Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 10

The last class of the afternoon was math.

“Ding-ling-ling-”

The dismissal bell was like an apocalypse, tearing through the dead air in the classroom as the teacher finished assigning homework and left.

Noise surged back in.

I drew the final stroke on the chemical structure in my workbook and capped my pen.

Today’s encounter with Xia Shiyu’s probing and Shen Ruanruan’s conversation was truly unexpected.

But at best, it was just unnecessary socializing.

Far less absorbing than the complex equations of mathematics.

“Xiao Huihui, let’s go! The three seats at the internet café are waiting for you!”

Monkey’s skinny figure swept to my desk like a gust of wind, his face full of the exhilaration of regained freedom.

Wang Lei followed close behind, his massive frame nearly blocking half the aisle.

He waved three brand new internet café recharge cards in the air.

“I just topped up-tonight you’ll have the time of your life! So, Brother Hui, give us some face, will you?”

The looks they gave me already carried a hint of little brothers looking up to their big brother with anticipation.

I stuffed my workbook into my backpack and zipped it shut.

The heavy weight on my shoulders somehow gave me a grounded sense of security.

Looking at them through my black-rimmed glasses, I replied listlessly, “You guys go ahead. I’m a bit tired today, want to go home early and crash.”

“Don’t, Xiao Huihui!”

Monkey stubbornly grabbed me.

“Is it because of what happened this morning? Did that bastard Li Yaowen give you trouble again? Just tell us, I’ll grab Fatty and we’ll help you take care of him!”

“Exactly!”

Wang Lei pounded his chest with a loud “thump-thump.” “Whoever dares mess with Brother Hui has to get through my fat first!”

I pulled my backpack strap back, ignoring their cowardice when actually facing trouble.

“Alright, stop adding drama.”

I explained, “Really, it’s nothing. I’m just out of energy and need to recharge. You guys have fun, kill a few more monsters for me.”

Not giving them a chance to pester me further, I slung my turtle-shell backpack and walked straight through the crowded throng.

Behind me, I could still hear their disappointed sighs.

Leaving the teaching building, the evening breeze carried the lingering warmth of the day.

The sky was painted a magnificent orange-red by the setting sun, and the shadows of buildings stretched long and crisscrossed on the ground.

I walked among the crowd of students in identical blue-and-white uniforms.

Blending in, head down, my long bangs and black-rimmed glasses hiding my face as much as possible.

It felt good.

Because in this noisy, massive crowd, I was just an inconspicuous pixel, a background prop that could be drowned out and forgotten at any moment.

That was all, yet it was the shelter I craved most.

Getting off the bus.

In the distance, food stalls were set up, the scent of fried skewers, the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes, and car exhaust drifting by.

With my backpack on, my mind automatically replayed the sets of papers I’d worked through today.

Sorting out the mistakes, preparing to focus on them tonight.

Just then, my phone buzzed briefly in my pocket.

It was a text notification.

Without stopping, I habitually pulled out the old smartphone from my uniform pocket.

The screen was a bit scratched, but still usable.

I unlocked the screen one-handed and casually tapped the new message.

A line of words, almost warm to the touch, lay in the center of the screen.

[Brother, how have you been lately? I miss you so much.]

In that instant, it felt like time itself had been paused.

My body jerked uncontrollably.

The phone nearly slipped from my stiff fingers; I had to use all my strength to clutch it tightly at the last moment.

The smooth, cold device now felt like a red-hot iron, burning my palm painfully.

The crowd around me, the sound of cars, the vendors’ shouts…

Everything faded away, dissolving into a hollow, distorted hum in my ears.

A bone-chilling cold surged from the soles of my feet up my spine, seizing my heart before exploding at the crown of my head.

Brother…
I miss you so much……

Damn, running into a ghost in broad daylight!

That way of addressing me, that tone…

There is only one person in the world who can say such words in such a naïve and affectionate manner.

Su Wanqing.

The childhood friend who grew up together with the original host.

Also the first to fall, and eventually became one of the core members of the male protagonist’s harem… a woman.

How does she have my phone number?!

The fatal question transformed into an ice pick, stabbing hard into my brain.

Three years ago,

In order to escape that northern city, I almost used a suicidal determination to sever all ties with my past.

Changed my phone number, deleted all social media accounts, sold my house, and even had my records handled with the strictest care through money and connections…

Like someone who vanished into thin air, I rebuilt a completely new identity in this small southern city thousands of kilometers away, with no connection to three years ago.

The sole purpose was to escape her, to escape Chu Sheng, the male protagonist.

To escape that damned plot that clings to me like maggots on bones!

But now this message tells me…

I haven’t.

That invisible thread still has one end tightly tied around my neck.

No, this is all wrong. Too wrong.

According to the vague timeline in my memory of that novel,

She should be indulging herself with Chu Sheng right now.

Or partying every night with all those various harem members of his, living in endless debauchery?

Her world should only revolve around the male protagonist who gives her unprecedented experiences.

How could she still remember me, someone who vanished without a trace three years ago, not even a proper stumbling block in the plot?

Could it be…

That damned plot, that invisible hand, still refuses to let me go?

Why…

Terror, rage, confusion… all kinds of emotions crashed wildly in my chest.

My fingers trembled from the force, my knuckles turning white from the grip.

Almost by instinct, I tapped the unfamiliar number as fast as I could.

Among the options that popped up on the screen, the words “Add to blacklist” glared in scarlet.

Without hesitation, I pressed it with all my strength.

[Are you sure you want to add this number to the blacklist? You will no longer receive calls or messages from this number.]

Confirm!

The cold notification from my phone brought me no comfort.

I knew this was just self-deception.

Blocking a number can’t stop a person.

The problem isn’t the number, but the fact that she already knows it.

How did she find out?

Did she look it up herself, or did Chu Sheng help her?

If she could find my phone number, does that mean she knows where I am now?

Will she… come looking for me?

One deadly question after another, like vultures circling, tearing at my nerves in my mind.

Leaning against the rough trunk of a camphor tree by the roadside, the texture of the bark pressed uncomfortably into my back.

Dusk deepened.

Neon lights in the distance had already lit up, flickering dreamily under the deep blue sky.

This cityscape, both unfamiliar and familiar, entered my view, and an indescribable irritation surged from deep within my heart.

I closed my eyes.

Images from another world surfaced in my mind.

That hospital room always filled with the smell of disinfectant, my grandfather lying in bed, tubes everywhere, his life flickering like a candle in the wind.

And my father, already gray at the temples, toiling day and night to pay the exorbitant medical bills…

Home.

I just want to study hard, become the damned provincial top scorer, and get the ticket to return to my original world and be with them again.

I opened my eyes again, tilting my head to look at the sky above, fragmented by the towering buildings.

My throat felt stuffed with a wad of wet cotton.

Dry, sore, yet no sound could come out.

Why… is it so hard?