Chapter 117: Little Things About Dating ①
Li Kai was subtly displeased, but he patiently asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?” In Nie Qiu’s eyes, he didn’t see surprise, but rather astonishment, which caught him off guard. Huang Yan’s reaction should have been Nie Qiu’s reaction in his eyes.
“I don’t dislike it,” Nie Qiu shook her head and said helplessly, “Thank you very much for the gift, but I can’t accept favors without earning them. Such a valuable gift, I… I can’t accept it.”
“What do you mean, ‘can’t accept favors without earning them’?” Li Kai became a little anxious, “I… I… I…” He stammered for a long time, but the other three words among the four he wanted to say still wouldn’t come out. Meanwhile, the classmates watching the scene pushed and shoved each other, their foreheads sweating with anxiety.
Zhang Haiyang couldn’t stand it any longer and rushed forward, standing beside Li Kai. He looked at Nie Qiu and asked, “Nie Qiu, Li Kai likes you. Do you want to be his girlfriend?”
Girlfriend?!
Nie Qiu was startled. Even though she had been reborn into a sixteen-year-old girl, her psychological age was still thirty-eight. In her opinion, how could someone so young be dating? But… she had also been young once. Sixteen or seventeen was the age when feelings first blossomed. How beautiful was that youthful prime? How brilliant was all of that? Liking someone, loving someone, the first feelings, all so worth cherishing.
Nie Qiu didn’t want to shatter Li Kai’s longing and fantasy for love, but she was also a little surprised. She looked at Li Kai, as if to confirm, “Is what Zhang Haiyang said true?”
Li Kai was busy covering Zhang Haiyang’s mouth. Hearing Nie Qiu’s question, he blurted out loudly, “It’s fake, of course what he said is fake! There’s no such thing!”
Nie Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. The watching classmates, however, let out a chorus of “boos.” In their minds, the image of the aloof class monitor Li Kai had completely crumbled, leaving only dust in the room. Li Kai like this seemed less unapproachable. Li Kai! He was just an ordinary person after all.
It’s over!
Seeing Nie Qiu’s expression, Li Kai could only think these two words: It’s over! It’s over, over, over, over! Nie Qiu definitely wouldn’t accept this gift now!
Li Kai’s appearance indeed proved the saying that boys in love have an IQ of zero. When facing the girl they like, they become incoherent, not knowing what to say or do, always speaking without thinking, yet wanting to attract the attention of the girl they like.
Of course, this usually backfires, because the words spoken by boys with an IQ of zero, without thinking, are usually not very pleasing.
As expected, when Li Kai released Zhang Haiyang’s mouth, Nie Qiu handed back the things he was going to give her, said “Thank you,” and turned to go back into the classroom with Huang Yan.
Peng Yu Yang, who had been watching from the window, breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his seat. The thumping of his heart pounded against his eardrums. He clutched his chest, incredulous. He looked at Nie Qiu, who was chatting and laughing with Huang Yan as they entered the classroom. He also heard the teasing and “boos” from the classmates in the class, but such a loud noise couldn’t drown out the pounding in his chest. It thumped wildly, he didn’t know if it was from happiness or some other reason.
He had arranged to study with Zhang Qidi and Ai Si Yuan at noon. Huang Yan and Peng Yu Yang got their food and didn’t eat in the canteen, but instead followed Nie Qiu to Class 1.
Zhang Qidi and Ai Si Yuan had also gotten their food and were waiting for Nie Qiu in the classroom. Seeing Nie Qiu bring Huang Yan and Peng Yu Yang, they happily greeted them. Because they had won the basketball game against Class 1 that morning, Huang Yan’s chest was puffed out, looking very proud. On the contrary, the people from Class 1 seemed less concerned about winning or losing and greeted them. This made Huang Yan feel a bit embarrassed.
Ai Si Yuan and Zhang Qidi saw Huang Yan and Peng Yu Yang. They had originally planned to eat at a table for three, but upon seeing the two of them, they brought another table to combine them. They also brought two more stools, and the five of them sat around the two combined tables to eat.
Zhang Haiyang and Wang Chao Lei pulled Li Kai and squatted under the window, with Luo Xu behind them. Wang Chao Lei pointed at Ai Si Yuan and whispered to Li Kai, “Look, Ai Si Yuan…”
Before Wang Chao Lei could finish speaking, he saw Ai Si Yuan take a piece of beef from his meal tray and put it into Nie Qiu’s meal tray. Then, he smiled and said to Huang Yan, Peng Yu Yang, and Zhang Qidi, “I made some beef today, everyone try some?”
Zhang Qidi took a piece, put it in his mouth, and laughed, “We’re all eating yours, so won’t you have nothing to eat?”
Ai Si Yuan raised an eyebrow and took a piece of stir-fried water bamboo from Nie Qiu’s meal tray. “We’re all eating together, eat whatever you want.”
Nie Qiu ate the beef Ai Si Yuan had put on her plate. To be honest, since she had been reborn, she had only eaten beef once when Nie Aiwen visited their home. Nie Qiu hadn’t eaten beef since. Seeing Ai Si Yuan take her water bamboo, in the spirit of reciprocity, she pushed her meal tray forward and put a piece of water bamboo on Ai Si Yuan’s meal tray. “If you like water bamboo, eat it. I bought a lot today.”
Ai Si Yuan smiled, took food from Nie Qiu’s meal tray, and nodded, “Okay.”
Huang Yan, Zhang Qidi, and Ai Si Yuan weren’t very familiar with each other, but she was always a friendly person. All five of them placed their meal trays in the middle, with the compartment for rice facing themselves, and ate the dishes they wanted, regardless of whose they were.
Peng Yu Yang glanced at Ai Si Yuan, then lowered his head and took a mouthful of rice. He then picked up a chopstickful of stir-fried chili pepper and cilantro from Huang Yan’s bowl and looked thoughtfully at Nie Qiu. Compared to Li Kai, this Ai Si Yuan seemed more suitable for Nie Qiu… He remembered that Ai Si Yuan, the class monitor of Class 1, always ranked first or second in the entire grade. This meant that being with him, Nie Qiu’s grades wouldn’t decline either, right?
From the moment he saw Ai Si Yuan giving Nie Qiu food, Li Kai was in a state of rage. If Luo Xu and Wang Chao Lei hadn’t held him back and dragged him away, he might have charged into Class 1 and gotten into a fight with Ai Si Yuan.
You must know that the last time they fought with Class 5, it was also people from their class who were in another class. If someone hadn’t taken silent surveillance footage proving that Class 5 initiated the fight, everyone in their class would have received a major demerit! If it were someone else coming to their class, it would be one thing, but the fact was they were outside another class’s classroom, making it look like they were looking for trouble.
“Since there are five of us, shall we write it on the blackboard?” After finishing their meal, Zhang Qidi took out his books, stood up, went to the lectern, picked up some chalk, and started writing.
Huang Yan tidied up the five meal trays and said with a smile, “Nie Qiu, shall we go to the canteen to wash the meal trays together? We’ll return them after washing.”
Nie Qiu nodded and picked up her chopsticks.
Peng Yu Yang and Ai Si Yuan stood up at the same time and said in unison, “I’ll go with you.”
