Chapter 412

After being reborn, Li Luo had imagined many different possibilities for his future.

But to be honest, he had never once imagined this: his hand resting on Ying Chanxi's plump thigh, in the classroom of senior students.

True, no class was in session, and only two backbenchers—the grade's top students—were present.

Yet even so, seeing the "160 Days to Gaokao" countdown written on the blackboard of Class 16, Grade 3, beside it the daily schedule chalked up by their class study committee, Li Luo felt an intense thrill from the firm touch of the senior's thigh.

More thrilling than before, on the rooftop.

Ying Chanxi clearly shared the same thoughts and sensations; her face, unusually flushed, kept glancing left and right, her furtive, guilty air unmistakable.

Occasionally, classmates would pass through the corridor from Houte Road toward the stairwell restroom, inadvertently walking past the window of Class 16.

If they glanced into the window, even if their view obscured where Li Luo's hand lay, they'd still notice something odd.

After all, who would keep their arm constantly reaching under their desk partner's belly?

The only thing Li Luo regretted was that it was winter, and Ying Chanxi was still dressed warmly.

Beneath her blue uniform pants, she wore thermal leggings—very warm.

Li Luo couldn't resist touching for a while, until someone passed by the corridor, making him hastily pull his hand back.

Ying Chanxi, still lying face-down on the desk, chuckled softly at his startled reaction.

"Monitor, keep it down," came a voice from behind—one of the top students.

Ying Chanxi immediately turned her head, grinned twice, clasped her hands together, and whispered an apology: "Sorry, sorry, I won't laugh anymore."

The top student nodded and returned to her book.

Ying Chanxi turned back, face-down toward Li Luo: "Do you feel any pressure from the Gaokao?"

"No," Li Luo shook his head and smiled. "I've already secured 300 points. My Gaokao score is higher than yours now."

Ying Chanxi: "... Your reform is so unfair. Who lets you take the Gaokao early?"

"It'll probably be like this from now on," Li Luo said. "You're the last glow of the old era."

"That's such a harsh way to put it, like we're ancient," Ying Chanxi spat lightly, then curiously asked, "By the way, can't you take the Gaokao a year early? You've already learned almost everything."

"That's definitely not allowed," Li Luo scratched his head. "Only Gao San students can take the Gaokao."

"I was just joking," Ying Chanxi waved her hand, laughing. "If you really skipped grades, you'd have to take our old-era Gaokao—and all your 300 points would be void."

Here, Ying Chanxi sighed softly, extended her arm slightly toward Li Luo's side of the desk, and stretched out her finger.

Li Luo, seeing this, placed his own hand on the desk; his index and middle fingers, like two little legs, walked toward her fingertip.

Their fingers touched, as if greeting each other, then entwined, as if kissing.

"By the way," Ying Chanxi, feeling the touch of his fingers, whispered curiously, "have you ever secretly held hands with Zhu Sheng during class?"

"... How could anyone do that during class?"

"What if class were happening right now?" Ying Chanxi squeezed his palm, winking at him. "The teacher is lecturing up front, and we're secretly holding hands under the desk—any moment the teacher might catch us."

"A girl's fingers are slender, her winter hands slightly cold, yet gradually warming under your warm, large hand."

"You carefully play with them beneath the desk, yet pretend to be attentively listening—even making eye contact with the teacher, terrified of being discovered."

As she spoke, Ying Chanxi gently stroked Li Luo's handback, kneading and brushing along his fingers.

True, the classroom was nearly empty, and no teacher was actually lecturing.

Yet Li Luo inexplicably felt a surge of tension and thrill—even this simple touch made his heart race.

"Hah~" Ying Chanxi stifled her laughter, keeping it quiet so as not to disturb the two top students behind her. After laughing, she whispered, "Is this good material? Feels like it can't even be written into a novel."

"... You know that too?"

"Aren't you feeling really uncomfortable right now?" Ying Chanxi glanced downward, saw Li Luo quickly turn aside to block her view, and snickered: "Covering your ears while stealing a bell."

If not for others being in the classroom, Li Luo would have pulled Ying Chanxi into his arms and thoroughly teased her.

This fire she had repeatedly stoked was nearly burning his body to ash.

How could any ordinary young man withstand Ying Chanxi's teasing?

Only Li Luo, having lived two lives, could remain composed.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore," Ying Chanxi felt she'd had enough, stood up from her seat, patted Li Luo's shoulder, and smiled. "I won't disturb them studying. Let's go for a walk."

The afternoon passed quickly.

First, Li Luo accompanied Ying Chanxi on a stroll, then returned to Class 16, Gao San to sit with Ying Chanxi as her desk partner.

At half past three, he went out for another walk with Ying Chanxi.

But Ying Chanxi had little interest in club experiences; instead, she dragged Li Luo around other parts of the school.

Passing the administrative building, she showed him where the principal's office was.

Then she took him to visit the library.

Honestly, during his one and a half years at Fuyi High, Li Luo had barely ever been to the library.

This time, accompanying Ying Chanxi inside, he discovered it was far larger than he'd imagined.

The first and second floors housed books; the third and fourth floors contained various discussion and meeting rooms; the fifth floor was the school history archive; the sixth floor was a massive hall capable of accommodating two or three hundred people simultaneously.

"The library is so beautifully decorated, yet no one ever gets to use it," was Li Luo's only thought after touring it.

"Because the teaching buildings are already sufficient," Ying Chanxi chuckled. "This place is mainly for school leaders' meetings—we don't need it."

"The money spent on this library would've been better used to renovate the classrooms."

"You didn't know?" Ying Chanxi raised an eyebrow, covering her mouth as she smiled. "The school really is planning a renovation."

"Huh?" Li Luo blinked. "Really?"

"Aren't our dormitory zones across the road?" Ying Chanxi said. "Every night, boarding students have to cross the road to return to their dorms."

"So the principal applied for funding—next year, renovation will likely begin."

"They plan to completely demolish and rebuild the gymnasium, then construct an underground passage directly connecting to the dormitory zone across the road."

Then the dormitory building will also be renovated, and two new classroom buildings will be constructed there.

After the renovation there is complete, the next two grades will move there for classes, and then the school will return to renovate the old classroom buildings here.

After hearing this, Li Luo fell silent, then asked a fatal question: "So the gymnasium is being rebuilt next year?"

"Probably."

"Then our classroom building's renovation…"

"We'll have to leave that for the younger students to enjoy," Xu Youyu laughed, clapping Li Luo on the shoulder.

Li Luo: "..."

Around five in the evening, the afternoon club experience activities ended.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu met Ying Chanxi and the others on Houde Road, then headed together to the cafeteria for dinner.

During dinner, Ying Chanxi asked curiously, "I didn't see you with the senior during my patrol—where did you two go?"

"The senior was napping in the classroom, so I just hung out in their room," Li Luo coughed, then shifted the topic to Zhao Rongjun: "How was your afternoon?"

"Uh… pretty good," Zhao Rongjun said. As a table tennis club member, he had little to add: "One table tennis table fell apart, but nothing else happened."

"You hurt your finger, don't pretend it's fine," Qiao Xinyan frowned. "I saw it with Yinghuan while we were playing badminton—those table tennis tables really need replacing. It's dangerous."

"You hurt your finger?" Li Luo asked, curious.

"It's nothing, nothing," Zhao Rongjun raised his hand to show the bandage. "Just a small cut, no big deal."

"Oh come on, Junge has tough skin, he's fine," Xu Yinghuan grinned. "But the monitor—I heard you stole the spotlight again today?"

"What spotlight?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

"At the basketball court," Xu Yinghuan clicked her tongue. "They say a first-year who's really good at basketball got totally crushed by you—afterward, he was questioning his whole life."

"Oh… that," Li Luo exchanged a glance with Ying Chanxi, and they smiled. "Just played around a bit."

After some casual chatting and finishing dinner, they returned to the classroom.

At half past six in the evening, the evening self-study bell rang, followed by the assembly music.

All three grades of Fuyi Middle School's classroom buildings came alive; students poured out of their rooms, carrying their chairs, and followed the PE teachers' directions, orderly marching toward the basketball court's cement ground.

Soon, students from all three grades gathered around the already-prepared bonfire.

As Xiong Xiong's flames burned, they lit the faces of everyone present with a ruddy glow. Principal Wang stepped onto the stage, smiling, and began singing a military song.

Listening to the familiar tune, Li Luo sat below the stage and muttered: "Does Principal Wang only know how to sing this one song? Last year it was the same."

"Don't be so demanding," Ying Chanxi shot him a look from his left. After the principal finished, she stood and said: "I'm going to the backstage to check things. You all get ready too."

The moment Ying Chanxi left, Li Luo felt a cool little hand suddenly slip into his right palm beneath the dark night.

He turned his head and saw Yan Zhusheng staring blankly at the stage, as if her hand didn't belong to her.

Li Luo leaned back in his chair, accepting it without resistance, idly playing with Yan Zhusheng's long, slender fingers in his palm.

Everyone's attention was on the bonfire and the stage; the audience area below was pitch black, and no one could spot their small gesture.

Only when the performance was more than halfway through did Li Luo release Yan Zhusheng's now-warm hand and whisper: "We should go now."

Yan Zhusheng nodded, and the two stood up, also calling for their classmate Xie Shuchen. The three headed toward the backstage.

Not long after, the members of the rock club gathered backstage, and under Ying Chanxi's arrangements, everything was ready.

As the program neared its end, the rock club took the stage as the second-to-last act.

The moment Yan Zhusheng appeared, students below the stage shouted her name—she had clearly become a minor star at Fuyi Middle School.

The song "Taiyang" began.

The backdrop behind the stage lit up with the lyrics.

Seeing the credits listed the composer and lyricist as "Chongran," the audience below erupted in noise.

"Another song by Chongran?"

"Isn't that Li Luo from Class 8, Gao Er?"

"Damn! Does he write a new song every New Year's Eve?"

"So cool! This time there's an extra microphone?"

"Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng both have microphones—looks like a duet."

As the rock club's music and rhythm surged, Yan Zhusheng's voice instantly conquered the entire audience.

At the song's climax, when Yan Zhusheng sang, "I just want to be your sun~ your sun," she turned and reached both hands toward Li Luo.

Watching this from backstage, Ying Chanxi, though gradually accustomed to it, still unconsciously bit her lip at the thought of Yan Zhusheng holding hands with Li Luo in front of everyone.

Zhusheng really… they didn't even hold hands during rehearsal. Ying Chanxi pouted, and suddenly felt her fingers twitching again.