"C-could you-sleep here tonight?"
"-Huh?"
When that question came from the Class Monitor, who was always cool and kept her distance from others, Chen Shi'an couldn't quite process it.
"You want to sleep with me, Class Monitor?"
"-That's not what I meant!"
Lin Meng Qiu's face suddenly flushed a deep purplish red. She stammered an explanation: "It's just-out here in the Mountains-the room's so empty-I'm a little scared-"
"There's nothing to be scared of. I'm here watching over the Taoist Temple. Things in the Mountains generally won't come near the temple. I'll be sleeping right next door, really close. Just call me if you need anything."
"-Oh."
She wasn't as shameless as Shrimp-Head Cicada, after all. With that response from Chen Shi'an, Lin Meng Qiu suddenly couldn't say another word.
Heaven knew how much courage it had taken her to say that just now-
But now that she'd said it, she suddenly couldn't quite accept leaving it at that. So she braced herself and added, "You-can sleep here-or I, I could sleep over there."
The girl wasn't good with words, and with embarrassment overwhelming her, she could barely speak coherently. Seeing her point at the bed and the daybed beside the desk, Chen Shi'an understood what she meant.
"All right. If you don't mind, Class Monitor, I'll sleep here tonight too."
When Chen Shi'an agreed, Lin Meng Qiu almost jumped for joy.
"Then I'll sleep over there. You can have the bed-"
"It's fine. You take the bed, Class Monitor. The daybed's pretty hard. You wouldn't be used to it."
"The bed's pretty hard too-"
"Then should I get you another quilt to pad it with?"
"No need-"
"Go ahead and get some sleep, Class Monitor."
As he spoke, Chen Shi'an opened the door and went out again.
Lin Meng