Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

The next day, the rain stopped and the sky cleared.

The scorching June sun streamed through the window, making one's scalp tingle.

The classroom of Grade 11 (8) was as noisy as if a pot had exploded.

"Hey, did you hear? The school's going to implement a 'last-place elimination' system!"

"Really? They're going to send the last few students to vocational high schools?"

"Oh no, oh no, Old Wang is definitely going to go crazy this time..."

Xie Wang lay on the table in the last row, his head throbbing from the noise.

Last night, he had to keep an eye on the progress bar to prevent errors while running the decryption program on that computer, and he didn't get to sleep until 4 a.m. Now he just wants to catch up on sleep, but this environment is more chaotic than a vegetable market.

On top of that, the fat guy kept making a fuss and asking all sorts of questions, which was incredibly annoying.

"Make way."

Xie Wang picked up a book, kicked the chair aside, and stood up.

"Brother Wang, class is about to start, where are you going?" the fat man shouted.

"Catching up on sleep." Xie Wang didn't even turn his head before slipping out the back door.

……

The library of Jiangcheng No.1 Middle School is an old-fashioned red brick building.

Most students are scrambling for seats in the study rooms on the first and second floors, where there is air conditioning and Wi-Fi.

But few people know that the library also has a top-floor attic—the old observatory, abandoned for a long time, filled with old books and broken tables and chairs, and the air is full of the smell of old paper.

This is Xie Wang's "private bedroom".

This place is quiet enough, and there are no surveillance cameras, making it a suitable place for him to sleep or think about code.

Xie Wang pushed open the creaking wooden door of the attic with practiced ease.

"call……"

Finally, it's quiet.

He was about to slump onto the old long table by the window when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

someone.

And he's the last person he wants to see right now.

Golden sunlight streamed through the round domed window, and countless dust particles danced in the beams of light.

Su Qinghe was sitting at the other end of that long table.

She wore silver-rimmed glasses, held a thick book in her hands, sat upright, and looked focused.

Hearing the door open, Su Qinghe looked up.

Behind the glasses, Ruifeng's eyes calmly swept over Xie Wang, lingering on the band-aid on his face for a second before shifting back to the book as if looking at thin air.

It was as if he were invisible.

Xie Wang: "..."

Leaving? That would make me seem guilty.

Should we stay? The atmosphere is a bit strange.

Xie Wang clicked his tongue, thinking to himself, "This is a public area, why should I leave?"

He swaggered over, pulled out a chair at the other end of the long table with a screech.

Then he threw "Introduction to Algorithms" on the table, lay down, and turned his back to Su Qinghe.

The attic fell silent again.

The only sounds were the occasional rustling of pages turning and the chirping of cicadas outside the window.

A strange tacit understanding flowed in the air.

One is a cold and aloof school beauty admired by the entire school, and the other is a hopeless academic failure despised by the entire school.

At this moment, however, they coexist peacefully without interfering with each other in this small territory.

About ten minutes later.

"Feed".

Xie Wang, who was lying on the table, suddenly spoke up in a muffled voice.

Su Qinghe paused in his book-flipping fingers: "This is a library, no noise allowed."

Xie Wang straightened up, scratched his hair in frustration, and took out the handkerchief from his pocket.

That was what she gave him by the river last night. Although it was useless, it had been crumpled up in his pocket all night and was now wrinkled.

He threw the handkerchief in the middle of the table: "Here you go."

Su Qinghe glanced at the crumpled handkerchief.

"No."

She said casually, "I have obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Xie Wang sneered: "Disgusted? If you thought it was dirty, why did you give it back to me last night?"

"Last night it wasn't just a handkerchief, it was a tool." Su Qinghe turned a page of his book without looking up. "Now its function is over, it's just a piece of trash. You can keep it to wipe the table."

Xie Wangqi laughed.

This young lady's logic is truly something else.

He reached out and grabbed the handkerchief back, stuffing it back into his pocket: "Okay, then I'll use it to wipe my shoes."

Su Qinghe: "Whatever you say."

Just then, the wooden door to the attic was slammed open with a loud bang.

"Qinghe! I knew you'd be here!"

A girl with a bun hairstyle and a doll-like appearance rushed in.

She was carrying two cups of milk tea and was panting heavily as she ran.

It was Lin Lu, Su Qinghe's only best friend, and also the school's famous "little gossip".

"I'm exhausted... Jiang Yue, that tagalong, kept waiting for you downstairs, but luckily I was quick-witted..."

Lin Lu rushed to the table and suddenly saw Xie Wang lying face down opposite her, which startled her so much that she almost dropped her milk tea.

Holy crap!

Lin Lu stared wide-eyed at Xie Wang, pointing at him, "Isn't this... that sleeping god Xie Wang from Class 8? What's he doing here?"

She looked at Su Qinghe in alarm, lowering her voice (but it could actually be heard throughout the entire attic):

"Qinghe, you've been kidnapped? He's the worst student in the whole school! I heard he was fighting with thugs outside! Look at the injuries on his face! Let's run, people like that are dangerous!"

Xie Wang lazily raised his eyelids and glanced at the loud and boisterous girl.

Is this Su Qinghe's best friend? She doesn't seem very bright.

Su Qinghe took the milk tea, inserted the straw, took a sip, and remained calm.

"Why are you running? This is a school."

"But..." Lin Lu stared at Xie Wang warily, "It's so dangerous for a man and a woman to be alone together! And he... he looks so fierce."

"He is indeed quite fierce."

Su Qinghe actually nodded in agreement.

Xie Wang's temple throbbed.

"However," Su Qinghe changed the subject, his gaze falling on Xie Wang's book, "he is quieter than Jiang Yue. Here, he's just a background character."

Background image Xie Wang: "..."

Thank you for your compliment.

Lin Lu was stunned for a moment, looking at her calm best friend, and then at Xie Wang, who looked annoyed but didn't lash out.

"All right……"

Lin Lu is easygoing; since her best friend said it was nothing, then it was nothing.

She plopped down next to Su Qinghe and started talking:

"Hey Qinghe, the 'last place elimination' list is out! I heard they're serious this time, several people from Class 8 are on the list. Xie Wang is definitely... uh..."

Halfway through her speech, she suddenly realized that the person in question was right across from her, and quickly covered her mouth.

Xie Wang turned his head away expressionlessly and continued to lie down.

It was as if he wasn't the one who was going to lose face in front of the whole school and be expelled.

Su Qinghe tightened his grip on the milk tea cup.

She looked at the stubborn back of the head opposite her.

She cried so hard by the river last night, but today she's being asked to leave, yet she's acting like nothing happened.

"Lin Lu," Su Qinghe suddenly spoke.

"what?"

Give him the extra cup of milk tea.

Lin Lu's eyes widened: "Huh? Why? That was the matcha flavor I bought for you..."

"It's too sweet, I won't drink it." Su Qinghe lied without batting an eye.

Although Lin Lu was reluctant, she obediently pushed another cup of milk tea in front of Xie Wang: "Hey, that... this is a gift from Qinghe."

Xie Wang opened his eyes and looked at the bright green matcha milk tea in front of him.

There were still condensed water droplets clinging to the inside of the cup.

"I don't drink sweets," Xie Wang refused curtly.

"I didn't say it was for you."

Su Qinghe turned a page of her book, her tone calm, "I just wanted you to throw this away for me. The trash can is over there, so it's convenient."

Xie Wang: "..."

Are they using him as a dumping ground?

He stared at the cup of milk tea for three seconds.

Finally, to Lin Lu's astonishment, he picked up the cup of milk tea, roughly inserted the straw, and took a big gulp.

sweet.

It's so cloying.

But the cool liquid went down his throat, suppressing much of the heat in his heart.

Thanks.

Xie Wang mumbled something indistinctly.

"But I won't help you take out the trash."

Sunlight streamed through the dome, falling on the three people.

Lin Lu chattered away gossiping, Su Qinghe read quietly, and Xie Wang stared blankly, biting his straw.

In this attic filled with the scent of old books, two worlds that were originally clearly distinct intersected for the first time.