Wang Youfu took a sip of tea, then recounted the whole situation to Pei Yue. He emphasized that both Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan vehemently denied any romantic involvement, and as teachers, they hadn’t pressured the two into confessing. Calling the parents was simply a reminder that teenagers, during their puberty, should maintain a certain distance from each other, considering their minds are not fully matured yet. Despite his tactful approach, Pei Yue sounded somewhat disappointed on the other end of the line.
She sighed heavily, “I knew Ruoruo wouldn’t be interested in Lu Xingyan, sigh.”
“But Lu Xingyan is perfectly fine, why would he deny anything?” Wang Youfu replied hesitantly.
After hastily ending the call with Pei Yue, Wang Youfu pondered deeply while holding his thermos cup. He keenly felt that he was falling behind the times, and now his parents were too open-minded, weren’t they? After a while, he retrieved an old pair of glasses with a small gold chain that he had received from a former student, put them on for effect, and took a selfie, intending to post it on his social media to keep up with the times.
“Under the vast sky, the era’s spirit of reform and innovation is the source of strength for revitalizing our nation. We should keep pace with the Party, advance with the times, and embrace new ideas. 🌹”
His close alumni friends showered him with praise in the comments, while his colleagues pragmatically liked the post.
Feeling satisfied, Wang Youfu was about to head to the cafeteria when the grade level coordinator called, “Hey, Wang, you still have time to post on social media but haven’t left the office yet? Come over here quickly, there’s some paperwork from above.”
“I haven’t even had my meal yet. What’s the rush?” Wang replied.
“It’s about the bonus points for martial arts. Hurry up.”
Sensing the urgency in the coordinator’s tone, Wang quickly agreed.
During the dinner rush hour, Shen Xingruo, Lu Xingyan, and He Siyue navigated their way through a complex dinner arrangement. With many people out looking for food, most eateries were overcrowded. They had intended to settle for some pancakes, but even the pancake stalls had lines of over ten people. In the end, they reluctantly settled for seats at a poorly rated braised noodle shop tucked away by the wall.
Shen Xingruo sat in the middle, with He Siyue and Lu Xingyan on either side of her. She ordered a mixed braised noodle dish, He Siyue went for beef, while Lu Xingyan initially intended to order beef too, but upon seeing He Siyue’s choice, he changed his mind and opted for braised pork instead.
When the noodles arrived, although He Siyue and Lu Xingyan didn’t exchange any glances, they were unusually synchronized. They immediately started serving meat into Shen Xingruo’s bowl. He Siyue acted normally, only putting two pieces of beef in her bowl. However, Lu Xingyan, perhaps attempting to outdo He Siyue or for some other reason, piled all the braised pork into Shen Xingruo’s bowl.
Shen Xingruo remained silent for a moment, then asked, “Don’t you like it? If you don’t, you could have just ordered a vegetarian option instead of giving it all to me.”
“It’s not that. Look at how thin you are; you need to eat more meat to supplement your diet,” Lu Xingyan replied.
“…But I don’t want to eat this.”
“If I wanted to eat it, adding extra meat wouldn’t be a problem; I have money,” Lu Xingyan retorted.
“Fine, I know you’re rich,” she replied dismissively, as Lu Xingyan transferred the braised pork back to his bowl and sneakily took He Siyue’s two pieces of beef as well.
Eating braised noodles shouldn’t have taken much time, but He Siyue tried to start conversations three times, only to be out-argued by Lu Xingyan, the seasoned debater from the construction site. In the meantime, both Pei Yue and Shen Guangyao called, and Shen Xingruo talked on the phone while eating.
By the time they finished, He Siyue hadn’t managed to say a complete sentence to her. Shen Xingruo treated them to a meal.
As they left the shop, He Siyue expressed his intention to treat her to bubble tea. Lu Xingyan quickly interjected, “Class Monitor, why are you only treating Shen Xingruo? I want to drink too; you can’t play favorites.”
The voice sounded particularly punchable.
He Siyue stayed quiet for a moment before responding, “No problem, I just thought guys don’t usually drink bubble tea.”
“That’s for ordinary guys. I’m not ordinary,” Lu Xingyan retorted.
He Siyue remained silent.
The trio entered the bubble tea shop. Shen Xingruo ordered her favorite, a white peach oolong with a light milk cap. Lu Xingyan, upon the recommendation of the staff, ordered the couple’s new product, a white peach oolong with an avocado milk cap, the same as Shen Xingruo’s.
Siyue hadn’t felt anything particular before entering the shop, but as the weather started getting cooler, seeing everyone holding warm drinks, he suddenly felt like having a hot bubble tea.
Before he could order, Lu Xingyan patted his shoulder and half-jokingly said, “Class Monitor, I think you’re quite manly. You say you won’t drink, and you won’t, unlike those two, Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming. They used to mock me for drinking bubble tea like a girl, but now they drink one every day, adding sugar and milk caps, and they even like strawberry flavor. Truly shameless.”
He Siyue stayed silent. Lu Xingyan sensed from He Siyue’s hesitant expression that he wanted to try it too, to be a bit ‘flirty.’ But He Siyue was a serious guy; he couldn’t bring himself to say such things, so he suppressed the thought.
Suddenly, Lu Xingyan felt relaxed. Drinking with the money of his rival, enjoying the couple’s bubble tea, he thought it would be fitting to offer He Siyue a matcha latte, but he refrained.
Shen Xingruo couldn’t stand it anymore and shot Lu Xingyan a cold glance, signaling him to stop.
Back in class for evening self-study, when they walked in together, their classmates looked at them strangely. Shen Xingruo sensed something was off and asked Ruan Wen.
Ruan Wen stuttered, “Xingruo, I, I… don’t know what happened. I just finished dinner and came over. Everyone was talking, saying it seems like the class monitor reported you and Lu Xingyan about…”
Shen Xingruo had thought the timing wasn’t right to confront, but upon hearing Ruan Wen’s words, she paused, then asked, “Where did you hear this from?”
“Just from Wang Hui and them, my roommates,” Ruan Wen replied.
Shen Xingruo stood up abruptly and headed straight for Wang Hui, asking, “Wang Hui, Ruan Wen said she heard from you that the class monitor reported me and Lu Xingyan for cohabiting. I want to know where you heard this from.”
Wang Hui, who usually had little interaction with Shen Xingruo, was taken aback when Shen Xingruo approached her.
Although Shen Xingruo’s voice was calm and gentle, her distant and aloof demeanor might have made others feel a certain distance.
After hearing such a direct question, Wang Hui took a moment to gather herself before replying, “Yang Yang Yue mentioned it to me when we were in the restroom.”
Shen Xingruo nodded and then went to ask Yang Yang Yue.
Yang Yang Yue also pointed out two people to her.
With evening self-study about to start, everyone watched as Shen Xingruo questioned around the class, leaving everyone somewhat stunned.
Even when the class bell rang and the deputy class monitor called her from the podium, she didn’t respond, only saying, “I’m sorry, I’ll take full responsibility,” before continuing her inquiries.
She even asked students from the neighboring classes about the rumor without any hesitation, boldly marching into other classrooms and posing the same question to the rumor spreaders.
Zhai Jiajing sat in the front row of the classroom, initially not understanding what Shen Xingruo was up to. But as she overheard whispers from her classmates, she suddenly became flustered.
Within a few minutes, Shen Xingruo returned. The source of the rumor circled back to her class, and she questioned two more girls before finally—
—approaching Zhai Jiajing’s desk.
“Zhai Jiajing, Peng Feiyue told me that she heard from you during dinner that the class monitor reported me and Lu Xingyan for cohabiting. So, I’d like to know, when and from whom did you hear this?” Shen Xingruo’s expression remained calm as she went straight to the point.
She already had the answer in her heart, so at this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to call her “Jingjing.”
Zhai Jiajing sensed the change in Shen Xingruo’s tone, and her slightly comforted and restrained mind suddenly became chaotic once again.