I Only Pitied You!

The sudden honesty left everyone in the class speechless.

Some of the boys and girls who had been jeering along even froze there in embarrassment.

No one had thought Jiang Xueli would actually admit it.

Because the point of everyone teasing was only that it was fun. They never really thought that just because they teased someone about someone else, that person would truly like them, or that they would really end up together.

After all, they were all still children. But that sentence Jiang Xueli blurted out...

It did not just mortify her. It dragged the whole class into growing up with her. From then on, probably no one in class would ever ask, "Disciplinary Committee Member, do you really like Lin Zhengran?"

Instead, it would become, "Disciplinary Committee Member, are you two going to get married when you grow up?"

Jiang Xueli's face was like a cooked Big Shrimp. Steaming hot, she ran back to her seat, covered her ears, and lay facedown on the desk.

Only Lin Zhengran seemed surprised, yet also not surprised. When the others looked over to see Lin Zhengran's reaction, Lin Zhengran was flipping through his book in an utterly ordinary way, as if nothing had happened at all.

On that same day, far away in the south, Little He Qing had been sneezing nonstop. Her mother asked her if she had caught a cold.

Little He Qing said no, she had not, and had no idea what was going on. She definitely did not know a thief had broken into her home.

Two days later, Saturday finally arrived.

Incidentally, because of one casual question, Jiang Xueli only then discovered that Lin Zhengran's home was actually just one street away from hers.

So it turned out they lived this close.

The two of them met up on Saturday and planned to go to Jiang Xueli's house to see that so-called treasure.

When they passed a drink machine, Jiang Xueli stopped and asked Lin Zhengran what he wanted to drink.

Lin Zhengran spread his hands. "I didn't bring any money."

Jiang Xueli was speechless. "My treat!" Lin Zhengran said he wanted a Mizone.

Jiang Xueli acknowledged him, inserted coins, and took the drink. While buying it, she even muttered, afraid Lin Zhengran would get the wrong idea, "It's not that I want to treat you. I just happen to have money in my pocket, and I'm afraid you'll die of thirst."

"I didn't even ask. Saying that was so unnecessary. Now you make it seem like you deliberately wanted to buy me water."

So angry that she threw the drink at him hard, Jiang Xueli snapped, "You're overthinking it!" After Lin Zhengran caught it, he said thanks.

Walking side by side on the road, Jiang Xueli felt like she was getting closer and closer to him. "Lin Zhengran, don't take what I said in class last week to heart." She lowered her head shyly, not wanting Lin Zhengran to see how embarrassed she looked. "I really don't like you. I was just anxious, so I shouted it randomly."

Lin Zhengran unscrewed the drink and said, "Oh. I know."

After waiting for a long time, Lin Zhengran still did not say a second sentence.

It made Jiang Xueli go straight from shy to angry. Her cheeks puffed up, and she kicked Lin Zhengran hard in the calf.

Lin Zhengran scolded her, "Why'd you kick me? Are you sick?"

"You know nothing, you blockhead! No! I think you're just a blockhead!" She stopped there, shy and annoyed. "Dummy, Big Dummy! Even if I didn't mean it that way, I still said I liked you in front of so many people. Don't you have anything you want to say?!"

Lin Zhengran watched her lose her mind and wondered curiously where an eight- or nine-year-old little girl got so much inner drama from. Love this, romance that, all day long.

"You're the one who told me not to take it to heart. What am I supposed to do, write a book report?!"

"You! You! You can just wait to be single for the rest of your life! Anyone who likes you must have something wrong with their head!"

Lin Zhengran thought, Does that count as insulting yourself? Paying tooth for tooth, he also lightly kicked her sideways on the butt, making Jiang Xueli so embarrassed that she covered her backside and looked at him shyly.

Lin Zhengran said, "Why are you looking at me? I was just paying you back. Also, don't insult such a broad group of people. There are plenty of people who like me."

Jiang Xueli bit her lip, looked away, and gave a humph.

"As if. Who would like you?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and take me to your house to see that so-called treasure. I only helped you for that."

Jiang Xueli patted her butt and felt that he was saying one thing while meaning another. Clearly, he had helped her first and only then asked her for the treasure. Clearly, he had not helped because of that thing.

She hurried to catch up. "Don't walk so fast. Wait for me."

After following her to Jiang Xueli's home, Lin Zhengran entered Jiang Xueli's bedroom. This was the second different girl's room Lin Zhengran had ever gone into.

It did not feel all that different. Both rooms were pink, pink, and more pink.

There were even stuffed toys on the bed. Girls really were all the same in places like this.

Lin Zhengran sat on Jiang Xueli's bed and watched her fidget restlessly. Only after a long while did she say, "What do you think of my room... I knew yesterday that you were coming, so I specially cleaned it up. You'd better not say it doesn't look nice. I spent ages tidying it."

Lin Zhengran flattered her. "It looks nice, it looks nice."

She knew it was flattery, but Jiang Xueli was just happy inside. She carefully took out a book pieced together from magazines and newspapers from a drawer.

"Look, this is my treasure. I worked on it for a really long time and collected things for many years."

Lin Zhengran took it and opened it to look.

You successfully helped Jiang Guniang clear her name of injustice. She has given you her personal cultivation mental art to study. This mental art was personally created by Jiang Guniang by gathering the strengths of many schools. Although it is not an extremely top-grade technique, it can still be considered high class!

You carefully examined the technique and gained Charm +4, Strength +4, Physical Strength +1, Level +2.

You are about to break through to the major threshold of Spirit Energy Level 30.

It directly added two levels? This was the first time the reward had been this good.

Examining this pieced-together book carefully, Lin Zhengran discovered that it was actually a complete collection of music knowledge.

Not only were there all kinds of musicians on it, there were also notes on how to sing, singing techniques, song breakdowns, and so on. Everything was laid out in incredible detail.

Seeing Jiang Xueli's embarrassed look, Lin Zhengran grew puzzled. "You like singing?"

Jiang Xueli stammered, but she still refused to lose momentum. "Y-Yeah, so what?"

"Nothing. I really didn't know you liked singing. After all, you've never sung before."

She clenched her little fists. "Who just starts singing in front of other people for no reason? People would think they were crazy."

"Can you sing something for me?"

Jiang Xueli grew shy. "I-I usually don't sing in front of other people, but if you really want to hear it—"

Lin Zhengran nodded. "This time, I really do want to hear." He stared at the huge collection in his hands. "If you put this much effort into making all this, I'm honestly curious about your level."

Jiang Xueli was dazed by how he had suddenly turned serious. She stood up. "Fine, then what do you want to hear? It's not that I want to sing. I'm only singing because you want to listen. Don't blame me if it sounds bad."

"Anything you want. Just don't sing a nursery rhyme."

"Got it."

Jiang Xueli took a deep breath. After adjusting her voice, she began to sing.

Lin Zhengran's eyes widened in surprise. He truly hadn't expected Jiang Xueli's voice to be this good. At such a young age, her level was so high that she sounded almost exactly like the original singer. With that passion on top of it, perhaps she really would have a brilliant future.

That evening, when Lin Zhengran went home, Jiang Xueli offered to see him off.

"Have you ever thought about becoming a pop star in the future?" he asked.

It would be a lie to say Jiang Xueli had never thought about it, but that goal was too far away. The more she studied it, the more she knew how difficult it was. "Mom said this isn't a path ordinary people can walk. I know my own level. Singing for fun by myself is pretty nice too."

Lin Zhengran looked ahead. "Difficult is difficult, but I think you have hope. It'd be such a shame to give up when you're still so young."

Jiang Xueli found his support unbelievable. She had thought he would go against her like usual. "Really? Are you serious? You really think that?"

"Yeah. From the bottom of my heart. I really think you can do it."

Right now, Jiang Xueli's heart was truly pounding like a startled deer. Her little hands lagged behind, clenched tightly. Suddenly, she burst out laughing and walked in front of him with a solemn expression. "Lin Zhengran, if there really aren't any girls willing to marry you in the future! I... I wouldn't mind marrying you!"

She pointed at Lin Zhengran and emphasized in a haughty manner, "But I'm not marrying you because I like you! I just pity you! I'm only saying this because I'm afraid an idiot like you won't be able to get a girl, do you understand?!"