Chapter 66: Intermittent Fits
It was unclear whether it was because of the system’s mention of “Return to Source,” but Gu Qinghuan had an unusually exhausting dream that night.
In the dream, she became a fish, swimming in a deep, dark ocean. Every now and then she opened her mouth to eat some seaweed or plankton-like creatures.
She kept swimming, never feeling tired, yet bored; everything around her was pitch black.
As she swam, she suddenly noticed a faint, hazy light and happily swam toward it. But as she got closer, the light suddenly revealed a grotesque, horrifying face.
Startled, she immediately woke up from the dream.
“…So, you dreamed that you were about to be eaten by an anglerfish?” At school, after hearing Gu Qinghuan describe her dream, Qin Yue couldn’t stop laughing.
“I wasn’t eaten!” Gu Qinghuan patted the desk. “I woke up just as I saw the fish’s face — maybe I even escaped!”
Jiang Chuchu, who had just entered the classroom, saw Gu Qinghuan hitting the desk. “Who did you argue with so early in the morning?”
“I didn’t argue,” Qin Yue said. “She dreamed she turned into a fish, got attracted by an anglerfish’s light, and almost got eaten.”
Seeing that Qin Yue said “almost,” Gu Qinghuan didn’t bother arguing with him.
“An anglerfish, huh,” Jiang Chuchu said, recalling the fish’s appearance, and looked at Gu Qinghuan sympathetically. “If you see its face up close, it’s definitely scary.”
“Right!” Gu Qinghuan nodded vigorously.
At that moment, Gu Qinghuan and Qin Yue were still chatting casually. But as more classmates arrived, they soon had no free time at all.
“Qin Yue, go practice your handwriting! I almost went blind looking at your notes last night!”
“Class president, I didn’t understand the ninth multiple-choice question in the math test notes…”
“The third multiple-choice question — how did you solve it in seconds?”
Poor Gu Qinghuan and Qin Yue were bombarded with questions from their classmates, getting dizzy. Fortunately, Yu Xin and Jiang Chuchu also joined in to help, otherwise morning study time would have been unbearable.
Chen Zelin came by as usual to check on the morning study session. Seeing the class in chaos, he thought the students were causing trouble and quickly asked what was going on.
Bao Qingsong was comparing notes while working on physics problems. When the desk was knocked, he instinctively looked up and saw the homeroom teacher’s face, shivering reflexively. “Teacher Chen, g-good morning…”
“What’s going on over there?” Chen Zelin pointed toward the densely packed fourth group.
Hearing it wasn’t about him, Bao Qingsong immediately relaxed. “Oh, everyone’s asking the class president and vice president questions, along with the academic committee and disciplinary committee.”
Chen Zelin recalled the class’s behavior during Monday’s lunch break. Since nothing happened on Tuesday, he thought it had been a temporary fluke and didn’t intervene further.
Turns out it wasn’t temporary — it was intermittent!
But why were Gu Qinghuan and Qin Yue the ones explaining the problems? Yu Xin and Jiang Chuchu were standing aside?
Chen Zelin reviewed Gu Qinghuan’s and Qin Yue’s scores and rankings and thought it was a bit ridiculous.
As he was thinking, he noticed that Bao Qingsong’s desk, in addition to physics test papers, had a stack of printed sheets — apparently with images.
Noticing Chen Zelin’s gaze, Bao Qingsong explained proactively: “These are the blackboard notes and handouts from yesterday when the study god — uh, Su Lin from Class 2 — was explaining problems. The class president and vice president shared them in the group chat. Now everyone’s just asking about problems they didn’t understand.”
Chen Zelin understood — that made sense. He didn’t expect Gu Qinghuan and Qin Yue to be so responsible. He nodded approvingly. “Alright, continue studying, but keep it down. Don’t disturb the class next door.”
Bao Qingsong acknowledged and, once Chen Zelin left, immediately shouted at Jiang Chuchu, “Disciplinary Committee Jiang, the homeroom teacher just came. Keep it down and don’t disturb the next class!”
Jiang Chuchu stood up, looked around at everyone, and said in a threatening tone, “Did you hear me?”
The classmates shrank like quails, ducking their heads. “Yes, we heard.”
Fortunately, for most of the questions, classmates could understand by comparing the blackboard notes and handouts. Only a few more complex or tricky problems required individual explanation.
In the time of a single morning study session, the four worked together and almost finished everything.
Gu Qinghuan slumped in her chair, listening to the bell, feeling emotional. “I never thought the dismissal bell could sound so nice.”
“Every time I hear the bell, I feel the same,” Qin Yue said, grabbing a drink from under the desk and taking a big gulp. “But today’s bell is definitely the nicest so far.”
Gu Qinghuan had forgotten to bring her water cup that morning and was about to get water from the break room.
Before she could get up, Yu Xin handed her an unopened box of mixed fruit juice. “Here.”
“Thanks, Xin Bao!” Gu Qinghuan took the juice, inserted the straw, and leaned on the desk to drink.
Jiang Chuchu watched and groaned. “Is this what straws were invented for?”
“Many inventions find their use in unexpected ways,” Gu Qinghuan said thoughtfully. “Isn’t this a kind of tiny, practical wisdom?”
“Come on, you’re just lazy,” Qin Yue bluntly called her out.
After morning classes ended, Gu Qinghuan was thinking about what to have for lunch in the cafeteria when Bao Qingsong shouted, “Class president, your younger brother’s here to see you!”
Gu Qinghuan looked up — sure enough, it was Xia He.
Class 3 students knew Xia He’s name and that he wasn’t biologically related to Gu Qinghuan, but calling him “younger brother” was more convenient.
After all, it was a common name, and sometimes people forget it.
“Want to have lunch together?” Gu Qinghuan greeted Xia He as she walked over.
“I’m here specifically to claim my reward from my sister,” Xia He said, smiling as always. “I have something else I want more than lunch.”
“What do you want?” Gu Qinghuan glanced at Xia He’s arm, then curved her lips. “It’s all gone! You really did try hard.”
For someone with a self-harm habit, cutting oneself is as easy as breathing — sometimes even a subconscious act. Some people can even get addicted to it.
So the fact that Xia He could refrain from self-harming required far more willpower than most would imagine.
Why could he do it? Xia He himself wasn’t sure. The ceramic knife under his pillow had been gripped countless times, but each time he stopped before the blade touched his skin.
But now he was satisfied. Just Gu Qinghuan’s smile and words made all his endurance feel worthwhile.
“Let’s have lunch first. We can talk about everything else later,” Xia He said.
Gu Qinghuan nodded. After a morning of explaining and listening to lessons, she desperately needed to replenish her energy.
Yu Xin hesitated beside Gu Qinghuan, wondering whether to greet Xia He.
After all, Xia He had given her many suggestions before. Being an upperclassman, basic courtesy was necessary.
“Senior Xia,” Yu Xin said, “hello.”
Xia He’s smile didn’t change. “Hello.”
Jiang Chuchu raised her eyebrows. Xin Bao greeted Xia He? And Xia He responded?
Qin Yue had plans with his basketball club friends after lunch, so he didn’t join them.
Still, at first glance, Xia He walking alongside three girls didn’t look awkward. At least in terms of height and appearance, it looked quite harmonious.
