CH 82

Miaomiao was aware that Li Jiao was looking for her for a reason, and not just because she wanted to let Zhou Yuan know that she had bullied her so much that she began to weep bitter tears.

It was just a secondary matter. Her main reason for coming to seek Miaomiao was to find out whether or not Miaomiao could assist her.

Miaomiao felt entangled by this. Miaomiao realized that Li Jiao herself was incognizant of the severity of this matter.

In her opinion, she couldn’t squander her time messing around without finding the apt evidence due to this problem’s severity. At that time, the headteacher would’ve surely protected Li Jiao from any of the consequences due to her crying.

If the poverty subsidy was divided privately amongst the students who didn’t deserve the money, and even if the matter compounded into a much bigger deal than anticipated, it really didn’t matter since the teacher who was in charge of reviewing their applications couldn’t find it in their heart to punish or reproach any of the students.

As she thought about it, Miaomiao had a headache.  

She pondered for a moment. Her classmates arrived one by one into the classroom. Today was Sunday, and yet many students came into the classroom to study for their midterms, which were right around the corner. 

“Class president, you’re not the only person in the classroom for once.”

“Zhou Yuan, you’re still not speaking to us.”

Zhou Yuan swept his gaze towards his classmates and asked, “What should I talk about?”

“There’s a custom in our class where new students have to buy food for everybody. Do you want to adhere to this custom and purchase food for everybody?” one of the girls asked.

Miaomiao also found it a wonderful idea because Zhou Yuan could use this as an opportunity to become familiar with everyone and buying snacks wouldn’t be too expensive.

Her main intention was to encourage Zhou Yuan to acquaint himself with the other boys in their class. The boys in their class were nice, and Father Zhou always wanted Zhou Yuan to get along with his peers.

Miaomiao mused for a while and asked, “What about our boys?”

“I think they went to the Internet cafe to play games.”

I forgot about it. They’re only allowed to play games on Sundays.

“What do you guys want to eat? I’ll go out with Zhou Yuan to buy it.” Miaomiao said.

“Potato chips, spicy strips…”

Although everyone said that they wanted a treat, in actuality, what they truly desired were inexpensive snacks.

Miaomiao scribbled down their orders, “Stay in the classroom and study well. We’ll be back in a while.”

She then dragged Zhou Yuan out with her. “They just want to have fun,” Miaomiao said after going outside.

Zhou Yuan hummed in assent.

As they sauntered down the street, the two conversed with each other about mundane things. Miaomiao didn’t mind that they had so little in common between the two of them.

“By the way, do you have a girlfriend?” Miaomiao asked. She asked this primarily because of the tension between Jingjing and Deng Feng. It was too much for her to handle alone.

Miaomiao believed that Zhou Yuan was very intelligent, and if he had relationship experience, then it could alleviate some of her worries.

Zhou Yuan shook his head, “No.”

Miaomiao was quite surprised.

Zhou Yuan saw the obvious look of surprise on her face and asked, “Are you surprised?”

“Yes. I thought you already had a girlfriend.”  Because he had the air of maturity.

Of course, many people had already confessed to him. Most of the time, when he told them his age, they would back off. As for anyone else, he found them too boring and dull.

Miaomiao was happy, “The girls in our class must be very happy.”

Her roommates asked her this question in their dormitory. 

Zhou Yuan didn’t speak.      

They had already traversed outside their school during this time. The two entered the supermarket and began to buy some snacks for everyone in their class.

“What do you want to eat?” Zhou Yuan suddenly turned to Miaomiao and asked.

While everyone listed their preferred snacks in class, Miaomiao remained silent.

“I’ll eat the same thing as them,” Miaomiao replied, turning her head.

“We don’t need to buy too much. Two bags of potato chips and three packets of spicy strips should be enough.” Instead of one packet per person, everyone would share them.

Not only would this be cheaper, but it would create a fun atmosphere in their classroom.

Zhou Yuan listened to her.

“These snacks aren’t very healthy, especially if they ate too much of them.”

The girls surrounded the two as soon as they returned with the snacks.

While everyone was sharing their snacks, Miaomiao opened the windows to keep the classroom from becoming too hot and sultry.

When she returned to her seat, she saw Zhou Yuan ensconced in his seat. He didn’t indulge in the consumption of snacks like the others.

“The snacks will soon be gone, class president. Come and eat some soon.”

Miaomiao approached them and picked up a pack of spicy strips; then, she saw Zhou Yuan sitting alone in his seat. She whispered to the girls, “Why don’t you guys eat with him?”

“He said he didn’t enjoy snacks like these.”

Miaomiao remembered that Zhou Yuan suffered from a bad stomach, and she gave the packet of spicy strips to one of the girls. She then grabbed a bag of potato chips and returned to her seat.

She opened the bag of potato chips and said, “Let’s eat together.”

She took out a few pieces of chips and crunched on them.

After peering at her, Zhou Yuan took out a piece of potato chip from the bag and also munched on it.

Miaomiao asked, “Did you ever share some snacks with anyone?”

It didn’t exactly fit his personality.

Zhou Yuan recalled everything about his childhood.

He then said, “I almost did.”

While they talked, they both finished the entire bag of tomato-flavored potato chips. 

Even after consuming it all, Miaomiao still craved some more.

Just as they were heading out to the washroom to wash their hands together, they bumped into Deng Feng.

“Miaomiao.”

Deng Feng was more concerned about his image now; therefore, when people were around, he would always address her as Miaomiao.

Miaomiao used this as an opportunity to introduce the two of them to each other, “Deng Feng, this is Zhou Yuan.”

“Zhou Yuan, this is Deng Feng.”

Deng Feng nodded in acknowledgement at Zhou Yuan. Despite his companionship with Zhou Yuan when they were little, he had no idea how to speak to him now.

Deng Feng said to Miaomiao, “I have…something…to tell you.”

“Okay.” Miaomiao walked towards Deng Feng.

Zhou Yuan went straight into the washroom to wash his hands.

“What’s the matter?” Miaomiao asked when they reached the corner of the corridor. Now, only the two of them were present.

“Jingjing…wants to…confess…” 

Miaomiao was sick and tired of it all, “So. What are you going to do? I’ll try to talk her out of it again.”

Jingjing didn’t like listening to what she had to say, nor did she enjoy talking about it. Even if Miaomiao stopped her from confessing, she would still attempt it another time.