A few days after the art festival ended, the class was still talking about the attractive boys and girls on display, such as Qianqian’s deskmate, Li Qi.
"Do you think I should go give that cute guy a love lunchbox or something?" Li Qi rested her chin on her hands as she gazed at Luo Qianqian, her face wearing an expectant, sorrowful expression—perhaps this could be called a radiant sorrow?
Luo Qianqian’s mouth twitched, "You don’t even know his name beyond the fact that he’s in our grade, what are you thinking? Delivering food? Are you going to tell his classmate, ’Please give this to the violin cutie’?"
Li Qi’s eyes lit up, "Can I really do that?"
"I was being sarcastic, can’t you tell?" Luo Qianqian quickly grabbed Li Qi, afraid she might actually do something foolish, "Besides, what would you send? We all eat at school during lunchtime, what can you even cook? And aren’t you afraid the teachers will find out?"
"Who’s gonna tell the teachers..." Li Qi slumped on the desk, "Then how about breakfast? Milk and bread should be fine, right?"
"Look for Xia Qi." A somewhat hoarse voice came from the classroom door, and Luo Qianqian, with her sharp eyes, saw a boy at the door holding something wrapped.
Luo Qianqian whispered to Li Qi, "This must be a boy with the same goal as you."
"What’s up?" Without any suspicion, Xia Qi came out of the classroom, smiling at the boy.
"This is chocolate. Let’s be friends; I’m Du Sikang from Class 2-7." The boy’s face was flushed as he pushed the wrapped gift into Xia Qi’s hands.
Li Qi had already pulled Luo Qianqian to the door to peek.
"I can’t accept this, but we can definitely be friends," Xia Qi said with a blush and a somewhat awkward expression.
Luo Qianqian quietly said to Xia Qi, "You see, it would be super awkward to get rejected like that."
"Err, how about we walk home together after school?" Du Sikang said, still blushing.
Xia Qi was taken aback and grabbed Li Qi, who was in the front eavesdropping, "I have to ask my friend first since we’re supposed to walk together this evening."
Li Qi was a bit startled, "When did we..." before she could finish, Luo Qianqian pinched her hard and continued, "Sorry, but today we have to go buy a gift together, can we do it another time?" she said, with a look of genuine sincerity.
Xia Qi breathed a sigh of relief, and Du Sikang, seeking confirmation, looked at Xia Qi, who nodded before he said, "Then next time."
After the bell rang for class, Xia Qi was finally free to return to the classroom.
"Why did you lie?" Li Qi turned to Luo Qianqian at her seat, frowning.
Luo Qianqian sighed and explained, "Xia Qi pulled you over to give you an out, not for you to spill everything honestly."
"An out?" Li Qi was confused.
"Let’s put it this way, if you’re the heroine of a novel and an unattractive supporting male character, the kind you don’t like, asked you out, what would you do?" Luo Qianqian, seeing the teacher start the lecture, took out her book and hid her face behind it as she spoke.
"Reject him," Li Qi said, blinking.
"How awkward is it to reject someone, especially when it’s someone you’re rejecting? Let’s put it this way, if you went to your violin crush and asked him out, and he turned you down flat, how would you feel?" Luo Qianqian explained with the most direct example she could think of.
"That would definitely hurt...," Li Qi said, "I guess I won’t go look for him then. It’d be too awkward."
"Err, err, err? Is that boy doing a good deed then?" Luo Qianqian asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"What good deed?" Li Qi asked, puzzled.
"Putting an end to your puppy love," Luo Qianqian said, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.
When I got home from school and told Brother and Xiao Yu about it, Luo Shufan mentioned another surprising incident.
"A senior in our school was found by the parents of a sophomore girl, claiming she was pregnant. Don’t you two rush into romance," Luo Shufan said, with a warning look at his sister and He Wenyu.
"I won’t. Just look at my tiny frame, I totally look like a middle schooler. Worry about Xiao Yu instead," Luo Qianqian said, her mouth twitching as she spoke.
"I wouldn’t either, I like handsome guys," He Wenyu said, and then looked at Luo Shufan, "What happened next?"
"Next? The parents started searching from the first year class by class and couldn’t find him until the headmaster called them into his office. After they revealed the name, the headmaster was able to locate him. The girl wasn’t even from our school." Luo Shufan said indifferently, "But looking at that parent, they seemed to be acting out of deep concern for their daughter. During Monday’s assembly, the decision was announced, and the boy was expelled. He was a senior and really didn’t cherish his future."
After thinking for a moment, Luo Shufan looked at Luo Qianqian again and said, "You’ve met this person too, he’s the one at the airport, named Yi Muhuan."
"What? Yi Muhuan? Isn’t he the one who pushed Qianqian into the pool at the swimming hall... Ah, Qianqian, why are you kicking me?" Only then did he belatedly notice Luo Shufan’s darkening expression and quietly lowered his head, pretending to be invisible.
"Hm? Not going to explain, Qianqian?" Luo Shufan asked softly.
"...It’s all in the past, I just fell into the water, nothing major. See? I’m totally fine now," Luo Qianqian said, looking down with a guilty conscience, refusing to meet Luo Shufan’s gaze.
"Totally fine, huh? How come I didn’t know about this?" Luo Shufan pondered for a moment, "It was the time you called me to find Bai Yixian, wasn’t it?"
"Yes, that’s right. I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want to worry you," Luo Qianqian mumbled, her fingers tangled together.
"There better not be a next time!" Luo Shufan said, unable to be too harsh with the look on his sister’s face, but he still gave a stern warning.
"Okay," Luo Qianqian nodded, still looking down.
He Wenyu didn’t dare to speak from the side. Luo Shufan was becoming taller and more imposing by the day.
"And no dating either, not even if you like someone. Wait until you’re in college!" Luo Shufan warned them again, looking at both of them.
"Same goes for you," Luo Qianqian retorted with a pout.
"If I find out, I’ll beat him up first, then both of you," Luo Shufan said with a roll of his eyes as he continued to watch TV.
Because she had dodged a bullet, Luo Qianqian relaxed and exchanged a knowing look with He Wenyu.
He Wenyu, feeling guilty for having caused Luo Qianqian to get scolded, took out a seashell from a recent outing with classmates, "Here, you can make your beloved rabbit again."
"Everyone in our class is a weirdo. I’m really starting to think not enrolling in the experimental or competition class was a mistake," Luo Qianqian whispered to He Wenyu, accepting the plastic bag.
"Our class is full of weirdos too. Two fat kids compete daily over who can eat more, a boy and a girl, nicknamed ’Brother Pig’ and ’Sister Pig’. One of them eats more in one meal than you do in a week," He Wenyu whispered to Luo Qianqian, "But my deskmate is okay, even helps me keep an eye on the teacher."
"Sounds like fun..." said Luo Qianqian.
"No, no, no, it’s not just fun, it’s extremely fun, there are laughs every day," He Wenyu raised an eyebrow, "but our school’s honor classes are very serious."
"You should ask my brother about that since he’s been there three years," Luo Qianqian said, glancing at Luo Shufan.
"I even saw the photos on the school bulletin board, first place, probably won’t change until next year," He Wenyu said in a low voice with a hint of admiration.
"As long as I’m there to watch you, you won’t secretly start an early romance with some handsome guy," Luo Qianqian chuckled.
"Don’t make it sound so scary. I haven’t done anything wrong at school," He Wenyu retorted, pulling a face.
Luo Qianqian watched the TV silently, thinking that Yi Muhuan, you’re really not the same Yi Muhuan anymore. False appearances are eventually exposed.