A faint trace of confusion flashed across Yan Heng's eyes. He made a gesture to the proprietress of the Tiantian Breakfast Shop indicating he needed to take a call, then turned and walked into the back room. "What's wrong?"
"Sigh, I can't explain it clearly right now," the store manager's voice came through. "Anyway, it involves you, and it's best you know. Come to my shop."
Yan Heng pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright. I'll ask my homeroom teacher for a leave of absence."
After hanging up, Yan Heng returned to the front of the breakfast shop. It wasn't until the morning rush hour was over that he called his homeroom teacher, Qiao Wei, to ask for time off, and then headed to the Yiqi Yihui Milk Tea Shop.
On the way, he thought for a moment and sent Zhu Yaya a QQ message: Yaya, I'm taking the morning off.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yaya, who had been silently tailing Xu Chun, had the urge to violently smash the cup of soy milk in her hand onto Murong Beichen.
However, she tried hard to restrain her impulse. This soy milk was personally handed to her by Yan Heng and had cost her two precious bucks. She absolutely could not waste it on an idiot like Murong Beichen.
Just as she had expected, after officially getting together, Murong Beichen had become increasingly greasy, acting all lovey-dovey with Xu Chun along the way.
Murong Beichen slicked back the bangs on his forehead, revealing a worried look. "Chun'er, how can you eat these cheap one-yuan steamed buns? Come, try the breakfast from my house! Black truffle buns and caviar wagyu beef jianbing."
Xu Chun was touched and a bit shy. "Thank you, Murong Beichen."
"What did you call me?" Murong Beichen raised an eyebrow.
"Murong Beichen." Xu Chun's shyness deepened.
"What? What did you call me?"
Zhu Yaya: ...
Murong Beichen, I strongly suggest you get your ears checked! You are less than a meter away from Xu Chun, and you still can't hear her clearly?
It wasn't until Xu Chun blushed on her stubborn little face and uttered the words "Brother Chen" that Murong Beichen's hearing suddenly returned to normal. He loudly and contentedly replied, "Yes!"
Zhu Yaya: Hehe. I really don't understand how you young people think.
After arriving at her classroom, Zhu Yaya finally noticed the QQ message Yan Heng had sent her.
Yan Heng took the morning off?
Zhu Yaya found it a bit strange. What was he going to do this morning? Could it be that Yan Heng was feeling unwell? Or did something happen? Zhu Yaya began to frown, imagining all sorts of reasons.
She typed a sentence into the chat box: Why did you ask for leave? Are you feeling sick?
Yan Heng's reply came after a delay: No, it's just some work-related matters.
Work?
Could it be those odd jobs Yan Heng does? Why would he skip school for a part-time job? But then again, Yan Heng's grades were so good that a single morning off wouldn't affect his studies at all.
Zhu Yaya still had other doubts in her heart. Yan Heng hadn't explained in detail exactly what he was taking time off for.
Yan Heng sent another message: Don't worry. I'll explain it in detail later.
Zhu Yaya felt a sweetness in her heart and snorted softly to herself, thinking, Who wants to have a 'later' with you!
In a hidden booth at the Yiqi Yihui Milk Tea Shop, the store manager watched Yan Heng, who was sitting next to him, pick up his phone, put it down, pick it up again, and tap away on the keyboard.
The manager craned his neck. "What are you doing? Who are you texting? It couldn't be Little Bean Sprout, could it!"
Yan Heng typed the last word and pressed the send button. Only after finishing this did he put his phone down, his face cold and indifferent. "Reporting my whereabouts."
"Oh my, worried about a certain little girl checking up on you! By the way, did you give away the macarons you made yesterday?"
Yan Heng glanced at the manager. "I did."
"How did she react? Oh come on, Yan Heng, I was the one who lent you the kitchen to make those desserts. Come on, tell your bro. I've been in a few relationships myself, so my experience in this area is definitely richer than yours."
"A few?" Yan Heng looked at the manager beside him with a half-smile. "I only need one. Your so-called experience is useless to me."
Manager: Damn it!
...
Just as they were talking, a pale-faced teenage boy in worn-out clothes hurried over and bowed. "Excuse me, I'm Bai Peng."
He slowly raised his face, which bore some resemblance to Yan Heng's features. However, he lacked Yan Heng's coldness and had a rather melancholy temperament. Back then, when Yan Heng stopped after seeing him at the back door of the Daffodil Club, it was precisely because he noticed their similar features.
"You know Duan Zong, right?" Bai Peng sat opposite Yan Heng and looked at him for a long time before slowly speaking.
Duan Zong?
That high school sophomore who was pestering Yaya?
Yan Heng nodded slightly. "I know him."
"Duan Zong has set his sights on you." A mocking smile tugged at the corners of Bai Peng's mouth, and his gaze slowly grew distant. "And I am your substitute."
What?!!!
Yan Heng's pupils contracted sharply.
The manager almost spat the tea in his mouth onto Bai Peng across from him. He began to cough violently, his throat making a rattling sound. His joke had come true! Someone actually coveted Yan Heng!
Bai Peng clearly saw the disbelief in Yan Heng's eyes. He smiled bitterly and slowly took off his jacket.
"What are you doing?" Yan Heng asked sternly.
"You don't believe me, so I just want to show you the evidence." Bai Peng's thick jacket was off, leaving him in only a thin hoodie. He rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie, revealing his arms covered in bite marks, as well as bite marks on his collarbone.
As Bai Peng showed off the scars on his body, he said to Yan Heng, "You must have seen the text message, right! It's a good thing you didn't come yesterday, otherwise..."
He gave a tragic smile to the frowning Yan Heng. "...these scars would have appeared on your own body."
Yan Heng's forehead twitched.
"They wouldn't," Yan Heng leaned back against his chair, his expression cold and aloof. "Even if I had gone, I wouldn't have been treated like this."
Worried that there might be a task, even though Yan Heng didn't come to class in the morning, Zhu Yaya still carried a fruit box and ran upstairs to Class 17 of the second grade. Yan Heng's seat was indeed empty. A trace of sadness flashed across Zhu Yaya's heart, but she still kept a smiling face and sat next to Yan Heng's seat.
"Little junior," Li Hao said with some regret after seeing Zhu Yaya, "you really came at a bad time. Brother Yan asked for leave and probably won't come to school today at all."
"I already knew that. Yan Heng told me a long time ago," Zhu Yaya proudly raised her chin. "Besides, who said Yan Heng is taking the whole day off? Yan Heng told me he only asked for half a day off. He will still come to school in the afternoon."
"Brother Yan even specifically told you!" Li Hao started winking again, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "But yesterday, you have no idea how awful Brother Yan's expression was! Did you get into a fight with Brother Yan yesterday?"
"We didn't fight." Zhu Yaya recalled her interaction with Yan Heng on Valentine's Day yesterday and silently added in her heart: Yan Heng was just jealous.
