Chapter 58: Bringing Breakfast? Han Ning VS Su Qinghe
Outside the senior year building,
outside the classroom of Senior Year, Class One.
Su Qinghe stood quietly under the banyan tree, holding a thermal lunchbox and staring blankly into space.
...
"Stupid Mom, stupid Gu Xiaofan! All you do is bully me!"
"I’m never speaking to you again!"
Han Ning stomped over from a distance, muttering angrily under her breath as she walked.
Suddenly!
As if drawn by some instinct, she glanced toward the large banyan tree and happened to see Su Qinghe standing quietly beneath it.
The expression on Han Ning’s face froze.
For some reason, she wasn’t fond of this girl who shared the title of school beauty of Mountain City First Middle School with her.
Whether in terms of looks, academics, or popularity... Su Qinghe was her biggest rival!
’Why is she here?’
’Could she be looking for Gu Yifan?’
Han Ning furrowed her pretty little brows, feeling a surge of doubt.
She was well aware that Gu Yifan had been getting very close with the girl before her lately.
Granted, Aunt Mei had said that Su Qinghe was the daughter of an old friend, so it seemed normal enough for her to be close with Gu Yifan.
But!
Han Ning always had this strange feeling, a premonition that Su Qinghe would steal the most important thing in her life!
That was why she was always on guard around Su Qinghe, even treating her with a certain hostility.
As she was staring at Su Qinghe, Su Qinghe seemed to sense something and snapped out of her daze, looking up toward the classroom entrance of Senior Year, Class One.
Her gaze met Han Ning’s perfectly.
Their eyes locked.
Invisible sparks seemed to crackle in the air between them.
Just then, Gu Yifan made his belated appearance.
He arrived just in time to see the two girls staring each other down.
"Uh..."
Gu Yifan paused for a second, but without overthinking it, he strode over to Su Qinghe.
His arrival shattered the explosive tension. Han Ning’s gaze faltered; she retracted her stare and walked into the classroom without a word.
"Qinghe, you’re waiting for me?"
Gu Yifan asked.
"Mhm."
"This... is for you."
Su Qinghe handed him the thermal lunchbox she had been holding for a long time.
"Hm?"
Gazing at the thermal lunchbox before him, Gu Yifan was once again taken aback.
This wasn’t a typical disposable takeout container. It was obvious Su Qinghe had bought it specially for him.
A warmth spread through Gu Yifan’s chest. He looked at her and asked softly, "You’ve been waiting long, haven’t you?"
"Huh?"
"N-Not for very long."
Su Qinghe said in a small voice.
But from her hesitant tone, Gu Yifan could clearly tell she wasn’t telling the truth.
Seeing Gu Yifan’s teasing gaze, Su Qinghe’s face flushed. She quickly shoved the lunchbox into his hands and stammered, "I’m heading back to class now. Eat it while it’s hot. You can just leave the container, and I’ll wash it at lunchtime."
With that, she scurried toward the stairwell like a frightened rabbit and vanished around the corner in a flash.
"Uh..."
Watching her flee in a flustered panic, Gu Yifan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"What a dork,"
he chuckled to himself, looking down at the container in his hands.
He glanced up toward the stairwell, but Su Qinghe was long gone. Gu Yifan shook his head, then carried the breakfast she’d given him into the classroom.
...
「6:48 AM.」
As usual, Wang Zibo burst into the classroom in a flurry, right on the dot.
"HUFF..."
He dashed to his desk in one go. Just as he caught his breath, he saw Gu Yifan sitting calmly at his own seat, leisurely eating breakfast.
"GULP—"
Having not had time for breakfast, Wang Zibo instinctively swallowed hard.
"Brother Fan, you brought breakfast?"
He couldn’t help but ask, his eyes fixed on the plump, white soup dumpling in Gu Yifan’s hand.
"Oh?"
Gu Yifan tilted his head back to glance at him, seeing the damn mutt drooling as he stared at the last soup dumpling in his hand.
"What?"
"You want it?"
he asked Wang Zibo nonchalantly.
"I..."
Wang Zibo looked a bit sheepish. He hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, he watched Gu Yifan pop the last soup dumpling into his mouth right in front of him.
"Bonehead, what were you about to say?"
Gu Yifan asked, his words muffled by the dumpling he was chewing.
Wang Zibo: "..."
"N-Nothing..."
Wang Zibo said, looking like he was on the verge of tears.
"Oh, okay..."
Gu Yifan nodded, then packed up the thermal lunchbox from his desk, got up, and walked out of the classroom.
Although Su Qinghe had said he could leave the container for her to wash at lunch, Gu Yifan couldn’t bring himself to do that.
After all, he was the one who ate from it; leaving it for Su Qinghe to wash just didn’t sit right with him.
...
"RING RING—RING RING—"
The class bell rang just as Gu Yifan stepped out of the classroom.
He paid it no mind, however, and continued toward the restroom sinks with the lunchbox in hand.
With the college entrance exams less than a month away, the morning reading sessions had become more relaxed.
Although the class monitor still led the reading session as usual, only a few students would follow along. Most just focused on their own review.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last period of the morning.
The corner of the blackboard indicated that it was time for P.E., but none of the students held out much hope.
Ever since the second semester of their senior year began, every P.E. class had been either "borrowed" by the language arts teacher or "occupied" by the math teacher. In short, P.E. on the schedule had become purely decorative.
So, when the bell for P.E. rang, no one moved. They all sat quietly at their desks, reading and waiting to see which "lucky" teacher’s subject would take its place today.
"Holy shit!"
Just then, the class’s burly, muscle-bound P.E. representative suddenly shot up and yelled.
Everyone stared at him, confused.
The burly student looked at his classmates with a ridiculously excited expression and announced, "Comrades, the P.E. teacher just texted! He said to get down to the field and assemble immediately!"
"..."
Everyone froze for a second, then identical expressions of pure shock appeared on their faces.
"Holy shit!"
"What are we waiting for, then?!"
No one knew who shouted first, but with a great RUMBLE, everyone shot out of their seats and stampeded for the classroom door.
A huge, chaotic mob sprinted toward the athletic field like prisoners released for yard time after three months in solitary confinement.
Gu Yifan waited until the stampede had nearly cleared out before he leisurely got to his feet and clapped Wang Zibo on the shoulder. "Let’s go, Comrade Bonehead. Time for our yard time, too."
"Heh, you got it!"
Wang Zibo grinned at him and readily pushed himself up from his seat.
However, the moment the two of them stepped out of the classroom, his smile vanished...