CH 16

When Xi Ning walked into the noisy classroom holding the test papers for the monthly exam, the room seemed to quiet down a bit. Some strange glances fell on her, and she saw a group of people gathered in the corner near the back wall. She knew that the overall results of the monthly exam had probably come out, but she didn’t think much of it and slowed down her pace to start handing out the physics test papers.

As she was handing out the papers, she paused when she saw the name “Kong Nianxi” in the name column, then looked towards the seat in the front row and saw that no one was sitting there. She took a step forward.

Before handing him the paper, she unconsciously glanced at it and saw a bright red 80 at the top of the page.

Judging by the overall score of the class, the physics test paper was probably a bit difficult, and there weren’t many high scores. But only 80 points… Based on Kong Nianxi’s past performance, it was a bit too low.

Xi Ning furrowed her eyebrows unconsciously, then looked down again and noticed that the first few multiple-choice questions were left blank, with a cluster of ink dots in the blank space. Other than that, the paper was neat, with beautiful handwriting and no errors.

“The class representative likes my answer sheet too? Do you want to keep it as a souvenir?”

Suddenly, a voice with a hint of laughter sounded behind her, almost brushing past her ear, causing her to take a step forward as if she had been electrocuted.

Turning around, she saw that Kong Nianxi had already stood behind her at some point, his narrow eyes half-closed, like a lazy cat, smiling as he looked at her.

For a moment, she felt a sense of shame as if she had been caught in the act, but the feeling quickly disappeared.

Xi Ning composed herself and calmly placed the test paper on his desk. “Here is your paper.”

As she turned to leave, Kong Nianxi moved to the left and blocked her way.

The final bell of the last class of the afternoon had rung not long ago. The sky outside the window had already darkened, but the classroom was still brightly lit.

Kong Nianxi tilted his head slightly and under the light, his delicate skin was flawless, and his dark eyes reflected specks of light, like they contained dazzling stars, stunningly beautiful.

Suddenly, Xi Ning came to a halt and was caught off guard by his direct gaze. After a pause, she pretended to look away casually.

After a moment, seeing that Kong Nianxi was still smiling at her, she hesitated and asked, “Is there… anything else?”

Kong Nianxi smiled lightly, his red lips enchanting. “Last time you said you didn’t dislike me.”

Xi Ning was a bit confused and blinked her eyes, not sure what he meant. She maintained her usual coldness, but her emotions were unclear.

“A double negative means a positive, right, Xi Ning?” Kong Nianxi leaned forward slightly and lightly pressed his hand on her shoulder as she subconsciously leaned back. “Xi Ning, you’re not the type of person to give up halfway, are you? Keep up the good work~”

Xi Ning, who thought she had caught up with his thinking, was now a bit confused again.

During the long break for dinner, the rest of the students had gone out to eat after seeing their rankings for the monthly exam. Su Yuqi came in with take-out and passed by Xi Ning. “What are you doing? I brought the food up, you haven’t finished handing out the papers yet?”

Xi Ning snapped back to reality and quickened her pace. “Uh, right away.”

Later, the three of them sat around a table at the back of the classroom, enjoying burgers and fries. As Xiao Yuan stared at the burgers, she swallowed and clasped her hands together piously. “Amen, I swear this is the last high-calorie meal of the week.”

Su Yuqi rolled her eyes at her. “You said that last night too.”

Xiao Yuan ignored her and happily took a bite of her burger.

Song Wei sat in front of Tu Xiaoyuan, and usually, she would join Jiang Tong and Tu Xiaoyuan to deliver food. At this moment, she leaned her arm on Tu Xiaoyuan’s desk, facing the back wall. When she caught sight of the grade sheet posted on the wall, she bit her straw and said, “The monthly exam scores are out. We’ll be changing seats next week… no, this Sunday, right?”

“Eh?” Tu Xiaoyuan was startled. “Did Tian Jiabao mention it? I don’t remember.”

“He mentioned it before the monthly exam. According to his usual style, he’ll randomly assign new seating arrangements based on who doesn’t get along or who hasn’t spoken to each other, and he’ll put those who do well in a good feng shui spot and banish those who do poorly to the outskirts.”

Tu Xiaoyuan frowned. “Ah… so I’m on the banishment list.”

Song Wei looked at her desk. “You’re on it now…”

Tu Xiaoyuan felt relieved. “Right.”

After chatting for a while, Song Wei leaned against Jiang Tong and coquettishly said, “Baby, I want to eat french fries~”

Jiang Tong obediently fed her a fry.

“I want more~”

Tu Xiaoyuan rubbed her chicken skin bumps and said, “You two are becoming more and more lovey-dovey…”

Finally, she turned to Xi Ning, who sat beside her, sitting upright with a disposable glove on her slender, fair fingers, leisurely chewing on chicken nuggets. Her naturally ethereal face was cold and detached. Although she was eating fast food without much nutritional value, it felt like the chicken nuggets had acquired a spiritual aura when held by those beautiful hands.

Tu Xiaoyuan said in a cutesy voice, “Ning Ning, I want to eat french fries too~”

“…”

Xi Ning’s fingers stiffened, and she turned her head to look at her expressionlessly.

“Ah~”

Tu Xiaoyuan leaned forward with her mouth open, and Xi Ning leaned back. With no other choice, she reluctantly picked up a french fry with her gloved hand and put it in Tu Xiaoyuan’s mouth.

As a result, Tu Xiaoyuan lowered her head and bit down on her fingertip. Xi Ning’s eyes suddenly twitched, and her first reaction was to feel a little disgusted. She was about to retract her hand, but in a flash, she thought of the cover of that yuri manga.

In the illustration on the back of the manga, there was a scene of biting fingers. Although she didn’t fully understand it, Xi Ning could tell from the atmosphere that it represented some kind of hint between same-sex lovers.

So instead of just calmly pulling back her hand, she quickly slapped Tu Xiaoyuan’s forehead.

“Wu wu, Ning Ning, why did you suddenly get so excited?” Tu Xiaoyuan said, covering her slightly red forehead.

“Ahem.”

Xi Ning cleared her throat twice, pinched her ear, and lowered her head to push her chicken wings in front of her. “Stop fooling around and eat your food.”

Tu Xiaoyuan: “…”

After finishing evening self-study, Tu Xiaoyuan returned to the dormitory and washed her clothes in the sink. Xi Ning came back with a basin and sat down at the desk.

Song Wei and Jiang Tong were already lying on the upper bunk with the curtains closed. Tu Xiaoyuan’s backpack hung nearby, and the unzipped corner revealed the hard, colorful corners of her books. She inexplicably picked up the yuri manga and spread it out on the desk.

After taking a deep breath, Xi Ning turned to the first page of the comic book. It showed two girls in school uniforms kissing in a corner.

Xi Ning bit her lip and continued reading the lengthy dialogue, which consisted of simple Chinese sentences that were easy for her to read. She had already had Tu Xiaoyuan running errands for her for two weeks, so she casually translated it for her.

“Are you going on a date with your boyfriend tomorrow? Is this your first time dating someone else? Do you want me to help you practice? Let’s start with kissing…”

“Ugh!”

“Why is… my heart beating so fast?”

“Her lips are so soft. Kissing a girl feels like…”

Song Wei suddenly pulled back the curtain and stuck her head out. Xi Ning quickly closed the book and sat up straight.

“Is Ning still studying?” Song Wei asked.

Xi Ning replied, “Uh…”

Song Wei came down from the ladder and walked past Xi Ning. She leaned in and glanced at the “Mathematics XX Gold Volume” spread out on her desk, clicking her tongue.

“As expected, study tyrants are always studying anytime, anywhere. I’m going to get some water. Would you like a glass too?”

“Oh…No, thank you.”

“Okay.” Song Wei stood up and glanced at Xi Ning’s face. She leaned in again. “Huh, why is your face a little red?”

Xi Ning was stunned. She tightened the hand holding the pen and smiled. “Is it?”

“Um, maybe I saw it wrong because of the bad lighting.” Song Wei waved her hand and walked away.

After the dormitory door opened and closed, Xi Ning breathed a sigh of relief. She took out the comic book from underneath and threw it into the drawer. After hesitating for a moment, she took out her keys and locked it.

She rubbed her face and realized that it was a little hot. She stood up in a hurry, intending to go out and wash her face. Suddenly, her phone, which was on silent, lit up.

It was a call from Su Yuqi.

“Hey, Ning Ning, can you do me a favor?” Su Yuqi asked.

The voice on the phone sounded a bit low, and it was the first time Xi Ning had heard Su Yuqi speak in such a tone. She was a little confused but immediately agreed.

“What is it…Can you help me find someone in Room 612? Her name is Wen Yao. She’s from another class and should have just moved in today. You only need to make sure she’s in the dormitory.”

“Okay, I’ll go take a look.”

Although she had some doubts, Xi Ning could tell that something was wrong with Su Yuqi’s mood, so she didn’t ask more questions and hurried to Room 612 before lights out.

The lights-out bell had not rung yet, and people were coming and going in the corridor. The door of Room 612 was wide open, and the laughter and noise inside could be heard from far away.

Xi Ning stood at the door, thinking about going in, when the curtain on the upper bed near the door suddenly opened from the inside. Kong Nianxi, with her long hair scattered and wearing a camisole nightgown, came down from the ladder.

She turned her head and saw Xi Ning standing outside first. She was startled, but then showed an understanding expression and walked up to her with her hands behind her back.

“What’s the matter?” Kong Nianxi asked in a light tone, with a rising intonation at the end.