On the second day of becoming Pei Xingche’s deskmate, besides occasionally hearing his strange inner voice during class, Yun Xiang also gained some new troubles—
The scrutinizing gazes of her classmates and some fresh gossip.
“Hey, Yun Xiang, did you and Shen Zhe break up?”
Yun Xiang had just put down her schoolbag when she heard a teasing male voice.
It was a boy sitting in the group next to theirs—big and burly, with slightly dark skin. He seemed to be the class sports committee member; she didn’t really know him.
Yun Xiang furrowed her brows slightly, her voice gentle yet firm: “We were never dating. Please stop joking around.”
The boy looked at the girl’s delicate, beautiful profile, clicked his tongue, wiped the grin off his face, and scratched his head.
How to catch the attention of a girl you like without being annoying—that was the eternal dilemma for teenage boys of this age.
A girl sitting behind him couldn’t help but turn around and pick up the conversation: “Then what about you and Pei Xingche?”
From yesterday’s noon conversation between Pei Xingche and Shen Zhe, to the seat selection, rumors that Pei Xingche was pursuing Yun Xiang had spread like wildfire.
Some people were even speculating on the campus forum that Pei Xingche had deliberately cheated to get high scores just to snatch Yun Xiang away from Shen Zhe.
These tidbits had undoubtedly blown a huge crater in the girls’ social circles.
Yun Xiang pressed her pale lips together, her expression unchanged: “Classmates.”
The girl blinked, clearly unconvinced, her lips moving as if she wanted to ask more.
“That’s enough.”
Xu Ran swallowed the small bread roll in her mouth and said with amusement: “Why don’t you worry about your own grades instead of other people’s lives every day?”
The girl’s face immediately turned ugly, her ears flushing red. She bit her lip and turned back around.
“Got nothing better to do.” Xu Ran commented flatly in two words.
She folded up the bread wrapper, tossed it into the trash can, and as she sat back down, she noticed her deskmate in front, Yun Xiang, looking at her with sparkling eyes.
Xu Ran’s heart skipped a beat. She swallowed weakly and stammered: “What’s wrong?”
“Thank you.”
Yun Xiang relaxed her brow and broke into a radiant smile. Her clear, pure doe eyes held the person before her with sincerity, soft dimples rippling on her cheeks as her warm pink lips parted slightly.
Xu Ran sucked in a breath, clutched her chest, put on a serious face, and said in a deep voice: “Babe, don’t look at me like that.”
“Hm?”
Xu Ran looked grave, as if reflecting deeply: “Because I’ll make a mistake—the kind of mistake all men make.”
Yun Xiang: “…”
“Pfft.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, her smile blooming across her face, her features even more dazzling than the cherry blossoms blooming outside the window in early March.
Xu Ran’s round, baby-faced features were full of shock, her mouth forming an “O” shape.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen Miss smile,” she sighed leisurely. “The whole school knows that the class beauty of Class Five is an ice queen.”
Yun Xiang took a moment to process before she understood Xu Ran’s teasing.
She explained a little sheepishly: “I actually laugh quite a lot.”
It’s just that she hadn’t encountered anything or anyone funny before.
The moment An Wuyang arrived at the classroom door, she spotted the two girls by the window chatting happily. At something, Yun Xiang nodded lightly, and Xu Ran grinned, eyes lighting up as she reached out and touched the girl’s cheek.
An Wuyang’s lazy eyes snapped fully open, her brows knitting together.
She walked into the classroom. Xu Ran looked up and saw her, her grin widening even more as she squinted and waved:
“An’an, come feel Yun Xiang’s face! It’s so soft and squishy—the texture is amazing! I’m in love!”
An Wuyang: “…”
Alright, she was overthinking it.
Right.
How could Xu Ran, that hopeless straight girl, ever have a sudden realization?
Yun Xiang’s ears tinged with pink. She still wasn’t quite used to this kind of intimate contact.
But it wasn’t unpleasant either.
“Really not gonna try it?” Xu Ran was still pitching it to An Wuyang.
An Wuyang set down her schoolbag, her tone flat: “I’m not a pervert like some people.”
“Who are you calling a pervert?” Xu Ran’s voice shot up, her round face puffing up in indignation.
An Wuyang didn’t answer her, lowering her head to flip open her Chinese textbook and review the recitation assignment from yesterday.
Xu Ran sulked a little, pouting and muttering: “It’s obviously so nice to touch!”
[What’s nice to touch?]
Pei Xingche arrived at the classroom just then. He was a bit curious about Xu Ran’s words, but he didn’t ask out loud.
Instead, he coolly shrugged his schoolbag off his left shoulder, shoved both hands into his pants pockets, his face completely expressionless.
Don’t let his relaxed, casual, lazy, cocky demeanor fool you—every single move he made was carefully choreographed.
[Nice. Movement on point, expression on point. Today is another day of me radiating charm~]
Yun Xiang: …
Xu Ran saw Pei Xingche arrive, and who knows what she was thinking—perhaps eager to get someone else’s validation to prove she wasn’t a pervert—she blurted out in a muddle:
“Hey, School Heartthrob Pei, why don’t you touch Yun Xiang’s face and see if it’s nice to touch?”
Pei Xingche: “!”
Yun Xiang: “!”
One sentence silenced everyone around them.
An Wuyang pressed her hand to her forehead, sighing inwardly: This girl is beyond saving.
【How does she know I want to touch the little snail’s face? Can I really touch it?】
【Oh dear, isn’t this a bit inappropriate? But my hand seems to have a mind of its own—what’s going on here?】
【Whimper whimper whimper, I want to touch it so badly. It should feel like touching a cloud, soft and fluffy, and sweet too. Wuwuwu, let me touch it, wifey. (Wagging puppy tail)】
Hearing Pei Xingche’s inner voice, Yun Xiang couldn’t help but look up, only to meet his deep, ink-black eyes. The boy had thin eyelids and upturned eye corners—quite handsome, yet they gave off an air of cold detachment.
But strangely, Yun Xiang could see a blazing restlessness and eager anticipation in those seemingly indifferent eyes.
She pressed her lips together, lowered her gaze, and refused with a slight blush on her cheeks: “No.”
Pei Xingche looked at her face, his prominent Adam’s apple bobbing as he let out a muffled “Mm.”
He silently averted his gaze, his warm fingertips gently rubbing against the paper.
【Wuwuwu, wifey won’t let me touch…】
【It’s fine if you don’t love me, bro—I’ll just go back to gutting fish at the supermarket. (Pretending to be cold)】
【Don’t ask how old I am, my emotions are shattered into pieces!】
Yun Xiang: …
After Xu Ran said those words, she too realized she had misspoken and wisely shut her mouth, shrinking back.
The four of them didn’t stay awkward for long, because morning self-study began.
The sound of loud reading filled the classroom. Ten minutes later, the Chinese teacher strolled in and said, “Same rules as usual—yesterday’s recitation assignment was ‘Meng of Wei, Book of Songs.’ Test each other in pairs at your desks. No covering for each other, alright? After you finish, I’ll still do random checks.”
Desk mates…
Yun Xiang tightened her grip on the pen in her hand, her gaze lingering on the tiny black characters in the textbook as she hesitated before asking, “You go first or me?”
“I’ll go first,” Pei Xingche said.
【Tsk, this way if the little snail hasn’t memorized it well, she’ll still have some time to prepare.】