Ji Zhaoxi’s head was filled with all those memes. She felt like she was about to die of embarrassment.
When she arrived at the lab, everyone stared at her face for a moment before, in perfect unison, lowering their heads.
Ji Zhaoxi put down her backpack, then sneaked over to her senior sister and asked miserably, “Senior Sister, do I look strange?”
Her senior sister smiled and lightly touched her left cheek. “Not at all.”
Like a hamster.
Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud.
Before long, her senior brother also slipped into the lab with his head lowered.
The person sitting in front didn’t get a good look at him and thought a thief had broken in. He hurriedly let out an “Eh?” When he saw the hunched figure, he froze. “Senior Brother, why are you sneaking in like a thief?”
He had been startled badly. It wasn’t as if he had any experience catching thieves.
Everyone else in the lab turned their eyes toward Senior Brother as well. Still keeping his head down, he mumbled, “I stayed up all night. I’m dead tired.”
Ji Zhaoxi kept craning her neck to look over there. Was Senior Brother’s face swollen?
From this angle, it seemed as if his face was a little swollen.
Seeing him keep his head down, her senior sister teased, “What’s with the shy-girl routine today? You don’t even dare lift your head.”
After hearing that, Ji Zhaoxi wanted even more to see Senior Brother’s face.
But he was wearing the hood of his sweatshirt, and his whole person looked utterly haggard.
Lu Huainan glanced at Ji Zhaoxi’s expression in front of him, then lowered his eyes to the meme on his phone. He couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
Ji Zhaoxi turned around sharply, sensitive to the sound, and stared at him.
Lu Huainan put down his phone and looked at her calmly.
What?
Ji Zhaoxi eyed Lu Huainan suspiciously. Was it just her imagination? She always felt as though Lu Huainan harbored some sort of malice toward her.
Their advisor arrived with her thermos, letting out a huge yawn.
“Good morning, students. Did everyone get enough sleep today?”
She took a sip of hot tea, narrowed her eyes, and let her gaze fall on Ji Zhaoxi.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at her advisor obediently.
The advisor studied Ji Zhaoxi. Her face wasn’t flushed, her forehead wasn’t sweaty, and her breathing wasn’t rushed. She hadn’t arrived at the last minute—in fact, she had come early.
The advisor nodded in satisfaction.
She had finally broken Ji Chaoxi’s bad habit of always cutting it so close.
Ji Zhaoxi saw the approving look in her advisor’s eyes and lowered her head in confusion.
Her advisor’s gaze then shifted to Senior Brother. She frowned deeply. “The one wearing the hat—who are you? Take it off.”
“What are you wearing a hat in the lab for? How many experiments have you done already? Do I still have to remind you about proper attire?”
Especially since the student was wearing a gray sweatshirt. With the hood up, he looked a little too much like a murderer from a TV drama.
Senior Brother despairingly took off his hood, revealing cheeks swollen on both sides.
The doctor’s words resurfaced in his mind.
“Normally, we extract one side at a time, then remove the other a week later.”
At the time, he had simply closed his eyes. “I want both sides done!”
And that was how he had ended up like this…
His advisor held her thermos and stared at him in astonishment. “Oh my, did you stuff two ping-pong balls in your mouth?”
The rest of the lab burst out laughing. Senior Brother’s face flushed bright red.
Was their advisor always this savage…?
The atmosphere in the lab became livelier. Lu Huainan lifted his head, his gaze instinctively settling on Ji Zhaoxi.
She was still holding a test tube. With her not-yet-de-swollen face, the corners of her mouth kept twitching upward. But because the left side still hurt, she forcibly suppressed her laughter and didn’t dare smile.
“Why don’t you two partners work together for a change?” the advisor couldn’t help saying.
Those two, clearly partners, were sitting so far apart.
At the beginning of the semester, they had merely been a little unfamiliar with each other. But as time passed, why did it feel as though their relationship had only gotten worse?
Lu Huainan paused, then walked over to Ji Zhaoxi’s side. The workbench suddenly became cramped.
The two of them conducted the experiment without saying a word. All around them was the sound of discussion, but this particular corner seemed to have been placed on mute.
Their advisor walked over and stared at them. Ji Zhaoxi glanced at her, then began observing the liquid level on the burette while Lu Huainan rotated the stopcock beside her to control the flow rate.
Just as Lu Huainan reached for the test tube, his elbow accidentally bumped Ji Zhaoxi’s face.
“Ouch!”
Ji Zhaoxi hissed, a little exasperated.
Lu Huainan had definitely done that on purpose. He was deliberately picking on her.
Seeing her eyes redden at once, a flash of panic crossed Lu Huainan’s eyes. His hand instinctively moved toward her face.
“Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention just now.”
But realizing what he was doing, he stopped with his hand frozen in midair.
“You weren’t paying attention? You obviously lined it up first, then pretended to accidentally brush against me!”
Ji Zhaoxi had no idea how she had offended this Lu Huainan. How could he be targeting her like this?
Could it be because, the last time they had gone to the high school to share their experiences with the younger students, she had completely stolen his thunder, and he had grown resentful?
Because she was afraid the others would hear, Ji Zhaoxi kept her voice low. Continuing with the experiment, she said, “Lu Huainan, I’ve discovered your secret.”
Lu Huainan’s body stiffened. Even the hand holding the sensor froze. His face turned deathly pale.
What had she discovered…?
His secret? When had he had a secret? Was she talking about a secret from now, or one from high school? Did he even have a secret? He didn’t have one at all. Had his behavior given her the wrong idea? He had never meant it that way…
Fine, he admitted that he had thought about it back in high school, but that had only been in high school. It had been so long ago. He didn’t have those kinds of feelings anymore. How had she figured it out? Had she remembered who he was? But he hadn’t spoken to her more than a few times in high school. Still, if she had a good memory, she might remember him even if they had only exchanged a few words. Her memories from high school were probably better than her current ones.
Should he deny it? But he really did hate her. He had even trashed her online. What if she found out? Would she hate him?
He could explain. But how should he explain it so she would stop misunderstanding him? The truth was, he didn’t hate her that much either. It was just that she was always ignoring him.
Lu Huainan’s face grew paler and paler.
What was he supposed to do? Should he confess? About that account online…
Looking at Lu Huainan’s expression, Ji Zhaoxi snorted and lowered her voice. “Scared now? Actually, I can see straight through people’s thoughts.”
Lu Huainan stared at her blankly.
Seeing his pale face, Ji Zhaoxi decided to deliver the final blow. She gave a smug little laugh. “Lu Huainan, you’re just jealous, aren’t you? So many people liked me at Haizhong last time, but the moment they heard you speak, they nearly fell asleep.”
He really didn’t need to be jealous. It wouldn’t do him any good, anyway. She had appeared on the podium at high school countless times. He was nothing like her.
She was extraordinary.
