Chapter 285 - 171: All Are Gifts for Mom
In the end, Li Zhi decided to keep the whole thing under wraps.
It didn’t even take much effort. All she had to do was shut the little author’s mouth, and that was that.
As for Ji Ningning, it was just like before: people need to know their place.
Sometimes, when something has nothing to do with you, you shouldn’t just jump in without a sense of propriety.
Besides, they were childhood sweethearts. How could they not know they had feelings for each other?
Could they go to and from school together every day if they had no feelings? Eat together every day?
Give me a break.
Why bother meddling?
It would be a better use of time to memorize vocabulary.
As for how Li Zhi shut He Zhiyu’s mouth, that was quite simple.
The little author was already timid about secretly writing fanfiction about her best friend’s childhood romance. Li Zhi just had to tell her to forget the whole thing. Easy peasy.
It was just a small midday incident. No big deal.
When the bell for class rang, Li Zhi felt like she’d heard a signal of liberation.
’I should just focus on class and not think about anything else.’
As for Shen Yuan, he actually knew nothing about this whole affair.
When the lunch break ended, Shen Yuan saw Li Zhi leave the classroom, but it never occurred to him that his Li Bao would be stopped by a first-year, much less that Li Bao would use such a reason to reject her.
Shen Yuan had spent the entire time grinding through practice problems.
He was so competitive that Zhou Shaojie didn’t get any sleep during the lunch break, and then ended up getting dragged to the back of the classroom by Eldest Female Cousin to stand during the first period of English class that afternoon.
Truth be told, if it had been any other class, Ah Jie could have slept and gotten away with it.
But of all classes, Ah Jie had to fall asleep in Eldest Female Cousin’s English class.
What was this?
This was a blatant provocation!
Unforgivable!
So, throughout the class period, Eldest Female Cousin called on Ah Jie to answer questions several times.
If the bell hadn’t rung in time, Eldest Female Cousin’s questions would have nearly driven Ah Jie into a depressive spiral.
As soon as he was back in his seat, Ah Jie looked at the still-energetic Shen Yuan and couldn’t help but ask, "Yuan, you didn’t sleep at lunch. Aren’t you tired?"
"Not tired at all."
Shen Yuan said with a matter-of-fact look, "Eighteen is the age for hustling! What’s there to be tired about!"
Ah Jie stared at Shen Yuan for a moment, then glanced at the schedule for the next class.
Physics. Great. Time for a nap.
The moment he saw the schedule, Ah Jie dropped his head and fell asleep.
Seeing Ah Jie conk out like that, an evil smile spread across Shen Yuan’s face.
Shen Yuan leaned in close to Ah Jie’s ear and whispered, "Well then, I’m going to start studying."
With that, Shen Yuan took out his chemistry homework.
Hearing the SCRATCH, SCRATCH of Shen Yuan solving problems, Ah Jie’s eyes fluttered open resentfully.
"You fucking idiot, Shen Yuan. I hope you bomb the joint exam."
"Even if I bomb it, my total score will still be higher than yours."
"Fuck!"
Ah Jie’s drowsiness vanished instantly. "I’ll show you the power of a science prodigy!"
Seeing Ah Jie’s fighting spirit reignited, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth lifted.
After all, what could be more enjoyable than dragging your sleepy deskmate, who just wants to nap, into studying with you?
...
"Yuan, I’m burnt out."
During the second evening self-study session, Ah Jie was so tired he could barely function.
Shen Yuan stopped dragging Ah Jie along to study with him. "Go on and sleep. When you wake up, school will be over."
Hearing this, Ah Jie drifted peacefully to sleep.
He slept straight through until the end of the self-study session.
As the final bell rang, Ah Jie stretched luxuriously.
"Time to go home and get back to sleeping."
The words had barely left his mouth when he heard Shen Yuan’s voice in his ear.
"Hurry up. Your daddy’s heading out."
"Hey! You son of a—"
Before Ah Jie could say anything more, he saw Shen Yuan gesture with his eyes toward Zhuo Peipei, who was nearby.
Ah Jie immediately shut his mouth.
But even though Ah Jie’s mouth was closed, Shen Yuan could clearly see he was still cursing him out.
"You’re still going?"
"When was I cursing at you!"
Shen Yuan pointed an accusing finger at him. "Your eyes are cursing me! Forget it. I don’t want to talk to a guy whose windows to his soul are so filthy. I’m going to find my Li Bao."
With that, Shen Yuan bumped Ah Jie back against his desk with his hip and swaggered out of the room.
Fuming, Ah Jie sat in his seat, cursing under his breath.
"Bao, if you were thinking of getting my mom a gift, I don’t think you need to."
On the way home, Li Zhi shot Shen Yuan a confused look when she heard this. "Why not?"
"My mom’s leaving on a trip tomorrow. She won’t be back until the end of next week."
"Huh?" Li Zhi was taken aback, but ultimately accepted the situation.
"Then I’ll just give it to Auntie when she gets back."
"Aww, you’re my Li Bao, alright. So considerate. I’m seriously, I’m dying."
The words had just left his mouth when a pained cry escaped his lips.
Li Zhi had mercilessly kicked him in the shin.
The beautiful girl warned him fiercely, "Keep acting like an idiot and you can forget about it later!"
Shen Yuan knew exactly what "it" he could forget about later.
For the sake of being able to hold Li Bao’s hand later, Shen Yuan immediately behaved himself and was perfectly well-behaved for the rest of the way.
Seeing Shen Yuan’s docile appearance, the corners of Li Zhi’s lips curved upward, a smug look on her face.
’Heh, I’ve got you wrapped around my little finger!’
...
Once the two of them entered their residential complex, Shen Yuan’s hand naturally found its way to Li Zhi’s.
As their warm palms met, his fingertips expertly found the spaces between hers, weaving through with a gentle yet firm pressure that brooked no refusal, and clasped her hand tightly.
Li Zhi’s fingers didn’t resist; instead, they curled lightly, closing around his knuckles in return.
Their hands tightened in the dim light, as if all the intimacy hidden during the day was finally released and affirmed on this quiet path home, in this silent embrace.
Strolling through the complex, Shen Yuan spoke up, "We should head back early today."