Chapter 026

Meng Li had no idea what Ji Chen wanted her to do. Seeing that he was playing around with her, she decided not to press him for more details. After all, he had already caught her in his trap, and as long as his requests weren’t too unreasonable, she would try her best to comply.

She closed her notebook and tucked it in the middle of the stack of books, burying her head in her studies again.

Ji Chen sat nearby for a while, then glanced over at her.

As he watched, he couldn’t help but think. The semester had already started for a whole week, and during that time, this guy showed up every day looking pristine and well-groomed. His face always had a light touch of snowflake cream, and there was always a faint, pleasant scent on him.

Once at school, he buried his head in his books, studying and solving problems.

He was surprised. Who would have thought this guy was so into studying?

Ji Chen was lost in his thoughts, and by lunchtime, he noticed that, just like the previous week, Meng Li didn’t return to the classroom after lunch.

During lunch, she would rush in to eat, but the moment she finished, she would vanish without a trace.

Ji Chen glanced at the empty seat beside him. The old wooden desk bore several random scratches, and someone had even carved the word “early” into its surface. He couldn’t help but wonder—this guy had been acting so mysteriously and his personality seemed to have changed drastically lately. What was he hiding?

His growing curiosity about Meng Li, combined with the strange, unclean thoughts that had started to form in his mind, made Ji Chen feel increasingly uneasy.

He felt like if he didn’t get to the bottom of things, he wouldn’t be able to relax.

He sat at his desk for a while, his fingers tapping absentmindedly on the tabletop.

After a moment, he suddenly stood up, turned, and exited through the back door of the classroom, heading downstairs to find someone.

Determined to figure out what Meng Li was doing during her lunch breaks every day, Ji Chen searched around the school for her.

When he couldn’t find her on campus, he even went outside the school, looking around the nearby area.

There was only one residential building near the school, and with such a small area, it was easy for Ji Chen to spot it.

He stood nearby, scanning the area, but saw no sign of her. For a moment, he started to feel like he was losing his mind.

Standing on the path lined with sycamore trees, Ji Chen looked up at the building.

After scanning it for a few moments without spotting anyone, he was about to turn and leave.

But just as he was about to turn around, someone suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision, walking out of the main entrance of the building.

He froze in place and turned to look—there she was, the very person he had been searching for—Meng Li!

Not wanting to be seen, Ji Chen quickly ducked behind a large tree to hide.

After hiding for a while, Ji Chen peeked out from behind the tree and looked toward Meng Li.

He watched as she left the residential building and walked off in another direction. He couldn’t help but wonder—why was she here? Her home was in Zhima Hutong. What was she doing here? Had she made an appointment with someone? Was she secretly meeting up every lunchtime to do something shady?

He waited for a bit, but no one else came out of the building.

When he looked back at Meng Li, she had already walked further away.

Determined to get to the bottom of things, Ji Chen followed her from a distance. He trailed her until they arrived at a small park.

He watched as Meng Li entered the park, and he waited outside for a moment.

After about two minutes, Ji Chen decided to follow her inside.

He searched the park but didn’t find anything suspicious. All he saw was Meng Li sitting on a bench, reading a book.

Ji Chen stayed hidden in the shadows, observing every move of Meng Li, growing more and more confused by her behavior.

He watched for a while, and soon, it seemed like Meng Li had grown tired of reading. She laid back on the bench, covering her face with the book, and fell asleep.

Ji Chen continued to watch for a bit longer, but there were no other movements from her. He sighed in frustration, sitting down on the grass, still keeping an eye on Meng Li as he pondered—was this all she did every day? Come to the small park to read and nap? Had she lost her mind?

He couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just as simple as it seemed.

There had to be something more going on. He was certain Meng Li was hiding something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Unable to make sense of it all, and feeling a bit exhausted from all the waiting, Ji Chen finally lay back on the grass, closing his eyes to rest.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, casting warm rays down on him, and he quickly fell asleep.

Ji Chen wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, but the peaceful surroundings had made it easy to doze off.

When he suddenly woke up from his nap, he sat up and noticed that the bench where Meng Li had been sitting was now empty.

He blinked in confusion, then looked around, realizing what had happened. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his watch.

When he saw the time, his eyes widened in shock—he had slept through it, and the first class was nearly over!

After a quick glance at the watch, Ji Chen didn’t hesitate any longer. He jumped to his feet and bolted toward the school.

This school was different from his previous one—the principal was no pushover. He could easily cause him all sorts of trouble if he wasn’t careful.

The first class had just ended.

He sat down in the classroom, panting heavily. While catching his breath, he glanced over at Meng Li.

Meng Li, confused by his stare, wondered if his skipping class had something to do with her.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Meng Li hesitated before asking, “What… is it?”

Ji Chen turned his gaze away, continuing to sit and catch his breath, not responding to her question.

While breathing heavily, he thought to himself—this guy is definitely up to something, and he needed to figure out what was going on with her. Maybe once he figured it out, the strange and impure thoughts he had about her would disappear on their own.

He was a tough, iron-willed man—how could he be thinking such things about another man?

As the odd thoughts occasionally crossed his mind, he felt disgusted, unwilling to admit them, let alone accept them.

It must be an illusion!

He had to shake off this illusion that he was having!

…

In order to figure out what was going on with Meng Li, Ji Chen began secretly observing her every move. It wasn’t just during class—he would also follow her at noon, tracking her to the residential buildings and the small park, but he never found anything unusual about her.

She only went to the residential building to use the restroom, and she wasn’t meeting anyone.

At the small park, she mostly sought solitude to read books, and when she got tired, she simply lay down to take an afternoon nap.

As time passed, the season shifted from late winter to early spring and summer.

Flowers bloomed and fell in succession. The weather grew warmer, and everyone shed their heavy clothes, opting for lighter, breathable shirts.

Ji Chen lay under the shade of a tree in the small park, occasionally glancing over at Meng Li, who was sitting under a nearby tree, reading.

He couldn’t help but admire her perseverance and focus when it came to studying.

In this day and age, who really cared about studying?

He couldn’t understand what she was trying to achieve with all this effort.

After a while, when he saw Meng Li stop reading and cover her face with the book to take a nap, Ji Chen also closed his eyes and took a rest.

To be honest, this place was quite nice—far more comfortable for a nap than in the classroom.

When the lunch break was over, Ji Chen waited for Meng Li to leave first, then followed behind her back to school.

Half a semester had passed, and he had secretly followed her all this time, without her ever noticing.

After returning to school, classes resumed. Since the midterm exams were approaching, the teachers started outlining the scope of the exams.

This was done mainly to help students who weren’t very motivated in their studies avoid embarrassing results.

Though Cuihua High School had strict rules, there weren’t many high standards or requirements when it came to academic performance.

The teachers taught the material, and how well the students learned was up to them.

Once the exam scopes were outlined, that evening after school, Ji Chen did something he had never done before—he packed books into his bag.

Instead of hanging out with Xiao Jianguo and the others like usual, he went home and began studying.

Seeing this, Xiao Jianguo and the others were stunned, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

Zheng Hang even reached out to touch Ji Chen’s forehead, looking at him in disbelief: “Dude, are you possessed or something?”

It was already strange enough that Ji Chen was going to school and coming home like a normal person every day, but now he was actually studying?

This was some seriously bizarre behavior. Ji Chen was actually doing something like this?

Ignoring them, Ji Chen kept looking over the key points outlined by the teacher while saying, “Get lost, you bunch of illiterate little punks. Don’t bother me. I’ve got a midterm next week, and I can’t afford to embarrass myself.”

The main thing was, he didn’t want to do worse than Meng Li.

That guy, even though he never listened in class, was always reading books and doing homework. It was kind of creepy.

Xiao Jianguo couldn’t understand, “So what if you do poorly on the exam? Isn’t that normal?”

Ji Chen didn’t even look up. “Normal, my ass. What if Meng Li does better than me?”

Xiao Jianguo and the others finally got it. Their bro Ji Chen was trying to compete with Meng Li.

The two of them were rivals, so it made sense they would compete.

Since that was the case, there was nothing strange about it.

Zhang Yue even suggested to Ji Chen, “Bro, do you understand this? If not, maybe you should have Yu Sitian tutor you.”

Ji Chen glanced up at Zhang Yue. “Get lost. I might not like studying, but my IQ’s fine.”

He wasn’t completely ignorant in class; when he was bored, he still listened to some of it.

Zhang Yue shrugged and didn’t say anything more. He exchanged looks with Xiao Jianguo and the others.

After the exchange of glances, Xiao Jianguo said, “Since that’s the case, we won’t bother you for the next few days.”

Ji Chen lowered his head. “Go play. We’ll talk after the exams.”

Xiao Jianguo and the others nodded to each other, then one by one, they left.

Ji Chen was left alone at home, sitting at his desk in his room, with a desk lamp shining in front of him.

He studied until his eyes could barely stay open, then finally went to bed.

Before sleeping, he reached into the drawer and pulled out the green candy.

He held it up to his eyes and stared at it, while also exploring his own inner world.

For such a long time, he had secretly observed Meng Li’s every move. By now, he had almost memorized every frown, smile, head tilt, and glance of hers in his mind.

He had started out trying to rid himself of those unwanted thoughts, but it seemed to have backfired.

The more clearly he remembered, the more frustrated he became, as if there was a lump in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

His heart felt heavy again. Ji Chen tossed the candy into the drawer, turned off the desk lamp, and lay down.

He blinked in the darkness, breathing deeply, feeling the weight lift from his chest before finally falling asleep.

…

Because there were usually no teachers during the morning reading session, Ji Chen never attended it.

He would take the opportunity to sleep in a little longer, always arriving just after the morning reading session ended.

But that day, he arrived at the classroom before the morning reading session even started.

Once in the classroom, he didn’t lie down to sleep as usual. Instead, he quietly read a book and quietly recited his lessons.

Meng Li stole a few glances at him, feeling as if the sun had risen from the west.

But thinking about the upcoming midterms, she could understand it.

During the morning classes, Ji Chen didn’t rest his head on the desk and sleep as usual.

Meng Li didn’t make a big deal out of it either, just treating it as normal.

The last class that morning was physical education, and before it started, Meng Li stepped out of the school for a while.

She had just started her period that day, so she rushed to the restroom to change her sanitary pad.

In a hurry, she returned to the class lineup to head to the playground for physical education. As she walked, Meng Li thought to herself that she would ask the PE teacher for a sick leave.

Although her stomach didn’t hurt, she always felt particularly heavy and fatigued on the first day of her period, her body feeling sore and weak.

Last time her period started, she didn’t have PE on the first day, so she hadn’t had any issues then.

She didn’t want to trouble the PE teacher because, over the past semester, the PE teacher had been unfriendly toward both her and Ji Chen.

While other teachers were willing to turn a blind eye to them as long as they behaved, the PE teacher seemed to intentionally assert their authority, almost as if they were trying to target them.

Perhaps because the PE teacher felt superior in terms of physical strength, they didn’t like the two of them and seemed determined to teach them a lesson at every opportunity.

After rushing to finish in the restroom, she joined the class’s line and arrived at the playground. Once the PE teacher had greeted the students at the front of the line, Meng Li immediately raised her hand.

However, the PE teacher glanced at her, ignored it, and continued speaking.

Meng Li wasn’t surprised by this.

Once the PE teacher finished speaking, she raised her hand again and called out, “Report!”

The PE teacher clearly didn’t want to deal with her and gave her another quick glance. “If you have something to say, talk after class.”

Meng Li took a small breath and persisted, “Zhao Laoshi, I’m not feeling well today. I’d like to ask for leave for this class.”

The PE teacher’s expression darkened immediately. He walked up to Meng Li, scrutinized her face carefully, then said with a stern face, “You look perfectly fine to me. If you want to take leave, go to the hospital and get a note.”

Meng Li looked at the PE teacher. “I really don’t feel well today.”

The PE teacher gave her a dismissive look. “If you’re not feeling well, tough it out. You’ll feel better after the class.”

Without giving Meng Li another chance to speak, the PE teacher immediately clapped his hands to start the class.

Meng Li stood there, taking a deep breath, feeling a lump in her chest that she couldn’t get rid of.

Since the PE teacher wouldn’t allow her to take leave, she couldn’t just turn around and sit down by herself.

Given the teacher’s personality, it wasn’t even certain he wouldn’t come over and hit her.

Meng Li gritted her teeth, holding her breath, and continued with the physical education class.

But since she had her period, her movements weren’t very convenient. Her body felt heavy and tired, so she couldn’t fully commit to the exercises.

When the PE teacher had the boys do push-ups, Meng Li followed along, but after doing a few, she couldn’t do any more.

So, Meng Li lowered herself to the grass, groaning and panting, waiting for the inevitable scolding.

As she had expected, the PE teacher saw her lying there and not attempting to continue. He walked over and immediately started yelling: “You’ve only done a few, and now you’re quitting? Is this how you act when you’re fighting outside?! Get up and do it now!”

Meng Li gritted her teeth, feeling that her body was too heavy for her to push herself up.

The weather was hot, and beads of sweat slid down the side of her face.

She gritted her teeth and managed to do one more push-up, then collapsed, gasping for air, and didn’t attempt another.

Before she had crossed over, let alone dozens, she couldn’t even do half a push-up. Now, the only reason she could do it at all was because of the original body’s physical strength.

But she truly couldn’t do any more. Meng Li weakly called out to the PE teacher, “Teacher, I can’t do anymore.”

The PE teacher sneered. “Can’t do anymore? Weren’t you tough when you were out causing trouble? Get up and finish your push-ups!”

At that moment, Ji Chen was lying next to Meng Li. He caught a glimpse of her, her face drenched in sweat, her expression filled with real pain, and her lips nearly bitten through.

It should have been a scene that would feel satisfying and relieving, but for some reason, something in his heart stirred with pity.

Ji Chen quietly inhaled, then looked up at the PE teacher and said, “He really can’t do it anymore. It’s not like he’s pretending.”

The PE teacher looked at Ji Chen. “What’s your relationship with him? You’re speaking up for him? This is my class, not yours. Who do you think you are, the boss of Beijing?”

Ji Chen stared directly into the PE teacher’s eyes. “I’m just telling the truth. He clearly can’t continue, can’t you see that?”

The PE teacher ground his teeth and nodded, his expression as if to say—so, you want to talk back to me.

After nodding, he clapped his hands and instructed everyone to get up.

After all the students had lined up, the PE teacher stood in front of the group. He casually walked a couple of steps toward Meng Li and Ji Chen, glaring at them with a dark expression.

“In a group of kids like this, you think being the ‘older brother’ or the ‘big guy’ makes you something special?” he said. “Let me tell you, in this place, in my class, you will follow my rules. If you can’t do push-ups, then go run! Both of you together—run twenty laps around the track. You can’t finish? No lunch for you!”

Meng Li was still catching her breath, her gaze towards the PE teacher filled with emotion.

Ji Chen, never one to tolerate such treatment, also had anger written across his face.

The PE teacher wasn’t intimidated by either of them and met their glares. “What are you looking at? If you can’t follow the class rules, you have to accept the punishment! Your parents don’t have time to discipline you, so I’ll do it for them! Twenty laps, right now!”

In her current condition, Meng Li would have preferred to lie in bed all day rather than run. She was already exhausted. But she knew this was Cuihua High School, and the person in front of her was a teacher. She also understood that causing trouble or talking back to a teacher at Cuihua High would never end well.

She thought for a moment. Not wanting to be beaten with a stick or slapped, and not wanting to be reprimanded or even punished, she took a deep breath and stepped forward, starting to jog on the track.

As she ran, she focused on her breathing, thinking to herself—If it weren’t for crossing over into Meng Li’s body, as someone who grew up in a sheltered environment, she would never have known that some people were unfit to be parents, and some people were unfit to be teachers.

Ji Chen watched as Meng Li lowered her head and started running, clenched his fists, and didn’t waste any more time arguing with the PE teacher. He quickened his pace and caught up with her on the track.

When he was running next to her, he asked, “Can you keep going?”

Meng Li’s steps were slow as she continued adjusting her breath. “I should be fine.”

Seeing her pale face, Ji Chen asked again, “You look weak. Haven’t you gone to see a doctor if you’re sick?”

Meng Li didn’t respond. Sweat from her forehead dripped down to her eyelashes.

There were things that were hard to explain. For now, she didn’t want to reveal her true gender. Once exposed, she feared even more trouble would follow. So, some things had to be swallowed down and kept to herself.

Meng Li didn’t say much to Ji Chen. She focused on her breathing and continued running.

At first, it felt manageable, but after completing two laps, she started to feel the difficulty. Her body was heavy and tired, especially her lower abdomen, which began to tighten in waves. Her heels felt like they were weighed down by heavy stones.

Ji Chen kept running beside Meng Li, maintaining a slow pace. When he turned to look at her, he noticed her face had turned pale, her lips were almost white. He asked again, “Hey, can you really do this? If you can’t, stop, don’t worry about that guy.”

Meng Li blinked, sweat dripping from her eyelashes, and her vision started to blur.

Her steps were heavy, and breathing became increasingly difficult. Just as she was about to turn and speak to Ji Chen, before she could get a word out, the light around her seemed to fade, and suddenly everything went dark. She collapsed straight to the ground.

Ji Chen saw her fall and quickly stopped, rushing over to her. He shook her, calling, “Hey, Meng Li?”

After shaking her a few times with no response, his expression grew anxious. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, then quickly lifted her and threw her over his back. Without hesitation, he ran toward the school infirmary.

The PE teacher saw him carrying Meng Li and shouted at him, “I told you to run twenty laps, what are you doing?!”

But Ji Chen, in a rush to get her medical attention, didn’t pay any attention to the PE teacher. He hurried to the infirmary, where only a young girl in a white uniform, looking like a nurse, was present. She quickly followed him to the bed and asked, “What happened to this student?”

Ji Chen panted heavily, “He went pale while running, and suddenly just passed out. Please take a look at him.”

The young nurse checked Meng Li’s breathing and then quickly turned to leave. “Wait here, I’ll find Dr. Zhou.”

As she walked away, the small infirmary was left with only Ji Chen and Meng Li.

Ji Chen, still breathing heavily from carrying Meng Li into the infirmary, looked down at her with a worried and anxious expression on his face.

Honestly, it irritated him. He couldn’t believe he was actually worried about Meng Li.

Worried about what kind of illness she might have, and whether it was serious.

He stood by the bed, gazing at the unconscious Meng Li with concern. Then, unexpectedly, something came to his mind.

In his hurry earlier, he hadn’t paid much attention, but now that he thought about it, when he had been carrying Meng Li on his back, her body had felt strangely soft against his?

As his breathing gradually calmed, Ji Chen couldn’t help but think more about the situation. He wondered if what he had felt earlier was just a misunderstanding, and as he thought about it, something even more ridiculous came to his mind.

He couldn’t stop himself from thinking—Could Meng Li actually be a girl?!

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Ji Chen’s heart raced. At the same time, an overwhelming sense of curiosity filled his chest, as if it might burst from the sheer intensity.

The curiosity grew stronger, and Ji Chen glanced around the infirmary, wondering if he should take this opportunity to confirm his suspicions, now that no one else was around.

With that thought in mind, he pressed down on his wildly beating heart, reaching his hand toward Meng Li’s collar.

It felt almost like doing something shameful, and as his fingers approached her collar, Ji Chen looked around cautiously.

Then, about four or five seconds later, he suddenly pulled his hand back as if burned by fire.