MNL Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Model, Are You So Interested in Me?

Li Qin is unlike other English teachers; she never enters the classroom early, and her teaching pace isn’t fast. Cha Fei’ang, while repeating the vocabulary words, wondered how the deity in the diagonal back seat managed to score only 59 in English while getting nearly full marks in every other subject.

How could anyone achieve such scores?

Indeed, Linhe No.1 High School is full of talent. Cha Fei’ang instantly felt ashamed for looking down on others.

Xu Jing remained unfazed after learning his scores. It was just that his English score was higher than he had expected. Besides that, one person surprised him. He originally thought Shen Yan barely made the cut to get into Linhe No.1 High School, but he didn’t expect him to be so academically strong, surpassing the second-highest scorer in the grade by nearly twenty points.

However, most people were dissatisfied with their scores. Knowing that the school would be sending the scores home, as soon as evening self-study ended, everyone rushed back to the dormitory, planning to call their parents to explain the situation.

It rained heavily today. The air after the rain was humid and fresh, making people want to take a deep breath.

Xu Jing wasn’t as anxious as usual tonight. Instead, he packed his things at a normal pace and left through the back door at the same time as Shen Yan.

The two people walking on the street naturally left a distance between them. Perhaps they didn’t notice anything wrong, but if someone saw them, they would definitely think it was an extremely awkward scene.

Even though the lengths of their strides were the same, they still kept so far apart, as if they were having a conflict and pretending not to know each other.

Halfway down the road, Xu Jing unexpectedly took the initiative to speak. However, his voice was calm, sounding like a casual question asked without much care.

“Do you live alone?”

“Yeah.” Shen Yan turned his head to look at Xu Jing and said, “Are you so interested in me?”

Xu Jing: “…”

Interested my ass.

But judging from what happened before, it wasn’t surprising that Shen Yan would think that way. He had indeed followed him twice, and the occasions where he appeared were also strange. But all of this was because of the photo the police had issued. Who told this person not to avoid suspicion and to flaunt around in that outfit?

However, now that it was over, Xu Jing wouldn’t want to mention that matter again.

“There’s a late-night snack shop nearby. Want to go together?”

Xu Jing felt like he hadn’t agreed, but he still followed Shen Yan inexplicably. It wasn’t until they had turned several corners that he realized it and suddenly stopped.

“Where exactly are we going?”

Hearing this, Shen Yan, who was walking in front, slowly turned around. Looking at the impatient expression on the face of the person standing in place, an idea suddenly arose in his mind.

The light slanted into the alleyway, becoming weaker the further in it went. Xu Jing watched as Shen Yan’s expression suddenly changed. Expressionless, he walked towards him, the figure, a mixture of light and shadow, carried an inexplicable sense of eeriness.

“You dare to walk with someone you’re not very familiar with in the dead of night.” The cold tone, as Shen Yan approached, clearly lingered in his ears, “It’s so dark, where do you think I’m going to take you?”

Xu Jing: “…”

“Guess if I were to do something to you here, would anyone find out?” The corners of Shen Yan’s mouth held a hint of grimness, the aggressiveness of his features magnified by the darkness. Xu Jing only felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

Just then, the streetlights outside suddenly went out, and everything around instantly disappeared. Shen Yan was also stunned. The person in front of him was breathing heavily. Just as he was about to ask, he was pushed away, and then the slender figure stumbled and disappeared before his eyes.

Shen Yan took a few steps back, leaning against the wall behind him, and chuckled to himself, “Paper tiger.”

The next day.

Shen Yan entered the classroom the moment the morning self-study bell rang, only to find the corner seat empty. The person who, like him, liked to arrive just on time, hadn’t arrived even at this hour today.

But he didn’t seem to hear the elevator sound when he went downstairs this morning.

Could it be that he was really frightened?

But that was only because the community was under renovation recently, and the power consumption was high, so the streetlights went off earlier than usual.

Shen Yan turned his head to look in that direction several times throughout the day, but he didn’t see the person. Instead, he made Mao Chengyu next to him uneasy.

“God Yan.”

Shen Yan withdrew his gaze that had passed over Mao Chengyu, seeming not to have heard what he had just called him, and said softly, “Hmm?”

This nickname was first shouted by Cha Fei’ang. As soon as Shen Yan’s heaven-defying grades came out, many people were asking who this sacred being was. Cha Fei’ang, who was keen on making friends, naturally wouldn’t miss this opportunity, praising Shen Yan extensively on the forum, elevating him to the status of a deity. The popularity of his comment was now ranked second, just a few dozen likes away from surpassing the top-ranked post, “Linhe No.1 High School, please have mercy.”

Mao Chengyu carefully considered his words, stammering as if he had something difficult to say, “Why do you keep looking at me today?”

The bodies of the two girls in the front row shifted simultaneously.

“…” Shen Yan’s gaze lingered on the paper for two seconds, and after writing down the answer, he replied, “I’m looking for inspiration.”

Mao Chengyu had a look of understanding.

As a result, that very night, a reply under Cha Fei’ang’s comment directly made Shen Yan the sole focus of the forum title.

[Kisses]: Someone said that the inspiration for the homework of that academic god in Class 104 comes from his male deskmate.

[Candied Hawthorns]: 104? Which academic god? Aren’t there two?

[Kisses] replies to [Candied Hawthorns]: Shen Yan, the one who got nearly full marks in all subjects.

[Liu Buduo] replies to [Kisses]: Besides that, their Class 104 also has someone who got 59 in English but ranked seventh in the grade.

[Not Saying]: Is it just me who focused on the male deskmate?

[Candied Hawthorns]: Male deskmate +10086

[Liu Buduo]: I second that.

…

Just like that, within a short three minutes, this reply had already reached ninety-nine plus. Xu Jing never looked at these things, but Yan Zhe specifically paid attention and forwarded it to him.

Xu Jing, who had taken a day off, only regained some strength in the evening. This morning, his phone alarm rang seven or eight times, but he only felt dizzy. He stumbled out of bed and took out a thermometer from the drawer, only to find out that he had a fever.

Except for a few of his closest friends, no one knew that Xu Jing suffered from a severe phobia of the dark. He had tried many times to overcome this fear, but all ended in failure.

Fortunately, Qin Xin wasn’t home today, or else he would have to go to the hospital again. Xu Jing thought with a bit of luck as he browsed the comments.

But the more he browsed, the more something felt off.

Why was he appearing more often than this “male deskmate”?

Lying at home, the heat comes from the sky.

[God Zhe]: I knew that English 59 boss was you at first glance, but this other person they’re talking about, do you have his contact information?

[Male]: What do you want his contact information for?

[God Zhe]: Not me, but a girl from our school.

Xu Jing coldly typed two words: None.

Yan Zhe was still bombarding him with messages. Xu Jing put his phone on silent mode and was about to turn over and go to sleep, but then the doorbell rang.

Xu Jing was wondering why Qin Xin, who was working overtime at school, had come back now. When he opened the door, he saw Shen Yan leaning against the wall.

Xu Jing’s expression instantly turned cold, “What are you doing?”

“Why didn’t you go to school?”

“Woke up late.” Xu Jing replied simply. Seeing that the person standing outside the door didn’t seem to want to leave, he raised an eyebrow slightly, “Anything else?”

Shen Yan seemed to have thought about his wording in advance, saying with a calm expression, “According to traditional Chinese virtues, you should now invite your new neighbor in for a cup of tea.”

Xu Jing expressionlessly said, “I have no morals, get lost.”

Shen Yan: “…”

The two stood there for a while. Seeing that Shen Yan had been standing there for a long time without any intention of leaving, Xu Jing was also a little curious about what this person was planning to do. In the end, he took the initiative to let go.

The room in 601 was large, and although there were many things, it was very tidy. The first thing Shen Yan saw after entering the door was the blue cabinet in the far corner, which was filled with all kinds of racing car models. And they were all from a reputable brand company, and some of them were already out of print.

The models were polished brightly, and each one was arranged in order according to its model and color, which showed how much the owner liked them. It was just a little strange that the middle grid of the blue racing car row didn’t have anything in it.

Shen Yan’s expression froze, and his eyes looked at Xu Jing with a bit of strangeness.

“Have you seen enough?” Xu Jing stood lazily at the bedroom door, not noticing any of this. He lowered his head and yawned, saying, “If you’ve seen enough, hurry up and leave.”

Shen Yan was about to ask something else, but he caught a glimpse of a box of opened antipyretics on the table, and his tone suddenly changed, “You have a fever?”

Xu Jing didn’t want to admit it, replying, “No.”

“Because of last night?”

Shen Yan’s tone was a bit surprised, seemingly not expecting that Xu Jing, who seemed fearless, would be so scared by a small joke that he would get a fever.

Who would want to admit that they were timid? Xu Jing said unkindly, “I said, I don’t.”

However, what followed was actually an apology.

“Sorry, I didn’t think.”

Under the bright lights, Shen Yan’s eyes, which seemed like peach blossoms, were facing him, and in his deep eyes, there seemed to be some obscure emotions hidden.

Xu Jing, who was looking back at him, didn’t last long and turned his head away awkwardly, “The fever has already gone down, just sleep enough.”

The implication was that he wanted to sleep now.

Hearing this, Shen Yan didn’t force it. Before leaving, he said again, “If you need anything, you can knock on my door.”

Xu Jing gave a perfunctory “hmm”, locked the door, and went to bed. As soon as the medicine took effect, he really fell asleep.

As soon as Shen Yan returned to his room, he went into the bedroom. The simple room had very few things, except for the gray combination lock box placed on the bedside table, the rest were necessities.

He opened the box, only to see a yellowed photo and a blue racing car model inside.

The model’s cold touch quietly brought back memories. Shen Yan seemed to still be able to feel the feeling of the toy’s owner stuffing it into his arms.

In the vast sea of people, he thought he would never have the chance to meet that little boy again in his life.

Shen Yan looked at the model with a deep gaze and took out his phone to make a call.

“Jiang Pei, help me investigate something.”