Chapter 24: You’re So Cute

Jin Zhuo stared at her flustered back, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Yang Dai was not far from him. She leaned closer, eager to talk to him, “President, Qin Yingxia and I are roommates.”

Jin Zhuo glanced at her, “Hmm.”

He didn’t show much interest.

“President, Qin Yingxia is somewhat of a public figure. I’ve been seeing a lot of photos on her account lately, all of them with other guys. I think…” Yang Dai trailed off, leaving enough room for Jin Zhuo to imagine.

But Jin Zhuo didn’t play by the rules. He didn’t even look at her, “You think what? Why don’t you finish?”

Seeing his cold expression, Yang Dai hesitated before speaking, “I think Qin Yingxia’s behavior might have a negative impact on the media club.”

Jin Zhuo scoffed, “You’re… Yang Dai, right?”

Her eyes lit up, her heart secretly rejoicing, “Yes!”

Before she could be happy for a few seconds, Jin Zhuo’s next question threw cold water on her. “Do you think this kind of surveillance is appropriate?”

Yang Dai’s face flushed red and then pale, “I just feel like, as the head of the media club’s technical department, with Qin Yingxia in my department, I’m worried she might affect our overall development.”

“You’re so kind,” Jin Zhuo said mercilessly, “Then those photos you took following Qin Yingxia the other day… were also for the club’s development?”

Yang Dai’s breath hitched.

How did he find out?

He knew all along…

She didn’t dare think about it anymore. Her face burned with shame and embarrassment.

Yang Dai was overwhelmed by a sense of fear. Her steps slowed, and she tripped along with the people running behind her.

Three or four girls fell to the ground.

She was the first to fall, her injuries were more serious than the others, and her ankle was sprained.

•  

At lunchtime, the students were still talking about the incident.

“The girls from the seventh formation fell like that, they probably won’t have to continue military training.”

“If it was any worse, it would have turned into a stampede.”

“With this happening, they should cancel tomorrow’s morning run, right?”

“You’re dreaming. I bet they’ll have instructors watching the lines from tomorrow onwards, they won’t let us run freely anymore.”

“…”

“Is Senior Yang okay?” Qin Yingxia and Yu Zhizhi had secured a spot in the cafeteria and were waiting for Xu Siwan to come back.

Because Yang Dai had sprained her ankle, she went to deliver lunch to her.

Xu Siwan sat down and wiped her sweat, “Her ankle is sprained. From what she said, she wants to go to the hospital.”

“Hospital? Is it serious?” Yu Zhizhi asked.

“It looks pretty serious,” Xu Siwan took the lunch tray from Qin Yingxia and took a few sips of her ice-cold dessert, “Refreshing!”

It was really hot outside.

Qin Yingxia: “If Senior Yang is hospitalized, will her family come to take care of her?”

Xu Siwan paused, softly saying, “… Yang Dai doesn’t seem to have a good relationship with her family.”

With Yang Dai’s strong personality, she wouldn’t tell others about her family situation.

The reason Xu Siwan knew this was because she had accidentally overheard Yang Dai talking on the phone with her family a few times.

They were always arguing.

Every time Xu Siwan returned to the dorm, Yang Dai would quickly hang up and pretend nothing happened.

“Then does she have any close friends in school? They can also help take care of her.” Yu Zhizhi continued, actually, they were all in the same dorm, and it was only natural to look after each other.

But Yang Dai always had a thorn in her heart towards her and Qin Yingxia.

Yu Zhizhi could also feel it.

Xu Siwan shook her head, helplessly saying, “I don’t know.”

Although she and Yang Dai lived together for a year, their relationship wasn’t particularly close, and they always kept a distance.

Qin Yingxia pursed her lips, thinking for a moment before speaking, “No matter what, let’s go to the hospital tonight…”

If Yang Dai had someone to take care of her, they could return to school later.

“Okay, but we have evening self-study tonight.” Yu Zhizhi shook her phone, “The instructor just sent a notice, probably to prevent stampedes…”

Xu Siwan: “It’s fine, we can go after evening self-study.”

•  

Dusk descended, and the aroma of grilled food wafted from the snack street across from the school.

The evening self-study classroom was bustling. The counselor was still in a meeting, and wouldn’t be able to come to the classroom until it ended.

Qin Yingxia sucked on her straw, drinking iced water, while Yu Zhizhi lay on the desk, dozing off.

The training volume was a bit heavy this afternoon. They had spent two hours crawling on the field just learning how to crawl.

Qin Yingxia was also sore all over. She scrolled through the comment section of her latest video on her phone. This time, those photos didn’t appear.

The girl’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she thought about Jin Zhuo coming to find her during their break this afternoon.

The boy was tall, and when he stood in front of her, he blocked out all the sunlight. He took off his hat, and sweat trickled down his jawline, disappearing into his neck.

“Tired?” he asked.

Qin Yingxia wiped her face with a wet wipe and nodded honestly, “So tired…”

Yu Zhizhi, who had been sitting next to her, had gone somewhere, leaving an empty spot in the shade. Qin Yingxia patted the seat, gesturing, “You sit here.”

Jin Zhuo sat down beside her and handed her the iced water he had just bought, “Put it on your face to cool down.”

“Thank you, Jin Zhuo.” She smiled brightly, looking even brighter than the sun.

He unconsciously smiled back, his eyes shining, “Don’t get distracted next time you run, it’s quite dangerous…”

“I know,” Qin Yingxia handed him a clean wet wipe, “The sun was so strong today, did you put on sunscreen?”

She had specifically reminded him this morning.

“Yeah.” Jin Zhuo chuckled, remembering something, “You don’t know how the three guys in my dorm laughed at me when I was putting this stuff on this morning…”

Qin Yingxia was puzzled, “Why were they laughing at you?”

“They were laughing at my mother.”

The next second, even Qin Yingxia couldn’t help but laugh.

Jin Zhuo: ??

“I couldn’t help it.” Qin Yingxia suppressed her laughter, “I wasn’t laughing at you putting on sunscreen, I was laughing at how cute Jin Xuechang’s tone was.”

Jin Zhuo looked at her, his eyebrows raised slightly, “Cute?”

He leaned closer, his refreshing scent filling her senses, “Tell me, little Qin Xuemei…”

Qin Yingxia leaned back, staring into the boy’s deep eyes, and smiled sweetly, “You’re so cute like this now, like a curious cat…”

Jin Zhuo laughed.

The hot wind blew, carrying his beating heart.

“Qin Yingxia…”

She looked up at him, “Hmm? What’s wrong…”

The boy paused for two seconds, his gaze lingering on her pink lips, and a smile spread across his lips, “…Qin, Ying, Xia.”

He gently called her name again.

Qin Yingxia was lost in the clouds, unable to understand the emotions in his eyes.

Jin Zhuo reached out to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen on her face, and suddenly said, “Keep your distance from Yang Dai.”

“Those photos that have been popping up under your account recently, I had Pei Lanhe track them down online, they were all posted by one person…”

“No organization or individual may infringe upon another’s portrait rights by means of ugly, defamatory, or information technology means such as forgery. Her actions not only infringe upon your portrait rights, but may also infringe upon your right to reputation.”

Jin Zhuo suddenly became very official.