Chapter 81: Won't be Xie Qin's first choice

Shen Li looked at the figure appearing not far ahead, blinked in a daze for a moment, and only then confirmed she had seen clearly—it was Xie Qin.

She was stepping on his shadow.

Perhaps she was too sleepy; seeing him there, Shen Li's brain stalled, her reaction sluggish. By the time she came to her senses, Xie Qin had already walked up to her. That tall figure blocked her path, and the familiar scent of cedar rushed toward her.

She didn't know when he had arrived. Was he here specifically waiting for her to finish class?

Actually, she already felt it was good enough that he could drop her off for class.

She truly didn't know how to get to Classroom 102 in the Experimental Building; if it weren't for him, she might not have found the place at all.

When she left the classroom, Shen Li knew Xie Qin must have gone to the bar to hang out with Xu Zhouyuan and the others.

He loved to play so much.

She felt he shouldn't have time to think of her.

Xie Qin lowered his eyes with a languid posture. "Tsk, I've discovered something about you—do you have no memory?"

"Hm?" Shen Li went through her mind several times, not knowing what she had done for him to be correcting her mistake.

Seeing the confusion in her calm eyes.

Beautiful.

Xie Qin smiled and nodded, not knowing if he was angered into laughter by her heartless appearance. "Didn't I tell you to send me a message when you finished? Where did you send it?"

Shen Li felt that with this sentence, he had come specifically to hold her accountable.

Shen Li had sobered up a bit and gave him an answer: "I thought you were probably busy playing, so I didn't want to bother you."

"When you dropped me off, I already memorized the way back to the dormitory and knew how to go. Still, I have to thank you for bringing me here."

Otherwise...

She didn't know the way; she would most likely have gotten lost and wandered off.

Xie Qin: "Shen Li! Are you brainless?"

Seeing him curl his lips, Shen Li looked carefully and saw a dimple by the corner of his mouth. No wonder she sometimes felt he looked quite good when he smiled.

That was why so many girls liked him.

Seeing him talk about her like that, Shen Li didn't get angry. She was a bit sleepy now and had no energy to be angry with him.

It was another fifteen-minute walk from the Experimental Building to the girls' dormitory. There weren't many people on the road, only students who had just finished class and a few stalls selling late-night snacks by the roadside.

"Don't you think the problems handed out today were so hard? The first problem took two whole classes, and I found I didn't understand a single formula."

"Makes it seem like I'm not the same. If I could understand it, who would come to this school to study?"

"Same here. The head teacher said if we pass the school's preliminary selection, there's a one-thousand-yuan bonus. I thought, how hard could it be? Let's just try. If I die, I die."

"Sigh, I'm not coming tomorrow. Isn't this just pure self-torture?"

At the fried skewer stall nearby.

Li Xiaoya called out to Zhao Zhouyuan and Zhang Meiqi, who were still walking behind. "The fried skewers this boss sells are quite good. Do you want to try some?"

Li Xiaoya said: "I'll pass. I'm on a diet."

Zhao Zhouyuan squinted, secretly looking at the figure not far to her side, noticing a gentleness in his eyes she had never seen before.

A soft, pleasant voice reached her ears.

Xie Qin asked her: "When does this tutoring of yours end?"

Shen Li: "After the National Day holiday ends."

"Oh." He responded, then asked her again: "How much did you understand?"

Shen Li didn't speak to him. Xie Qin watched her walk to a stall selling pork balls, staring at the pot emitting steam.

Xie Qin: "Want to eat?"

Shen Li hesitated and didn't speak. She was struggling; she was a bit hungry but also so sleepy. She was wondering whether to go back early to sleep or eat a little before leaving.

Seeing her motionless, Xie Qin raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about? You don't even know if you want to eat? Why be so hesitant?" He stood beside her, looking at her openly and without concealment.

The stall was under a streetlamp. The light from above shone on Shen Li. With her long hair down, the light and shadow made her skin look even fairer, beautiful and alluring.

In the end...

Sleepiness overcame hunger.

Shen Li told him: "Eating takes time. I still want to go back and sleep early."

She prepared not to eat and to leave.

Xie Qin said directly to the boss: "Give me a small portion to go, no spicy."

Boss: "Coming right up."

Xie Qin paid, but took the packed pork balls from the boss and carried them in his hand.

After crossing this road, it was only a few minutes' walk to the dormitory.

"Did you buy them for me?"

"Otherwise?" Xie Qin looked at her: "Your hesitation meant you wanted to eat. Eating a little won't take you many minutes."

She felt what he said made a lot of sense.

When that thought popped into her head, there was actually no need to struggle anymore, because in that second, it had already overcome her original idea.

The students who finished class last were all registered on the dormitory manager's list; they just had to sign and scan their faces.

The purpose was to prevent outsiders from mixing in.

When Shen Li returned to the dormitory carrying the pork balls, the lights were still on.

Zhang Zixin was wearing a camisole pajama, having just finished a face mask and washed her face, and was applying lotion. Seeing the person who returned, Zhang Zixin looked Shen Li up and down with malicious intent.

"Xie Qin brought you back?"

Shen Li didn't hide it and nodded: "Mm."

Zhang Zixin smiled and teased: "Not bad, he even bought you a late-night snack on the way back. He's too good to you! I've never seen him buy a late-night snack for any girl, let alone personally bring them back."

"Did you agree to him?"

Shen Li: "Agree to what?"

Zhang Zixin: "To date him!"

Shen Li: "..."

"He didn't ask you out? Xu Zhouyuan and I thought you two were already together!"

"No." Shen Li felt she was overthinking it.

Zhang Zixin: "Alright then."

Shen Li felt she wasn't anything too special in Xie Qin's heart; it was probably just that he was a nice person, and she had only told him about getting lost at the Haishi airport.

She felt it was because she didn't know the way that Xie Qin had sent her there.

Shen Li had seen the girlfriends surrounding him; every one of them had a very distinctive 'beauty'.

Song Yuewei had that gentle face of a peaceful and prosperous world; the more you looked at her, the better she looked, and she didn't make people tired of her.

And that 'little junior sister' who called her 'sister' and had a sweet appearance—Shen Li thought she was also quite pretty, and her personality would be likable too.

She was the type many boys would like.

Just like Shen Zhaozhao.

Shen Zhaozhao had many more suitors around her than she did.

Compared to them, Shen Li felt she was boring and dull, and... she wasn't very good at interacting with people. Even if she looked pretty, with her personality flaws, gradually no one would like her anymore.

No matter how she looked at it, she wouldn't be Xie Qin's first choice. ===== CHAPTER 82 =====