Chapter 27 Teasing

Xie Ling walked into the classroom with a cold face, amidst the undisguised scrutiny of a group of people.

"...Let's talk about the gathering later, I have things to do these next couple of days." Lian Yi saw him and dismissed him, saying, "You guys go do what you need to do, don't keep me from going to the cafeteria for lunch."

Before Li Xilai and the others could react, Lian Yi smiled at Xie Ling, then got up and walked out.

Xie Ling glanced at her seat, which was almost entirely occupied by several girls, ignored their inexplicable stares, and turned to follow Lian Yi out of the classroom.

Li Xilai watched Xie Ling's figure disappear outside the classroom door, then leaned forward excitedly and said to her two friends, "Judging from this, it doesn't seem like she has no feelings for Lian Yi!"

"I saw them exchanging glances." The girl, Zhou Canxing, had a somewhat arrogant air about her, and her smile seemed indifferent.

"I just hope she doesn't get herself into trouble. It's not like there's no precedent for this. People make bets to pursue someone, and in the end, they're the ones who can't afford to lose and can't let go."

Li Xilai shook her head and said confidently, "Others might do that, but Lian Yi would never do that."

Xu Qingyao nodded firmly from the side.

Moreover, these people in front of her had no idea what Lian Yi's real plans were, she thought with a mix of pride and smugness.

Every lion has its first bloody hunt, and Xie Ling was Lian Yi's first prey.

Having followed Lian Yi for several years, Xu Qingyao had witnessed many of the secrets of high society. Her first reaction to Lian Yi's decision was not one of disgust.

On the contrary, she was full of anticipation for it.

A qualified leader must abandon emotion and be cold-blooded and rational enough to win.

Only she knew the other side of Miss Lianyi's reputation. Therefore, Xu Qingyao firmly believed that Lianyi's reputation over the years was nothing more than a deliberate performance to conceal her talents.

She quietly clenched her fist.

Those who are determined to follow have already begun to hone their skills and grow, so how can I not strive for progress?

When she got home tonight, she finished reading the case studies on think tank lobbying that she had put aside for two days. She wanted to study them quietly, and in the future, she would definitely be the most useful person by Lian Yi's side.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"

Lost in thought, Xu Qingyao was brought back to her senses by a rather impolite tone.

Li Xilai frowned. She had never had a good impression of Xu Qingyao. After exchanging a few pleasant words, Xu Qingyao would suddenly act strangely, as if someone had bullied her.

Yet she always follows Lian Yi around like a shadow. She's just a servant's daughter, but she's quite adept at seizing opportunities to climb the social ladder.

But no matter how annoyed they were, no one dared to speak ill of Lian Yi in front of her.

Xu Qingyao snapped out of her reverie, lowered her head slightly, pursed her lips, and said softly, "I was just spacing out. Is there something you need?"

"Tsk... never mind." Originally, she wanted to ask her why Lian Yi had taken a liking to Xie Ling, but seeing this, Li Xilai lost interest in asking.

After greeting her friends, the three of them turned and left.

Xu Qingyao, who was looking down at Lian Yi's desk, smiled slightly after a while, her dark eyes calm.

-

After a short delay, the cafeteria was almost full, and there were hardly any people at the food serving windows.

Lian Yi stood at the doorway, glanced at it, and then remained motionless.

"Go pack up a few dishes and take them to Ginkgo Garden to eat."

"The lunch break is only one hour long," Xie Ling reminded her.

"So we shouldn't waste any more time."

Lian Yi took out her meal card. She had never used it herself since she came to Wanghai University. She usually gave it to Xu Qingyao to use. Today, she had decided to invite Xie Ling to have dinner together, so she specially brought it with her.

Xie Ling didn't take the meal card, but lowered her eyes and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"Whatever, it's fine." Seeing that he didn't intend to accept it, Lian Yi didn't insist and stuffed the meal card back into her pocket.

"I'll wait for you at the swing in the ginkgo garden."

Even with such an epic level of difficulty, Xie Ling was not stumped.

He went into the cafeteria and ordered two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes from the stir-fry window: braised fish chunks, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, stir-fried bok choy, and braised tofu with scallions.

The prices in the school cafeteria are very affordable. Meat dishes at the stir-fry window are a flat 10 yuan, and vegetable dishes are 5 yuan.

Other food stalls offer three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, with unlimited rice and soup, for ten yuan per person.

Thirty yuan is enough for Xie Ling to eat three meals in the cafeteria.

Including the cost of the takeout box, the total came to thirty-six.

Xie Ling carried the packed food and walked towards the Ginkgo Garden. Golden fallen leaves covered the ground, and only the paths for people to walk on were cleaned up.

With final exams approaching, no student would be relaxing and chatting here. Even if they were, they'd be afraid of being arrested in public by the elusive head of student affairs.

The swing is located in the center of the ginkgo garden, far from the teaching buildings, so it is not disturbed by people passing by, making it the quietest place.

As Xie Ling approached, Lian Yi's lazy humming of some unknown song drifted into his ears as she drew closer.

He paused slightly as he carried the takeout food.

Sometimes Xie Ling would feel confused. Her vulnerability, her arrogance, and all her behaviors, though contradictory and conflicting, were all her, vividly and realistically presented before his eyes.

Like a child whose sense of right and wrong is blurred, they act only according to their own whims, finding it fun and doing things without any regard for the consequences.

Realizing she had gotten a little lost in thought, Xie Ling pursed her lips and continued walking forward with the food in her arms.

The swing had only one seat, but it was spacious. Lian Yi was originally sitting in the middle, but when she saw Xie Ling coming, she moved to the side, her toes touching the ground to stop the swing's momentum.

She glanced down and gestured with her lips, indicating that he should put the takeout food on the table.

Xie Ling didn't speak. She lowered her eyes and sat on the swing, took out the takeout boxes one by one, and arranged them. After opening the lids, she used a tissue to wipe away the water droplets that had splashed out.

He picked up his box of rice and unpacked the disposable chopsticks, only to find that Lian Yi was just smiling at him without making any move.

"There's not much time left for lunch break, aren't you going to eat?" Xie Ling frowned slightly and hesitated, "Besides these, the rest of today's menu is quite oily and salty, you probably... don't like it."

Lian Yi shook her head, placed her hands on the swing seat, tilted her head and smiled at him, "No, I'm just not hungry."

It's true that she's not picky about food; that's absolutely true.

While the other students were almost finished digesting their breakfast, Lian Yi got up and leisurely ate something, but she didn't have much of an appetite yet.

Xie Ling's eyes turned slightly cold. She lowered her gaze and ate her food without saying a word.

"What's wrong? Are you angry again?" Lian Yi tilted her head to look at him, keenly sensing the change in the boy's aura.

“If you’re not going to eat, you can tell me in advance. I can’t finish all this food. Wasting food is not something to be encouraged.” Xie Ling was already somewhat familiar with Lian Yi’s habits. He knew that if he didn’t answer, she would only press him more and more.

Let's just make things clear.

"Lian Yi, you don't need to tease me like this."

He spoke directly and in a cold tone.

"I didn't."

The girl opened her slightly rounded eyes in surprise, her pupils shimmering like amber in the sunlight. She blinked and tried to explain herself.

"I just noticed you haven't been eating properly lately, so I came to keep an eye on you. I didn't expect you to bring me a portion too. But if you can't finish it, you can pack it up and borrow it from the cafeteria's refrigerator so you can eat it again tonight."

Lian Yi said seriously, "You have so much academic pressure, and you still don't eat properly. You're likely to develop health problems from hunger."

“Now that your uncle has had the surgery, don’t be too hard on yourself.” She smiled and said, “After all, I’m practically your sugar daddy now, so of course I have to take good care of you.”

"..."

Although Xie Ling's father's illness worsened the already impoverished family, leaving them with considerable debt, it wouldn't be fair to say that Xie Ling couldn't afford to eat.

The school had been paying close attention to him, and after learning about the situation, they quietly increased the balance on his meal card.

However, Xie Ling had been bringing meals for her parents, so the money on her meal card was running out.

Xie Ling wasn't the type to bother others, so she often opted to settle things with a free bowl of rice and soup.

The school did not notice that he had brought food for his parents.

"...I'm sorry, I was being too sensitive."

Xie Ling was a little uncomfortable with this kind of direct concern, especially from Lian Yi, but he still sincerely apologized to her, "It was my fault just now..."

"Are you biased against me?"

Lian Yi said nonchalantly, "You've been prejudiced against me for a long time, so there's no need to apologize."

Her smile showed no sign of anything amiss.

"Because that's really who I am."

Xie Ling frowned slightly, instinctively wanting to deny it, but thinking about his own reaction and what he had said, it was indeed as Lian Yi had said. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his quick and clear mind, which was usually sharp when solving problems, seemed to be useless at this moment.

"Okay, I was just kidding." Lian Yi wanted to laugh when she saw his reaction, but she held back. He took her words so easily.

No wonder that in the original storyline, even though he was used as a show by the fake heiress, in later episodes, the fake heiress was jealous of the reputation boost he could bring to the real heiress, and thus tried to frame him and steal the secrets of the research and development project he was working on with the real heiress.

In the end, he still gave the fake heiress enough money to support her for the rest of her life, as well as a job.

"Of course I have ulterior motives for making you eat well and take care of your health," Lian Yi said, blinking.

Xie Ling held her chopsticks, managing to remain calm even when Xie Ling changed the subject.

"I wasn't joking about what I whispered to you yesterday."

Lian Yi's tone was slightly excited, and her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at him, "How about tonight? Although I'm a little worried about your health, Xie, we should at least give it a try, right?"

"...Lian Yi".

Xie Ling didn't notice the slight redness on his pale brow bone. He lowered his eyes, concealing the ripples in them, and tightened his grip on the chopsticks, his voice filled with embarrassment and annoyance.

"Can you please stop making jokes like that?"

His face was slightly flushed, but his expression was very serious. He pursed his lips, as if he was about to say something.

Lian Yi smiled and said, "Student Xie, I think you need some moral education. Why do you always think in the wrong direction?"

"you……"

Xie Ling was speechless.

Last night, Lian Yi leaned close to his ear and spoke in a low, clear voice, word by word.

"Are you home alone every night? Why don't you come to my house? Just tell your parents you're staying at a classmate's house tonight."

It was clearly her...

The boy, who had always kept his distance from people and seriously rejected every love letter, gift, and confession, had never been so rude before. He had always been passive in front of Lian Yi, but was once again thrown off balance by her initiative.

Lian Yi looked completely innocent. "It was the same before. I just wanted you to tutor me. Did I say something that made you misunderstand? I really want to know what Xie is thinking."

"..."

Xie Ling closed her eyes to calm herself down and tried not to be swayed by Lian Yi. "Your home is a bit far from the city center, and it takes too long to travel back and forth. Tutoring can be done at school, and the time spent in evening self-study is just enough."

"I can't disturb other students during evening self-study. I also have a place to stay in the city."

Lian Yi looked at his slightly cold face and changed the subject, "How about we go to your house? I have a driver to pick me up, so it won't take up much time. Besides, at your house, you don't have to worry about me doing anything, right?"

Xie Ling ignored her last sentence, lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, "Mm."

"...But I'm really curious, Xie, what were you thinking just now? Your face turned red."

Lian Yi suddenly spoke up, pausing when she caught sight of Xie Ling silently eating his meal, and noticing the change in expression in his phoenix eyes, which were clear and bright.

So he lightly touched his index finger and thumb together, mimicking the action of pulling a zipper.

"Okay, I won't say anything more, hurry up and eat."

He's so easy to tease, but at this age, a boy's heart is pure and he doesn't yet have the cunning of the future. At this moment, he only has this kindness and resilience, so clear and transparent that one can't help but try to disrupt him.

"I'll give you a test paper for each subject later to find your weaknesses." After finishing her meal, Xie Ling tidied up her lunchbox, wiped the swing chair with a tissue, and said softly with her eyes downcast.

"At this point, focusing on final exams is not very effective, but it can help prepare for the college entrance examination."

Xie Ling was eligible for direct admission to university, but there was no major he wanted to study, so he chose to take the college entrance examination instead. His study progress was also different from others.

He didn't know much about Lian Yi's grades, only that he had heard they were very poor.

However, with targeted error correction and practice problems, there's still time to improve.

When Lian Yi heard that she had to do a problem, her eyes widened slightly, but seeing Xie Ling's aloof expression and serious demeanor, she could only nod perfunctorily.

Let Xu Qingyao handle this matter.

You can't just take a keychain for free, can you?

On her way back to the classroom, Lian Yi's phone suddenly vibrated slightly. She picked it up and looked at it, her smile fading slightly.

"Liu Guan?"

"Um."

Lian Yi clicked her tongue impatiently, "Alright, I know."

Hang up the phone and put it back in your pocket.

After walking for a while, Lian Yi smiled at Xie Ling and said, "Take the test paper to Xu Qingyao and have her bring it back to me. I was planning to visit Xie's house tonight, but something came up."

"Okay." Xie Ling nodded, coldly ignoring the rest of her sentence.

Lian Yi knew that his threshold had increased again, and sighed inwardly with regret. Then she waved to him and slowly walked away towards the school gate.

Just like tripe in hot pot, you come to school, dip it in the sauce, and leave.

Xie Ling watched her walk away and frowned slightly. The call sounded like it was from her housekeeper, but he keenly sensed that Lian Yi's mood had clearly turned cold after hearing what was said on the other end of the line.

Even though she still had a smile on her face, he could clearly sense that the smile on Lian Yi's face was somewhat insincere.

The bell rang suddenly, signaling the start of class. Xie Ling seemed to wake up with a start, tightened his grip on the bag, and strode quickly toward the classroom.

-

When Lian Yi got into the Cullinan that came to pick her up, she lowered her eyes and listened as the butler in the passenger seat whispered her father's words.

"...The old master specifically requested that you appear at tonight's family dinner. Miss, would you like to have your attire, accessories, and makeup arranged by Madam's studio tonight?"

"Um."

As soon as Lian Yi closed her eyes, the butler hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, "Mr. Lian specifically instructed that the old master was diagnosed with a minor health problem some time ago, but it does not affect his health. However, Mr. Lian hopes that you, Miss, can... keep a low profile tonight."

Upon hearing this, she opened her eyes, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, and chuckled.

"Are you sure the original quote was the word 'low-key'?"

The butler nodded slightly, his expression revealing nothing unusual. "Yes, Miss."

"Since my dear father can't refuse my invitation to the family dinner, he shouldn't ask for too much."