Chapter 5 Zheng Xiuyan, you talk too much

  The gentle spring rain and the green grass are the most beautiful things in the spring, a thread of fine rain is like a thread of warmth that washes away the chill of winter bit by bit. The remaining snow on the streets and campuses has been completely melted away by this warm rain, without even leaving a trace of dampness.

  "The most beautiful place in spring, far surpassing the willows and smoke of the imperial capital." Mu Zi Qiu muttered to himself, gazing at a flower bud in the school garden. It had been a week since he last came to school, but the desolate campus was now filled with tender greenery, the irises in the garden had quietly revealed their elegance, and the flower buds were waiting for the upcoming bloom of a hundred flowers competing in beauty.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Look at the flowers."

  "Flowers? Are you referring to these buds that haven't bloomed yet, those wildflowers?" Zheng Xiuyan had just entered the campus when she saw Mu Ziqiu, who had promised Han Xiangmei to tutor her for a week without being seen, wearing a pair of large black-framed glasses and staring blankly at the flowers in the flowerbed.

  "Iris! Not wildflower!"

  "Hasn't it opened yet? What's so great about it?"

  "It's precisely because it hasn't bloomed that it has aesthetic value. Before anything becomes dazzling, it is often overlooked." Muzi Qiu squatted down and pulled out the weeds around the iris flower, gently stroking its tender green leaves.

  Jung Soo-yeon felt that her brain was not enough, such profound and difficult-to-understand words almost shattered the brain cells she had just cleared up early in the morning.

  "The beauty that everyone appreciates is not what I pursue, what I pursue is to discover the beauty that can make everyone appreciate!" After pulling out the weeds, Mu Zi Qiu patted the dirt off his hands and headed towards the classroom.

  "What's with what?" Zheng Xiuyan couldn't understand it. So early in the morning, why did he like to play word games? Was he showing off his superior knowledge?

  Muzi Qiu and Zheng Xiuyan sat quietly in the empty classroom, Zheng Xiuyan propped up her chin with her eyes closed, pretending to sleep, while Muzi Qiu held a book, reading with great interest.

  "I stared at that wall for a week." After a long while, Zheng Xiuyan turned her face sideways and gazed out the window, saying, "That wall has some flavor to it if you look closely."

  "That wall didn't have any meaning, it's the people looking at it who give it meaning." When talking about that wall, Muzi Qiu was taken aback for a moment before closing his book and responding. In fact, that wall really didn't have any meaning, what he liked to look at wasn't the wall itself, but rather the scenery outside the wall! Whenever his gaze fell on that wall, he would unconsciously start daydreaming about what lay beyond it. Muzi Qiu's only pleasure while sitting in class was staring at this wall, and the scenes that appeared in his mind changed with his mood - perhaps a lush green meadow, or a flowerbed full of fresh flowers, or a small pond with a few fish swimming in it, or maybe just a bare expanse.

  "The day before yesterday, I found that the ivy had grown at the corner of the wall. In a year here, I didn't know that this wall could still grow ivy. Ah, you said it before, what is this wall surrounding?"

  "What you think it is, is what it is!"

  "It's got me surrounded!" Zheng Xiuyan hooked the stray hair back behind her ear and turned to look at Mu Ziqiu.

  ……

  The morning class seemed very quiet, the two of them sat in the corner of the classroom, never moving their bodies, from the start to the end of the class, not even going to the toilet once, and it was already time for school to be over!

  "Let's go eat together!" Seong Yoon-ho immediately sent an invitation to Mok Ji-ah as soon as he heard the bell ringing. "I know, I'll go myself!" Seong Yoon-ho actually wanted to invite Jung Soo-young, but this thought had been going on for a year without being expressed, so he kept inviting Mok Ji-ah out of habit, as if he were inviting Jung Soo-young. Anyway, both people were icebergs, and the responses they gave were silence.

  "Class is over, aren't you leaving? Aren't you going to eat?" Zheng Xiuyan's face looked a bit unsightly at this time, her complexion seemingly pale, it was unclear whether it was due to the lingering chill of the spring wind or from sitting for too long.

  Muzi Autumn pulled out a piece of bread from his backpack, tore open the packaging, and started eating it. This action made Zheng Xiuyan's eyes widen in surprise! She had been waiting for so long for him to eat, but this guy was actually eating bread!

  "Want to eat?" Muzi Qiu wasn't paying much attention to Zheng Xiuyan beside him, but she stared straight at the bread in her hand, her face turning white and red by turns.

  "Can't you let me through, I need to go to the restroom..." This seat was originally only occupied by Muzi Qiu, so it's relatively at the back. The chair is directly against the back wall. Originally, this wasn't a big deal, but with Muzi Qiu sitting on the outside, there's a problem now! Zheng Xiuyan is now regretting her mistake. Why did she occupy the window seat? It seems like every time she needs to go to the restroom, she has to shout loudly: "Hey, I'm Zheng Xiuyan, going to the restroom!" How embarrassing!

  Muzi got up from his seat and made way for Jeong Soo-yeon, whose face was flushed with a hint of pink.

  "Sit inside!" Zheng Xiuyan, who had just returned from the bathroom, seemed a bit colder, but when she saw Mu Ziqiu, her face would still flash with a hint of red. Mu Ziqiu didn't say anything and sat back down in his chair, which still had a warmth to it, and the two of them felt the unfamiliar warmth on their buttocks. Mu Ziqiu didn't mind, but Zheng Xiuyan buried her face in her desk, hiding her reddened face, unsure whether it was from shyness or embarrassment...

  The lunch break is only two hours, and students generally won't go home. The school has a cafeteria, and it's also popular for students to bring their own bento boxes. During this time, students mostly rest on campus, can participate in extracurricular activities, sit in the classroom to study, or even take a nap on their desk...

  Because of the unexpected "accident" at noon, Zheng Xiuyan fell asleep on her desk after using the restroom and didn't wake up until she was hungry, by which time it was almost time for afternoon classes.

  "You..."

  "There's nothing to eat!"

  "How did you know I was going to ask if there's anything to eat?" Zheng Xiuyan was just about to ask Mu Ziqiu, who was standing beside her, if there were any more bread or food left, but Mu Ziqiu seemed to have anticipated her intention.

  "Because of you, I've been thirsty for a whole afternoon! Wake up and get up, I'm going out to drink something!"

  "Bring me something to eat back!"

  "I'm not going back." Mu Zi Qiu slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

  Not planning on coming back? What am I supposed to do then?

  "Hey, wait for me!" Zheng Xiuyan saw Mu Zi Qiu leave the classroom and immediately slung her own backpack over her shoulder, following after him.

  "Are you going out too?"

  "Isn't that old woman Han Sun-mi supposed to help you with your homework? Are you trying to run away?"

  "I'm going home!"

  "Then I'll go home too! Now, how do we get out? I always used to climb over the wall on that side, but which wall is it now? I'll take you!" Zheng Xiuyan pulled Mu Ziqiu's clothes and took him to a very secluded corner of the campus woods.

  "How about this place? It's actually where I found it!" The walls here are similar to other places, except that there is a tree planted in the corner of the wall, which makes it easier to climb. Mu Zi Qiu only took a glance and immediately turned around and left the small forest.

  "Where are you going? Do you have a better place?"

  "This is the road to the school gate! Hey! We're playing hooky, not getting out of class..."

  "Zheng Xiuyan, you talk too much! If you keep talking, I won't take you out!"

  "?" Zheng Xiuyan felt like hitting Mu Ziqiu at this moment! Did she talk too much? Her nickname was Ice Mountain, and yet someone said she talked too much! If she went to the company and told those trainees, "I, Zheng Xiuyan, got told I talk too much today!" wouldn't they all burst out laughing? But thinking carefully, what she had said to him today really was quite a lot...

  "Zi Qiu, you're going out again? This girl..."

  "Take it out for extra practice."

  "What a good classmate! Not only does he have good grades, but he also doesn't forget to help his classmates." With that, the school gatekeeper opened the school's large gate and let the two of them swagger out...

  "This is the privilege of being first every year? Skipping school can be so blatant?" Zheng Xiuyan thought this was too incredible, too unbelievable! She had never seen a student skip school so blatantly, and the usually fierce-looking gatekeeper would smile and open the door for Muzi Qiu, helping him skip school!