The class uniform skirts were too short-they had to add knee-high socks [please keep reading]
Lu Yuanqiu closed his eyes, basking in the refreshing shower.
A moment later, he opened his eyes helplessly. "Pfft." He spat out a mouthful of water, then glanced down and discovered that even the crotch of his pants had been sprayed wet.
He couldn't help looking up and commenting, "Were you a showerhead in your past life? How did you spray such a huge area?"
"Sorry!"
Flustered and embarrassed, Bai Qingxia hurried to her feet and pulled several tissues from the table.
She cautiously stepped forward and gently wiped Lu Yuanqiu's cheeks, only to hear him protest, "Seriously... so what if you drank from my cup? Am I that disgusting? Did you have to react like that?"
Her face scarlet, Bai Qingxia hastily shook her head. "No, I just... I just..."
She kept saying "just" but never managed to give a reason.
Her cheeks and earlobes only grew redder.
Once she had wiped his face dry, Bai Qingxia hurriedly took more tissues and worked her way down from the collar of his short-sleeved shirt. When she reached the middle of his pants, Lu Yuanqiu jumped up. "Hey, hey, hey! Where are you wiping?!"
Her small hand froze. Only then did she realize what she was doing. She snatched her hand back as though shocked and retreated, biting her lip. "Sorry!"
She anxiously stepped forward, stuffed all the tissues into Lu Yuanqiu's hands, then hurried back again. "You... you can do that part yourself. I didn't touch that thing of yours just now."
She sounded desperate to clear things up.
That thing of mine... what a way to put it.
Lu Yuanqiu didn't even have the energy to comment.
He gave himself a couple of careless wipes with the tissues. When he looked up, he found that Bai Qingxia had turned aside and was facing the wall as though serving a punishment.
At least she knew what to do.
Lu Yuanqiu tossed the tissues into the trash.
Only then did Bai Qingxia sit back down. Holding the cup she had mistakenly drunk from in both hands, she offered it to Lu Yuanqiu and lowered her head. "Here."
"You drank from it, sprayed it everywhere, and now you're giving it back? You want me to drink your spit?"
Lu Yuanqiu looked at her.
Bai Qingxia froze, then hurriedly withdrew the cup and pushed the other one on the table toward Lu Yuanqiu. She glanced at him for approval before timidly looking away.
She felt she had ruined today's tutoring session. Lu Yuanqiu must have been angry.
As Lu Yuanqiu dried his hair with tissues, he watched the girl's dejected expression.
He felt that Bai Qingxia was always terribly cautious around him.
Was it only because he knew her secret?
Lu Yuanqiu mulled it over, thought of that voting slip, and couldn't help asking, "Bai Qingxia, did we know each other before?"
The girl kept her head down and silently shook it.
"We really didn't?"
She shook her head again.
"All right... never mind. Let's get back to studying."
Lu Yuanqiu beckoned, and Bai Qingxia turned to face him again, resuming her explanation where she had left off.
It took roughly an hour to finish going over the two worksheets.
Lu Yuanqiu's head felt swollen. He shook it, then raised a hand to rub his aching eyes.
Science really was his lifelong nemesis.
He had no idea what madness had possessed him to choose the science track back then. He hadn't even finished dealing with math, and that loathsome physics still awaited him.
Lu Yuanqiu picked up his schoolbag and began taking out his physics workbook. Just then, his foot seemed to step on something soft and smooth. He looked down and saw Bai Qingxia retracting her small, pale foot.
Then she covered the foot he had stepped on with her other one, all ten pink toes curling at once.
Lu Yuanqiu looked up at her.
Bai Qingxia was studying the exercises intently, as though nothing had happened.
"Here, I don't understand any of the ones I've circled. Take a look first. I'll get some fruit."
Lu Yuanqiu placed the exercises in front of her and left. Soon afterward, he returned carrying a fruit platter.
There were several kinds of fruit on the platter, along with snacks. Lu Yuanqiu offered generously, "Eat!"
Bai Qingxia shook her head. "Sit down. Let's start going over the questions."
"Yes, teacher."
Lu Yuanqiu picked up a mandarin and began peeling it while listening to Bai Qingxia explain the problems.
He put one segment into his own mouth, then held the next up to Bai Qingxia's lips.
The girl closed her mouth, her explanation cutting off abruptly.
Lu Yuanqiu ordered, "Eat!"
Bai Qingxia raised her pretty eyes to glance at him, opened her soft pink lips, bit one end of the segment, and took it into her mouth.
She chewed with her earlobes flushed red, while Lu Yuanqiu laughed in delight. "Go on. Keep explaining."
"Because, because, because here... the acceleration here stays constant..."
Lu Yuanqiu interrupted her. "Doesn't the acceleration change here?"
Bai Qingxia froze, then corrected herself with a red face. "Right, it changes. It changes..."
Lu Yuanqiu couldn't help laughing. "How did eating one mandarin segment make you forget everything?"
Bai Qingxia said indignantly, "Because you interrupted me."
"All right, all right, all right..."
Apparently courting death, Lu Yuanqiu held another segment to her lips. Bai Qingxia stubbornly turned away. "I don't want it."
Lu Yuanqiu mischievously brought it to her mouth again, and Bai Qingxia turned her head the other way.
"So you're not listening, huh? Getting brave, aren't you? Believe it or not, I'll..."
Bai Qingxia turned back, glared at him, then opened her little mouth and bit the mandarin segment right out of his hand.
Ha, this worked every time. Lu Yuanqiu was delighted.
But the girl quickly stood up and began packing her things. "If you won't study properly, I'm going home."
"Wait, wait, wait! I'll stop teasing you!" Lu Yuanqiu hurriedly caught hold of her.
The tutoring session ended toward evening.
With her schoolbag on her back, Bai Qingxia walked to the door. Lu Yuanqiu hurriedly called, "Wait."
He took out a large shopping bag, filled it with milk, fruit, and snacks from around the house, then offered it to her.
Bai Qingxia stepped back in surprise and hurriedly hid both hands behind her back. "I don't want it."
"It's your tutoring fee!" Lu Yuanqiu declared righteously.
"No."
After putting on her shoes, Bai Qingxia quickly went outside. Lu Yuanqiu simply set the bag outside the door. "Then throw it away for me."
The girl was just about to speak when the door slammed shut.
Lu Yuanqiu watched her through the peephole.
Bai Qingxia stood outside for a while, then walked closer and looked toward the door. Lu Yuanqiu instinctively moved away from the peephole. When he looked again a moment later, he found that Bai Qingxia had left.
Lu Yuanqiu assumed she had taken the things with her, but when he opened the door, he discovered the bag sitting neatly on the doorstep.
He shook his head lightly and sighed. "So stubborn."
Monday.
During morning study period, Liu Wei came up to the lectern, pushed up her glasses with an expressionless face, and said, "Two announcements. First, the year director thinks the girls' skirts in our class uniform for sports day are too short."
"What?!"
All the boys cried out, seemingly struck by a bad feeling.
"Ge Ritian's stirring up shit again."
"The girls next door are wearing crop tops for their class uniform. Why doesn't he do something about that?"
Liu Wei frowned and scolded them. "This concerns the girls. What are you boys getting so worked up about?"
Lu Yuanqiu looked up, and so did Bai Qingxia. After all, she had spent fifty whole yuan on the class uniform too.
Liu Wei said, "Don't worry. Since this is your last sports day in high school, the director has agreed to compromise. The girls just can't have bare legs. You'll need to buy a pair of knee-high socks to wear."
As soon as she finished, the entire class fell silent.
"Sorry, Director. I admit I was a little loud just now."
"Does the director like that strip of bare thigh above the socks too?"
Wang Haoran said, "Girls, give me another five yuan each."
Liu Wei continued, "I just looked at the list of people who bought the class uniform. Bai Qingxia will carry our class sign in the formation parade."
At those words, Hu Caiwei jerked her head up.
Bai Qingxia also looked over in surprise.
Seemingly noticing Hu Caiwei's expression, Wang Haoran said, "Teacher, shouldn't we have the whole class vote on this?"
Liu Wei rejected the suggestion outright. "No need."
Hu Caiwei slumped dejectedly over her desk and gripped a page of her book hard enough to crumple it.
"I agree! I agree!"
At the back, Lu Yuanqiu raised both hands high and clapped.
Bai Qingxia tightened her grip on her pen. She hadn't expected the task of carrying the sign to fall to her, and it made her very nervous.
Liu Wei patted the lectern. The top students in the front row wisely leaned back to avoid the chalk dust.
"Second, the monthly exams will begin the day after sports day."
The class, which had been buzzing with excitement moments earlier, instantly sank into gloom.
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My usual plea: please keep reading.