Not only the small forest.

Next, Lin Yan was led by Lu Jin to visit several “dating hotspots.”

There was a clear artificial lake, a storage room in the laboratory building, a music classroom, and so on.

Lin Yan listened to campus ghost stories and was dragged around by him to take photos.

Looking at Lu Jin, who was having a good time, Lin Yan thought in a trance, why did he believe that this person had a normal youth?

Lu Jin walked and flipped through the photos on his phone. Suddenly, he looked up and said, “This is my first time coming to these places.”

Lin Yan absentmindedly responded with an “Oh.”

Lu Jin said, “To be honest, it’s a bit scary.”

Lin Yan remained expressionless, “…”

Is this person sick?

Lu Jin pondered, “What if we capture things we shouldn’t capture?”

Lin Yan replied, “What do you think?”

Lu Jin said, “Let the director take a look later.”

After watching the whole process, the director said, “…”

Lin Yan couldn’t be bothered with him. “I’m going back.”

Lu Jin checked the time, “Why go back? Don’t you want to eat?”

There were still ten minutes until class ended.

Lin Yan said, “Then let’s go to the cafeteria.”

Lu Jin agreed, “The cafeteria is good. I’ve always missed the spicy fried dough sticks with scrambled eggs.”

Lin Yan stopped in his tracks, “Let’s eat out.”

Lu Jin looked puzzled, “Are you unsatisfied with the spicy fried dough sticks with scrambled eggs?”

Lin Yan suddenly realized that she could actually talk to him calmly, “Is there anything else?”

Lu Jin said, “There’s also a specialty dish, milk-braised beef brisket.”

Lin Yan: “…”

This special lunch didn’t happen.

Lin Yan refused to go no matter what, so everyone’s lunch was settled at a local clay pot restaurant outside the school.

Even after finishing the meal, Lu Jin still couldn’t understand how someone could refuse a specialty dish.

“In fact, it’s really delicious. The deliciousness of the spicy fried dough sticks combined with the tenderness of the eggs, the fragrance of the milk combined with the aroma of the beef…”

Lin Yan’s face turned pale: “Stop talking.”

Lu Jin was still not satisfied, and gave a thumbs-up to the camera, “Highly recommended, a cafeteria dish that you must try at Elite High School.”

[Although I mindlessly buy anything recommended by my husband, the one thing I never touch is the dishes he recommends.]

[His taste buds are naturally a bit peculiar.]

[I just want to know, with all the campus ghost stories and dark cuisine, doesn’t the principal regret letting him advertise?]

They stayed at school until after classes.

Lin Yan put on a mask and slowly made his way out with the crowd.

The camera crew and Lu Jin were squeezed behind.

Among the crowd, there were girls stealing glances at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan’s eyebrows and eyes were particularly striking, even if only half of his face was visible, it was enough to captivate people’s imagination.

A few girls pushed and nudged until a round-faced girl was pushed forward.

The girl shyly walked up to Lin Yan and said, “Classmate, can I have your contact information?”

Lin Yan stopped in his tracks and asked seriously: “It seems that the school rules don’t allow you to bring mobile phones?”

The girl’s movement of touching the phone froze instantly.

Lin Yan: “Study hard.”

Girl: “…” Which class’s discipline committee member is this?

The girl persevered and asked, “What about passing notes?”

“That’s not allowed either.”

A laughing voice interrupted them from behind.

The girl looked up and saw a masked man looking down at her, “He doesn’t accept friend requests.”

The girl heard her friends collectively exclaim, “Oh my gosh!”

She seemed to understand something and said, “Sorry for bothering you, may you have a harmonious relationship for a hundred years.”

She ran away before they could even speak.

Lin Yan: “…”

Lu Jin: “…”

[May you have a harmonious relationship for a hundred years!]

[Grow old together!]

[Get married soon!]

The recording of the program ended at this point in time.

All that was left was to return to the small villa and complete the task.

While sitting in the taxi, Lu Jin looked out the window and suddenly said, “There are many things I’m doing for the first time too.”

Lin Yan looked up from his phone and asked, “What things?”

Lu Jin: “Passing notes, skipping class, it’s my first time doing them too.”

Lin Yan was a bit surprised, “You’re so good at it, I thought you were an expert.”

Lu Jin didn’t refute.

There were many things he wanted to do but couldn’t accomplish, and he had rehearsed them countless times in his mind.

But, just like when you grow up and stop playing with your childhood toys because it became less fun, Lu Jin didn’t think it was that interesting.

Lin Yan sitting next to him, and he was teased to the point of writing a note telling him to get lost, that was when Lu Jin genuinely laughed

It was as if there was another person from the same place as him in the misplaced time.

No longer alone.

This delayed rebellion completed the regrets.

Lin Yan lowered his head and looked at his phone again. Yang Shu’s messages kept coming, but he couldn’t focus on them.

Things that Lu Jin hadn’t done, of course, he hadn’t done them.

His student days were unremarkable

Lin Yan was in poor health when he was a child, so he was fostered at his grandfather’s house.

Only when he was with his grandfather, he didn’t get sick as often.

The teaching conditions in their town were not good, so having books to read was already considered good.

Sometimes he would hear about someone going to work in another city, prevented from studying by their parents.

After hearing this so many times, most students were well-behaved because they might not have books to read the next day.

In his sophomore year of high school, Lin Yan was taken away by his parents and came to City A.

He became familiar with a new environment and embarked on a new life.

But the good times didn’t last long. In his junior year of college, his parents died unexpectedly.

Lin Yan’s grandfather later became seriously ill, so he spent all of his money to take care of his grandfather. Lu Jin came to him when he was at a loss for what to do.

Lin Yan rarely reminisced about the past, especially his student days.

After coming to City A, most of the time he was alone.

Lin Yan suddenly wondered, what would have happened if he had an annoying desk mate back then?

“Hiss—”

Lu Jin sucked in a breath and shook his hand.

Lin Yan snapped out of his thoughts, “What happened?”

Lu Jin said, “My phone case pinched my flesh.”

Lin Yan: “…”

What kind of movement would make it pinch your flesh?

It’s better not to have this deskmate.

In the villa, the other four people had already arrived, and it was only the two of them left.

After the four had been there for a while and chatted for a long time, they looked toward Lin Yan and Lu Jin when they entered.

“School uniform play?” Jiang Didi blurted out unconsciously.

Lin Yan: “What?”

Jiang Didi waved his hand: “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

“I didn’t expect you guys to choose the school.” Huang Ying smiled and made space for them to sit.

Lu Jin took a distance and sat beside her: “Where did you go?”

Huang Ying said, “We went to the bar where Xiao Zhou used to perform. It’s a place of great significance.”

Zhou Xianyin smiled shyly: “I didn’t expect Sister Ying to be so good at singing rock and roll.”

Huang Ying tucked her bangs behind her ear, “It’s okay, please don’t praise me, I feel embarrassed.”

Lin Yan could tell that their relationship was going well when they went out this time, at least they got along as friends naturally.

But Jiang Didi and Qi Wen seem to have some conflicts.

They sat apart and lost the mood for fun.

Jiang Didi didn’t even glance at him.

Qi Wen kept his head down and remained silent.

Lin Yan was not very interested in their affairs, so he quickly looked away.

Lu Jin suddenly put an orange in his hand.

Lin Yan frowned and said, “If you want to eat, peel it yourself.”

Lu Jin: “…”

Others: “…”

After looking around, Lin Yan realized that Zhou Xianyin had peeled the apple in his hand and handed it to Huang Ying.

Lu Jin looked reproachful, “What happened to our tacit understanding?”

Holding the orange that Lu Jin had split in half, Lin Yan retorted, “It’s unspoken.”

[Translation: No.]

[Why do you always make me laugh during every heartwarming moment?]

[Well, the editing for other groups will be all about sweet moments, while only this group will be a bunch of dorks.]

[Freaking dorks, I disagree! Red Sunset CP is so good!]

[God damn red sunset hahaha]

The director printed all the photos that everyone sent him and posted them on the whiteboard one by one.

But Lin Yan found out something was wrong.

Everyone had just one photo.

But when it came to Lu Jin and him, the entire whiteboard was filled with their photos.

Jiang Didi was astonished, “Did you guys take so many photos? Will you get extra points?”

The director had an expressionless face, “Extra points? These two are filming a campus horror story.”

Four people: “…”

The director continued, “Let me explain the scoring system again. After completing today’s tasks, each person can earn a maximum of ten points. The ranking is based on the sum of the scores of the two team members. If anyone wants to change partners, they can spend 50 points to do so. The CP with the lowest ranking will face the risk of being separated, while the CP with the highest ranking will receive mysterious gifts from the production team at irregular intervals.”

Lin Yan understood: “Separated? Will new people come?”

The director confirmed, “Yes.”

Zhou Xianyin exclaimed, “Why did I encounter challenges in the music show, and now I’m facing challenges in the love show?”

The director chuckled, “If it’s not suitable, of course, you should change your partner. Everyone has the right to make multiple choices.”

Lin Yan glanced at Lu Jin.

Lu Jin: “We don’t have a tacit understanding, who else do you want to have a tacit understanding with?”

The more Lin Yan heard this sentence, the more strange he became.

Lu Jin: “I’m a competitive person. I won’t let you go until you develop a tacit understanding.”

Lin Yan: “Up to you.”

The director coughed twice, interrupting them, “Now, let’s announce the scores.”

Pointing to a photo of a bar, he said, “This photo gets eight points. Zhou Xianyin and Huang Ying each receive an additional eight points.”

He pointed to a photo of a snack street: “For this photo, Qi Wen and Jiang Didi will each get five points.”

Lu Jin raised his eyebrows.

It was the snack street near Elite High School, and he had originally wanted to take Lin Yan there, but he gave up because he was afraid it would be crowded.

He glanced at Jiang Didi, who was smiling reluctantly and then thought about the reason Lin Yan came here, vaguely guessing something.

Probably Qi Wen still didn’t give up and wanted to have a chance encounter, but he didn’t consider Jiang Didi’s feelings.

Director: “Finally…”

Lu Jin: “Before the announcement, Director, let me introduce to you, this is Lover’s Lake, which is the must-pass forest for every exam, and the piano is a blessing piano, and the music played is called good health.”

Everyone: “…”

Lin Yan whispered, “That’s enough from you.”

Lu Jin stood proudly, “Although I don’t intend to influence the director’s judgment, introductions should still be made.”

Director: “…”

The director remained expressionless, “Teacher Lu, there’s no need for your introduction. You both also scored full marks.”

“Let me explain,” the director quickly clarified, afraid that people would accuse him of favoritism, “They indeed have a more complete representation. The school can represent Teacher Lu and also represent Teacher Lin’s youth. The photo of the bar represents Little Zhou’s youth, but it lacks Huang Ying’s presence, so two points are deducted.”

Huang Ying smiled and indicated she had no objections.

Zhou Xianyin didn’t say anything either.

The director clapped his hands, “Alright, this week’s ‘Ambiguous Mind’ ends here. Thank you, teachers, for your hard work, and thank you to all the viewers. The edited version will begin airing next week, so please look forward to it. As for what we’ll be doing next week, it’s currently a secret—”

Everyone lined up and waved goodbye to the audience.

In the lingering comments from the viewers, the production team ended the live broadcast.

Jiang Didi’s face darkened immediately after she turned away from the camera. She walked away from Qi Wen and said to the others, “Shall we have a meal together?”

Lin Yan replied calmly, “No, we have something else to do.”

As soon as those words were spoken, silence fell upon the group.

All their eyes turned towards Lu Jin.

Why were they sticking together on the show and still planning to be together off-camera? Wasn’t their relationship bad?

Lu Jin was taken aback for a moment. “Who’s ‘we’? Are you referring to me?”

Lin Yan was also a bit stunned.

Didn’t Shen Xingyue tell him?

Lu Jin seemed to have missed something in the script and went to pack his belongings in a daze.

Lin Yan also went back to his room to pack.

Just as he opened the closet door, his phone rang.

Seeing the caller ID, it was Shen Xingyue.

He swiped to answer, “Hello, Mom.”

Shen Xingyue’s gentle voice came through, “Yanyan, the show is over. Can you come back now?”

Lin Yan used his free hand to pack his things. “Yes, I can. I’ll come back as soon as I finish packing.”

Shen Xingyue said, “I’m worried you won’t be able to find a taxi, so I’ve already arranged for a car to pick you up. You’ll be able to spot it right away.”

Lin Yan responded, “Okay, thank you.”

Shen Xingyue scolded, “Why thank me? We’re family.”

Lin Yan remembered something and asked, “Mom, does Lu Jin know that we’re going back?”

Shen Xingyue exclaimed, “Oh dear, I forgot that he’s also coming back.”

Lin Yan: “…”