31. I don’t think of you as a boy

Xu Wenqiang, Xiao Cheng and Gao Zhe were all absent from the first evening study session.

The three of them were called to Fu Dongqing's office.

"Tell me, what were you doing on the basketball court just now?" Fu Dongqing looked at the three people in front of him with a sullen face. "In broad daylight, do you still have any respect for discipline?"

Fu Dongqing didn't say it explicitly, but everyone knew what she was talking about.

Gao Zhe felt that his conscience was clear, so he said confidently, "Teacher Fu, I didn't even think of Xu Wenqiang as a girl! When I kissed her, I was so carried away that I mistook her for a basketball teammate. In my eyes, she's just a brat. I absolutely don't have any dirty thoughts about her."

Fu Dongqing stared at Gao Zhe like an old detective for a while before her expression softened slightly. Then she looked at Xiao Cheng: "Xiao Cheng, what do you say?"

Gao Zhe looked at Xiao Cheng with a gloating look. He wanted to hear what this guy had to say. His kiss to Xu Wenqiang was pure revolutionary friendship, but Xiao Cheng's was a different story.

Xiao Cheng looked ashamed. "Teacher Fu, there's no distinction between men and women in the sports arena. In my eyes, Xu Wenqiang is a respectable opponent and teammate, regardless of gender. I apologize for my abrupt behavior, but I truly didn't have any other intentions."

Gao Zhe listened and thought, how boring. The words were beautiful, but in fact, they meant the same thing as what he said, that he didn't regard Xu Wenqiang as a girl and had no feelings for her.

Fu Dongqing's expression finally brightened a little. In fact, she didn't think there was anything between these three people. Xu Wenqiang had no grades in the class and no popularity. Even if Xiao Cheng and Gao Zhe wanted to have a premature love relationship, it wouldn't be with her.

After Fu Dongqing felt relieved, he looked at Xu Wenqiang, "Xu Wenqiang, do you have anything else to say?"

Xu Wenqiang had been regretting the moment she entered the office. The first evening study session was Chinese, and she had been planning to pore over that newly learned classical Chinese text. Instead, she'd gotten aggressive and played basketball, landing herself in the office. Not only had she wasted an entire evening study session, but she'd also been listening to a whole night of nonsense.

Gao Zhe and Xiao Cheng held her head and kissed her twice. She knew better than anyone that they didn't treat her as a girl. If they did, why would they have given their all to play basketball with her?

So, Xu Wenqiang smiled sensibly and said, "Teacher Fu, this is all an accident. We were all so excited playing basketball that we got carried away."

"Yes, they were all accidents." Gao Zhe echoed.

Xiao Cheng said nothing.

Fu Dongqing glanced at the three people's faces and finally said, "Alright, go back to study. Be more careful next time!"

The three of them walked out of the office, and Gao Zhe said to Xu Wenqiang, "Xu Wenqiang, let's play basketball together from now on!"

"Okay!" Xu Wenqiang agreed.

"We'll be good buddies from now on." Gao Zhe said, putting his arm around Xu Wenqiang's shoulders.

Xu Wenqiang took Gao Zhe's hand away and said, "I can be your brother, but can you be my sister?"

Gao Zhe was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, you can treat me as a boy, and to be fair, I can also treat you as a girl," said Xu Wenqiang.

Gao Zhe immediately took a step away: "Then let's just be classmates."

"Then let's be classmates." Xu Wenqiang couldn't ask for more.

Xiao Cheng followed them without saying a word. When they reached the first floor, Xiao Cheng said, "Xu Wenqiang, I have something to tell you."

Xu Wenqiang didn't stop: "Didn't we finish talking just now?"

"I've said everything I need to say in front of the teacher, but I haven't finished what I want to say yet." Xiao Cheng took two quick steps to block Xu Wenqiang, then glanced at Gao Zhe, "You go back first."

Gao Zhe certainly wanted to stay and watch the fun, but seeing Xiao Cheng's unfriendly face, he could only go back to the classroom, looking back every few steps.

"Xiao Cheng, what do you want to say?" Xu Wenqiang said impatiently.

"Just now on the basketball court—"

"I'll just treat it as a couple of bites from a dog."

Xu Wenqiang interrupted Xiao Cheng directly.

"Bite by a dog?" Xiao Cheng chuckled, "Sure enough, there's still resentment."

"There is resentment, but fortunately not much." Xu Wenqiang felt that she was still quite generous.

Xiao Cheng expressed his doubt: "Are you so open-minded?"

"I'm a businessman, and it's common for me to suffer losses and take advantage of others—"

"Xu Wenqiang, I formally apologize to you."

"?"

Xu Wenqiang looked at Xiao Cheng in confusion.

Xiao Cheng looked at Xu Wenqiang and said, "I didn't treat you as a boy, but I kissed you without your permission, so I apologize."

He didn't treat her as a boy, so could he have treated her as a girl and then took a bite? Xu Wenqiang felt as if a train rumbled past her head, and then there was only a roar in her head.

"Xu Wenqiang, do you understand what I said?"

"Do you accept my apology?"

Xiao Cheng kept asking, and Xu Wenqiang pinched herself, and the buzzing sound in her head disappeared.

"Xiao Cheng, I understand what you said," Xu Wenqiang said. "As for the apology, it's not a big deal anyway, so don't mention it anymore."

Xu Wenqiang was afraid of the roar and didn't want to think about Xiao Cheng's words anymore. She just wanted to go back to the classroom to study.

"Since you accepted my apology, does the kiss I gave you still count as 'dog-bitten'?" Xiao Cheng asked again.

Xu Wenqiang was too lazy to think about the causal relationship between "apology" and "dog bite", and agreed casually: "It's not a dog bite, it's a human bite."

"But Gao Zhe's bite was still a dog's bite." Xiao Cheng said again.

"He was bitten by a dog." Xu Wenqiang agreed casually as usual.

Xiao Cheng finally gave up and walked towards the classroom: "Let's go back to study."

Xu Wenqiang followed Xiao Cheng and thought to herself, this Xiao Cheng is really weird and confusing.

As soon as Xu Wenqiang walked into the classroom, she noticed something was wrong. Although everyone in the classroom was hunched over their desks, she felt like they were all looking at her.

She returned to her seat calmly and saw a pile of small notes on the desk.

She looked around and saw that everyone in the classroom had their heads buried, even Su Xiaoshan. She looked at Lin Tong again, and he buried his head even deeper.

Out of awareness of not disturbing others' studies, Xu Wenqiang did not say anything and opened a small piece of paper with a pink heart drawn on it and began to read it.

Xu Wenqiang, you are the Haruko Akagi in my heart!

Xu Wenqiang felt her eyes ache as she opened them.

She opened another one.

Xu Wenqiang, you are the only Haruko Akagi in the world!

Xu Wenqiang's eyes felt stinging again.

In order to protect her eyes, Xu Wenqiang put all the notes into the hole in the table.

Pulling out her Chinese textbook, Xu Wenqiang's mind wandered. These innocent kids, who had never experienced society, truly hadn't seen the world. Just because they saw her playing basketball, they linked her to Akagi Haruko. Akagi Haruko was fragrant from head to toe, while she reeked of fishy odor and sweat. If Sakuragi Hanamichi knew, he'd definitely throw a basketball at her.

Thinking of the smell of sweat on her body, Xu Wenqiang looked at Lin Tong.

"I just played basketball, and I smell of sweat. Please bear with me."

Xu Wenqiang wrote a note and handed it to Lin Tong.

Lin Tong took the note, wrote a few words, and handed it back.

Xu Wenqiang opened it and saw two lines of beautiful small characters on it.

"I don't smell it."

"I don't smell any sweat or fishy smell."

Xu Wenqiang looked at the note in front of her, and her eyes felt sore again, followed by a burning pain. But this time, Xu Wenqiang felt that the pain was extremely beneficial.

After reading the note, Xu Wenqiang put it away and placed it in the compartment of her pencil case. She thought, there aren't many things that can make her feel both pained and useful at the same time, so this can be kept as a souvenir.

There were still more than twenty minutes left in the first evening self-study class. Xu Wenqiang wanted to improve her learning efficiency, but she underestimated the hypnotic effect of the Chinese textbook. She only persisted for a few minutes before falling asleep with her head supported.

After Lin Tong discovered this, he straightened his back and tried hard to block Xu Wenqiang's sight from the teacher patrolling outside the classroom.