Chapter 72: Chapter 71: Hope you can still be this nonchalant then.
Fu Man’s attitude was extremely respectful, almost ingratiating.
The man on the sofa glanced toward the bedroom direction and coldly replied with a “no need,” then decisively hung up the phone.
He returned to the bedroom to give Lu Mian her phone back.
Lu Mian took it and casually spun it in her hand.
Xiao Qimo couldn’t help but smile; whatever he gave her, she would always spin it in her hand.
“The Lu Family probably won’t bother you for a while, so rest up,” he said.
If Lu Mian hadn’t heard wrong, there seemed to be a hint of seeking praise in his tone…
She must have heard it wrong.
She demurely lowered her lashes; her lips, usually full of nonchalant mischief, moved sincerely.
“Director Qimo, thank you.”
The man felt a surge of satisfaction. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard her even-tempered voice again.
“Take care on your way out, no need to see you off.”
Xiao Qimo’s movement paused mid-air, just for a moment, then he brushed off nonexistent wrinkles from his trousers and stood up naturally.
“Do you need me to ask for leave for you?”
“…” Xiao Qimo stepped away from Lu Mian’s place.
When passing the dining area, the sight of two pairs of chopsticks on the table made him smile wryly; both were from his home.
When the room finally returned to complete silence, Lu Mian also finally let down her guard and, like a cat, curled up and fell into a deep sleep, hugging her belly.
Lu Mian didn’t ask for leave and went to school as usual the next day.
It was as if yesterday’s events had never happened. She continued as she always did, still distant and aloof to her classmates, and no different with acquaintances, wearing that same nonchalant air.
“Mian, need help copying homework? It’s due today.” The enthusiast Shouhao in the front row passed over his densely filled test paper, quite confident as he spread it in front of her.
Lu Mian glanced over it indifferently and smirked with a mischievous smile, “No need.”
“But this is the homeroom teacher’s physics paper! Mian, let me copy it for you too?” Shouhao, amidst his busy schedule, turned his head and took Shouhao’s paper to copy, even offering to help Lu Mian with it.
Lu Mian tapped the back of each of their heads with her pen.
“Shouhao, are you sure you want to turn in this paper with only 12 points?”
“Shouhao, are you sure you want to copy this 12-point paper?”
Both of them froze at the same time and asked in a soul-searching tone, “Mian, how do you know this paper will get 12 points?”
Could it be… Mian has the answers?
Lu Mian, twirling her pen, said nonchalantly, “I guessed.”
Shouhao nodded in relief and continued copying the physics paper. Since Lu Mian’s paper wasn’t given to him, he couldn’t help her. When the class representative came to collect the homework, the duo did mention that they lost Mian’s paper.
The class representative, considering the incident from the day before, felt sympathy for Lu Mian and didn’t press the matter.
During the mid-morning break, Lu Mian asked the duo to take her to the library.
She felt a lot better today; though still in pain, it wasn’t much for Lu Mian.
She was there to look for some books, and since she was searching slowly, she told the duo to head back first. They pretended to pick a couple of books and left.
Lu Mian continued her search, her fingertips gliding along the spines, book by book, with utmost care.
As she turned past a row of bookshelves, she suddenly came face-to-face with Lu Xinnuan.
She passed by expressionlessly.
Lu Xinnuan stood frozen, clutching the book she had borrowed, seething with resentment.
“Lu Mian,” she called out, turning her head, her voice not loud but laden with bitterness, “The monthly exams are coming up soon, and I have to participate in the physics competition. I hope by then, you can still be so nonchalant!”