Chapter 43: Youthful Love is Like Autumn in the South

"Want to talk about something?"

Lu Mingfei was forced to interrupt his Learning, raised his head, and looked at Liu Miaomiao with some wariness.

He vaguely smelled the charred scent that would permeate his body from top to bottom, inside and out, once he suffered the electric shock.

【Electric Shock Warning countdown, three】

"About..."

Liu Miaomiao was just about to continue, but then she realized and wisely cut herself off.

Talking about this kind of thing in the classroom, no matter how quiet the voice, was no different from barging into the school broadcasting room with a megaphone and shouting it into the microphone!

But where else could they talk about this besides the classroom?

Liu Miaomiao suddenly thought of Lu Mingfei's somewhat absurd suggestion from yesterday, her face flushed "poof" red, and after looking around with a guilty conscience, she cupped her hands around her mouth, signaling Lu Mingfei to lean in closer.

【Two...】

Lu Mingfei blinked and chose to lean his ear in.

With only two seconds left on the countdown, this action was no different from voluntarily walking onto a tightrope, with a mountain of blades and a sea of fire below.

But Lu Mingfei felt it shouldn't be a problem.

After three days of "training," he was now quite skilled at timing the warning countdown; he could always stop at the limit of the countdown, returning to Learning when it hit 【One】 to refresh the warning.

This behavior of testing the edge of danger was actually quite thrilling; even though it was only a short three seconds each time, and the ten times allowed by a single Schedule Plan only added up to half a minute, was it that half minute of freedom that Lu Mingfei enjoyed?

No, he enjoyed his "struggle" against the Schedule, which meant he still had a spirit of resistance!

As for how he timed it so precisely, the reason was simple—just like the "Oil Seller" he learned about in the seventh grade of middle school, nothing else, just "practice" makes perfect.

The distance closed, and Liu Miaomiao's cupped hands were almost touching him.

The young girl parted her lips, her slightly warm breath making his ear itch, as she whispered five words—

"Want to go to the restroom?"

【One...】

Lu Mingfei: "!!!"

What the hell, what did he just hear?

Was this something he could hear from the mouth of the Piano beauty Liu Miaomiao?

In extreme astonishment, Lu Mingfei even forgot about the existence of the countdown; he suspected he was dreaming.

If it were a dream, then everything would be reasonable! Liu Miaomiao shouldn't be able to say such things, but he himself could come up with such an absurd plot; this fit his style perfectly...

【Electric Shock Release!】

The familiar pain that pierced his soul arrived, and Lu Mingfei only had time to suddenly flop down and press himself firmly against the desk.

"Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!!!"

But at the same time, thoughts counteracting the pain flashed wildly in his mind, as if his life were flashing before his eyes—don't die of social embarrassment, don't die of social embarrassment, don't die of social embarrassment!

The fear of social death even surpassed his body's instincts at this moment; the feeling of that excruciating pain was still something Lu Mingfei couldn't bear, but his teeth were locked and his joints were rigid, so only his entire body's muscles spasmed instinctively and uncontrollably!

This change was well-hidden under his thick winter clothes, otherwise, it would certainly have looked a bit eerie at first glance.

Liu Miaomiao blinked; although she knew this sounded very strange... but Lu Mingfei himself had suggested it yesterday! Surely it wasn't worth such a big reaction?

And what kind of emotional reaction was suddenly flopping down, was he holding back laughter?

"Are you going or not?"

Since she had already gone all out and said it, Liu Miaomiao simply poked Lu Mingfei and asked again.

"... Going."

Lu Mingfei managed to recover, his voice sounding a bit "faint and breathless," but he still insisted on replying.

The reason for going was simple—if he didn't go, wouldn't he have been shocked for nothing?

Besides, he had one "restroom" time for the whole morning, so he could just take this opportunity to ease the aftereffects of the electric shock.

"Then let's go... wow, why is your face suddenly so red?"

Liu Miaomiao looked at Lu Mingfei's raised face with some surprise; he was fine before he flopped down, but now it could be described as "flushed with blood."

That was obviously from holding it in! Do you know how much effort I put in to avoid social death? Lu Mingfei grumbled to himself, sighed, and said, "If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet."

I'll dare to do it again next time!

He stood up and left the classroom with Liu Miaomiao.

As soon as the two left, their classmates, who had been chatting or catching up on sleep, almost immediately exploded into a frenzy.

Someone said, did you see that? Liu Miaomiao said something to Lu Mingfei! Lu Mingfei's reaction was so big he was so happy he flopped onto the desk, and after he got up his face was flushed red, he must be shy.

Someone else said I didn't just see it, I heard it too; Liu Miaomiao told Lu Mingfei she was taking him home to meet her parents tonight! The exact words were "want to go to my house," so they've already developed to the stage of meeting the parents, the progress is simply rapid.

Then a supporter of Liu Miaomiao sighed sadly, saying he had vowed to marry no one but Liu Miaomiao in this life, but unfortunately, this kid Lu Mingfei had beaten him to it; however, considering the favor of him helping him play StarCraft, he would be generous and let him have her...

"What's the matter?"

Lu Mingfei asked curiously, looking at Liu Miaomiao beside him, "By the way, do we really not need to keep some distance? If we walk together like this, those people in the classroom will definitely gossip..."

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

Liu Miaomiao curled her lips; her "reputation" had already gone down the drain yesterday, hadn't it!

"I'm looking for you to talk about yesterday's matter, last night..."

Liu Miaomiao told the whole story of last night, almost word for word, only concealing her own answer to Chen Wenwen at the time.

That answer was, of course, impossible to tell Lu Mingfei; a piano-playing beauty also needs to save face, right?

After finishing, Liu Miaomiao kept an eye on Lu Mingfei's every move and expression; she felt guilty again, although Lu Mingfei had clearly rejected Chen Wenwen... but what if, what if he still deeply loved Chen Wenwen in his heart?

He might just jump off the building right there!

But Lu Mingfei had no reaction, or rather, his biggest reaction was to be stunned for a moment, and then—

"Oh."

"..." Liu Miaomiao fell silent for a moment, "That's it?"

"That's it... what else could it be?" Lu Mingfei countered.

"Don't scare me, I thought about it all night and never imagined you'd have this kind of reaction!"

Liu Miaomiao stared at Lu Mingfei vigilantly, "You liked Chen Wenwen so much, you've had a secret crush on her for two and a half years... I thought when you heard this news, you would suddenly burst into tears and act suicidal, wanting to salvage everything!"

Lu Mingfei scratched his hair: "What you said is actually what I used to think, and even when you said it just now, I felt like I should have had that reaction. But in reality, it seems like I don't feel anything?"

This was naturally not the effect of some post-electric-shock sage mode; even Lu Mingfei himself was a bit stunned. His mood... was truly calm, like a breeze brushing over a lake, with only faint ripples appearing.

"Really?" Liu Miaomiao was somewhat doubtful.

"Really... why do you think I had imagined such a scene? Isn't it because I knew myself that the possibility of my success was almost equal to zero?"

Lu Mingfei shrugged.

"Chen Wenwen was right. Actually, I knew I was being a rascal, it had a bit of a 'gentleman deceived by his own integrity' flavor, but... back then I just couldn't let go; it felt like that was the only thing in life worth looking forward to."

"It's different now?" Liu Miaomiao asked.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, then he suddenly laughed.

"Of course it's different."

In just three short days, there were far too many things in his life worth looking forward to.

Although he had been shocked quite miserably and the Schedule Plan was also torturous.

But the gradually increasing Proficiency, the obtained entries, his senior brother, his new home, another world, the Liu Miaomiao by his side, and the conditions Su Xiaoqiang agreed to... these were all things worth looking forward to!

Under such circumstances, the originally sole "lifeline" naturally became less important.

If it's wrong, then let it go; why make things difficult for others?

He reached a reconciliation with himself unexpectedly easily.

"You really have changed a lot."

Liu Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief and remarked with emotion, then spoke again. Even she didn't know why she had subconsciously said such a thing, "But saying it is easy, you still won't be able to forget her, right?"

"Is forgetting ever such an easy thing?"

Lu Mingfei did not deny it; he reached out to touch the wind rushing past the corridor.

"A secret crush during puberty is like autumn in the south. It comes fast and goes fast. When you occasionally think of it, you always feel that kind of coolness is incomparably comfortable. But there are too few places in this world where the autumn wind is a constant companion, so few that it makes people... take it for granted."

The two fell silent for a moment. Liu Miaomiao was stunned by Lu Mingfei's words; she had never thought such words could come out of Lu Mingfei's mouth.

And Lu Mingfei felt a brief sense of melancholy. After all, he had indeed liked Chen Wenwen for a long time. Now that he spoke of letting go, having a piece of his heart suddenly become empty was, in the end, a bit uncomfortable.

Speaking of liking Chen Wenwen for so long...

"Wait, that's not right!"

Lu Mingfei suddenly stopped, his pupils dilated in shock; he finally realized the most incongruous part of all this.

"You, you, you... how did you know I've had a secret crush on Chen Wenwen for two and a half years?"

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(End of chapter)