Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Xi Siyan was silenced by Chen Mo's words and had to let the topic go for now.

In the following days, as Chen Mo had said, he seemed to have shed the pressure of the monthly exams. His most important tasks each day were eating and sleeping.

Xi Siyan's tutoring sessions also came to an end. He no longer woke Chen Mo up twenty minutes early every day, didn't conduct random checks, and stopped reviewing Chen Mo's homework and progress.

Just two days into the new week, most of the monthly exam papers had already been discussed.

When Sun Xiaoya arrived to gather the revised problem sets, she found Chen Mo, his jacket draped over his head, fast asleep. Overcome by a mix of emotions, she looked at Xi Siyan, who was seated beside him, and remarked, "Are all the top students this capricious? They can lead the class in grades when they choose to study, and when they don't, they simply let go. You're departing in a few days; if he continues like this, won't he plummet to the middle of the class next time?"

"No," Xi Siyan replied, handing over the homework to Sun Xiaoya.

Sun Xiaoya looked at the two notebooks in her hand, shocked. "You even did his homework for him?"

"I did it myself, thank you," came a muffled voice from under the jacket.

Sun Xiaoya watched as someone lifted half of their school uniform, revealing a slightly flushed but very pale face beneath. His hair was tousled, and he half-opened his sleepy eyes to look at Xi Siyan, asking, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Xi Siyan: "Didn't you say you didn't sleep well last night?"

Chen Mo complained softly, "Who do you think kept me awake? It was because of you."

The class representative looked between them, feeling awkward, her face turning suspiciously red.

Then she hurriedly said, "Xi Siyan, don't forget about tomorrow night."

And quickly left.

Chen Mo was puzzled. "What was that look she gave me?"

Xi Siyan glanced at him. "Everyone knows your sexual orientation is male. What you just said could easily be misunderstood."

Chen Mo silently cursed.

He said he hadn't slept well because Xi Siyan was packing his bags to go home for a few days before the competition training. Chen Mo claimed he disturbed his usual bedtime routine, though it was just an excuse for insomnia. Could he really have ulterior motives towards Xi Siyan?

He wasn't crazy.

But Chen Mo quickly moved on. He asked Xi Siyan, "Why did you say I wouldn't fall back to the middle of the grade when Sun Xiaoya mentioned it?"

"Would you?" Xi Siyan countered.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "Probably not."

In the end, he nodded and gave a firm answer: "Of course not."

Xi Siyan merely hummed in acknowledgment.

Chen Mo wondered where Xi Siyan's confidence came from, given that he still had no intention of becoming a crazed studious student again.

All he did was try his best, without any ulterior motives.

Xi Siyan was different.

Because Xi Siyan never told Chen Mo that from the beginning, he noticed Chen Mo had a solid foundation. Many things he forgot weren't due to lack of knowledge but rather lack of attention. With a little reminder, he could quickly grasp concepts.

So it was no surprise to Xi Siyan that Chen Mo could enter the top ten in such a short time.

As for his seemingly careless attitude leading to a drop in grades, there would only be one reason: he wanted to give up.

Xi Siyan might find it regrettable but wouldn't persuade him otherwise.

It was regrettable because someone who once clearly put in their utmost effort and ran hard might suddenly choose to quit. But he wouldn't persuade him because the Chen Mo he knew, despite appearing indifferent, had a penetrating insight into everything.

If he truly chose to give up, it meant that choice made him happier.

Xi Siyan took out a thick notebook from under his desk and handed it to Chen Mo.

"What's this?" Chen Mo fully uncovered himself and asked curiously.

Xi Siyan: "Key points for each subject, plus some supplementary materials and reference summaries. Consider it a graduation gift from me. Or, you can see it as a return gift for the clothes you gave me."

Chen Mo flipped through it.

Despite the impressive handwriting, the densely packed references made his head spin.

Chen Mo slammed the notebook shut and looked at Xi Siyan.

"What?" Xi Siyan asked.

Chen Mo sincerely said, "I appreciate the gesture, but can I not accept it?"

Xi Siyan's eyes turned cold. "No."

A graduation gift personally prepared by Xi Siyan would likely be fought over in the entire experimental class.

Unfortunately, he gave it to the "unambitious" Chen Mo.

Forced to accept the gift, Chen Mo placed the high-quality black notebook in the upper right corner of his desk, making a reluctant promise under Xi Siyan's scrutinizing gaze: "Alright, I'll read it every day. As long as I'm here, it will be here too."

Xi Siyan frowned. "Don't say things like that."

"Do you still believe in that?" Chen Mo found it amusing.

As someone who had truly experienced reincarnation, he didn't believe in golden-mouthed prophecies. Any truth that led to a predetermined result must have its causes.

Chen Mo looked out the window.

The building for their second-year classes was in the best location at No. 1 High School.

Not far below was the playground, where two classes were playing basketball. The atmosphere was lively. Someone sat alone on the stone steps, looking toward the window of the experimental class.

Chen Mo and Yang Shule met each other's gaze from afar, unable to see each other's faces clearly, but they knew they hadn't mistaken each other.

Looking outside, Chen Mo asked Xi Siyan, "What did you agree to help the class representative with?"

"Her cousin's engagement banquet tomorrow. She needs a dance partner for the opening, and she asked me to help."

Chen Mo slowly said, "Oh," then turned around, "Don't tell me her cousin's fiancé is surnamed Zhou?"

"Yes." Xi Siyan stared at him, "It's someone from your mother's side, the Zous. Do you want to go?"

Chen Mo pretended to think seriously, then said, "I didn't want to go at first, but my mom called me many times, saying I've been back for so long and that I should meet the Zous formally."

Xi Siyan leaned back in his chair, tapping the pen on the desk, "If you don't want to go..."

"I'll go," Chen Mo smiled, "Why not?"

In the afternoon, Chen Mo went to ask Xiang Shenglong for leave.

Xiang Shenglong was very pleased with this student, who had emerged like a dark horse, impressing everyone. Even though he knew there were constant discussions about this student throughout the school.

His background, personality, even his sexual orientation.

Everything seemed absurd, and each item was significant enough not to be easily ignored.

But Lao Xiang was young.

He also knew that the student had recently gotten along well with Xi Siyan and the entire dorm, so he didn't think he would do anything too outrageous. He even asked if he wanted to sign up for the next physics competition.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo wasn't interested.

If the college entrance exam was like thousands crossing a single-plank bridge, then the annual competitions were where students fought fiercely for those few guaranteed admission spots.

Chen Mo said, "This method suits either someone like Xue Ping, a study fanatic, or someone like Xi Siyan, a genius. I'm just an ordinary person, working hard. Lao Xiang, let me off the hook."

Lao Xiang kicked him, saying he had no ambition, and told him to "get lost."

Chen Mo promptly left.

That night, Xi Siyan wasn't in the dorm. Lao Gou, who had dropped a few ranks due to the monthly exams and felt immense pressure at home, refused to go back and insisted on staying in the dorm with Chen Mo.

"This makes me want to live on campus too," Lao Gou said as he entered Room 413.

Qi Lin and the others put their arms around him, "Sure, but our dorm is out of the question. You haven't forgotten how Chen Mo got his bed, right? Unless you kick Xue Ping out of the experimental class."

Lao Gou looked at Chen Mo, "Do you think I have a chance against Xue Ping?"

"Of course," Chen Mo nodded, "When you leave the experimental class in disgrace, I'll pray for you."

Lao Gou was furious, calling him no brother.

That night, Gou Yiyang used Chen Mo's foot-soaking basin, steeped Chen Mo's health tea in a disposable cup, and by ten o'clock, he was sound asleep in Chen Mo's bed.

Chen Mo's insomnia had been a long-standing issue.

Though it had improved, he still occasionally had trouble sleeping.

That night, with two tall boys squeezed into a narrow bed, they could only sleep on their sides. Lao Gou snored loudly for a while, and Chen Mo stayed awake until midnight.

Unable to sleep, he took out his phone, which he had retrieved from Lao Xiang after getting leave.

Browsing through WeChat, he saw that Lao Gou, a day student, had posted a status three hours ago.

A familiar light blue foot-soaking basin, captioned: "Life is really good."

There were numerous comments below.

"Still doing homework here, carrying an eight-meter-long knife on the way."

"Spill it, whose bed did you sneak into?"

"The basin looks familiar."

"Anyone above, have you seen another high-tech foot-soaking tub with rollers in the whole school? Don't ask, it's my health enthusiast brother Mo's."

Chen Mo chuckled.

Just as he liked the post, a message popped up within two minutes.

XSY: "Not asleep yet?"

Silence is Golden, Your Grandpa: "No, why aren't you asleep either?"

XSY: "Hmm, still have some things to do."

XSY: "Can't sleep?"

Feeling bored, Chen Mo recorded Lao Gou's snoring and sent it over.

XSY: "..."

XSY: "You two slept together?"

SilenceIsGoldenGramps: "Otherwise? Should I sleep on the floor?"

XSY: "My bed is empty; go sleep there."

It was Chen Mo’s turn to be speechless.

SilenceIsGoldenGramps: "I won’t forget how you washed all the bedding just because of one clean pair of underwear. When you come back, you might even dismantle and reassemble the entire bed frame."

XSY: "How many times do I have to say it? It wasn’t because of the underwear."

XSY: "Go to sleep. What time is it now?"

Chen Mo felt that discussing whether it was due to the underwear in the middle of the night was a bit off, but he really couldn’t stand sharing a small bed with someone, which would likely keep him awake all night.

He looked up at the neighboring room.

The bed still had the same color set, but Chen Mo knew Xi Siyan had replaced it.

He was hesitating.

XSY: "Aren’t you going over?"

SilenceIsGoldenGramps: "Really going?"

XSY: "Yes, lie down and send me a photo to confirm."

At that moment, in the old Xi family residence.

Xi Jianxing had just left the study when he found his nephew, who hadn’t been back in a long time, still sitting on the sofa scrolling through his phone.

"Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring the Yang family lately? When did you get such a big phone addiction?" Xi Jianxing sat on the back of the sofa.

As he looked down, he saw a photo pop up on Xi Siyan’s phone.

Xi Siyan, seemingly surprised, turned off the phone after two seconds.

Frowning, he turned around, "Do you need something?"

"I... naturally have something." Xi Jianxing gave a fox-like smile, reaching for the phone, "Who sent you that photo just now? I didn’t see clearly. Show me again."

Xi Siyan grabbed his uncle’s hand, expressionless: "It’s a classmate. Nothing to see."

"Nothing to see, yet you hide it?"

Xi Siyan stood up directly, "It’s late. Since Grandpa is resting, I’ll head to my room."

It was as if he was saying outright that he wouldn’t show it.

After all, Xi Siyan himself hadn’t expected that he only asked Chen Mo to send a photo confirming someone was in the bed. But perhaps because the dorm lights were off, Chen Mo took a haphazard photo of himself using the phone light.

Covered by a familiar blanket, only his chin was visible, but the loose pajamas revealed a large part of his collarbone, beautifully shaped. That small patch of skin, under the phone light, looked blurry yet strikingly white.

Xi Siyan stood at his room door.

He tapped open the photo, trying to say something, but the next second, the photo was withdrawn.

The other side sent a message: "Believe me when I say I only realized it looked like a bed photo after sending it."

At that moment, Chen Mo lay on an unfamiliar bed.

There was an awkward feeling of being surrounded by a familiar scent.

Especially after that photo.

He even hoped that Xi Siyan hadn’t seen it or would ask, "What bed photo?"

But then.

A few seconds later.

XSY: "I can tell you’re seriously harassing your male classmate."

SilenceIsGoldenGramps: "... Give me three seconds to withdraw it and resend."

The other side actually withdrew it.

XSY: "Good shot."

XSY: "Good night."