Chapter 16: Excuse Me

Back in the classroom, Qiao Lan had returned from outside and many of the students who had gathered outside the classroom finally saw the legendary Qiao Lan.

But the legendary Qiao Lan was not at all pleased to be the first in the year. A tall, thin girl walked into the classroom in silence, as if she had glanced at the last row of the first group, and then returned to her seat without saying a word.

Qiao Lan admits to being a little disappointed.

The class teacher just approached her and said that Tan Mo did not want to sit at the same table with her.

Straightforwardly, he said he did not want to, without ever explaining any reason.

The class teacher was a good person and reassured Qiao Lan, "Tan Mo is different from what you know, he grew up with severe autism and something happened to his family and now it's even worse. Tan Mo didn't want to come to school at all and Tan Mo's father had to work very hard to get Tan Mo to come to school. Tan Mo doesn't like to be close to people, so he just sits at the back..."

"You don't have to say it teacher, I understand it all."

She even knows more than the class teacher.

Knowing that this is no ordinary autism for Tan Mo and knowing what has happened to him, it is inevitable that there is still some disappointment.

The class teacher couldn't say anything, but after thinking about it, she said, "Regarding the change of seats, I think it's good for you to sit at the same table with Chen Yaoyang, who is very good in Physics and Chemistry.

Qiao Lan: "......"

Please leave me alone, teacher.

Perhaps Qiao Lan's expression was so unbearable that the class teacher couldn't be bothered to give her a hard time.

After all, being first is always a little privilege, "So who do you want to sit at the table with?"

"Whatever," says Qiao Lan, who can't even name 40 of the 45 people in the class.

The class teacher thought about it, "Then Pei Ning. Pei Ning is also very good at Physics and Chemistry, but a bit weak in English, so it would be good for you to sit together."

Qiao Lan doesn't know who Pei Ning is, the class teacher said so then so be it.

After Qiao Lan left, the class teacher sighed, still a little concerned about why Qiao Lan was not sitting at the same table as Chen Yaoyang, who, as far as he knew, was supposed to be very well liked in the class.

I shook my head and walked out of the office, but after two steps I noticed that the figure in front of me looked a bit familiar.

What is Chen Yaoyang doing here?

Chen Yaoyang didn't really want to talk but stood still, a handsome face expressionless, "Teacher, what can I do for you?"

"This", the class teacher hesitated for a moment, but still felt that he could not ask, but could only encourage Chen Yaoyang as he walked away, "Is it a bit discouraging that you did not keep the first place in your grade this time, the teacher thinks that you do not have to take it to heart at all, just work hard and try to come back next time. "

He admits that he has been a bit too relaxed lately, and that if he works a bit harder on the arts subjects, he will still come first next time, and he doesn't really worry too much about it.

He is now annoyed by the...

"Teacher," Chen Yaoyang spoke deliberately, "the seats for the afternoon..."

"According to the ranking this time, you and Qiao Lan should sit at the same table, but for some reasons, the teacher decided to let Qiao Lan sit with Pei Ning and you sit with Song Yao. "

Chen Yaoyang: "......"

What else can he say when you say so?

If he doesn't agree, then it means he and Song Yao are not on good terms?

Chen Yaoyang, who did not even want to say a word, was passing by the display board of the senior list and saw Qiao Lan at the top.

More and more sombrely, he averted his eyes.

The last class of the afternoon was a class meeting, and all the students in Class 13 were slightly excited. As soon as the second class started, all the students packed their bags and waited to meet their new desks.

Only Tan Mo sits quietly, as if he has nothing to do with anything.

When the bell rang, the class teacher came in with the report card and stood on the podium to clear his throat before saying, "Today we are going to arrange the seats according to ranking. I know that some students are not satisfied with this method of seating, especially those who are at the bottom of the class, so I would like to explain one more point about seating."

"Students who are at the top of the ranking can sit with students who are at the top of the ranking, however, if the students who improve very much in the exams, the teacher can also adjust the seats at his discretion, so that even if you do not do well, but as long as you improve, you can still be at the table with students who do very well, which means that our change of seats this time is not strictly according to the ranking. "

So saying, those who had previously been at the back of the class went into high spirits and the class buzzed with chatter.

"Okay, okay, everyone be quiet, now start seating", the class teacher pointed to the first beat of the group by the door, "Starting with this group, first row, Qiao Lan , Pei Ning."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the eyes of the class fell on Qiao Lan's body.

Shouldn't Qiao Lan sit with Chen Yaoyang?

Even Pei Ning, who was about to sit at the same table as Qiao Lan, was stunned, but he was introverted and didn't say anything.

Qiao Lan was even more relaxed, taking her bag and sitting in the first row just as the class teacher finished speaking.

Tan Mo, who had been looking down at his book, had long since stopped writing, and the muscles of his ever expressionless face twitched vaguely, and for the first time his pretty light brown eyes were confused.

Shouldn't she be sitting with Chen Yaoyang?

But no one answered him, and no one would tell him.

Chen Yaoyang, who was supposed to sit at the same table as Qiao Lan, was seated in the first row of the third group to Qiao Lan's left, with the class flower Song Yao.

Song Yao's cheeks are slightly flushed and her eyes are pretty and watery, but Chen Yaoyang is in a bad mood and doesn't see it at all.

He turns his head and sees Qiao Lan, her head bowed with a pen working on a physics exercise book, seemingly not half interested in where he is sitting, nor does the chaos around her matter in the slightest.

Qiao Lan really doesn't like him?

Even after hearing for himself that Qiao Lan would not sit at the same table with him, Chen Yaoyang did not believe him.

After all, the look in Qiao Lan's eyes at the beginning was too obvious.

And Qiao Lan would have been so desperate to get to this ranking if it wasn't for his proximity.

But what Qiao Lan wants to do now, Chen Yaoyang can't really think of.

After the Qiao Lan and Chen Yaoyang seating fiasco, the subsequent seating changes were less interesting, with everyone chattering away as they resumed their seats at new tables.

Only Tan Mo, as a whole, is more sombre in his silence.

He looked up, as he always did, towards a seat, but instead of Qiao Lan, there was a tall, strong boy sitting there.

Qiao Lan is sitting on the side of the door and Tan Mo is sitting on the diagonal of that position.

Qiao Lan has become the furthest person from Tan Mo in this classroom.

There were so many students in between and very tall and strong boys blocking Tan Mo's view.

He can't see Qiao Lan's back anymore.

The pen in his hand suddenly cuts through the paper, leaving a long mark on the top of the book, but Tan Mo himself does not even notice.

The last class ended in a daze, the students stood up taller, blocking everything even more, and when they could finally see, Tan Mo saw that Qiao Lan was still sitting in her seat reading.

Tan Mo, who wanted to leave, stopped again.

Tan Mo couldn't figure out why he wasn't leaving and what he was staying here for.

He didn't want to think about the reason for this, and he looked soberly at Qiao Lan, who had become so far away from him.

Tan Mo looked at the phone and pressed the button, and wrote back to Uncle Chan, who picked him up from school every day.

School finished at 5.20 and it was not until 5.40 that Qiao Lan finally put down her pen and breathed a sigh of relief.

Unconsciously, he looked back in Tan Mo's direction, and when he did, he remembered that Tan Mo should be long gone by now.

But when she looked, she saw that Tan Mo was still there, not only there, but a pale and fragile young man in a wheelchair, looking at her steadily.

Those eyes had never been very affectionate, but from this distance, Qiao Lan felt that the gaze of those eyes on her was excessively hot.

Qiao Lan wanted to leave, but hesitated for a moment and then stopped.

Since Tan Mo said she would not sit at the table with her, Qiao Lan's motivation has been somewhat dampened and she is not sure how to continue to communicate with Tan Mo. She even wonders whether it is really appropriate for her to take such a unilateral initiative.

Did what she herself thought was intimate feel only annoying to Tan Mo, only intrusive.

But... Qiao Lan lowered her eyelashes slightly, and when she looked up again, Tan Mo had already withdrawn her eyes and was rolling her wheelchair towards the classroom, her cold back as if the searing sight she had just seen had been false.

Qiao Lan grabbed her school bag and went after her.

"Tan Mo," Qiao Lan shouted at Tan Mo.

The teenager with his hand pressed against the wheelchair paused, the setting sun falling on his pale, faded cheeks, his voice muted and detached, "What."

"You..."

What were you looking at?

What did you just try to do again?

Qiao Lan didn't ask after all, and she could guarantee that Tan Mo didn't even know herself.

"Tan Mo , do you like to be alone?"

"Yes."

"Don't you like it when someone gets too close to you."

"Yes."

"Do you hate being too close to you?"

"Will."

Qiao Lan is silent.

Tan Mo stared at Qiao Lan intently, why ask this, why ask such irrelevant questions, why not continue to ask?

Qiao Lan did not ask.

Tan Mo stared hard into Qiao Lan's dark eyes and asked the question that had annoyed him all day, "Why didn't you sit with Chen Yaoyang?"

Qiao Lan froze, probably not understanding why Chen Yaoyang had been mentioned, but answered honestly.

"Because I don't want to."

Don't want to?

Why don't you want to?

And who would you like to sit with?

Isn't it for him that you came first in the exam?

Tan Mo did not ask the question, but Qiao Lan understood Tan Mo's question.

"I don't want to, because I hate him," Qiao Lan said, and then, as if poking fun at herself, "I wanted to sit at the same table as you, but the teacher said you wouldn't."

Tan Mo looked up at her abruptly.

Qiao Lan looked down at him and curbed his smile.

"Tan Mo, I didn't know you would like it so much, I didn't mean to make it so hard for you, I'm sorry, never again, I won't bother you again."

She looked at Tan Mo and smiled softly, just as she had done in the past, but this time, it was never the same as the smile she remembered from the past.