Chapter 4: The Shattered Romance

  Xia Meng and Zhang Li have fallen in love, but they both have strong self-control. When they are together, they always focus on doing homework or discussing study-related topics.

  The summer break supplementary classes are almost over, but Xia Meng still hasn't seen Li Han appear in the classroom. Because it's a holiday supplementary class, the school can't require every student to attend, so for someone like Li Han, the teachers also can't say anything about him.

  It's strange that Li Han didn't send Xia Meng a single text message during this time, which had never happened before. Meanwhile, Xia Meng was secretly dating Zhang Li while seriously preparing for the national high school math competition. The first week of school was also the time for the preliminary round.

  Huang Yiqi still clung to Zhang Li after class, occasionally appearing in the dormitory, but more often, she would let Zhang Li ride a bike to send her home after evening self-study.

  Every afternoon, Zhang Li would make a date with Xia Meng, waiting for her on the riverbank behind the school. They would read books and do their homework there, occasionally stealing a kiss.

  Every time they kissed, Zhang Li would gently lift up Xia Meng's face, his eyes filled with adoration. He loved her dearly, but he didn't want to hurt her. He placed his hand on her waist, and Xia Meng would always blush slightly, closing her eyes softly, while Zhang Li's face would also involuntarily redden.

  Every time, Zhang Li would affectionately bend down, knowing that Xia Meng also loved him, and he couldn't bear to hurt her. Their lips merely touched lightly, filled with subtle shyness. Xia Meng lifted her head, looking at Zhang Li, her eyes overflowing with the atmosphere of love.

  In the evening, the sunset dyed the sky red. The two of them walked hand in hand to school. When they reached the back door of the school, their hands finally parted, and they walked into the campus one after the other. Zhang Li rode his bike home to take a bath and have dinner, while Xia Meng rushed to the cafeteria before returning to her dormitory to take a bath. Once they were back in class, they stopped talking to each other. Occasionally, when their eyes met, Xia Meng's face would turn red with shyness, and she would hastily turn her head away.

  Such sweet days lasted until school started.

  On the first day of school, Xia Meng stood at the school gate and saw Li Han get out of a small sedan. The car door opened, and an old man also got out of the car. Li Han and the old man stood beside the car, chatting intimately. After the old man hugged him, he got back in the car and waved goodbye to Li Han.

  Li Han's grandfather had passed away long ago, so who was this old man that was so close to him? Xia Meng couldn't help but feel suspicious.

  Xia Meng returned to the classroom, where Li Han and Zhang Li were enthusiastically discussing something at their seats. "I haven't been to class for almost a month, is everything okay?"

  "Hmph, and you're also a class leader, yet you've been skipping school for a month and still have the nerve to say that." Xia Meng leaned against her ear, listening to their conversation.

  "Great, haha!" Zhang Li's cheerful voice entered Xia Meng's ears, and Xia Meng couldn't help but blush slightly.

  "Aren't you also going to sign up for the national math competition in September? You've already promised the principal!" Zhang Li asked Li Han.

  "Yeah, I have to attend, otherwise where will the Literature Club's expenses come from?" Li Han replied with a smile to Zhang Li.

  "Where have you been all this time? I couldn't reach you on phone and you didn't even respond to my messages!"

  "This period of time has been spent with some old friends, so busy that there's no time to eat or sleep!" Li Han said with a smile.

  Liar, I clearly saw you and Zhao Yino appearing together at the principal's office door. Xia Meng rolled her eyes at Li Han. Coincidentally, she met Li Han's gaze, and Li Han nodded at Xia Meng as a greeting. Xia Meng turned her head to one side.

  Huang Yi Qi walked into the classroom and didn't return to her own seat, but instead went straight up to Zhang Li: "Zhang Li ge ge, this weekend you'll accompany me to go shopping, I want to buy a skirt!"

  Zhang Li smiled and nodded. Xia Meng felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this, her back stiffened slightly.

  "Huang Yiqi, as the class monitor, I'm warning you to pay attention to your image! You're always clinging to the academic elite, and the Dean of Studies is going to call you in for a talk!" Li Han shouted at Huang Yiqi with feigned seriousness, drawing the attention of all their classmates, who stared at Huang Yiqi in unison.

  Huang Yi Qi adjusted her glasses and flipped her long hair back, returning to her seat with an expressionless face.

  "Zhang Li, are you in love with Huang Yi Qi? I can smell the scent of love on you!" Li Han sniffed around Zhang Li.

  Zhang Li's face turned red as she pushed Li Han away, "The math reasoning you mentioned last time, I've been verifying it through calculation and wrote a small paper, sent it to your email, take a look when you have time."

  "Is there a breakthrough?" Li Han lowered his voice and the two of them spread out their drafts, discussing.

  After class, Li Han sent Xia Meng a text message. "Girl, come to my house after school this afternoon."

  After school in the afternoon, Li Han waited at home until it was almost time for evening self-study, but Xia Meng still didn't show up. Li Han called Xia Meng's cell phone, and the prompt said it was turned off.

  This summer vacation, Li Han found that Xia Meng seemed to have changed a lot, and this change made him feel strange and fearful.

  The next afternoon after school, Li Han discovered Zhang Li hastily changing clothes and leaving the classroom with his backpack. Li Han stood in the literature club office and saw Zhang Li heading towards the back door of the school. Wouldn't Zhang Li usually go home to eat dinner and take a bath at this time? Why did he change clothes and head in that direction? Many questions arose in Li Han's mind. Coincidentally, Li Han found out that Xia Meng had also changed into sports attire, and she was heading in the same direction as Zhang Li earlier. Li Han dialed Xia Meng's phone, but it was turned off, and when he dialed Zhang Li's phone, it was also turned off.

  Could it be that they... Li Han's heart was in a flurry, he hastily ran out of the office and chased after Xia Meng in the direction she had just left.

  Xia Meng saw Zhang Li by the river and her heart was racing with excitement. The two held hands, looked at each other and smiled. Zhang Li took Xia Meng's backpack off her back, "Today we'll finish our homework and then leave, tonight we have to attend the math teacher's training class." Xia Meng said to Zhang Li.

  Zhang Li spread the mat under the tree, and the two sat back to back on the mat, with their books open on their knees, seriously reviewing. Neither of them noticed a pair of painful and desperate eyes behind the tree.

  The most experienced math teacher in the grade, Mr. Huang, organized students who signed up for the national math competition for intensive training after the start of evening self-study, and Li Han surprisingly showed up too.

  After the teacher finished explaining the example questions, he gave a related question for everyone to calculate: among the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, choose three numbers so that their sum is an even number greater than or equal to 10. How many different ways are there? Just as everyone was unfolding their paper to calculate, "51 kinds!" Li Han had already shouted out the answer from below the stage.

  The classroom was silent, and Mr. Huang's eyes showed surprise. "Li Han, tell us about your calculation process."

  Li Han calmly stepped onto the stage, "There are C35 ways to take out 3 even numbers from these 10 numbers, and there are C15C25 ways to take out 1 even number and 2 odd numbers. As for taking out 3 numbers whose sum is less than 10 and an even number, there are (0, 2, 4), (0, 2, 6), (0, 1, 3), (0, 1, 5), (0, 1, 7), (0, 3, 5), (2, 1, 3), (2, 1, 5), (4, 1, 3), a total of 9 ways. Therefore, there are 10 + 50 - 9 = 51 ways."

  "Let x, y, z be real numbers, 3x, 4y, 5z form an arithmetic sequence, and 1/x, 1/y, 1/z form an arithmetic sequence. What is the value of x/z + z/x?" Teacher Huang finished reading the question, looked up and adjusted his glasses. "34/15", Li Han answered without hesitation. "Wow, genius! You calculated the answer so quickly!" The students in the class were all top math students in their grade, but they couldn't help but admire Li Han's quick thinking. Xia Meng glanced at Li Han, who was staring straight at the blackboard, not even giving her his usual flirtatious wink.