After hearing this, Jiang Qiao pondered for a moment and said, “No wonder he became the target of my forced love.”
166: “…………………”
Why did it feel like Jiang Qiao was gloating?! It must have misheard, it must have!
By the time they reached the classroom, most of the lesson had already passed. The Chinese teacher was a short, elderly man who gave the two latecomers a mild scolding before letting them in.
“Oh, are teachers these days all this tolerant?” Jiang Qiao had thought she would be made to stand outside as punishment for being late on the first day of school. With the sun blazing outside, standing for half a lesson would have been no joke.
“Hmph,” 166 snorted proudly.
Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow, already guessing the reason. “Did Song Qingying inform the teacher in advance?”
“Obviously,” 166 replied. “It’s all thanks to our beautiful and kind-hearted female lead. Otherwise, you two would still be standing outside, hmph…”
Stupid, vicious supporting female character! Why aren’t you groveling in gratitude to the female lead?
166’s inner thoughts were practically audible.
Jiang Qiao thought it had completely lost its mind and rolled her eyes.
Song Qingying had clearly done all this because she was worried about Lu Xun being punished. Jiang Qiao was just an afterthought.
If anyone should be grateful, it should be Lu Xun offering himself in marriage.
She really wanted to see what Lu Xun would look like when he let his guard down for someone.
Thinking this, she glanced toward the two sitting by the window.
The petite and slender Song Qingqing sat on the inside, while the tall, sturdy young man could completely block her from view.
Jiang Qiao saw Lu Xun tilt his head toward Song Qingying on the inner side.
The shadow of plane tree leaves outside the window swayed gently with the breeze over the desks. The slightly bowed head of the young man, the blushing girl, the restless energy of youth—everything was just perfect.
Ye Qingqing called Jiang Qiao’s name several times in a low voice, but Jiang Qiao didn’t hear her. Seeing that the teacher was fully immersed in the lecture, Ye Qingqing leaned closer to Jiang Qiao and gossiped, “You think there’s something going on between them too, right?”
Jiang Qiao’s gaze shifted slightly. She turned to meet Ye Qingqing’s sparkling eyes, smiled, and played dumb. “Who?”
“Lu Xun and the class monitor.”
Class monitor? Jiang Qiao was surprised. “Song Qingying?”
“I think that’s her name…” Ye Qingqing said uncertainly.
The Chinese teacher currently lecturing was also their homeroom teacher. During the first half of the lesson that Jiang Qiao had missed, this homeroom teacher had already appointed most of the class committee members.
Since Song Qingying was both the discipline committee member and had helped report for her classmates, the homeroom teacher thought she cared about her peers and had a kind heart, directly appointing her as class monitor.
Of course, it also helped that other students weren’t particularly interested in the class monitor position.
Distracted by Jiang Qiao’s question, Ye Qingqing remembered something else she’d heard from other students. “I heard you had an argument with her this morning. What happened?”
She didn’t think this seemingly easy-to-bully class monitor would dare to confront Jiang Qiao head-on. It was probably Jiang Qiao going off on her alone.
While Jiang Qiao was usually a bit spoiled, she wouldn’t normally bully someone like this. What Ye Qingqing was curious about was how Song Qingying had provoked Jiang Qiao. She hoped it wasn’t for the reason she suspected.
“I wasn’t wearing my uniform, and she wanted to record my name. So I said I’d help her record names instead, and she got upset. What else could it be?” Jiang Qiao said innocently.
Ye Qingqing’s mouth twitched. “You’re quite the helpful young lady, aren’t you?”
But at least it wasn’t the reason she had suspected.
Ye Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief and was about to change the subject when Jiang Qiao suddenly leaned close and whispered something to her.
“What! You want to pursue Lu Xun?!” Ye Qingqing abruptly stood up, her voice losing control.
………………………
The moment her words fell, the already quiet classroom became dead silent. Gazes shot over from all directions.
Jiang Qiao: “……………………” You could speak a little louder.
She tried hard to ignore the scrutinizing gaze coming from the window side, pulling Ye Qingqing down to sit: “Teacher. Sorry, please continue.”
How inappropriate! What does she think this classroom is? A marketplace?
The teacher’s reprimand was cut off by the bell. Carrying his book to the door, he paused: “Lu Xun, come to the office. I need to talk to you.”
The boy by the window stood up and walked out of the classroom with an indifferent expression.
Ye Qingqing finally realized what she had just done. Feeling the occasional glances from classmates around her, she said guiltily: “You know me, I can’t keep things to myself.”
Jiang Qiao waved her hand: “It’s fine.”
According to the plot, she was supposed to pursue Lu Xun first. Given her and Lu Xun’s reputation, not just their classmates but probably the entire high school department would know about it eventually.
It was just a matter of sooner or later.
The second period bell rang, but Lu Xun hadn’t returned.
As a promising candidate for the provincial top scorer, it didn’t take a genius to guess that their homeroom teacher—that old man—was earnestly advising him against puppy love.
Lu Xun returned to the classroom just as the bell trailed off, sitting down right before the subject teacher entered.
The female teacher on the podium spoke softly, her English fluent and pleasant to hear.
Lu Xun listened attentively, but ten minutes later, he hadn’t retained a single word.
His mind uncontrollably echoed the homeroom teacher’s final words—
“Lu Xun, you need to understand that people are different. Don’t ruin your future for a momentary impulse.”
Some people sit in this classroom to experience every stage of life; while others have no choice but to stake everything they have.
These two types of people are destined to be parallel lines that never intersect. Even if forced to cross paths momentarily, the outcome would only be growing further apart—so close yet worlds away.
He had known this truth since childhood, so he replied without hesitation: “I won’t.”
Not to mention he didn’t like Jiang Qiao—even if he did, he wouldn’t compromise for anyone.
If she wasn’t willing, someone else would replace her. Who couldn’t live without whom?
Besides, when a young lady like Jiang Qiao said she liked him, it was probably just a fleeting novelty—the pride of someone who’d never been rejected before.
During the last PE class, Jiang Qiao sat on the open bleachers, crunching noisily on an ice pop. A breeze carrying the scent of the rubber track brushed against her face.
The captain of the sophomore basketball team kept glancing her way. Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow: [See? This is your girl’s charm.]
[Yeah, yeah, yeah,] 166 replied unwillingly but unable to refute, sulking so hard it started spewing garbled code.
Ye Qingqing returned from the restroom, slowing her pace demurely as she passed the sophomore basketball players.
However, the basketball captain completely ignored her, his clear, bright eyes fixed firmly on Jiang Qiao’s direction.
Ye Qingqing sat down beside Jiang Qiao, her tone plaintive: “Such a beautiful face… I want to have it in my next lifetime too.”
Jiang Qiao paused from biting her ice pop and turned to meet the gaze of the basketball team captain who had been watching her. After he embarrassingly hit a teammate with the ball, she averted her eyes and said to the dejected Ye Qingqing, “He’s quite handsome, but his basketball skills aren’t great. Being his teammate must be rough.”
Young lady, do you really have no idea why he misfired that pass?
Ye Qingqing hummed twice, defending the basketball captain with little conviction: “Zhou Yue usually plays really well—he’s even won awards!”
“What award? The ‘Staring at Girls’ Award?”
“Jiang Qiao!”
Jiang Qiao grinned and covered her mouth, signaling she’d stop. She then urged Ye Qingqing to bring him water and ask for his contact details.
Ye Qingqing waved her hands shyly, saying she didn’t dare.
Exasperated, Jiang Qiao said, “What’s so hard about it? Just open your mouth and ask—it’s that simple!”
The System couldn’t stand her confidence and sneered deliberately, [Oh?~ Easy for you to say. Why don’t you try it yourself?]
[Jealous?] Jiang Qiao retorted.
[I’m just asking if you have the guts,] the System taunted.
Hah, this shoddy little system made of code was getting bold—even using reverse psychology on her.