Chapter 78: Can you... not tell them I'm here

Shen Li went to the restroom, and when she came out, she saw the girl with personality who walked with Xie Qin at the school gate last time. She was tall, thin, and slender, with a good figure, long black straight hair, and a silver-black bracelet on her hand.

Their relationship seemed very good. She saw Xie Qin take a cigarette from that girl and bite it in his mouth.

Just when Shen Li was hesitating whether it would disturb them to go up, her phone suddenly rang.

Looking at the caller ID, Shen Li raised her eyes to look at the person not far away, walked to a quiet place, and put it to her ear to answer.

A very nice, gentle, and warm voice came from the phone: "I happen to be going to Qingcheng for a business trip during the National Day holiday, do you have time? Let's meet."

Qingcheng wasn't far from Wuchuan, it was in the neighboring city.

Shen Li: "Yeah, I'm at school, I have time."

The other party: "Have you been okay during this time?"

Shen Li looked at the most conspicuous figure in the crowd not far away, her voice ethereal, ringing softly: "I seem... to be a bit better."

"Made friends?"

She responded: "Yeah."

He smiled gently: "The fastest way to increase friendship is to give him a gift, which I told you about last time."

Shen Li: "Gave it."

It was a dog keychain

"Does he... like it?"

Shen Li's lips curled up quietly: "I think, he likes it."

"That's good, I hope you can be happy over there. If you have anything in the future, you can call me anytime. Compared to those grades, nothing is more important than life."

Shen Li: "..."

"You... have already done very well."

"..."

Xie Qin not far away seemed to notice something. When he looked sideways, he captured that gaze, just in time to meet the gaze Shen Li brought over.

Xie Qin narrowed his eyes slightly, and the aura around him sank inexplicably.

Xu Zhouyuan had been waiting for a long time, wanting to see why Shen Li hadn't come back from the restroom, and bumped into her standing there on the phone as soon as he turned his head.

"Vice Class Monitor, who are you on the phone with, laughing so happily?"

The eyes of a few people all looked over.

"Nothing."

"..."

"Can you... not tell them I'm here."

"..."

Shen Li watched Xie Qin walk toward her. When he got close, his figure cast a shadow in front of her, just as she hung up the phone.

Xie Qin had his hands in his pockets, standing in a somewhat lazy posture, questioning with some unhappiness in his tone: "Who are you on the phone with, hung up as soon as you saw me coming, who are you cheating with behind my back?"

He leaned over, probably because he was too close, the breath was too strong, Shen Li avoided him slightly, and the voice of questioning followed.

"No, you're overthinking."

Xie Qin stared at those eyes that usually didn't have much emotion, the beautiful eyes were as calm as a lake that couldn't stir up waves, trying to see something, but found nothing.

"Xu Zhouyuan and the others are going to play in a while, want to go together?"

Shen Li shook her head.

"Alright, I'll send you back to the dormitory."

"No need, you go play with them, the dormitory isn't far, I'll walk for a while and I'll be there."

Xie Qin took his hand out of his pocket and flicked her forehead lightly, "Long-winded."

This flick, Shen Li didn't feel any pain at all.

He took the bag Shen Li was carrying, which contained a few books, and a thermos cup. There was probably water in the cup, Xie Qin didn't feel it was light in his hand.

Along the way, the two didn't speak much, walking and walking, soon arrived downstairs at the girls' dormitory.

Xie Qin had already stopped, seeing her walking in a daze, continuing to walk forward, reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Shen Li stopped, raised her

She let out an "Ah" half a beat too slow. "I'm here."

"You know that?" Xie Qin tilted his head, his tone lazy, his gaze scrutinizing her; the depths of his eyes looked as if they were stained with black ink.

From those four words alone, Shen Li could hear Xie Qin's accusation and dissatisfaction with her.

"What's wrong with you? Sleeping so early every day and still this sleepy? You don't even watch where you're walking!"

Tell him it was just sleepiness from being too full.

Xie Qin actually believed such a lame excuse.

"Thank you for bringing me back."

Xie Qin gave her a scrutinizing look and replied half-heartedly: "Mm."

Shen Li took her bag from his hand, turned around, and walked into the dormitory without looking back.

She hadn't lied.

She was truly sleepy.

Usually, during her midday rest, she would just close her eyes and nap on the desk for a little while.

After reaching the dormitory, Shen Li climbed onto her bed, so sleepy she felt weak all over, and fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but she seemed to hear the sound of someone opening the door, the movement neither loud nor soft.

A while later, the washing machine outside on the balcony started spinning, and the noise it made made her want to open her eyes, but she couldn't open them no matter what.

Deep in a dream, half-asleep and half-awake.

After another while, the noise disappeared.

When she woke up and opened her eyes, she felt an unprecedented clarity, and remembered she had to go to class.

Shen Li got off the bed, took her phone from the bag on the table, and looked at the time; she was instantly stunned.

Her phone had been on silent the whole time; she saw a missed call from her homeroom teacher, as well as three missed calls from Xie Qin—these calls were all made while she was in class—and his messages.

Shen Li looked at the time and only then realized that she, who never missed class, had slept through the entire afternoon.

She turned her head to look out the balcony window; golden beams of light fell onto the porcelain-white floor, making things feel somewhat unreal in her daze.

This time, it seemed she had slept... for a very, very long time.

No, she heard the dormitory door open.

It was Zhao Zhouyuan, who had finished class and returned to the dormitory.

Ignoring the gaze Shen Li cast her way, she went to the balcony to open the washing machine, intending to hang out the clothes she had washed at noon, only to find it full of water and not washed at all.

Her expression changed instantly; she walked up to Shen Li and questioned her coldly, "Did you turn off the washing machine?"

At noon, she hadn't been in the dormitory; she had gone to see a movie, and after the movie, she went to class and hadn't returned.

The washing machine had a timer and would turn itself off when finished.

Shen Li felt a bit dazed by this questioning; she wanted to open her mouth to explain.

"I turned it off."

The dormitory door was pushed open, and Zhao Zhouyuan's words were heard by Zhang Zixin, who had just returned right behind her.

She was bare-faced, having been too lazy to wear makeup today.

Aside from the lack of makeup, her features were still three-dimensional and her brows and eyes were just as beautiful as when she was wearing makeup.

Zhang Zixin continued: "Shen Li and I both needed to rest at noon, and I turned it off because I found it noisy."

"Why are you looking at me? If you have an opinion, keep it to yourself. You didn't come back to rest at noon, yet you left the washing machine running to disturb others? Shen Li just has a good temper and didn't say anything to you."

Zhao Zhouyuan retorted, her eyes turning red with grievance: "I didn't even notice she was in the dormitory when I came back. Even if I did leave the washing machine on and disturbed your rest, you could have sent me a message."

"I had clothes in there; they can't be soaked in water for so long."

Zhang Zixin sneered, "Do I care?"