Both of them moved quickly. In the end, Andrew Lane laughed and said, “You lost again this time,” picked up the instant noodle cup, and walked over to the faucet to fill it with hot water.

Thomas Chase asked in surprise, “How do you always manage to make your noodles so fast?”

Andrew Lane gently shook his finger. “Why don’t you tell me how you always manage to get first place?”

Thomas Chase smiled. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll even give you first place. Next time, let me win at making noodles, okay?”

Andrew Lane shook his head. “Who wants to be first? I just like being second.”

Thomas Chase leaned in next to him, turned on the faucet, and started filling his cup with hot water. “Why?”

Andrew Lane didn’t say anything for a long time. Just when Ray Cindy thought their conversation was over, she heard Andrew Lane slowly say, “Because someone likes it when I come in second.”

There was a bit of surprise in his voice, and also a hint of pride.

Thomas Chase was even more interested. “Who, Charlotte Lee?”

Ray Cindy gently put the lid on her cup.

“How could it be her? Does that girl even notice me anymore? You know the answer yourself.”

There wasn’t a trace of dissatisfaction in Andrew Lane’s voice, but it was full of teasing. Out of the corner of her eye, Ray Cindy saw Thomas Chase smile noncommittally, looking thoughtful.

“I know, it’s Zoe Young.”

All of Andrew Lane’s teasing was instantly turned back on himself. Thomas Chase leaned against the wall, smiling meaningfully, as if to say, “You little rascal, trying to mess with me?” Andrew Lane stared at him in a daze, and before he knew it, he’d poured too much hot water into his noodles and it was overflowing. He yelped and tossed the cup away.

Even Thomas Chase’s gloating laughter was gentle and restrained, as if it had a special magnetism.

In order to eavesdrop on their conversation, Ray Cindy had already pretended to rinse her cup at the sink five or six times. Suddenly, she felt it was all pointless. The cup was so hot it made her palm itch, so she lowered her head and hurried away, not wanting to hear anything more.

So it turned out that being stuck in second place by Thomas Chase wasn’t as upsetting or awkward for Andrew Lane as she’d imagined. It turned out that Zoe Young, who seemed cold and calm on the surface, could also say sweet, caring things to boys. It turned out that Charlotte Lee was a girl everyone knew about, and that she herself had been invisible standing beside them all this time.

It turned out that all along, she was the only one who felt sad.

Ray Cindy suddenly felt that tomorrow’s upcoming midterm exam had become a solo dance with no audience.

The seating arrangement for the liberal arts class exam was simple. Students from Class Three and Class Seven were mixed together, starting from the first desk by the door and filling the seats in order to the back. The order was based on their entrance exam scores. So naturally, Zoe Young sat at the first desk, followed by Charlotte Lee, then Ray Cindy.

As for who sat at the fourth desk, it seemed no one cared.

Ray Cindy stared at Charlotte Lee’s back. She had taken off her school uniform, revealing a beautiful light yellow casual shirt underneath, with a butterfly-shaped cutout on the back that made Ray Cindy’s eyes ache.

Put your uniform back on, will you? Aren’t you cold?

The proctor for the first subject, Chinese, entered the classroom just as the warning bell rang. Ray Cindy lay her head on the desk, the cold surface cooling the right side of her face.

Soon, the only sound in the classroom was the faint scratch of ballpoint pens on paper.

Ray Cindy kept her head down so long her neck started to ache, but she still didn’t want to look up at that butterfly.

After the Chinese exam, Charlotte Lee anxiously waited for Zoe Young to turn around. She couldn’t even say why—maybe she felt that if the other girl just turned and smiled, if they greeted each other, everything would be fine and perfect.

Charlotte Lee uneasily realized she seemed to care more and more about other people’s reactions.

The likes and dislikes in people’s eyes and expressions—even a bad comment from a nobody could keep her up at night.

When would days like this ever end? Just as she frowned, Zoe Young turned around.

“What time is the afternoon exam?”

“One thirty.”

“Thanks.”

“Zoe!” Just as she was about to turn back, Charlotte Lee called out to her.

“How did you do?” Charlotte Lee knew she wouldn’t get any real answer—whether the other girl told the truth or lied, it wouldn’t help her at all.

Zoe Young thought for a moment. “It seems like everyone is happy after the Chinese exam, because even if you can’t answer a question, you just make something up and fill in the blanks. Right or wrong doesn’t matter. I think I did okay.”

Charlotte Lee was stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt much more relaxed. “Really? Good luck with math this afternoon!”

“Mm,” Zoe Young nodded, “you too.”

After speaking, Zoe Young stood up and went to the cafeteria. Charlotte Lee noticed that Ray Cindy behind her hadn’t moved for a long time, but for some reason, she just didn’t want to turn around and talk to her.

She still remembered how this girl had embarrassed her in front of the whole class and Lucas Walter, yet acted all innocent. Clearly she was cold and odd, but she always hung out with the class gossip Tina Carter, making her impossible to figure out.

If she couldn’t be first, she’d rather that spot go to Zoe Young—it absolutely couldn’t be Ray Cindy.

Absolutely not.

Zoe Young had barely stepped out of the classroom when she saw Benny. There were a lot of people around, so she didn’t go over to say hi.

That girl Laura Lawrence was tugging on his sleeve, acting cute, but Benny turned his face and winked at Zoe Young.

Zoe Young rolled her eyes at him.

Walking down the road, she overheard a conversation that made her smile.

“What did you pick for the third classical Chinese question?”

“The third one?”

“The one where you have to pick the sentence with the same use of ‘然’ as the underlined one.”

“Oh, that one. I think I picked… C. What about you?”

“Oh no, then I got it wrong, I picked B. What should I do?”

“What are you talking about, I’m sure I got it wrong… Whatever, didn’t we agree not to compare answers? The exam’s over, let’s just forget it! By the way, which option did you pick for the grammar error question?”

She was grinning foolishly when suddenly someone gently tugged her ponytail.

“What are you smiling about?”

It was Andrew Lane. Zoe Young realized he’d become a constant presence in her life—they ran into each other almost every day, usually in the cafeteria, so they inevitably ate together.

It was as if it had all been arranged in advance.

Andrew Lane still seemed to think the rumors about them weren’t spreading fast enough.

“Andrew Lane…” Zoe Young was about to say, Can’t you let me eat alone for once? But then she remembered she had a math exam that afternoon, and didn’t want to embarrass him. If her mood was off and she did badly, it would be her own fault.

“What is it?” Andrew Lane leaned in like a good kid.

“I…” Zoe Young was at a loss for words. “…You… what did you pick for the third classical Chinese question?”

On the first page, the kindergarten kids were all running with calendar paper, led by a boy and a girl—you could only see their backs, running toward the sunset.

On the second page, there was nothing but a mess, with a lunchbox knocked over nearby. The author, afraid the reader wouldn’t understand, drew an arrow pointing to a stain on the ground, with six characters: “西红柿鸡蛋汤”.

It must have been drawn so badly, the author was worried the only reader wouldn’t get it.

Andrew Lane suddenly felt his heart stop. He turned the pages carefully, and on the last page, there was nothing but three words.

To beontinued (未完待续).

To live for an obsession, is to live for all beings?????? To live for an obsession, is to live for all beings

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The Beauty of Eight: To live for an obsession, is to live for all beings

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1. When the dust settles, whose heart does it land on

Latest update of Hello, Old Times!

“Have you listened to Jay Chou’s new album? It’s so good!” Tina Carter sat down next to Ray Cindy and started peeling a green tangerine. The juice splashed into Ray Cindy’s eye, but she didn’t notice Ray Cindy’s teary left eye and kept talking.

“Now Charlotte Lee and Zoe Young’s scores are really close. Charlotte Lee got __ in math, 5 points higher than Zoe Young, but Zoe Young’s English and Chinese together are 12 points higher than Charlotte Lee. Their history and geography are about the same, but Zoe Young totally bombed politics—like, really bombed, unbelievably so. Charlotte Lee got 93, but she only got 77. There’s no saving her now. Isn’t it weird? The teachers always say that out of the three social studies subjects, politics is the easiest to learn, right?”

Ray Cindy pressed her lips together and said nothing.