Chapter 86: Xie Qin

On the last day of September, the breeze blowing through the treetops seemed even colder.

Shen Li was wearing a navy blue hoodie, with the hood up, and walked out of the classroom with her head down. She walked for a distance, and as if to confirm something, she turned her head and looked at the streetlamp behind her.

She looked for a few seconds, and after confirming.

Shen Li withdrew her gaze and continued to walk forward.

He must have had other things to do today, which was why he didn't come.

The classmates walking past her were all complaining.

"I really can't take it anymore, it's really so hard! I really want to go home! My mom specifically made dumplings for me, sob sob, I really want to go back and eat."

"Who says it isn't! The third problem has been taught for four days, I don't understand it at all, I want to give up too."

"Sigh, as expected, math isn't for humans to study. Who invented this thing anyway, I'm having such a hard time~"

After walking for a while, there was a road ahead. She still had to cross this street and walk for another ten minutes or so to get back to the dormitory.

Just then, the red light turned on, and a group of people stood on the side of the road waiting for the green light.

In a daze, Shen Li seemed to see Xie Qin's figure on the opposite side. He took a portion of pork balls from the stall owner and then paid.

When he turned around, he probably saw her too.

The two looked at each other with a tacit understanding.

The five-second red light countdown ended.

Shen Li withdrew her gaze, crossed the zebra crossing to the other side, and Xie Qin also walked to her side. "Quite smart."

She looked up at Xie Qin in confusion. The youth had a lazy posture, and she saw the bangs on his forehead being blown by the wind, with a light smile between his brows: "Isn't this because I was afraid that someone would be waiting there alone if I didn't come over."

At a close distance, Shen Li smelled the scent of alcohol on him, mixed with the smell of nicotine. He must have gone to some bar again and only came over after the party ended.

Shen Li said to him in a flat tone: "You didn't come, which means you had something to do. Besides, if you don't leave after class, someone will lock the door. After the time point, I think you should know I left, and you wouldn't come looking for me again."

This sentence was very rational, and it wasn't wrong, just too rational, making it sound a bit distant and cold.

This was what Mom told her.

That year she was still in junior high school, and she and her sister were assigned to two different schools.

Her school was closer to home, and her sister's school was a bit far.

It started to rain heavily when school was dismissed. She happened to have an umbrella in her schoolbag and originally thought about going home.

But when Mom dropped her off at school in the morning, she told her she would come to pick her up after school.

She was afraid that when Mom came to pick her up, she wouldn't be able to find her.

So she waited at the school's guard room.

She waited until eight o'clock in the evening when it was dark.

That day she stood at the school gate, constantly thinking about why Mom hadn't come to pick her up yet.

Did she have something important to do, which was why she didn't come.

She didn't dare to leave.

She was afraid Mom wouldn't be able to find her and would be worried.

But... it seemed she had thought wrong...

It was probably only when Mom finally remembered she hadn't returned.

That she came to the school to find her. Mom was very angry and scolded her.

She remembered it very clearly.

Mom: "Why are you so dense? If I didn't come to pick you up, couldn't you go home yourself! Who are you putting on this act for! Can't you learn from your sister and be more sensible!"

That day, after returning home, Shen Li found out why Mom hadn't come to pick her up that day.

It was because her sister's school was further away, and Mom had gone to pick up her sister.

Mom thought that if she didn't wait for her, she would go home herself.

She didn't expect her to wait alone at the school gate until dark like a fool.

But it seemed that way, Shen Li should also have felt she shouldn't have waited.

Seeing Mom so angry.

Maybe... it was really her who did something wrong.

Later, as long as the agreed time had passed, Shen Li never waited for anyone again.

"How did you know I wouldn't come looking for you!" Xie Qin looked at her with interest.

The two walked very slowly. It wasn't too late now, only about 7:30 PM.

Shen Li: "Why would you come looking for me? If the originally agreed time had passed, I definitely wouldn't be there anymore. In that case, you wouldn't have to make a wasted trip, and you wouldn't have to come looking for me again, wasting your energy."

Walking from the dormitory to Classroom 102 really took a long time. Going back and forth would be very tiring!

Xie Qin suddenly stopped walking: "You stop for a second!" His voice was a bit deep.

Shen Li stopped and didn't walk anymore.

The two stood in the shadow of the camphor tree.

Xie Qin frowned, probably thinking of something, and said with an angry laugh: "I was only five minutes late! And you kept a tab on me?!"

He raised his hand and patted her head lightly.

Shen Li blinked and looked at him.

Then he leaned over slightly, took a deep breath helplessly, and sighed: "I was pestered by someone! You can check your phone in a moment."

"You're even acting like you're in the right!"

"I'm telling you! As long as I don't know you've left first, I will still come looking for you! And... what kind of wasted energy is that." Xie Qin really had no choice with her. "Hurry up and delete all those twisted logic in your brain."

"What is all this!"

Shen Li: "..."

"Next time! Like this... if I'm late again, you wait for me for ten minutes! Okay..."

"If I haven't come after ten minutes, then you can leave."

This...

It didn't seem impossible.

She also felt it was reasonable.

This was her nod after careful consideration: "Mm, okay."

Downstairs at the girls' dormitory, Xie Qin gave her the late-night snack he had bought: "Go back to the dormitory, hurry up and review for a while, don't forget it the moment you turn around."

Shen Li: "Mm."

The dormitory door wasn't closed and was open for ventilation.

Shen Li took off her hoodie. Zhao Zhouyuan had arrived at the dormitory earlier than her and was seriously doing Olympiad math simulation problems on her draft paper.

On her laptop was a teaching video, and she was wearing wired earphones, listening to the problem explanation.

During this time, Zhao Zhouyuan had indeed been very diligent. Sometimes she woke up earlier than Shen Li and sat under the bed studying seriously.

Every time, she was also the first to arrive at the classroom, sitting in the middle of the first row.

After class, when she encountered problems she didn't know, she would ask the teacher for the problem-solving ideas alone.

Shen Li had been talked to by the head teacher several times, mostly asking her how she was learning.

Every time she just brushed it off.

Seeing her being serious, Shen Li moved lightly and didn't disturb her.

When solving problems, the most feared thing was someone disturbing the train of thought.

Sitting in her seat, Shen Li took out her phone.

Remembering the message Xie Qin asked her to look at.

Xie Qin: Coming over later.

Five minutes later.

Xie Qin: Do you want to eat something?

The usual?

Shen Li replied: Thanks.

Xie Qin was lying comfortably and leisurely in the chair on the balcony, playing games to kill time.

Seeing a message pop up, he thought he had misread it. Ignoring the game, he clicked on the message, raised his eyebrows slightly, and typed quickly on the keyboard.

Shen Li saw the string of text he replied in seconds. For the last three symbols, she could imagine the tone Xie Qin would use when he deliberately emphasized the last four words.

Xie Qin: If you really want to thank me, show some sincerity! Call! Me! To! Wake! Up! On the day I go back!!!

Shen Li: Okay.

October 2nd, at 6:00 AM, a thin layer of fog rose on the campus.

Xie Qin unexpectedly saw the person standing downstairs. Coming out of the dormitory building, he took off the jacket he was wearing and put it on her, zipping it to the top, and she didn't look bloated at all.

"I'm not cold."

"I said you're cold, so you're cold." Xie Qin looked at her nonchalantly and said cheekily: "Knowing I'm leaving, you don't have to be so willing, even coming specifically... to see me off!"

"You saw me off last time too!" She said with sincerity.

Shen Li hadn't slept much and wasn't sleepy either. Lying in bed, she kept thinking about calling him to wake him up. She was afraid that if she slept, it would be hard to wake him up, and she was afraid he would miss his flight.

Xie Qin: "That's fine! Accompany me to have breakfast on the way."

The breakfast shop they often went to during National Day hadn't closed yet.

They ordered the small wontons and boiled eggs they had ordered last time.

On the table outside, the cold air made people wake up a lot. Xie Qin had no appetite and peeled an egg for her. "Shen Li..."

Shen Li: "Hm?"

Xie Qin: "Be my girlfriend?" ===== CHAPTER 87 =====