I'm in Senior Year, and the System Says I'm Going on a Blind Date with My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 258: Chapter 162: Your Hand Is Too Smooth, I Can’t Stand Steady

The third period of evening self-study.

Shen Yuan put down his gel pen. His gaze swept over the clock at the back of the classroom—only a few minutes remained until class was over.

Watching the second hand tick forward on the clock face, Shen Yuan suddenly realized it was Sunday. They would be changing seats after evening self-study.

Once they changed seats, he and Li Zhi would be sitting at opposite ends of the classroom for the entire next week.

Separated by seven rows of students, Shen Yuan wouldn’t be able to see Li Zhi, even if he sat bolt upright.

The boy’s reflection in the glass window froze for a moment. He turned, his gaze finally locking onto the face of the girl beside him.

The incandescent light swayed gently in the evening breeze, casting an even softer glow on Li Zhi’s profile.

As the beautiful girl lowered her gaze to solve a problem, her delicate collarbones, peeking out from the taro-purple knit shirt, shimmered with a pearly luster.

A few strands of her dark hair, falling over her shoulders, were lifted by a breeze slipping through a gap in the window. The tips brushed across her moonlit cheek before finally coming to a gentle rest in the folds of her wide-legged white cotton pants.

Ripples spread from the depths of the boy’s eyes, carrying the unique ardor of an eighteen-year-old. They reflected the silhouette of the girl’s back, held straight with the reserved arc of a slender bamboo stalk.

A faint scent of fig lingered in the air, mingling with the smell of ink from the paper she was writing on. It made Shen Yuan forget that the second hand was carrying away the last moments of self-study. All that remained was the frantic, drumming rhythm of his own heart.

Li Zhi’s pen, poised over the paper, suddenly froze. She could feel the heat of a gaze from her left burning her ear.

The girl turned her head, her eyes colliding with the boy’s, which he hadn’t managed to pull away in time.

In the instant their eyes met, a visible tremor seemed to pass between them.

"What are you looking at?" Li Zhi asked softly.

A faint blush rose on Shen Yuan’s face. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously in his tense neck, but his gaze stubbornly held that clear, fiery intensity unique to an eighteen-year-old.

"You."

Hearing his answer, a faint smile appeared on Li Zhi’s face.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you’re pretty."

Shen Yuan answered with a smile, "After all, we’re changing seats in a bit. If I want to look at you like this again, I’ll have to wait until the week after next."

Hearing Shen Yuan’s answer, Li Zhi blinked.

As she shifted her left arm across the desk, it created a small crease in her scratch paper. Her back, once held as straight as slender bamboo, curved slightly.

The girl relaxed, resting her chin on her upper arm. She tucked the stray hairs that had been covering half her face behind her ear, her eyes seeming to shine as her lashes fluttered.

Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan and said softly, "Then go ahead and look."

Her gentle voice, carried on the scent of fig, drifted to Shen Yuan’s ears. The boy felt as if his heart had been struck. It began to pound violently.

Their gazes met, and silent ripples surged between them.

They both held their breath, their eyes drawn in unison to each other’s ears, which were blushing a fiery red.

Beside them, Zhou Shaojie finished copying his English vocabulary. He glanced at the clock at the back of the classroom and was about to turn back to tell Shen Yuan class was almost over when he froze completely.

Zhou Shaojie’s lips pressed into a thin line. A sour feeling welled up in the boy’s heart.

Zhou Shaojie kicked the chair in front of him, getting Yang Ze’s attention.

Yang Ze turned around, about to ask what was wrong, when he saw Zhou Shaojie pointing toward Shen Yuan.

Yang Ze turned to look and immediately froze, just like Zhou Shaojie.

A moment later, Yang Ze tapped Chen Mingyu, who was sitting next to him.

After a moment, Chen Mingyu tapped He Zhiyu.

Unlike the sourness felt by Zhou Shaojie and the other two boys, what He Zhiyu experienced was pure sweetness.

The little author was finally seeing the kind of scene she had only ever written about.

’So it’s true. You really can see love in someone’s eyes.’

Thinking this, He Zhiyu stealthily took her phone out of her schoolbag. Then, as quick as a flash, she snapped a photo of the childhood sweethearts who only had eyes for each other.

There were no beauty filters and no special photography skills involved, but He Zhiyu was extremely satisfied with the final photo.

It wasn’t that the composition was particularly good; it was simply because the only thing reflected in those two pairs of eyes was each other.

And just as He Zhiyu snapped the picture, the bell signaling the end of evening self-study rang.

The moment the bell rang, Li Zhi saw a hint of frustration in Shen Yuan’s eyes.

It was the regret of their impending separation.

A smile suddenly appeared on Li Zhi’s face.

"What’s wrong? Can’t bear for me to leave?"

Shen Yuan nodded. "The thought of not being able to sit with you for a whole week makes me not want to study at all."

Li Zhi rolled her eyes at Shen Yuan. "Then you could ask to move in front of me or behind me. That way, we’d still be moving together."

"Nah, forget it. I’ll choose to endure a week of separation."

’Sitting in front or behind is out of the question. What’s so good about that? You look at the back of my head, and I look at the back of yours.’

’If I sat in front, at least I could turn around to look at her. But if I sat behind, I’d really only be able to see the back of her head.’

"Tch. You’re such a buzzkill."

The corners of Li Zhi’s mouth lifted slightly. She leaned half an inch closer to Shen Yuan, her eyes shimmering with a light that was seventy percent slyness and thirty percent gentleness.

"If you really can’t bear it, then you’d better be on your best behavior and not make me mad. Otherwise..."

Li Zhi stood up, a smile playing on her lips. "I won’t talk to you for the whole next week."

"Time to change seats. Don’t dawdle."

"Alright, alright, alright!"

Shen Yuan stood up and started to move Li Zhi’s desk and chair for her.

"Jie, I’m counting on you for my seat."

Zhou Shaojie nodded and patted his chest. "You can count on me."