Lin Murun hadn't had a chance to eat lunch before being summoned to the office. By the time he was finally released, he was so hungry that his head was spinning and his steps felt light and unsteady.
Si Bin turned around, about to say something, but was startled by the boy’s excessive paleness.
"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" He stepped forward, steadying Lin Murun by the shoulder.
"It’s nothing..." Lin Murun leaned against the corridor railing and closed his eyes, whispering, "Just low blood sugar."
The temperature had been dropping steadily over the past few days. In this November chill, where a single sweater was hardly enough to keep warm, his back was drenched in a cold sweat. The dizziness brought on by hypoglycemia made Lin Murun knit his brows. He hung his head, his fingertips trembling slightly, looking utterly pitiful.
"Wait here for a second," Si Bin said before turning and sprinting toward the fifth floor.
Lin Murun gave a weak nod, watching Si Bin’s silhouette disappear around the corner of the stairs.
A moment later, Si Bin returned. He held several milk candies in his palm. Seeing Lin Murun look up, he proactively unwrapped one and held it to the boy's lips.
"Eat a candy first to steady yourself," Si Bin said.
Lin Murun nodded, reaching out to take the candy and popping it into his mouth.
A sweet, creamy aroma spread through his mouth. It was a flavor Lin Murun liked. He squinted his eyes, quietly chewing the candy as he waited for the hypoglycemic reaction to slowly pass.
"Wipe your sweat."
Seeing that he had recovered somewhat, Si Bin handed him a tissue. "It’s cold out. You’ll catch a chill if the wind hits that sweat."
"Thank you." Lin Murun took the tissue and wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead.
Only after Lin Murun had finished a second candy did Si Bin ask, "You haven't had lunch yet, have you?"
"No," Lin Murun replied. "I was planning to go off-campus with Zhou Xuan, but Teacher Tang called me over halfway there."
Si Bin checked the time. "There's still time to eat. Come on, I'll take you."
"Okay," Lin Murun agreed.
"The cafeteria is closed, so we’ll have to go off-campus. What do you feel like eating?" Remembering that their lunch break was running short, Si Bin added, "Hotpot or teppanyaki probably won't work today."
"Let's just go to that tofu rice cake place from last time," Lin Murun said.
That morning, Li Menglai’s arrival had interrupted Si Bin’s plan to invite Lin Murun for breakfast. Afterward, they had entered the intense and busy midterm exam week. Everyone had been preoccupied with revision, making do with cafeteria meals. Consequently, their plan to eat tofu rice cakes together had been shelved.
Hearing Lin Murun bring it up himself, a hint of a smile touched Si Bin’s eyes. "Alright, let's go there."
The two left the school gates and walked into the small eatery.
Though the shop was small, it was exceptionally clean and tidy. The light-colored tables and stools had been scrubbed spotless by the proprietress. Enlarged menus and food photos hung on the pristine white walls.
At this hour, most diners had already finished their lunch. There were only a few scattered students in the shop wearing the No. 1 Middle School uniform. The owner was standing by the counter near the entrance wrapping soup dumplings. Seeing them enter, he set down his work and motioned for them to sit.
"What can I get for you two?" the owner asked, wiping his hands clean.
"One bowl of tofu rice cakes, one steamer of soup dumplings, and two bowls of sweet soy milk." After ordering, Si Bin looked at Lin Murun and asked, "How about two steamers? And maybe an extra pork chop?"
"Have you eaten?" Lin Murun asked.
"I have," Si Bin replied.
"Then one bowl of rice cakes is enough for me," Lin Murun said.
Si Bin looked at the menu on the wall, asking uncertainly, "Are you sure that's enough?"
"Really," Lin Murun insisted.
"Young man, our tofu rice cakes come in very generous portions," the owner suggested with a smile, seeing their indecision. "One bowl is plenty to fill you up."
Seeing that Si Bin still looked like he wanted to order more, Lin Murun hurriedly whispered to stop him. "It’s really enough. Ordering too much would be a waste."
Only after Si Bin confirmed with him several more times did he say to the owner, "Just one bowl of tofu rice cakes and two bowls of sweet soy milk, then."
After ordering, they took their seats. Several students nearby who recognized Si Bin began stealing glances in their direction.
"Are you still hungry? Do you want to order a marinated egg to tide you over first?" Si Bin ignored the inquisitive gazes and asked Lin Murun gently.
"No need, I feel much better now." Lin Murun shook his head. After a thought, he asked, "Aren't you going back for a nap?"
"No," Si Bin said. "I'll keep you company while you eat first."
"Thank you," Lin Murun said softly. "And for earlier, in the office..."
"Don't be so formal," Si Bin laughed.
Just then, the proprietress arrived with two bowls of sweet soy milk. Si Bin took the soy milk and handed a spoon to Lin Murun. "Let's not talk about that. Eat first."
"Okay." Lin Murun nodded.
The soy milk was rich and sweet. Lin Murun lowered his head to take a few sips, only to find Si Bin watching him.
"?" He looked up, confused. "Aren't you drinking?"
"In a bit." Si Bin smiled. "Next time, if you're feeling unwell, you can just tell Old Tang. He looks serious, but he's actually a good teacher who cares about his students."
"It won't happen again," Lin Murun said. "Today was an accident. I skipped breakfast, so the hypoglycemia seemed more severe."
"You have a whole morning of classes; how can you skip breakfast?" Si Bin arched an eyebrow. "And last time, too—you didn't eat breakfast before practicing the piano."
*I actually did eat that day...* Lin Murun silently countered in his head. But if he said that out loud, he would have to explain to Si Bin why he had lied. So, he just rubbed his nose and muttered, "Oh... I'll eat from now on."
The tofu rice cakes were served soon after. The soft, chewy rice cakes and tender white tofu were submerged in a piping hot broth, topped with a layer of golden shredded egg. It looked very appetizing.
Lin Murun picked up his chopsticks and began eating quietly.
The freshly cooked rice cakes were very hot, and being coated in broth made them difficult to eat quickly. Despite Lin Murun’s caution, his lips were still reddened by the heat.
Si Bin stood up and considerately asked for a clean small bowl.
"It'll cool faster if you scoop it into a small bowl." He placed the bowl in front of Lin Murun, noticing that even more people were now peeking their way.
He sat back down as if nothing were amiss and took occasional sips of his soy milk.
Even though he was starving, Lin Murun’s manner of eating remained very refined. Once Si Bin finished his soy milk, he focused entirely on watching the other boy eat.
"What is it?" Being stared at for so long, Lin Murun couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing," Si Bin said quickly. "I was just spacing out."
Lin Murun gave an "oh" and went back to fishing out the shredded egg from his bowl.
While Lin Murun was eating, Si Bin took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to the Student Council President.
"Big Chen, do you know who runs the school's QQ Confession Wall?"
Not long after the message was sent, Si Bin received a reply.
"Yeah, it's Xu Haiyang from Class 10, Grade 11 Science. Why?"
Si Bin replied: "Do you have his contact info?"
"I do." The Student Council President pushed Xu Haiyang’s contact card to Si Bin.
A moment later, another message came through: "Bin-zai, the Confession Wall says a student in your grade, Class 2 Arts, cheated. Is that for real?"
"Fake." Seeing this, Si Bin frowned slightly. "I'm looking for Xu Haiyang because of that."
By then, Lin Murun had set down his chopsticks.
Si Bin looked up. "Full?"
"Full," Lin Murun said. "Their tofu rice cakes really are delicious."
With that, he stood up to pay.
"I've got it." Si Bin pulled up his payment code.
Lin Murun shook his head and scanned the code to pay himself.
"I've already taken up your nap time," he said. "How could I let you pay for my meal too?"
After lunch, the two walked slowly back to school side by side. With a full stomach and a wandering mind, Lin Murun squinted and let out a yawn. Catching Si Bin smiling at him out of the corner of his eye, he turned to explain, "I stayed up a bit late last night."
"Do you have music or art class this afternoon?" Si Bin asked.
"Art class," Lin Murun replied.
"Then you can sleep during art," Si Bin suggested. "Your art teacher definitely won't call you out."
Lin Murun shook his head, countering, "I don't think that's a very good suggestion."
Si Bin burst out laughing.
Lin Murun looked up, seeing the boy's dark eyes brimming with mirth, and his own eyes curved into a smile.
"At first, I thought you were a very difficult person to get along with," Lin Murun said.
"Hmm?" Si Bin looked down. "Why?"
"I thought you didn't like to talk or smile." Lin Murun recalled their first meeting. "Even the punks from the vocational school called you 'Brother' so respectfully. I thought you were some untouchable school delinquent."
"Do I not look like a helpful, model student?" Si Bin asked curiously.
"Not really," Lin Murun said. "But you do now."
Hearing this, Si Bin smiled and pressed further, "Just a 'model student'?"
"Huh?" Lin Murun looked up, thought for a moment, and said, "And a good friend."
Si Bin didn't respond. Maintaining his smile, he looked down and handed the remaining two milk candies to Lin Murun.
"Keep these in your pocket. Just in case you get hungry later."
Lin Murun took the candies and thanked him, then asked, "Which shop did you buy these from?"
"I don't know. I saw Li Menglai and Yu Qianyi sharing them, so I asked them for a few," Si Bin said.
"Oh..." Lin Murun glanced at the packaging and nodded.
"Do you like the flavor?" Si Bin asked.
Lin Murun gave an ambiguous answer: "It's alright."
The two parted ways at the stairwell, returning to their respective classrooms just as the preparatory bell rang.
Lin Murun returned to his seat under the collective gaze of his classmates, calmly pulling out his English textbook and workbook to prepare for class.
Yu Qianyi patted Lin Murun on the back. "Your mindset is seriously amazing. If this happened to me, I'd probably be so anxious I'd want to jump off a building."
"That's an exaggeration," Lin Murun said, turning around. "Teacher Tang is already looking into it. There should be a conclusion by tomorrow."
Unexpectedly, the situation took a turn after two periods of English.
Some students discovered that the anonymous submission, which had been pinned all morning, had been deleted by the Confession Wall. Simultaneously, the Wall posted an apology, repenting for posting the submission without verification. In the statement, the admin apologized to Lin Murun repeatedly, promising to do better in the future.
The comments and shares under the post exploded instantly.
"A reversal already? Is there proof?" one student asked.
Others criticized the admin for being irresponsible and spreading rumors.
When Yu Qianyi saw the update, she slammed the desk and said to Lin Murun, "Just you wait! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind right now. This Confession Wall is so unethical! Posting things without any ironclad proof—he might as well rename it the Gossip Wall!"
As Yu Qianyi refreshed the page, she found another update. This post was accompanied by screenshots of Lin Murun’s transcripts from before he transferred.
Yu Qianyi clicked on them and saw the words "N City No. 5 Middle School Monthly Exam Rankings" written clearly across a dozen screenshots.
"Holy crap!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Lin Murun! You were a student at N City No. 5?"
Lin Murun nodded.
Hearing Yu Qianyi, Li Xi quickly turned around. "Really? No wonder his grades are so good!"
On the transcripts, Lin Murun was ranked first eight out of ten times. Even the other two times, he was a solid second.
Yu Qianyi looked through the remaining images and said to the students around her, "My god! If I could consistently stay in the top three of the grade, my parents would be laughing in their sleep. Why would he ever need to cheat?"
The math class representative chimed in, "Exactly. With grades like that, how could Lin Murun possibly cheat?"
Though it was only a few screenshots of transcripts, the comments under the Confession Wall shifted entirely in one direction. N City No. 5 Middle School was a prestigious school famous for its college entrance exam results, with a reputation even greater than H City No. 1 Middle School. Would a student who consistently ranked first at N City No. 5 cheat for a single midterm ranking?
The answer for most students was "No." Although there was no other direct evidence proving Lin Murun hadn't cheated, the scales in the students' hearts had already tipped.
The mood in Class 2 shifted from initial shock to confusion.
Lin Murun, at the center of the storm, didn't have much of a reaction. From beginning to end, he hadn't said a single word in his own defense, nor did he take the opportunity to join the discussion.
"What are you all doing?" Teacher Xia said as he walked into the classroom. "Class is starting. Get back to your seats."
"Teacher!" someone raised their hand to ask. "Did you know that Lin Murun had already solved that advanced problem before the quiz?"
Everyone turned their heads and realized the person asking was Wang Yan, who sat behind Jiang Yuxi.
Teacher Xia’s expression darkened upon hearing the question. "I knew. If you have anything else to ask, ask it now. I'll start the lesson once you've had your fill of gossip."
Teacher Xia rarely snapped at students or raised his voice. Many students realized he was truly angry and hurried back to their seats.
With a *thud*, Teacher Xia dropped his textbook and lesson plan onto the desk. With a stern face, he scanned the silenced students and said sharply, "If you spent the time you use for meddling in other people's business on your studies, you might actually score a few more points. From now on, I will not tolerate such lack of discipline in my classroom! Now, we begin. Any questions unrelated to the lesson can be discussed amongst yourselves after class."
***
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