“Xu Xintong, someone is looking for you outside.”
Having just dozed off for a short break, Xu Xintong was jolted awake.
Guessing it must be Chen Linming coming to invite her to lunch, she still forced herself to fight off the sleepiness so she could go tell Chen Linming in person.
“A-ming, I will not go.”
Xu Xintong’s eyes were too heavy to stay open, and her voice sounded raspy and exhausted.
“Um, Student Xu, this is what you helped me with last time.”
Looking ahead, a beautifully packaged gift box was being handed toward her.
Hearing a sweet yet slightly shy voice, Xu Xintong realized she had mistaken the person.
She snapped her head up. “Sorry, sorry, I mistook you for someone else.”
With that, Xu Xintong instantly woke up completely.
“Thank you for helping me last time.”
The girl’s earlobes turned slightly pink, and the blush quickly crept up her cheeks.
Xu Xintong finally recalled that the girl in front of her was the one who had been cornered by a group of minor thugs last time.
“Ah, you do not need to thank me.”
“It was just those little thugs acting way too arrogant.”
Thinking back then that this young girl had been scared off and run away, she never expected that the girl would actually prepare a token of appreciation today, which caught Xu Xintong somewhat off guard.
Seeing that Xu Xintong made no move to accept it, the girl worried that the other party did not want it.
She hurriedly shoved the gift box into Xu Xintong’s arms and, fearing she would immediately return it, scurried away like a frightened rabbit.
Left standing at the doorway scratching her head in bewilderment, Xu Xintong muttered continuously to herself.
“Why does this little girl always run away? Am I really that scary?”
“That should not be the case.”
“She must have been in a rush.”
Xu Xintong still sent a message to Chen Linming telling her to go eat by herself and not wait up, just to avoid another wave of message bombing.
Nong Wanshi had just walked out of the teacher’s office when she happened to catch the girl delivering a gift to Xu Xintong.
Xu Xintong sat back down at her desk and rested her head on her arms. Having crammed practice problems until 3:00 AM, it was even more exhausting than pulling an all-nighter for work.
Studying really was a painful endeavor. Xu Xintong could not even remember how long it had been since she last opened a book. She could not understand a thing, and there was no way she could catch up in a short amount of time.
It seemed that staying up late every day was going to be inevitable.
After a comfortable nap, she woke up feeling parched and wanted to head over to the vending machine to buy a bottle of beverage.
“Wow, look over there! Someone else is confessing to Goddess Nong!”
Hearing that the person she liked was being confessed to by someone else, one would naturally feel an unbearable ache in their heart.
If it were before, Xu Xintong definitely would have rushed to the front of the pack.
She would have stood right beside Nong Wanshi and told whoever had ideas above their station to give up.
But things were different now; she would no longer care.
Yet why was her heart still so tangled up? She did not want to let anyone else have her.
Even the refreshing, sweet mineral water tasted a bit bitter as she gripped the bottle tightly.
Xu Xintong walked toward the classroom with her head down, remaining silent, every step feeling exceptionally heavy.
Thump! A sudden collision of shoulders caught Xu Xintong off guard.
“So sorry, so sorry.”
Xu Xintong hurriedly apologized, realizing she had been spacing out and accidentally bumped into someone ahead of her.
To her absolute surprise, the moment she looked up, she saw the most dazzling existence in the entire crowd.
Nong Wanshi was standing right there, her expression giving away nothing.
Her gaze was cold, as if she were looking at nothing at all, yet as if she had seen right through everything.
“Nong Wanshi, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?”
The boy stood under the sunlight, slightly lowering his head, his hands unconsciously clenching and unclenching as he appeared rather nervous.
His voice trembled slightly, yet every word was clear and strong, as if he were pouring his entire courage into it.
Do not say yes to him, Nong Wanshi.
Xu Xintong felt extremely anxious inside because she knew this boy liked Nong Wanshi.
In her past life, he had also planned to confess to Nong Wanshi, and if Xu Xintong had not caught on to his intentions, she would have missed it.
Back then, she had hastily dragged Nong Wanshi away by force, preventing the guy from taking any further steps.
Later on, Nong Wanshi told Xu Xintong that this boy had confessed to her, which had bothered Xu Xintong for a very long time.
“Nong Wanshi, you must not say yes to him!”
The crowd was packed tightly, and the noisy discussions rose and fell in waves.
Yet one voice clearly pierced its way into Nong Wanshi’s ears.
“Ignore him, turn him down.”
It was a very anxious voice, clearly revealing the panic in the speaker’s heart.
Nong Wanshi scanned the crowd for the source of the voice, looked through the surging sea of people, and immediately locked eyes with that so-called calm person.
The moment their eyes met, Xu Xintong panicked, averted her gaze, and had no idea where to look.
She figured she should just make a quick exit, so she turned around and started walking away.
“What is going on? Why is she looking at me?”
Nong Wanshi stared fixedly at Xu Xintong. Even though the other person’s mouth had not moved at all, she had distinctly heard her mumbling.
Nong Wanshi was baffled. Why on earth was she hearing a strange voice in her head? She was even more curious why this person cared about her, and why she wanted her to reject the boy standing right in front of her.
However, the most pressing matter right now was dealing with this annoying boy blocking her way.
“Sorry.”
Before she could finish her sentence, hearing Nong Wanshi say sorry and immediately turn to leave, Xu Xintong knew Nong Wanshi had already rejected the guy.
It was best not to linger where the drama was.
“I am currently considering someone, and it is her.”
The voice was clear and pleasant, falling softly yet distinctly into everyone’s ears.
The crowd’s gazes followed the direction of Nong Wanshi’s outstretched finger, landing on Xu Xintong, who was already leaving only her departing back.
Xu Xintong did not want to stay a moment longer, so she hurried back to the classroom to rest, otherwise she would be dead tired by the afternoon.
As soon as she re-entered the classroom, the whole class exploded into a frenzy, surrounding Xu Xintong with endless questions.
“Xu Xintong, nice going!”
“Come on, spill it! You and Nong Wanshi.”
“Yeah, yeah! How did you even get to know her?”
Bombarded by a barrage of questions, Xu Xintong was utterly clueless and had no idea why they were asking all this.
“I do not even know her.”
Finished speaking, Xu Xintong sat down, preparing to take a sip of water and rest.
“Oh please, we all know now. Goddess Nong said it right in front of everyone.”
“Uh oh.”
She gave a sudden start, and the water in her throat nearly choked her.
Cough, cough, cough.
Immediately followed by a series of violent coughs.
Her face flushed bright red in an instant, and her eyes welled up with tears from the coughing fit. She frantically covered her mouth, trying to suppress the uncontrollable coughs.
“Are you alright? Why are you getting so worked up over a drink of water?”
Xu Xintong truly could not understand. What kind of nonsense were they all talking about?
“What are you guys talking about?”
Looking at her flushed face, she forced out a sentence.
“You guys, Goddess Nong, did she not say she is considering you? Don’t panic.”
Having finally managed to regulate her breathing and calm down, Xu Xintong nearly choked all over again upon hearing those words.
“Who said that?”
“Goddess Nong did! Isn’t this photo right here you? Even though it is just your back.”
“People saw you leaving, and Nong Wanshi pointed right at you when she said it.”
“The school forum is going completely crazy right now.”
Xu Xintong was even more shocked.
She looked at the phone screen shaking in front of her, displaying a photo of her back.
When did this even happen? How come she had no clue at all?
While the person in question was deep in thought, her classmates wanted to pry even further.
The bell rang. For an entire class period, a full single class, Xu Xintong could not figure it out.
Why would Nong Wanshi say something like she was considering her?
It was all because there were too many people back there, and she had only been thinking about getting away quickly without any intention of staying behind.
The moment the bell rang, Xu Xintong dashed out at top speed, wanting to hunt down Nong Wanshi and get an explanation.
She remembered which classroom was Nong Wanshi’s, but upon arriving, there was literally nobody inside.
That was strange, why was there not a single soul?
She slapped her forehead. Today was Wednesday. Xu Xintong remembered that Nong Wanshi’s class had PE today.
Xu Xintong sprinted like mad toward the sports field, frantically searching for Nong Wanshi’s figure.
“What are you doing?”
Chen Linming stared at Xu Xintong, who was standing all alone at the entrance of the field, looking left and right.
“A-ming, have you seen Nong Wanshi?”
How could she have forgotten that Chen Linming shared this PE class with Nong Wanshi? In the past, she used to eagerly look forward to this class just to sneak over and find them.
“Ah, Nong Wanshi? I think I just saw her head that way.”
“Are you looking for…”
“Thanks a lot!”
Xu Xintong bolted toward the equipment room, leaving Chen Linming standing there frozen in a daze.
“I had not even finished talking.”
Chen Linming had no idea what Xu Xintong was rushing about, but seeing her seemingly looking for Nong Wanshi with urgent business made her quite curious.
The moment Nong Wanshi stepped out after putting away the balls, she saw Xu Xintong standing outside, her gaze carrying a hint of unfriendliness.
Xu Xintong walked right up, grabbed her hand, and pulled her straight back inside the equipment room.
The instant they made physical contact, a few brief flashes crossed Nong Wanshi’s mind.
Xu Xintong trying to make her laugh, Xu Xintong sharing a meal with her, Xu Xintong looking at her and smiling foolishly.
Those images were blurry, yet she saw them crystal clear.
“What is this?”
Nong Wanshi was puzzled. After seeing those few seconds, they vanished.
The words the other person blurted out made Xu Xintong turn her head back, her eyes filled with pure confusion.
“What is?”
“Why did you say those kinds of things in front of so many people?”
Xu Xintong had a whole bunch of questions bottled up inside, wanting to ask them all at once.
“What things?”
Her calm voice contrasted sharply with Xu Xintong’s anxious tone, causing Xu Xintong’s momentum to deflate instantly.
“You know, saying you are considering me and stuff.”
Fumbling and fidgeting was totally not Xu Xintong’s style, but for some reason, whenever she was in front of Nong Wanshi, her temperament would always soften right up.
“Our agreement.”
“Huh?”
She did not process what agreement Nong Wanshi was talking about for a solid second.
“I help your father, you help me.”
Nong Wanshi had no idea how the other person could forget about this so fast, but she still patiently spelled it out.
“Oh, oh, but doing that will make people misunderstand.”
Xu Xintong realized that perhaps Nong Wanshi had too many suitors and was simply using her as a shield.
Still, right in front of so many people, it was bound to be at least a little awkward.
“Misunderstand? Misunderstand what?”
Nong Wanshi had no clue how many people had been watching Xu Xintong on her way over, nor how unfriendly every single person’s gaze had been, considering the circumstances.
“Anyway, I am going to go explain to them. We are just helping each other out, and there is no other relationship.”
Xu Xintong wanted to clear certain things up and avoid any further trouble.
“No need to explain.”