Chapter 3: Hello, New Desk Mate

The teacher noticed Shen Jia Yan’s abnormality and hurried over. Together with Tang Zhihan, she helped Shen Jia Yan to rest under the nearby basketball hoop. The teacher then quickly went to fetch the school doctor.

The school doctor gave her a simple check-up and found nothing serious. She asked Shen Jia Yan, “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

Shen Jia Yan responded weakly in a soft voice, “No.”

As expected, the school doctor continued, “It’s probably just low blood sugar from skipping breakfast. Drink this glucose, and rest for a bit.” She handed Shen Jia Yan a small bottle of glucose.

Shen Jia Yan took the glucose. “Okay, thank you, doctor.”

Yang Hua watched as Shen Jia Yan finished the glucose and said, “You stay here and rest a little longer. No need to rush back to the group.”

“Okay.”

After the teacher left, Shen Jia Yan let out a sigh of relief. She could finally rest for a while. She never imagined her body would be this fragile—she’d actually fainted. From now on, she had to eat breakfast.

As Shen Jia Yan was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a pair of eyes watching her. She turned her head and saw another female classmate resting nearby—someone she hadn’t noticed before.

The female classmate spoke first. “What happened to you? Why did you faint?”

Shen Jia Yan felt a bit embarrassed, her cheeks flushing red. “It’s nothing, just low blood sugar from not eating breakfast. What about you?”

The girl answered candidly, “I’m on my period, and my stomach hurts a bit.”

“Oh.” Hearing this, Shen Jia Yan felt even more shy.

The girl continued, “I’m Lü Xin. What about you?”

“I’m Shen Jia Yan.”

“That’s a nice name. We have to eat breakfast during military training, or it’s hard to hold out.”

Shen Jia Yan’s eyes filled with warm amusement, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly. “Thanks. I’ll pay more attention from now on. You should drink some brown sugar water too, and maybe put a heating pad on your stomach—it’ll make you feel better.”

Lü Xin smiled faintly. “Okay.”

“Everyone, take a ten-minute break.”

Rest time came again.

The two chatted idly back and forth.

While Shen Jia Yan rested after fainting, Tang Zhihan kept an eye on her, worried something might be wrong.

Finally, during the break, she jogged over to Shen Jia Yan’s side. “How are you? What did the school doctor say?”

Shen Jia Yan unconsciously scratched the back of her head with her right hand and gave a gentle smile. “It’s no big deal—just low blood sugar from skipping breakfast. After drinking the glucose the school doctor gave me, I feel much better. Don’t worry.”

Tang Zhihan relaxed a little. “As long as you’re okay. You have to eat breakfast from now on. Military training is the most physically draining.”

In the midst of their conversation, Shen Jia Yan heard a pleasant, soft voice from nearby. “Xin Xin, how are you? Feeling better? …”

It was the same gentle tone that had brushed past her ear on the day she nearly fell while checking the class assignment notice and was caught.

Shen Jia Yan turned her head but only caught a glimpse of the girl’s profile.

Her ear-length short hair draped down, her skin was fair, and her facial contours were sharply defined.

A classmate from the same class. What a coincidence.

※

The week-long military training finally ended amid the students’ endless complaints, signaling the official start of high school life.

For Shen Jia Yan, the biggest difference between high school and junior high was the evening rest time.

In junior high, she usually finished her homework and went to bed around 9 p.m. But in high school, the school added evening self-study sessions that ended at 9:45 p.m.

Since her home and school were in different districts, the commute was a bit far, and she typically got home around 10:30 p.m.

Fresh into high school, Shen Jia Yan couldn’t fully adapt to this schedule yet. She usually finished her homework during evening self-study, so once home, after washing up, she wanted to sleep. But Jiang Jing wouldn’t allow it.

Jiang Jing nagged her endlessly. “How can you come home, wash up, and want to sleep right away? You’re in high school now—you can’t be like in junior high. Even if you’ve finished your homework, you need to review the day’s lessons and preview tomorrow’s classes. These three years of high school are crucial. They determine the universities you can choose and even the career you pursue. You can’t be as lazy and scattered as you were in junior high…”

Shen Jia Yan frowned instantly but quickly smoothed her expression. Though annoyed, she couldn’t argue—her poor middle school entrance exam results were a fact, so she had no choice but to follow her parents’ demands.

Her eyes dimmed as she asked, “Then how late should I study?”

“Until 11:30 or midnight. Arrange it yourself.”

Though she said “arrange it yourself,” there was really no room for choice. No way around it—she’d just have to endure.

The sudden reduction in sleep time naturally made it hard for Shen Jia Yan to adapt right away.

Going to bed at 11:30 p.m. and waking at 5:30 a.m. left her with only six hours of sleep, exhausting her body and mind as a high school freshman.

After a week of classes, the first major classroom cleaning of high school life arrived.

Once the cleaning ended, per Yang Hua’s instructions, all students changed seats.

Shen Jia Yan had originally been in the window seat at the far left of the third row. This time, with everyone shifting one row to the right and back, she moved to the aisle seat next to the walkway in the fourth row.

Accordingly, she would gain a new window-seat desk mate.

“Secretary Tang, we can’t be desk mates anymore. Why can’t we just swap table by table? Sigh—” Shen Jia Yan looked at Tang Zhihan, separated only by the aisle, and gave a wry smile, feeling both helpless and reluctant.

Before she could fully shake off her reluctance, her new desk mate arrived with her books.

“Excuse me, let me in.”

A familiar voice.

What a coincidence?

Shen Jia Yan excitedly stood up right away to make space for her to enter the inner seat.

In that instant as she stood, she realized she was nearly half a head shorter than her new desk mate.

So tall.

The height difference made her momentarily forget the voice that had always captivated her—the girl’s voice.

Among girls, Shen Jia Yan’s 168 cm wasn’t short, but the girl before her was even taller—probably 173 or 174 cm.

For the first time, Shen Jia Yan felt the oppressive presence of another girl’s height.

Once they both sat down, they each organized their books in silence.

Her new desk mate seemed like an introverted person too.

After tidying up, Lü Xin walked straight toward their seats.

She seemed not to notice Shen Jia Yan on the outer seat and looked directly at the window seat. “Wan Ning, let’s go out for a walk and get some fresh air.”

“Okay.”

Hearing this, Shen Jia Yan immediately stood to let her pass.

Only then did Lü Xin notice Shen Jia Yan standing up, surprise and delight flashing in her eyes.

“Jia Yan, you’re sitting here? I didn’t notice earlier. Great! Next week when we swap, we’ll be close by.”

Shen Jia Yan curved her lips into a shallow smile and responded politely, “Yeah, what a coincidence.”

“By the way, this is my childhood friend, Wen Wan Ning.” Lü Xin pointed to the new desk mate as she introduced her to Shen Jia Yan.

Seeing Lü Xin’s enthusiasm, Shen Jia Yan didn’t want to remain aloof and gradually warmed up.

“So my new desk mate is Wen Wan Ning. When you came over, your height gave me this sense of pressure right away. I hadn’t even dared to ask your name yet.”

“Hahaha…”

Everyone was infected by Shen Jia Yan’s humor.

Thinking they’d be desk mates from now on, there was no need to be too reserved—she should interact more. Looking at Wen Wan Ning, she said, “I’m Shen Jia Yan. From now on, we’re desk mates.”

As Shen Jia Yan introduced herself to her new desk mate, she finally got a clear look at her appearance.

The girl’s features were elegantly refined, her bright eyes and white teeth gleaming, her fair skin tinged with a faint pink. Her ear-length short hair was light and gentle.

“I’m Wen Wan Ning. Hello, new desk mate.”

Shen Jia Yan’s big eyes darted around, and she added, “Mm, actually, we’ve met before.”

Wen Wan Ning looked at her meaningfully. “Hm?”

“On the day we checked the class assignments, I got pushed and was about to fall—you caught me just in time.”

That day, Wen Wan Ning had noticed Shen Jia Yan from the edge of the crowd.

She had been inching inward with Lü Xin when she saw Shen Jia Yan shrinking back, saying “sorry” repeatedly as she tried to edge out. Finding her interesting, Wen Wan Ning had moved closer—and coincidentally caught her as she stumbled.

She hadn’t expected her to remember.

Wen Wan Ning’s lips curved slightly. “Then we must be quite fated.”

“Yeah, yeah, hehe.” Shen Jia Yan’s eyes sparkled with laughter.

She hadn’t expected to see her again—let alone become her desk mate.

That evening, as usual, there were four evening self-study sessions, ending at 9:45 p.m.

After getting home, Shen Jia Yan ate a little and tried to read, though she couldn’t focus.

Finally, she made it to 11:30 p.m., washed up, and went to bed.

Just a week into the school year, Shen Jia Yan still struggled to adapt to the late nights and early mornings of high school life.

The first period math class went fine.

But during the second period Chinese class, Shen Jia Yan couldn’t hold on. Exhausted and afraid to sleep outright, she kept nodding off and jerking her head up—sometimes nearly falling backward.

Each time she dozed off and startled awake, she saw the classmates around her laughing at her. She wanted to crawl into a hole from embarrassment.

But the waves of sleepiness overpowered her shyness. One second she’d be blushing in shame, the next she’d be drifting off again.

Finally, the bell rang for the end of class, and Shen Jia Yan immediately slumped over her desk to catch up on sleep.

Lü Xin came over as usual to invite Wen Wan Ning out.

“Wan Ning, let’s go walk around and change the air.”

Wen Wan Ning stayed seated, glancing first at Shen Jia Yan before softly telling Lü Xin, “Not this break. Shen Jia Yan’s asleep. She looked really tired last class—better not disturb her. I’ll just read for a bit.”

“Okay.” Lü Xin tactfully returned to her own seat.

As Wen Wan Ning read, she couldn’t suppress the upward curve of her lips. Her mind replayed Shen Jia Yan’s constant sleepy struggles from the previous class.

Did she stay up very late at night? How could she be so tired? All those ways she fought sleep during class were just too adorable.

Wen Wan Ning always listened attentively in class, but Shen Jia Yan’s exaggerated sleepy movements kept drawing her gaze. Though she wanted to laugh, whenever she noticed Shen Jia Yan’s embarrassment, she’d pretend not to see.

Little by little, Shen Jia Yan adjusted her biological clock, forcing herself to adapt to this intense study schedule. But she couldn’t avoid the occasional doze.

Many times, when she startled awake from nodding off, she’d glance at Wen Wan Ning—without fail, she was always diligently listening to the lecture.

Though Shen Jia Yan dozed off more than most, she wasn’t the only one in class. With everyone staying up late in high school, other classmates nodded off too.

Wen Wan Ning was the sole exception. To put it bluntly, Shen Jia Yan had never once seen her doze off—not even during breaks.

Shen Jia Yan even suspected Wen Wan Ning might be one of those rare types who went straight home to sleep after school.