After entering the second semester of senior two, the students’ study pace became much more intense.
Last semester, Yue Qingqing’s grade separated into arts and science streams.
Yue Qingqing, Lu Zhu, and Zhuang Lan all chose science.
Qu Ruorui, on the other hand, was better at arts subjects.
Although some of the subjects were different, the three required courses of language, math, and foreign language were the same.
The four of them still kept up the tradition of exchanging test papers with each other.
Sometimes, they would even mix arts and science subjects together.
In Zhuang Lan’s words, learning is endless, so why study only for the sake of exams?
After evening self-study, the students returned to their dormitory, and Qu Ruorui rubbed her sore neck.
"Lu Zhu, have you noticed Zhuang Lan has been a bit off lately, seems like he’s been much nicer to Qingqing than before?"
When Zhuang Lan took on the role of marking papers, he was like a strict examinator, relentlessly lecturing anyone who lost points due to carelessness.
He would go on and on, as if wanting the person to write an eight hundred-word self-criticism and copy the wrong answers ten times in their notebook before it was over.
Yet recently, when Yue Qingqing lost points twice, Zhuang Lan actually held his breath and pointed out her mistakes with an attitude that could be described as gentle compared to before.
This left Qu Ruorui, his classmate for many years, utterly baffled.
If she hadn’t been sure that there was nothing between them, she might have suspected Zhuang Lan had started to fancy Qingqing a bit.
Yue Qingqing, however, guessed something and chuckled, "Maybe a prick of conscience? Planning to change his teaching style."
In a low mumble, Qu Ruorui said, "Zhuang Lan has no heart for learning."
Lu Zhu also looked at Yue Qingqing, "You’ve seemed a bit distracted lately, haven’t you?"
Yue Qingqing was startled, "Have I?"
"You got such a simple question wrong today, forgot to bring your textbook the day before yesterday, and almost walked into a tree the day before that because you were off in your thoughts."
Lu Zhu listed these incidents one by one, her eyes clearly spelling out four words.
Don’t try to hide it from me.
Yue Qingqing coughed, "Maybe I haven’t gotten back into gear after the new year’s break. I’ll be alright in a few days."
But Qu Ruorui suddenly exclaimed, "I know why!"
Qu Ruorui snickered, pointing at Yue Qingqing’s phone beside her pillow.
"It’s your brother Jiang, isn’t it? Tell me the truth, have you guys actually started dating?"
Qu Ruorui’s eyes were piercing, and Yue Qingqing’s face turned red.
Then she saw Qu Ruorui’s eyes gleaming with excitement, the very image of a "my favorite ship has sailed" kind of ecstasy, only missing her spinning in place to express her joy.
"I thought I saw you making a phone call when I got up to go to the bathroom at night. How come I never hear anything?" Qu Ruorui chattered incessantly, asking for the juicy details and when he would visit again, "Are you guys planning to hang out together during the summer vacation?"
Looking at the naive Qu Ruorui, Lu Zhu felt that Yue Qingqing’s recent odd behavior perhaps didn’t stem from love.
What exactly it was, she couldn’t guess.
However, as a friend, if Yue Qingqing really ran into any trouble, Lu Zhu would certainly step up to help.
But what Lu Zhu didn’t expect was that the day would come so soon.
One day after school, just as Yue Qingqing was getting ready to pack up and head to the canteen with Lu Zhu.
A voice came from the doorway.
"Qingqing, someone is looking for you."
Lu Zhu glanced casually outside the door and saw a woman she had never met before.
Her features were quite beautiful, but overall, she gave off a rather uncomfortable feeling.
Just as Lu Zhu was about to ask Yue Qingqing about it, she suddenly noticed the girl beside her furrowing her brows with a seriousness she had never seen before.
Yue Qingqing looked at Zhuang Rouhui in the doorway, staying seated without showing any intention of standing up, hesitating whether or not to go out.
At that moment, Zhuang Rouhui crossed her arms and peered inside.
The moment their eyes met, Yue Qingqing stiffened, while Zhuang Rouhui immediately flashed a smile.
"Qingqing, come out quickly, I came to see you."