Xi Ning: “…”
The sounds of people talking were noisy; a few groups of students passed by, their laughter and running voices brushing past her ears.
Instinctively, she took half a step back to create distance, but her waist was pressed against a horizontal bar behind her, leaving her no room to retreat. Pausing briefly, she turned her head slightly, her fingertips brushing unnaturally against her earlobe.
“You… tone it down a bit.”
Kong Nianxi still had a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips, and in her gaze was Xi Ning’s clean and beautiful profile.
Although the other party had a cold expression, their actions and tone were awkwardly mismatched.
Without rejection or pushing her away, she only said to tone it down a bit.
Kong Nianxi’s smile deepened slightly, her eyes changing as she looked over, innocent: “Your hug just now was so sudden, it almost hurt me. Who hugs like that? And then you ask me to tone it down…”
Her soft voice sounded as if she had been wronged. She bit her lip and took half a step closer, their clothes almost touching, her voice trailing with meaning as it reached Xi Ning’s ear: “Tone down what?”
“…”
Her heart raced erratically due to the other’s easy actions.
Xi Ning knew she couldn’t argue with her on such matters; it always seemed that she ended up backing down. So, she restrained her emotions and lifted her foot to step aside, creating a gap between them. She heard Kong Nianxi say lightly, “But it suits my taste very well; a bit more time would be even better.”
“…”
Xi Ning paused, her gaze falling on the bright and beautiful face beside her.
Kong Nianxi didn’t look at her, her slender wrist resting on the horizontal bar in front of her, casually lifting the corner of her lips: “How far have you digested it?”
Bringing up last night’s confession, Xi Ning’s gaze flickered away. Her thoughts weren’t clear yet, hadn’t been well-considered, so she could only answer sincerely, “Sorry, not yet.”
“Alright then.” Kong Nianxi sounded as if she expected that.
The atmosphere fell into a subtle deadlock.
Xi Ning had been confessed to before, and because of her cold attitude, she had often intensified conflicts. She understood those emotions, used to not caring, but now…
Looking up at the bustling basketball court, she ran her tongue over her palate, actively changing the subject: “Are you here to watch a friend’s match?”
Kong Nianxi raised her eyebrows slightly, standing up to look at her, smiling: “I came to see you.”
When the list of matches was released, Kong Nianxi paid attention to Xi Ning’s name. In the morning, she intentionally asked about the match time, but when she turned to talk to someone else, they had left on their own.
Xi Ning: “Me?”
“Yes.” Kong Nianxi stared at her turning face, amused: “Who else would I come to watch? Although I’m not quite reconciled, I am… quite smitten with you, in a single-minded state, you could say?”
“…”
Xi Ning’s eyes flickered, her lips moving slightly.
In that momentary distraction, a seductive and pleasant fragrance entered her nostrils. Kong Nianxi stepped forward, her hands encircling Xi Ning’s waist.
“If your hug lasted less than a second, how could I transfer good luck to you? Besides, you also have to hug me for it to count as a hug.”
The voice by her ear was light and shallow, the warmth spreading across her neck as Kong Nianxi’s breath tickled her skin. Xi Ning moved her neck slightly, her wrist hanging at her side lifted by Kong Nianxi and placed on her waist.
The unfamiliar soft touch of fingertips caused Xi Ning’s fingers to instinctively tighten, her wrist half-lifting.
“Do you remember when we first met?”
The murmured words reached her ears directly, and Xi Ning wanted to loosen her arm for a moment.
Kong Nianxi chuckled softly, “At the classroom door, you didn’t even glance sideways at me. You probably don’t remember, but since then, I’ve been paying attention to you.”
Her pale fingers intertwined at the back, Kong Nianxi leaned closer into Xi Ning’s embrace, unabashedly expressing her fondness. She never hesitated to express her affection for things she liked.
“So, don’t doubt my feelings for you.”
It wasn’t a sudden whim; it was sincere. Liking you meant like you, and that was her business.
Xi Ning was stunned for a few seconds, feeling a warm flow spreading in her chest. As Kong Nianxi stepped back, there was a sense of emptiness.
“Alright, take your time to digest this. I can wait.”
Straightening up, Kong Nianxi toyed with the smooth fabric with her fingertips, from embracing to pushing, and finally leaving Xi Ning’s embrace. “But it’s better not to take too long; otherwise, I’ll charge interest.”
She tilted her head back, her face carrying the usual bright and charming smile, then glanced at Xi Ning before turning to leave.
Not long after, Tu Xiaoyuan and the others hurried back with drinks.
“Whew… because it’s in the morning, the milk tea shop had just opened, so we had to wait a bit longer.” Tu Xiaoyuan panted, handing over a large cup of freshly squeezed pear juice. She looked up and saw Xi Ning’s flushed cheeks. “…”
“Ning Ning, what’s wrong with you?”
Xi Ning: “Hmm?”
Tu Xiaoyuan widened her eyes, carefully sizing her up, then fished out some pitiful adjectives from her mind, “How should I put it… are you feeling a bit spring-like, with a hint of tenderness in your eyes?”
“…” Xi Ning snatched the pear juice she offered, “What nonsense are you talking about again.”
After taking a sip with the straw, she turned her face away to hide her embarrassment.
Su Yuqi also caught on, curiously asking, “We’ve only been away for a short time, did something good happen to you?”
Xi Ning thought for a moment, suppressing her initial panic, and turned around, “Something good did happen.”
“Hey!” Tu Xiaoyuan exclaimed.
Xi Ning spoke calmly, “During the time you were away, I finished the match and scored ten goals.”
Tu Xiaoyuan couldn’t contain her excitement, jumping up happily. “Ah! The championship is yours! Can we have a big meal this week?”
Changing the topic, Xi Ning secretly sighed in relief, calming down. She added, “There might be a second round though.”
But perhaps Kong Nianxi’s lucky hug was indeed effective. The scheduled shooting competition didn’t proceed to a second round. Xi Ning, as one of the players with the most goals, easily won the final championship.
The school’s cash awards were given on the spot, so after receiving her award at the main stage of the sports field and dealing with some miscellaneous matters from the sports meet, it was already lunchtime.
Xi Ning accompanied Tu Xiaoyuan to retrieve their meal cards and made a quick trip to the restroom.
The teaching building was empty; most students were either still at the sports field or had gone directly to the cafeteria for lunch. She walked through the deserted corridors and saw two girls standing in front of the sink.
“The sports meet is ending today, and next week is the joint exam. What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? Study.”
“Aren’t you worried at all? By the way, you are daring; last time you copied someone twice your age, don’t tell me you think you’re at that level?”
“Heh, so what if I do? I’ve already scouted the exam room in advance, and based on the seating arrangement, I’m sitting next to a genius.”
“Really? Who?”
“Xi Ning.”
“…”
Hearing her name mentioned in this context, Xi Ning furrowed her brows. The curly-haired girl speaking noticed someone enter, and when her gaze fell on Xi Ning’s face, she visibly paused.
Xi Ning walked directly to the space next to them, having just turned off the faucet when she heard someone call her name from behind.
The curly-haired girl smiled amiably, “What a coincidence, you’re Xi Ning from Class 11, right? This is our first meeting, but I know you.”
Xi Ning’s narrow eyes made her seem cold when expressionless, “Do you need something?”
The girl was quite adept, “Nothing much, it’s just that we’re quite fated to sit close during next week’s exams, so… I wanted to ask you for a small favor. One subject, two hundred, what do you say?”
“…”
Xi Ning remained expressionless, not showing any emotional fluctuations. She stayed silent for a while, and the curly-haired girl inexplicably felt a bit oppressed.
“How about… three hundred?”
“Are you sure?”
After a while, she finally heard Xi Ning speak. The girl was stunned for a moment, secretly delighted in her heart. She was just trying her luck and didn’t expect Xi Ning to agree. Indeed, as long as the money was enough, there was nothing she couldn’t do.
“Are you sure? I can pay you half of the deposit first…”
“Then you will soon hear about your punishment announcement on the school-wide broadcast.”
Xi Ning didn’t look at her again and went straight out of the restroom.
“… “
“Who does she think she is, a righteous little police officer?” As soon as she left, the curly-haired girl regained her senses and started grumbling.
“Sigh, just because she gets good grades with her abilities.” The girl next to her finished the story.
The curly-haired girl sneered disdainfully, “Does being good at studying mean everything? What a pretense. I’ve heard about her past. Tsk, it’s completely different from her current righteous image.”
“Wow? Is it true?”
“Of course, it’s true…”
Bang!
The door of a cubicle suddenly kicked open, making a loud impact. The conversation between the two girls stopped abruptly as they turned in surprise to see who it was.
Kong Nianxi’s tall figure leisurely walked out from inside.
The curly-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, it’s you, Xi Xi, you scared me. Why did you open the door so rudely?”
Kong Nianxi bent to wash her hands, and smiled slightly at her, her voice lazy but without warmth, “Instead of gossiping in the bathroom, you might want to consider the school’s punishment measures for cheating on exams. Will your dad be able to handle that?”
The curly-haired girl stared blankly, watching her gracefully walk away, infuriated, “What did I say before? She is a hypocrite! Just because she has a senior chasing her! Ugh!”
The girl beside her reminded her, “But hey, you and they were in the same exam room, so you should be careful about cheating.”
The curly-haired girl fell silent.
—
After Xi Ning and Tu Xiaoyuan merged, they went to the cafeteria to line up for food. It was five minutes before the end of school, and the seniors hadn’t come down yet, so the cafeteria wasn’t too crowded without the senior class, but there were still long lines at popular counters.
They stood at the end of the line, Tu Xiaoyuan swinging her meal card in hand, murmuring about her long-awaited fried shrimp. By the time it was her turn, they were sold out.
Xi Ning listened to her complain, her gaze wandering between the gaps in the line, feeling a bit absent-minded.
Suddenly, she heard Tu Xiaoyuan shout, “Xi Xi~” Without thinking, Xi Ning looked up and easily spotted Kong Nianxi approaching from the next line with a tray.
Even in the bustling crowd, her beautiful face couldn’t be ignored, stunning at first sight.
Xi Ning lowered her gaze.
Kong Nianxi approached with a smile, politely greeted Tu Xiaoyuan, paused next to Xi Ning until she raised her eyes, then smiled and walked past her.
“…”
“Xi Ning, it’s your turn!” Tu Xiaoyuan nudged Xi Ning’s arm, snapping her out of her thoughts. She finally looked up and picked up her food with the cafeteria staff.
By the time they finished buying food, the school bell had rung, and the cafeteria was crowded. They couldn’t find an empty table for a while. Just as they were worrying, a familiar voice came from behind, “Academic Goddess, Xiǎoyuán!”
Turning around, they saw the curly-haired girl standing up from the seat next to the pillar behind them, waving at them.
Taking their place-holding water bottles, the curly-haired girl grinned, “You should thank Xi Xi’s foresight; she saved seats for you two.”
“Really? Ah, Xi Xi is so kind, thank you, Xi Xi!” Tu Xiaoyuan’s hands holding the tray were almost numb from standing so long. She finally had a seat and hurried over to the empty spot near the edge.
Xi Ning hesitated but followed, placing her tray opposite Kong Nianxi.
“You talk a lot?” Kong Nianxi raised her chin slightly, looking at the curly-haired girl with a smirk.
But there was no sign of anger in her words.
The three of them sat together, with the curly-haired girl and Tu Xiaoyuan on one side of the two connected seats, and Kong Nianxi sitting across from them. The other two seats opposite Kong Nianxi were empty, and the curly-haired girl sat at the adjacent table.
It all seemed a bit strange.
The table wasn’t large, and Xi Ning’s tray was right next to Kong Nianxi’s, making it easy to see each other’s dishes. Kong Nianxi’s meal was a balanced mix of vegetables and meat, healthy. Xi Ning’s tray, apart from fried shrimp, was mostly green vegetables.
Feeling the burning gaze above her, Xi Ning withdrew her gaze, sat up straight, and focused on eating, her eyes fixed only on the dishes in front of her.
After a while, Tu Xiaoyuan next to her complained, “Uh… the shrimp is gone. We barely made it through the long line, and the uncle only gave us three each time. So stingy!”
Xi Ning raised her eyelids slightly at the sound. She hadn’t touched her shrimp yet; four fried shrimp were neatly arranged on her plate.
The curly-haired girl chimed in, “You don’t understand. While they might be stingy, being friendly can be effective.”
“Huh?” Tu Xiaoyuan asked.
The curly-haired girl raised an eyebrow, smiling, “Look at the academic goddess; she has four, doesn’t she?”
“…”
Tu Xiaoyuan slapped her chest, suddenly enlightened, “Right! In the future, when we eat shrimp, you can order two portions, and we’ll have two more!”
“…”
Still focused on her meal, Xi Ning was forced to look up, pinched her chopsticks, remained silent, and finally picked up Tu Xiaoyuan’s chopsticks, grabbing two shrimp and attempting to distract her.
As she did, the light clink of chopsticks against the plate sounded, and a golden crispy tempura shrimp appeared on her plate, joining the remaining two.
She had to look up and meet Kong Nianxi’s gaze.
With long chopsticks in her fingers, Kong Nianxi placed two more shrimp in Xí
Níng’s plate. Only then did she put down her chopsticks, her eyes smiling knowingly, “Eat more meat; I still have plenty.”
Xi Ning’s gaze shifted down to see Kong Nianxi’s plate piled high with crispy tempura shrimp.
The curly-haired girl exclaimed, “I told you so! Every time I eat with Xi Xi, I feel the cafeteria uncle’s love for students.”
Tu Xiaoyuan happily ate her shrimp, carefree, “Then you should go to Auntie’s window. I guarantee you’ll get all the love you want.”
She suddenly remembered something and turned her head to see Xi Ning picking up the shrimp that Kong Nianxi had given her, taking a bite and savoring it slowly.
However, she distinctly remembered that Xi Ning was almost meticulous at the dining table, especially about using others’ chopsticks on her food or vice versa.
Yet now, she was eating Kong Nianxi’s shrimp without a care, and she didn’t even like shrimp that much, did she? She took so many, and yet she seemed to enjoy them?
Indeed, Xi Ning didn’t particularly like seafood. Today, it was only because Tu Xiaoyuan had insisted on having shrimp that she ordered it, and even then, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But maybe today the chef’s skills were good; she thought… it wasn’t bad.
Her phone vibrated, and she glanced down.
[Kong Nianxi: You’ve eaten my shrimp; now you have to take responsibility.]
Xi Ning: “…”
She had thought girls like Kong Nianxi wouldn’t like… homely things.
Lifting her gaze, meeting Kong Nianxi’s gaze filled with helplessness and something indescribable, Xi Ning’s smile froze slightly, turned her head, picked up her umbrella, and stood up, “Let’s go.”
Kong Nianxi’s eyes narrowed, licking her lips as she watched Xi Ning’s visibly stiff steps, then lifted her bag and followed, “You didn’t even wait for me?”
—
After the sports meeting, the next day was Saturday, with only one day off this week. When school ended in the afternoon, it suddenly started raining, adding a touch of desolation to the single day off, with even the shouts at the end of school drowned out by the rain outside.
Xi Ning packed up and prepared to leave but saw Kong Nianxi still sitting in her seat, unmoved, showing no signs of getting up to leave.
She slowed her pace until she closed her backpack, picked up her umbrella, and couldn’t help but ask, “Did you bring an umbrella?”
Kong Nianxi, who had been elegant and cold beside her, suddenly changed her expression. Her face slightly puffed up, and she looked at Xi Ning as if daring her, “I was thinking, if you just walk away like this, then I…”
Xi Ning was surprised by the sudden change in Kong Nianxi’s expression, then couldn’t help but raise her lips, her light-colored eyes filled with amusement, “Then what?”
Kong Nianxi: “Then I will charge you interest.”
Xi Ning chuckled softly, lowered her gaze, and then looked up again, meeting Kong Nianxi’s eyes full of meaning and exploration. Her smile, tinged with indulgence, stiffened slightly. She turned her head, lifted her umbrella, and stood up, “Let’s go.”
Kong Nianxi squinted watching Xi Ning’s visibly rigid steps, licked her lips, lifted her bag, and followed, “You didn’t even wait for me?”
This is a fan translation, the novel does not belong to me. Support the author by donating to the site linked on the synopsis page. You can also donate to me if you appreciate my work and help get the funds to donate to the authors. I would also appreciate it if you left a comment!
Baihe Tales 