Back in the classroom, Chen Ge sat down in his seat.
"Bro, why are your eyes all red?" Du Ming noticed Chen Ge seemed a bit down. "Did you get dumped?"
"I'm starting to understand why you're so smart but still so unpopular." Chen Ge ignored Du Ming and turned his head to the side, his thoughts already drifting to another problem.
Even in the world behind the door, Zhang Ya was still protecting him.
In the situation just now, a newly arrived teacher not only hadn't sided with the department head but had even gone out of her way to stand up for her student. That was genuinely touching.
"In Yu Jian's world, aside from his family, that teacher was the only one helping him. Now that I'm experiencing his past, the person I can rely on most is Zhang Ya." Chen Ge was still keeping an optimistic outlook. What he was going through were Yu Jian's tribulations, but the people around him weren't Yu Jian's family — they were a family woven from his own memories.
"Lucky people spend their whole lives being healed by their childhood; unlucky people spend their whole lives trying to heal their childhood."
"Even if you go through the same things, different families and different living environments can pull a person's future in completely different directions."
"He wants me to understand his despair. I want to tell him about the hope I've always held on to in my heart."
"Before reality collapses and the sea of blood comes flooding back, I'll do everything I can to help him."
"Ming Tai never once considered saving him. I need to make him see that clearly for himself."
The second class finally ended, and Chen Ge remained slumped over his desk, gazing out the window at Liwan Town.
In his mind, he had already divided the entire town into four sectors — north, south, east, and west. If Yu Jian wasn't inside the school, he would search them one by one.
The bell rang again, and Chen Ge finally straightened up. For the first time in ages, he opened his English textbook.
"After all these years, I still can't understand a single sentence."
Zhang Ya's voice drifted over to him. Chen Ge rested his chin on one hand, and for the first time, the thought of skipping class never even crossed his mind.
From the podium, a teacher could see every student perfectly clearly, and Zhang Ya's gaze would sweep over Chen Ge now and then, a hint of apology and worry in her eyes.
He somehow endured until the lunch bell. Chen Ge lived fairly far from the school and had never had the habit of going home for lunch — let alone now.
By the time the dismissal bell rang, Chen Ge was already out the door. Slung bag in hand, he walked alone through the corridor and made his way to the rooftop of the teaching building.
The sky behind Yu Jian's door was forever shrouded in overcast clouds; sunshine never touched it.
Standing on the rooftop, Chen Ge activated his Yin Eye and surveyed all the students from above.
"Still can't find him. Where the hell is that guy hiding? This is his world, and yet he's vanished." Chen Ge clearly remembered that the moment he had stepped through the door, a man's voice had sounded in his ears — that man had to be Yu Jian. "Lost in the abyss of despair, he must want to be found, to be rescued."
While he was lost in thought, Chen Ge heard the iron door behind him creak open. Zhang Ya appeared in the doorway, dressed in her black suit and skirt.
She looked surprised to see Chen Ge. After a moment, she walked over carrying a pale yellow lunch box. "You're not going home?"
"Don't feel like it. What about you? What brings you to the rooftop at noon?"
"The cafeteria is too noisy. I prefer eating somewhere quiet. The view up here is nice, and nobody bothers you." Zhang Ya walked up to Chen Ge and glanced at the bag he was still holding. "Are you still thinking about what happened earlier? The teacher was in the wrong — we didn't think things through properly."