Chapter 4

After hearing all that, Jiang Qiao fell silent for a moment and muttered:
[No wonder he ends up being forcibly loved by me.]

166:
[………………]

Why did it feel like Jiang Qiao was gloating?
That couldn’t be right. It must’ve misheard. Definitely misheard!

By the time they arrived at the classroom, the class was already halfway through. The Chinese teacher was a short, elderly man. Seeing the two of them arrive late, he gave a half-hearted scolding and then let them in without making a fuss.

[Wow, are teachers all this chill these days?]
It was the first class of the semester and she was late—Jiang Qiao thought she’d be made to stand in the hallway for sure.

With the sun that bright outside, standing there for half a period would’ve been torture.

[Hmph,] 166 snorted proudly.

Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow, suddenly suspicious:
[Did Song Qingying report our lateness to the teacher in advance?]

[What else?] 166 said.
[Only a beautiful and kind-hearted female lead would go out of her way to do that. Otherwise, the two of you would’ve been standing outside. Humph…]

Ungrateful, evil supporting character! Hurry up and go thank your benevolent heroine!
166’s inner thoughts were practically written on its face.

Jiang Qiao rolled her eyes.
This system must be mentally ill.

Clearly, Song Qingying had done all that because she was worried Lu Xun would be punished. Jiang Qiao was just collateral.

If anyone needed to be grateful, it should be Lu Xun—he could repay her with his body or something.

She actually wondered what Lu Xun would be like once he let his guard down around someone.

As that thought crossed her mind, she looked toward the two people sitting by the window.

Song Qingying, petite and delicate, sat by the window while the tall and broad-shouldered Lu Xun beside her nearly blocked her from view entirely.

Jiang Qiao saw Lu Xun lean slightly toward Song Qingying’s side.

Outside, the sycamore leaves cast fluttering shadows across the desk. The boy lowered his head slightly, and the girl blushed. Youthful restlessness and blooming emotions—it all felt just right.

Ye Qingqing had been calling Jiang Qiao’s name in a low voice for a while, but Jiang Qiao didn’t hear her. Seeing the teacher deeply engaged in the lecture, Ye Qingqing finally leaned over and whispered gossip:
“You think there’s something going on between them too, right?”

Jiang Qiao’s gaze shifted. She turned to meet Ye Qingqing’s sparkling eyes and smiled, playing dumb:
“Who?”

“Lu Xun and the class rep, of course.”

“Class rep?” Jiang Qiao blinked.
“Song Qingying?”

“I think that’s her name…” Ye Qingqing replied uncertainly.

The Chinese teacher giving the lecture was also their homeroom teacher. During the half of the class Jiang Qiao missed, he had already assigned most of the class roles.

Since Song Qingying was not only the discipline officer but also helped report absences, the teacher thought she was caring and kind—so he appointed her class president.

Of course, the fact that no one else really wanted the job also played a role.

Jiang Qiao’s interruption reminded Ye Qingqing of something else she had heard from the other students.
“I heard you got into a fight with her this morning. What happened?”

She didn’t think someone as timid-looking as Song Qingying would dare go head-to-head with Jiang Qiao. It was probably just Jiang Qiao steamrolling her.

Though Jiang Qiao was spoiled, she wasn’t the type to bully people for no reason. Ye Qingqing was curious—what did Song Qingying do to provoke her? Hopefully, it wasn’t that reason she suspected.

“I wasn’t wearing my uniform. She wanted to take down my name, so I offered to help her write it. Then she got all flustered. That’s all.”
Jiang Qiao replied innocently.

Ye Qingqing’s mouth twitched.
“Miss Rich Girl, you’re so… helpful.”

Still, at least it wasn’t for the reason she feared.

She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to move on from the topic when Jiang Qiao suddenly leaned in close and whispered something.

“What?! You want to chase after Lu Xun?!”
Ye Qingqing shot to her feet, her voice completely out of control.

———

The classroom, already quiet, became even quieter than a graveyard.

All eyes turned their way.

Jiang Qiao:
“…………………”
You could’ve said that even louder, why don’t you?

Trying her best to ignore Lu Xun’s sharp gaze from the window side, she tugged Ye Qingqing back into her seat and said politely:
“Sorry, teacher. Please continue.”

“This is outrageous! What do you think this classroom is, a marketplace?”

The teacher was just about to launch into a full-on reprimand when the bell rang, forcing him to swallow his scolding. Holding his book, he walked to the door, then paused:
“Lu Xun, come to my office. I need to speak with you.”

The boy by the window stood up and walked out of the classroom with a calm expression.

Ye Qingqing finally realized what she had just done. Feeling the stares from their classmates, she said guiltily, “You know me—I can’t keep things to myself.”

Jiang Qiao waved it off, “It’s fine.”

According to the plot, she was supposed to pursue Lu Xun first. With how well-known the two of them were, soon it wouldn’t just be their classmates—probably the entire senior high division would know.
Whether it happened a bit earlier or later made no difference.

When the warning bell for the second period rang, Lu Xun still hadn’t returned.

As a top student with potential to be the province’s valedictorian, it didn’t take a genius to guess that the homeroom teacher was giving him a heartfelt talk about not getting into a relationship too soon.

Just as the official bell rang, Lu Xun walked back into the classroom and took his seat. The subject teacher arrived right behind him.

The female teacher on stage had a gentle voice and spoke fluent, pleasant English.

Lu Xun was listening intently, but ten minutes in, he hadn’t registered a single word.
His mind kept echoing the last thing the homeroom teacher had said—

“Lu Xun, you have to understand—not everyone walks the same path. Don’t ruin your future on a whim.”

Some people sat in that classroom to experience every phase of life.
Others had no choice but to give it everything they had, with no room for mistakes.

These two kinds of people were destined to be parallel lines—never intersecting. Even if they were forced to cross paths for a moment, they would only drift farther and farther apart, becoming strangers again.

Lu Xun had known this truth since he was a child. So without hesitation, he had replied, “I won’t.”

Let alone not liking Jiang Qiao—even if he did like her, he would never compromise for anyone.

If she didn’t want to be involved, someone else would take her place. Nobody was indispensable.

As for Jiang Qiao, a spoiled rich girl saying she liked him—she was probably just curious.
She’d never been rejected before. Her pride was acting up, that’s all.

During the last class of the day—P.E.—Jiang Qiao sat in the open-air bleachers, loudly crunching on a popsicle. The breeze carried the scent of the rubber track.

The captain of the Grade 11 basketball team kept stealing glances at her. Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow smugly:
[See that? That’s the power of your big sister here.]

[Ah, sure, sure,] 166 replied grudgingly, too bitter to argue, spewing out nonsense code in frustration.

After using the restroom, Ye Qingqing walked past the basketball court and slowed down like a proper lady, hoping to catch some attention.

But the team captain didn’t spare her a glance. His clear, bright eyes stayed fixed in Jiang Qiao’s direction the whole time.

Ye Qingqing sat next to Jiang Qiao and sighed with jealousy,
“That face of yours is wasted in this life… In my next one, I want to look like that.”

Jiang Qiao paused mid-bite and turned to meet the basketball captain’s eyes. He panicked and accidentally passed the ball right into a teammate.

Jiang Qiao turned away and said to a dejected Ye Qingqing:
“That guy’s not bad-looking, but his basketball skills are kind of trash. His teammates must be suffering.”

Miss Rich Girl, seriously… you really don’t know why he missed?

Ye Qingqing let out a weak protest to defend the captain, “Zhou Yue usually plays really well… He even won awards.”

“What kind of award? Best Creeper for Staring at Girls?”

“Jiang Qiao!”

Jiang Qiao giggled and covered her mouth, signaling that she’d stop teasing. Then she nudged Ye Qingqing to bring him some water and ask for his contact info.

Ye Qingqing waved her hand shyly, “I don’t dare…”

Jiang Qiao clicked her tongue in disappointment,
“What’s so hard about it? You just open your mouth and ask—it’s not rocket science!”

166 couldn’t stand her smug attitude. It chuckled coldly and said sarcastically,
[Oh really? Then you go ask someone.]

Jiang Qiao: [Are you trying to provoke me?]

[Just say it—do you dare or not?] 166 challenged.

Hah. This crappy little system made of a few strings of code was getting bold.
Even resorting to reverse psychology now?