Chapter 1: I Have Time

wu’s attire was somewhat conventional: a cotton sweater over a checkered shirt,休閒褲，腳上是一雙進口的銳步跑鞋，手裡擰著兩瓶啤酒，來到蘇燦身旁，一屁股坐下。"I thought who could have been making my little sister run around here recently. I...Chapter 1: I Have Time

The first few days at school, Su Cen indeed felt the significant change brought about by his identity as a heroic youth. On his way to class, people would occasionally point and whisper things like "That's from Class Five," indicating their recognition of him.

However, the students in Class Five were rather reserved regarding this matter; they continued to joke around as usual without deliberately bringing it up. Xue Yiyang once again became the center of attention, with an astonishingly high level of popularity among girls who wanted to be close to him. This was exactly what Xue Yiyang had wished for in his previous life, and now he had no chance to complain about Su Cen anymore.

Subconsciously, Xue Yiyang poked Su Cen's ribs and said, "You've become quite famous! Wang Chen from Class Four is still asking me about what happened back then. Sorry for you, but I have to do it for my brother’s lifelong happiness!"

Su Cen understood that this guy had probably exaggerated his own role in the incident and turned Su Cen into someone who acted decisively under his instructions. Afterward, he would hold hands with him and thank him, saying things like "Thanks to your reminder, I got cut!" These fabricated stories were aimed at getting closer to girls.

One day during a class session taught by Xiao Rihua, Su Cen was called upon to answer questions regarding the content he had studied while on rest leave for a week. His answers were smooth and well-organized; Xiao Rihua smiled in satisfaction when he sat down again.

In recent times, many teachers, including some senior ones with over twenty years of experience who usually didn't interact much with him, were asking about Su Cen's condition. They even showed smiles when they crossed paths, and Ding Juntao specifically praised Su Cen in a staff meeting for turning around an incident that had the potential to worsen, involving Xiao Rihua himself. This event seemed to have alleviated the oppressive atmosphere in the office where everyone was focused on their work.

A close colleague of Xiao Rihua approached him privately and said, "Old Xiao, don't pay too much attention to what Old Zhao and Old Wang think. They might not say it out loud, but they're quite envious of your three-thousand-yuan bonus for being a role model! Everyone says you got lucky with Su Cen stepping up in your class; otherwise, you'd have been in trouble yourself! But from my perspective, there's no reason to be jealous. Let them try handling such situations if they think it's easy!"

Xiao Rihua smiled modestly. After the incident, he had become more humble and less confrontational than before, when he would argue over everything and end up isolated from his peers. This caused severe symptoms of menopause-like behavior in him, but after the event, he became much calmer.

Xiao Rihua was short and didn't have any noteworthy events during his youth; sometimes even his wife criticized him for not acting like a man. Thinking about how he had charged at the thug Chen Chong with a chair in hand, he felt energetic once more. Recently, his work enthusiasm had surged, and this vigor extended to his home life as well—his wife was radiant when shopping for groceries, sometimes even chuckling in her sleep, only to be scolded by her husband for still behaving so frivolously despite being their age.

Understanding Xiao Rihua's character, the colleague said sharply with a roll of his eyes, "How do you explain this Su Cen His grades are excellent, yet he deliberately scored badly in exams just to show off. Later on, he even argued back at you! He’s clearly trouble; who would have thought such a troublesome student could still muster up the courage for heroic acts

Xiao Rihua此刻對蘇燦心中的疙瘩已經解開。回想起他掄桌子砸陳沖的那種快感，不禁嗬嗬一笑，“年輕人嘛，誰冇有年少輕狂的時候？說到底我們也是這麼過來的，可以理解，可以理解啊。”他的神情顯得有些悠遠，彷彿已經把蘇燦看透了似的。

在全校大會上受到表彰後，丁俊濤麵露紅光，對這個蘇燦頗感興趣。依稀記得上次獲得全國優秀作文獎的就是這個人，如今又見他做了件義舉，這樣下去，市一中會不會出個全國十佳少年呢

這次表彰之後，蘇燦的地位無形中提高了不少，在班級裡就連李艾這種人都對他讚不絕口。不過許多人依然對他有些矜持，並冇有出現一大群同學下課後圍在他身邊的情況。這主要是因為平時在班上他給人的印象就不冷不熱，高中生雖然猜不出他的心思，但多少能感覺到他的目光中透露出一種不屬於這個集體的獨特性。

誰又知道蘇燦根本就不屬於這個時代呢？

這一係列事件過後，學期末的大考來臨了。薛易陽最近乖多了，冇有機會就不出邀請蘇燦和劉睿三人外出玩遊戲，而是老老實實地借來蘇燦的筆記抄了起來。看到蘇燦的成績提升給他帶來了很大的壓力，也促使他投入到了複習之中。

期末考試的最後一堂課結束了，蘇燦收拾好書包準備出門時，在對麵考場遇見了迎麵而來的唐嫵，兩人都愣了一下。唐嫵對他點點頭，兩人一起走下階梯。其實他們出來不算太早，距離交卷時間還有半個多小時。然而最後一堂考試結束後，許多人的心都急著考慮寒假怎麼玩，所以提前交卷的人很多，很少有人能堅持到最後半小時的。因此，考場中走出來的人並不多。剩下的人不是穩定心神檢查答案的就是冇做完擔心最後成績。

蘇燦早就過了為即將到來的寒假而興奮激動的心情了，即便有，他也能很好地控製自己。所以出門遇到唐嫵時，兩個人走出的時候發現周圍人很少，環境異常寧靜。

現在是下午五點多鐘，教學樓迎著紅彤的日光，不刺眼的陽光斜射入樓梯道口內，四周白牆綠窗剝落了皮，兩人的影子被這從天而降的斜光照得拉長。

隻有兩人下樓的腳步聲打破此刻的寧靜，在薄暮瀰漫的教學樓中迴盪。

唐嫵走在蘇燦側麵，紅彤彤的日光映在她粉頸上，將上麵的絨毛鍍上一層柔亮的顏色。讓蘇燦心裡湧出一股熱流。

"還真有點哈利波特的感覺啊。” 蘇燦有些感歎，在未來也許牽女人的手可以輕而易舉，然而這一刻卻無法輕易地牽起唐嫵的手。明明知道兩人的關係其實可以更進一步發展，卻偏偏自己無法對唐嫵產生這種莽撞的褻瀆之感。

"Harry Potter" Tang Wu's finely arched eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, it's a foreign novel." "Harry Potter" was roughly introduced to China between the years 2000 and 2001. Su Cen clearly remembered this because he was in his senior year at that time and could hardly understand what was taught in class; hence, reading novels served as a way to pass the time. However, it was Warner Bros.' film adaptation that truly sparked a worldwide craze for Harry Potter. Of course, by 1999, few people in China were aware of it.

"A novel Is it very famous"

"Yes, it's quite well-known." Su Cen nodded.

To her surprise, Tang Wu showed interest: "What is it about Do you like it"

"I do. Though it’s a whimsical fairy tale-like fantasy story with bits of everything, as Dan Brown from 'The Da Vinci Code' puts it, we all need to retain some sense of childlike wonder." Su Cen smiled slightly. The success of Harry Potter partly stemmed from its departure from traditional Western fantasy frameworks and rules, incorporating more humanistic elements and brushstrokes, transitioning from rigorousness towards fairy tales and then towards reality, making it appealing to most age groups.

"The Da Vinci Code"

Seeing Tang Wu blink her eyes thoughtfully again made Su Cen feel a headache coming on.

Su Cen and Tang Wu came downstairs and were surprised to run into Chen Lingshan, Li Lumei, and another girl named Wang Lu, who was in Li Lumei's circle of friends and also a friend of Chen Lingshan’s; she was a girl from Class 2.

Tang Wu and Chen Lingshan were still classmates. They greeted each other briefly, but there was an element of wariness in Chen Lingshan's gaze when looking at Tang Wu.

"Hi! Su Cen, I've heard great things about you for a long time!" Wang Lu had quite the cheerful personality, and when saying this to Su Cen, she looked at Chen Lingshan with teasing tone and double meaning in her words.

"Are you waiting for someone" Su Cen smiled at everyone. Although he didn't have any special relationship with Chen Lingshan and Tang Wu, every time the two of them met face-to-face, there was always an uneasy tension in the air.

Liu Limei glanced at Chen Lingshan; her cautious look briefly flashed across her eyes before she smiled at Su Cen, "We're waiting for someone. We're planning a gathering next week and we'd be happy if you could join us!"

"I won't go," Su Cen shook his head.

Liu Limei sighed with disappointment, as Ma Xiaoshi had been absent from class recently due to being hospitalized. Recently, he had been quiet and unlikely to participate in such activities with them. She didn’t know any of the people Wang Lu had invited, so she was hoping that Su Cen would come along, which might also help bring Chen Lingshan and him closer together. But now Su Cen had refused her request. Out of consideration for propriety, she feared that trying to be clever about it might offend Chen Lingshan, as the girl was quite independent-minded and cared deeply about what her close friends thought.

Unexpectedly, Chen Lingshan stepped forward, shortening the distance between herself and Su Cen to match where Tang Wu stood. She looked directly into his eyes with a tone that hinted at slight reproach, "Hey, don't forget you promised me that we'd get together for some fun."

Chen Lingshan's manner immediately caught Liu Limei and Wang Lu’s attention. Smart girl! Knowing how to keep her footing in front of Tang Wu.

Su Cen was momentarily taken aback before he remembered that Chen Lingshan had indeed mentioned a get-together after the mid-term exams, but it hadn’t been organized due to lack of time. Recalling his promise, Su Cen nodded and said, "Alright."

Chen Lingshan then turned her gaze towards Tang Wu, slightly tempering her enthusiasm from earlier with more polite formality, "Tang Wu, would you like to come along too It's mostly classmates; even the sharpest minds need a break. We might go singing in the evening—depends if you have time."

Chen Lingshan’s smile was sweet. Tang Wu probably felt that half an hour of free time would be wasted, let alone going out to sing which wasn't something her parents would readily accept.

Tang Wu glanced at Su Cen; his spontaneous agreement made her heart tighten inexplicably. Looking back at Chen Lingshan, almost subconsciously she replied, "Sure, I have time." Winnie-the-Pooh which could be seen through her shirt. This combined with the outline of her curvaceous figure made people want to reach out and touch her."We're facing right into the wind here, yet...