Having received the hush money from Lu Xingyan, Shen Xingruo didn’t give him a hard time all day.
When Lu Xingyan said he would stay for evening self-study tonight, she bought a milk tea and incidentally brought a cup of iced matcha for him.
–– It could be considered as a fair deal, with honesty and good after-sales service. After buying the milk tea, Shen Xingruo waited outside the stationery store for Shi Qin and Zhai Jiajing.
Soon, the two of them came out of the stationery store. Seeing her holding a cup and also carrying another, Shi Qin, surprised, asked, “Xingruo, are you drinking two cups by yourself, or are you bringing one for Ruan Wen?”
“For Lu Xingyan,” Shen Xingruo said candidly. Shi Qin asked a couple more questions, and Shen Xingruo didn’t feel there was anything to hide, so she straightforwardly recounted the incident of giving Lu Xingyan the hush money.
Shi Qin couldn’t stop laughing. “Hey, I found out that you and Lu Xingyan get along quite well. I used to think he was fierce, the type who would hit someone at the drop of a hat, but every time I hear you talk about him, he seems a bit silly, hahaha…”
“He’s naturally silly,” Shen Xingruo said.
The two of them laughed and talked all the way, while Zhai Jiajing walked on the other side of Shi Qin, not laughing much and not engaging much in the conversation. Even when Shi Qin deliberately threw out topics, she only reluctantly replied with one or two words.
Both Shi Qin and Shen Xingruo thought she was feeling bad because she didn’t do well on the test, so they deliberately avoided talking about exam-related topics.
After seating themselves in the classroom for a while, Lu Xingyan and Li Chengfan came in carrying a basketball.
Lu Xingyan was sweating, he dropped the basketball and stood under the fan, pulling open the collar of his summer uniform to cool off. Then he started chatting with someone across the room, complaining that the school had money but was stingy, not providing air conditioning in the classroom, and so on.
Shen Xingruo pulled his sleeve and pushed the cup of iced matcha towards him.
“What’s this?” Lu Xingyan subconsciously lowered his head, saw the cup of milk tea pushed to him on the table, and looked at it for a moment. “What’s this for?”
Shen Xingruo just “Hmm”ed.
“…Miss Shen, did the sun just rise from beneath the ground?” Lu Xingyan said, holding the milk tea himself, busy with his drink. He didn’t have time to pay much attention to him, buried in his book, just leaving a sentence, “Well, since it’s bought with your money, drink it if you want.”
Just as evening self-study began, the bell rang, and the class duty vice monitor went up to the platform, asking everyone to keep quiet.
Lu Xingyan sat down casually, his lips curling, leaning back carelessly, and casually said thank you.
Then he picked up the cup of iced matcha and shook it at Li Chengfan, his eyes gleaming.
Li Chengfan, unable to stand his showing off, playfully kicked him and shouted, “Vice monitor, I report that Lu Xingyan is drinking milk tea during evening self-study!”
The students in the classroom all raised their heads in unison to look at Lu Xingyan because of his shout. Even the vice monitor on the platform glanced over.
But Lu Xingyan was only holding the milk tea, not drinking it. The one who was drinking was Shen Xingruo next to him.
Shen Xingruo paused for two seconds, turned her head, and calmly glanced at Li Chengfan.
Li Chengfan immediately backed off, “Vice monitor, I retract my report!”
“Pfft—”
“Is Li Chengfan a fool?”
“He’s just a clown.”
Laughter echoed in the classroom.
Shen Xingruo, beautiful, kind-hearted, talented, and with excellent grades, had just ranked first in the class again, and naturally was the darling of the class. What’s wrong with her having a milk tea?
The vice monitor tapped the podium and adjusted his glasses, speaking with authority, “Everyone, quiet down! The school didn’t say you can’t drink milk tea during evening self-study. Li Chengfan, stop causing trouble.”
Having offended the goddess, Li Chengfan didn’t say much. He just raised his hands in surrender, acknowledging his mistake.
But the vice monitor took it a step further and warned him, “Li Chengfan, pull your school uniform pants up properly.”
The school didn’t say anything about not rolling up the uniform pants during evening self-study. It was like double standards on steroids.
Li Chengfan was speechless but didn’t argue. He pulled down his school uniform pants that were rolled up to his thighs.
Turning his head, he saw Lu Xingyan holding the milk tea, making a gesture of toasting at him with a smug expression that was begging for a punch. But at this moment, he really couldn’t do anything to Lu Xingyan.
Lu Xingyan was just a bit impulsive by nature. After having a good time with Li Chengfan, he noticed Shen Xingruo sitting quietly, reading and drinking her milk tea. Lu Xingyan couldn’t resist the temptation, and when Shen Xingruo put down her paper cup, he unexpectedly grabbed it, saying, “What flavor is this? It doesn’t seem the same as mine.”
He looked at Shen Xingruo’s paper cup packaging, then at his plastic cup packaging, feeling curious. When he saw the side label, curiosity instantly turned into disbelief. “Bai Peach Oolong with Light Milk Cheese, twenty-two… Damn, mine is only eight bucks, and you bought a twenty-two one for yourself?”
Shen Xingruo tilted her head to look at him, saying nothing, but her expression clearly said, “What’s your problem?” and “Who are you to be picky when it’s bought with your money?”
At this moment, Lu Xingyan strongly suspected that the eight-dollar milk tea in his hand was a complimentary one to Shen Xingruo’s twenty-two-dollar Bai Peach Oolong with Light Milk Cheese.
He pinched the paper cup and looked inside. Seeing him seemingly having intentions to contaminate her milk tea, Shen Xingruo covered the straw with her hand.
Lu Xingyan pushed her hand away, saying, “Let me try it, I don’t need your straw.”
He opened the lid directly and took a sip along the edge of the paper cup.
The cheese milk cap of this place was dense, sweet, and heavy, meant to be drunk with the lid open. Shen Xingruo, having just eaten, didn’t want it too rich, so she used a straw to sip the clear tea underneath.
As Lu Xingyan took a big gulp, the overly sweet taste made his scalp tingle instantly. He wasn’t a big fan of sweet things to begin with, so he neither swallowed nor spat it out, leaving him speechless for a while.
He took a few sips of the iced matcha to save himself. Then he finally recovered, saying, “Girls all like this kind of thing? This twenty-two cheese is too damn strong, almost choked me to death.”
Shen Xingruo remained silent.
Listening to his muttering about returning to simplicity and accepting the milk tea, Shen Xingruo suddenly put down her book and waved at him, motioning for him to come closer.
Shen Xingruo often called Lu Xingyan over and then whispered words of humiliation close to his ear.
After being humiliated many times, Lu Xingyan even gave this kind of humiliation a special name – “Close Proximity Strike.”
Seeing the familiar gesture, he hesitated for a moment but still moved closer. When he got close, he asked cautiously, “What are you going to do now?”
Shen Xingruo took out a new pack of napkins from the drawer, tore it open, took out one sheet, pressed her index finger against it, and then directly wiped the milk cap from his lips.