The classroom fell into a brief silence. Wang Youfu, holding a thermos, sat at the back of the classroom listening to the discussion. Upon hearing Lu Xingyan’s question, he couldn’t help but cough, then smiled kindly.
The classmates seemed to suddenly switch on, erupting into laughter as if a switch had been flipped. Some of the timid girls hesitated to laugh at first, fearing Lu Xingyan might take offense. But since everyone else was laughing, and Shen Xingruo, with her astonishing remarks, stood calmly on the platform, completely unfazed, they too laughed heartily, relieved.
Lu Xingyan tilted his head slightly, leaning back in his chair, and licked his molars. What was so funny? He glanced around, then scrutinized the nearby fox-like friends who were laughing themselves to death.
While others laughed, Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming, these two idiots, what right did they have to laugh? He kicked Li Chengfan’s chair leg, his face displaying messages like “What’s so funny, don’t you need to preview?” and “If you laugh at me again, I’ll make you laugh yourself to death.” Li Chengfan twitched slightly, restraining himself.
“Pfft—”
But really, it was too funny, he couldn’t help it, hahaha!
Lu Xingyan couldn’t help it, he turned his gaze back to the front.
Shen Xingruo didn’t laugh, her expression was calm, meeting his gaze with a superior air, as if saying, “What are you looking at?” or “Are you shocked by my stunning beauty again?”
Indeed, she was like a fighting peacock, always in a state of readiness, ready to put someone in their place at a moment’s notice.
Lu Xingyan held back for three seconds and then suppressed it. Forget it, he had manners, he wouldn’t lay hands on a girl.
The midterm exams were coming up next week. Everyone took this major exam seriously because the freshly baked exam scores would be presented directly at the parent-teacher meeting, directly affecting the quality of life for the second half of the semester. After the study experience sharing session ended, Wang Youfu made a few concluding remarks, urging everyone to review diligently over the weekend.
Nobody went home over the weekend. Because on Wednesday, the math teacher and the geography teacher had come to solicit opinions and finally decided to make up for two more classes on Saturday afternoon, to help the little chicks plug the gaps.
It was rare to stay on campus over the weekend. Everyone had thought to sleep in on Saturday, but early in the morning, they could hear the senior high school sisters upstairs bustling about. Room 403 was close to the staircase, and the senior high school sisters were hurrying to morning self-study, their footsteps and chatter incessant.
After Shen Xingruo was awakened by the noise, she couldn’t sleep anymore, so she got up and went for a run with Zhai Jiajing. Shi Qin and Li Ting, on the other hand, could sleep through anything. When Shen Xingruo and Zhai Jiajing went out, neither of them budged.
As Shen Xingruo and Zhai Jiajing headed downstairs, they saw Shen Xingruo carrying a stack of materials. Zhai Jiajing casually asked, “Xingruo, what’s that for?”
Shen Xingruo was looking at her phone and simply handed the materials to the side. Zhai Jiajing took them and flipped through them, curiously asking as they walked, “Are these reading comprehension articles? The vocabulary seems a bit advanced.”
“The Economist,” Shen Xingruo glanced at her. “Didn’t you mention yesterday during the sharing session that you’re already reading The Economist?”
Zhai Jiajing paused for a moment, then adjusted her hair with a smile. “I’m just trying to skim through it, after all, the vocabulary is too advanced.”
As she spoke, she noticed the bold “The Economist” in the upper right corner.
“Ah,” Shen Xingruo responded, not probing further, and returned to looking at her phone.
The morning sunlight was slightly chilly, with a hint of coolness in the wind. Five or six students were running on the track, and a few others were walking along the outer circle of the track, holding books. Shen Xingruo stopped by the sports equipment and did some leg stretches as if warming up. Zhai Jiajing followed suit.
Just as they had jogged half a lap, a group of boys walked past, holding basketballs, heading towards the small playground.
Zhai Jiajing glanced and said, “Looks like it’s Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming.”
If Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming were there, then Lu Xingyan must be there too. Shen Xingruo glanced and saw that they were too far away, only able to recognize them as male figures but couldn’t tell who exactly they were.
“Your eyesight is really good,” Shen Xingruo remarked.
Zhai Jiajing: “…”
Shen Xingruo meant it sincerely, but it sounded a bit ironic to Zhai Jiajing’s ears. She explained, “We’ve been classmates for a long time, so I’m quite familiar with their figures.”
As the group approached, Shen Xingruo could see clearly that it was indeed Lu Xingyan and the others. As they passed by the track to play basketball, seeing the two of them jogging, Zhao Langming enthusiastically greeted, “Shen Xingruo! Zhai Jiajing!”
Li Chengfan even whistled at them, “See, these goddesses are cultivating themselves early in the morning by jogging.”
Shen Xingruo and Zhai Jiajing slowed down and greeted them. Lu Xingyan, surrounded by them, seemed like he hadn’t fully woken up yet, exuding an aura of tiredness. He had changed into a basketball jersey, with a sweatband on his head, looking handsome, but he seemed to have been drained of energy by a female ghost, ready to fall asleep at any moment.
Shen Xingruo happened to be a bit thirsty and saw that Lu Xingyan was holding a bottle of mineral water, so she naturally reached out and said, “Lu Xingyan, can I sip water?”
Lu Xingyan also naturally handed it over, casually teasing, “With those short legs of yours, why bother running?”
Ignoring him, Shen Xingruo waited until she finished drinking before twisting the cap and saying, “You’re not Michael Jordan, are you still playing basketball?”
Lu Xingyan chuckled lightly.
Shen Xingruo was in a good mood and stared at the strand of hair sticking up on his head for a while, then decided to educate him a bit, “Lu Xingyan, can you walk with a bit more energy? With your current demeanor, did you get drained of energy by some indescribable dreams at night?”
Lu Xingyan instantly sobered up, almost blurting out, “How did you know?”
“If you haven’t woken up yet, then sleep a little longer before coming out to cause trouble in the world. If you could put half the enthusiasm you have for basketball into your studies, why wouldn’t you score over 400?”
“…Well, if I don’t score that high, how long will you keep nagging about it?”
“If you don’t score it, can’t I nag about it?”
It wasn’t Shen Xingruo’s fault. When she stayed at Lu’s house, Pei Yue kept complaining about Lu Xingyan, always saying that he hadn’t scored over 400 since high school. Shen Xingruo heard it too often, and her mind was full of scores over 400.
Lu Xingyan lifted his chin, his mind empty but his courage great, and directly challenged, “Okay, what if I do score that high this time?”
“What do you want to do?”
He thought for three seconds, a hint of playfulness flashing in his eyes, “Then if I do score it, you have to agree to a condition from me. As for the specifics… let me think about it, at most, I’ll make you do some chores for a few days, don’t be afraid.”
Shen Xingruo tilted her head to size him up, quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’ve noticed that you’re not very good at studying, but you’re quite good at dreaming.”
“…What does my score have to do with you? Why should I agree to your terms?”
She casually pulled down Lu Xingyan’s headband to cover his eyes. “Keep dreaming.”
“What the hell? Why isn’t this following the normal plot?”
Lu Xingyan was confused for a moment, and then Shen Xingruo shoved the water bottle back into his hand. He could see through the light under his eyelids that Shen Xingruo took two steps back and probably continued jogging.
This girl.
She drinks his water and then disses him, showing absolutely no sign of taking advantage of him.