Chapter 314 - 135: Shield

Chapter 314: Chapter 135: Shield

The class president’s smile froze for a moment before he nonchalantly tried to smooth things over:

"My mistake. Teacher Xu just said we should all treat Lu Qinglian as a role model. In that case, Chenchen, could you come give us a hand?"

Wei Chenchen agreed and ran up to the stage.

Zhang Shutong averted his gaze and said with a sigh of resignation:

"Give my textbook back. Are you really going to give me a pop quiz?"

A faint smile played on Lu Qinglian’s delicate lips.

"I’m the study group leader."

...

「Time flew, and soon it was the long break between classes.」

Thanks to Group Leader Lu, Zhang Shutong made incredible progress all morning.

Everyone had to go outside for morning exercises during the long break, but because of his arm injury, his homeroom teacher kindly let him stay behind to study.

He waited until the classroom was completely empty, then ambled down the stairs. Just as he expected, someone was waiting for him around the corner.

Qingyi had his hands in his pockets, reading an English dictionary.

Morning exercises were hardly a challenge for him; he skipped them whenever he felt like it.

"You’re here," Qingyi said, closing his dictionary.

—I’m lost on the path of life.

Zhang Shutong couldn’t bring himself to say such a cringey, dramatic line, so he just replied, "I’m here."

"How’s the first day of school treating you?"

"It’s all right. The new homeroom teacher is a little strict with the rules."

The two talked as they walked.

Zhang Shutong knew why Ruoping and Du Kang weren’t there.

As the saying goes, people can change in the blink of an eye. Ruoping was now the class president. She was popular and could rally people with a single call. With Du Kang helping her win over the boys’ votes, she’d crushed her opponents in a landslide.

Du Kang, meanwhile, was on the athletics committee.

In any case, they’d both become busy people, leaving just Zhang Shutong and Meng Qingyi.

However, both were "energy conservationists"—they’d never volunteer for trouble if they could help it.

"Your homeroom teacher seems to be a familiar face," Qingyi said.

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn’t Gu Qiuyan have a best friend?" Qingyi recalled. "I saw her today—a girl with short hair. She came over to visit our class first thing this morning and got caught by your homeroom teacher on her way out. I thought your teacher was overstepping a bit, but then the girl called her ’Auntie.’"

Zhang Shutong hadn’t expected that connection. "The girl you’re talking about must be Xu Zhiruo."

"Du Kang’s been in a bad mood the last couple of days."

"What’s wrong with him now?"

"Wasn’t Lu Qinglian transferred to your class? And don’t you remember the former president of Class Two? He got into a fight with that guy. They’re love rivals."

Zhang Shutong didn’t have any snacks, but he did have some juicy gossip.

"How did the fight start back then? Tell me."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the snacks arrived.

"Want some?"

Qingyi pulled out a piece of chocolate.

"Where’d you get it?"

"Gu Qiuyan passed them out to the whole class," Qingyi said with a smile. "All our old classmates are jealous of us now."

Zhang Shutong took the chocolate, pushing all thoughts of Wu Shengyu to the back of his mind. Forget Wu Shengyu—even a Saiyan burning their cosmos would have to get in line.

"I’m jealous too," Zhang Shutong joked.

"A little late for that. She used to offer you snacks, but you always refused."

’How long ago was this "used to," anyway?’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’Besides, it’s not like I’m refusing them now. I eat them every day.’

Zhang Shutong asked again:

"What do your classmates think of her?"

"She’s the ’young miss.’ Her popularity has always been pretty good."

"That’s good. She didn’t have many friends in our old class," Zhang Shutong said. "I hope she can make some in Class Two."

"Whoa, whoa, you’re being too demanding. Isn’t that enough? In your words, the entire class is her posse. That’s plenty. It’s not like everyone has to be her friend. Your concern is clouding your judgment."

’What do you mean my concern is clouding my judgment? You’re the one who’s exaggerating,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’When was our old class ever her posse? Everyone deliberately kept their distance—though it’s hard to say who was avoiding whom. Take that time with Ruoping, for example. Didn’t they have a falling-out for ages just because of a bag of gold coin chocolates?’

Qingyi, however, stopped in his tracks and asked, puzzled:

"What gold coin chocolates?"

Zhang Shutong hadn’t had that kind of chocolate in ages himself. ’How should I explain this?’ He had no choice but to elaborate:

"You don’t remember? It was that cheap compound chocolate. Ruoping offered her some out of kindness, but she refused, saying that stuff tastes terrible. Ruoping’s pride was instantly shattered."

"Did that happen...?" Qingyi shrugged. "Then again, that does sound like something our ’young miss’ would do."

As they spoke, they walked out of the academic building.

The music for the morning exercises drifted from afar. The two of them looked like administrators patrolling the campus.

He spotted Lu Qinglian’s figure in an instant, but a thought puzzled him. ’When did Qingyi’s memory get so bad?’