Having received the hush money from Lu Xingyan, Shen Xingruo didn’t give him a hard time all day.
When Lu Xingyan said he would stay for evening self-study tonight, she bought a milk tea and incidentally brought a cup of iced matcha for him.
–– It could be considered as a fair deal, with honesty and good after-sales service. After buying the milk tea, Shen Xingruo waited outside the stationery store for Shi Qin and Zhai Jiajing.
Soon, the two of them came out of the stationery store. Seeing her holding a cup and also carrying another, Shi Qin, surprised, asked, “Xingruo, are you drinking two cups by yourself, or are you bringing one for Ruan Wen?”
“For Lu Xingyan,” Shen Xingruo said candidly. Shi Qin asked a couple more questions, and Shen Xingruo didn’t feel there was anything to hide, so she straightforwardly recounted the incident of giving Lu Xingyan the hush money.
Shi Qin couldn’t stop laughing. “Hey, I found out that you and Lu Xingyan get along quite well. I used to think he was fierce, the type who would hit someone at the drop of a hat, but every time I hear you talk about him, he seems a bit silly, hahaha…”
“He’s naturally silly,” Shen Xingruo said.
The two of them laughed and talked all the way, while Zhai Jiajing walked on the other side of Shi Qin, not laughing much and not engaging much in the conversation. Even when Shi Qin deliberately threw out topics, she only reluctantly replied with one or two words.
Both Shi Qin and Shen Xingruo thought she was feeling bad because she didn’t do well on the test, so they deliberately avoided talking about exam-related topics.
After seating themselves in the classroom for a while, Lu Xingyan and Li Chengfan came in carrying a basketball.
Lu Xingyan was sweating, he dropped the basketball and stood under the fan, pulling open the collar of his summer uniform to cool off. Then he started chatting with someone across the room, complaining that the school had money but was stingy, not providing air conditioning in the classroom, and so on.
Shen Xingruo pulled his sleeve and pushed the cup of iced matcha towards him.
“What’s this?” Lu Xingyan subconsciously lowered his head, saw the cup of milk tea pushed to him on the table, and looked at it for a moment. “What’s this for?”
Shen Xingruo just “Hmm”ed.
“…Miss Shen, did the sun just rise from beneath the ground?” Lu Xingyan said, holding the milk tea himself, busy with his drink. He didn’t have time to pay much attention to him, buried in his book, just leaving a sentence, “Well, since it’s bought with your money, drink it if you want.”
Just as evening self-study began, the bell rang, and the class duty vice monitor went up to the platform, asking everyone to keep quiet.
Lu Xingyan sat down casually, his lips curling, leaning back carelessly, and casually said thank you.
Then he picked up the cup of iced matcha and shook it at Li Chengfan, his eyes gleaming.
Li Chengfan, unable to stand his showing off, playfully kicked him and shouted, “Vice monitor, I report that Lu Xingyan is drinking milk tea during evening self-study!”
The students in the classroom all raised their heads in unison to look at Lu Xingyan because of his shout. Even the vice monitor on the platform glanced over.
But Lu Xingyan was only holding the milk tea, not drinking it. The one who was drinking was Shen Xingruo next to him.
Shen Xingruo paused for two seconds, turned her head, and calmly glanced at Li Chengfan.
Li Chengfan immediately backed off, “Vice monitor, I retract my report!”
“Pfft—”
“Is Li Chengfan a fool?”
“He’s just a clown.”
Laughter echoed in the classroom.
Shen Xingruo, beautiful, kind-hearted, talented, and with excellent grades, had just ranked first in the class again, and naturally was the darling of the class. What’s wrong with her having a milk tea?
The vice monitor tapped the podium and adjusted his glasses, speaking with authority, “Everyone, quiet down! The school didn’t say you can’t drink milk tea during evening self-study. Li Chengfan, stop causing trouble.”
Having offended the goddess, Li Chengfan didn’t say much. He just raised his hands in surrender, acknowledging his mistake.
But the vice monitor took it a step further and warned him, “Li Chengfan, pull your school uniform pants up properly.”
The school didn’t say anything about not rolling up the uniform pants during evening self-study. It was like double standards on steroids.
Li Chengfan was speechless but didn’t argue. He pulled down his school uniform pants that were rolled up to his thighs.
Turning his head, he saw Lu Xingyan holding the milk tea, making a gesture of toasting at him with a smug expression that was begging for a punch. But at this moment, he really couldn’t do anything to Lu Xingyan.
Lu Xingyan was just a bit impulsive by nature. After having a good time with Li Chengfan, he noticed Shen Xingruo sitting quietly, reading and drinking her milk tea. Lu Xingyan couldn’t resist the temptation, and when Shen Xingruo put down her paper cup, he unexpectedly grabbed it, saying, “What flavor is this? It doesn’t seem the same as mine.”
He looked at Shen Xingruo’s paper cup packaging, then at his plastic cup packaging, feeling curious. When he saw the side label, curiosity instantly turned into disbelief. “Bai Peach Oolong with Light Milk Cheese, twenty-two… Damn, mine is only eight bucks, and you bought a twenty-two one for yourself?”
Shen Xingruo tilted her head to look at him, saying nothing, but her expression clearly said, “What’s your problem?” and “Who are you to be picky when it’s bought with your money?”
At this moment, Lu Xingyan strongly suspected that the eight-dollar milk tea in his hand was a complimentary one to Shen Xingruo’s twenty-two-dollar Bai Peach Oolong with Light Milk Cheese.
He pinched the paper cup and looked inside. Seeing him seemingly having intentions to contaminate her milk tea, Shen Xingruo covered the straw with her hand.
Lu Xingyan pushed her hand away, saying, “Let me try it, I don’t need your straw.”
He opened the lid directly and took a sip along the edge of the paper cup.
The cheese milk cap of this place was dense, sweet, and heavy, meant to be drunk with the lid open. Shen Xingruo, having just eaten, didn’t want it too rich, so she used a straw to sip the clear tea underneath.
As Lu Xingyan took a big gulp, the overly sweet taste made his scalp tingle instantly. He wasn’t a big fan of sweet things to begin with, so he neither swallowed nor spat it out, leaving him speechless for a while.
He took a few sips of the iced matcha to save himself. Then he finally recovered, saying, “Girls all like this kind of thing? This twenty-two cheese is too damn strong, almost choked me to death.”
Shen Xingruo remained silent.
Listening to his muttering about returning to simplicity and accepting the milk tea, Shen Xingruo suddenly put down her book and waved at him, motioning for him to come closer.
Shen Xingruo often called Lu Xingyan over and then whispered words of humiliation close to his ear.
After being humiliated many times, Lu Xingyan even gave this kind of humiliation a special name – “Close Proximity Strike.”
Seeing the familiar gesture, he hesitated for a moment but still moved closer. When he got close, he asked cautiously, “What are you going to do now?”
Shen Xingruo took out a new pack of napkins from the drawer, tore it open, took out one sheet, pressed her index finger against it, and then directly wiped the milk cap from his lips.
This action lasted only a moment, and Shen Xingruo seemed to realize it wasn’t appropriate. She directly removed the paper from his lips and said, “Do it yourself.”
Lu Xingyan was slightly stunned. Just now, it felt like there was something soft and warm about her fingertips touching through the napkin.
For once, he reacted quickly and casually said, “You’ve already helped me, might as well finish it. I can’t see anyway.”
Shen Xingruo immediately created distance between them, pursed her lips in silence, and threw a small mirror onto his desk.
Not getting the intimate service of Shen Xingruo’s proximity was also within Lu Xingyan’s expectations.
He chuckled lightly, picked up the mirror, and said, “I’ll do it myself then.”
Shen Xingruo took out a light gray marker and casually made marks on her book.
Maybe because summer was approaching, she felt a bit warm even at night. Her ears felt warm too. With this thought, she suddenly removed her hair tie. Her hair fell, covering her ears and half of her expressionless face.
Lu Xingyan was wiping the milk cap off his lips when a whiff of orange blossom shampoo scent drifted by. At first, he was taken aback, then when he turned to look, he felt inexplicable.
Was it necessary to avoid him like this? Did he disgust her so much that she couldn’t even tie her hair back just to avoid seeing his face???
The two evening self-study sessions passed without incident. Just before class ended, He Siyue was called to the office by Wang Youfu and came back with a stack of papers.
He Siyue went straight to the platform and said, “I have something to announce. I’ll be distributing these parent notification forms later. Everyone, take them home this weekend and have your parents sign the return receipt section.”
Before he could finish, a student asked from below, “Class monitor, what notification form? Isn’t it the report card?”
He Siyue smiled, “No, it’s the notification for the parent-teacher meeting. The meeting will be held next Friday. Bring the notification home so your parents can see it and sign it to indicate they’ll attend the meeting. Teacher Wang said that unless there are special circumstances, everyone must attend.”
Although the parent-teacher meeting was expected, receiving the notice suddenly still caused a stir.
“We’re having a parent-teacher meeting? Oh no, oh no!”
“I haven’t told my parents about my exam results yet. I dropped 78 places from the last monthly exam, I’m doomed…”
“Come to think of it, will this parent-teacher meeting also include the results of the last monthly exam? I did badly in the last one.”
As the students were discussing fervently, He Siyue added, “Actually, the grades and the notice for the parent-teacher meeting have already been sent out through the school-home communication book. But the school is afraid that some students might have entered incorrect information, so they want everyone to take them home and get them signed.”
This statement was met with another round of lamenting.
Speaking of which, Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan were two of the students mentioned by He Siyue whose information might be incorrect.
Both of them had filled in their phone numbers.
However, since Lu Xingyan stubbornly refused to reveal his final exam grades, Lu Shan had specifically contacted Wang Youfu since then and changed the school-home communication book back to his number.
During the milk tea dispute between Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan, Lu Shan and Pei Yue also had a verbal spat at the party.
That night, Lu Shan attended a new product launch event hosted by his nephew Jiang Che’s company.
After the event, there was an afterparty where Lu Shan and Jiang Che discussed the market prospects of Jiang Xing’s new products. Then Lu Shan wanted to introduce a client to Jiang Che and was looking for contact information on his phone when he suddenly received a text message about the parent-teacher meeting through the school-home communication book.
He showed the message to Pei Yue after discussing it with Jiang Che.
Pei Yue was not surprised, “Every time after the mid-term exams, Mingli always holds a parent-teacher meeting. Why are you making a big deal out of it?”
“I’m not overreacting. What I mean is, what will Shen Xingruo’s parents do? Old Shen is still in Rome. I contacted him a couple of days ago, and they were planning to go to Iceland. It might take a while for them to come back.”
“I don’t think Xingruo will contact him at all,” Pei Yue pondered for a moment, then asked, “Are you free next Friday?”
“I’ll make time if I have to. I can squeeze in some time,” Lu Shan replied.
“Then you go attend the parent-teacher meeting for your son, and I’ll attend for Xingruo. We’ll go together,” Pei Yue suggested.
Lu Shan paused for two seconds, then suddenly put down his glass and asked, “Wait, why should I attend for Lu Xingyan, and you for Xingruo? Didn’t you say Xingruo called you at noon, saying she topped the grade again? Why don’t you go for Lu Xingyan, and I’ll go for Xingruo?”
Pei Yue looked disdainful, “Check your messages again. Lu Xingyan only scored 398, not even reaching 400. I’ll attend for him. Even with ten layers of foundation, I can’t cover up my embarrassment.”
“So, as a big boss like me, do you think I can just sit there? My son didn’t even score 400, how can I face anyone?” Lu Shan retorted.
“Have you heard of ‘if a son is not taught, his father is to blame’? I’m telling you, Lu Shan, it’s your responsibility that Lu Xingyan didn’t do well. What right do you have to complain about him?”
Lu Xingyan found himself being dragged into his parents’ argument without understanding what was going on.
As they discussed holding parent-teacher meetings, he felt indifferent. He only thought of Shen Xingruo’s messy family situation and instinctively glanced in her direction.
While everyone was engaged in a heated discussion, Shen Xingruo seemed unaffected. She casually tucked the notice into her book and continued to work quietly.
Lu Xingyan tapped her head with his pen. “What are you planning? Do you want your dad to come?”
“No, I don’t.”
Shen Xingruo didn’t look up, her voice calm. “Then let my mom come along to the meeting?” Seeing Shen Xingruo’s silence, he asked again, “Are you planning to keep avoiding contacting your dad?”
“Why do you care so much? Is it any of your business?”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten it?”
Rarely caught off guard, Shen Xingruo’s writing speed increased.
Lu Xingyan felt something was off. She hadn’t turned her head the entire time, her hair draped over her face, hiding any expression. Could she be crying?
With that thought, Lu Xingyan instinctively reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing her face.
The gesture was intimate yet ambiguous.
Inadvertently, Lu Xingyan’s fingers brushed against Shen Xingruo’s delicate, moist earlobes, feeling their softness.
Shen Xingruo didn’t react, caught off guard by the sudden movement. Unable to stop herself from turning her head, she continued, “So what if I’ve eaten it? Just because I’ve eaten your family’s rice, does that mean I have to become your family’s daughter-in-law?”
As she spoke, her lips brushed against Lu Xingyan’s wrist.