Whether it was Shen Xingruo’s lightning-fast solving skills that stunned Baldy Strong or his commitment to not saying anything, Baldy Strong remained silent for a long while.
Coincidentally, the bell signaling the end of the first evening self-study period rang, and Shen Xingruo politely nodded. “Teacher, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go to the restroom first.”
With that, she bypassed Baldy Strong and walked straight out.
Baldy Strong stood there, unable to find the right words to regain control of the situation.
Once Baldy Strong left, the previously quiet class erupted:
“Damn, Shen Xingruo is so awesome!”
“Am I seeing things, or did Shen Xingruo just publicly embarrass Baldy Strong?!”
“Oh my god! She’s so bold. I thought she was just a soft-spoken girl, didn’t expect…”
“A four-layer Rubik’s Cube, and she solved it in just over a minute… What kind of brain and hand speed is that?!”
Lu Xingyan stared at the Rubik’s Cube, somewhat lost in thought.
As he continued to stare, his gaze even showed a rare hint of interest.
Evening self-study ended.
On their way back to the dorms, Shi Qin clung to Shen Xingruo, not letting go. “Wuwuwu, Xingruo, I declare you my goddess! Oh my god! Did you see Baldy Strong’s bewildered face, and how he couldn’t recover as you confidently walked away? I don’t know why, but I found it so satisfying!”
However, Zhai Jiajing seemed a bit worried. She looked at Shen Xingruo and said, “Do you think Mr. Xu will come to trouble you tomorrow?”
Before Shen Xingruo could respond, Shi Qin confidently interjected, “What’s there to fear? He said it himself, if you can solve all six sides, he won’t say anything. All of us in the class heard it.”
Zhai Jiajing hesitated to speak further.
Suddenly, laughter erupted from a group of boys behind them. The three of them instinctively turned to look, and it was the boys from their class.
Lu Xingyan was in the middle of the group, and although it was unclear what they were discussing, he wore a rare smile on his face. It was the first time Shen Xingruo had seen him smile. He slightly tilted his head, his delicate fringe falling across his forehead. When he smiled, his lips curved slightly upwards, revealing his white and orderly teeth, seemingly unaffected by smoking. Usually, he seemed a bit distant to everyone, but when he smiled, he appeared gentle, and with his excessively handsome face, he looked like a handsome young man straight out of a comic book.
The boys also noticed the girls. Someone recognized Shen Xingruo and boldly whistled at her, “Goddess, you’re awesome!” Immediately, others joined in, “Goddess, do you want to eat spicy hot pot? I’ll treat you to a twenty-dollar one!” “I’ll treat you to a thirty-dollar one!” “Forget it, it’s not healthy!” Li Chengfan knocked the heads of the two boys and teased Shen Xingruo, “Ruojie, I’ll treat you to Nongfu Spring water, it’s most suitable for a fairy like you who takes care of her health.”
As it was time to return to the dorms, the boys’ shouting attracted quite a few people’s attention. Shi Qin was speechless and shouted at them, “Li Chengfan, Zhao Langming, are you guys annoying or what?!” Li Chengfan laughed, “I didn’t invite you, why are you getting worked up?” He added casually, “Jingjie, I’ll treat you too!” Shi Qin couldn’t stand his cheeky demeanor, with one-third of the mineral water still in her hand. She threw it directly at Li Chengfan — perhaps because her target was too lively, or perhaps because of the darkness of the night, the water bottle drew a magical arc in the air, and then — headed straight for Lu Xingyan’s handsome face.
Uh-oh…
Shi Qin widened her eyes, staring at the mineral water bottle about to make intimate contact with Lu Xingyan’s handsome face, and vaguely felt like she was seeing her own little body lying in the morgue.
A loud “bang”!
Silence fell around them.
…Huh?
Lu Xingyan reached out and caught it. The air fell silent for two seconds before Lu Xingyan tossed the next mineral water bottle back. He threw it lightly, but his aim wasn’t great, and the bottle flew straight into Shen Xingruo’s arms. Beside them, Zhai Jiajing was stunned for two seconds before she pursed her lips.
The collective experience of the evening self-study session didn’t make Lu Xingyan any friendlier. The next day at school, he and Shen Xingruo still maintained their attempts to freeze each other with lowered temperatures.
On Wednesday night, class monitor He Siyue added all the boys in the class to a group chat to discuss gifts for Girls’ Day the day after tomorrow. When Lu Xingyan opened WeChat, the group chat was already buzzing with activity. Some boys suggested buying candles, arranging them in heart shapes under the girls’ dormitory windows, and singing songs to them. They even shared a screenshot of a Taobao page, where a set of candles labeled “Essential for Confession Love Candles” was being sold for 23.8 yuan with free shipping. It seemed like a cheap and practical option, with same-city delivery available by Friday.
Lu Xingyan glanced at the screenshot, which boldly proclaimed “Essential for Confession Love Candles,” and noted that 11,493 idiots had already bought the item in an attempt to find a girlfriend. Fortunately, not many agreed with this idea.
“Too cringe, and it’s not like we’re short on money.”
“Whether we can successfully light the candles downstairs in the dormitory is still a problem. I bet the security guards will show up before we finish arranging them.”
“YeAh and this isn’t practical. I think buying some food would be better.”
Lu Xingyan didn’t bother reading further. As long as it wasn’t something as embarrassing as lighting candles and singing, it was fine by him. When he checked his phone after taking a shower, the group chat seemed to have settled on the gift and had moved on to discussing the delivery method. He didn’t bother scrolling back further, but he did see He Siyue suggesting that since there were exactly 28 boys and 28 girls in the class, they could do one-on-one gift exchanges.
As soon as those words were out, the boys in the class eagerly and frantically flooded the chat, their messages all saying pretty much the same thing:
“I want to give it to Shen Xingruo.”
“I’m giving it to Shen Xingruo!!!”
“Zhao Jiajing!!”
“I’m also giving it to Shen Xingruo.”
“Shen Xingruo is mine!!!”
Lu Xingyan chuckled.
It was like winning an argument in the group meant you could marry that white peacock.
Childish.
Everyone was clamoring, but there was no way they could all give it to one person. So He Siyue suggested drawing lots to decide. Anyone who wanted to exchange could do so later.
He Siyue wrote down the girls’ student numbers on pieces of paper, crumpled them into balls, and then called the boys to come to the dorm to draw lots.
By the time Lu Xingyan and Bian He got there, there weren’t many balls left.
Lu Xingyan grabbed one at random and unfolded it.
Number 56.
“He got 56. Who’s student number 56?”
“56?”
“Oh damn, 56 is Shen Xingruo, right?”
Shen Xingruo was a transfer student, so her student number naturally came last. Looking at the class roster, sure enough, it was Shen Xingruo.
Lu Xingyan didn’t react much.
Li Chengfan put his arm around Lu Xingyan’s shoulder and asked, “Hey, do you want to trade with me? I drew Zhao Jiajing. Anyway, you don’t have a good relationship with Shen Xingruo, so you can trade with me.”
“Who told you I don’t have a good relationship with her?”
“Do I even need to say it? You two act like whoever speaks first will drop dead on the spot. I’m not blind, hurry up and trade with me.”
“Screw you.”
He shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and sauntered back to the dorm.
On Friday, the atmosphere at school for the Girls’ Festival was intense. One of the principles at Mingli School was freedom, so whether it was traditional festivals or Western ones, the school allowed students to celebrate creatively without disrupting the teaching schedule.
Shen Xingruo had just arrived at the school and saw red banners fluttering in the wind. From the bulletin boards to the playground to the walls outside the classrooms, banners were hung everywhere. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think it was the propaganda office brainwashing everyone.
Mingli School was quite different from Huize No. 1 Middle School. When Shen Xingruo was at Huize, she hadn’t even seen a New Year’s Eve party once. Huize also required students to live on campus, but the dorms and cafeteria were inside the school, so unless there were special circumstances, nobody could leave campus. In Huize, the only thing that could slightly relax people was the two days off each month.
Seeing how lively the Girls’ Festival was at Mingli surprised Shen Xingruo a bit.
The boys in Class One also wrote banners for the girls. After all, it was a liberal arts experimental class, and they couldn’t afford to lose face in a situation where words mattered.
“As the lights come on in Shuxiang Road, who captures everyone’s attention? Class One’s beautiful twenty-eight, in the prime of their youth.”
After reciting it, Shi Qin said, “Hey, ours is pretty good! Much stronger than Class Six’s ‘Can’t take you to romantic Turkey, but can send you a Peppa Pig.’ Theirs is too cheesy!”
Zhao Jiajing looked up and down, “It seems like they’re still using the verse style of ‘Yu Meiren’.”
Shi Qin said, “Then it must have been He Siyue and the others who came up with it. The style is too normal, so normal that I can’t believe it’s our class’s boys!”
Shen Xingruo didn’t say anything, but she deeply agreed.
Yesterday, before school ended, the Chinese teacher, Chen Jiao, asked Shen Xingruo for her essay book, saying she wanted to type it up on the computer and print it out to include in the next issue of excellent essays.
After entering the teaching building, Shen Xingruo, Zhao Jiajing, and Shi Qin went their separate ways. They first went to the Chinese department office to get the essay. When they came out of the office, the bell for morning self-study rang.
The corridor was empty, and the sound of morning reading could be heard from the classrooms along the way. Shen Xingruo walked towards Class One. As she passed the entrance of the teaching building, she heard footsteps and subconsciously glanced in that direction.
A tall and thin figure approached, dressed in the black and white school uniform that Mingli students sarcastically referred to as “mourning attire.” It looked surprisingly good on him.
Lu Xingyan.
He had a pink gift box tucked under his arm and a rose in his hand.
Seeing her, he didn’t seem surprised. He raised an eyebrow slightly, then lazily walked towards her against the morning light.
“Hey, Shen Xingruo.”
“This is for you.”
Without much thought, he handed her the items directly, as if just fulfilling a duty.
Shen Xingruo froze, not yet taking them. Suddenly, a roar came from behind her, “What are you doing in broad daylight? Do you even consider this a school!”
The two of them turned back sharply.
Great.
It was Baldy again.
Baldy, upon seeing them, was reminded of the incident during that evening self-study when the scene was disrupted. Instantly, he became furious at the sight of them and launched into a barrage of curses.
His speech was too fast for Shen Xingruo to catch everything, but she vaguely heard phrases like “early romance violates school rules,” “bringing shame to the school,” and “the liberal arts class is useless.”
After he finished talking, he even resorted to violence. Taking advantage of Lu Xingyan’s distraction, he snatched the incriminating evidence from his hands. Not content with just the rose, he also immediately opened the pink gift box, trying to find undeniable evidence like a love letter.
As soon as the pink box was opened, Shen Xingruo saw the familiar “ABC” letters.
Whether Baldy was crazy or what, he didn’t even bother to look at the letters on top before tearing open the ABC packaging.
The next moment, the world fell silent.