“Lu Li, do you want to buy a computer?”

Lu Li’s hand twitched. He almost dropped his pen. “What? You said sell a kidney? I’m not selling a kidney.”

Chu Jingyi got so mad she twisted the flesh at the back of his neck. It hurt enough to make Lu Li bare his teeth. Did all girls max out this skill by default? If it wasn’t the back of your neck, it was the soft flesh at your waist. They really learned it without a teacher. No wonder you girls could carry on the legacy of Wing Chun.

“I said buy a computer! Buy! A! Computer!” Chu Jingyi shouted into Lu Li’s ear.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Lu Li pushed her away impatiently. “For me, buying a computer is basically the same as selling a kidney. How am I supposed to afford one? It’s enough if I can mooch off the computers in the school lab.”

At that, not just An Baili, even Lu Li’s unnamed deskmate couldn’t help covering her mouth and laughing.

“I’m not telling you to sell a kidney!” Whenever people laughed, Chu Jingyi’s ears turned pink. Small and delicate, ridiculously cute. “I’ll give you one... Of course, it’s to help you make that game. It doesn’t mean anything else.”

Give me one?

Lu Li raised a brow. A gentleman doesn’t accept charity. He hadn’t done anything to deserve it, so why should Chu Jingyi give him a computer?

The boy’s expression turned serious. “Class monitor, I may be poor, but I still have my pride. You don’t need to pity me.”

Pity was always a privilege of the strong. The moment one person pitied another, they had already placed themselves above them. Lu Li thought of third grade in elementary school. After receiving a poverty grant, he had been made to stand in front of the whole school during morning exercises and give a “heartfelt” speech. That kind of pity, reeking of the adult world, had left a deep scar on him.

He hated being treated with sympathy or pity. He had hands and feet, all four limbs intact. He could support himself. In what way was he lower than anyone else?

When Chu Jingyi got anxious, she was like a deer. A sika deer. Charging around, flailing her arms.

“I’m not pitying you. I, um, I’m...” Chu Jingyi looked pleadingly at An Baili, hoping she’d help explain.

But An Baili would’ve loved nothing more than for Chu Jingyi and Lu Li to fall out. Why would she help? She only looked back at Chu Jingyi awkwardly, every bit the quiet, shy country girl.

“That’s not what I meant.” A thin sheen of sweat appeared on Chu Jingyi’s forehead. “We’re friends now, aren’t we? I just wanted to give you a gift...”

Friends...

That word made Lu Li drift for a moment. Friendship was a luxury. Chu Jingyi handed it out a little too casually. He had always thought they were just ordinary classmates, nowhere near friends. Still, he knew how to say the right thing to the right person.

“Is that so?” He showed just the right amount of confusion. The faint anger from before seemed like an illusion.

How could Chu Jingyi ever see through Lu Li? The moment she saw his puzzled look, she nodded quickly. “It’s totally normal for friends to give each other gifts. My mom told me that once you make a friend, you should keep in touch and give them little presents sometimes. That’s how friendship lasts.”

Your mom told you that... heh.

An Baili smiled and asked curiously, “Jingyi, do you have a lot of friends?”

Chu Jingyi’s face grew even redder. She was too embarrassed to admit she had very, very few friends. Or maybe none at all. Every time she met someone new, the first month was always warm and happy. But once they learned about her family background, they’d start shrinking back. Some even gradually cut off contact.

In the circle of elite families in Chuanhai City, Chu Jingyi’s status was a little too high. Or rather, her father’s identity was too unusual. Everyone had their own circle. Forcing your way into someone else’s only made everyone uncomfortable. So she talked less and less about her family, even deliberately downplaying it.

She wanted friends. Not the kind who flattered her and played along for show. Real friends.

Lu Li gradually understood. So Chu Jingyi was a problem girl too. This girl clearly had serious issues with social relationships. No wonder they’d only known each other a few days, and the class monitor was already trying to gift him a computer like she was showing off treasure. The urge to please was way too obvious.

“Sorry. I made you misunderstand...” Chu Jingyi lowered her head. That aggrieved little look of hers was enough to stir anyone’s pity.

Lu Li wasn’t angry at all. He had only put on that act. “It’s fine. Thank you for the gift. It’s just that this gift is too expensive for me. Of course we’re friends. And friends can’t be bought with money, right?”

His voice was gentle, as calm and light as he was.

Chu Jingyi was moved, but still uneasy. “But if I become your friend and don’t do anything, wouldn’t that feel kind of wrong?”

Lu Li couldn’t help giving her another look. In memories from his previous life, Chu Jingyi had been like Wang Xifeng, sharp and forceful, always commanding others. But in this life, the closer he got to her, the more he realized there was a Lin Daiyu living inside the class monitor. People were always complicated and contradictory. If someone knew how to handle close relationships, who’d want to spend all day acting like an icy class monitor?

“Then let me ask you for a favor, okay?” Lu Li smiled softly. An Baili, standing nearby, stared a little too long. Back then, she’d been fooled by this exact smile. One smile, and she’d been fooled for over twenty years.

“A favor from me?” A question mark practically popped over Chu Jingyi’s head.

“You know I sneak off to the computer room a lot, right? Because of that, I miss a lot of assignments teachers give out. Chu Jingyi, could you help me keep track of those from now on?” At its core, social connection was debt. You owe me, I owe you. The more you owed each other, the closer you became.

He added, “This is really important to me. I’m counting on you!”

Chu Jingyi looked like a hero receiving a king’s command. Her eyes sparkled. She clenched her small fists in excitement. “Mm-hm! Leave it to me!”

For a problem girl like her, she had been born into too much love. Her parents’ doting love, her classmates’ admiration, her teachers’ fondness. That saying was true. Love always flowed toward those who lacked it least.

What she craved was simply to be needed. She wanted to be the one who loved others, not the one being loved.

Lu Li noticed that An Baili’s gaze had dimmed. It formed a sharp contrast with Chu Jingyi’s excitement. An Baili was different. She had always been the one starved of love. She wanted someone to love her. Chu Jingyi’s joy only reminded her of some bad memories. The country girl lay awkwardly on her desk, her eyes empty as she stared into space.

Lu Li’s lips moved, but he suppressed the urge to speak. He had to admit it. For one brief moment just now, he had felt pity for An Baili again.

Today was the first placement test after the class reshuffle.

For Lu Li, a test like this was far too easy. It was a little rough at first when he started answering, but as his feel and memory returned, he got faster and faster. With everything under control, Lu Li even had time to observe An Baili and Chu Jingyi.

The former was biting the end of her pen, looking drowsy and half-asleep.

The latter sat upright, writing furiously.

The fact that these two could end up as deskmates was practically the sun rising in the west, Lu Li thought maliciously.

After a full day of exams, the second-years were inevitably tired. They gathered in twos and threes to compare answers. Lu Li despised that kind of thing. It did nothing except mess with young people’s mentality, yet mediocrities loved this kind of after-the-fact grandstanding. Of course, Lu Li wasn’t only talking about exams.

Chuanhai No.1 High School didn’t allow students to work part-time during the school term. Otherwise, Lu Li would’ve picked up at least two side jobs. After school, with nothing else to do, he drifted toward the computer lab. As for An Baili? She was in the office getting scolded for turning in a blank paper.

Chu Jingyi watched Lu Li’s back and hesitated, wanting to say something. But her words came too slowly, and Lu Li walked too fast. By the time she made up her mind, he was already gone. A little downcast, she walked to the school gate, took out her city transit card, and prepared to take the subway home.

Just then, the class monitor spotted her father’s low-key sedan parked outside the school gate. The plate hadn’t been changed yet. It was still a white government plate. The other parents picking up students had all obediently parked far away. A few pot-bellied middle-aged men, cigarettes in hand, tried to strike up a conversation, only to be forced back by a look from Secretary Long.

Chu Jingyi first greeted Secretary Long, then turned irritably toward her father in the back seat. “Dad, why did you drive here to pick me up again? Didn’t we agree I’d go home by myself?”

Father Chu leaned forward with a doting smile. “My fault, my fault. I got off work early today, so I thought I’d pick up my little princess on the way.”

Secretary Long was a man in his thirties, practically half an uncle to Chu Jingyi. Back when she was too young to remember things, she used to run wild at her father’s workplace, and Secretary Long had often been the one looking after her. When she was little, she had even innocently declared that Secretary Long was her real dad, scaring poor Xiao Long, whose hairline hadn’t started retreating yet, so badly he’d nearly dropped to his knees.

He smiled and said, “Jingyi, Mr. Chu actually pushed back several meetings just for today.”

“Big mouth.” Father Chu smiled and opened the car door for his daughter. “Get in. Forgive Dad, just this once, okay?”

After Chu Jingyi got in, Secretary Long finally took the driver’s seat and slowly started the car.

Father Chu chatted with his daughter about all sorts of things at school, and naturally the topic turned to Chu Jingyi wanting to give Lu Li a computer. After hearing the whole story, Father Chu exchanged a glance with Secretary Long through the rearview mirror. Both looked a little surprised.

“Little Lu really said that?” Father Chu asked with a chuckle.

“Mm. I know he only asked me to help keep track of assignments to comfort me, but I was still really happy.” Chu Jingyi told her parents everything and never hid anything from them. “Dad, I think Lu Li is amazing. He’s amazing at writing scripts, and he’s really considerate too. Being friends with him would definitely be great!”

Secretary Long quietly widened his eyes, looking like he wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Father Chu laughed much more openly. He stroked his chin. “How about this? Pick out a computer for Little Lu and say it’s from me.”

“Huh?” Chu Jingyi’s eyes widened too.