’t gotten it.”

“...”

Right.

Since they hadn’t gone to school together this morning, she hadn’t given Tang Zhe his lunch yet.

“You said you weren’t going with me, so I didn’t bring it.”

But for some reason, she suddenly wanted to mess with him a little. Teach this guy, who had absolutely zero sense of the room, a proper lesson.

“OK. I’ll go back and get it right now.”

“Are you insane?!”

Li Mo hurriedly grabbed him when he actually looked like he was about to go home and get it. She let out a sigh.

She’d meant to scare him, but somehow she was the one who got scared first.

“Heh, I knew you were bluffing. Hurry up, hurry up. Without my lunch, I don’t even feel safe.”

A grown man over six feet tall was holding out his hand at her like he was acting spoiled.

Li Mo didn’t even know what tone to use to scold him. Her breath got stuck in her throat for a long while. In the end, all she could do was mutter gloomily,

“You just bully me all day,”

Then she turned and went inside to get his lunch.

Was that really bullying her?

Tang Zhe felt a little guilty after hearing that aggrieved little line from Li Mo, but he still felt like she was exaggerating.

It was just a joke. That didn’t count as bullying, did it?

And if that really did count as bullying her, then he... he really...

Really couldn’t help it.

He just wanted to tease her. What was he supposed to do?

Seriously, if you had a childhood friend you were super close with, who was cute, small, made you lunch every day, looked tsundere but was actually gentle, never really got mad at you, and you could spoil her like a daughter—

What normal person could resist teasing her just a tiny little bit once in a while?

Anyone?

No.

He even wanted to rub her head when she came back out.

“Tang Zhe.”

“Holy crap, Mom, you got here that fast?”

Before Li Mo came out, Tang Zhe’s mom walked out of the office behind him first.

Without any mercy, she smacked him on the forehead.

“I handled it for you this time. Focus on class at school, and take good care of Momo. If I hear you’re bullying her, you’re gonna be in big trouble.”

Damn it. This vicious woman had murdered his happiness.

“A-Zhe, your lunch.”

Li Mo came out right then with the lunchbox, and happened to walk straight into the scene of Mama Tang lecturing Little Tang Zhe.

She froze on the spot.

“Aiya, Momo, you’ve worked so hard, making lunch for this brat every single day~”

As always, Mama Tang switched expressions like a Sichuan opera face change. One second she looked fierce, and the moment she saw Li Mo, her whole face bloomed into a smile.

Sadly, Li Mo was basically allergic to that face.

She first greeted her with a polite “Hi, Godmother,” then swiftly stuffed the lunchbox into Tang Zhe’s arms, tossed out a quick “Bye,” and slipped back into the classroom.

Three smooth steps. Absolute veteran move.

“Did you remember what I just told you?”

The second Li Mo left, Mama Tang turned fierce again.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry. Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”

“Ah...”

Mama Tang didn’t even know what to say to Tang Zhe’s reaction. She could only sigh.

How could she not understand what he was thinking?

Go ahead and keep brushing it off.

The day you really lose Li Mo, there won’t be any regret medicine left for you to take.