Chapter 37

When Jun Zishu finished her food and began wiping her mouth, Qin Youran quickly followed suit. Qin Youran also inwardly cheered that the mentally torturing meal was finally over.

“Goodbye,” Jun Zishu politely bid goodbye to Cheng Chaoyang, to which Cheng Chaoyang responded by waving and smiling happily.

After watching Jun Zishu and Qin Youran walk away, Cheng Chaoyang retracted his gaze and turned to the next table, finding that Li Yinglan was still staring at Qin Youran’s departing back. Then, Cheng Chaoyang approached Li Yinglan and patted his good friend on the shoulder, saying, “Yo! What’s up? Did you take a liking to Young Miss Qin?”

Cheng Chaoyang had only met Li Yinglan in high school. Although they weren’t classmates, they often played basketball together, so they were quite familiar with each other.

“She’s my ex-girlfriend,” Li Yinglan said as he looked down and played with his soup using his spoon.

“Oho? Not bad! But why did you two break up? Did you cheat on her? Or did she cheat on you?”

“Cheat my ass. She dumped me. She told me she didn’t like me a few days after we started dating.”

“How did you manage to woo her in the first place?”

“She agreed to my pursuit out of boredom.”

“Pfft. How pitiful of you, Ol’ Pal. Well, anyone can tell that it’s gonna be tough to win the heart of that kind of girl. Girls like her tend to have ridiculously high standards. Though, I don’t think you’re all that bad, either. Oh, by the way, you should understand her, right?” Cheng Chaoyang asked, placing an arm around Li Yinglan’s shoulders.

“Hm? What’s wrong? Aren’t you chasing after the other one?”

“Of course. But Young Miss Qin isn’t allowing me to chase her,” Cheng Chaoyang said with an aggrieved look.

“Why? I don’t recall her being a person who minded others’ businesses.”

Li Yinglan was a little surprised by Cheng Chaoyang’s words. Based on his interactions with Qin Youran in the past, he knew that she wasn’t a person who would meddle in others’ affairs. To be precise, she couldn’t be bothered to do so.

“You know that the person I’m chasing after is our grade’s top student, right? The Academic Goddess.”

“Yes, I’ve more or less heard about her.”

Although Li Yinglan didn’t place much attention on the academic performance of others, he still knew that their grade’s top student was a maniac who scored full marks in both the High School Entrance Examination and Yunying High’s first monthly exam.

“The young miss isn’t letting me pursue that girl, saying that I’ll affect her studies.”

Although Cheng Chaoyang felt aggrieved, he also had to agree with Qin Youran’s reasoning. Jun Zishu was a super genius destined for greatness in the future, so it’d be terrible if he became a bad influence for her.

“Mhm… She doesn’t usually meddle in others’ affairs, but once she decides to do so, she’ll be certain to see it through till the end,” Li Yinglan said, sending Cheng Chaoyang a sympathetic look. He felt that his good friend’s wish was unlikely to come true.

Meanwhile, Cheng Chaoyang held his head and moaned in agony when he heard Li Yinglan’s statement.

“But from what I saw just now, that girl doesn’t seem to be interested in you.”

“She isn’t. I confessed to her once before but got rejected. That’s why I’m currently working on winning her heart.”

“I advise you to extinguish those thoughts. Not only does she not like you, but there’s even Qin Youran standing in your way. It’s best if you stop interrupting the girl’s studies.”

“But what if my sincerity reaches her heart?” Cheng Chaoyang said, still holding a hint of hope in his heart.

“The chances of that happening are slim. You’d best give up now or endure for three years. Unlike us, they probably place a lot of importance on these three years of high school.”

“Alright, then…”

Cheng Chaoyang’s head drooped as he temporarily extinguished his thoughts of love.

…

“Does the boy who sat across from you just now like you?”

“What?”

Shortly after returning to the dormitory, Qin Youran was given a surprise by Jun Zishu’s question.

“He glanced at you at least several hundred times in ten minutes.”

“Weren’t you focused on eating?! How did you notice these things?!”

Qin Youran held her forehead in pain and walked up to Jun Zishu.

“I just happened to notice it through the corner of my eyes.”

“…He’s my ex-boyfriend. Cough, cough, cough. I was young and ignorant back then, so I decided to date him on a whim. However, nothing happened between us! We only went as far as holding hands! Also, we never held hands longer than a minute! I lost my first kiss to you!” Qin Youran said, emphasizing the last sentence. Even if Jun Zishu might not mind it, she felt it necessary to clear her name.

“Oh,” Jun Zishu curtly replied.

Qin Youran gulped. At the very beginning, she would only feel agitated whenever she heard Jun Zishu replying in such a manner. Afterward, she started finding it cute. Now, however, she couldn’t help but grow a little nervous when she heard it.

Qin Youran didn’t know what she was getting nervous over. After all, she had not done anything to feel guilty about.

Suddenly, Young Miss Qin started regretting her decision to date Li Yinglan in the first place.

“Let me make a correction. The accidental lip contact we had before isn’t considered a kiss. It is only an accident. A real kiss involves a passionate and frantic interaction between two pairs of lips, and the two involved parties will lose themselves in joy and pleasure. The accidental contact we had before cannot even be considered a kiss,” Jun Zishu flatly corrected Qin Youran, her words sounding very scholarly.

Two pairs of lips passionately and frantically interacting with each other?

Qin Youran silently imagined such a scene in her mind, her face blushing from embarrassment.

“Well, we’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future,” Qin Youran casually remarked with a smile.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

…

Qin Youran had originally thought to teach Cheng Chaoyang another lesson for the incident in the cafeteria. However, outside of her expectations, Cheng Chaoyang had mysteriously stopped appearing around Jun Zishu ever since that day.

Moreover, on the day before the midterms, Qin Youran even spotted Cheng Chaoyang holding hands with a girl she didn’t recognize. After seeing this scene, the stone that had been weighing down on her heart finally vanished.

In reality, Qin Youran also knew that Cheng Chaoyang wouldn’t be able to persist for very long. After all, with Cheng Chaoyang’s appearance and wealthy background, he had no lack of girls pursuing after him. Thus, Qin Youran felt that it was already a miracle that he had managed to endure for nearly two months.

When Qin Youran shared this piece of news with Jun Zishu, Jun Zishu’s reaction was similar to hers.

“He has no influence on me,” Jun Zishu said to Qin Youran while doing her homework.

Although Cheng Chaoyang had previously approached her under the name of friendship, he didn’t manage to last very long. Meanwhile, after Cheng Chaoyang found himself a girlfriend, he stopped meeting with Jun Zishu entirely.

Frankly speaking, Jun Zishu didn’t mind having a friend like Cheng Chaoyang. However, if this friend approached her with ulterior motives in mind, Jun Zishu would rather pass on such a friend.

“So, are you two still friends right now?”

“We are friends on the surface.”

“Pfft-hahaha! Good!”

Qin Youran was overjoyed. After all, within Yunying High, she was the only person Jun Zishu could consider a friend right now.

…

As today was the last day before the midterms began, the number of students in Class 1 asking questions reached its peak. Although the midterms didn’t occupy as much percentage in the students’ overall academic performance, they still occupied a significant percentage. Thus, Class 1’s students, who emphasized their academic performance, dared not treat the upcoming exam lightly.

On this day, the teachers of Class 1 had their offices flooded by students. Jun Zishu and Qin Youran also had their tables surrounded by their classmates.

Although Qin Youran wasn’t as much of a genius as Jun Zishu, she still ranked second in class. Thus, those who couldn’t wait for their turn to ask Jun Zishu chose to ask Qin Youran instead.

Qin Youran was initially surprised by the reception she received. Although she had experienced people fawning over her in the past, the people doing the fawning back then were mainly children from wealthy and prestigious families. Now, though, the people surrounding her were intelligent students with excellent results. Meanwhile, she couldn’t help but find the feeling of having her intellect acknowledged by such intellectuals wonderful.

Although Qin Youran had done well in school in the past, she typically skipped classes and only started burning the midnight oil when exams were nearing. If not for Jun Zishu’s influence, she would have most likely continued behaving just like she did before and never reached her current height.

Because many classmates were looking to have their questions resolved, Jun Zishu and Qin Youran ended up spending the two periods of self-study answering questions. Only after classes ended and they returned to the dormitory did they finally get some peace and quiet.

After talking nonstop for two hours, Qin Youran was beyond thirsty. Yet, as luck would have it, she had forgotten to refill her water jug today, and it was currently empty.

“Save me a sip!” Qin Youran hurriedly shouted when she saw Jun Zishu drinking from a glass.

However, Qin Youran was a step too late as Jun Zishu had already filled her cheeks to the brim, and there was not a drop of water left in the glass.

“Don’t swallow it! Forgive me, but I am just too thirsty!”

After saying so, Qin Youran swiftly stepped forward and planted her mouth onto Jun Zishu’s lips. Then, she inserted her tongue into Jun Zishu’s mouth and started plundering the water inside.

What a brilliant way of taking liberties!

Qin Youran wanted to applaud herself for her ingenious idea.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu’s breath grew stifled because of Qin Youran’s actions.

Water seeped from the place where the two’s lips and tongues intertwined and dripped down from their chins. However, neither of them could be bothered to care about that right now.

Qin Youran passionately played around with the quiet little tongue in Jun Zishu’s mouth as she stared at Jun Zishu’s face. Then, she held Jun Zishu’s face with her hands and further deepened her kiss.

Jun Zishu blushed. Because of the violent movements, the glasses on her face skewed to the side. Throughout the kiss, Jun Zishu did her best to keep her head raised while her hands tightly gripped the hem of her shirt.

After a long while, Qin Youran eventually plundered all of the water in Jun Zishu’s mouth and released Jun Zishu’s head. Then, she wiped away the residue water on her chin and looked at Jun Zishu with bright eyes.

“You responded to me just now, right?”

“What?”

Jun Zishu was still in a dazed state. She similarly wiped the water on her chin and stared at Qin Youran in confusion.

However, before Jun Zishu could recover her senses, Qin Youran suddenly kissed her again.

The kiss this time was much more sophisticated and intense than before.

Just when Jun Zishu started suffocating, Qin Youran finally released her.

“So, you also have feelings for me, right?” Qin Youran asked excitedly. She was so happy that she felt like she could fly right now.

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

Jun Zishu straightened her glasses and looked at Qin Youran in confusion.

“You responded to me just now,” Qin Youran said as she held onto Jun Zishu’s hands.

“I was just cooperating with you out of habit.”

I am still dutifully acting my part even today.

[Pfft-hahaha! You’re such a naughty person, Host.]

“Qin Youran… You… Do you like me?”