The person who tapped Lu Yu on the shoulder was Lin Beixing's desk-mate.
She was a girl wearing glasses—quiet and gentle-looking.
Lu Yu normally paid little attention to his classmates. Even after three years together, he could only match names to the class monitors who collected his homework; everyone else remained nameless to him.
"..."
So Lu Yu pondered for a long while but still couldn't recall her name.
Lin Beixing had never told him her desk-mate's name, nor had she given him any tips on how to interact with her.
They stared at each other for a few awkward seconds.
Just as Lu Yu's polite smile was about to falter, the bespectacled girl finally pulled out a test paper and spread it out before him.
"Beixing… there's something off with this problem. I've recalculated it so many times, but my answer still doesn't match what you told me this morning."
Here it comes!
Right off the bat—a brutal difficulty level!
For Lu Yu, who'd been coasting through the last two years, explaining a math problem felt like torture.
Yet he calmly leaned forward to examine the test paper.
Those complex strings of numbers and formulas looked like hieroglyphics.
Compounded by his desk-mate's messy handwriting, Lu Yu could only gape in bewilderment.
Oh no, oh no.
Lu Yu stole a glance toward his usual seat in the back row.
Lin Beixing, true to their agreement, was still lying face-down on her desk, fast asleep—or at least pretending to be—and showed no sign of looking his way.
She really trusted him that much?!
His mind went blank.
"Beixing… could you just circle where I went wrong? I'll figure out the rest myself…"
His desk-mate pleaded earnestly.
In their class, there were rarely any tensions among the girls—at least, that's how the boys saw it.
And since Lin Beixing always got along well with everyone…
It was safe to assume she and her desk-mate had a good relationship too.
Lu Yu knew refusing wasn't an option.
He forced himself to focus on the paper.
Individually, he recognized every symbol and number—but together, they formed an indecipherable code.
"Just give me a sec, okay~?"
'Lin Beixing' smiled gently at her desk-mate.
First things first—he had to keep her calm.
"Mm-hmm~"
The glasses-wearing girl nodded vigorously and waited quietly.
Lu Yu usually had nerves of steel, but right now, his thoughts were tangled.
He swallowed hard, eyes darting frantically across the chaotic symbols until his head spun.
Think… think carefully…
Solving a high-difficulty math problem this quickly was impossible for someone whose math skills hadn't progressed beyond first-year level.
But Lu Yu wasn't dumb.
If direct solving was out of the question… maybe there was another approach.
Ah!
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
She'd mentioned she'd started solving the problem only after hearing the answer—and kept getting it wrong despite multiple attempts.
If she'd made the same mistake over and over…
…it probably wasn't a calculation error.
If it were just arithmetic, she'd have spotted it by now after so many tries.
So the issue likely lay elsewhere…
Lu Yu reached into Lin Beixing's pencil case and pulled out a pink bunny-shaped mechanical pencil.
(He ignored how adorably cute the little rabbit pencil was.)
He drew a wavy underline right above the problem—directly over the question itself.
"Read the question carefully," he said coolly.
Normally, with long word problems, people only read through once, then jump straight to extracting key data for calculations.
If she'd gotten it wrong every single time, chances were she misunderstood the problem from the very start.
Lu Yu felt confident in this deduction.
He set the pencil down calmly—though his palms were slick with sweat.
His desk-mate took back the paper and reread the question.
Half a minute later, her eyes widened in realization.
"Oh! You're absolutely right… No wonder! Beixing, you're amazing!!"
She gave him a big thumbs-up.
Phew…
Lu Yu exhaled inwardly in relief.
"Hehe…" He flashed her a friendly smile and slipped his earphones back on.
"If that's all, I'll get back to my English listening."
"Mm! I won't bother you anymore. Thanks so much, Beixing! I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow~!"
"Breakfast?"
At that word, Lu Yu lifted his head again.
He remembered Lin Beixing came from a wealthy family—chauffeured to and from school every day—and she always ate breakfast at home before class.
"Yeah! You always complain your home breakfast sucks… Want some long-bean buns tomorrow? I'll pick some up for you at the school gate!"
She pushed up her glasses enthusiastically.
Lu Yu figured it wouldn't be right to refuse on Lin Beixing's behalf, so he accepted immediately.
"Sure thing~~" He gave her a sweet smile.
With that, their conversation ended.
He quickly turned back to his English materials.
Only when his desk-mate returned to her own studying did Lu Yu finally feel the ordeal was over.
There were still twenty minutes until afternoon class.
Meanwhile…
Lin Beixing lay with her face pressed against the desk, trying hard to fall asleep.
Compared to Lu Yu's task, hers was simple: just pretend to nap.
But she didn't actually have a habit of napping at noon.
On rare occasions when she felt drowsy, she'd just pop a mint candy to stay alert. In the stressful final year of high school, dozing off in the middle of the day was nearly impossible—especially in such a noisy classroom, which she particularly disliked.
After more than ten minutes of futile effort, she sat up and decided to follow Lu Yu's Plan B: download a game to pass the time.
"Hey, Bro Lu, not sleepy today?"
Just then, Lu Yu's own desk-mate, Ren Jie, strolled over holding an empty soda can.
He plopped down into his seat with a yawn.
"Ugh… it's so hot today. I'm dead tired. Mind if I nap for a bit? Wake me up when class starts?"
Ren Jie was another notorious slacker like Lu Yu, though he usually spent lunch breaks gaming with friends in the next classroom. He only sneaked back right before class to catch a few winks.
Lin Beixing glanced at the clock above the blackboard and nodded.
"Go ahead… I'll wake you when it's time."
"Dude, why do you sound so weak today…?"
The moment Lin Beixing spoke, Ren Jie detected something off.
He scrutinized 'Lu Yu's' face closely.
'Lu Yu' looked exhausted, his voice soft and listless.
Ren Jie's eyes lit up with sudden understanding, and he leaned in with a mischievous grin.
"Did your girlfriend go *that* hard on you last night?"
Lin Beixing: "…"
Ren Jie spread his hands innocently. "C'mon, just say it already."
"…Ren Jie… Lu Yu and I aren't like that."
"Oh, yeah, yeah—I totally believe you, Bro Lu."
Ren Jie winked.
Lin Beixing fell silent. She felt her face grow warm—especially her cheeks.
She quickly downed the rest of her half-finished soda.
*Clang. Clang.*
Just then, someone walked to the back row and sharply rapped on Lin Beixing's desk.
She looked up.
"Lu Yu, the math teacher wants to see you."