048

The next morning, Jiang Huali went to school as usual.

Strangely, the system couldn't be woken up no matter how hard I tried.

Jiang Huali suspected it had been infected with a virus.

As they left, Xiao Hei kept biting her trouser leg, but Jiang Huali didn't take it to heart. She was only thinking about whether she should buy a teething toy for Xiao Hei.

When we arrived at the school, Wen Ruolin came over with a gossipy look on his face.

Do you know what happened yesterday?

"What is it?" Jiang Huali turned to look at her.

“A couple from our class and the class next door got arrested,” Wen Ruolin said in a low voice.

Jiang Huali was confused: "Our class?"

Wen Ruolin: "The girl was from the next class, and the boy was from our class. They were holding hands on their way home after evening study and were caught by the head teacher."

"The homeroom teacher looked really grumpy when she came in today. Before morning reading even started, she called that boy to the office." Wen Ruolin muttered. "The school has been cracking down on early relationships so hard this semester, and they're still so blatant. No wonder they got caught."

The dean of students, named Wu Qing, is a middle-aged man who, whenever he sees a couple in the school, will rush up and stand between them.

Wen Ruolin winked at Jiang Huali again.

"Is your face twitching?" Jiang Huali couldn't help but smile.

Wen Ruolin: "..."

Jiang Huali opened her schoolbag, took out a box of candy, and shared some with Wen Ruolin.

Wen Ruolin's puffed-up cheeks instantly deflated, and she said with a smile, "Thank you."

Jiang Huali turned around again and placed the remaining candy on He Yuqing's table.

He Yuqing paused, his pen hovering over the exam paper, and looked up to meet Jiang Huali's smiling eyes.

He lowered his gaze and it fell on the box of candy.

"For me?"

He asked.

“Yes,” Jiang Huali said with a smile, “You gave me a box of candy last time, these are… a return gift.”

Last time. She was referring to the box of candy he gave her in the car on the day she fell into the water.

"But you don't dislike sweets, do you?" Jiang Huali asked.

He Yuqing picked up the box of candy. He could no longer hear any other sounds, only Jiang Huali asking him questions.

"I don't dislike it...sweets can make people feel better," he said.

"That's good." Jiang Huali nodded.

Lu Zhou, who witnessed the whole thing, was speechless.

He picked at his ear. "Brother He, what did you just say?"

He Yuqing looked at him, the spring breeze in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold warning.

hehe.

Lu Zhou's usually slow-witted mind finally caught on. He sneered inwardly, thinking that someone who almost never eats sweets had the nerve to say such a thing.

Jiang Huali, who was standing to the side, then noticed Lu Zhou. "I have some candy here. Do you want some?"

It doesn't seem right that everyone else has received theirs and Lu Zhou is the only one left.

He Yuqing also looked at Lu Zhou.

Just as Jiang Huali was about to take out the candy for him, Lu Zhou chuckled awkwardly, "No, I don't like candy."

Jiang Huali stopped what she was doing: "Alright then."

She bought this candy on a whim when she went to the supermarket a couple of days ago.

When Jiang Huali turned around, He Yuqing picked up a candy, unwrapped it, and put the fruit-flavored candy into his mouth.

He folded the colorful candy wrappers and put them in the drawer.

...

The last class of the afternoon.

The students gathered on the track, and Wang Jing stood to the side organizing the group.

The line is divided into six columns: three for girls and three for boys.

He Yuqing happened to be standing next to Jiang Huali.

...Perhaps it wasn't such a perfect coincidence. Jiang Huali glanced at Lu Zhou, who had just switched places with He Yuqing.

Noticing her gaze, He Yuqing pursed her lips.

The weather wasn't hot in the autumn; it was afternoon, and the gentle sunlight was shining on my face.

The system didn't appear all day. Jiang Huali doesn't go home for lunch, so she doesn't know what happened to the system.

I can only check what's going on when I get home after self-study tonight.

He Yuqing noticed that Jiang Huali seemed to be lost in thought again.

He stood in the spot he had just been assigned, only half a meter away from her.

Lu Zhou always seems to be around Jiang Huali.

Whether it was changing seats, various chance encounters, or running exercises, it always seemed like he was never the closest person to her.

His gaze searched for her in the crowd countless times, and occasionally He Yuqing would feel a little disappointed.

As the music for morning exercises began, the group on the circular track moved slowly with small steps. While running, He Yuqing would sometimes turn his head to look at Jiang Huali.

She didn't wear her hair in a bun today, but instead wore a low ponytail, with wisps of hair at her temples shimmering in the sunlight.

Keep your eyes straight ahead and breathe evenly while running.

Seemingly noticing someone's gaze, Jiang Huali turned her head to look over.

He Yuqing's previously even breathing slowed for a moment, and her heart skipped a beat.

He subconsciously looked away to avoid their eyes meeting.

The running exercise lasted for half an hour, and by the time the group stopped, most people were already panting.

Jiang Huali calmed her breathing and squeezed into the surging crowd with Wen Ruolin, heading towards the teaching building.

Walking down the street, one could occasionally see male and female students secretly holding hands in the crowd. Wen Ruolin clicked his tongue and said, "Luckily, Director Wu isn't here."

Jiang Huali chimed in with a smile, "Otherwise, he would already be standing between those two."

Upon hearing this, Wen Ruolin couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Lu Zhou was the first to return to the classroom, but when he entered, the classroom was empty.

He returned to his seat, unscrewed his water bottle, and took a sip.

His gaze inadvertently swept across his desk, and he paused for a moment.

There was a pink envelope on his desk.

Although Lu Zhou wasn't as wildly popular with girls as depicted in the original novel, he still received quite a few love letters throughout his life.

He put down his water glass, sat down on the stool, thought for a moment, and then picked up the envelope and opened it.

The letter started with his name... it was for him, and the content was full of cheesy, corny pickup lines. Lu Zhou, somewhat exasperated, skipped straight to the end of the letter.

He had never received a love letter with such high levels of cheesy pickup lines before. It was so high that it didn't feel like a love letter at all, but rather like a prank letter someone had written to him...

His gaze fell on the signature at the end of the love letter.

—Jiang Huali.

Lu Zhou's hand trembled, and the postcard with the love letter on it fell from his hand.

Which villain dislikes him and wants to murder him like this?!

As the students gradually returned to the classroom, Lu Zhou looked around, quickly put the love letter back into the envelope, and stuffed it into his drawer.

This can't be allowed to be seen by Brother He. Whether it's a prank or something else, Lu Zhou can foresee how miserable his fate would be if He Yuqing saw this letter.

If Lu Zhou hadn't realized He Yuqing's special feelings for Jiang Huali before, then when He Yuqing accepted the box of candy this morning and said, "Sweets can make people feel better," even the most clueless Lu Zhou would understand.

He Yuqing's feelings for Jiang Huali are definitely not simple... Could it be that he has a crush on her?

Lu Zhou muttered to himself, and quickened his pace.

"What are you doing?"

A familiar voice came from beside me.

He Yuqing stood by the table, looking at Lu Zhou's thieving expression and actions, and asked in confusion.

"!"

Lu Zhou was startled by He Yuqing's sudden appearance, and the envelope he hadn't finished stuffing slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Lu Zhou picked up the envelope with lightning speed and threw it into the drawer.

He said somewhat guiltily, "N-nothing."

At this moment, Jiang Huali returned to her seat.

When Lu Zhou saw Jiang Huali, even though he suspected that the letter was probably a prank on him, he still blushed uncontrollably.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he didn't say a word.

As he was struggling with his inner turmoil, a slender hand reached out and took the envelope from his drawer.

"Wait—what are you doing with my things?"

Lu Zhou instinctively reached out to stop him.

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Huali, who was ahead, turned around in confusion to see what had happened.

He Yuqing paused, glancing at Lu Zhou's evasive eyes and the way his gaze occasionally drifted towards Jiang Huali, before silently staring at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou felt a chill run down his spine from the stare and confessed, "This is a love letter someone wrote to me. You don't think it's a good idea... do you?"

Upon hearing this, He Yuqing remained silent for a while before finally placing the envelope back on Lu Zhou's table.

Lu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, a stern female voice came from behind him—

"What did you say?"

...

He probably didn't check the almanac before going out today.

Lu Zhou turned his head with difficulty and saw Wang Jing's serious expression and furrowed brows.

Wang Jing was called in and criticized by the principal this morning because some of her students were dating, so she is now paying extra attention to anything related to early relationships.

She came in through the back door and walked up to Lu Zhou, just in time to hear the words "love letter".

"Haha... Hello teacher, it's nothing, it's nothing."

Wang Jing frowned even more: "Let me see it."

The students around noticed the commotion and turned to look.

Lu Zhou tried to make a last-ditch effort, "Teacher, this seems to be something someone wrote to prank me."

"Really? Who has the time for this every day? Let me see."

Wang Jing took the envelope from Lu Zhou's table, opened it, and took out the postcard inside.

She skimmed through the letter.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes in despair.

Wang Jing...

Wang Jing's face turned pale and then white, then pale and then pale again.

She looked at Lu Zhou with a puzzled expression.

Then he turned his gaze to Jiang Huali.

She immediately sighed: "Hua Li, come to my office for a moment."

Jiang Huali, who was secretly observing the situation and waiting for further developments, thought: "?"

"Me?" She hesitated for a moment, then pointed to herself.

"..." Wang Jing softened her expression. "Yes, come to my office."

After saying that, she walked out of the classroom first, taking the love letter with her.

Jiang Huali was completely confused. Before going to the office, she turned to Lu Zhou and asked, "What was that just now?"

Lu Zhou glanced at Jiang Huali's bewildered eyes, Wen Ruolin's shining eyes, and He Yuqing's icy gaze beside him.

He roared inwardly: Who on earth wants to harm him?!

His lips moved a few times: "...the love letters you wrote to me."

"……who?"

The other three people said in unison.

"……you."

Lu Zhou pointed to Jiang Huali.

"I don't know. When I came back, the letter was on my desk. I opened it and saw that it was signed by you."

Lu Zhou quickly explained.

Moreover… Lu Zhou moved his lips, but ultimately did not continue speaking.

What he didn't say was that the handwriting on it was very similar to Jiang Huali's.

He Yuqing's icy expression softened slightly when he saw Jiang Huali's bewildered look.

Jiang Huali was greatly shocked.

Thinking about the abnormal system today, a bad feeling rose in her heart.

"Um... well, I think I'll go to the office first."

Jiang Huali stood up and walked out of the classroom.

After Jiang Huali left, He Yuqing lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

Two minutes later, he stood up and walked towards the office outside the classroom.

Lu Zhou: ...

He wanted to cry but had no tears.

Who is trying to frame him?!