Chapter 17

The first period in the evening was an English self-study session.

In this month’s exam, Class 8’s English scores ranked among the top in the regular classes. Their English teacher, Chloe, was very happy and praised them a lot. The students seized the opportunity to ask for a reward: watching a movie.

Gentle Chloe couldn’t resist the requests of Class 8 students and allowed them to play a movie in the classroom.

To create a movie theater atmosphere, the students turned off all the lights in the classroom.

An excited Yang Min pulled out a bag of potato chips and a pack of sunflower seeds to share with her desk mate.

Eating sunflower seeds while watching the movie, she truly felt like she was in a cinema.

Qin Xiaoxiao wasn’t eating sunflower seeds. Dinner had been delivered by Feng Maoxing’s mother, and Feng Maoxing had dragged her along to eat with him. She had been persuaded by her aunt to eat a bit too much, so her stomach still felt uncomfortably full.

She wasn’t particularly interested in this type of movie, and with the lights off, she couldn’t study. All she could do was watch to pass the time.

“Ah, why isn’t this the Mandarin version?” Yang Min complained as she spat sunflower seed shells onto a tissue, leaning closer to Qin Xiaoxiao to voice her dissatisfaction.

Qin Xiaoxiao extended her index finger to push her head away. “Because Chloe is an English teacher.”

“Let me lean on you for a bit. You’re so soft and smell so nice.”

“I’m going to the restroom. Are you planning to stick to me the whole time?”

“I can, if you need me to accompany you.”

Qin Xiaoxiao replied bluntly, “No need.”

The front door was too far, and using it would block her classmates’ view of the movie, so Qin Xiaoxiao chose to leave through the back door.

As she passed the back row, she unintentionally caught a glimpse of two people sitting there.

Jiang Zhousi was wearing one earbud and insistently trying to push the other one onto Ji Wenchen, urging him to watch something interesting on his phone together.

From the earbud came a sugary, sweet voice. Ji Wenchen glanced sideways at the figure passing by his desk.

…

Qin Xiaoxiao returned from the restroom, entered through the back door of the classroom, and tossed the tissue she had used to dry her hands into the trash bin in the back corner.

She walked toward her seat.

The movie on screen depicted a bright daylight scene, and the light emitted from the screen made the classroom less dim. This made it much easier for Qin Xiaoxiao, who had mild night blindness, to see her way.

Then, she saw someone’s long leg stretched across the aisle.

Qin Xiaoxiao slowed her steps, calmly lifting her foot, ready to step over it.

The person’s long leg casually shifted, blocking her path even higher.

A bit arrogant.

Qin Xiaoxiao withdrew her foot and said in a voice just low enough to be heard nearby, “Excuse me, could you move?”

“Hm?”

The seated boy lazily turned his face.

His forehead, nose bridge, and lip curve… it was as if God had meticulously outlined those strikingly sharp and beautiful features, surpassing the silhouette of a model on a magazine cover.

In Qin Xiaoxiao’s eyes, stuck on her way, that face was just as annoying as the leg blocking the aisle.

“Your leg is currently obstructing a public walkway. Please move it,” she said calmly.

“!” Yang Min, who was eavesdropping from the “corner,” was so startled that her hand shook, causing a few sunflower seeds to drop.

She didn’t dare to pick them up.

After hearing Qin Xiaoxiao’s words, Ji Wenchen raised the corner of his eye.

With a hint of casual indifference, he looked at her.

The girl’s smooth forehead was fair and delicate, her refined brows slightly furrowed, and her bright, almond-shaped eyes were clear and glistening, devoid of any discernible emotion.

She looked as if she was somewhat reluctant to deal with him but had no choice but to speak up and ask him to move his leg.

…Ji Wenchen tightened his grip on the lighter in his hand, suddenly feeling a bit puzzled about why he had stretched his leg out to block her in the first place.

Maybe it was because the movie was too boring, and that idiot Jiang Zhousi wouldn’t let him sleep.

Thinking of sleep, the faint remnants of that earlier dream surfaced hazily in Ji Wenchen’s mind…

Heh.

How could he have such a dream?

His jaw tightened slightly as he turned his face away and pulled his leg back.

Before leaving, Qin Xiaoxiao glanced over curiously and accidentally caught sight of the phone placed in front of Ji Wenchen and Jiang Zhousi.

On the screen, two bodies—one honey-toned, the other pale—were entwined in a highly suggestive position.

What a heavy taste... Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head inwardly.

“Xiaoxiao, you were pretty bold just now,” Yang Min whispered in her deskmate’s ear, her voice barely audible, expressing her admiration.

She had heard her deskmate tell the school bully to “move“—not once, but twice—and she was practically sweating on her behalf!

But she didn’t dare to look back…

Qin Xiaoxiao was momentarily stunned when she heard that. Bold?

It seemed like, without realizing it—although she was still afraid of this violent male lead—she wasn’t as scared as before?

…Was it since that power outage last time, when she accidentally kicked him, and he didn’t hit her but even shoved his phone into her hand?

“Is Jiang Zhousi sitting in the back?” Yang Min’s words interrupted Qin Xiaoxiao’s daze. “Or is it someone else?”

Qin Xiaoxiao nodded.

Outside the window, a sliver of crescent moon had unknowingly risen above the treetops.

The faint scent of gardenias drifted in through the window with the gentle breeze.

Yang Min muttered, “The college entrance exams are next month, and Jiang Zhousi is still goofing around, even daring to come to our classroom.”

“Is he not planning to take the exams at all?”

Qin Xiaoxiao half-joked, “Why don’t you just turn around and ask him directly?”

“!” Yang Min shrank her neck. “I wouldn’t dare.”

She decided to stick to eating sunflower seeds and watching the movie instead.

The short movie ended, and Jiang Zhousi, still unsatisfied, clicked on the next one, only to realize that at some point, Ah Chen had removed the earbud he’d shared.

Feeling a bit hurt, he said, “Do you think you deserve my selfless sharing, Ah Chen?”

Ji Wenchen didn’t even spare him a glance.

“You’ve already seen Pirates of the Caribbean… Hey, Junior Xiaoxiao!” Jiang Zhousi finally noticed that Qin Xiaoxiao was sitting in front of Ji Wenchen.

Wearing his earbuds, Jiang Zhousi’s voice was a bit loud, causing Qin Xiaoxiao to turn her head slightly.

Jiang Zhousi exclaimed dramatically, “Fate, it’s fate!”

“You’re sitting so close to Ah Chen? This seating arrangement is brilliant, huh…” Jiang Zhousi noticed Qin Xiaoxiao about to turn back. “Hey! Wait—”

“Is there something you need?”

Jiang Zhousi was seated to Ji Wenchen’s right, which placed him at Qin Xiaoxiao’s right rear. Since Qin Xiaoxiao turned her face to the right, she didn’t see Ji Wenchen watching her.

But Jiang Zhousi saw it.

With an amused attitude, he wanted to keep Qin Xiaoxiao chatting and casually brought up a topic: “Junior Xiaoxiao, what dance is your club performing for the school anniversary?”

“You’ll find out when the time comes.” 

“Junior Xiaoxiao, I feel like you’re getting prettier by the day, huh… Ow…” His sentence ended with a muffled groan of pain.

Jiang Zhousi reached down to rub his calf, which had just taken a surprise kick. Fortunately, his mother had given him thick skin and sturdy bones, so the pain quickly subsided.

Qin Xiaoxiao, uninterested in such awkward small talk, had already turned her head back.

“What’s wrong, huh?” Jiang Zhousi put on an innocent expression.

Ji Wenchen glanced at him.

Cold and piercing.

But Jiang Zhousi was unfazed by the icy look. He even raised his right hand and flamboyantly brushed his quiff hairstyle from bottom to top.

Fortunately, Ji Wenchen didn’t see it.

The school bully wasn’t in the best mood and attributed it to a lack of sleep.

He placed his hand on the desk and rested his head sideways on it to sleep.

Jiang Zhousi fiddled with his hair for a while, his eyes darting around mischievously before he couldn’t resist stirring up trouble again.

“Junior Xiaoxiao~”

“Junior Xiaoxiao~ Do you have any snacks? Can you share some with me? Just watching the movie without eating is so lonely… Thanks, huh.” Jiang Zhousi reached over and grabbed the two candies Qin Xiaoxiao had left on the edge of her desk. “Hey, plum candy, not ba—.”

The word “bad” hadn’t even left his mouth when his brother’s hand shot out, firm and unyielding, palm up.

“Ah Chen, weren’t you asleep?” Jiang Zhousi asked deliberately.

“You’re too noisy.”

“Then I won’t make any noise. You can keep sleeping,” Jiang Zhousi said, pretending not to notice Ji Wenchen’s outstretched hand.

Less than three seconds later, “Hand it over.”

Jiang Zhousi held back a laugh and generously handed one plum candy to Ji Wenchen.

The hand that received one plum candy remained motionless.

Jiang Zhousi didn’t quite understand his buddy’s intentions. “Huh?”

“All of it,” Ji Wenchen said in a low, impatient voice.

“???” That was from Junior Xiaoxiao, meant for him!

Despite silently complaining in his heart, Jiang Zhousi, intimidated by his buddy’s ruthless dominance, still placed the other candy into Ji Wenchen’s hand.

Jiang Zhousi then watched wide-eyed as Ji Wenchen unwrapped the candy, tossed it into his mouth, and repeated the process.

Both candies were eaten in one go.

Ah Chen did like candy, no doubt about it, but his attitude… If Ah Chen had absolutely no feelings for Qin Xiaoxiao, Jiang Zhousi would eat his hat!

The thick-skinned Jiang Zhousi still wanted to ask Qin Xiaoxiao for more candy. “Junior Xiao—”

“Shut up.”

Then came, “I’m going to sleep.”

Jiang Zhousi: “???” Wait, brother, are you messing with me? You just put two candies in your mouth and haven’t even swallowed them yet, and now you’re saying you want to sleep?

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Author’s Note:

This story will officially enter VIP status tomorrow (January 9).

Like my previous works, this one likely won’t be very long. Using the app to subscribe to the entire story should cost each person no more than 5 yuan.

I’m deeply grateful to all the readers who have followed me to this chapter, and I hope you’ll continue to support me. If you feel it’s not worth purchasing the VIP chapters, I kindly ask that you refrain from reading pirated versions. Bowing in thanks.