Did she buy Jissbon products on the receipt?
All eyes were on Zhou Lin, who looked at Lin Shiren, while Lin Shiren looked away in near-breathless silence.
Her gaze followed that long, slender hand with distinct knuckles, watching as his palm fell like Thor's hammer. His curled fingers loosened slightly, and a white Bluetooth earphone fell onto the table with a crisp sound.
A low, gentle male voice came from above: "Your earphones fell out."
Lin Shiren blinked briefly, a little confused. Only after Dong Rui reminded her did she take the earphone compartment out of her bag, and sure enough, the left side was empty.
The "thank you" was still stuck in her throat when Zhou Lin turned around and went back to his seat, giving her no time to react at all, as if he had just done a good deed without expecting anything in return. The whole thing took no more than ten seconds.
Take a deep breath; your brain will receive a "it's okay" signal. The more awkward the moment, the more you need to remain calm.
Lin Shih-ren calmly put the earphones back into the earphone case, then smoothed the stray hairs from his forehead, just as he met the gaze of Hsu Yi-chiao, who was silently observing him.
The other party looked away, returning to their original state, as if they were just one of the onlookers.
Her back was a little stiff. She knew that relationships between girls were much more sensitive, and she hoped that Xu Yiqiao wouldn't misunderstand. She had no improper thoughts about Zhou Lin.
After the class representatives collected all the homework, Chen Mo entered just as the bell rang and shouted "Class begins!" with great enthusiasm. Lin Shiren stood up along with everyone else.
Hello, students.
Hello, teacher.
"Please sit down."
To be fair, the classroom atmosphere in the top classes is indeed better, the teachers' pace of teaching is faster, and when exploring difficult problems, students often volunteer to propose better solutions, and then they write them all over the blackboard with great enthusiasm.
Well, there's an open and free competitive atmosphere in the class, but this competition is positive and healthy.
Lin Shih-ren spent the entire morning adjusting to the new class, listening attentively and studying diligently, taking more detailed notes than ever before. It wasn't until the lunch break bell rang that she realized how much time had passed.
Most of the girls who went downstairs together walked in twos and threes, their hair exuding a faint fragrance in the air. Lin Shiren was at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from them, and he looked all alone.
The sun shone down relentlessly, and waves of heat rolled across the road.
Huiwen's cafeteria is on the right side of the main building. On the way, you will pass the school's basketball court, where teenagers are playing basketball. They are all over 1.8 meters tall, and the court is full of hormones. They are more interested in playing basketball than eating. They have already set up a game before get out of class is over, so the court is always in high demand.
Shen Xuqing occasionally plays ball here, and Lin Shiren's gaze subconsciously searches for him.
Under the basketball hoop, Zhou Lin was dribbling the ball. Sweat dripped from his chin, his chest heaved, and his steps were like lightning. He turned and passed the ball to Song Ci, who made a clean and crisp shot. The ball went in, and he gave a particularly smug low whistle to his opponent. When he gave Zhou Lin a high-five with a grin, he pointed his chin in her direction, and Zhou Lin turned his head to look.
Lin Shiren didn't understand why she had seen Zhou Lin more often in the past two days than she had in the previous two years. She calmly looked away and walked towards the cafeteria without glancing to the side.
After the headphone incident that morning, Song Ci felt there was something ambiguous between Zhou Lin and the new classmate, so she teased, "Is the new classmate looking at you? You two don't know each other, but I feel like she's a little afraid of you. Tell me the truth, what did she do to you?"
Zhou Lin ignored him, dribbled past his opponent, and kept his eyes on the basket.
Silence is an admission, so Song Ci got even more excited and raised her voice: "Sigh, the new classmate is so pitiful, he doesn't even have a friend to eat with."
Zhou Lin, holding the ball between his legs, his chest heaving slightly, asked, "Are you still going to play or not?"
"beat."
He threw a basketball at her: "Then shut up."
Song Ci always believed in the principle of "better to do less than more." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the slender figure, "Lin Shiren, save us a seat in the cafeteria."
Then he watched as the girl's high ponytail swayed even more, her pace changed from steady to accelerating, and finally she began to run away from the crowd.
Huiwen School got a new principal last year, and his first priority was to address the many problems with the school cafeteria. Not only was it renovated and expanded, but many new food stalls were also added, offering everything from clay pot rice noodles and clam rice noodles to dumplings, wontons, and xiaolongbao. It was just as good as the food streets outside.
It was hot, and Lin Shih-jen didn't have much of an appetite, so he ordered a bowl of cold noodles and found a quiet spot by the window.
He had just taken a couple of bites when he received a call from Dong Rui: "Shi Ren, have you found someone to eat with?"
Her father rented an apartment near the school, and she ate lunch at home; she's already home now.
At that time, the cafeteria was still noisy. Lin Shiren felt a warmth in his heart as he listened. He took out a wet wipe from his pocket and disinfected the table: "Don't worry, you have company."
"Then I'll bring you some fruit this afternoon."
"Don't oversleep, the first period this afternoon is chemistry class."
"Okay, I'll set an alarm."
She ate a bowl of noodles slowly, spending half the time in a daze and the other half planning the topics for Sunday's dinner. She hoped that Xin Xiaomei and Lin Zhiyuan could have a peaceful meal together; that was her biggest birthday wish.
The chair opposite her was pulled out without her noticing, and a loud female voice rang out: "Lin Shiren, are you alone?"
Lin Shiren raised his forehead and subconsciously pulled his plate back a little. "Hmm."
Pang Ziyi was her classmate in the second year of high school. She was a cute girl with a round face and a few freckles. Her skin was a healthy wheat color. She was deceived by this harmless appearance and lent her more than 600 yuan. Almost a year has passed and she still owes 330 yuan.
"It just so happens that I am myself."
Pang Ziyi was oblivious to her aloofness. After putting down her plate, she pulled her into an enthusiastic and awkward conversation: "Congratulations on getting into the top class. I've always thought you were very capable. Your hard work has finally paid off. I'm so happy for you."
"By the way, I sent you a message last night, didn't you see it?"
Something unusual must be going on.
Lin Shiren didn't seem very enthusiastic about Pang Ziyi's compliment. Looking at his new clothes from head to toe, he was worried that he would become a target of unwanted attention again, so he just smiled symbolically and said, "School has started, and my mom took my phone away."
Pang Ziyi may have sensed the distance in her words, but when she needed something from her, she gave a dry laugh and said, "Your mother is really strict."
After saying that, his gaze returned to her, and he tentatively asked, "Didn't your parents reward you for getting into the honors class?"
The fox's tail was finally revealed. Lin Shiren sighed inwardly, but could only respond coldly: "No."
The conversation should have ended there, but she clearly underestimated how thick-skinned Pang Ziyi was. Not only did she not mention the matter of repaying the money, she also insisted on bringing up her own flaws to embarrass herself, saying that she had improved her grades by more than fifty places in the final exams and her family rewarded her with a new mobile phone, and that Lin Shiren should have received more.
“Let me tell you, you should ask your dad for this reward. Otherwise, his money will end up being spent on your younger brother. Your brother and you don’t have the same mother, so he’ll definitely be at odds with you in the future.”
This feel-good advice is highly toxic. On the surface, it seems to be all about her well-being, but in reality, it twists her family relationships into two opposing sides. The naive Lin Shiren was unsuspecting and unknowingly had so many secrets of hers exposed. Now, it's too late for him to regret it.
"It's okay, I have enough money." Her voice was soft and gentle, so soft that it was hard to tell if she was angry.
After a conversation, the atmosphere at the dinner table finally quieted down.
With the noodles almost gone, Lin Shiren put down his chopsticks and looked at Pang Ziyi, who was halfway through her meal: "Ziyi, I'm leaving now. I went to bed late last night, so I'm going back to the classroom for a nap."
After saying that, he cleared away his plate and got up.
Probably not expecting her to leave so abruptly, Pang Ziyi became a little anxious, pressing down on her plate first and forcing a smile: "Wait, I have something to discuss with you."
Lin Shiren didn't speak, but stood there, looking at her with a calm expression.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Pang Ziyi finally stammered out her purpose: "I went to a concert during the holidays without my family's knowledge and spent all my living expenses. Can you lend me two hundred yuan? I will definitely pay you back next month."
The silence lasted for three seconds, then a slight sneer appeared on Lin Shiren's lips:
"I'm so envious. You actually went to your idol's concert and spent all your savings. You're so brave."
"I won't lend it."
"Eat slowly, eating too fast will cause indigestion. I'm leaving now."
After saying that, without giving the other person time to react, he picked up his plate and left.
...
Zhou Lin is a germaphobe. After playing basketball, he took a shower in the school bathroom. When he entered the cafeteria, he was already refreshed, his half-dry hair was slightly dripping with water, and he had a cool and warm bath fragrance around him.
Song Ci heard that the clam rice noodles were delicious, so she lined up at the stall in advance. When Zhou Lin came in, the clam rice noodles were just being served. Song Ci snapped her fingers at him and said, "Little Zhou Zhou, help me carry this. You really treat me like a servant."
Zhou Lin strode over and took a tray, with Song Ci following behind him, her gaze sweeping across the entire cafeteria: "Didn't I just ask the new classmate to save me a seat? Do you think she can do that?"
"Stop being so boring."
Even so, when Zhou Lin looked towards the window, his walking speed suddenly slowed down, and Song Ci, who was following behind him, almost bumped into him. He cursed a word that started with "C": "Can't you at least tell me you're about to brake? I'm speechless."
Despite her complaints, Song Ci followed his gaze and saw Lin Shiren talking to a girl. One was standing and the other was sitting. She was no more than 165 cm tall, and with her slender figure, she had a naturally harmless look. Her fingers were gripping the edge of a stainless steel plate, and her knuckles were white from the force.
His eyes widened: "Isn't that a new classmate? They actually saved seats for us?"
How did you figure that out?
Zhou Lin now not only doubts Song Ci's eyes, but also his mind; anyone could see that the atmosphere at that table was not good.
"Let's go, let's go, we can't waste the good intentions of our new classmate." Song Ci said, already passing Zhou Lin and taking three steps at a time, heading straight for the window.
Zhou Lin followed him for a few steps, trying to stop him, when he heard the girl's voice, her emotions hard to discern: "I'm so envious. You actually went to your idol's concert and spent all your savings. You're so bold. I won't lend you any. Eat slowly. Eating too fast will cause indigestion. I'm leaving now."
Song Ci froze, his brakes even harder than before. He turned to look at Zhou Lin, his mouth opening and closing several times before finally bursting into wild laughter: "Is she doing stand-up comedy? Hahahaha, is there a hidden 'I won't lend it' in all that babbling nonsense... Hahahaha, I thought our new classmate was easygoing?"
Even at such a short distance, Zhou Lin could barely suppress a laugh. The young girl's eyes were soft and gentle, and she thought she had a big temper, but she hid her refusal in a long string of gentle yet incisive sentences.
You've really messed with her.
The midday sun was blazing, and the weather was still very hot.
Lin Shiren walked more than a hundred meters from the cafeteria before calming her excited heart. She was actually not very willing to have a direct conflict with others. If she did, tears would well up in her eyes first, and then her momentum would immediately diminish. So she didn't give Pang Ziyi any time to react and left immediately after refusing her.
Lin Shih-Jen learned the "sandwich refusal method" online. As long as you can overcome your psychological burden, it's not difficult to do. She had practiced at home many times for this day, which is why she could say it so fluently.
The first step is to follow the other person's topic and inexplicably praise them; the second step is to refute them concisely; the third step is to end the topic and leave the scene. A skilled contestant can even make some more absurd requests, such as "I recently want to immigrate to the moon, can you lend me 30 million?" She still can't bring herself to say something like that.
It was still really fun though.
Perhaps she could try asking Pang Ziyi for the debt next time.
Lin Shih-ren's original plan to go back to the classroom for a nap was abruptly changed by this victory, and he had to give himself a big reward.
The campus convenience store was packed with people at this time.
The students buying snacks chatted excitedly in front of the shelves, while she took a bottle of Starbucks coffee from the refrigerated display case and stood quietly in the checkout line.
"Shen Xuqing, wanna play ball tonight?"
Who are they?
With a sharp "snap" in her heart, Lin Shiren tightened her grip on the glass bottle and turned her head away to look.
The convenience store door was pulled open, and a wave of summer heat rushed in. People coming in and out greeted each other warmly, and Shen Xuqing entered.
The boy stood at the door and greeted her. He was wearing a pure white T-shirt, and his bangs were damp with sweat. The two were so close that she could even see the sweat rolling down his neck, and her heart started beating faster involuntarily.
Three seconds later, the shop assistant called her to pay.
Lin Shih-jen lowered his head to take the money, his drooping hair swaying slightly as he rummaged through his wallet, but his movements were unnatural as he approached.
Finally, the twenty yuan was pulled out, along with a shopping receipt.
The small white paper strip drew an arc in the air, then drifted down to a spot a meter behind it due to the cool air from the air conditioner vent.
Lin Shiren turned around, frantically trying to pick it up, but someone was faster than her. Shen Xuqing picked up the receipt first and handed it back to her.
Lin Shiren never expected that their first interaction after becoming classmates would happen so unexpectedly. Because it was completely unexpected, her cheeks involuntarily flushed. She took the receipt without touching his fingers at all: "Thank you."
"Remember to keep it safe next time." The male voice was deep and pleasant, with an ambiguous smile that seemed to bloom like a delicate flower on the earlobe.
She rarely had the chance to look him in the eye so openly. Even such a brief and small interaction was enough to make her blush. Lin Shiren awkwardly tucked her stray hairs behind her ears and watched him walk toward the back shelf, looking at his straight back and the back of his head.
"Here's your change, student." The cashier reminded her to take her change. She reluctantly looked away and carefully sorted out each of the change bills.
She was going to throw the receipt away, but when she remembered that Shen Xuqing had picked it up for her, she decided to keep it.
Before putting the wallet back in, Lin Shiren glanced at the product information on the receipt. Suddenly, her mind and vision went blank. Her heart was pounding and her legs felt weak. It was as if she was holding a grenade with the pin pulled, not a piece of paper.
Product Information: Jissbon Extra Long Lasting Power 6-pack.
Quantity: 1
Price: 64.90
She mistakenly put Zhou Lin's shopping receipt in the wrong bag, and Shen Xuqing saw it.
...
A note from the author:
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50 red envelopes
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