Chapter 20

“Xiao ah, it’s your…”

Yang Min finally understood the subtle hint in the eyes of the girl standing opposite her just now. She promptly swallowed the rest of her sentence and turned to another waiting girl: “Your turn.”

Qin Xiaoxiao overheard the conversation from the small group playing badminton nearby. She wanted to say, “Don’t switch, she’s about to go on,” but she was at a loss as to why Ji Wenchen was still standing there.

What exactly was he still doing here? If he had nothing else to do, he should just leave.

Of course, she would dare to say this to anyone else, but not to Ji Wenchen.

Especially after being called to the small grove a few days ago.

“Not going to play?”

“You have…”

They spoke almost at the same time, but Qin Xiaoxiao was a fraction of a second slower, so she simply waited for him to finish.

“I’ll wait until it’s my turn next time,” Qin Xiaoxiao replied.

“Mm.”

Silence. More silence…

The tiny beads of water forming on the mineral water bottle were about to soak Qin Xiaoxiao’s entire palm.

From all directions, either openly or covertly, streams of gossip-filled gazes kept pouring in.

“Do you… have something to do here?” Qin Xiaoxiao gently asked again.

No response came.

Qin Xiaoxiao turned her head slightly.

Her height was above average for a girl, but the top of her head only reached Ji Wenchen’s lips.

Her gaze first swept past his Adam’s apple.

A clean, sharp protrusion, carrying a certain refined sharpness.

Her eyes quickly moved upward, glancing over his well-defined jaw and slightly pale lips…

“No,” Ji Wenchen said.

Then why are you still standing here? Qin Xiaoxiao put on her most polite and friendly smile. “The PE teacher is walking this way. You… goodbye.”

She decisively shifted her focus to the other side, watching the others play badminton.

Ji Wenchen watched her figure as it walked farther and farther away. His tongue pressed lightly against his molars, and the corner of his mouth tugged ever so slightly.

…

Yang Min was filled with curiosity about what was going on between her deskmate and Ji Wenchen. However, her deskmate’s mouth was as tightly shut as a clam, refusing to reveal anything.

“Sigh—” Yang Min propped her chin on her hand and let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

“Yang Min!”

The Chinese teacher, who was standing in the aisle near Yang Min, furrowed their brows and snapped, “Why are you sighing? Want to come up and teach?”

Yang Min shivered and quickly put her hand down, assuming the standard posture of an elementary school student. “Teacher, your lecture was so brilliant that I… I realized the inadequacy of my own knowledge reserves, so I sighed.”

The Chinese teacher glared at her before continuing the passionate explanation of Liu Zongyuan’s literary style and philosophical aspirations.

When the Chinese teacher wandered to the farthest aisle, Yang Min slumped in her seat like she had no bones and muttered softly, “Can’t even sigh.”

Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at Yang Min with amusement: Be careful, or you’ll get caught talking again.

Yang Min looked even more dejected.

Also, the school bully always slept during Chinese class, and Old Wu didn’t dare to bother him at all.

With the National College Entrance Exam approaching for the final year students, the teachers of the second year students have been mentioning terms like ‘National College Entrance Exam’ and ‘final year students’ more frequently in class to motivate their students to work harder.

However, most of the second-year students near the end of their grade still haven’t realized how close their own National College Entrance Exam actually is. They continue to drift along, thinking their high school life is still far from over.

Between classes, Tao Lei, who had just turned to bicker with Yang Min, noticed the workbook Qin Xiaoxiao was working on and blurted out in surprise, “You’re already working on the comprehensive review version of the Five Three^[1]五三 (Five Three) refers to a popular brand of educational workbooks in China. These books are widely used by middle and high school students preparing for exams, especially the National College … Continue reading?”

After asking, he felt a bit embarrassed and averted his gaze.

“Are you talking about my deskmate?”

“Yeah.”

“This is called ‘being motivated.’ Look at her—nothing like you, wasting your time all day not studying.”

“Me? Do you even have the nerve to talk about me? Have you looked at your own grades?”

“Isn’t it just the top fifteen in the class? Just wait—next monthly exam, my deskmate is going to surpass you!”

Tao Lei didn’t know how to respond. Frustrated and a little awkward, he turned back around.

Aiya, she accidentally won the argument with Tao Lei once again.

Yang Min blinked smugly, full of pride.

“Did you just set me up as a target?” Qin Xiaoxiao half-jokingly said. “What if I don’t score that high?”

“No, I believe you can do it! You need to believe in yourself too!”

“How about you put in some effort yourself? Wouldn’t it be better if you surpassed the class monitor?”

“Ah…” Yang Min pouted. “I just can’t focus on studying. I really admire how you can dive into study mode in an instant and stay focused for so long.”

Qin Xiaoxiao chuckled softly. Studying wasn’t something difficult or painful to her.

Especially after stepping into society, she came to realize how precious those school days were, when one could dedicate themselves fully to learning.

Studying is one of those things where the effort and the rewards are relatively proportional. As long as your IQ isn’t below average, putting in 80% effort will yield results that won’t fall below 50%.

In her previous life, Qin Xiaoxiao’s National College Entrance Exam results were slightly above average, the result of nearly a year of relentless effort during her final year of high school.

Back then, when the results came out, she felt a tinge of regret—regret that she could have done better. She regretted not studying diligently during her first and second years of high school, only to realize in her final year, with time running out, that her foundation was weak, full of gaps that couldn’t possibly be filled in a short period.

This time, she didn’t want to have any regrets.

…

At the end of the last class in the afternoon, Yang Min had already tidied up her desk well in advance.

“Xiao ah, are you going to eat first after school?”

“Mm.”

“I’m going too! And so is Dong Yunfang. Shall we all eat together?”

“Sure.”

“Ah…” Yang Min casually mentioned, “What about your cousin, Feng Maoxing? Is he joining us?”

“Him? The basketball team has practice this afternoon, doesn’t it?” Qin Xiaoxiao replied absentmindedly, still focused on her biology problems.

“So that means he won’t be coming to have dinner with you this afternoon?”

“Mm.”

Yang Min’s shoulders subtly slumped.

When the dismissal bell rang, Qin Xiaoxiao, Yang Min, and Dong Yunfang went downstairs together.

“Ah! Feng Maoxing…” Yang Min, with her sharp eyes, spotted the boyish-looking young man waiting at the staircase. “Xiao ah, your cousin.”

Qin Xiaoxiao followed her gaze.

Feng Maoxing, who had been watching the crowd coming down the stairs, finally spotted his cousin’s face after a few seconds. Smiling, he waved and said, “Qin Xiaoxiao, I’m here.”

Qin Xiaoxiao: I already saw you a while ago…

Yang Min: So sweet, so cute!

After coming down the stairs, Qin Xiaoxiao turned to Yang Min and said, “How about I…”

“It’s fine, just bring your cousin along! We’re all going to the cafeteria to eat anyway, right?” Yang Min quickly and “considerately” suggested.

Qin Xiaoxiao sought Feng Maoxing’s opinion: “I’ve already agreed to eat with two classmates. Do you want to join us?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go with you,” Feng Maoxing replied without hesitation.

And so, the four of them ended up at the same table.

Feng Maoxing, of course, sat next to his cousin Qin Xiaoxiao. Yang Min, having placed her lunchbox down first, sat directly across from Feng Maoxing.

Dong Yunfang, indifferent, took the only remaining seat.

Yang Min, who could usually talk a mile a minute, remained silent, making the table of three girls and one boy feel a bit quiet at first.

Feng Maoxing glanced down at his phone. Qin Xiaoxiao casually asked, “Don’t you have practice today?”

“Didn’t feel like going,” Feng Maoxing replied quickly while sending a message to someone, then placed his phone casually on the table.

Ever since he learned about the situation between the school bully and his cousin, Feng Maoxing had developed a grudge against the school bully. He found him unpleasant and, by extension, was unwilling to participate in the basketball team where the school bully was the captain.

Unaware of Feng Maoxing’s thoughts, Qin Xiaoxiao simply responded with an indifferent “Oh,” not giving it much attention.

“By the way, there are teachers who eat in the cafeteria, and sometimes the Dean of Moral Education will patrol discreetly,” Yang Min, who had been quiet until now, suddenly “popped up” and said, “You should be careful with your phone here.”

Feng Maoxing put his phone back into his pocket and politely said, “Thank you, senior.”

“You’re welcome.”

Listening to Yang Min’s tone and volume, Qin Xiaoxiao felt something was a bit off.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dong Yunfang, being more straightforward, glanced at Yang Min. “Got a problem with your throat? Why are you talking so awkwardly?”

“…No,” Yang Min resisted the urge to roll her eyes, lowering her head and trying to eat as gracefully as possible.

This woman, Dong Yunfang, was so blunt! She’d made her feel embarrassed in front of the junior!

“You’re also so quiet, not as chatty as usual,” Dong Yunfang added.

Yang Min gritted her teeth: You’re usually not much of a talker. Why are you so talkative today?

“…Another phone got stolen…””In the girls’ dorm… it was someone from Class 8, Grade 11…”

The conversation at the table behind them grew a bit louder.

The conversation drifted vaguely into the ears of the four of them.

Feng Maoxing asked Qin Xiaoxiao, “Someone in your class had their phone stolen?”

Qin Xiaoxiao replied, “I’m not too sure.”

“I know about this,” Yang Min said in a lowered voice. “In the girls’ dorm building where we stay, phones are often stolen.”

“Often?”

With the puppy-eyed Feng Maoxing gazing at her intently, Yang Min couldn’t resist spilling everything she knew. “Yeah, since the start of our first year, let me think… there have been four cases that I know of. This time, it was the dorm next to mine—a not-so-new iPhone 7 got stolen.”

“Don’t they report it to the police?”

“It’s useless. Even if the school agrees to call the police, and even if the police come to investigate, it’s really hard to track down this kind of thing.”

“Doesn’t your dorm building have surveillance cameras?”

“There are only cameras by the stairs, and people have already reported it to the teachers. The school administration said they looked into it, but there hasn’t been any follow-up. It’s likely the thief is someone on the same floor and doesn’t even use the stairs.”

Dong Yunfang put down her chopsticks. “I’m done.”

Qin Xiaoxiao and Feng Maoxing had also almost finished eating. Meanwhile, Yang Min still had more than half of her lunch left in her lunchbox.

“Sorry, I eat pretty slowly,” Yang Min said with an uncharacteristic air of modesty, despite usually being the fastest and biggest eater. “But I don’t eat much. Please wait for me a little longer.”

Dong Yunfang and Qin Xiaoxiao: “…”

Leaving the cafeteria, they had to pass by the school store on the way back to the dormitory.

“Maoxing, you… Hey, Junior Xiaoxiao!” Jiang Zhousi, who had come from the basketball gym to buy drinks, spotted them.

Qin Xiaoxiao returned a polite smile.

“Had dinner already?” Jiang Zhousi asked warmly.

Qin Xiaoxiao nodded.

“Heading back to the dorm… Wait a second, Maoxing, didn’t you say you had a headache? What are you doing here?” Jiang Zhousi, his face even more roguish from the sweat, scowled. “Skipping practice, huh?”

Feng Maoxing kept walking ahead. “I was hungry, so I came to eat,” he replied casually, clearly not putting much thought into his answer.

Qin Xiaoxiao and her group quickly walked past Jiang Zhousi.

Standing at the entrance of the school store, Jiang Zhousi scratched his nose, a bit puzzled: What’s up with this junior, Feng Maoxing? Lately, he seems so distant, barely responding. Does he have some kind of grudge against me?

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