Chapter 293: Anything Goes

Li Qingrong turned her head, glanced at Jiang Nian leaving through the classroom's front door, and lowered her eyes.

Just now, he seemed about to come over.

Nie Qiqi had already burrowed almost into Li Qingrong's embrace, a clever one-to-one smile on her face.

"Cl~ass Pre~si~dent~~, I'm so cold."

Before she could finish acting cute, her collar was pinched by Cai Xiaoqing, who tugged her aside in one motion.

"If you're cold, go to the crematorium and get cremated — the furnace is nice and warm."

Nie Qiqi was furious. Her grand plan to snuggle the class president had failed again, all thanks to Cai Xiaoqing!

"How can your thirty-seven-degree mouth say such freezing words?"

Cai Xiaoqing froze for a moment, then turned her head and retorted.

"How dare you assume my mouth is thirty-seven degrees? Oral temperature rises one degree at noon, so it should be thirty-eight."

Nie Qiqi fell into a daze, instantly losing every weapon in her arsenal.

Damn it!

Where did Xiaoqing learn this? Her mouth is getting more and more venomous.

Jiang Nian left the classroom, went downstairs, and headed straight for the cafeteria.

He thought, being far apart is so inconvenient — damn it, when is Sunday coming? Between himself and class-prez Li Rong baby, there's such a long distance.

Forget it, call it whatever you want.

He'd gotten used to calling her class president; suddenly switching to a different address really was awkward, and besides, they hadn't settled on a new one yet.

Forget it, let's eat first.

An afternoon passed quickly.

Jiang Nian lay sprawled on his desk; the people around him had already gone to eat. He remained in the classroom, seriously stalking Li Qingrong in the first row.

Nie Qiqi and her group weren't there — they'd just gone to the restroom together.

OK.

From the looks of it, the class president didn't plan to leave that quickly either.

Everything was normal.

Jiang Nian rose from his seat, having learned the lesson from his noon failure. Without dawdling, he walked straight over and sat down in the seat next to Li Qingrong.

The instant he sat down, he turned his head and smiled at the class president, almost instinctively about to call her class president.

The good news was he caught himself in time.

The bad news was that Li Qingrong, hearing him, turned her head curiously, her gaze lingering on his face.

So to avoid awkwardness, he had to say something now.

"Ahem, uh, last night—"

Li Qingrong turned her head away and began doing homework.

Jiang Nian: "???"

No way, why the sudden cold violence?

Even if the class president put on black stockings and stomped on him a few times, it wouldn't hit as hard as this cold violence — even the great Dafan Sect couldn't stand cold violence.

Because Li Qingrong had suddenly started earnestly working on problems, Jiang Nian instantly lost his conversation target.

After a stretch of silence, he figured he'd better try again next time.

So damn awkward.

"Ahem, uh, I'm going to go eat first." Jiang Nian shifted in his seat, about to get up, and added, "Don't keep writing either — eat early."

The moment he left his seat, he suddenly couldn't get up again.

Of course it wasn't because he'd partied wildly alone last night and weakened his legs.

Jiang Nian was quite surprised and turned to look at the external force hindering his rise. More precisely, it was two fingers pinching the corner of his clothes.

Winter afternoons, it gets dark early.

The dim classroom was entirely steeped in dusk, with only a few scattered grinders still at their seats, heads down, working on problems.

So, this scene had no audience to witness it.

Li Qingrong didn't turn her head; her gaze remained fixed intently on the test paper. Her right hand still held the pen, her arm a perfectly straight line.

Straight as an arrow, she held onto the corner of his clothes, using just a little bit of force.

Jiang Nian froze for two seconds, then, once he came back to himself, obediently sat back down in his original seat.

"What's wrong?"

He was battling a terrible habit — he'd always been used to calling her class president. Suddenly, this noun had been unilaterally banned by Li Qingrong, so he could only comply.

What else could he do?

What if the class president carried out some terrible revenge on him — like tricking him into her house and locking him up?

That would be too good — no, too terrifying.

In any case, since she's the class president, he might as well listen to her.

Li Qingrong seemed not to have figured out what to say, but was afraid Jiang Nian would run off. So she kept pinching the corner of his jacket, showing no intention of letting go.

The atmosphere, in silence, once again grew awkward.

Only this time, there was one more awkward person.

Suddenly, a group of boys from the class came in through the classroom's front door.

Luo Yong had originally been the first to dash out of the classroom after afternoon school let out, planning to rush straight to his rental place and sleep like a king, only to find he'd forgotten his keys.

He was already almost at his front door, so he could only trudge all the way back to get his keys.

He climbed the stairs in a flurry, and had just entered the classroom.

His first reaction was why is the classroom so dark, why hasn't anyone turned on the lights?

These people have gone crazy doing problems, so lazy they won't even leave their seats, all waiting for someone else to turn on the lights.

When his gaze swept toward the row by the podium, he was stunned again for a moment.

Why is Jiang Nian suddenly sitting with the class monitor?

Why are those two sitting in such a weird posture, holding hands under the desk?

The next second, Luo Yong saw Jiang Nian place his left hand on the desk in a perfectly natural manner. Both hands playing with their phones, the class monitor still in that same posture.

Alright, he was overthinking it.

The instant Luo Yong entered the classroom, Jiang Nian was looking down pretending to play with his phone, but he could feel Li Qingrong suddenly tense up.

So much so that her grip on the hem of his jacket grew a bit stronger, almost like a scene from some movie.

After about ten seconds, Li Qingrong spoke.

"Why did you leave at noon?"

Jiang Nian was baffled. "I went to eat lunch at noon."

Li Qingrong thought for a moment, then turned her head and asked.

"Weren't you looking for me?"

Jiang Nian didn't know why she paused for a few seconds mid-sentence. The evening glow passed through her eyelashes, and he could see the shift of emotion in Li Qingrong's eyes.

Like a cat's-eye stone, resplendent and exquisite.

Her profile glowed a translucent honey color, like a thin layer of rouge.

In that instant, a thought popped into Jiang Nian's head unbidden — she was waiting for him to explain.

He sniffed, then said "ah."

"Yeah, but I arrived too late. They were looking for you to go downstairs together. So, I didn't really have anything important."

"What thing?" Li Qingrong asked, expression serious.

Jiang Nian felt something strange at that moment — the light around them was dim. The cool, aloof girl was bathed entirely in the sunset, the evening glow pouring in through the classroom windows from all sides.

In his memory, she didn't seem to talk this much before, even when chatting as front-and-back desk neighbors. Only simple questions, and responses like "mm."

Someone in the classroom had already stood up; the sound of desks and chairs being shifted, and faintly, a sentence could be heard.

Damn it, someone turn on the lights.

He had a premonition — once the lights came on, the conversation would probably end.

Gulp.

Jiang Nian swallowed, then asked.

"If I don't call you class monitor anymore, what should I call you?"

Click — the classroom lights came on, and at the same time, the tug on the hem of his jacket quietly vanished.

Li Qingrong's voice was light and airy, just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Anything is fine."

Monthly tickets (quietly) (humbly)