Chapter 425 - 209: [That Night, Li Zhi Did Not Leave]
Chapter 425: Chapter 209: [That Night, Li Zhi Did Not Leave]
A warm object was suddenly thrust into Li Zhi’s hand. She stared blankly at Shen Yuan.
"Ooooooooh~!"
Sure enough, Ah Jie was the first to let out a catcall, drawing out the sound in a long, teasing drawl.
Yang Ze and Chen Mingyu immediately joined in, letting out exaggerated whoops. Zhuo Peipei and He Zhiyu couldn’t help but cover their mouths and giggle.
The commotion instantly drew the attention of the other students in the classroom, and the atmosphere became charged with suggestive, gossipy energy.
"Tsk tsk, Shen Yuan! Look at you..."
Ah Jie began, a teasing lilt in his voice.
However, he’d barely begun his teasing when Li Zhi’s reaction cut him short.
The beautiful girl swept a merciless gaze over the jeering trio of Ah Jie, Yang Ze, and Chen Mingyu. Her look was sharp as ice, carrying a clear warning and a chilling command to shut up.
"Finished all your practice problems? Corrected all the mistakes on your test papers? You seem to have a lot of free time, don’t you? How about I find a few more questions for each of you?"
Li Zhi stared at Ah Jie. "Go copy your vocabulary words. I’m checking them during the third period of evening study hall tonight. You’d better be ready."
The girl tightened her grip on the hot water bottle in her hand, her fingertips feeling the warmth through its fuzzy cover.
As her gaze bored into Ah Jie, he felt like he was about to receive some ’special attention’ from the Eldest Female Cousin herself. He quickly shrank back and sheepishly lowered his head, pretending to read his textbook.
Yang Ze and Chen Mingyu were instantly scared into silence, silently opening their books in perfect, synchronized motion.
The previously rowdy corner fell silent in an instant.
He Zhiyu and Zhuo Peipei exchanged a glance. They had witnessed Shen Yuan’s forceful delivery of the hand warmer and now Li Zhi’s undisguised, protective stance.
Both of their eyes lit up with astonishing brightness. Inside, their inner selves were already jumping around in a frenzy.
’AAAAAHHH!!! She’s protecting her man! That’s blatant wifey behavior! Zhizhi got all defensive! She felt bad that Shen Yuan was getting teased! This is too sweet, too sweet! The sweetness level! I’ve... gotten... my... fix!!!’
...
There wasn’t a long holiday after the monthly exams.
The school planned to postpone the long holiday and combine it with the New Year’s break.
After all, the original holiday was less than 30 hours long anyway. Combined with the New Year’s holiday, they even got an extra day off, supposedly!
Damn!
’Is that how the math is supposed to work?!’
But the miserable senior-year slaves had no choice but to follow the school’s arrangements.
They finished their monthly exams on Saturday, and still had classes on Sunday.
All one could say was, "Bravo, school leadership," while silently cursing them to high heaven.
At noon on a winter’s day, the sky outside was a little brighter than usual.
The Sunday sunlight pierced through the winter chill, grudgingly bestowing a sliver of warmth.
The bell for the last class of the morning finally rang, bringing with it a rare sense of weekend liberation.
While the bell was still echoing, the teacher’s "Class dismissed" was met with a cheer from the students.
The exhaustion of having survived another day seemed to take physical form, hanging in the air and mixing with the smell of chalk dust and the winter chill.
Many students stood up to stretch, letting out collective groans of relief.
Amidst this collective, weary sigh, Ah Jie leaned over to Yang Ze.
"Hey, Ah Ze."
Any trace of the lethargy Ah Jie had been fighting during class was gone. His face was now filled with excitement and a powerful craving for steaming hot food.
"Wanna go get something to eat?"
Yang Ze’s eyes lit up. His Sunday afternoons were usually spent either playing games at an internet cafe or sleeping at home, so of course he was up for a group meal!
"I’m in!"
He didn’t even ask Ah Jie what they were eating.
Ah Jie then turned to Shen Yuan and Chen Mingyu.
"Guys! Gals! Who’s in for a meal? A new lamb spine hot pot place just opened on the commercial street. I hear it’s the real deal!"
As Ah Jie spoke, he made a point to look around at everyone, making sure to include Zhuo Peipei and He Zhiyu.
Clearly, the invitation was for the whole group.
"Hot pot?!"
Chen Mingyu’s eyes lit up, his listless expression instantly vanishing. "Lamb spine sounds perfect! Let’s go, let’s go! Time to grub! If I don’t get some meat in me, I’m gonna starve to death."
Zhuo Peipei smiled and nodded. "That sounds nice. I could definitely use something warm."
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. He was indeed tempted.
’A lamb spine hot pot in the middle of winter... it’s warming and nourishing!’
’Tsk, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.’
Shen Yuan quickly turned to look at Li Zhi, only to find the pretty girl was already looking at him.
Before Shen Yuan could say anything, Li Zhi gave a nod.
"It’s up to you."
Shen Yuan grinned.
He Zhiyu immediately balled her fists in excitement, her wide eyes darting back and forth between Shen Yuan and Li Zhi.
Her face was practically screaming the message: "A hot pot date means I’ll get to see some sweet moments!"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, let’s go!"
"We don’t need our backpacks, right? We just finished exams yesterday. Time for a break!"
"Who cares, who cares? First, we need to figure out what to do after we eat!"
"An internet cafe?" The thought had barely formed in Ah Jie’s mind when Chen Mingyu smacked him on the shoulder and pulled him into a headlock.
Chen Mingyu lowered his voice. "What’s wrong with you? Zhuo Peipei is here and you suggest an internet cafe? And here I fucking thought you only invited the rest of us as an excuse to ask her out!"
Ah Jie gave an awkward smile.
’He really hadn’t thought that far ahead.’
’He just really, really wanted some lamb spine hot pot.’
Nearby, Yang Ze had clearly thought the same thing—that Ah Jie had invited them all just for a chance to hang out with Zhuo Peipei—so he stepped in to smooth things over.
"This dumbass doesn’t know any better, don’t mind him. After we eat, we can go wander around the mall nearby or something. An internet cafe? What a blockhead."
The group quickly packed up their things as the other students gradually filed out of the classroom.
It was as if the cold hallway had warmed up a few degrees, heated by the group’s cheerful excitement for their meal.