Chapter Thirty-Six: Heart-to-Heart Talk Between Good Friends

  After eating his fill, Li Han's mobile phone rang. He glanced at it and went to the study room to answer the call. Two minutes later, he rushed out with a bulging backpack.

  "I have something to attend to and won't be going to school for evening self-study tonight, can you help me ask for a leave of absence?"

  "Hey———" Xia Meng didn't have time to ask what was going on before Li Han had already disappeared at the gate.

  What's going on? Just leave. Xia Meng looked at Li Han's tightly closed study, her heart full of curiosity. Only this room, Li Han had not invited her to visit, and Li Han often locked the door of the study, staying inside for half a day, was there some secret hidden inside?

  After dinner, Xia Meng tidied up the house and rushed back to school for evening self-study. It wasn't until the bell rang for the start of evening self-study class that Zhang Li and Huang Yi Qi walked into the classroom together.

  Huang Yiqi walks with an awkward posture, but her face is full of joy, while Zhang Li behind her looks worried.

  "Which teacher is on duty tonight?" It was the first time Huang Yiqi had actively spoken to Xia Meng, despite sitting at the same table for so long.

  "What? Are you the teacher on duty? The class advisor?" Xia Meng replied in a low voice.

  "Let me tell you some good news." Huang Yi Qi leaned in close to Xia Meng's ear and whispered intimately, "I've fallen in love."

  "Ah?!" Xia Meng covered her mouth, exclaiming in surprise.

  "It's Zhang Li!" Huang Yiqi couldn't help but exclaim excitedly in Xia Meng's ear.

  It was like a dull hammer, hitting Xia Meng's head, the pain was unbearable, and there was a buzzing sound in her ears "Is Zhang Li? Is Zhang Li?" Huang Yiqi's voice kept echoing around Xia Meng's ears.

  "What's wrong with you? You look so terrible?" Huang Yiqi's eyes flashed a hint of coldness that was hard to detect, but her face showed concern.

  "Ah, it's nothing, just a minor illness. I'm not feeling well." Xia Meng forced a smile at Huang Yiqi.

  "Oh, it's okay then. Tonight, Zhang Li Ge will take me home, I won't be living in the dormitory anymore, and you can use the empty bed to store things." Huang Yi Qi said with a sweet smile, "On the way, I can also discuss study problems with Zhang Li Ge, oh, I know Zhang Li Ge likes girls who are good at studying, so I'll have to work hard from now on."

  Xia Meng nodded and lowered her head to flip through the study materials in her hand.

  "Uh-huh, you're the class monitor, so help me a lot with my studies from now on."

  Zhang Li agreed to be in a romantic relationship with Huang Yiqi. Xia Meng's thoughts finally became clearer and clearer. She turned her head to look at Zhang Li, who was now focusing on doing his homework, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around him.

  She took out her phone, had just typed a few words, thought for a moment, and then put it back in her backpack. Xia Meng's actions were all caught by Huang Yi Qi, who was seeing Xia Meng so flustered and at a loss for the first time.

  It wasn't easy waiting for the evening self-study session to end. Xia Meng hastily got up, wanting to intercept Zhang Li and ask him what had happened that afternoon.

  "Zhang Li gege, I've already packed up, let's go." Huang Yiqi took Zhang Li's hand and headed towards the car shed.

  "Meng Meng!" Chen Yu Meng shouted outside the classroom, "Let's go, we'll go to the school gate together to have a cold drink, Wang Qi and Zhao Yi Nuo have already ordered something."

  "How did you come out so early?" Xia Meng looked at Chen Yu Meng in surprise, their liberal arts class was in another teaching building, which was still some distance away from Xia Meng's science teaching building.

  "We took advantage of the evening self-study to rehearse our dance program and finished ahead of schedule." Chen Yumeng held Xia Meng's hand, constantly talking about the interesting things that happened in class, but only after a long time did she realize that Xia Meng had not said a word all along.

  "Mengmeng, don't think about it anymore. The physics and biology competitions are coming up soon, and you have a better grasp of those subjects. We all believe in you, you're the best!" Chen Yumeng saw the math competition results posted on the bulletin board and found that Xia Meng didn't make it to the finals. So she discussed with Wang Qi and Zhao Yino about finding a time to comfort her, because they all knew Xia Meng's strong and competitive personality would definitely be upset by the disappointing results.

  Chen Yumeng pulled Xia Meng's hand and came to the dessert shop at the school gate. Wang Qi and Zhao Yino were already seated around the dinner table, on which Xia Meng's favorite mango desserts were placed.

  Xia Meng saw her old friends and specially ordered her favorite dessert, feeling overjoyed. After the class division in high school, due to being in different teaching buildings and increasing study pressure, they rarely had the opportunity to meet up on a daily basis. What surprised Xia Meng even more was that she could see Zhao Yi Nuo and Chen Yu Meng appear together at the same time.

  "Wang Qi, how did you get even fatter? Are you not studying hard?" Xia Meng asked strangely, looking at the much plumper Wang Qi.

  "Where? I'm more diligent than both of them!" Wang Qi said with a sense of grievance.

  "Yes, indeed Qiqi is more hardworking than us." Chen Yumeng said, "I'd rather grow flesh than zits! Look at my forehead, another pimple has popped up!"

  Zhao Yino sat quietly, smiling at the three of them making a ruckus. After Xia Meng sat down, Zhao Yino softly asked Xia Meng: "Is it because of Huang Yiqi?"

  Zhao Yino seemed to be able to see through Xia Meng's dreams, and with one glance, he could penetrate the depths of her heart.

  "Huang Yiqi? What's wrong?" Chen Yu Meng knew that Huang Yiqi had a beauty like a celestial being, but she also saw the cold and frosty demeanor of Huang Yiqi that kept people at arm's length. However, towards Li Han, her prince charming in her heart, she didn't bat an eyelid either. So Chen Yu Meng didn't have any ill feelings towards Huang Yiqi.

  Xia Meng let out a sigh, downing a large glass of mango juice in one gulp. "I won't lose to her!" Xia Meng slammed the cup heavily onto the table.

  "But Huang Yiqi is not an ordinary girl," Zhao Yino said. "If you want to compete with her head-on, how high do you think your chances of winning are? Setting aside the fact that she's the principal's granddaughter, she and Zhang Li have a deep and complicated relationship that goes back to their childhood, which can't be explained in just a few words."

  "Zhang Li just treats her as a younger sister." Xia Meng said firmly.

  "That's because their emotions were too smooth, lacking a catalyst to transform their familial affection into romantic love. Moreover, Huang Yiqi was so beautiful and captivating, she would become even more excellent for the sake of love, drawing closer to the one she loved." Zhao Yino said, gazing steadily at Xia Meng.

  "Mengmeng, no matter what, we support you. You're so considerate and beautiful, while Huang Yiqi is just pretty but weird, and Zhang Li has no reason to choose her." Wang Qi comforted Xia Meng.

  "Yes, I think Zhang Li won't be so superficial either, just choosing someone based on looks." Chen Yu Meng pouted and glanced at Zhao Yi Nuo.

  "Men are all thinking and judging their emotions based on intuition. So, there is no man who doesn't like beautiful women." Zhao Yino stroked her long hair with a charming expression.