The complaint Huang Feng was just about to pour out to her brother died on her lips. Her eyes went wide as saucers, her gaze darting back and forth between Xu Su and Zhou Mochen.
Qian Jia, sitting on the outside of the booth, also stared over in shock.
Only Huang Chao, despite being consumed with curiosity, kept his eyes fixed forward, not daring to cast a single inquisitive glance their way.
Amid the tense atmosphere, it was Xu Su, the one being questioned, who actually felt a wave of relief. Seeing Zhou Mochen's unusual behavior, she had originally suspected he might have also been reborn with his memories intact.
She deliberately paused for a moment, looking a little timid. "...I don't know you."
Huang Feng snapped out of it and chimed in, "Susu just tested into First High School from Kang County. And I remember my brother just came here from Beijing with you, sir, right? How could Susu possibly know you?"
The perceptive Huang Chao had already sensed something was off. Seeing his younger sister's overly casual tone with his boss, he hissed, "Fengfeng!" and shot her a warning look.
Xu Su looked across the table. Zhou Mochen's gaze seemed to have never left her, and their eyes locked once more. She repeated, "I really have never met you before."
Zhou Mochen was silent for a long moment before a faint smile touched his lips. His tone became gentle, a stark contrast to his earlier chilliness. "Perhaps it was a reflection in the window. I was mistaken. My apologies."
The man was incredibly handsome. When his face was cold, he looked like an unapproachable ice prince, but his smile made him seem elegant and charming.
Xu Su wasn't one to be swayed by looks. 'What expression haven't I seen on that face before? I'm long past immune.' She sighed internally, realizing her initial panicked expression must have made him suspicious. Thankfully, in this life, they truly had never met.
Xu Su offered a stiff smile in response. 'I'll have to be more careful with my expression from now on,' she warned herself.
"My apologies for the interruption. Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll have your brother pay." This time, Zhou Mochen was speaking to Huang Feng. "Don't be shy. Order whatever you want to drink."
With that, he turned and gestured to Huang Chao. "Take your sister and her friends to get something to eat."
The milk tea shop also sold things like pancake wraps, roasted sausages, and grilled meatballs. Huang Feng glanced at her brother for permission. Seeing him nod, she cheered and pulled Qian Jia and Xu Su along as the three of them ran up to order a few skewers.
Although Xu Su had no desire to be indebted to Zhou Mochen, she had to do her best to act like a typical high school girl. Since Huang Feng and Qian Jia were both ordering, she couldn't be the odd one out. She followed their lead and got a roasted sausage skewer as well.
By the time they returned with their food, Zhou Mochen was already gone. After paying, Huang Chao reminded his sister to call him for a ride when her military training was done, and then he also departed.
As soon as the two men left, Qian Jia let out an exaggerated gasp for air. After being silent the entire time, she finally dared to speak. "Oh my god, your brother's boss is so intense! I finally get what TV shows mean when they talk about an 'aura of authority.'"
Huang Feng nodded in empathy. "My brother really has it rough. It can't be easy working for a boss like that. I didn't even dare to breathe too loud."
She took a bite of her sausage. "But he's seriously handsome, though. Way better looking than any TV star. For a second, I thought a celebrity had walked in. When he sat down across from us, I was so stunned I nearly choked on my spit. I can't believe that's my brother's boss."
The lemonade Zhou Mochen had sipped from was still on the table. Xu Su listened silently as Huang Feng and Qian Jia chattered on, not intending to offer any opinion. But after a few more sentences, both girls suddenly turned their heads toward her in unison.
Huang Feng asked, "Susu, you really didn't know him before? For a second there, I thought he was looking for trouble. The way he stared with that cold expression was genuinely terrifying."
Qian Jia chimed in, "Yeah, just walking over so suddenly, asking if you knew him with a totally straight face, and then saying he was mistaken because of a reflection in the window. I wonder what he actually saw."
Xu Su couldn't tell the truth. "I really don't. I was just looking at the street scene outside when he came over and asked me that out of the blue. How would I know Brother Fengfeng's boss? This is my first time ever in Chang City. Before this, I was always in the countryside in Kang County for school."
Huang Feng and Qian Jia nodded, accepting her explanation. "Well, our Susu is so pretty, maybe he just mistook you for someone he knew."
Xu Su felt a sense of resignation. She finished her sausage in a few quick bites. "Let's just drop it. We should head back."
When they got back to their dorm room, they found that everyone except for Qiu Dandan and Chen Lu, who already had short hair, had gotten haircuts.
After spending the afternoon together, the morning's awkwardness between Qian Jia, Xu Su, and Huang Feng had vanished. The three of them rested in their room for a bit before heading to the cafeteria for dinner.
After dinner, they returned to their room to grab books for the evening self-study session. Xu Su picked up her Chinese textbook, planning to spend the evening reviewing the texts she had memorized in her past life. Huang Feng grabbed an English textbook, and Qian Jia brought her math book.
When they entered the classroom, about a dozen students were already there. The three of them found a row of four empty desks in the middle section and sat down together. It was only then that they noticed someone had turned on the TV mounted above the blackboard. It was playing a movie Xu Su couldn't name, but which felt very familiar.
Xu Su opened her new Chinese textbook. Listening to the noisy chatter in the classroom, she felt a strange sense of nostalgia, even though she was right in the thick of it.
Over a decade later, when the internet had become ubiquitous, Xu Su had seen a line on a popular forum: *The figures running on the playground, the midsummer sunset outside the window, the cool breeze after evening study hall—a youth to which you can never return.*
An unknown amount of time passed before Xu Su felt the room suddenly fall silent. Teacher Wu walked in, holding a notebook. He scanned the classroom, his gaze lingering on the handful of empty seats, and his expression soured.
He then picked up a piece of chalk, wrote his name on the blackboard, and turned to face them. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm your homeroom teacher, and I teach mathematics. My surname is Wu."
The students chorused in unison, "Hello, Teacher Wu!"
Teacher Wu nodded. "Alright, let's get acquainted. When I call your name, answer 'here.' I want to see who didn't show up."
It had been too long ago; there was no way Xu Su could remember what had happened during the very first evening study session of high school. Hearing there was a surprise roll call, she was taken aback. 'Didn't they say this afternoon that tonight's study hall was voluntary?' At the same time, she thought, 'This is exactly the kind of thing a homeroom teacher would pull.'
Xu Su offered a moment of silent prayer for the classmates who hadn't shown up.
Soon, all fifty-eight names on the class roster had been called. Six students were absent from the evening session.
"Those of you who know these six, pass on a message for me: until the first monthly exam, their seats will be in the last row. Now, we'll arrange the seating chart."
At the moment, students were sitting wherever they pleased. Instead of making everyone get up and move, Teacher Wu simply stood on the dais. With a sweeping glance, he called out the students who were tall enough to block the view of those behind them and, one by one, moved them to the back.