Chapter 4

Chinese class passed without incident.

Qiao Shao struggled with classical Chinese, but fortunately, they were studying modern prose right now.

The selection happened to be Zhu Ziqing's essay "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond." Their Chinese teacher, a refined, scholarly man of forty, played a clip of Phoenix Legend's "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond" to liven things up.

Kids born after 2000 couldn't appreciate this song, but practically all of them had heard it. Who hadn't tagged along with their paternal grandparents for some public-square dancing?

The music was lively and loud. Qiao Shao suspected their Chinese teacher was trying to wake the sleeping students—like the one beside him.

The teacher meant well. Unfortunately, it wasn't doing much good.

At first, when Qiao Shao saw his seatmate's arm move, he thought Sleep God had finally awakened, that he would finally get to see his seatmate's face and draw a clear line between them.

Instead, his seatmate turned away from him, yawned, and went right on sleeping.

The only difference was his position. Before, he'd been resting on his arms; now his head lay directly on the desktop, his long arms dangling beneath the desk.

Qiao Shao pursed his lips and glanced at his arm—it looked a little familiar. Really familiar.

Maybe all these tall, sturdy guys with long arms and legs looked alike?

The words long, tall, and sturdy left Little Qiao Shao, whose development was just a tiny bit behind schedule, feeling deeply aggrieved.

Forget it, forget it. Class was in session. This was no time to let his mind wander.

After second period, it was time for group exercises.

If He Shen not having to turn in homework earned only Qiao Shao's contempt, then his not having to attend group exercises earned envy, jealousy, and resentment!

It wasn't that Qiao Shao wanted to slack off. He just couldn't understand how a lazy bum who slept like the dead and never exercised had grown so tall!

Comparisons were so infuriating.

The boy sitting in front of him was named Song Yixu. He had a pair of little pointed canines that showed when he smiled.

Song Yixu called to Qiao Shao, "Let's go. You lose conduct points if you're late for exercises."

Qiao Shao glanced at his seatmate. "What about him?" It was right there in the school rules: if your conduct points dropped below a certain level, your parents would be called in. More serious cases meant a public reprimand, and anything worse could get you asked to withdraw.

Song Yixu smiled. "He doesn't care." All God He had to do was win some award, and the school would give him dozens of points. He had enough to squander however he pleased for years.

Of course, Qiao Shao didn't know the truth. His own reasoning was perfectly logical—Sleep God had already given up on himself, so why would he care about conduct points? His parents were probably sick of being called in, and the school was probably itching to dock every last point and kick him out!

As Qiao Shao stood up, he glanced over at Chen Su.

Chen Su, who sat in the second row, had already left, so Qiao Shao went out of the classroom with Song Yixu.

Song Yixu was a chatterbox, far more full of gossip than the straitlaced Chen Su. When they reached the clock tower, he confided that this was prime dating territory: shine a flashlight around on a dark, windy night, and you'd find illicit lovebirds everywhere. When they reached the seniors' classroom building, he said it was a hellish battlefield: make it out and you'd ascend to godhood; fail, and you'd breathe your last...

Qiao Shao listened with delight, and before long, they reached the athletic field.

East District No. 1 High School had a sizable athletic field, easily accommodating the fifty-plus classes across all three grades.

Each grade had one or two special classes. While everyone else wore identical blue-and-white school uniforms, those few classes were entirely in casual clothes, and had only half as many students as regular classes.

Qiao Shao understood. Those were probably the international classes or classes for students with specialized talents.

He craned his neck for a look but didn't spot Lou Xiao.

Of course. Why would the School Tyrant come do group exercises?

The exercises presented Qiao Shao with another problem: he didn't know them at all.

Beside him, Song Yixu asked, puzzled, "Didn't your old school do this routine? Isn't it the same nationwide?"

Qiao Shao didn't know whether it was the same nationwide. His school, at any rate, hadn't done it.

They had a whole series of required sports, including fencing, horseback riding, shooting, and golf. They really weren't going to waste more time assembling for group exercises...

Of course, he couldn't say that. Song Yixu would laugh his head off.

Qiao Shao said vaguely, "I used to have health problems, so I hardly ever went to exercises."

Taking in his slight frame, Song Yixu said understandingly, "Can you manage now? Want to ask a teacher to excuse you?"

"No, no," Qiao Shao said guiltily. "I recovered ages ago."

Song Yixu offered helpfully, "It's fine. Just follow along. The moves are really easy."

They certainly weren't difficult. Since he was a transfer student, Qiao Shao was in the back row anyway, with a whole crowd of "teachers" in front of him. He could get by just waving his limbs around in imitation.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that when they returned from exercises, Sleep God would still be asleep!

Qiao Shao was genuinely baffled. Did this guy never need to pee? Was his bladder that good?

No ordinary human, this one!

Third period was physics, the subject Qiao Shao dreaded most.

The first-year material wasn't difficult, but despite listening with absolute concentration, Little Qiao Shao understood just about everything—except what any of it meant!

Partway through class, they came to a problem that left Qiao Shao baffled just reading it. Yet the physics teacher braced his hands on a desk and said, "Let's have someone come up and solve this."

Qiao Shao instantly tensed. S-solve what? They hadn't even covered this material yet! Who could solve it?

What made him even more nervous was the physics teacher's gaze drifting his way.

No way...

Qiao Shao had only been paying attention for three periods. He was still a long way from being a good student and really wasn't up to such a daunting task.

"He Shen," the physics teacher called.

It took Qiao Shao a moment to realize that was his seatmate's name.

Sleep God might as well have been dead. Even the teacher calling his name got no response.

Qiao Shao hesitated, but couldn't help reaching over to give him a nudge.

He might be keeping his distance from underachievers, but he couldn't just leave someone to die.

After nudging him, though, he regretted it a little. What good would waking up do? Could an underachiever who'd slept through three periods solve a physics problem that was clearly beyond the syllabus?

The physics teacher was probably calling him up to embarrass him and make him stand there until he woke up a little.

"He Shen?" the physics teacher called again.

Qiao Shao had already gone above and beyond. He wasn't going to nudge him again.

He'd expected the teacher to come down from the podium and slap the guy awake. Instead, the teacher pushed up his glasses and called on someone else. "Chen Su, solve this one."

Qiao Shao: "???"

That was it?

You called him twice, got no response, and you were just letting it go?

Sir, where was your dignity?! Get your pointer and smack this guy awake!

It was hard to say how much Qiao Shao had learned in half a day, but his whole worldview had certainly been rewritten.

Sure enough, whatever you did, taking it to the extreme was impressive.

To be this accomplished at being a bad student—Qiao Shao was a little impressed.

The last class was ideology and politics, and lunchtime arrived with the entire class half asleep.

Qiao Shao had already learned to ignore the great lump beside him.

All he ever did was sleep, then sleep some more. It was as if Qiao Shao didn't have a seatmate at all.

When the bell rang, Qiao Shao glanced at He Shen.

Song Yixu said, "Whatever you do, don't wake him up. He's really cranky when he wakes up."

Qiao Shao: "..." The real question was whether he could even be woken up!

"I wasn't going to. Sleeping doesn't burn any calories anyway, so he doesn't need to eat."

Song Yixu said, "Hey, exactly! The first law of thermodynamics!"

As they talked, Qiao Shao noticed Chen Su glance their way.

The moment Qiao Shao looked over, Chen Su averted his eyes and headed out.

Qiao Shao said, "Chen Su, wait for me."

Chen Su paused.

Qiao Shao turned back to Song Yixu. "Want to get lunch together?"

Song Yixu had been all smiles, but now he faltered. "You're going with Chen Su?"

Qiao Shao said, "Yeah, we're roommates. He was a big help this morning, taking me to the academic affairs office."

Song Yixu hurriedly waved his hands. "You two go ahead. I already made plans to eat with someone else."

Qiao Shao didn't think much of it. "Okay, I'll head out, then."

Chen Su watched Qiao Shao catch up without saying anything.

Qiao Shao said, "That physics problem earlier was so hard. I can't believe you solved it."

A little warmth came into Chen Su's normally impassive face. "It wasn't a very good solution. The steps were too convoluted."

Qiao Shao said, "No way. I couldn't even understand the question."

Once the subject turned to schoolwork, Chen Su became more talkative. "It's not hard. It only uses things we've already learned..."

They discussed physics problems the whole way. Qiao Shao learned a lot, and liked his roommate more and more.

Just as Chen Su had said, the cafeteria was great value for the money. Four yuan bought two dishes, soup, and rice, leaving Qiao Shao utterly astonished.

Four yuan.

One of his usual meals cost more than four hundred yuan.

Chen Su spent even less—just three yuan!

Qiao Shao found this positively amazing, his delight plain on his face.

Chen Su's expression softened further. "It's a great deal, right? You'll definitely get enough to eat. Just eat as much as you want."

Qiao Shao nodded repeatedly. "It really is an incredible deal."

On the cafeteria's second floor.

He Shen held a cup of iced Americano, forcing himself to wake up a little.

Unable to smoke, Lou Xiao had to settle for a lollipop in his mouth. "How many days and nights have you stayed up this time?"

He Shen turned to look down at the first floor. "I've got a rush job."

Lou Xiao crunched through his lollipop. "Take it easy. You're so young—is this really necessary? There's always more money to be made."

He Shen didn't answer. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted a familiar Shorty in the bustling crowd on the first floor.

Lou Xiao added, "Eat first. You can catch up on sleep in my dorm room this afternoon."

He never went back to his dorm room anyway, and He Shen didn't board at school, so he had no bed.

He Shen gave an absent reply, then looked more closely, but the kid was already gone.

Noticing where he was looking, Lou Xiao asked, "What's up?"

He Shen said, "Is the high school cafeteria open to Middle Schoolers now?"

Lou Xiao said, "The middle school division is a mile away. Even if it were, would they have time to come over here to eat?"

"True," He Shen said, looking away. "I really do need to catch up on sleep." He was so sleep-deprived he was hallucinating.

East District No. 1 High School had a midday rest period, and it was mandatory.

Day students weren't allowed through the school gates until two, and boarding students weren't allowed out of their dorm rooms after one.

Qiao Shao and Chen Su parted after lunch. Chen Su had dorm inspections to do at noon, so Qiao Shao had to head back on his own.

As he opened the door, he figured the room was probably empty. Blue Hair didn't seem like the obedient type who would take a midday nap, the School Tyrant was even less likely to, and Chen Su was off inspecting dorm rooms. Looked like he'd be keeping the empty room company all by himself this afternoon...

Before that thought had even finished making its rounds in his head, the blast of cold air from the open door made him shiver.

Shit!

Who had cranked the AC up this high? Were they trying to freeze someone to death?!

It was only May! Sure, they were wearing short sleeves, but wasn't it way too early for air-conditioning?!

Qiao Shao walked into the dorm room against the icy blast, quickly found the remote, and turned off the air conditioner.

"What a lunatic," Qiao Shao muttered. "How heat-sensitive can you be!"

He had barely finished speaking when he spotted someone lying in bed number three.

The boy was sound asleep, his short, tousled hair spread across the pillow. With his eyes closed, that languid, indifferent look was gone, replaced by exhaustion and weariness.

He had very handsome features. Lying on his side made the bridge of his nose look even more defined, and the lines of his chin and neck were nearly perfect.

Even the six-and-a-half-foot single bed didn't seem all that long for him. His long legs were curled up with nowhere to go.

A little jealous, Qiao Shao thought: What's so great about being tall? You just take up space!

With the air conditioner set so cold, "Lou Xiao" had only the thinnest of blankets draped over his waist. He really wasn't afraid of the cold at all.

Qiao Shao stared at him for a good while, considering the possibility of dressing him in women's clothes while he slept.

Oh, he didn't have any plus-size women's clothes on hand that would fit him. No, no, no—he didn't have any women's clothes, in any size!

Forget it. He'd settle for a little revenge first.

Qiao Shao sneakily brought over his own quilt and tucked it snugly around him.

Can't stand the heat, huh?

Then let's warm you up a little!