Question! Do you have a secret crush?
"I... I'll test you."
Bai Qingxia looked at him, taking the initiative in front of Lu Yuanqiu for once.
"Whatever." Lu Yuanqiu pushed up his sleeve and laid his arm on the desk.
Only then did Bai Qingxia reach out her little hand and place her pale fingertips on his pulse.
Just then, a girl in the back row suddenly exclaimed in delight, "Sir! Zheng Yifeng has a pregnancy pulse!"
The whole class turned to look.
The girl speaking was Zheng Yifeng's deskmate, Chen Fei. As far as Lu Yuanqiu remembered, she was a fangirl who was utterly obsessed with G-Dragon. In 2010, the boy band BIGBANG had taken Asia by storm.
At that moment, her fingers rested on Zheng Yifeng's wrist while he slept soundly, drooling, completely unaware that he was now "pregnant."
Never one to pass up a chance to stir things up, Zhong Jincheng asked, "Whose baby is it? Yours, Princess Feifei?"
Chen Fei frowned. "Get lost!"
"Stop fooling around. I told you to test for lies, not pregnancy." The biology teacher's mouth twitched. "I'm giving you a little time to relax. Don't want it? Then let's get back to the lesson."
The whole class groaned.
The biology teacher smiled. "Then hurry up and ask your deskmate a question while you have the chance. See whether their pulse speeds up when they answer."
Everyone quickly turned to their deskmates. Poor Zhong Jincheng had no deskmate, so he could only check his own pulse.
"Go ahead," Lu Yuanqiu said casually.
Bai Qingxia thought for a moment before asking, "Do you like eating vegetables?"
Lu Yuanqiu's mouth twitched. "They're okay... Dummy, can't you ask something juicier? Isn't there anything you want to know about me? Ask away."
Of course there was, but Bai Qingxia didn't dare ask.
She shook her head gently and looked at him with a calm expression.
Lu Yuanqiu turned his hand over, pinning Bai Qingxia's soft little hand beneath his. With two fingers, he boldly pushed up her sleeve, revealing a sliver of her slender, snowy-white wrist. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the clearly visible veins, Bai Qingxia nervously pulled her hand back.
Lu Yuanqiu stared at her.
What the hell... Are you nervous about hiding those steamed buns, or about something else?
Do you have another secret?
Lu Yuanqiu raised an eyebrow. "Why won't you let me check your pulse?"
Bai Qingxia's little face was solemn. "Because I won't."
"Then I'll listen to your heartbeat." With that, Lu Yuanqiu slowly brought his ear toward Bai Qingxia's chest.
The girl shrank back nervously until her back pressed against the classroom wall, leaving her nowhere else to go.
Lu Yuanqiu curled his lips into a smile and shamelessly kept leaning closer.
But he knew where to draw the line and didn't actually press his ear against her chest. Catching the delicate fragrance drifting from her, Lu Yuanqiu said,
"I'm going to ask now."
The girl remained silent.
Lu Yuanqiu grinned wickedly. "Question! Do you have a secret crush?"
At those words, Bai Qingxia's ears instantly turned scarlet. Her beautiful eyes widened, and she turned her head away in obvious discomfort.
She immediately said, "That's so stupid!"
"Of course not!"
Lu Yuanqiu chuckled. "If I'm going to ask, it has to be something exciting."
He tilted his ear and listened carefully, but then frowned. Whether the classroom was too noisy or he was too far away, he couldn't hear her heartbeat at all.
Just then, the biology teacher clapped his hands. "All right, all right. Did everyone manage to verify their answers?"
Lu Yuanqiu straightened up helplessly. "No."
He turned to look at Bai Qingxia's shy expression. She probably did have one, though it wasn't certain. Lu Yuanqiu knew that, back in their school days, the question itself was enough to embarrass just about any teenage boy or girl.
Having a crush on a person or two was perfectly normal.
The biology teacher looked over. "Why not, Lu Yuanqiu?"
Hu Caiwei turned around as well. The thought of Lu Yuanqiu and Bai Qingxia touching each other's wrists just now sent waves of misery through her.
She had been distracted since yesterday, her mind filled with nothing but Lu Yuanqiu.
Lu Yuanqiu rested both hands behind his head and answered without thinking, "Because a pair of massive boobs stands between me and her heart."
The morning classes ended, and lunchtime soon arrived.
Wearing a short pleated skirt, Hu Caiwei walked toward the back row, swaying her slender waist. The sight of her pale, soft thighs left Zhong Jincheng staring from his corner.
"Lu Yuanqiu, you can eat with me today, right?"
"No. Studying."
This time, Lu Yuanqiu really did intend to study. He took out a first-year high school textbook, opened it on his desk, and started reading.
Hu Caiwei stamped her foot angrily. "Drop the act! With grades like yours, what's even left to study? You're just doing this to spite me."
At that, Bai Qingxia gave Hu Caiwei an icy look before lowering her head to continue studying.
Lu Yuanqiu slapped the desk and pointed toward the classroom door. "If you know what's good for you, leave on your own. Don't make me throw you out."
Hu Caiwei felt so wronged she was on the verge of tears. Her best friend and lunch companion immediately came over and pulled her toward the door. "Come on, let's go. Why bother with him?"
Only then did Hu Caiwei glare at him.
Once everyone else had left the classroom, only Bai Qingxia and Lu Yuanqiu remained.
At one point, Bai Qingxia turned to glance at him and discovered that Lu Yuanqiu really was studying seriously. He was even using different-colored pens to mark up his doodle-covered textbook.
The change in Lu Yuanqiu made Bai Qingxia press her lips together in a little smile. But the next moment, he looked over, and she immediately turned away, flipping through her book with a slightly awkward expression.
Time ticked by, and Bai Qingxia's usual lunchtime arrived.
She stood up, and Lu Yuanqiu rose at the same time, stretching. "Ah, that was a productive study session. The cafeteria's probably out of dishes by now."
Bai Qingxia ignored him and quietly left the classroom with her backpack, while Lu Yuanqiu followed at an unhurried pace.
At the cafeteria counter, Lu Yuanqiu watched in surprise as the short-haired woman serving food charged Bai Qingxia fifty cents for her plain rice, but charged him two yuan for his.
Lu Yuanqiu licked his lips and began indignantly, "Ma'am..."
The short-haired woman gave him a cold look. "What?"
Lu Yuanqiu immediately smiled. "Nothing. You look lovely today."
With that, he walked over to Bai Qingxia's table and sat down across from her.
The girl glanced up at him, then lowered her head and continued taking small bites of her rice.
Lu Yuanqiu picked up his backpack and put all the snacks he'd brought from the supermarket onto the
table.
"Heh, I knew there wouldn't be any dishes left after studying so late, so I brought snacks."
Talking to himself, Lu Yuanqiu tore open the packages of chicken drumsticks, braised eggs, and spicy sausages, placing them all on his tray.
But just as he was about to eat, he suddenly stopped. "Huh? What's going on today? I don't have much of an appetite. Have I been eating these snacks too often?"
Lu Yuanqiu looked up at the girl across from him, took her tray, and put his own snack-laden tray in front of her.
"Forget it. Let's swap meals today."
Bai Qingxia looked up in astonishment. Lu Yuanqiu immediately pointed at her. "You dare say one word about it?"
Bai Qingxia stared at him blankly, keeping her mouth shut and not daring to speak.
Lu Yuanqiu lowered his head and started eating.
The girl quietly watched Lu Yuanqiu eat from the same spot she had eaten from, her long lashes fluttering gently as she blinked.
"Mmm... Delicious. Really delicious. How come your rice tastes better than mine?" Lu Yuanqiu said blissfully, wearing an obnoxious expression that practically begged for a punch.
But Bai Qingxia didn't want to punch him at all.
She quietly picked up her chopsticks and said in a tiny voice, "Thank you."
Lu Yuanqiu pretended not to hear.
After a while, he finished every grain of rice on his plate and said to the girl opposite him, "Oh, right. My family's supermarket needs a cashier in the evenings. This is your official notice: you're hired."
Bai Qingxia looked up in astonishment again.
Lu Yuanqiu pointed at her just as overbearingly as before. "You'll only get half the pay of a regular employee. If you dare complain or turn me down, I'll teach you a lesson. You know what I mean."
Bai Qingxia looked quietly at Lu Yuanqiu, then sat up straight with great seriousness and nodded as though addressing her boss. "No complaints. I'll do it!"
"Good."
Lu Yuanqiu looked at her in satisfaction.
Bai Qingxia happily lowered her head and continued eating.
She ate only one braised egg and half the plain rice.
Then she took out her lunch box and set it on her lap so Lu Yuanqiu wouldn't see the steamed buns inside. She tipped the remaining rice, chicken drumsticks, braised eggs, and spicy sausages from her tray into the box.
Lu Yuanqiu stared in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
Bai Qingxia looked up. "Taking it home for my dad."
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My usual plea: please keep reading the updates, everyone. Don't let the chapters pile up!