Lu Xingyan, who perennially struggled in Chinese class, even mistook “荼毒” for “茶毒”. It was hard to expect him to find an appropriate and fitting adjective. Nonetheless, the moment Shen Xingruo’s lips touched his wrist, it felt as though she had kissed his heart.
He instinctively wanted to retract his hand, but the soft, warm breath brushing against the fine hairs on his wrist felt ticklish. His fingers lingered on her earlobe, hesitant to move.
Shen Xingruo also seemed momentarily stunned.
Suddenly, the bell rang, snapping her back to reality. She tilted her head back slightly, then mercilessly slapped Lu Xingyan’s hand away.
“Snap!”
“Get your chicken claws off me. Don’t touch my hair again.”
Her warning sounded icy, devoid of emotion as if the accidental intimate contact just now was nothing more than a trivial incident.
Lu Xingyan watched her silently tidy her bag, then tie her hair into a low ponytail with a hair tie, revealing a slender, fair neck. He couldn’t help but be mesmerized again.
However, Shen Xingruo stood up straight, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left her seat without even glancing at him.
Shen Xingruo’s slap wasn’t light, and Lu Xingyan’s skin was fair. A red palm print was visible on his wrist, still tingling after a while.
Lu Xingyan withdrew his hand, looked down at it, and then leaned back in his chair, his head slightly tilted, staring at Shen Xingruo’s departing figure until she left with her dorm mates. Then, inexplicably, he smiled.
Li Chengfan finished packing his bag, and turned back to call him to leave together, but was suddenly taken aback by his smile.
He hugged his arms and rubbed them, “Damn, Xingyan, what’s so funny? You scared me.”
Ignoring him, Lu Xingyan curled his index finger and grazed his lips, then suddenly his lips twitched.
—Being a daughter-in-law wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Li Chengfan didn’t know what he was thinking, but he felt his smile was rather scary like he was under some kind of spell.
Just then, Zhao Langming also stood up, looking like he hadn’t fully woken up yet. Lu Xingyan muttered a few words to him quietly.
Listening to Li Chengfan’s serious tone, Zhao Langming reluctantly opened his eyes and glanced over.
Then he shook off Li Chengfan’s hand, his voice muffled, “What kind of spell? Even if it’s a spell, it’s a love spell. Look at him, all spring-like. Are you blind? Look at his smile, just like Bian He’s forced one, and using a light blue bedsheet, flirting shamelessly…”
Li Chengfan wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, having read a lot about the “scientific outlook on development” but never having dated a girl or even experienced a budding romance. Hearing Zhao Langming’s words, he felt confused, suddenly feeling it might be true.
He glanced back and forth at Lu Xingyan several times and whispered, “Then there must be someone. Chen Zhu? No, I don’t think he’s interested in Chen Zhu.”
“How would I know?” Zhao Langming yawned, “But I don’t think so either. Since the start of this semester, he’s been pretty well-behaved. Besides playing basketball, he hasn’t hung out much with Xu Chengzhou and the others.”
Li Chengfan thought back and realized it was true.
He pondered, “Then who could it be? It couldn’t be his desk mate, could it?”
“Why couldn’t it be?” Zhao Langming replied absentmindedly.
Li Chengfan casually responded, and suddenly, both of them fell silent.
Could it…?!
Others might not have noticed, but the two of them had seen Shen Xingruo giving Lu Xingyan a hard time many times. Pursuing someone who treated you like that was practically asking for trouble. But then again, Lu Xingyan wasn’t one to take mistreatment lightly.
Both of them looked towards the person still sitting in their seat and suddenly felt that this dangerous speculation was rising in credibility at a visible speed.
Meanwhile, Shen Xingruo and Shi Qin walked out of the school together. Dai Jiajing probably felt upset for not doing well on the exam and didn’t join them; she went back by herself first. Without Dai Jiajing around, Shi Qin’s chatty mouth couldn’t be stopped, going from discussing grades to the upcoming parent-teacher meeting.
Shen Xingruo was absent-minded, not listening, feeling an odd sensation lingering on her lips. Suddenly, she used the back of her hand to wipe her lips.
Shi Qin, waiting for her response, didn’t hear one and saw this action…
Shi Qin looked at her in considerable surprise. What was she doing…? Why did it seem so much like the action a female protagonist would do in a novel after being kissed forcefully?
Shi Qin promptly put the brakes on her rampant imagination and asked, “Xing… Xingruo, are you okay? Do you have chapped lips? Do you want some lip balm?”
“No need, I’m fine,” Shen Xingruo regained her composure.
The early summer evening breeze mixed with a hint of warmth, cicadas chirping sporadically in the treetops. Shen Xingruo looked up and noticed the exceptionally clear sky tonight, the moon shining brightly and adorned with many stars. This weekend, they would return to Xing Lake.
Pei Yue helped Shen Xingruo sign the receipt for the parent-teacher meeting notice. Her signature was so flamboyant that later, when Wang Youfu checked it, he couldn’t recognize what characters they were, and it just passed as a formality.
Mondays always seemed to be sunny, and the morning meeting proceeded as scheduled. The principal, secretary, and student representatives took turns speaking, while everyone stood on the playground, stifling yawns.
The students of Class 2 eagerly waited for something, but the meeting ended without anything happening.
As they returned to the classroom, there was a lot of discussion among the classmates.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t Yang Fang supposed to publicly apologize to the whole school on the flag platform today?”
“Yeah, I was looking forward to hearing that.”
“Do they think we’ve forgotten? Whatever her family does, how can they smooth things over?”
Upon returning to the classroom and inquiring with students familiar with Class 2, they learned that Yang Fang had voluntarily dropped out!
Class 2 students said that after the incident came out, Yang Fang hadn’t been coming to class. At first, her classmates thought she was taking time off to adjust, but it turned out she was processing her withdrawal from school.
They only found out this morning—apparently, her parents and the school were still at odds, bargaining and disputing. The main point was that they didn’t want to leave with the disciplinary action in her file. But the school’s attitude was particularly firm, making it clear that regardless of whether she left or not, the punishment would remain on her record.
In the end, Yang Fang compromised, accepting the disciplinary probation given by Mingli, and transferred to South City.
Although initially surprised by this news, upon reflection, everyone found it quite reasonable. Yang Fang was always concerned about her reputation. With this incident spreading throughout the entire grade, continuing to stay at a school like Mingli, where most students were well-behaved, seemed somewhat inconceivable.
The teachers didn’t know, but the news spread widely in private conversations. The main reason was attributed to Yang Fang’s jealousy towards Shen Xingruo and He Siyue getting close.
For doing so many foolish and malicious things out of jealousy, she would face judgment every day she stayed at school. The situation was already difficult to bear for a 16-17 year old girl.