Chapter 120: Little Things About Dating ④
It was impossible to even think about it. Nie Qiu would smile at Peng Yu Yang, smile at Huang Yan, smile at Ai Si Yuan, but she would never smile at him…
Li Kai sat next to Luo Xu, frowned, took a gulp of beer from Luo Xu’s hand, and then pointed the beer bottle at Zhang Haiyang, “Haiyang, drink! What you did today was not right, you’re being punished with a drink!”
Zhang Haiyang had no choice but to open a bottle of beer, drink it all in one go, and then looked at Li Kai, “A Kai… this matter… do you really not like Nie Qiu?”
Li Kai fell silent. He understood Zhang Haiyang’s personality very well. Zhang Haiyang had impulsively said something today, so he had been thinking that if he had said it himself, it would have been better. Therefore, even if he felt resentment in his heart, he wouldn’t truly blame Zhang Haiyang. The punishment of one bottle of beer was just a formality.
Like Nie Qiu?
Zhang Haiyang sat on the sofa and looked at the large screen in the private room, “I say, Nie Qiu doesn’t look bad now. She’s clean, quite serious, and has her own unique charm. If you don’t like Nie Qiu, I’ll go after her?”
Upon hearing this, Li Kai immediately stood up, about to go to Zhang Haiyang’s side. But after standing up, he realized his reaction was a bit excessive. He took a deep breath, “I understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Nie Qiu will be your sister-in-law from now on, remember?” Li Kai picked up his schoolbag, slung it over one shoulder, and opened the door to the private room, “Everyone go back early, we still have class tomorrow morning!”
The few people looked at each other for a while, then they all picked up their schoolbags, put them on their backs, and walked out of the KTV.
The next day, Nie Qiu arrived at school as usual. After finishing her lecture, Nie Qiu returned to her seat. Just as she was about to put her schoolbag into her desk, she saw a bag inside. It was the bag from yesterday where she had refused Li Kai’s gift. She looked at Li Kai, asking with her eyes.
Li Kai was a little nervous, but he still looked at Nie Qiu and smiled with feigned calmness, “Nie Qiu, this is a gift specially bought for you. If you don’t accept it, I might have to throw it away. If you don’t want it, I really can’t think of anyone else to give it to.”
Nie Qiu hesitated. What Li Kai said seemed to make some sense. If it was specially bought for her, it wouldn’t be easy to give to someone else, especially regarding the size… Wait, how would Li Kai know ‘Nie Qiu’s’ size?
Seeing Nie Qiu hesitate, Li Kai became anxious. He took the bag out of the desk and was about to throw it into the trash can behind them. Nie Qiu quickly stopped Li Kai and took the bag from his hand, “I’ll keep it!” To be honest, Nie Qiu actually really liked these shoes, but unfortunately… such expensive shoes, and Li Kai giving them to her, she…
“Tomorrow isn’t Monday, can you wear that skirt and these shoes to class?” Li Kai asked with a face full of anticipation.
Looking at Li Kai’s expectant expression, Nie Qiu glanced at the bag and nodded, “Okay.” She would consider it… a return favor! The skirt her uncle gave her, she was reluctant to wear it because she liked it so much, so she had only worn it once on the first day and hadn’t dared to wear it since.
“Then… Nie Qiu, what do you think of me?” As soon as Li Kai said this, Zhang Haiyang, who was sitting in front of Nie Qiu’s desk, turned his head.
“What do you mean, what do I think?” Nie Qiu looked at Li Kai, confused.
Li Kai glanced at Zhang Haiyang. Zhang Haiyang clenched his fist and made a cheering gesture at Li Kai. It wasn’t time for morning self-study yet. The surrounding classmates were either previewing in the classroom or going to the toilet. Around Nie Qiu and Li Kai’s seats, there was only Zhang Haiyang and a student behind them. The student behind them also perked up their ears. Li Kai took a deep breath, “Nie Qiu, I like you, let’s date?”
Nie Qiu, who had just sat down at her seat, was startled and almost fell off her stool. She looked at Li Kai, “Li Kai… are you… serious?”
Li Kai looked at Nie Qiu with utmost seriousness and nodded.
Nie Qiu swallowed and looked at the gift she had already accepted in her hand. After pondering for a moment with her head down, she said, “Li Kai… we… we are still young. If we date now, it will definitely affect our studies…”
Li Kai insisted on looking at Nie Qiu, “There are four couples in Class 1, and there are two couples in our class too, Nie Qiu. Don’t tell me we’re too young or that it will affect our studies. I just want to ask you, I like you, do you like me?”
Nie Qiu raised her head and looked at Li Kai, saying word by word, “Li Kai, I would rather you say this to me when your grades are ahead of mine, proving to me that dating really doesn’t affect studies.”
Li Kai looked at Nie Qiu and stood up, “Okay, I will prove it. I will prove that I am truly worthy of you, Nie Qiu, just you wait. For the next monthly exam, I will definitely do better than you!”
Nie Qiu smiled, “Okay, I’ll wait for the day you do better than me.”
Zhang Haiyang’s eyes widened, and he looked at Li Kai in disbelief. Do better than Nie Qiu? Good heavens! How was that possible? Nie Qiu’s grades were eighth in the entire grade, not eighth in the class. In their class, Li Kai wasn’t even in the top eight, how could he compare to Nie Qiu? Zhang Haiyang momentarily thought Li Kai had gone mad, but seeing the burning flames in both Nie Qiu and Li Kai’s eyes, their determined gazes, made him feel that this… this matter might not be impossible.
Combating early romance was something teachers from the first to the third year of junior high paid great attention to. Teacher Yang’s eyes were sharp, and he was naturally aware of the small ripples among the students. He didn’t know how the basketball game yesterday came about, but since most of the boarding students had to do morning exercises, it wasn’t bad to play basketball in the morning to exercise. He didn’t blame the students. However, as the students chatted and laughed, a word or two of gossip would inevitably reach his ears.
Teacher Yang was particularly careful about handling these student issues. If there were signs of early romance, they had to be nipped in the bud promptly, but he couldn’t make a fuss about normal interactions between male and female students. If handled improperly, it could backfire.
Therefore, Teacher Yang’s method was to observe quietly, analyze each individual carefully, and treat them on a case-by-case basis.
If he felt someone’s behavior was slightly excessive, he would call that student to the office for a chat. It was a genuine conversation, and then he would subtly point out the importance of studying well and not letting their minds wander, and so on.
He had heard from the students that Li Kai had given Nie Qiu a gift. He didn’t think much of it. After all, how many gifts had the classmates given Nie Qiu during her farewell party before? So, Li Kai giving Nie Qiu a gift seemed normal to him. However, when he walked into the corridor just now, he overheard a few girls saying that Li Kai and Nie Qiu were already dating, which surprised him somewhat. He hadn’t expected his guess to be wrong!
