Chapter 38

“Then, should I blow on it for you?”
Her voice was so gentle, it was almost carried away by the wind.
Jin Qishan suddenly remembered when he first learned to ride a bike, how he’d fallen, scraped his knees and palms. Su Xiaoxiao had fussed over him just like this back then, treating every scratch like it was precious.
He murmured, “Mm.”
Even if she didn’t like him, it was enough that she didn’t hate him.
Her breath brushed against his cold skin, warm and light. His heart squeezed, muscles going taut.
Her lashes were long and trembling as she bent close to blow gently across his hand.
In that moment, all he wanted was to pull her into his arms, to feel her warmth, her heartbeat, the reality of her right there.
Two months apart, and instead of fading, the longing had only grown sharper.
But before he could lose control, Jin Qishan shoved his hands into his pockets and muttered, “Enough.”
He pulled away so suddenly that Su Xiaoxiao was left frozen mid-motion, still puckered as if to blow.
Hearing his words, she straightened up, awkwardly tucking her hands behind her back, unsure what to do.
The confident, fiery Su Xiaoxiao suddenly looked small and shy, and it made his chest ache.
He cleared his throat. “Why, why did you come out here?”
Su Xiaoxiao picked at her fingers. “To find you.”
“Oh.” He looked down, kicking a pebble with the toe of his shoe.
A gust of icy wind swept past, and Su Xiaoxiao instinctively hunched her shoulders.
Even without looking, Jin Qishan noticed.
He frowned, tugged up the hood of her down jacket, and clumsily tied the dangling strings into a crooked bow under her chin.
When he finished, his voice was gruff. “Let’s go. Time to head back.”
Back in the classroom, most of the students had already left. The few who remained were chatting quietly.
When they saw Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan return together, a wave of teasing laughter rippled through the room.
Su Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed, whether from the cold or embarrassment, no one could tell.
Jin Qishan kicked the chair of the loudest one. “Get your homework and go home already.”
Zhang Dongshan sighed dramatically. “It’s just, next semester we won’t be in the same class anymore. Feels weird, you know?”
Su Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. “It’s just a class split, not the end of the world. We’ll still see each other.”
Cai Meng giggled. “Easy for you to say! Science and arts are in different buildings. You’ll have to go out of your way to meet up.”
Jin Qishan glanced sideways at Su Xiaoxiao, he didn’t even know which track she’d chosen.
Cai Meng, grinning, chimed in, “Still, you two have it good. From elementary to now, always classmates, and even after the split, still together.”
Zhang Dongshan joined in, laughing. “Yeah, and you even live across the hall from each other!”
“Childhood sweethearts,” Cai added with a wink. “The perfect pair~”
Jin Qishan’s gaze flicked to Su Xiaoxiao’s flustered face. Worried she’d feel awkward, he quickly cut in, “Alright, enough gossip. Where’s the class list? I haven’t seen it yet.”
Zhang Dongshan grabbed it from the podium and handed it over.
The first name on the list, Su Xiaoxiao. Always at the top.
Right beneath hers, his own.
Same class again.
He handed the list back, expression unreadable.
Shen Hua watched them both, sighing inwardly.
They’d made up, yet somehow, not quite.
Love, she thought, was a fragile thing. The more carefully you tiptoed around it, the easier it was to break.
After making up, Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan never spoke again about that night in the stairwell. It was as if it had never happened.

When winter break ended, Class 1 was still Class 1, but the faces inside had changed.
Su Xiaoxiao, Jin Qishan, Zhang Dongshan, and Shen Hua had all chosen the science track, so they stayed.
Those who picked humanities, like Cai Meng and Ma Jinlong, moved to the second division.
After the split, Su Xiaoxiao’s advantage wasn’t as clear anymore. There were plenty of gifted students, Jin Qishan and Shen Hua among them, both excelling in science.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t obsess over keeping her spot at the top.
But having lived this life twice, she wanted to do better than before.
In her last life, she’d gotten into a 985 university. This time, her goal was Q University.
By the first semester of sophomore year, Jin Qishan and Shen Hua had already surpassed her in science.
Then, out of nowhere, posts mocking Su Xiaoxiao for her “declining grades” began popping up on the school forum.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t care. Her grades hadn’t dropped, others had just improved faster.
After all, Shen Hua was the novel’s radiant heroine, and Jin Qishan, the prodigiously talented “villain.”
Thinking of him as a villain almost made Su Xiaoxiao laugh.
Because right now, this so-called villain was like a beast with its fangs pulled out, docile to the point of absurdity.
“Did you get that?” Jin Qishan poked her forehead with his pen.
He’d been explaining the logic behind a formula, but Su Xiaoxiao suddenly broke into laughter.
“Mm-hmm!” She rubbed her forehead. “How do you know all this stuff? It’s not even in the textbook!”
“I read it in the library,” he said, his tone faintly proud. “Once was enough to memorize it.”
Just then, Shen Hua came back from outside carrying a big bag of snacks.
She dumped everything on the desk and smiled. “These are from Shen Yi, take what you want!”
“Oh, from Shen Yi? Then don’t mind if I do,” Zhang Dongshan said. Ever since the basketball match last year, he and Shen Yi had become good friends.
Jin Qishan rarely ate snacks, so he didn’t even glance at them.
Seeing that, Shen Hua picked up a bag and shoved it into his hand. “Here, this one’s good.”
“I don’t eat that stuff.” He tossed it back onto the desk.
She picked it up again and pressed it into his hand. “Just try it, maybe you’ll like it.”
Jin Qishan rolled his eyes and looked at the bag. What’s supposed to be so good about puffed snacks?
Still, he turned it over to read the label, Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao.
Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao?
A slow smirk curved his lips. “Seems, interesting.”
His gaze flicked toward Su Xiaoxiao. “Looks like it might taste pretty good.”
“Yeah,” Shen Hua nodded. “Shen Yi loves Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao.”
At the mention of Shen Yi, Jin Qishan’s smile froze. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Shen Yi had once put his arm around Su Xiaoxiao.
That image still stung.
He’d wanted to ask countless times, did she like Shen Yi? But as just a “friend,” he had no right to ask.
His jaw tightened. He crushed the bag of Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao in his hand.
“Hey!” Shen Hua scolded. “Even if you don’t like it, don’t waste it! How are you supposed to eat it now?”
With a sharp rip, Jin Qishan tore the bag open, poured the crumbled snacks into his mouth, and chewed viciously.
“Who said I don’t like Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao?” he muttered through gritted teeth.
Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t Sure if she was imagining it, but when Jin Qishan said “Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao,” it sounded an awful lot like he meant Su Xiaoxiao.
From that day on, Jin Qishan made a point of keeping a bag of Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao on his desk every day, like a declaration.
Soon, word spread that both Jin Qishan and Shen Yi liked Xiaoxiao Su Xiaoxiao. The school’s snack shop couldn’t keep it in stock.
Su Xiaoxiao laughed about it for days.
…
In the second semester of sophomore year, the school announced a drama competition. The plays had to be based on either textbooks or literary classics.
As the Chinese class representative, Su Xiaoxiao was tasked by the language teacher with organizing her class’s entry.
When she opened sign-ups, only Zhang Dongshan volunteered.
That was the thing about science students, they were brilliant, but not exactly enthusiastic about extracurriculars.
After much pleading and coaxing, Su Xiaoxiao managed to recruit five reluctant volunteers for minor roles.
But who would play the leads?
“Hua, why don’t you be the female lead?”
Shen Hua panicked, waving her hands. “No, no, no way.”
“Why not?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I get stage fright! What if I mess up in front of everyone?”
“It’s fine, just try!” Su Xiaoxiao coaxed, tugging playfully at her sleeve.
“No, really. You should play her instead.”
“Me? But I’m the director!”
“The director fills in when no one else can.”
Su Xiaoxiao groaned. “Then who’s the male lead?”
“Jin Qishan, obviously.”
“Will he even agree?”
“Of course,” Shen Hua said confidently. She tugged on Su Xiaoxiao’s sleeve and grinned. “Just act cute. If he says no, I’ll play the prince myself.”
After class, she dragged Su Xiaoxiao over to Jin Qishan’s desk.
“Jin Qishan, you should play the male lead in the drama,” Shen Hua said.
He frowned. “No.”
“Come on,” Shen Hua coaxed. “Su Xiaoxiao’s playing the heroine, it’s perfect!”
He looked up, startled. She’s playing the heroine? Wasn’t she the director and the planner?
Shen Hua nodded solemnly. “It’s true.”
Then she gave Su Xiaoxiao a little push toward him, a clear signal to start begging.
Su Xiaoxiao froze for a moment but understood. She hesitated, then tugged on Jin Qishan’s sleeve. “Please? Play the lead? Pretty please?”
She’d never acted cute with him before. With others, sure, but never Jin Qishan.
Still, once she started, it got easier.
“Qishan, Qishan, please?”
It had been almost a year since she’d called him that. They’d been so careful around each other, polite to a fault.
That one soft “Qishan” made Jin Qishan’s entire body go still. His ears flushed pink.
He turned his head away, jaw tight. “Fine. Fine. I’ll do it.”
“Yay!” Su Xiaoxiao jumped up, beaming. “Hua, you’re amazing!”
“You’re the amazing one,” Shen Hua teased.
“Can you two stop?” Jin Qishan grumbled. “I’m trying to read.”
Su Xiaoxiao reached over and pulled a magazine out from under his English textbook. “Oh yeah, very focused.”
Then she grabbed Shen Hua’s arm and skipped away, laughing.

Meanwhile, Zang Xiaoya was also thrilled. She had volunteered to lead her own class’s drama project, her chance to finally outshine Su Xiaoxiao once and for all.