That afternoon, the English exam concluded without a hitch.
Lin Mo had nearly messed up something major because of his posturing.
At noon, he had given his milk to Li Zhihan, thinking he could infinitely refill it anyway and wouldn't miss a single carton. It turned out the milk could only be refreshed once.
Fortunately, he still had a few sips left, which carried him through the end of the English exam.
Otherwise, he would have had to rummage through Li Zhihan's trash bag, fish out the milk carton she had finished, and refresh it to get a refill.
In a sense, it would have been quite environmentally friendly, if a bit off-putting.
[Li Zhihan has engraved you and the milk in her heart. Remaining black material unlock progress: 50%]
"Can you not phrase it like that? What do you mean she remembered 'me and the milk' together? That's lewd."
It seemed showing off had been the right call. Soon, he would be able to stalk his own future.
Compared to some strange girl's black material, Lin Mo was far more interested in seeing his so-called tragic future. If he knew in advance, he could change it.
Don't bully the young for being poor! Don't bully the middle-aged for being poor! Don't bully the old for being poor!
As for Bai Limeng's black material, he'd take however much came his way. He'd grab those little secrets and bully her mercilessly!
Double standards? Check. Exploiting familiarity? Check.
Bai Limeng's sins were endless. After coming to his senses last night and settling old scores, he realized that no matter what he did, every failure seemed to have Bai Limeng's involvement.
For instance, she had removed the training wheels when he was learning to ride a bike. When he was raising silkworms, she secretly swapped them with caterpillars and lied that he had bought fake silkworms. When he was learning to cook, she stole his gas tank. When he was gaming, she changed his key bindings and made him lose constantly. Worst of all, she would delete his study materials!
Not to mention, she would even throw his clothes in to wash together with her underwear!
Vicious! No wonder his clothes always carried a feminine scent.
Damn it all!!
"Bang!"
He slammed the desk in fury.
Only then did Lin Mo realize that everyone in the exam hall had left. Everyone except Li Zhihan, seated to his right.
The girl was looking at him pitifully, badly frightened by his sudden outburst. She was trembling so hard it was like she was creating shadow clones, aggrieved and seemingly about to cry.
Lin Mo was stunned by the sight.
She looked a bit like a washing machine long out of repair—twitching and jerking as it ran.
Pretty girls play Naruto too? Interesting.
His gaze drifted downward.
Li Zhihan's fair, delicate little hand was stretched out midway, and more than a dozen red hundred-yuan notes had fallen to the floor.
It looked like she had been trying to give him money. For this big shot to actively offer meal money, she must have done an unimaginable amount of mental preparation, mustering the courage to "communicate" with him.
Instead, his desk slam had traumatized her. Her eyes went blank, her gaze scattered.
Lin Mo waved a hand before her eyes. Damn, she had crashed. It was as if a "loading" icon was spinning in the girl's eyes.
A moment of courage in exchange for a lifetime of cowardice? That would be bad.
Fortunately, she didn't stay crashed for long and soon came to.
And the first thing she did upon waking up was.
Run.
The girl's calves were spasming as she staggered forward step by step. Lin Mo thought she was moonwalking. Only when she was nearly at the door did she return to normal, then quickly left.
She didn't intend to take any of the money scattered on the ground.
Lin Mo called out to her a few times, but it only made her run faster.
That was over a thousand yuan. She was a rich lady.
He had no choice but to pocket it with tears in his eyes. He might not be able to eat Bai Limeng's soft rice, but that didn't mean he couldn't eat someone else's.
After all, with a childhood friend, that was eating soft rice the hard way. Li Zhihan was different. It was already just porridge. What's wrong with having a sip?
However, once he advanced to the key class, he'd have to bring some supplementary baby milk for this socially anxious beauty.
Lin Mo could still tell the difference between one full belly and three square meals a day.
He needed to invest more!
The evening self-study period had just ended with a bell.
Lin Mo was still in the classroom experimenting by refreshing used tissues when Bai Limeng directly refreshed right outside his class door.
Instantly, countless gazes turned toward his childhood friend.
But as the girl sat down gracefully beside him with an icy expression, the surrounding eyes enveloped him as well.
Lin Mo's original deskmate was Xu Lingxi. Because Lady Xu had advanced to a higher class at the end of last semester, the seat was now empty.
At the time, Lin Mo had gotten hot-headed under Bai Limeng's instigation and directly confessed to Xu Lingxi. Some people had seen it.
There were many boys in the class who secretly liked Xu Lingxi, and quite a few girls who were close to her, too.
Lin Mo was fairly handsome himself, and quite a few girls liked him. Probably out of jealousy or envy, plus the usual game of telephone, his reputation had nosedived in no time. Some even said his off-putting behavior had scared Xu Lingxi into studying hard and ascending to the key class.
Hearing such talk, Lin Mo nearly laughed himself angry. It just went to show that some losers couldn't stand to see others do well. They loved to gossip behind people's backs—if they couldn't have it, they'd rather destroy it.
Damn idiots. A perfectly good class ruined by a bunch of little cliques. No wonder Xu Lingxi had left.
"Hungry? Let me treat you to a midnight snack."
Hearing some unkind whispers in the class, Bai Limeng deliberately raised her volume, even taking his arm.
Before Lin Mo could say anything,
two girls suddenly walked over and asked,
"Hey, classmate... which class are you from? The teacher said no class-hopping."
Probably because Bai Limeng was pretty, their tone wasn't harsh, but they weren't exactly happy, either.
"Key class."
Bai Limeng glanced at them sideways. "School's out. What's it to you?"
Hearing "key class," the other girls' faces stiffened.
"You guys are..."
Bai Limeng couldn't be bothered to answer. She just hugged Lin Mo's arm tighter and smiled at him.
"Let's go. I'll come find you every day from now on."
The girl pulled him out of the classroom, the figures behind them scattering and fading.
All along the way, her clingy, bird-like posture was especially eye-catching.
Once they were outside the school gate,
"Why didn't you ever tell me you were being isolated in class?"
The girl let go of him, her cheeks slightly flushed, seemingly coquettish yet chiding.
"There are plenty of idiots in my class, but it wasn't this bad before." Lin Mo shrugged. High school always had one or two classes with toxic atmospheres.
"Besides, it's your fault for telling me to go confess to someone. Look how that turned out."
Bai Limeng paused, her expression turning slightly unnatural, then changed the subject.
"Quite a lot of girls like you, huh? But what kind of people are they..."
"Good thing the one you liked before was that Xu Lingxi. She at least looks normal."
Bai Limeng stole a glance at his expression. Seeing that there was no change when Xu Lingxi was mentioned, the corners of her lips rose.
"Of course, she's still not as good as this lady."
"..." Lin Mo took in her expression, thinking that his childhood friend simply couldn't hide her emotions.
How had he never noticed before?
"Aren't you pretty good at cursing? Why don't you curse the people in your class?" Bai Limeng found another topic. In the past, she had never been this chatty.
It's because I'm advancing to a key class soon, baby. I won't tell you that. Surprises are meant for later.
"Too lazy to bother with idiots." Lin Mo said casually, not paying it much mind.
Bai Limeng looked at him seriously, seemingly somewhat guilty.
"From now on, I'll come back you up. Then they won't dare speak ill of you."
"Baby, you're so good~"
"Ugh, why are you being so mushy!" Bai Limeng moved away from him with feigned reserve, but inside she was overjoyed. The childhood friend she had raised for so many years could finally be brought home...
"Oh right, yesterday's tests have been graded. Self-graded, so the results came out fast. Check yours?"
They were walking toward a food stall so Bai Limeng could feed him when she suddenly turned and asked.
Lin Mo was expectant, too. He opened his phone and tapped the grade-checking app.
Ninety in Chinese. After all, he hadn't used his cheat during the Chinese exam, so it reflected his true level.
"Ah, only ninety in Chinese."
"Forget it, forget it. I don't dare look at math. I saw an eight."
"Oh, in the eighties." Bai Limeng nearly laughed out loud and hurriedly turned to face the food stall again. "Ha, boss, give me the most expensive meat sausages. Lots of them."
Lin Mo also nearly lost his composure. It wasn't eighty—it was the noble one hundred and twenty-eight!
"The hell, Bai Limeng, you have no heart! You were definitely laughing just now, weren't you?" Lin Mo pretended to be fuming.
"No, no. I care about you the most." Bai Limeng furrowed her delicate brows, looking at him innocently like a caring older sister.
"Here, here. All the sausages for you. Five yuan each, your favorite."
Lin Mo accepted them with feigned indignation. "Old Bai, am I hopeless?"
"Yes, yes." Bai Limeng watched him holding several sausages in one hand, turning grief into appetite. She couldn't help wanting to laugh and cleared her throat.
"Don't you still have me?"
"Eat more~ Get nice and chubby."
[After inspecting your class and seeing those girls, Bai Limeng has conceived a new thought: she wants to feed you until you're fat, so no other women will set their sights on you.]
Damn, why was Bai Limeng's black material on an installment plan, coming in segments?
The sausage in his mouth suddenly lost its flavor.
Terrified, Lin Mo quickly refreshed his stomach. Ah, the feeling of an empty belly was reassuring.
"Hm, strange. I'm suddenly so hungry." Bai Limeng said in confusion, "Why are you touching my stomach?"
Holy crap, touched the wrong one. No wonder the stomach felt so much smaller.
"Soft. Very comforting." Lin Mo said seriously, "I'm very sad right now and want to pinch something soft to vent."
"Oh." Bai Limeng's motion to slap away his roaming hand froze, her face turning scarlet.
After hesitating for a moment, the girl grabbed his hand and wrapped it around her body, making it seem as if Lin Mo was embracing her, his hand resting at her waist.
"Huh?"
"Huh what? It's easier to pinch like this..."
Their shoulders were pressed extremely close, and her skin was burning hot.
As they strolled through the snack street, it drew envious gazes from passersby.