Day by day, they counted down, and finally, winter break arrived.
On the last day, every teacher piled on loads of holiday homework—test papers stacked high on desks like little mountains.
But for seniors in their final year, studying mostly depends on self-discipline.
Even with that much homework, no one was really going to check it when school resumed. At most, a few sheets would be picked out and used to go over lessons.
Those who were serious about studying would work hard no matter what.
If someone didn’t care, no amount of nagging would change that.
No matter how anxious the teachers and parents got, there was only so much they could do.
Lin Wangye from his past life was the perfect example.
He wasn’t the type to throw everything away just to goof off, and it’s not like he completely ignored his studies either.
He just couldn’t bring himself to focus fully.
At best, he only put in about seventy percent of his effort. If he could slack off, he would. If something could be skimmed through, he wouldn’t bother digging deeper.
If he had just pushed himself to give it his all, his grades would’ve shot up in no time.
But he just didn’t want to.
He was a spoiled kid, raised to be pampered, and even the slightest discomfort made him feel like he was being wronged.
Shi Yuan said he was there to supervise, but in reality, he mostly turned a blind eye. His attitude was more indulgent than anything else.
If it hadn’t been for the bilingual classes he started as a kid, private tutors watching every subject, and Lin Shen occasionally cracking the whip, Lin Wangye—if not for the whole heir-to-the-throne situation—would’ve definitely ended up studying how to operate an excavator.
Now that no one was hovering over him or asking questions, Xiao Lin suddenly started putting in the effort.
Not for any noble reason, just because last time around, he had barely scraped past the entrance score—just a few points above the cutoff—and had only just squeezed into Ningchang University.
He was already teetering on the edge. If he didn’t push himself now, it’d all fall apart.
The only catch was, ever since Shi Yuan switched classes and became his deskmate, Lin Wangye had come to realize something serious—early romance really tests your self-control. If you’re not careful, it’ll absolutely mess with your studies.
It was ridiculously hard not to sneak glances at the person next to him during class.
At first, he just couldn’t help himself—his eyes kept drifting to Shi Yuan, barely paying attention in class all morning. Luckily, Shi Yuan noticed pretty fast and would catch him right in the act every time his mind wandered, shooting him a warning look that snapped him right back.
After a few rounds of that, Lin Wangye didn’t dare keep sneaking glances anymore.
After Fu Xuexue transferred out, Class 7 was left without a class rep. The homeroom teacher couldn’t find a replacement on short notice either. In high school, the class rep was like a bridge between teachers and students—pretty important, really.
First off, you had to be good at studying. But beyond that, you also had to help classmates with questions, keep an eye on what was happening in class, and report it if someone was clearly zoning out or not paying attention.
And all of that had to be done without messing up your own studies.
Xu Suinian was smart enough, no problem there. But he was new to the class and barely knew anyone. Even something as simple as collecting and handing out homework was a struggle—there was no way he could handle being class rep just yet.
And the other top students in Class 7? None of them could juggle all that without it affecting their own workload.
So, when you looked at the big picture, there really wasn’t anyone suitable.
The teacher needed someone to help manage the class, and with no other option, they ended up asking the class president to take over the job.
Lu Chengxuan wasn’t overwhelmed by it or anything.
Mostly because whenever someone had a question about schoolwork, they’d all go straight to Xu Suinian. No one even wanted to go near Lu Chengxuan, who walked around like he had some kind of ‘don’t-talk-to-me’ force field on.
And when it came to handing out notebooks and papers, that whole job was taken over by his trusty secretary—Xiao Lin.
Lin Wangye didn’t just handle it himself—he always made sure to dump a stack onto Lin Shen too, making him help out. And Lin Shen couldn’t exactly say no, so he had no choice but to pick up the slack.
After a few rounds of this, on the very last day of winter break, right after handing out the final set of test papers, Lin Shen finally realized what was going on.
“Why the hell is it everyone else doing the work, and you’re the one getting all the credit? You’re a damn capitalist vampire!” Lin Shen was so mad, he smacked the table. “And what about me, huh? What am I? The sad desk-mate-slash-laboring sidekick of our glorious class rep-slash-study monitor?!”
Seeing how heated it was getting, the always-helpful Xiao Lin quickly stepped in to play peacemaker.
“Oh come on, helping others is one of our fine national traditions. Don’t get so hung up on titles and status.”
Lin Shen just got even more pissed: “Spare me the speech—you’re nothing but a capitalist vampire’s accomplice!”
“I’ll talk to the homeroom teacher next semester,” Lu Chengxuan said. “You can be the new study monitor.”
Lin Shen instantly calmed down, sat down, and started tidying up his desk. “Deal.”
Lin Wangye, who had been watching the whole thing, was completely dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he finally spoke up, “You did all that for a stupid title?!”
Lin Shen just shrugged like it was no big deal. “Mind your own business.”
Finally, it was winter break. Within just a few minutes after the bell rang, most of the class had already cleared out. Only a few students were still hanging around, chatting.
While the group was trading jokes and bickering a bit, someone suddenly appeared in the aisle next to them. Lin Wangye glanced over—and there she was, Shi Shi.
She visited the Lu household every Sunday to see Lu Wei.
But since Lin Wangye didn’t usually go home on Sundays—he was either with Shi Yuan or killing time at the Qingsen internet cafe playing games with Lin Shen—he’d only run into her a few times. Not enough to really say they knew each other.
Still, he always felt something was a little off about her. Couldn’t say exactly what, just… something weird.
“Lu Chengxuan,” Shi Shi stopped by his desk and spoke gently, “My mom and your mom are planning a trip to the Kalamay Islands. Since it’s the holidays, do you want to come?”
“I’m not going,” Lu Chengxuan replied coolly.
Shi Shi didn’t seem surprised at all. She kept the same polite smile and said, “Well… then I’ll just go with them. The surfing there is supposed to be great. I thought you’d be interested.”
“I’m not.” Lu Chengxuan said, still flat. “Hope you have fun, though.”
“Alright then. Bye.”
She waved, turned around, and walked off without a second of hesitation.
Lu Chengxuan kept his head down, calmly organizing his desk like nothing had happened. Didn’t even spare her a glance. The other three all watched her disappear through the classroom door, then in perfect sync, turned their eyes back to Lu Chengxuan.
“Anyway,” Lin Shen suddenly said, plopping down on the desk with a thud, “let’s go somewhere over break, huh?”
“I’m in, I’m in!”
Lin Wangye raised both hands in support, then turned to Shi Yuan with his eyes shining. “Let’s go! Let’s go somewhere fun!”
Of course, Shi Yuan wouldn’t let him down. He smiled and nodded.
“Sure, I’m good with anything. Where do you wanna go?”
Whenever Lin Shen was around, Lin Wangye never really had any opinions of his own. He immediately turned to his ‘dad’ and echoed, “Where are we going, huh? Where?”
“Hiking,” Lin Shen said seriously. “Let’s climb Yingtian Mountain. Burn some incense, catch the sunrise.”
The moment Lin Shen brought up a trip, Lu Chengxuan didn’t say anything, which basically meant he was in. He didn’t offer any opinions—just let them decide, and he’d go along with whatever they picked.
And when he heard the final decision, he didn’t show any disagreement at all.
Surprisingly, the one who’d been the most hyped—Lin Wangye—was suddenly quiet, his face full of rejection.
If he remembered right, Yingtian Mountain didn’t have a cable car to the summit yet, not at this point in time.
And Yingtian Mountain was called that for a reason—it shot straight into the clouds. The highest peak reached over 1,500 meters above sea level. Back in the old days, people believed it was where the gods descended from heaven.
That’s how the mountain got its name—Yingtian, ‘welcoming the heavens.’
At the summit, there was a temple called Yingfu Temple, said to be incredibly spiritual—‘ask sincerely and your prayers will be answered,’ as they say.
In his past life, Lin Wangye had actually gone to Yingtian Mountain once.
His main goal back then was to visit Yingfu Temple to pray for his dad and Uncle Shi, hoping everything would go smoothly with their work. But—bad luck struck. The weather was awful, the cable cars shut down, and if you wanted to reach the top, you had to hike. No other choice.
Young Master Lin had charged up the mountain full of energy… and gave up half an hour later. He turned right back around, cursing the whole way home.
Without a cable car, that place was a nightmare.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to climb Yingtian Mountain?” Lin Wangye was practically breaking down. “There’s nothing fun about it! You get so freaking tired. We finally get a break—can’t we go somewhere pretty and chill? Why are we doing this to ourselves?”
But Lin Shen, brave in his ignorance, casually replied, “The travel blogs all say the views are amazing. Especially in winter—snow-covered peaks, really spectacular stuff. You’re young, why do you act like hiking is torture? You should be moving more, build some stamina.”
Clearly, once he said that, it meant his mind was made up from the start—Yingtian Mountain it was.
Lin Wangye looked utterly defeated, like he’d already climbed a thousand meters in his head. “Fine.”
“You two? Any problems?” Lin Shen turned to the others.
Lu Chengxuan: “None.”
Shi Yuan: “I’m good.”
“Great! Settled then!” Lin Shen snapped his fingers, hopped down from the desk, and swung his bag over one shoulder. “I’ll go check out some travel guides. As soon as the snow stops and the weather clears up, we’ll head out.”
Lin Wangye also grabbed his bag. “Let’s go!”
The four of them left school together, heading in the same direction. Lin Shen, who practically lived at the internet cafe, broke off first and dove straight into Qingsen.
Lin Wangye and Shi Yuan went to the hospital to visit Suihe, while Lu Chengxuan went straight home, like always.
At the hospital, the early checkups and treatment plans were almost all settled. Suihe would be transferred to a higher-level hospital soon for chemotherapy. The new place was much farther from school, so visiting her wouldn’t be as easy.
Worried she might be scared, Lin Wangye kept trying to prep her mentally ahead of time.
Girls her age were naturally drawn to big brother types like Lin Wangye. He was sweet and warm, and when he was around her, he treated her just like a real little sister.
Kids that age express their feelings pretty bluntly.
Now, Suihe lit up more when she saw Lin Wangye than when she saw her actual brother. She loved sticking close to him. Just to earn a few compliments from him, she even started eating her veggies—carrots and greens included—without a fuss.
Before heading to the hospital, Lin Wangye and Shi Yuan stopped by the supermarket.
Their grandparents weren’t as quick on their feet anymore, and carrying heavy stuff wasn’t an option either. Now that they were living at the hospital full-time to take care of their granddaughter, all the daily necessities had to be bought by Shi Yuan whenever he found time.
With an illness like this, snacks were basically off-limits. Sugar was especially a no-go.
To make her feel better, all Lin Wangye could do was pick out toys he thought little girls might like.
While Shi Yuan was busy grabbing the other stuff, Lin Wangye stood by the plush toy section, browsing through the shelves.
Teddy bears, kittens, bunnies… she already had those.
He searched through the shelves inside and out before finally picking out a soft, fluffy white plush toy and heading off to find Shi Yuan.
When Shi Yuan saw the stuffed lamb in his hands, he sighed helplessly. “Don’t buy her another one—she already has too many.”
“You can never have too many toys!” Lin Wangye argued with a frown. “Besides, she barely had any to begin with, how does that count as too many?”
To someone like Lin Wangye, who’d been spoiled since birth, toys had their own entire room. A few plush dolls? That didn’t even begin to register as a lot.
Shi Yuan, on the other hand, had never had any toys growing up. He didn’t get the appeal at all.
But seeing how happy Lin Wangye was, he just smiled and let it go.
“Look!”
Lin Wangye raised the toy in front of him and wiggled his fingers, making the little lamb stretch out a paw. “I’m a happy little lamb! I wanna be your friend!”
Staring at the wobbling toy with its oversized head and big glassy eyes, Shi Yuan couldn’t help but feel like those eyes were really moving—so full of life.
Smiling, he raised a hand and gently pinched Lin Wangye’s thumb, still wrapped in the lamb’s paw. “Hello, little lamb. Nice to meet you.”
Lin Wangye flicked his fingers and made the lamb sway from side to side.
“Give the little lamb a hug!”
Shi Yuan’s eyes lingered on Lin Wangye’s face for a few seconds, then dropped to the toy as he quietly considered how to ‘hug’ it. After a moment, he reached forward and, through the plush fabric, gently took hold of Lin Wangye’s hand.
The noisy supermarket suddenly felt like someone had hit the mute button.
Their gazes locked in midair, brushing against something tender and unspoken.
Just as Shi Yuan opened his mouth, ready to say something—
Lin Wangye suddenly grinned, his eyes curved into bright half-moons. He leaned in close.
Before Shi Yuan could react, something cool brushed against his lips.
The lamb’s plastic nose had tapped him, light as a feather.
Lin Wangye pulled back, curled his fingers, and made the lamb lower its head and cover its cheeks, wiggling its little body in front of Shi Yuan.
“Brother, buy one, pleeeease~”
*
Author’s Note:
In terms of overall screentime, the two couples get about a 1:1 ratio when it comes to romantic plotlines.
Lin Shen’s love life is a little slower at first—guy’s basically cursed by Cupid—but don’t worry, Xiao Lin is gonna make some moves. Stay tuned.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
