77 Chapter 77
Do you want to come with me?
The car stopped at the school gate. Shi Yuesheng was resting and didn't even open his eyes when he heard the car door open. He just raised his hand slightly and waved it out, his unwillingness to speak was self-evident.
Shi Ziqian naturally had nothing to say. He picked Panpan up from the car, closed the door, and the car behind him drove away immediately.
It was completely dark by then, and every classroom in the teaching buildings on both sides was brightly lit. The campus was quiet, and it was clear that evening self-study had already begun.
Shi Ziqian wanted to take Panpan back to her dormitory first. As he crossed the square in front of the administration building, he saw a figure walking towards him from afar, seemingly staring straight at him.
The square was dark during evening classes, and he only saw the person's face when they got closer. The other person had clearly been sizing him up too, and lazily spoke first: "Heh, skipping class?"
Instead of answering, Shi Ziqian asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm not doing anything, I'm just walking to the classroom." Shi Qiyue emerged from the darkness, glanced at the dog he was walking, and said, "Oh, so this is your dog. I've finally seen it. It has a rather unique look."
Shi Ziqian hummed in agreement, then glanced at his watch. "It's 7:20."
The junior high students also have evening self-study sessions, starting at 7:00 PM just like the senior high students. At this hour, Shi Qiyue was still wandering around the campus, which was clearly difficult to explain away with a simple "I'm on my way to the classroom."
"I was a little late, so I ate dinner late. I met a pretty girl this afternoon, we chatted for a long time, and she even invited me to eat at the high school cafeteria." She leaned a little closer. "Guess who it was?"
Shi Ziqian paused for a moment: "What were you talking about?"
"Of course, we talked a lot about you." Shi Qiyue smiled. "I didn't realize you had a side of you I didn't know about."
"……What?"
"Then I can't tell you." Shi Qiyue smugly shrank back. "By the way, how's your pursuit of that person going? Any progress?"
Shi Ziqian remained silent: "It's alright."
"It's good that you understand what she means," Shi Qiyue said. "Now I think you two are quite compatible. She seems to have a very good personality and is gentle. Maybe she can really get along with your icy personality."
"Um."
"But she seems so innocent, the kind of person who's easy to get pursued and won over. You'd better keep trying." After saying this, Shi Qiyue put her hands in her school uniform pockets and leisurely walked past him. "That's all, I'm leaving."
As I passed by, I glanced at Panpan a couple more times and commented, "Nice dog, pretty handsome."
Shi Ziqian stood still, his eyes downcast, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, he took Panpan's hand and said, "Let's go."
In the classroom, Zhan Xinyue glanced at the teacher who was bent over correcting lesson plans on the podium, and then looked out the window at the dark sky.
Perhaps because she had talked with Shi Qiyue in the afternoon, Zhan Xinyue was even more unsure how to face Shi Ziqian. Her guilt seemed to have increased even more than before. Fortunately, he hadn't returned since he went out in the afternoon.
But he seems to have come back a bit too late today. He usually comes back before evening class when he takes Panpan to the doctor, but today he hasn't been seen even though evening class is already halfway through.
Something must have happened... Zhan Xinyue felt uneasy.
She stared blankly at the worksheets on the table for a few minutes before finally seeing Shi Ziqian's figure flash past the window. His school uniform was neat and there was nothing unusual about it, and his profile under his black hair was as indifferent as ever.
Zhan Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief. Before he entered the classroom, she buried her head and began to scribble on her worksheet. She didn't look up again until Shi Ziqian came in with a report and returned to his seat.
Two days have passed, and whether it's because he was removed from his student council position and made to stand in front of everyone as punishment, or because of what she said that day, Xu Shen has undergone an obvious change in the past two days.
He became much quieter during both breaks and classes. Sometimes when the teacher called on him to answer a question, he would give a brief answer and then fall silent, without saying a word more. He rarely got up during breaks, sitting quietly in his seat doing his problems. He would only leave the classroom when Yu Bai came from Class 1 with a basketball to find him during activity period.
He stopped causing so much trouble, and as a result, the whole class seemed to calm down a lot.
Old Zhou was very pleased with this change in him. He appreciated any student with good grades, but most high-achieving students were quite individualistic, especially students like Xu Shen who seemed outstanding in all aspects—morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics—making them particularly difficult to manage. Therefore, he had some hesitation when Xu Shen initially wanted to transfer to his class.
However, it seems that Xu Shen's mistake wasn't entirely a bad thing. At least Director Wu's reprimand seemed quite effective. Xu Shen was given a good opportunity to temper his temper and became much more low-key.
Of course, Lao Zhou's perspective on this matter is entirely from the point of view of class management. As for whether this change is a good thing for the student himself, that's a matter of opinion.
His classmates probably noticed something from his change and stopped making jokes about him and Zhan Xinyue about what happened that day.
On Friday afternoon, the school gate was, as usual, overflowing with cars, with various vehicles picking up children blocking the entrance. Zhan Xinyue, carrying her schoolbag, stopped under a tree. She didn't see her family's car, but she wasn't worried. She knew that Zhan Wei was probably stuck on the outskirts and wouldn't be able to drive in for a while.
While she was waiting, several classmates walked past her in groups. They greeted each other politely and then went their separate ways.
After they walked past, another person came out of the school gate, met her gaze, and their eyes met for a moment.
Xu Shen had obviously gone back to his dormitory first. He had changed out of his school uniform and was wearing a sports jacket with the zipper zipped up high, covering half of his chin.
Zhan Xinyue nodded silently to him as a greeting. Xu Shen hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked over.
"Is someone coming to pick you up?" Xu Shen asked.
“My parents are coming,” Zhan Xinyue said. “I’ll wait for them here.”
"Yes." Xu Shen nodded. "I'm also waiting for my parents here."
The two stood side by side under the tree, watching cars flow by one after another. They hadn't seen any cars from either of their families for a long time, so Xu Shen finally spoke first.
“New Moon, I’m sorry about what happened that day,” Xu Shen said. “I’ve thought about it for a long time these past two days and reflected on myself. I think you’re right, I was indeed too selfish and went too far. I want to apologize to you.”
"I've never pursued anyone before. I just felt that if I liked someone, I should express it completely and let them know how I felt. Now I understand that the way you like someone is more important than the degree of liking them. I still need to think about this more."
"I always thought I handled interpersonal relationships pretty well, but if I think about it carefully, I might actually be quite disliked by others, it's just that no one says it out loud." He sighed with emotion, "I have indeed lived quite willfully and recklessly over the years. I really need to change this personality trait."
Zhan Xinyue remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Xu Shen, why do you like me?"
Xu Shen looked into the distance and shrugged: "There's no reason why you like something, you just like it."
A white car finally managed to pull up in front of us.
"This road is so congested, I'll have to ask your dad to pick you up next week." The car window rolled down, revealing Jiang Ying's face. Her gaze swept over Xu Shen, then quickly noticed Zhan Xinyue beside him. She immediately perked up, her eyes filled with obvious gossip. "And this is?"
It seems that Jiang Ying doesn't remember the two of them meeting in the corridor.
“My classmate,” Xu Shen replied, then looked at Zhan Xinyue. “I’m leaving now. When will your parents arrive? Do you want me to use my mom’s phone to call them?”
Jiang Ying replied enthusiastically, "Let's get in the car together, I'll take you home."
“No need,” Zhan Xinyue said. “I’ve been waiting for my parents in this spot. They’ll be here soon.”
Xu Shen nodded. "Alright, see you on Sunday."
Zhan Xinyue waved goodbye to him, and Jiang Ying also waved back from the car, "Bye-bye."
Although she didn't remember her, Jiang Ying was still so kind, which made Zhan Xinyue feel a little sad. But before she could think about it, another voice called out to her.
"Sister, it's you again." This time it was Shi Qiyue who came over. She didn't even bring her schoolbag; her school uniform jacket was tied around her waist, looking like a skirt.
As she approached, the hazard lights of a black car parked not far away flashed, indicating it had been waiting for her. Shi Qiyue, however, didn't rush over. Instead, she walked to her side first. "Sister, is no one picking you up? Shall I give you a ride?"
Zhan Xinyue smiled and said, "No need. Someone will pick me up, you should go home."
"Oh." Shi Qiyue looked quite disappointed, standing there reluctant to leave, gazing at the congested traffic in front of her and complaining, "What is the school thinking? This area is congested like this every Friday, and they don't even know how to fix it. If you ask me, they should let the junior high students out first and the senior high students out later, then it wouldn't be so congested. Or they could just open more gates, one in each of the four cardinal directions, so that everyone can pass through."
Zhan Xinyue joked, "You can mention it to your dad."
Although everyone has complained about this, this person is the daughter of a school board member, so her complaints carry more weight than the casual remarks of others.
"Him?" Shi Qiyue pouted. "Never mind, he doesn't care about these things. He only cares about the school's annual enrollment and checks the financial report at the end of the year."
Zhan Xinyue understood that these entrepreneurs were not opening schools for any kind of educational ideals or anything like that; they were essentially treating it as a business and might not have put much heart into it.
"Sigh, I'm off." Shi Qiyue waved to her, preparing to get into the car and go home. Just as she turned around, she exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, who's this? Where are you going? Not here to go home, is it?"
Upon hearing her sarcastic tone, Zhan Xinyue immediately knew who she had seen. Sure enough, a short while later, Shi Ziqian slowly walked over, followed by the sound of wheels turning, clearly leading Panpan.
"Yes, I'm going back today," Shi Ziqian said, then added after a moment, "I'm taking Panpan to the hospital tomorrow. It might be her last physical therapy session. Ideally, she should be able to get rid of the wheelchair by tomorrow."
Zhan Xinyue stared at Panpan with her eyes downcast. Panpan had already run over on its two front legs and kept rubbing against her legs.
"Panpan? That's the dog's name," Shi Qiyue complained. "What were you thinking, giving it such a corny name?"
Zhan Xinyue felt a little guilty. Was it really that corny?
It seems so.
Shi Ziqian ignored her question and simply asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I didn't do anything, I just ran into them," Shi Qiyue said matter-of-factly.
“I see.” Shi Ziqian nodded.
Zhan Xinyue remained staring down at Panpan, and an eerily silent atmosphere descended.
After scanning the two of them with her eyes, Shi Qiyue asked suspiciously, "Aren't you two deskmates? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Zhan Xinyue could only manage a dry laugh: "Just because we're deskmates, we've already talked a lot in the classroom, so there's nothing more to say now."
She finally raised her head and met Shi Ziqian's face, seeing him staring at her with his lips slightly pursed.
"Right?" Zhan Xinyue added dryly.
“Hmm,” Shi Ziqian said.
Silence again.
Fortunately, after saying that, she finally saw the family car slowly driving up, and quickly said, "My parents are here, I have to go now, bye-bye." Then she ran away as if she were escaping.
Shi Qiyue watched her retreating figure and commented, "You two are really strange. It seems like things aren't going well for you."
Shi Ziqian was also watching Zhan Xinyue's back, but didn't say anything.
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