As he hummed that short line, Yue Zhishi felt a pat on his shoulder from the senior. He saw her make a shushing motion and push down the microphone fader, only then realizing he had made a mistake.

He kept apologizing afterward, but the senior didn't think it was a big deal.

"Not many people would have noticed."

Halfway through the program, they took a break while music played. Yue Zhishi's stomach growled, and only then did the senior remember that he hadn't eaten. "Ah, I forgot to remind you to bring dinner." She took out her own lunch box from her bag. "Want to have some with me?"

When the lid was opened, inside were translucent steamed dumplings with carrot and lamb filling, fried shrimp, and a sweet and sour cold noodle salad. They all looked delicious, but there wasn't a single thing he could eat. Yue Zhishi politely declined, "You go ahead, senior. I told my deskmate to bring me something to eat."

The senior thought he was just being shy and stuffed the fork into his hand. Yue Zhishi had no choice but to say that he was allergic to many of the things inside.

He didn't specify his allergens, because Song Yu had repeatedly emphasized at home that he shouldn't casually tell others about them, especially since his allergies were severe enough to be life-threatening.

"Oh, I see." The senior had to give up. "Speaking of which, I saw what happened at the opening ceremony last time. It was so scary. Thankfully, nothing major happened."

'That's right. Luckily my brother was there,' Yue Zhishi responded in his heart.

When the program ended, the senior still stuffed an apple into his hands, which Yue Zhishi accepted with immense gratitude.

Evening self-study was starting in ten minutes. Most of the students were already in their seats, with only the students on cleaning duty still mopping the floor. Yue Zhishi rushed back, panting as he sat down next to Jiang Yufan, "...I'm exhausted."

Hu Xuan, in the front seat, turned around. "Lele, we heard you on the broadcast today!" She gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice!"

Yue Zhishi was happy at first, then he slumped onto his desk. "But I messed up a lot today."

"Psh, I couldn't tell at all."

A boy from the third group chimed in with a distinctly sarcastic tone, "Who says you couldn't tell? I heard it. Yue Zhishi, don't tell me you think you're such a good singer that you left the mic on purpose."

Being stung so directly to his face, Yue Zhishi was a bit stunned. He usually got along exceptionally well with everyone and had no issues with anyone, so he couldn't understand what was happening.

"Don't mind Zhang Chen," Jiang Yufan rolled his eyes at the boy, then explained to Yue Zhishi, "He's crazy. The girl he likes has a crush on you, so now he's being all passive-aggressive."

Yue Zhishi asked, "The girl from Class 11?"

Jiang Yufan's expression was disdainful. "Who else? Zhang Chen found out somehow. That guy was running over to Class 11 every day, being all attentive and stuff, but then his little goddess confessed to you. Of course he'd be pissed."

Who would have thought that Yue Zhishi would turn his face towards Zhang Chen, his expression serious, "Why are you angry?"

Zhang Chen's eyes widened. "You're asking me wh—"

"Are you very hurt?" Yue Zhishi asked again.

He was genuinely curious, and Zhang Chen was genuinely at a loss for words. Only Jiang Yufan was cackling with delight.

Hu Xuan also helped Yue Zhishi retort, "Zhang Chen, I can smell your sour lemon scent from two groups away."

Zhang Chen was furious. "Bullshit!"

The class monitor slapped the podium, threatening Zhang Chen with his eyes. Seeing how angry Zhang Chen was, Yue Zhishi figured he must really like that girl. He made a mental note to find a chance to tell him that he wasn't with the girl he liked, and that he could still try.

Besides, if this one didn't work out, he could always just find someone else to like.

Jiang Yufan wanted to continue the argument, but decided against it. He turned to Yue Zhishi and said in a low voice, "Lele, I couldn't get that rice ball you mentioned. I rushed over as soon as class ended, but the owner said they were out today. But I got you this, ta-da!" He pulled a box of self-heating rice from his drawer.

Yue Zhishi was very surprised, but kept his voice low. "What is this..." He picked it up and looked at it, his face full of suspicion. "Won't Teacher Wang kick us out for eating this?"

Jiang Yufan held up his index finger and wagged it with an all-knowing look. "Don't worry. According to a reliable source, Old Wang definitely won't be coming to evening self-study today. His car is already gone from the school, and he took his thermos with him."

"But he said yesterday that he would go over the test papers during evening self-study." Yue Zhishi remembered clearly.

The bell for evening self-study rang. Hu Xuan turned around and whispered to corroborate Jiang Yufan's story, "It's true. It seems Old Wang had something important today. He wasn't in the office just now when I went to get the homework, and look..."

She pointed at the podium. "The class monitor is already up there. Old Wang is definitely not coming today."

"And I've already bribed the class monitor for you. I told him to just pretend nothing happened." Jiang Yufan raised his eyebrows. "How about it? Your Brother Fan is still pretty reliable, huh?"

"So amazing." Yue Zhishi gave him a thumbs-up with both hands, then turned to look at the instructions on the self-heating rice packaging. "I've never eaten something like this before."

"Me neither, but it should be like those self-heating hot pots." Jiang Yufan shrugged. "You add some cold water, and then it heats up by itself."

"Magical..." Yue Zhishi carefully read the instructions. "I'll use the excuse of going to the toilet to eat this in the washroom later."

"It's fine, everyone eats in the classroom."

Yue Zhishi shook his head. "You're not supposed to eat in the classroom."

The two of them fiddled with it for a while, adding water according to the instructions. Yue Zhishi waited for his rice with a sense of novelty and anticipation. It was fish-fragrant shredded pork flavor, so it probably wouldn't taste bad.

The bell for evening self-study rang, and the class monitor at the podium announced, "Teacher Wang has something to attend to today, so he won't be coming."

A small cheer erupted from the class, a wave that was quelled by the class monitor. Everything was going as expected, and Yue Zhishi's happiness grew.

"I'll come out too in a bit, let me have a bite." Jiang Yufan bumped his shoulder. "Let me see what it tastes like."

Yue Zhishi made an "ok" sign. "No problem, we can each have ha—"

The last word never came out, as Yue Zhishi completely choked. Because a person he never would have expected walked through the classroom door.

Some girls in the class let out small gasps.

"Song Yu?"

"Wow, it's really Song Yu."

Jiang Yufan was also startled and smacked Yue Zhishi's arm. "Holy crap, why is your brother here?"

Song Yu wasn't carrying anything as he walked expressionlessly to the podium. The class monitor seemed to have known in advance, smoothly stepping down from the podium and returning to his seat, giving him the space. Song Yu silently undid the buttons on his school uniform shirt cuffs and rolled up his sleeves.

Yue Zhishi was completely in the dark about this, the surprise on his face impossible to hide. The surrounding students were all looking at him with the attitude of spectators watching a drama, as if they had pulled up their stools and prepared their melon seeds before the show began.

Standing at the podium, Song Yu looked up at the crowd. "Teacher Wang has something to attend to and won't be here tonight. Considering you all are facing the issue of advancing to the next level of school, he asked me to come and help by sharing some experience on reviewing and preparing for the high school entrance exam."

This speech was very official, and Song Yu's expression and voice were sufficiently cold, but it still made the underclassman girls below the stage inwardly excited.

Although the school had never held any kind of "school prince" election, Song Yu's looks made him the center of attention anywhere. Coupled with his naturally unapproachable aura and top-student halo, this kind of close-contact treatment where he even helped supervise their evening self-study was an unbelievably good thing.

A girl in the front row looked up and asked Song Yu, "Senior, how did Teacher Wang manage to invite you over?"

Song Yu had a slight case of mysophobia and OCD. He bent his head down to straighten the chalk box on the podium and didn't look up when he answered her question, only saying flatly, "He used to be my homeroom teacher."

"He was your homeroom teacher too?"

"Wow... so magical."

"Then we're direct descendants!"

Yue Zhishi also found it incredible. They actually had the same homeroom teacher. By that logic, Wang Qian had started teaching their class right after he finished teaching Song Yu through junior high graduation.

It made sense. Whenever they needed a parent to show up, Auntie Rong was responsible for him, and Uncle Song was responsible for Song Yu. They never said anything, and Song Yu never mentioned it, so how would he have known?

Song Yu got straight to the point. "The first period of evening self-study will mainly be for sharing. During the second period, you'll do your own homework. If you need help, you can come to the podium and find me."

Jiang Yufan coughed, signaling Yue Zhishi to look down, and showed him his phone from under the desk. The phone's screen displayed the class group chat, which was active without the homeroom teacher present. Nearly all the students who had secretly brought their phones were gathered in it, chatting animatedly.

[Is today the day our class's visuals peak?!]

[Song Yu is so handsome, no wonder he's a regular on the Confession Wall]

[You girls are such fangirls, all you do is look at handsome guys, speechless]

[What do you mean all we do is look at handsome guys, when we look at pretty girls we're even more intense than you guys]

[@Joy Lele, I still think you're more handsome, bro, I got your back]

[There's a good show to watch.]

[@Joy Lele, did you know he was coming?]

'No way!?'

Jiang Yufan lowered his head and typed quickly.

[I can vouch, Lele really didn't know, we both thought the class monitor was in charge tonight.]

New messages quickly popped up on the screen.

[So weird, he came to sub without telling you?]

[Song Yu won't give Lele a hard time, will he?]

[If you have a clear conscience, why fear a ghost knocking at your door?]

Yue Zhishi didn't want to look anymore. He raised his head and happened to meet Song Yu's gaze. The way Song Yu stared at people was like a large feline, his eyes cold and languid. It made him quickly lower his head, put his manga and sketchbook into his drawer, and take out a supplementary textbook, feigning a serious attitude towards studying.

Although the chat group was buzzing, the atmosphere in the classroom was very quiet. Song Yu picked up a piece of chalk and faced the blackboard to write.

"There's less than a year until the high school entrance exam. Your study plan for these next two semesters will likely change your rankings, so first, you must clarify your goals and make a plan that suits your situation..."

As he was speaking, a strange sound suddenly echoed through the classroom, a hissing `chichichi`, like a small train. Many people heard it and turned their heads to look around.

The sound grew louder.

The chalk's trail on the blackboard froze; Song Yu's hand paused. But he didn't turn around, continuing to write what he needed to as if he hadn't heard a thing.

The other students all looked towards the source of the sound. That's right, the source of the sound was Yue Zhishi, or more accurately, the box of self-heating rice in Yue Zhishi's desk drawer.

Jiang Yufan also turned his head at this moment and met Yue Zhishi's eyes. He silently mouthed a "holy crap," then wrote a sentence on a piece of scrap paper and pushed it in front of Yue Zhishi.

[You can post this to the social death group now...]