40 Chapter 40

Are you two secretly dating?

Before evening class, Zhan Xinyue was somewhat absent-minded, her mind preoccupied with certain things.

She got up to get water at the back of the classroom, and Shi Ziqian happened to be in front of the water dispenser. Seeing her approach, he made way for her to go first. Zhan Xinyue shook her head and stood aside for a while.

After getting the water, she walked towards her seat. Dai Yun passed by her and suddenly called out to her, saying in a low voice, "Xinyue, I have a question for you."

Zhan Xinyue casually replied, "What?"

Dai Yun didn't say anything, but pulled her clothes and dragged her to the back of the classroom with a mysterious expression: "Move to the back a little, I'll ask you something quietly."

Zhan Xinyue glanced at her suspiciously several times. She didn't think she was that familiar with Dai Yun, and she didn't know what she wanted.

Before she could think about it, Dai Yun had already pulled her to the back of the classroom, where the two of them stood against the bookshelves at the back.

Zhan Xinyue said, "Go ahead and ask, what is it?"

Dai Yun leaned close to her ear, her warm breath tickling her ear: "Xinyue, are you dating Shi Ziqian?"

Zhan Xinyue's hand trembled, and a few drops of water spilled from the cup.

She quickly looked towards Shi Ziqian, but thankfully he had already returned to his seat and wasn't paying attention.

Zhan Xinyue then looked at Dai Yun. This class monitor usually seemed reserved and steady, but she never expected him to say something so surprising and ask such a strange question.

Zhan Xinyue: "Why did you suddenly ask that?"

Dai Yun smiled rather smugly, "Actually, I had a feeling about it a long time ago. You know, as the class monitor, I pay close attention to the students in our class. Nothing in the class escapes my eyes."

Zhan Xinyue didn't understand: "...What does it feel like?"

"I always felt that you two had great chemistry, and I felt that there was definitely something going on between you two. But I wasn't quite sure at the time, and I've only recently become more certain."

recent?

There's nothing unusual between her and Shi Ziqian lately. If you had to pinpoint it, it was that one day they bumped into Dai Yun outside of school.

Zhan Xinyue's expression was subtle as she couldn't help but recall what Xie Wanzhi had told her before. She was right; the girls in the class were incredibly good at gossiping behind people's backs. She had only been a little close to Shi Ziqian, yet such rumors had already spread.

Sure enough, Dai Yun winked at her: "Weren't you two secretly dating last week?"

Zhan Xinyue leaned back and said seriously, "No, we just bumped into each other by chance, and it just so happened that we ran into you."

Dai Yun refused to believe it: "Really?"

Zhan Xinyue didn't want to talk to her anymore and said coldly, "Really. Also, we're not dating, so don't say such unfounded things."

She didn't want to get entangled with her on this pointless question, so she turned to leave, but unexpectedly saw a look of regret on Dai Yun's face.

Before Zhan Xinyue could even ponder the meaning behind her expression, Dai Yun called out to her again, "Wait a moment, Xinyue, there's something else."

She stopped in her tracks.

"I uploaded the photos from that autumn outing to the group chat, did you see them?" Dai Yun asked.

Zhan Xinyue shook her head; she didn't even remember that the class had ever had a group chat.

Dai Yun said, "I didn't see you much in the latter half of the event that day, so I don't have many photos of you, but there are a few. You can download them from the group. There's another photo that I felt wasn't appropriate to post in the group, so I didn't upload it. Do you want to take a look?"

Before Zhan Xinyue could respond, she had already excitedly squatted down and started rummaging through the cabinet. Zhan Xinyue, unaware of what was going on, could only stand there and wait for her.

Dai Yun quickly retrieved her camera from the locked cabinet, pressed buttons for a while, pulled up a photo, and showed it to her.

The photo features her and Shi Ziqian, and it appears to have been taken on the day of their autumn outing while they were watching a program in the square.

In the scene, she and Shi Ziqian sat side by side on the steps. Zhan Xinyue held his wrist through her sleeve and looked down at his wrist. Shi Ziqian lowered his eyes, his gaze quietly fixed on her face.

Shi Ziqian's eyelashes are very dark, and when he looks at something, he always gives the illusion of being focused. Just like in the photo, he may have just glanced at her casually, but in the photo, one can almost see a hint of tenderness and focus in his gaze.

Zhan Xinyue didn't know how she captured that moment. Sometimes she was too nosy, and when she saw Shi Ziqian's injury, she reacted instinctively. At the time, she didn't think much of it, but now, looking back, she realized how inappropriate her behavior was.

No wonder Dai Yun suddenly asked that question today; the photo in front of her was far too easy to misunderstand. Fortunately, she didn't send it all to the group chat, otherwise who knows how much gossip would have spread in the class.

Zhan Xinyue's expression softened a bit: "Thank you. Luckily you didn't post it, otherwise I don't know what the people in the class would say if they saw it."

“Yeah, if the girls in our class saw this photo, they’d be obsessed with it.” Dai Yun zoomed in on the photo, a happy smile on her face. “Ah, they’re such a perfect match.”

"What?" Zhan Xinyue didn't quite understand. She suddenly felt as if the two of them were talking on different wavelengths.

Dai Yun got excited, leaned closer, and whispered, "It's a little embarrassing to say, but you don't live in the dorms, so you might not know, but actually a lot of girls in our class are secretly shipping you and Shi Ziqian."

Zhan Xinyue's expression froze, and after a long while, she finally said, "Why?"

"Because we all think you two are a perfect match. When we chat in our dorm at night, we often say that you have a gentle personality and a good temper, and you and Shi Ziqian complement each other so well. Plus, you two are both so good-looking, it's just so pleasing to the eye for us to sit together."

As Dai Yun spoke, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up, looking genuinely sincere, yet with a hint of regret as she said, "A cool, handsome guy and a gentle, beautiful girl, ah, how can such a perfect match not fall in love!"

Zhan Xinyue stared at her expression, struggling to process it for a long time. Suddenly, a thought struck her: "Who are the people in your dorm?"

Unaware of what was happening, Dai Yun counted earnestly on her fingers: "Me, Xu Wei, Xie Wanzhi..."

"But don't worry, although I really hope you two are together, I'm still very careful and won't spread rumors about you." Dai Yun's expression was very serious. She glanced at the photo in the camera again. "This photo is just too beautiful. I'll send it to you separately when I get back this week. It would be such a waste to delete it."

After Dai Yun left, Zhan Xinyue remained in a daze for a long time.

Because she was a day student, she didn't have much contact with many people in her class, and she heard most of what happened in the class from Xie Wanzhi.

After her rebirth, Xie Wanzhi, as her only friend in the class, earnestly advised her to stay away from Shi Ziqian and not get involved in other people's gossip to avoid trouble. As a result, she didn't like the girls in the class, thinking they were boring and loved to gossip.

But now, she suddenly realizes that the truth may not be so.

After leaving Xie Wanzhi, I realized that it wasn't raining at all in the outside world.

Zhan Xinyue glanced back at Xie Wanzhi. Ever since Lao Zhou reprimanded her that day, Xie Wanzhi had become much more subdued. Unlike before, she didn't rush to Xie Wanzhi's desk as soon as class ended. Now, she was hunched over her desk, reading a book. After a while, for some unknown reason, she suddenly slammed the book down on her face and let out a wail.

She stared at her for a long time, a deep sense of confusion gradually rising in her heart.

Xie Wanzhi, what exactly are you doing?