Chapter 33: Shen Li

That face, leaning in close and magnified, was too intense, and too near.

Shen Li noticed the bruises on his face.

It looked like he really had gone to fight last Friday.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Xie Qin, let me out quickly, or someone will come soon." Shen Li pushed against his chest, but he was like a stone, not moving an inch.

With her hand pressed against his chest, she could feel the softness of her palm's warmth through the layer of black fabric.

"Still afraid of being seen? You can panic later; let me sort out how to apologize to you first, and think about how to say it."

One was calm and indifferent, completely unconcerned that it was class time; the other... Shen Li frowned tightly, her heart in a panic.

If a patrolling teacher walked into the restroom and saw her and Xie Qin in the men's room, she wouldn't be able to explain it.

"I accept your apology, you don't need to say anything."

"Tsk, what's the rush? I said I'm still thinking." Xie Qin suddenly lowered his head, bent one knee, and lowered his body to see the bullied expression on her face clearly; his pitch-black eyes were tinged with a deeper smile.

Seeing her gaze not daring to meet his, Xie Qin blew a breath of air toward her eyelashes.

"Still afraid of me? I wasn't that fierce to you last time; I really just wanted to return your school card."

"I apologize to you, don't be angry, hmm?"

From childhood to adulthood, the reckless and arrogant Xie Qin had never known how to write the three words "I'm sorry."

This was his first time lowering his head to someone.

Shen Li took her hand off him and pressed it against the wall; he was leaning too close, and she wanted to put some distance between them.

So, he was talking about what happened last time.

"I forgive you."

She had indeed been a bit scared by what happened in the hallway at the start of the semester, and besides, school had been going on for so long that she had almost forgotten about it.

She hadn't expected Xie Qin to suddenly pull her into the men's restroom after all this time to talk about it.

"Really?"

"Mm."

"I don't believe you. Look at me and say it."

Shen Li's heart skipped a beat, and her fingertips dug into her palms. The three seconds of stalemate felt as long as a century. Fearing that if she dragged it out any longer, someone would really come and see, she slowly raised her head to meet the boy's dark, bright eyes: "I forgive you."

Xie Qin: "Are you going to keep avoiding me?"

Shen Li: "I wasn't avoiding you."

Xie Qin narrowed his dark eyes: "Still saying you weren't avoiding me? Report to me, what did you do last night? Confess honestly."

"I waited downstairs at your dormitory for a whole day."

"Do you even have a heart?"

Shen Li looked at him, a bit stunned, her eyes full of bewilderment: "Waiting for me? Why would you wait for me?"

She didn't know that Xie Qin had been waiting downstairs at the girls' dormitory last night just for her.

Xie Qin: "Tsk, don't change the subject on me, confess honestly."

Shen Li didn't need to report her whereabouts to him, but Xie Qin's force and gaze made her inexplicably flustered, and she blurted out an explanation: "I went to the library."

"Really?" Xie Qin raised an eyebrow, somewhat skeptical, though the force with which he held her wrist loosened slightly.

"Really, I have no reason to lie to you." Shen Li's voice was tight. Suddenly hearing footsteps coming from the direction of the men's room, her heart jumped into her throat, and she hurriedly pushed him: "Xie Qin, get up, let me out! Someone's coming!"

Xie Qin glanced in the direction of her gaze, let go, and took half a step back, yet he still blocked her path, his tone carrying a threat.

Though, the way he threatened her didn't look that fierce to Shen Li.

"You'd better not be lying to me. If I check the surveillance and find out you weren't at the library yesterday... you'll bear the consequences!"

Who knew that just then, several boys returning from the basketball court walked over, chatting. The footsteps grew closer, and from a distance, they probably heard a girl's voice in the restroom.

"Yo, brother, what are you doing? How come there's a girl in here?"

Xie Qin stared at Shen Li, then spoke up: "Sorry, I just made my girl angry, and I'm still coaxing her."

The other party jokingly said: "So it's Brother Qin's girlfriend throwing a tantrum, then you definitely need to coax her well."

"We won't disturb you then."

"Sister-in-law, we're leaving now."

Once the others saw it was Xie Qin, they said a few words and had no choice but to leave.

Shen Li: "Why are you calling people names?"

"What names did I call?" Xie Qin looked at her straight on.

Shen Li frowned: "You have a girlfriend, doing this is wrong."

Xie Qin laughed: "Who told you I have a girlfriend?"

Shen Li: "That girl from last time."

As if to prove his innocence, he took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and blocked and deleted her right in front of her: "See clearly, she... is NOT my, girl! friend!"

"That was all just them spreading rumors, slandering me. I don't have a partner, got it?"

"And that photo... I had no way to prevent it at all, otherwise... she wouldn't have been able to touch me even once. I was being kind by not calling the police to report her for sexual harassment."

Shen Li: It was clearly just him being a flirt.

She wasn't interested in what he was saying at all, nor did she want to know if he had broken up.

Shen Li just wanted to leave quickly.

"Can I... go now?"

Shen Li stared at the wounds on his face, feeling a sense of tragic handsomeness about him.

"Stay with me a little longer?"

Shen Li: "..."

What was there to stay for in a restroom?

Looking at his expression, she had almost said the words "psycho" to him.

Hearing the footsteps leave, Shen Li immediately pushed him away, came out of the men's room, and walked quickly all the way back to the classroom.

Shen Li didn't notice the person within three steps behind her.

For the steps she took, Xie Qin followed slowly behind.

Zhao Zhouyuan turned around and saw Shen Li and Xie Qin walking in one after the other from the back door of the classroom, her eyes filled with surprise.

Most people in the classroom were doing their own things; except for the back row, fortunately, no one else noticed.

The movie finished, and it was just time for the break.

Xu Zhouyuan draped an arm over Xie Qin, smiling as he looked at Shen Li, who was sitting in the row next to them: "You were in the restroom for so long, did you two go off to have an affair?"

Shen Li kept her head down, her hand pressing on the test paper, her heart in chaos, unable to read a single word.

"Vice Class Monitor, our Brother Qin fought five people and got hurt, and you don't even know how to show some concern."

Xie Qin grabbed his hand and took it off his shoulder.

"But speaking of which, who called the police last Friday? It was so timely, it practically saved our lives."

"Vice Class Monitor, you weren't in the dorm after school on Friday, did you secretly follow us to watch us fight?"

Shen Li: "..."

"Damn, you don't know, there were only eight of us at the time, fuck... thinking about it now makes me feel the thrill, that idiot Chen Sizhe, he started using knives when he couldn't win."

Xie Qin and his group, plus Zhang Shanfeng's gang, totaled only eight people; they hadn't expected that dog Chen Sizhe to find over a dozen thugs.

At first, they couldn't win, and later, when they were pushed to the edge, they started using knives.

If the police hadn't arrived in time, it's hard to say if they would have ended up dead there.