Chapter 26 She pressed down on him.
Unexpectedly, his question came from such a tricky angle that Peng Chengyi was momentarily stunned.
After thinking for a few seconds, she chose to avoid answering: "No one has confessed to me, they've all been sending you love letters..."
Chen Yubai pressed on, asking, "So I'm hypothesizing, if someone confesses their feelings to you in the future, and you don't like them, would you be unable to say no?"
"That may depend on the situation..." Peng Chengyi said vaguely.
Although she felt that romance was still a long way off for someone her age, seeing so many girls liking Chen Yubai while not a single boy liked her left her with a strange and inexplicable feeling.
"What do you mean?" Chen Yubai frowned slightly.
Seeing that he was still fixated on the issue, Peng Chengyi, unwilling to admit defeat, could only bite the bullet and say, "It depends on the other person's attitude... If they are particularly sincere, it can indeed be a little hard to refuse!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Yubai chuckled: "Every time I sincerely ask you to do something, you always refuse quite decisively."
"Huh? When have you ever sincerely asked me to do something? You always order me around from a superior position, okay?" Peng Chengyi glanced at him with amusement. "Besides, you're not a human, you're a dog."
"..."
Chen Yubai looked at her silently for a while, and finally sighed softly: "Then I sincerely ask you now, next time try to refuse them, instead of distancing yourself from me, okay?"
Seeing the usually aloof and unruly young man bow his head to her, Peng Chengyi's pent-up anger dissipated.
She pursed her lips and nodded reluctantly: "Okay, I'll give it a try."
Chen Yubai's lips curved slightly, and he casually picked up her schoolbag from the table, stood up, and said, "Let's go to the cafeteria for lunch."
“That’s my backpack,” Peng Chengyi reminded him.
"I know." Chen Yubai smiled lazily, slinging her white backpack over his shoulder. "I have to show you my sincerity in 'asking' you to do something, so you won't say later that I'm condescendingly ordering you around."
Peng Chengyi paused for a moment, then stood up cheerfully: "So, from now on, will you carry my schoolbag for me?"
Chen Yubai casually turned his face and strode off: "Dream on. This only applies to today, unless you listen to me every day."
Peng Chengyi: "..."
Sure enough, his time as a human being was always very limited.
-
When I returned after lunch, the midterm exam results were posted.
The questions this time were not as difficult as those in the monthly exam, and Peng Chengyi felt that she performed quite well, thinking that she could improve her ranking by a few places.
Upon inspection, she was still ranked 8th in her class and 108th in the grade, with almost no significant change.
Chen Yubai, surprisingly, managed to maintain his position as the top student in the grade even though the questions weren't that difficult.
Unable to understand why he had made such great progress after entering high school, Peng Chengyi hesitated for two days before finally deciding to swallow her pride and ask him for advice.
Taking advantage of Saturday to go to his house for guitar lessons, Peng Chengyi tuned the strings and casually asked, "Did you secretly take some kind of brain-boosting elixir? You've been getting first place in every exam since high school."
Chen Yubai sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled casually, "Yeah, I secretly ate your spicy snacks a few times, and my brain suddenly clicked."
"..." Peng Chengyi paused, speechless, and raised his face. "Stop it, let's get serious."
"You were the one who asked that inappropriate question first." Chen Yubai lazily propped himself up on the bed with both hands and glanced at her with amusement.
Peng Chengyi choked for a moment, then was forced to admit, "Okay, actually I wanted to ask how you improved your grades, since you don't seem to work that hard usually."
Chen Yubai curled the corners of his lips and replied casually, "When looking at a problem, you can't just look at the surface; you have to look at the essence."
Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, then her eyes widened: "So you've been secretly studying late into the night in the dorm all this time, without my knowledge!"
Chen Yubai: "What are you thinking about? I always go to bed on time."
Peng Chengyi: "...Then what essence do you want me to see?"
"What I showed you was the essence of the question, you little fool," Chen Yubai laughed.
"Don't call me stupid! I'm still in the top ten of the class!" Peng Chengyi pouted unhappily.
"Alright, little smarty." Chen Yubai shrugged, let go of her hand, lay down on the bed, and said, "I've shared everything. Figure out the rest yourself."
"..."
Peng Chengyi's lips twitched slightly. She glanced at the boy who was leisurely lying on the bed, angrily put the guitar in her arms aside, walked over and gave his calf hanging over the edge of the bed a light kick.
"Get up! This is such an abstract presentation; even the top ten students in the grade wouldn't understand it!"
"Is this how you become an apprentice? You even kicked someone." Chen Yubai remained unmoved, his voice as lazy as ever.
Peng Chengyi paused, standing silently by his bedside for a moment before a sudden flash of inspiration struck her—a deadly technique she had long forgotten.
Tickle the ticklish spot on the back of his waist.
This secret was discovered by chance during a fight at kindergarten. Since then, she has been almost invincible whenever she takes action.
However, as he grew older, he gradually stopped fighting with her and only argued with her, so this tactic became useless.
Having found a way to deal with him, Peng Chengyi suddenly became tough again: "So what if I kick you? Are you going to get up or not?"
"Call me 'teacher' first." He kept his eyes closed, but a mocking smile played on his lips.
“…Call me your sister!” Peng Chengyi narrowed her eyes and reached out to his waist on both sides without hesitation.
Chen Yubai was startled when he realized her intention and suddenly sat up in bed.
But just as she was leaning forward, their foreheads collided with each other with a "bang".
"Ah!" Peng Chengyi's vision blurred, and she staggered back two steps.
Chen Yubai's head was also buzzing from the impact, and he subconsciously covered his forehead. Seeing that Peng Chengyi was about to crash into the guitar on the chair as she was backing away, he quickly reached out and grabbed her slender wrist, pulling her back sharply.
With that pull and tug, Peng Chengyi completely lost her balance and fell uncontrollably onto him.
Without a spare hand to support himself, Chen Yubai, who had just sat up, was pushed back onto the bed by her.
The girl's body was soft and light, and when she pressed down on him, it felt like she had no weight at all.
But it made him tense up all his muscles, and his breathing became a little more rapid.
He cleared his throat and nudged Peng Chengyi, who was still in a daze, saying, "Get up, you're crushing me. Who's going to teach you?"
"...You're the one who pulled me down! And I weigh less than 100 pounds, how could I possibly crush you?!"
Peng Chengyi, whose forehead was still throbbing, glared at the boy beneath her before getting off him.
"If I hadn't pulled you back, your guitar might be on the ground and ruined by now." Chen Yubai chuckled and slowly sat up.
"That's because you suddenly got up first! I feel like you're going to give me a concussion," Peng Chengyi retorted, dissatisfied.
"If I don't get up, do you expect me to unleash my ultimate move?" He glanced at her helplessly.
"How did you know I was about to unleash a powerful attack?" Peng Chengyi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
She thought that after so many years, he would have long since lost his vigilance against her tricks.
"Your hand is already on my waist, what else can you do?" Chen Yubai smirked, bent down and pulled out the midterm exam paper from under the desk. "Come sit down, I'll tell you what it means to see the essence of things."
Peng Chengyi: "Oh."
It seems that this powerful move is still quite intimidating to him.
It seems she can be his boss again.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile.
"Don't grin like an idiot, listen to me carefully." Chen Yubai poked her lip with the cap of his pen.
“…I’m listening attentively.” Peng Chengyi snapped out of her reverie.
Chen Yubai: "Then repeat what I just said."
Peng Chengyi: "Say it, stop grinning like an idiot and listen to me carefully."
Chen Yubai: "One more sentence."
Peng Chengyi: "Uh..."
Chen Yubai narrowed his long, narrow eyes.
Peng Chengyi immediately said, "You're not allowed to insult me, or I'll unleash my ultimate move!"
Chen Yubai, completely unfazed by her threat, chuckled and said, "Go ahead and put it down, you silly girl."
"...?"
Unable to tell if he was bluffing or what, Peng Chengyi slowly reached out her hand towards his waist: "I really let go!"
"Hmm." Chen Yubai responded lightly, a nonchalant smile still playing on his lips.
Huh? How could that be? He's no longer a threat!
Peng Chengyi, unwilling to give up, tickled his waist twice.
They found that he didn't move an inch.
Unlike when he was a child, he didn't beg her to let him go in a fussy and awkward way.
"Your ticklish spot is gone?" Peng Chengyi looked at him incredulously.
"Yes, but not as sensitive as when I was a child," Chen Yubai explained casually.
"...Then why did you jump up so violently just now!" Peng Chengyi said speechlessly.
He glanced at her briefly: "Just now in bed."
She blinked, puzzled, with her long eyelashes twitching: "What happened on the bed?"
Chen Yubai met her clear, innocent eyes for a moment, then lowered his gaze and said, "Nothing, just focus on the lesson and stop thinking about how to get ahead of me."
Peng Chengyi: "..."
That's the downside of growing up together.
He could see right through her thoughts at a glance.
However, after listening to his analysis of the midterm exam paper using the method of seeing through appearances to the essence, Peng Chengyi did indeed have a feeling of enlightenment.
Back at school, she began to try taking notes using his method, focusing on the key points of knowledge each day, and then extending and understanding the questions.
However, she used to write everything down in a notebook, so when she was suddenly asked to focus on the key points, she really couldn't quite grasp them.
When I flipped through my notes during evening self-study, they were still densely covered with writing, giving me a headache.
Peng Chengyi bit his pen and began to think again.
"Going to the toilet, Chengcheng?"
After the bell rang to signal the end of the second evening self-study session, Zheng Xinyue poked her in the back.
"Hmm." Peng Chengyi tossed her notebook onto the table, deciding to go out and clear her head. "Let's go."
When they got to the restroom, Zheng Xinyue suddenly had a stomachache, so she said through the restroom door, "Chengcheng, you go back first, I'll squat for a while."
"Do you need me to get you some more paper?" Peng Chengyi asked with concern as she washed her hands.
“No need, I brought enough,” Zheng Xinyue said.
"Then I'll be going?"
"Um."
Peng Chengyi turned off the tap and had only taken a few steps out of the restroom when she was stopped by a girl from another class.
Looking at the envelope and milk tea in her hand, Peng Chengyi smiled bitterly to herself.
Actually, when she promised Chen Yubai that she would try to refuse next time, she was hoping for the best.
She felt that no one had come to her with love letters for a week or two, and maybe no one would ever do it again.
Unexpectedly, just a few days after she and Chen Yubai resumed eating together, another girl came looking for her.
This dog is really popular, just like a celebrity.
"Hello, could you please pass this letter on to Chen Yubai? And this is milk tea..."
Hearing these all-too-familiar lines, Peng Chengyi took a deep breath and tried to politely decline, saying, "I think it would be better if you handed it to him yourself?"
"He doesn't even know me, he won't talk to me, so please help me out." The girl's voice was soft, and she looked at her pitifully.
Peng Chengyi quickly shifted her gaze, staring at the wall behind her, and said, "I'm afraid I can't help you with this."
"Why? Didn't you successfully deliver gifts for other girls before? Can you help me one more time?"
"..."
Peng Chengyi, who was starting to feel the strain, clenched her hands hanging by her sides and remembered Chen Yubai's words.
You're not a mail carrier; you can't just deliver things because you're told to.
So she gritted her teeth and quickly said, "Sorry, I just don't want to help with this anymore, and it's not directed at you."
Upon hearing this, the girl paused for a moment before nodding with some disappointment: "Okay, I understand."
Watching her dejected figure leave, Peng Chengyi slowly released her slightly sweaty hand and let out a long sigh.
It seems that refusing wasn't as difficult as she had imagined.
Peng Chengyi walked into the classroom through the back door in a lighthearted mood, intending to share her achievement with Chen Yubai, only to find that he was not in his seat.
"Where's Chen Yubai?" She looked at his deskmate, Ling Baizhou.
"Your seat is over there." Ling Baizhou gestured with his chin in his direction.
Peng Chengyi was taken aback and turned to look.
She discovered he was throwing small notes into her pencil case.
"Chen Yubai!" She rushed over in three strides and snatched the pencil case away. "Don't secretly throw trash into my pencil case!"
"...Who would do something so pointless, you little idiot?" Chen Yubai chuckled and strode away, too lazy to explain to her.
A gentle breeze stirred the hem of the boy's school uniform, brushing against the ends of her hair.
Peng Chengyi paused, then lowered her eyes to carefully examine the notes he had tossed in—
The key points of today's math, physics, and chemistry lessons were clearly written on it.
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Author's Note: [Dog head carrying a rose][Dog head carrying a rose][Dog head carrying a rose]
Thank you to 75981039, colorwind915, uoow, ahrun, and youxiayu for feeding us the nutrient solution!
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