Chapter 45: So Handsome
Sunlight cut diagonally through the classroom’s window lattice, and chalk dust danced in the beam like motes of stardust.
Chen Mo’s knuckles unconsciously traced the curled corner of his textbook. The smell of ink, mingled with the vibrant warmth of youth, rose up, and for a moment, the sensation overlapped with the memory of touching glossy case files.
Zeng Rou’s clear, pleasant voice explaining *Xiangji Xuan’s Record* faded in and out of focus. In the row ahead, Zhao Yuanyuan was sneaking a mint, and the light made the fine hairs on her neck look translucent.
"In the courtyard, there is a loquat tree, which I planted the year my wife died..." The tail end of Su Yuqing’s soft recitation was like a butterfly landing on his ear. Chen Mo stared at the tips of her hair, which trembled faintly with the rhythm of her reading.
After years as a criminal investigator, he was used to being in a constant state of high alert. Suddenly, he was back in a high school classroom, listening to a lecture without a care in the world.
For Chen Mo, the feeling was truly surreal.
So many people longed to escape the cage of school, eager to enter the real world and be free from rules.
But after becoming adults, after being crushed by the pressures of life and taking a beating from the real world, they would have a sudden revelation: the school they had once been so desperate to escape was a beautiful sanctuary they could never return to.
More than once, when he was pushed to his breaking point, Chen Mo had fantasized about returning to his school days.
Now that he was truly back, everything felt so wonderfully reassuring.
"Mmph~"
Chen Mo glanced at Zhao Yuanyuan in surprise. The super-strong mint in her mouth was apparently so intense that she was hiding her face behind a book.
The cute way she stuck out her tongue made Chen Mo chuckle.
Lost in nostalgia, Chen Mo didn’t even notice the first class slip by.
When the bell rang, Zeng Rou gave Chen Mo and Su Yuqing another smiling glance before leaving the classroom.
Even though class was over, Su Yuqing was still diligently memorizing information about the text, including the key points the teacher had just explained about the author’s emotional expression.
As she diligently organized her notes, she suddenly felt the presence beside her change.
When she looked up, she saw that Zhao Yuanyuan had switched seats with Chen Mo at some point.
Chen Mo was now sitting beside her, intently studying her notes.
"Want to copy my notes?" Su Yuqing asked Chen Mo with a sweet smile.
"Have you forgotten? I’m the academic ace here," Chen Mo said with a laugh. "I just came to give you some pointers."
Even after so many years, he still remembered a lot of the material from the college entrance exams.
’At this point, it’s basically like I’m cheating.’
’Any question I remember is bound to show up on the Gaokao again in this life.’
That meant the knowledge he needed to focus on re-memorizing was much more specific.
Chen Mo circled a few important sections for Su Yuqing. "If you have the time, you should memorize the whole thing," he said with a smile. "But if you’re short on time, just focus on these parts."
"Why these?" Su Yuqing asked. The parts Chen Mo had circled did seem like likely test questions, but ’how is he even better at picking out the key material than the teacher?’
"A man’s intuition," Chen Mo said with a grin.
Looking at the boy’s vibrant, sunny smile, Su Yuqing felt her heart melt. For a moment, she was completely mesmerized.
When she snapped out of it, she shyly turned her head away and nodded, letting out a soft "mhm" to show she understood.
Just then, a mischievous little hand reached out from behind Chen Mo.
It belonged to Zhao Yuanyuan. She had been planning to catch him off guard and pop one of those super-strong mints into his mouth.
However, her action triggered the self-defense instincts Chen Mo had honed as a criminal investigator.
He had spent countless hours training to counter exactly this kind of situation—a potential knife in the back. It had become a conditioned reflex.
The moment Zhao Yuanyuan’s hand came near his shoulder, Chen Mo’s reflexes kicked in. He instantly grabbed her wrist, and in the next second, he had twisted her arm behind her and pinned her to the desk as if he were subduing a suspect.
The few classmates who witnessed this were left completely stunned and shocked.
Even though he was only dealing with a high school girl, his reaction was incredibly swift and decisive. More importantly, the look in his eyes at that moment was as sharp as a seasoned police officer’s.
For a moment, everyone around was awestruck by how cool he looked.
Even Huang Mao was amazed. "Holy shit, Old Mo! Where’d you learn that? That was so cool!"
"Ow! Cool, my ass, you damn Yellow Hair!" Zhao Yuanyuan whined. "Brother Mo, let me go! It hurts!"
Only then did Chen Mo snap back to reality. He quickly released Zhao Yuanyuan’s arm. Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, he stopped teasing her like he usually would and immediately apologized. "Sorry, sorry! It was just a reflex, I didn’t mean to. Here, let me rub it for you. My bad, I was wrong."
Chen Mo gave an awkward smile and quickly reached out to rub Zhao Yuanyuan’s shoulder.
Zhao Yuanyuan really had been on the verge of tears. Chen Mo’s takedown felt far too real.
He had used the exact amount of force needed to subdue an ambushing criminal.
That was way more than any high school girl could handle.
But seeing how anxiously Chen Mo was apologizing, she was afraid that bursting into tears would only make him feel guiltier, so she held it back.
"I’m fine, I’m fine! Just kidding!" Zhao Yuanyuan said, forcing a smile through the tear-inducing pain in her shoulder.
But how could Chen Mo not see she was faking it? He knew his own strength. Fortunately, his massage skills were decent, and he quickly managed to work out some of the tension in the lightly injured joint of her shoulder.
"Brother Mo, that’s enough. It really doesn’t hurt anymore," Zhao Yuanyuan said. Seeing Chen Mo’s guilty expression was making her feel bad, too. She quickly smiled and rolled her shoulder to show him she was okay.
Seeing her move her shoulder, he figured she must be feeling much better.
Only then did Chen Mo return to his seat, relieved.
Zhao Yuanyuan then held out a mint with a mischievous grin. "I don’t hurt anymore, but you have to eat this before I’ll forgive you."
Chen Mo had tried one of these things before, so he knew exactly how potent it was, but he took it and popped it into his mouth anyway.
The intense minty blast immediately had him scrambling for water.
Taking pity on him, Su Yuqing quickly pulled a bottle of water from her desk—one she had only taken a small sip from—and handed it to him.
After downing two large gulps of water, Chen Mo finally recovered. But now, his mouth and throat felt ice-cold.
"Whew," he breathed. "Who makes a candy this sadistic?"
Seeing Chen Mo’s predicament, Zhao Yuanyuan was laughing happily to the side.
After a moment, though, her laughter subsided, and she looked at Chen Mo curiously. "Brother Mo, where did you learn that move? You looked as cool as a cop on TV taking down a bad guy."
Huang Mao, who was standing nearby, also looked eager to hear the answer.