Chapter 15

Helping another girl pass a love letter to your boyfriend, only for your boyfriend to question, “What does this mean?” In such a situation, how should one respond?

Qin Xiaoxiao seriously thought about it for three seconds.

Then decided not to respond.

After all, it had already been four days since that message was sent, so she might as well play dumb to the end.

Qin Xiaoxiao calmly extended her finger, swiping from right to left, and chose to delete Ji Wenchen’s trace from her message list.

Beep beep—

The electric scooter behind her honked impatiently.

Qin Xiaoxiao looked up and noticed that the traffic light ahead had already turned green at some point. She quickly stuffed her phone back into her small backpack, started her scooter, and crossed to the other side of the road.

…

During the plum rain season^[1]黄梅季 (“plum rain season”), is a time in late spring and early summer in parts of East Asia when the ripening of plums coincides with prolonged rainy weather., the weather was persistently overcast with continuous drizzle.

The basketball team, restricted by the weather, couldn’t practice outdoors. Fortunately, Second High School was well-equipped with a dedicated basketball gym, allowing a group of passionate young boys to play daily.

That afternoon, Feng Maoxing skipped the latter half of the self-study session, which was unsupervised, and headed to the gym early.

Feeling a strong urge to use the restroom, he entered the gym through the east door and went straight to the bathroom inside.

After relieving himself and pulling up his pants, Feng Maoxing inadvertently overheard someone outside mentioning “Qin Xiaoxiao.”

“…Qin Xiaoxiao…together…girlfriend…”

Feng Maoxing froze, startled.

He moved closer to the bathroom window, hoping to hear more clearly.

“You’re still not breaking up with Qin Xiaoxiao? What are you thinking?” Feng Maoxing recognized the voice as Jiang Zhousi, the vice-captain of the basketball team.

Qin Xiaoxiao? Breaking up? His cousin is dating? Feng Maoxing perked up his ears.

A somewhat indistinct response came: “No.” It was from another person.

This is…

“Ah Chen, you got together with Junior Xiaoxiao because of a game punishment. The agreed time was 30 days, I’m damn sure I didn’t remember that wrong!”

Game punishment?! Feng Maoxing, who instantly pieced together the gist of the situation, nearly jumped in shock!

Deceiving his cousin because of a game punishment! Unbelievable!

This scumbag! He was going to go out and teach him a lesson… Feng Maoxing took two furious steps forward, but the third step… the third step didn’t come.

His raised foot paused for two seconds, then stepped back down.

C-calm down. Stay calm.

Feng Maoxing recognized that the person Jiang Zhousi was talking to was the infamous Ji Wenchen.

That was the ruthless school bully who dared to take on anyone!

Feng Maoxing felt a twinge of shame at his own lack of courage, but knowing full well that he stood no chance in a fight and still rushing out? He just couldn’t do it!

Wanting to eavesdrop some more, he regretfully discovered that the two outside had already walked away.

Tell his cousin, yes, he had to tell her immediately. He couldn’t let her stay in the dark any longer.

After washing his hands, Feng Maoxing slipped out of the bathroom and dashed toward Qin Xiaoxiao’s classroom like a gust of wind.

The last self-study session hadn’t ended yet. Feng Maoxing peeked into the classroom through the back door and saw Qin Xiaoxiao focused on solving problems.

“Class…,” he started, then quickly corrected himself, “Classmate.”

A boy sitting near the back door turned his head to look at him.

“Could you please call Qin Xiaoxiao out for me?” Feng Maoxing, mindful of the ongoing class, didn’t dare to raise his voice.

The boy from Class 8, upon hearing it was for Qin Xiaoxiao, gave Feng Maoxing a hostile once-over before turning his head back without a word.

“???” Feng Maoxing glared. “Classmate?”

“What are you doing?”

A chill ran down Feng Maoxing’s back as he stiffly turned around, only to meet the cold, deathly expression of the Dean of Moral Education—whose face could rival the King of Hell.

“It’s class time, and you’re not sitting properly in your classroom. What are you doing here? Hmm?”

With his head hanging low, Feng Maoxing was dragged off to the Dean’s office.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Which class are you from? Wandering around during class time?”

“And you even went to someone else’s classroom, disrupting their studies? Hmm?”

…

The lecture was long-winded and punctuated with flying spittle.

Feng Maoxing felt his head swelling as his mouth drooped, matching his slumped shoulders.

“What kind of attitude is this, hmm?” the Dean of Moral Education snapped, dissatisfied.

Feng Maoxing straightened his back, kept his eyes fixed on the ground, and put on an expression of sincere attentiveness. He could only hope the teacher would finish the scolding soon.

Fortunately, the Dean of Moral Education was in a hurry to pick up his wife after work. Considering the time and Feng Maoxing’s seemingly decent attitude, he assigned an 800-word self-reflection essay as punishment and let him go.

Feng Maoxing ran to the floor where Qin Xiaoxiao’s classroom was located, just as the dismissal bell rang.

The doors of each classroom opened like floodgates, releasing a tide of students. Feng Maoxing struggled to move against the flow of upperclassmen rushing downstairs.

“Qin Xiaoxiao!” He spotted his cousin among the crowd and called out loudly.

Qin Xiaoxiao, being dragged by Yang Min—who was determined to be the first to the showers—was about to run downstairs when she looked up and saw her cousin squeezed among the crowd. She raised her eyebrow slightly.

“Your cousin!” Yang Min stopped in her tracks, her large eyes fixating on the adorably handsome, puppy-like boy.

“Mm.” Qin Xiaoxiao shook off Yang Min’s hand. “You go back to the dorm first.”

“Aww…” Yang Min, thinking the puppy-like boy had come to invite Qin Xiaoxiao to eat, was about to shamelessly tag along.

Unaware of her deskmate’s thoughts, Qin Xiaoxiao, worried that her dream of being first to the showers might slip away, reminded her, “Someone from your dorm already ran ahead. Aren’t you going to hurry?”

Yang Min cleared her throat lightly. “I…”

“I need to talk to you!” The puppy-like boy pushed through the crowd in just a few steps, grabbed her deskmate’s hand, and pulled her away, leaving Yang Min standing amidst the crowd.

She pouted, feeling a little hurt, and headed downstairs on her own.

Feng Maoxing pulled Qin Xiaoxiao to the corner where the corridor met the staircase. People passing by continuously glanced their way—Qin Xiaoxiao’s striking looks and Feng Maoxing’s decent appearance, combined with the two standing conspicuously there, naturally drew attention.

“What do you want to say?” Qin Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled by her cousin’s urgent and serious expression.

“Ji…” Feng Maoxing noticed the crowd around them and held back. “I’ll tell you later.”

***

In the spacious indoor basketball gym, on the west side:

“Ah Chen, I wanted to ask this last time.”

“Tell me, what exactly are you thinking?” Jiang Zhousi, unable to contain his curiosity, pressed further.

Seated on two steps, the handsome young man with short dark brown hair leaned back on one hand, sitting languidly. His long legs stretched over several steps, with his feet resting on the floor.

“You’ve fallen for Junior Xiaoxiao, haven’t you?” Jiang Zhousi probed. “Otherwise, I can’t figure out why you still haven’t broken up with her…”

“Too much trouble.”

“Huh?” Jiang Zhousi was confused. “You’re afraid of the hassle, so you won’t bring up breaking up with Junior Xiaoxiao?”

Ji Wenchen casually spun the basketball. “Yeah.”

The days of “being together” with Qin Xiaoxiao weren’t much different from before. It wasn’t like he had imagined—having a girlfriend would bring a lot of trouble. This girlfriend of his wasn’t clingy in the slightest.

Qin Xiaoxiao’s attitude toward him…

Ji Wenchen half-lowered his refined phoenix eyes.

She even helped others deliver love letters and still hadn’t replied to his WeChat messages.

…She was no different from a stranger.

This realization felt like fluffy cotton clogging Ji Wenchen’s chest, leaving him slightly uncomfortable.

“Breaking up is just a matter of saying a single sentence. How is that troublesome?” Jiang Zhousi remarked, recalling how his usually gentle ex-girlfriend had cried hysterically, begging him not to break up, and had clung to him for several days. He rubbed his nose and admitted, “Okay, maybe it is kind of troublesome.”

But Jiang Zhousi, lacking the mental clarity to think it through, failed to consider this logic: if breaking up = trouble, and if Ji Wenchen didn’t like Qin Xiaoxiao, the two would inevitably break up sooner or later. Would delaying it somehow make it less troublesome?

“By the way, it seems like not many people know that Junior Xiaoxiao is your girlfriend, huh?”

Ji Wenchen didn’t respond, but Jiang Zhousi could carry the conversation on his own: “There are even a few idiots in my class planning to pursue Junior Xiaoxiao. They don’t even bother to check what league they’re in.”

Jiang Zhousi turned to look at Ji Wenchen. “Why is Junior Xiaoxiao keeping such a low profile? That’s not right. Any girl dating my Brother Chen would probably want the whole school to know, wouldn’t she?”

“Get lost,” Ji Wenchen said coldly, his eyes icy.

“Fine, I’ll drop it. But where’s that Feng Maoxing who said he wanted more practice?!” Jiang Zhousi glanced at his phone. “Damn, it’s been several minutes since class ended!”

***

The hallway gradually quieted down.

Feng Maoxing couldn’t hold it in any longer. He grabbed Qin Xiaoxiao’s shoulders with both hands. “Let me tell you—”

“Go ahead.”

“Promise me you won’t be upset when you hear this.”

“Mm.”

“He’s not worth you being upset over!” Feng Maoxing thought back to the last time he saw his cousin nervously and cautiously placing a love letter on Ji Wenchen’s desk. His heart ached with pity and anger. His cousin liked him so much, yet Ji Wenchen was only toying with her sincere feelings!

Qin Xiaoxiao felt something was off with her cousin today and couldn’t understand a word he was saying. “Who? Why would I be upset?”

His clueless cousin—so pitiful.

“Ji Wenchen!” Feng Maoxing gritted his teeth. “He’s not worth you being upset over!”

“?” Qin Xiaoxiao was puzzled. Then she lightly furrowed her brows. Could it be that her cousin knew about her and Ji Wenchen being together?

Feng Maoxing gritted his teeth and spilled it all. “He’s not with you because he likes you. It’s because of a game punishment! The punishment was to be with you for 30 days!”

“How do you know?” Qin Xiaoxiao’s first thought was: So her cousin did know about her and Ji Wenchen. How many others knew? Could it already be the talk of the entire school?

“I overheard it by accident,” Feng Maoxing said, looking at his cousin with a heart full of pity.

Qin Xiaoxiao asked curiously, “Who did you hear that from?”

Her poor cousin still didn’t want to accept the truth and insisted on digging deeper… Feng Maoxing’s grip on her shoulders tightened. “That Jiang Zhousi from 3rd senior year said it.” Normally, he respectfully referred to him as “Senior Zhousi.”

Qin Xiaoxiao tried to pry his hands off her shoulders. “Let go.” She was baffled and a bit annoyed; his grip was starting to hurt.

“Don’t be upset…”

“What?”

Feng Maoxing thought Qin Xiaoxiao was holding it together and couldn’t bear to push her further. “Let’s go eat. My treat.”

“Alright then.”

As Qin Xiaoxiao walked, she thought to herself. The original novel never mentioned this detail, and she had always been puzzled as to why the school bully ended up dating the original owner. Now she had an explanation.

In 《The Cool and Arrogant School Bully Falls for Me》, the male lead dumped “Qin Xiaoxiao” shortly after meeting the female lead for the first time. Coincidentally, that timing perfectly aligned with the 31st day of the male lead’s relationship with “Qin Xiaoxiao.”

But now, hasn’t the 30 days already passed?

Qin Xiaoxiao frowned. Could it be that because the male and female leads missed that “fateful encounter” in the original story, the male lead forgot to break up with her, his first love?