dhibooks Chapter 108 Side by Side
Chapter 108 Side by Side
High school is all about exams, exams, and more exams.
Exams are held every semester, from monthly exams to midterms, and then finals. It's a never-ending cycle, like a leaky faucet, dripping endlessly.
Tomorrow is the start of the school year exam.
When the bell rang to signal the end of evening self-study, no one moved in the classroom.
Some people were still writing their homework, some were turning a page of their textbooks, and some were putting down their pens and picking them up again.
Even Zhao Qihang wasn't in a hurry to leave. He was lying on the table staring at the math test paper, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.
Song Huan capped her pen and glanced up at the clock on the wall.
Half past ten.
He turned his head to look behind him.
Because of the exam tomorrow, everyone moved their books to the corridor. The desks are clean and tidy, and without those tall stacks that block the view, you can see everything at a glance.
Xiao Yunqing sat in the third row, head down, with a physics test paper spread out in front of her.
Her ponytail was tied high, revealing a section of her white nape.
The light from the table lamp shone on her face, clearly outlining the lines of her profile.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, her eyelashes drooped, and her fair face was delicate and beautiful.
Her innermost thoughts drifted over, very softly, as if she were talking to herself.
[How do I answer this question? I feel like it might be on the test tomorrow.]
The pen tip touched the paper once, lifted it, and then touched it again.
I wrote two lines on the draft paper, crossed them out, then wrote two more lines, and crossed them out again.
[Should we ask him?]
The pen stopped.
[No, no, what if he laughs at me for being stupid?]
Song Huan chuckled softly, the sound escaping from the corner of her mouth. Feng Nian, who sat next to her, didn't hear it, nor did Zhao Qihang, who sat behind her.
He stood up, and the chair slid back a little, scraping the floor with a soft sound.
Xiao Yunqing didn't look up; she was still staring at the question.
He walked over, stopped at her table.
Upon smelling the familiar scent, Xiao Yunqing paused for a moment, not looking up, but recognizing Song Huan solely from the aroma.
Her expression changed slightly, it was hard to describe, a bit like a child caught stealing candy, feeling guilty but unwilling to admit it.
"What?" she asked in a muffled voice.
Which question?
She moved the test paper closer to herself. "No need, you go first. I'll study a little longer."
"Which question?" he asked again.
Xiao Yunqing raised her head and glanced at him.
His lips were pursed, his brows were furrowed, and he looked stubborn, but his ears were red.
She didn't speak or move.
Song Huan sighed as she looked at her.
He took half a step back, put his hands together, raised them in front of him, and bent over slightly, making an exaggerated gesture, as if he were worshipping Buddha.
"Please, please let me teach you this problem."
The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough in the classroom, which was already mostly empty at this hour.
Zhao Qihang peeked out from the front, then withdrew.
Lu Ciyuan removed his finger from his mouth and opened his mouth into an "O" shape.
Feng Nian turned around, paused for two seconds, and then continued studying.
Xiao Yunqing's face changed from white to red, and then from red to purple.
She gritted her teeth, pushed the test paper towards him, and squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, "Just one question."
Song Huan squatted down next to her, her legs bent and slightly awkward.
He pulled the test paper over and looked down at the questions.
Electromagnetic induction, the last big question.
He glanced at the question, took her pen, and drew a diagram on the draft paper.
"First, analyze the forces." The pen tip touched the paper. "Gravity downwards, the supporting force upwards, friction to the left. And what about Ampere's force?"
Xiao Yunqing leaned closer to look, her hair almost brushing against his face.
She stared at the map for a few seconds. "To the right?"
"Hmm. Using the right-hand rule for direction, which way is your palm facing?"
She stretched out her hand and gestured, bending her fingers, but couldn't quite find the right spot.
Song Huan grasped her wrist, turned her hand over so that her palm was facing up and her fingers were together.
"The magnetic field passes through the palm, the thumb points in the direction of movement, and the four fingers indicate the direction of the electric current."
Her hands were small, and he completely enveloped them in his palms.
He felt her pulse skip a beat, very quickly.
He didn't let go, but pried her fingers apart one by one and rearranged them.
"so."
Xiao Yunqing didn't say anything, staring at her hands, her ears turning bright red.
He released his grip and continued explaining the problem.
He wrote formulas on the draft paper, line by line, very slowly, stopping to look at her after each step.
She nodded, and he continued.
She frowned, so he repeated himself.
She was still frowning when she said it for the third time.
"Still don't understand?" he asked.
She pursed her lips and didn't say anything.
Two seconds later, she whispered, "You're writing too fast."
Song Huan looked at the few lines of writing on the draft paper. Was it written too fast?
He was writing one step at a time, stopping as he went, slower than a snail.
He looked at her and his lips twitched slightly.
"Then I'll explain it again." He turned the draft paper over, redrawn the diagram, and rewrote the equation.
This time it was even slower. He would read each letter aloud as he wrote it, the pen tip touching the paper, and he would continue only after she understood it.
"Do you understand?"
She nodded, then shook her head.
"Why use this formula in the last step?"
"Because Ampere force equals BIL, and I equals BLV divided by R, substituting them in gives B²L²V divided by R."
She stared at the formula for several seconds, then suddenly slammed her hand on the table. "I get it!"
The sound was a bit loud; I played it once in the empty classroom.
Zhao Qihang peeked out from the front again, but this time he didn't shrink back. He stood up, picked up his schoolbag, and left.
He glanced at Song Huan as he passed by, his expression complex.
Lu Ciyuan and Chen Xu also left, leaving only the two of them in the classroom.
As for Feng Nian, she had already left with her roommate.
Xiao Yunqing lowered her head and finished writing the last step. She put down her pen and let out a long sigh.
She turned to look at him, smiled, her eyes crinkling into shallow dimples.
"Alright, let's go."
Song Huan stood up; her legs were a little numb, so she stomped them twice.
He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost eleven o'clock.
The two packed their things, turned off the lights, and left the classroom.
The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on, casting a stark white light on the floor, making it appear as if it were grids.
When they went downstairs, Song Huan walked in front, and Xiao Yunqing followed behind.
She kept her head down, still thinking about the problem she had just solved, gesturing with her fingers in the air and muttering to herself.
When they reached the corner on the second floor, Song Huan stopped and looked back at her.
She didn't notice and continued walking forward, almost bumping into him. She stopped at the last step, looked up, and her eyes widened.
What are you doing?
Song Huan looked at her.
The corridor lights shone on her face, making her eyes appear very bright.
The ponytail was a little crooked, with a few stray hairs hanging down the side of the face, blowing a little in the wind.
"You haven't smiled at me in a long time," he said.
Xiao Yunqing was stunned for a moment.
"Smile," he said, looking at her with a slight smile. "You look beautiful when you smile."
The corridor was silent for two seconds.
A cool breeze slipped in through the cracks in the window, blowing her stray hairs onto her face.
Her face turned red starting from her neck and burning all the way to the tips of her ears.
She lowered her head, staring at the ground, her lips pursed, her eyelashes trembling.
Then she immediately ran downstairs.
She walked quickly, her ponytail swung, and her schoolbag bounced on her back.
Footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and motion-activated lights illuminated each floor one by one.
"No way!"
The sound drifted down from below, muffled and slightly trembling.
Song Huan stood at the corner on the second floor, watching her figure disappear at the top of the stairs, and smiled.
It turns out that walking side by side after evening self-study is the greatest romance of youth.