Chapter 32: Blackboard Eraser

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Blackboard Eraser

On the way to the academic building.

On the left, the girl with twin tails walked with her hands behind her back, her head turned away. In the middle, Lin Zhengran wore a relaxed expression, acting as if nothing had happened.

On the right, Xiao Heqing had her head half-lowered, her hands clasped in front of her. Han Wenwen was linking arms with her. Whenever Lin Zhengran glanced at this Little Fox, she would smile at him and wave. "Good afternoon, Lin Zhengran."

The four of them remained silent for the entire walk. After brief introductions at the beginning, they simply strolled forward at a leisurely pace.

The awkward tension in the air was so palpable that even a passing stray dog might want to pull up a chair, grab some popcorn, and watch the drama unfold.

Jiang Xueli’s lively eyes secretly observed Xiao Heqing. She was fair, sweet, and slender; even her side profile was unreasonably beautiful.

Xiao Heqing also stole quiet glances at Jiang Xueli. She was bubbly, cute, and full of energy—the type of person who was instantly likable.

The two girls’ eyes met. Embarrassed, they quickly looked away—one turning her head, the other lowering hers.

Fortunately, Lin Zhengran was completely unaffected.

"When did you get here?" Lin Zhengran asked.

Jiang Xueli and He Qing looked at him at the exact same time.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

Han Wenwen watched them like a spectator enjoying a good show. Her eyes seemed to ask if he was actually talking to her.

Lin Zhengran blinked. "Why are you all looking at me? I was asking He Qing."

Jiang Xueli turned her head away, imperceptibly pursing her lips.

He Qing answered in a soft, timid voice, "I came over with my mom yesterday. We already finished the enrollment procedures, so I’ll be studying at this school for the next few years."

Lin Zhengran gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Has Mrs. He gone back?"

"Yeah, my mom already went back. From now on, I’ll be living at school on the weekends. If you ever want to see me, you can always..." Xiao Heqing trailed off when she noticed Jiang Xueli’s face turned away. She spoke the rest of her sentence with her head half-lowered, her voice barely a whisper. "...you can always come find me, or call me..."

"Got it."

As they continued walking, Lin Zhengran inwardly sighed as he noticed Jiang Xueli fuming beside him. Her cheeks were puffed out like a blowfish.

Speechless, he asked, "What’s with that look?"

Xiao Heqing stayed quiet as she listened to them talk. Jiang Xueli muttered under her breath, "It’s nothing. I was just born with this face."

Lin Zhengran could only look straight ahead and ask casually, "When did you get here this afternoon?"

Jiang Xueli’s puffed-out cheeks instantly deflated. Despite being clearly delighted, she tried her hardest to act nonchalant. "Around noon. I came right after lunch with my mom, and then I slept in my dorm room the whole time."

"Oh."

After a few more steps, Han Wenwen suddenly burst into laughter with a loud PFFT.

The other three all turned to look at her. The Little Fox covered her mouth apologetically and blinked her eyes. "Sorry, I just remembered something funny. Please continue, don’t mind me."

Jiang Xueli and Xiao Heqing both blushed in silence.

Xiao Heqing secretly nudged Han Wenwen with her elbow, silently asking what she was laughing at.

Covering her mouth, Han Wenwen whispered into He Qing’s ear, "I’m really sorry, Qingqing. You guys are just too funny; I couldn’t hold it in."

Xiao Heqing gave her a cute eye roll and pursed her lips.

The group walked all the way to the first floor of the academic building before parting ways. No one said another word during the rest of the walk.

Words simply failed them.

Standing in the hallway, Lin Zhengran said to the two girls, "I’m going back to my classroom then. You two should be in the same class, right?"

Jiang Xueli nodded. Xiao Heqing had been shocked when Han Wenwen told her the news yesterday; she never expected to be in the same class as Jiang Xueli. She nodded as well.

"If there’s nothing else, you guys should head back," Lin Zhengran said. "See you after evening self-study. Bye."

Jiang Xueli and He Qing waved at him and said their goodbyes in unison before turning to leave, the awkward atmosphere lingering between them.

Han Wenwen stayed standing next to Lin Zhengran. Only when the two girls disappeared into Class Three’s room did she cover her mouth and start giggling again.

Lin Zhengran glanced sideways at this Little Fox. "Did you think of something funny again?"

Han Wenwen looked back at him playfully. She was the only one who didn’t blush when looking at Lin Zhengran, though her gaze was far from ordinary.

There was a natural seductiveness in her eyes. "Yeah. Haven’t you ever encountered anything funny, Lin Zhengran? By the way... when did you find out I was Qingqing’s best friend? You weren’t surprised at all when you saw me earlier."

Lin Zhengran sighed. "I’ve known for a long time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you stare at me all day for the past month."

"That makes sense. I was wondering before if you’d already guessed who I was, since you never stopped me from observing you," Han Wenwen said, tapping her lip thoughtfully before smiling brightly. "We really are fated, though. We ran into each other several times at the bus stop in the heavy snow last year, and now we’re not only in the same class, but we’re also desk mates. If this were a novel, with the way things are going, I’d suspect I might eventually bear you a few children and wait for you to come home from work for dinner every day."

Lin Zhengran was speechless. "Please, spare me your suspicions next time."

He ignored Han Wenwen and walked toward his classroom. She stared curiously at his retreating back, thinking to herself that he genuinely had no interest in her.

If it had been any other boy, blushing from those words would have been getting off lightly.

After all, many years ago, there was a boy who—just from having Han Wenwen smile at him—had blurted out, "Han Wenwen, when you smiled just now, I already thought of names for our future children! I really like you."

Han Wenwen entered the classroom and gracefully took the seat next to Lin Zhengran.

In a voice only he could hear, she whispered, "But seriously, Lin Zhengran, two-timing in secret isn’t good. You’ll break girls’ hearts. I advise you to choose Qingqing sooner rather than later. I’m a staunch supporter of Team Qingqing."

Looking at the chalkboard, Lin Zhengran completely failed to understand these little girls who only ever thought about romance. "Don’t you have anything better to do? Besides, you can rest easy on that front. I won’t do anything like two-timing in secret."

"You want to two-time out in the open? That’s going to be quite difficult." Han Wenwen rested her head on the desk and gazed at him, blinking her foxy eyes. "And I don’t encourage doing that, you know."

Staring into his eyes, Han Wenwen—who had seen through the intentions of countless men—was suddenly taken aback a moment later.

She offered a meaningful smile and commented, "You really don’t seem like a middle schooler, Lin Zhengran. You’re more like an adult who’s been out in the real world for years. Your mindset is completely different from everyone else in the class."

The morning sun was bright and warm.

Jiang Xueli, Xiao Heqing, and Han Wenwen washed up and got ready for the day in their respective dormitories.

They attended lessons in different classrooms, but starting from that morning, they invariably spent their time after class, during meals, and in shared periods hanging around the exact same boy.

No one spoke much, and this routine continued for over a week.

The delicately awkward atmosphere also persisted for over a week, right up until Tuesday morning of the second week.

That day, the teacher organized a major classroom cleanup and unexpectedly assigned Xiao Heqing and Jiang Xueli to the same group.

Although things were a bit awkward at first—since they hadn’t exchanged a single word all week despite being in Class Three together—they actually worked together with a surprising amount of synergy.

That was until Xiao Heqing dropped the eraser from her hand while they were standing on desks to clean the chalkboard.

Jiang Xueli picked it up, and Xiao Heqing thanked her. However, just as Jiang Xueli was about to hand the eraser back, her hand stopped in midair, and she pulled it back.

Xiao Heqing looked confused at first, then stared at Jiang Xueli in surprise.

Jiang Xueli looked back at her with a friendly smile. "Is this one hard to use? Let me swap it for a different eraser. I think there’s a brand new one around here."

But Xiao Heqing softly replied, "It’s not hard to use. My hand just slipped and I dropped it by accident... I’m fine using this one."

The class monitor walked by and snatched the eraser from their hands, taking the initiative to help them clean the board. "What are you two doing? Why are you fussing over an eraser? There’s still so much left, hurry up and clean it! School is almost over."