Chapter Twenty-Four

  "Qiao, your stuff." Li Huan looked at the eraser, pen and book on her desk, thinking it was better to return them to her.

  "Never mind, you take it!" Wang Zhiqiao said without turning her head, lowering her voice. Li Huan looked at her like that, the corners of his mouth slightly curved, seemingly she was still shy! And also still in a huff with him.

  "Alright! I'll hold onto it for you, and when you need it, just come get it." Li Hui tidied up the books on his desk that Wang Zijiao had brought over. It seemed she wouldn't be taking them back anytime soon, so he might as well keep them safe himself, in case she suddenly wanted them and he didn't know where to put them.

  Wang Zijiao felt his face burning with embarrassment, how could he say such things? Luckily he said that, otherwise it would have been even more awkward between them. He knew himself well enough, or else he would have thought he meant something else. What was he thinking? Was he just teasing him for fun? Dizzy, luckily he quickly came up with an excuse to save face for both of them. Bad guy! Not going to pay attention to him anymore.

  Back in the dormitory, Yang Rui mysteriously pulled Wang Zijiao to a corner and began to interrogate him.

  "Tell me, how did you hook up with Li Miao again? Didn't you two have a falling out and weren't speaking to each other? I asked you that day and you told me with a straight face that he wouldn't help you anymore. What's going on now? I'm a bit confused, seeing how happy you two are interacting today. Tell me, is there something else you're hiding from me? Be careful or I'll make sure you regret it. You'd better confess and get leniency, resist and face the consequences. Dare to tell lies and see how I deal with you." Wang Zhiqiao rolled her eyes weakly, women were really troublesome, too nosy. As she thought this, she forgot that she was also a woman, which meant she had just implicated herself.

  "You ask so many questions, which one should I answer first?" Wang Zhiqiao just heard her talk a lot, and he himself was dizzy from what she said, didn't know where to start.

  "Hmm, I said so much, but there's only one central idea, which is how you and Li Miao's illicit relationship continued to develop?" Yang Rui sneered, remembering the time he asked Li Miao about it, his face was even darker than Judge Bao's, he asked him several times but he didn't say a word, his expression was heavy, thinking that he would probably never interact with Wang Zhiqiao again. Didn't expect that before he could react, they started talking to each other again, feeling no different from before. Even if there were differences, he wasn't the one involved, so he wouldn't notice."

  "It's just a natural development, okay? Yang Rui, we don't have an affair, don't talk nonsense." Wang Zhiqiao started to blush, because of Yang Rui's words, she naturally thought of what Li Miao said that day.

  "Oh my! Your face is all red. Are you two really hiding some kind of illicit affair? Wang Zijiao, you're not very considerate, keeping it from me. Are we still friends or not?" Yang Rui noticed that Wang Zijiao's face turned red because of her words and thought that she must have done something with Li Huan, otherwise why would Wang Zijiao's face be as red as a monkey's butt? She really wanted to go over and pinch him.

  "Yang Rui, you're talking nonsense again, be careful or I'll turn against you." Wang Zhiqiao's face turned even redder from Yang Rui's words, her big bright eyes widened into circles, her mouth pouted high, and her originally slightly chubby face became even more swollen, glaring sideways.

  The others in the dormitory were attracted by Wang Zijiao's loud voice, wondering what they were talking about that made Wang Zijiao so excited, and even someone came over to ask if they weren't going to fight. Yang Rui quickly explained that they were just fooling around. Seeing Wang Zijiao lowering her head without a word, they didn't ask much and left.

  "My goodness, isn't it just not?! You're so worked up and even want to turn against me. How dare you say that, am I really that unimportant to you? It's gotten to the point where our dorm-mates think we're going to fight or something." Yang Rui complained after they left, indicating that she was hurt by her words about turning against each other.

  "Who let you talk nonsense? Next time you talk nonsense, I'll..." Yang Rui was at a loss for words and couldn't think of any severe punishment.

  "What about me?" Yang Rui saw her like this and deliberately teased her.

  "I won't bother with you anymore." Wang Zhiqiao said with a huff.

  "Wow, I'm so scared~" Yang Rui hugged her chest with both hands. She blinked her eyes and leaned towards Wang Zhiqiao, who was amused by her playful appearance and couldn't help but laugh.

  "You still don't understand me, and even getting along with others is a problem, how can you have anything to do with him? You're just trying to make me angry." Wang Zhiqiao pinched Yang Rui's neck and shook her vigorously, causing Yang Rui's head to bob up and down, and she stuck out her tongue, pretending that she was about to choke herself. The two of them laughed together in a heap.

  "Li Hui, didn't you say you wouldn't help me? How come you changed your mind?" As the two of them laughed until they were out of breath. Yang Rui started asking, and no matter how he thought about it, he felt curious.

  "No, he's only talking to me now because he thinks he should be friends with me. He doesn't really want to help me. Probably thinks it's too much trouble. And I also think I was too hasty before, isn't there a saying: Rome wasn't built in a day? It's been so long since I've had contact with others, I'll inevitably feel some rejection towards them. Let's just take it slow, or else I'll feel panicked and won't know what to do." Wang Zijiao hugged Yang Rui and leaned her head lightly on his shoulder, like a lost child.

  Yang Rui hugged her back, letting her know she wasn't that lonely. Wang Zhiqiao felt herself being hugged and hugged him even tighter.

  "It's okay, take your time, even if you can't do it for now, it's fine. At least you're starting to change your mindset, unlike before. I remember when I used to drag you out to play with others, you'd be so unhappy, people who didn't know us would think I was selling you off or something. It made everyone feel awkward, and when others tried talking to her, she wouldn't respond enthusiastically, which made them lose interest in continuing the conversation. Seeing how she was, I stopped forcing her after that. Back then, she really did reject social interactions from the bottom of her heart."

  "So you reject him?"

  "Who?" Wang Zhiqiao didn't react for a moment, but when she asked the question, she suddenly realized that it was Li Huan. "After you said that the other day, I thought about it later and actually, my heart still resists him. Although I needed his help at the time, every time he spoke to me, I always felt like there was something wrong with myself, a bit impatient. But since I had asked for his help, I thought to myself, 'just bear with it a bit longer, maybe I'll get used to it.' Maybe that way, I wouldn't feel so resistant anymore. Still, I didn't want to give up on the last chance, and when I felt that he wasn't really willing to help me either, especially when it was difficult for him, I thought, 'let's just let each other go!' Otherwise, it would be torturing not just me but also him. I couldn't base my needs on someone else's suffering. You know what I mean?"

  Yang Rui nodded in agreement with her words. Wang Zhiqiao was actually a kind-hearted girl, how could she bear to see others suffer because of herself?

  By the way

  My brother finally finished his college entrance exam today!

  I also feel relieved.