The art room looked brand-new.
Even the small table that was still mostly intact and the cabinet in the corner had been painted in brilliant colors.
While Shen Ji worked on his math problems, Su Ning rested her chin in her hands on the table and looked around with great interest.
Every little detail here was filled with unexpected surprises.
All of a sudden, she remembered the flowers she had seen along the way.
Shen Ji was practically sprawled across the table.
He stared at the numbers in his book, feeling as though they were flying around everywhere.
First, his brows furrowed tightly.
Then his eyes went blank, and it was obvious his mind had wandered somewhere else.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his hand.
Shen Ji came back to himself.
He instantly sat up straight and looked at the girl beside him with bright, sparkling eyes.
The word anticipation might as well have been written all over his face.
Every time Su Ning touched him, she would usually stroke him and then kiss him.
But he had gotten his hopes up for nothing.
Su Ning was only holding both of his hands and looking them over.
Only after seeing that both hands were perfectly fine, without any injuries caused by flower thorns, did she finally relax.
When she looked up, she found the young man’s dark, glossy eyes staring at her without blinking.
Su Ning knew what he was expecting, but after glancing at the problems he had done, she reached out and pinched his cheek.
“Shen Ji, what are you doing?”
Shen Ji innocently said, “I’m thinking about Ning Ning.”
Su Ning was secretly pleased, but she still put on a serious expression.
“Are you so lovestruck that you’ve lost your mind?
If you don’t study properly, you’ll have nothing to do but dig for wild vegetables in the future!”
There was a strange unspoken understanding in this world.
Wealthy families would all find ways to send their children to this school, which provided an integrated high school and university education.
Only after successfully graduating at the age of twenty could they obtain the right to inherit their family businesses.
Su Ning and Shen Ji had one more year before graduation.
Shen Ji wasn’t exactly smart to begin with.
If she didn’t hurry up and keep cracking the whip behind him, what would they do if he couldn’t graduate?
Shen Ji wasn’t nearly as worried about his future as Su Ning was.
He leaned forward, rested his chin on Su Ning’s shoulder, and curled himself up like a big cat begging to be petted.
He rubbed his cheek against hers and said unconcernedly, “I’m not going to dig for wild vegetables.
I want to be Ning Ning’s freeloader.”
He really had no shame about living off a woman.
Most other boys would have rushed to say they would never let a woman support them.
Only he could say it so openly, treating it as something to be proud of rather than ashamed of.
But after thinking about it, Su Ning decided that it wasn’t such a bad idea either.
It was only one man to support.
It wasn’t as though she couldn’t afford it.
Compared with studying, everything about Su Ning was far more interesting to him.
Since he had given her such a huge surprise today, Su Ning’s heart softened a little.
After correcting the questions he had gotten wrong, she stopped forcing him to study.
Today’s study session was more than an hour shorter than usual.
Shen Ji’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he kept saying, “Ning Ning, you’re so good to me.”
Su Ning glanced at him.
“Am I ever not good to you?”
Shen Ji sat up straight and said with great seriousness, “Ning Ning is good every day.”
Su Ning was fairly satisfied with that answer.
She picked up her bag and dumped a pile of snacks onto the table.
Shen Ji stared blankly at the small mountain of dried meat and meat jerky.
Su Ning picked up a packet of meat jerky and tore it open.
Then she brought a piece to his mouth.
He opened his mouth and swallowed it in one bite.
Su Ning hurriedly said, “Chew it before you swallow.
Don’t swallow it whole.”
Shen Ji gave a muffled “Oh.” He obediently chewed the food in his mouth until it was broken into pieces, then slowly swallowed it.
It wasn’t the primitive, ravenous way he’d eaten before.
Instead, he chewed slowly and carefully, just like a normal person eating.
This was something he had learned from Su Ning.
Su Ning fed him another piece of meat jerky.
Watching him eat it with such relish, she asked with amusement, “Isn’t cooked meat much tastier than the half-raw meat you used to find?”
Shen Ji nodded and opened his mouth again.
“Ning Ning, more.”
Su Ning gave him another piece of meat jerky and instructed him, “If you’re hungry in the future, eat this to fill your stomach a little.
Don’t eat anything dirty anymore.”
Shen Ji moved closer to her until their bodies were pressed together.
His eyes curved as he smiled at her.
“I know.
Eating dirty things will make me sick.
You don’t want me to get sick.
If I get sick, I’ll feel bad, and if I feel bad, you’ll feel bad too.”
Su Ning snorted.
“What does it have to do with me if you get sick?
I won’t feel bad.”
That was what she said, but her hand continued feeding him delicious pieces of meat.
Shen Ji lowered his head, but this time he wasn’t eating meat.
He gently kissed her fingers.
Su Ning felt a little ticklish.
Under the table, she nudged his leg with the top of her foot.
“That tickles.”
Shen Ji laughed.
His eyes were shining brightly.
He held her hand and refused to let go, his eyes curving happily.
“Ning Ning, you have to feed me from now on too.”
Su Ning gave two dry laughs.
“Don’t you have hands of your own?”
Shen Ji shook his head.
“I like your hands.”
It wasn’t just her hands.
He also loved the joy hidden in her eyes whenever she looked at him.
He loved the lips that would always say she disliked him, yet still kiss him.
He loved the way the sound of her breathing grew slightly uneven because of his kisses.
Even when she kicked his leg, he loved that too.
Everything about her, everything that belonged to her, he loved.
Su Ning had never been a particularly patient person.
She did whatever she pleased and ran wild across the school.
But every time it came to Shen Ji, she had an extraordinary amount of patience and tolerance for him.
With her, Shen Ji was simply a carefree, uninhibited ordinary young man.
Ever since he could remember, this was the first time he had experienced what it felt like to be unconditionally loved by someone.
Shen Ji suddenly felt as though his entire body had been filled to the brim.
He had grown accustomed to this one-of-a-kind affection, and he knew clearly that he would never allow it to disappear.
Ning Ning’s hands looked better right where they belonged, on her.
Just as Ning Ning was meant to stay by his side.
Shen Ji curled up beside Su Ning and ate two packets of meat jerky and three packets of dried beef in a row.
He didn’t feel thirsty, but even Su Ning felt thirsty just watching him.
She put the snacks away and wouldn’t let him eat too much at once.
Her bag was like a treasure bag.
She pulled out a bottle of AB Calcium.
But she didn’t hold it securely.
The bottle fell to the floor and rolled all the way into the corner, where it bumped against the cabinet before stopping.
Su Ning stood up and walked over.
She bent down to pick up the bottle.
Her elbow bumped against the cabinet door.
The door shook slightly and opened a crack.