Hang Feng turned his head back without hesitation, pretending he hadn't heard or seen anything.
At this moment, he was both blind and deaf.
For the sake of his ears and his life, it was safer to stay away from Song Yi.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yiheng's hand that had been resting on the armrest relaxed, as if letting out a sigh of relief.
Because if Hang Feng had agreed to Murong Huan's request, he would have immediately left his seat as well.
Murong Huan waved her fist at the back of Hang Feng's head to vent her frustration.
But her temper was always quick to come and quick to go, and she soon forgot about Hang Feng as she opened a pack of snacks.
Nearby, Shen Yujing hung his head, lost in thought.
What he should have understood, he didn't, but what he shouldn't have understood, he did.
Why? Just why?
Why did Song Yi actively invite Hang Feng to sit together? Did she really want to sit with him?
There were only two possibilities.
Either Song Yi had feelings for Hang Feng, or she was trying to play matchmaker between Murong Huan and Jiang Yiheng.
But wasn't Song Yi... supposed to like Jiang Yiheng? Neither possibility made sense.
Could it be that when he switched Song Yi's love letter that time, it created a misunderstanding between them, causing Song Yi to give up on Jiang Yiheng?
Thinking about this, Shen Yujing's emotions became particularly complex, feeling both relieved and guilty.
He was relieved that he had personally cut off any potential feelings between Song Yi and Jiang Yiheng, but he also felt guilty worrying that Song Yi might be hurt because of this.
These complicated emotions surrounded Shen Yujing's heart, tormenting his conscience.
Just as Shen Yujing was caught in these painful emotions, a sound came from beside him—
"Ugh!!!"
A violent retching sound erupted as Quan Le leaned against the car window, looking completely miserable.
Shen Yujing: "..."
He had forgotten that this guy gets carsick.
So Shen Yujing turned to Quan Le and asked, "Are you okay?"
Quan Le shook his head, lowering it with an expression that suggested he might throw up any second.
Shen Yujing: "It'll take at least two hours to reach our destination, and we haven't gone far. You can still get off if you want."
"No way," Quan Le raised his head while gripping the back of the front seat, and said word by word: "I. Want. To. Go. Play."
Shen Yujing: "..."
Song Yi: "..."
Murong Huan: "..."
They really couldn't understand Quan Le's obsession with going out to play.
The car was quiet except for Quan Le's continuous retching.
Sitting next to Quan Le, Shen Yujing felt like the loneliest person in the world.
Not only could Quan Le not chat with him as usual, but no matter what he was doing, the retching sounds kept drawing his attention, making it impossible to think about anything else.
And for some reason... his stomach was starting to feel uncomfortable too.
After a while, Shen Yujing let out his first retch—
"Ugh!!!"
Song Yi slowly turned her head to look at Murong Huan, with a complicated expression, "Their noise is making me feel sick too."
"Tell me about it," Murong Huan peeled an orange and held the peel to her nose, taking a deep breath.
Shen Yujing and Quan Le's retching sounds began to alternate, competing with each other, one after another, growing louder and louder.
Hang Feng looked back at them, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
He rarely came to school, and now he was sure it had been the right choice – this school seemed to have quite a few strange people.
Murong Huan couldn't stand it anymore and said, "This can't go on."
Because she could feel her own stomach starting to feel uncomfortable, and at this rate, she would soon join Shen Yujing and Quan Le.
Song Yi nodded and said, "Can we send them to another class's bus?"
Shen Yujing raised his head and gave Song Yi a resentful look.
Song Yi quickly corrected herself: "Just kidding, just kidding."
They obviously couldn't really send them away, so—
So why did Murong Huan want to switch seats with Shen Yujing in the first place?!
Looking at Shen Yujing who was still retching despite sitting by the window, Song Yi gave Murong Huan a plaintive look.
Murong Huan remained oblivious and handed the peeled orange to Quan Le, "Here, take this."
The orange's acidic smell could help alleviate the nausea a bit, which was better than nothing for Quan Le.
After moving away from Quan Le, Shen Yujing finally felt a bit better, so he looked up at Song Yi and said somewhat pitifully, "I want some too."
Song Yi asked in confusion: "Want what?"
Shen Yujing weakly pointed a finger in Quan Le's direction.
He wanted an orange too.
Murong Huan said: "I have more in my bag, help yourself."
When Murong Huan said this to Song Yi, she kept giving her meaningful looks.
Taking care of Shen Yujing when he was feeling weak would surely help their relationship progress rapidly!
Since Murong Huan had said so, Song Yi had no reason to refuse Shen Yujing, so she took out an orange from Murong Huan's magical bag that seemed to contain everything.
Song Yi peeled the orange, and then—
Under Shen Yujing's expectant gaze, she ate the orange herself and gave him all the peels.
Song Yi said "thoughtfully": "Here, smell these."
Shen Yujing: "..."
He took the orange peels and expressionlessly held them under his nose.
Song Yi asked him again: "Do you feel better? If you're going to throw up, please warn me in advance so I can move away."
Shen Yujing: "..."
Although he had thought the same thing when dealing with Quan Le earlier, hearing Song Yi say it still made him feel a bit disappointed.
Song Yi looked at Shen Yujing and said: "If you're still feeling unwell, I have an idea."
Shen Yujing asked: "What is it?"
Song Yi: "You could bang your head against the window until you pass out, then you won't feel carsick anymore."
Shen Yujing: "?"
Was this something a normal person would suggest?
Song Yi explained: "I'm not trying to trick you, let me give you an example. When normal people knock themselves out, they might get a concussion, but you're different. If you knock yourself out, not only will you stop feeling carsick now, but when you wake up, you might even find yourself smarter."
Shen Yujing was completely confused but caught the key phrase, "How am I different from normal people?"
"Because you're a male..."
She had almost finished saying it, but Song Yi forcefully held back the rest of the sentence.
No, she couldn't just tell someone "because you're the male protagonist so you have protagonist privileges" – it would make her sound crazy.
Shen Yujing asked puzzled: "Male what?"
Song Yi made something up: "A rare talent with excellent physical qualities, these little things won't affect you."
As a rare talent with excellent physical qualities, Shen Yujing felt he shouldn't get carsick – it would damage his reputation if such a trivial matter got out.
Maybe it was because he had moved away from Quan Le and no one was retching right next to his ear anymore, but Shen Yujing held the large piece of orange peel under his nose.
Deep breath, adjust.
He quickly returned to normal.
By now, Quan Le seemed to have exhausted himself from retching and finally closed his eyes, leaning against Murong Huan's shoulder in exhaustion.
Murong Huan looked at Quan Le with some disgust and pressed a finger against his forehead, "Hey, I order you to sit up right now."
But the chestnut-haired boy looked extremely weak, unable to even open his eyes, his face and lips pale, showing none of his usual unruly arrogance.
After a while, Murong Huan awkwardly withdrew her hand.
Fine, she'd reluctantly let him lean on her just this once.
On the other side, Shen Yujing, having recovered, naturally couldn't sit still and behave.
His gaze swept around the surroundings, finally settling on the row in front.
Hang Feng, Jiang Yiheng.
Shen Yujing often browsed the school's forum, so he was well aware of their popularity at school.
Quite coincidentally, in last year's campus heartthrob rankings, the top three were himself, Jiang Yiheng, and Hang Feng, in that order.
So in Shen Yujing's view, these two were quite formidable competitors.
However, Hang Feng's identity was quite special. While his mysterious demeanor at school was one thing, Shen Yujing's family had specifically warned him: getting into conflicts with anyone at school wasn't a big deal, except with Hang Feng.
Out of curiosity, Shen Yujing had long ago investigated all domestic and international business partners who had dealings with his family, but he never found anyone with the surname Hang.
This only made Hang Feng's identity even more mysterious, leading Shen Yujing to wonder for a long time about the background of this seemingly quiet and reserved guy.
Unfortunately, since they had no social interaction, Shen Yujing still hadn't gotten an answer.
And now, with Hang Feng sitting right in front of him, this was a perfect opportunity to unravel the mystery.
So Shen Yujing called out, "Hang Feng!"
Hang Feng, sitting in the front row: "..."
Enough, please stop.
He wished nobody would call his name anymore; he was starting to develop a fear of his own name.
Sensing Hang Feng's aversion, Song Yi became even more energized and joined Shen Yujing in calling out, "Hang Feng! Hang Feng! Can't you hear Shen Yujing calling you?"
Jiang Yiheng's head started to ache. He looked at Hang Feng beside him and said, "Just respond to them, otherwise they won't quiet down today."
Hang Feng frowned and asked, "You know them well?"
Jiang Yiheng replied calmly, "Song Yi's previous desk mate was me."
Hang Feng: "..."
