The bell for the last class in the morning rang as the homeroom teacher finished speaking. Zhou Ping called out, "School's out," and immediately some students dashed out of the classroom as if they were fleeing for their lives.
"Lin Jinran, wait for a while and go to the library with me to pick up the books. You can get your school uniform in a few days. The school is out of stock for the time being." Zhou Ping seemed to remember that there were a lot of books and the library was a bit far away. "Well, Su Qinian, you take Lin Jinran to pick up the books. She can't carry them all by herself."
"Okay." Su Qinian agreed.
While Su Qinian was talking to the homeroom teacher, Lin Jinran furtively took out her phone from her desk and sent a message to her two childhood friends.
Lin Jinran: [I've got something to tell you guys.]
Shen Tingsi: [Huh? What is it?]
Xu Jiaxin: [Hurry up and tell us.]
Lin Jinran: [Do you still remember the boy who asked me to add him on WeChat last night, and I almost pulled down his pants?]
Xu Jiaxin: [What happened? Did you run into him again?]
Lin Jinran: [Smiling bitterly.jpg]
Lin Jinran: [Yes...]
Shen Tingsi hit the nail on the head: [Don't tell me you're in the same class.]
Xu Jiaxin was shocked: [What's going on? Is it for real?]
Lin Jinran: [Not only is it real, but he's also become my deskmate...]
Shen Tingsi: [If you don't get a boyfriend, who will?]
Xu Jiaxin: [If you don't get a boyfriend, who will?]
"The teacher has left. Let's go to the library."
A shadow fell over her. Lin Jinran only managed to send a help emoji before quickly turning off her phone.
Su Qinian noticed the phone she had hurriedly put away. He paused for a moment and said, "Remember to turn off your phone's sound. You're not allowed to bring it to school."
"Okay, I know." Maybe it was because she felt guilty. Lin Jinran tried to look calm. She looked up at Su Qinian, then got up and went out with him to pick up the books.
There were only a few students in the corridor. Lin Jinran walked side by side with Su Qinian. She looked around curiously, observing the surroundings.
She had been in a hurry this morning and hadn't had the chance to take a good look at the large No. 1 Middle School.
Su Qinian noticed the little details of the girl beside him. There was a faint smile in his eyes as he began to tell her the school's history.
"Our No. 1 Middle School in Wannan City has always had the reputation of being 'a millennium academy and a century-old famous school'. The school was built on the site of the famous Wannan Academy that has been around for a thousand years. Counting it all up, this year is the 99th year since its establishment. Maybe there will be a centenary celebration next year..."
The boy's voice was deep and had a lazy hoarseness to it, like the summer dust gradually waking up, seeping into her ears.
"Well, to put it this way, No. 1 Middle School is a national key high school. Most of the top ten students in the college entrance examination every year come from our school. In particular, our school has produced the top scorers in physics and history for the past two or three years."
Lin Jinran was fascinated. She slowed down a bit, wanting to listen more clearly.
She turned her head and saw the side profile of the young man illuminated by the light. His features were sharp and handsome.
The not-too-hot sunlight shone on his face and into his eyes. With all the glory on him, he talked about the school's millennium-old history.
At that moment, Lin Jinran's heart fluttered. She couldn't quite describe the feeling.
The tree shadows were mottled, and the sunlight spread wantonly on the earth.
Su Qinian led Lin Jinran around a corner. The words "Canteen" came into view. Lin Jinran was slightly stunned and asked, "Aren't we going to pick up the books?"
"Food is the paramount necessity of the people. Come on. Since it's your first day at school, I'll treat you to a meal." Su Qinian walked into the canteen, and Lin Jinran followed closely behind. "The books aren't urgent. The library is right there. It's not going anywhere."
This guy... She didn't expect him to be so considerate.
Lin Jinran curved her lips and said with a faint smile, "In that case, I won't be polite."
"Just go ahead." Su Qinian raised his eyebrows in a playful challenge.
The food in the school canteen was very rich. At Su Qinian's suggestion, Lin Jinran chose two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. They found a corner table and sat down to eat.
"Your forehead is swollen. You hit it on the wall in the toilet last night, right?" Su Qinian asked.
"Yeah..." Lin Jinran touched the swollen part of her forehead and sighed. "I applied some medicine last night, but I was in a hurry this morning and forgot to bring it."
"You got drunk even when you went to the KTV. You're really something." Su Qinian shook his head. "What about your knee? Is it better?"
"No, it was just an accident!" Lin Jinran retorted indignantly. Then, as if she remembered something, her voice gradually softened. "It was my first time drinking. I only had one glass, and I didn't expect it to take effect so quickly."
Su Qinian let out a soft laugh. "Now you know your limit. Be more careful next time."
He didn't mention the fact that Lin Jinran had followed him into the men's toilet.
He didn't mention the fact that Lin Jinran had almost pulled down his pants.
He didn't even mention the fact that Lin Jinran had snatched the love letter this morning.
Su Qinian looked at the girl sitting across from him with a gentle gaze. The cicadas were chirping outside the canteen, and the fan above their heads was spinning hard, creaking and groaning, but it couldn't blow away the young man's burning feelings.
"Let's eat." Lin Jinran knew she had made a fool of herself, so she avoided the topic and urged him to eat.
After they finished eating, Su Qinian led her to the library to pick up the books. Then he walked her back to the classroom before going home.
Only then did Lin Jinran realize that Su Qinian usually went home for lunch, but he had spent nearly an hour accompanying her.
"Hello, Lin Jinran. My name is Xie Wanyu. It's the 'wan' in 'evening' and the 'yu' from the imperial concubine's title 'Jieyu'." Just as Lin Jinran was sitting in a daze at her seat, a fair hand suddenly appeared in front of her.
Lin Jinran was startled. She looked up and saw a sweet-looking girl.
Sensing the girl's friendliness, Lin Jinran smiled gently. Her glass-like eyes looked at her quietly as she shook her hand and replied softly.
"Hello, my name is Lin Jinran. It's from the poem 'I see the mountains all in red, with every forest dyed through'."
"Pfft, I know. Your self-introduction was really amazing." Xie Wanyu covered her mouth and laughed.
Xie Wanyu looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, she leaned in a bit closer and said, "Do you know? We were all shocked that you're sitting at the same desk as this ice prince."
"Ice prince?" Lin Jinran only caught the key point she wanted to know.
Su Qinian was an ice prince?
This guy was an ice prince?
Lin Jinran found it funny. She remembered that she had almost pulled down the ice prince's pants last night. If that got out, it would surely be earth-shattering.
It was just too much.
"Yeah." Xie Wanyu nodded seriously. "I've never seen Su Qinian sit at the same desk as a female classmate since the second year of senior high school when we were divided into classes."
As if she remembered something, Xie Wanyu leaned in even closer and said with a pained expression, "Do you know our class monitor? He's really good-looking, but he's so cold and doesn't get close to female classmates. What a waste of such a good-looking face."
Lin Jinran: "..."
Cold? He didn't seem cold, except for the first time they met.
Didn't get close to female classmates? That didn't seem right either. He was actually quite nice and had taken care of her.
Good-looking? Well, he was indeed good-looking. He was exactly her type.