Lu Qingyan smiled awkwardly at the pair of young lovers before she walked into a classroom with Wang Jingyuan.
Only after entering the classroom and turning on the lights did Lu Qingyan realize that Wang Jingyuan's originally beautiful and pale chin was a little red.
She said, a little bit ashamed, "That pair of young lovers was really terrifying. I thought it was a ghost at first—it scared me so much. I'm really, really sorry."
Wang Jingyuan stared at her for a while, then slowly said, "You really like to say the word 'sorry'."
Lu Qingyan: "Ah?"
She paused. Wait a minute.
Now that she thought about it, every single conversation she'd had with Wang Jingyuan involved some form of "Sorry!" "Ah, sorry!" or "I didn't mean to—sorry!"
She was like a walking, talking apology machine. If her chats with him were summarized, it'd just be: Hi, Sorry, Sorry Again, and Goodbye.
Maybe it was fate. Wicked female cannon fodder and villain cannon fodder were like oil and vinegar—doomed to awkwardness from the start.
But Wang Jingyuan didn't give her much time to wallow. He pulled a tissue from his bag and wiped the dusty desk before sitting down like a cold, refined scholar.
He glanced at her. "I don't like hearing it."
Lu Qingyan froze mid-bag unzip.
After thinking about it, his gaze landed on her body and jokingly said with unknown intentions, "Rather than saying sorry, isn't it more practical to give some compensation?"
Lu Qingyan short-circuited. "C-compensation?"
Compensation like… what kind of compensation?? Was this where her wallet flew out and she paid him for emotional damages??
While Lu Qingyan was still trying to figure out the meaning of this sentence, Wang Jingyuan had already opened the notebook and raised his eyes to signal her to ask questions.
As if that little joke hadn't happened. As if he hadn't just suggested something that made her toes curl in social panic.
Time was precious. Lu Qingyan did not want to waste any as she immediately entered the right state of mind.
Soon, the notebook gradually reached its end.
Lu Qingyan couldn't help but yawned.
When she turned her head, she saw that the expression on Wang Jingyuan, who was currently explaining the subject, sank a little.
Afterward, he looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"Bored?"
Lu Qingyan straightened like someone hit the back of her neck with a ruler. "N-no! No, not at all!"
Lu Qingyan had an extreme interpretation of his expression and tone of voice—
'What, I'm taking the time to explain the topics to you and you actually find it boring?'
In addition, what is going on with this aura that is more terrifying and formidable than the head teacher?? It brought an ineffable chill down one's back.
Lu Qingyan immediately raised her focus 120% and sat up straight. She started to ask questions with the attitude of wanting to get to the bottom of a serious matter.
So afterward, every time Wang Jingyuan explained a question, Lu Qingyan would punch her own palm with an expression of suddenly seeing the light—
"Oh!"
"Oh!"
"Oh!!!"
"So it was like this!"
"I suddenly see the light!"
For the next fifteen minutes, the classroom echoed with one-sided enthusiasm that made Wang Jingyuan stare at her like 'what kind of performance are you putting on now?' But he didn't stop her.
When they were done with the questions and preparing to return, Lu Qingyan turned off the lights in the classroom.
The two were just about to leave when the sounds of hasty footsteps came from the corridor.
Lu Qingyan was a little surprised.
Lu Qingyan turned her head, eyes wide, only to see—of all people—the same young couple they had run into earlier, now sprinting down the corridor like star-crossed lovers fleeing from the law.
The boy and girl gripped each other's hands tightly, expressions fierce and dramatic.
They whizzed past them like characters from a teen soap opera.
It was as if they were running to elope.
Lu Qingyan: ???
As they dashed by, the girl breathlessly called out over her shoulder, "You should stop your date and RUN! The director found us!!"
Lu Qingyan's jaw dropped.
Did… did she just say date?
No no no. This wasn't a date. This was textbook mutual academic exploitation!
She suddenly remembered that the rumor regarding the Lover's Rendezvous Corridor was not only known to the students, but seems to be even known by the school's Director Xu, who was some that was deeply committed to catching those engaging in puppy love.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Lu Qingyan saw the gleam of a flashlight appearing in the distance.
"The two students over there who are secretly having a relationship, STOP RIGHT THERE! If you run, you're going to get demerits!"
Lu Qingyan: !!!
What kind of catching-an-illicit-romance-after-curfew plotline was this?!
Why is this as thrilling as the catching of love affairs during ancient times??
Lu Qingyan personally watched as the young couple ran to the stairwell at the end of the corridor. Before long, their silhouettes had already disappeared.
She felt both powerless and furious as she scolded the young couple many times in her heart.
She suddenly had an ominous premonition.
What if the director caught Wang Jingyuan and her because he thought they were the targets he found engaging in puppy love?
She was scared by this thought and suddenly became incomparably panicked.
Lu Qingyan panicked. Her brain screamed, 'We're innocent! I was only sinning against trigonometry, not morality!'
No time to explain.
No time to shout, "This isn't what it looks like!"
So Lu Qingyan did the only thing a desperate, wrongly accused student could do.
She grabbed Wang Jingyuan's wrist, looked into his startled eyes, and gasped—
"RUN!!"
She yanked him down the hallway, flying toward the stairwell like a fugitive from Cupid's court.
Somewhere behind them, Director Xu shouted, "STOP! YOU TWO! STOP THIS YOUNG LOVE IMMEDIATELY!"
The sounds of fleeing footsteps echoed once more in the hall.