Chapter 82

She had just stepped into the classroom when she met Ruan Mian's hesitant gaze.

"Morning, Class Monitor."

"Good morning."

Shen Baili greeted her classmate, but when she looked back at Ruan Mian, Ruan Mian had lowered her head and was concentrating on her homework.

Shen Baili turned and went to her seat.

"Morning, Yi Yi."

"Morning, Suìsuì." Qiao Yi stood to let Shen Baili slide into her seat.

Their voices woke Ji Qi. He lifted his head, bleary-eyed, and started talking nonsense between yawns.

"Morning, Suìsuì."

"Two days apart feels like three autumns."

Shen Baili said, "...Your dark circles are awful. Did you three stay up gaming last night?"

Meng Jiu'an denied it. "We weren't gaming."

Lu Mingqian looked up from his book. "We stayed up swatting mosquitoes."

"Xiao Jiu wanted to see the stars in the middle of the night." Ji Qi yawned three times in a row. "We went camping on a mountaintop and came straight here from the campsite this morning. The mosquitoes bit us so much we barely slept."

"But the stars really were beautiful. I'll show you the photos." Ji Qi opened his photo album for them.

Shen Baili and Qiao Yi leaned over. In the photos, stars dotted the night sky, forming a glittering Milky Way.

"Beautiful," Qiao Yi said.

Shen Baili agreed. "Why didn't you go on Saturday night?"

"My friends, have you forgotten we have school on Mondays?" She stared at the three of them, demanding an answer.

"Xiao Jiu lost his mind." Ji Qi was quick to pass the blame.

Lu Mingqian said, "We were sleepy on Saturday."

Meng Jiu'an sounded sincere. "I was wrong."

"We were wrong." Ji Qi caved at once. He stole a glance at Shen Baili to gauge her reaction. "We went to the amusement park on