How about you try electrocuting me to protect the flower?
Huaicheng has entered the heating season, and the temperature in the classroom is a bit high. Lin Shiren was taking a nap wearing a coat. When the bell rang, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his back.
She slowly opened her eyes. The white light from the window made her squint slightly. After a few seconds of disorientation, her vision cleared up, and she saw a section of a strong wrist bone with prominent blue veins on the pale back of her hand.
Zhou Lin seemed to be the kind of person with a lot of energy. Others who stayed up all night and didn't take a nap looked like they were neither human nor ghost, with very low energy. But he was not like that. Lin Shiren recalled that he didn't seem to have ever seen him look tired and disheveled.
Zhou Lin was still writing with his pen, the nib making a soft scratching sound as it touched the paper. He looked at her calmly and asked, "Awake?"
The unobstructed gaze made Lin Shiren's mouth go dry. She tilted her head and stood up, pretending to tidy up the table: "Why didn't you take a lunch break?"
"Take a look at this."
With a "smack," an A4 sheet of paper was slapped in front of her, its densely packed contents startling her.
His calligraphy is beautiful; it's hard to tell what style it is, but it's bold and unrestrained, forming its own unique style. The strokes rise slightly at the end, carrying a strange sense of freedom.
"What is this?" Lin Shiren stared at the contents, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, desperately hoping she had guessed wrong.
Zhou Lin capped the pen, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Your study plan."
His academic style has always been lightning-fast. Senior year of high school is a time when every second counts, and since he'd decided to create a plan to improve Lin Shiren's grades, he couldn't afford to waste a moment. Specifically, he would focus on intensive training to address her weaknesses in specific areas, tackling them one by one. First physics, then expanding to mathematics and chemistry.
Zhou Lin had a long-term vision. Now that he had confirmed his feelings for her, he thought it would be best if the two of them could attend the same university, or at least be in the same city.
Of course, she doesn't need to know these things.
Lin Shiren rubbed his throbbing temples, biting his lower lip, unsure how to react, when he heard a male voice with a smile coming from above him.
"I have good news for you."
Her soft bangs slid down, and she looked at him with gentle eyes, not believing there could be any good news at this moment: "What good news?"
“Starting today, you don’t need to do homework anymore. Just complete the practice questions I give you every day.”
Lin Shiren finally looked at the details of the learning plan carefully, and when she looked up again, there was worry in her eyes: "Will Teacher Chen agree?"
Zhou Lin raised an eyebrow: "You don't need to worry about it, I'll go and talk to them."
Lin Shiren clenched her fingers, a strange feeling surging in her chest. She guessed that Chen Mo must have labeled her relationship with Zhou Lin as ambiguous.
It's quite frustrating.
Because of the cold weather, the afternoon PE class was moved to the indoor gymnasium. After the PE teacher led everyone in a warm-up, the group was dismissed for free activities.
The boys quickly formed a basketball tournament, while half of the girls went to play badminton and the other half sat on the cushions chatting.
Lin Shiren was not in good physical condition and was about to stretch her legs on the railing when Dong Rui stopped her. She mysteriously pulled her to a corner where no one was paying attention, and then took out a palm-sized notebook from her school uniform.
"I'll show you something."
As Dong Rui spoke, her eyebrows danced with excitement. Lin Shiren gasped, glanced around furtively, and lowered his voice, "It's not some erotic novel, is it?"
Dong Rui chuckled: "You want to see that? I'll send it to you tonight. This one I have is related to you..."
Based on her sensitivity to gossip, Lin Shiren suddenly had a bad feeling. She took the notebook and opened it. The first line she saw was her own name, and Zhou Lin's name as well.
The handwriting was delicate and neat, clearly the work of a girl: "Zhou Lin held Lin Shiren tightly, as if trying to embed her into his body. Various cheers and jeers arose around them. Their lips were still pressed together, kissing as if no one else was around..."
Her mind went blank for a moment, and her eyes widened, filled with anger and shame.
—This is a novel featuring her and Zhou Lin as the main characters.
The story begins with what happened on the day of the sports meet, and the rest is entirely fictional. She and Zhou Lin are siblings from a blended family. They see each other as mortal enemies but are attracted to each other. What's even more unbelievable is that the time span has gone from high school to the workplace, and Zhou Lin naturally becomes a domineering CEO. In the end, it falls into the cliché of her running away and him chasing her, and her having no way to escape.
Not only that, the illustrations inside are even more wonderful, seemingly works created on a whim by the author. There are pictures of Zhou Lin pinning her against the wall, kissing her while choking her, and even him taking a shower under the showerhead, with water droplets flowing on his well-defined abs... It has to be said that the author's artistic skills far surpass his literary cultivation, especially Zhou Lin's ambiguous smiling face, which is particularly vivid.
After skimming through the last page, it took Lin Shiren a long time to recover from the immense shame. He squinted and asked, "Who wrote this?"
Who wrote it is no longer important; the key question is how many people have actually read it.
Dong Rui enthusiastically helped her answer: "Xiao Xin wrote it. She's my best friend from the first year of high school. She just wrote it for fun, and no one has read it."
Lin Shiren looked up at her, his face full of disbelief.
Nobody's seen this?
Aren't you human?
Dong Rui moved over, silently snatched the notebook from her hand, and stuffed it into her own pocket: "I'm not lying to you. Xiao Xin's dream is to be a writer. She usually writes fan fiction about celebrities. This is her first novel based on a real person. I guarantee that only the three of us have read this novel."
Lin Shiren found it difficult to respond. She pursed her lips, unsure whether to encourage Xiao Xin to continue writing for his dream or to abandon literature and focus on science to prepare for the college entrance examination...
On the distant court, the boys were shouting desperately, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the field.
Zhou Lin was taking a free throw under the basket, sweat dripping from his chin. After a sharp and steady shot, the ball went in. Someone on the court blew a low whistle. He turned around and bumped shoulders with Song Ci, then turned his head to look at him.
Lin Shih-jen leaned against the railing and happened to meet his gaze. Across the noise of half the venue, the two exchanged a half-second glance.
Half a second later, she looked away, her ears burning, and her mind involuntarily flashed through certain scenes from the illustrations in the novel. She was so embarrassed that her toes curled up.
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!
After finishing the three-bedroom apartment, let's move on to the castle.
Dong Rui shifted her gaze from the field to the stands, and suddenly exclaimed, "Hmm, have you noticed? Xu Yiqiao seems to have changed his style?"
She was still sitting in the group of girlfriends, tall, slender, and radiant with fair skin, exuding an air of haughtiness that suggested she was only meant to be admired from afar.
If I had to pinpoint the difference from before, what would be the difference?
It's probably just the hairstyle.
Xu Yiqiao has long, seaweed-like hair, chestnut brown in color, with natural curls at the ends. In the past, she always wore it loose, giving it an indescribable charm. Now, her long hair is tied in a low ponytail, with wispy strands tucked behind her ears with clips, making her look...
Dong Rui glanced at Lin Shiren, seemingly even more certain, and then nudged her with her elbow: "Don't you think her recent style is a lot like yours?"
Lin Shiren was still feeling guilty from earlier, so she didn't dare to try to imitate Xu Yiqiao. If she were accused of being a poor imitator, the situation would be very awkward. She gave a stiff smile and said, "I don't even know what my style is."
"But……"
"No buts," Lin Shiren interrupted her, pulling her around 180 degrees without further ado, so that their backs were facing the direction of the basketball court. "Can you persuade Xiao Xin not to bring that novel of yours to school anymore?"
"Okay, I'll talk to her about it."
Dong Rui's attention had already shifted, and she opened her notebook again, savoring the memory: "I love reading pseudo-incest novels the most, but your character is a bit off. I can't imagine you wearing a burgundy deep V evening dress."
"..."
Dong Rui, seemingly seeing something, excitedly shook her hand wildly, making such a racket that all the girls in the direction of the cushions turned to look. Startled, Lin Shiren reached out and covered her mouth, saying, "Keep it down."
After this little incident, Lin Shiren found it difficult to look Zhou Lin in the eye. His expressions and movements always overlapped with the characters in the illustrations, giving people the illusion that they couldn't distinguish between the two-dimensional world and reality.
When school was over, she went home with Zhou Lin and Song Ci. When it was her turn to get off the bus, Zhou Lin got off as well.
As they emerged from the subway station, the night breeze ruffled their long hair. The two walked side by side on the sidewalk, always maintaining a distance of about one person's width.
Lin Shiren gripped his backpack strap, looking rather awkward, and said, "Actually, you don't need to take me home."
“Although Cai Shichen is out of school this week, he might still come out tonight. He’s followed you before. This whole thing has blown up so much, what if he retaliates?” Zhou Lin said casually.
Lin Shih-ren, who hadn't considered this possibility, paled slightly: "Then what should we do? Should we call the police?"
Zhou Lin sighed: "Do you have any evidence?"
Lin Shih-ren shook his head.
She was a good child in the traditional sense. From kindergarten to high school, no matter which teacher described her as smart, well-behaved, and never causing trouble.
Zhou Lin effortlessly tugged at her backpack, shortening the distance between them: "Give me your hand."
"What?" Lin Shiren was slightly taken aback, but still obediently placed his palm up in front of him.
A second later, a black stun gun landed in her hand. He smirked: "Use this for self-defense from now on. Throw away your cheap pepper spray."
Lin Shih-jen blushed a little at his teasing and retorted, "Who knows if your stun gun is of poor quality?"
Zhou Lin gently lifted his eyelids: "How about trying to shock me once?"
"If you collapse, I'll have to perform CPR and..."
"With what?"
The words "artificial respiration" stuck in his throat, and Lin Shiren stammered and fell silent.
Seeing her stutter, Zhou Lin suppressed a laugh and added as if he had just realized something: "It seems your first aid knowledge is not solid at all."
Lin Shiren felt that he was deliberately going against her, and grumbled unhappily, "Anyway, you can't take me every day, so what does it matter whether I use pepper spray or a stun gun..."
The moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly regretted them, unable to believe that she could say such ungrateful things.
But Zhou Lin wasn't angry.
His dark eyes were fixed on her, as if they could encompass all her complicated little thoughts: "Don't worry, I can take you home whenever you need me."
-----------------------
Author's Note: It's almost the end of the month, please give me some nutrient solution!
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