Miss Xu Xiaoyan, her arm pushed away by Yan Fei, felt the anger in her eyes slowly fade. With so many classmates watching and the decision she had already made in her heart about her college choice, she felt a sudden pang of melancholy creeping up.
Before she could say anything, Yan Fei continued to grunt, "Aren’t you considering going far for college? I might get some jerky for you to bring with, in case it’s inconvenient for you to get food. Don’t want you going without meat!"
She blinked dumbly, muttering under her breath. Then she burst out laughing, a happy laugh that brought her close to tears. She even had the urge to charge over and give Yan Fei a good beating.
Feeling self-conscious because of her classmates, she wanted to do something. She glanced around and abruptly tossed aside the stupid letter. Then she grabbed a fistful of snacks and made to shove them into Yan Fei’s mouth. But she couldn’t do it—it was too painful to see Yan Fei playing with that damn beef jerky with such concentration.
However, she couldn’t help but stare at Yan Fei, who was oblivious to her actions. She didn’t know what to feel, so she just twisted his arm.
"What’s wrong?" Yan Fei thought she had something to say, so he looked up and asked her.
"Humph! I just wanted to twist you, got a problem with that?" She held her head high, twisted her face into a pout, and swung her ponytail with a snort. Then she shoved the snacks into her mouth without caring what they were, chewed happily, and ignored him.
"Ha ha..." The girls burst into laughter.
Then, slowly, they stopped laughing.
"Sigh, I just got two love letters and I was feeling a little smug! Now they don’t seem so meaningful and I just want beef jerky," Ji Yunyun sighed, looking around for any remaining jerky. Finally, she found two pieces in front of another girl and snatched them up to pop into her mouth.
"Yun, are you mad, eating my food?" The girl immediately took offense and reached over to tickle her.
The two girls began roughhousing, causing the others to laugh. Xiao Wen, sighing, tossed her letters instinctively into their midst: "Forget it, I can’t go on! Go find your own treasures and read your love letters if you want, I don’t envy you!"
"What are you looking at? Just throw them all away! It’s so boring, my heart is all sour," Jingjing, another girl who had chased after the same letters, said listlessly.
"Yeah, yeah! All those fancy words and sweet talk, are all smoke on the wind in the face of Yan’s beef jerky!" A lit-girl was crushed by reality.
"Oh... I hear the sound of hearts shattering," a girl said, staring at the few letters fluttering onto the blanket.
"Yeah, some guys spent years preparing, mustering up all their courage, wasted so much energy and brain cells to write these love letters full of courting messages. To send them over also took so much courage! Yet you guys just discarded them, oh my, my heart aches!"
"Little bitch, what do you mean ’full of courting messages’? Can’t you speak a little nicer? If you’re so sympathetic, go comfort those injured boys!"
If the future university students who sent out those letters knew what had become of them, would those artistic young men’s hearts be able to continue beating? Or would they just give up?
If they knew that their downfall was because of a piece of beef jerky, they would probably swear off beef for life.
"I’ve heard there’s a lot of dating in college. If we get love letters there, sister, we will have a new excuse to reject them." A girl giggled out and then put on a serious face, "Who needs love letters? Can you make beef jerky?"
At those words, the whole group erupted into laughter. Only Miss Xu Xiaoyan was blushing.
After a while, the mood slowly faded and they grew tired. The atmosphere was not as exuberant as before.
At this time, Xu Xiaoyan, who had been conspicuously quiet earlier during the evening - sneaking glances at Yan Fei - suddenly returned with renewed energy. She leaned forward and grabbed some letters with a laugh. "Ha ha... Let’s see who wrote them? Come forward, those who wrote love letters!"
But no one responded this time. They all just silently watched her and Yan Fei. "Xiao Xing, do you know that flaunting your little sweetheart could get you cursed?" Ji Yunyun asked.
"Um, um!" Zhou Peipei, who’d been quiet up to now, cleared her throat to attract everyone’s attention. Then, feigning seriousness, she added: "Borrowing Student Ji Yunyun’s words—hey, Hero Yan, does your family, apart from Xiao Xing, need another one? Would Lady Beibei fit the bill?"
The girls burst into laughter, except for the one joined the joke by adding, "Lady Beibei is easy to raise and she can work!"
"Zhou Peipei, did you lose your face?"
"Zhou Peipei... I am completely defeated by your shamelessness!"
Having had the learning experience, the girls knew that her ability to work wasn’t quite as it sounded. They went instantly red in the face and started shouting at her instead of laughing.
Xu Xiaoyan, her moment of glory stolen, stopped making fuss. In the moonlight, she watched Yan Fei diligently dissecting the jerky, finding his craziness charming and simply unmissable.
When night fell and everyone went back to their dorms, the girls stopped messing around and started discussing their college entrance exams and choices.
While others were hotly debating, Xu Xiaoyan lay in bed wide-eyed and stared at the dark dormitory ceiling, lost in her thoughts.
"Xiao Xing, what are you thinking? Are your lovebirds making you dumb? We are all discussing our choices. You are the only one left!" The girl in the bed below knocked on the bunk bed frame to get her attention.
"Me?" Xu Xiaoyan propped herself out of her bed. "I, well, I need to keep it secret. You will know when the admission letter arrives!"
"Psh..." Everyone broke into laughter and jeering.
But, no matter how much they begged, Xu Xiaoyan kept her lips sealed, leaving her peers guessing while she enjoyed her secret joyfully.