Lin Ruoxi stood there in a daze.

Suddenly, Xue Rui nudged her with his elbow.

"Just take it."

Xue Rui looked at the student and said, "You get how the errand fee works, right?"

"Yeah. Two yuan extra for anything with soup," the boy said, scratching his head.

Xue Rui was taken aback for a moment. ’There’s a rule for that?’ But it made sense.

It seemed the day students before her had already established the rules, which was rather convenient.

Lin Ruoxi understood immediately. Xue Rui was helping her earn some pocket money from these errands.

More and more students started gathering around Lin Ruoxi, shouting out their requests.

Lin Ruoxi, for her part, pulled out a small notebook and carefully jotted down each of her classmates’ orders.

Xue Rui took out his lunch box. Inside was stir-fried greens, shredded pork with chili peppers, and two peeled hard-boiled eggs.

The bottom layer of the lunch box held red date and millet congee.

Lin Ruoxi had made this breakfast.

"How come your food is different from ours?" Qiu Mengze asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a bite of a savory pancake.

"I’ll lead the morning exercises from now on."

Qiu Mengze had discovered that the position for leading the exercises offered an exceptionally wide field of view.

Plus, he wouldn’t have to keep in step with the rest of the group. Most importantly, he could see the person he liked.

"Suit yourself." Xue Rui waved a hand, picking up a mouthful of the shredded pork with chili peppers. It was spicy and fragrant.

He suddenly remembered that Lin Ruoxi couldn’t handle spicy food, and as for the old woman she lived with, even less so.

’No one in her house eats spicy food, so why would she have chili peppers?’

And yet, Lin Ruoxi had said she’d just "whipped it up on the side."

Xue Rui smiled. He and Lin Ruoxi had eaten together quite a few times now; the girl had remembered his preferences.

After eating, Xue Rui washed the lunch box, gave it back to Lin Ruoxi, and plopped down next to her.

"How much did you make?" Xue Rui asked.

"Umm... about forty-something."

Lin Ruoxi counted the handful of loose change, having charged an errand fee per person.

She thought being a day student was a great way to make money. She had earned so much in less than an hour this morning.

"Not bad." Xue Rui nodded. Making money wasn’t the main point; the important thing was for her to interact more with her classmates.

"Sister Xi, can you get me a pack of cigarettes?"

A male student shoved money into Lin Ruoxi’s hand, startling her and making her flinch.

"Smoking... is bad," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.

Xue Rui smiled. "Get it for him."

’There are too many ways around the rules these days,’ he thought. ’Even if Lin Ruoxi doesn’t get it, this kid will just find someone else or sneak out through some hole in the fence to buy them himself.’

The school store even sold single cigarettes on the sly.

They broke open the packs and sold them one by one. As for the price, it was nothing short of extortion.

Lin Ruoxi looked conflicted. She actually wanted to refuse, but Xue Rui had already pushed the money into her hand.

A moment later, the class bell rang.

The lecture was making Xue Rui drowsy, so he dozed off for a little while.

He didn’t know how long he had slept when he was shaken awake by Qiu Mengze beside him.

"What is it?" Xue Rui’s tone was a bit impatient, but he kept his voice very low.

"Quick, look at Old Liu’s legs!"

Qiu Mengze looked shocked, as if he wanted to pry Xue Rui’s eyes open.

Xue Rui looked up, squinting. Old Liu was sitting and drinking tea, no different from usual, so he lowered his head again.

"Hey, don’t go back to sleep..." Qiu Mengze kept shaking him.

Xue Rui was annoyed that Qiu Mengze wouldn’t let him sleep.

He had no choice but to follow Qiu Mengze’s instructions and stare at Old Liu’s legs.

Old Liu walked to the window at the back of the classroom and threw out his tea leaves.

When he returned to his seat, he casually crossed one leg over the other and scratched his calf.

In the instant Old Liu scratched his leg, Xue Rui saw it clearly. Beneath the cuff of his gray slacks, Old Liu was actually wearing the black stockings he’d given him...

"Huh?" Xue Rui’s face was a picture of disbelief.

The sight seared his eyes, and Xue Rui was suddenly wide awake.

’I haven’t even seen any of the female teachers wear them, so how did Old Liu end up being the first?’

Old Liu had pulled a pair of cotton socks on over the stockings, covering them all the way up his calves.

’But... why would Qiu Mengze have noticed such a detail?’

’Students his age really have way too much time on their hands.’

Qiu Mengze’s face turned red. He was trying not to laugh but couldn’t hold it in, burying his face under his desk as his shoulders shook.

The truth was, older people were obsessed with health and wellness, and they tended to believe all sorts of old wives’ tales.

Especially since the advice Xue Rui had given before had genuinely helped Old Liu, building a sense of trust.

And just yesterday, he had given him the stockings under the guise of preventing illness...

Xue Rui didn’t know if the female teachers had taken his advice to heart.

But Old Liu certainly had.

"This..."

’No, don’t wear them!’

Xue Rui’s expression was conflicted. He finally sighed. ’If he wants to wear them, let him,’ he thought. ’It’s not like it’s doing any harm...’

’...It just makes him look like a pervert to the students.’

’Well... he’s about to retire anyway.’

That momentary flash of glossy black nylon left an incredibly strong impact on Xue Rui.

It was a shock that Xue Rui found difficult to put into words.

The image didn’t begin to fade from his mind until the break for group exercises, when he could get up and walk around.

On the field.

The students stood in neat rows by class.

Music began to play over the broadcast system: The Third National Middle School Calisthenics Routine, Dance of Youth...

They called it calisthenics, but in reality, it was like a group of zombies randomly twitching their bodies.

The students moved in a disjointed, crooked way, completely ignoring the rhythm of the broadcast.

Even their movements were incredibly half-hearted.

The standard form called for arms outstretched to ninety degrees, but students would often just lift them to thirty degrees, merely as a token gesture. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

It was even more ridiculous when it came to the jumping portion.

If they did this at night, it would look exactly like a horde of zombies rising from their graves.

It had nothing to do with the phrase "Dance of Youth."

Xue Rui was already used to it. He glanced at Lin Ruoxi; she was no different from the students around her.

Lin Ruoxi was deeply conflicted. She wanted to follow the teacher’s instructions and do the exercises properly, but she was afraid of getting strange looks from her classmates.

It was as if doing it correctly was something to be ashamed of.

But there were always exceptions. A few girls always performed the routine perfectly.

For example, Gu Muxue in the front row.

Every one of her movements radiated youthful energy, drawing the eyes of many onlookers, especially the boys.

But no one would ever laugh at Gu Muxue. It was as if she had transcended the level of mere "mortals" and reached a whole other plane of existence.

Xue Rui smiled faintly. Gu Muxue was confident and outgoing; of course she wouldn’t care what anyone else thought.

Besides, watching that girl do calisthenics was truly a feast for the eyes.

After that was the eye exercise session.

This was actually the students’ favorite part, especially at an age where young hearts were easily stirred.

Many students would take the opportunity during the eye exercises to peek at the person they liked through the gaps in their fingers.

Since everyone had their eyes covered, no one could tell where that single gaze, filled with longing and admiration, was coming from.

"Sss~" Xue Rui felt something was off.

Ever since the calisthenics started, he’d felt a pair of eyes on him.

But whenever he turned to look, all he saw was a sea of students in identical uniforms. He couldn’t find the source of the stare.

But Xue Rui knew it was a kind of intuition.

One that was one hundred percent accurate.

Taking advantage of the eye exercises, Xue Rui opened his eyes and scanned the field.

"Holy shit!" Xue Rui’s face went blank.

’What was he seeing?’

Chen Tingting was actually in the lines for the exercises, smiling and waving at him.

"I should have known!"

Xue Rui slapped his forehead, a headache instantly blooming.

After rejecting Chen Shen’s offer the other day, he’d been in such a hurry to find Lin Ruoxi about the stockings.

He had completely forgotten about this possibility.

’If I wouldn’t transfer, didn’t that mean Chen Tingting would transfer here instead?’

Xue Rui’s expression soured, and he quickly turned his head away.

’That lovestruck fool, she actually followed me to school!’

The only good news was that Chen Tingting was standing in the first-year section.

So, there was no way she could be in his class. Plus, the first-years had their classes in a different building...

Chen Tingting’s eyes crinkled with a smile. She had just transferred this morning.

She had asked the students around her and quickly found out which class Xue Rui was in. She’d been planning to look for him at lunchtime but had unexpectedly spotted him on the field.

"Tingting, are you really going to go after Xue Rui?" a female student whispered.