NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8 - [Post-dinner interlude]
Ling Fan pondered over Liu SiYu’s proposal while looking at Liu SiYu, who was staring intently at him.
In Ling Fan’s perspective, Liu SiYu’s proposal seemed perfectly acceptable. Not only would he effortlessly earn two credits and solve his problem, but it also seemed that he wouldn’t have to go through much trouble.
Nevertheless, Ling Fan couldn’t fathom Liu SiYu’s motivation for wanting to assist him. He had the worst circumstances in the class; although he never spoke about it, no one knew where he lived.
It was evident that someone as unremarkable as him was uncommon.
After thinking for a while, Ling Fan remained perplexed as to why Liu SiYu would offer such a helpful proposal. From his point of view, he would probably steer clear of any actions that could cause unneeded problems. It appeared that his intelligence stats still required some upgrades.
Suddenly, Ling Fan recalled a saying: “As a human, please be kind.”
The class monitor was truly exceptional, excelling in both academics and character. He had clearly underestimated her; in these pure student days, how would there be so many tricks and lies?
In addition, Ling Fan couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed under Liu SiYu’s intense stare.
“I must admit, Liu SiYu, your proposal has been very helpful to me. Thank you for considering me. I, Ling Fan, will remember this favour,” Ling Fan said, expressing gratitude with a genuine smile.
Liu SiYu was momentarily stunned.
Ling Fan usually had a poker face, rarely displaying any change in expression, but it had to be said that he looked pretty good when he smiled.
As Liu SiYu pondered over this, a warm blush spread across her cheeks.
“We’re classmates; it’s only natural to help each other. Don’t be so formal!” Liu SiYu patted her face to calm herself.
“Haha, I’m a bit too sentimental, aren’t I? By the way, class monitor, what kind of club do you run? ”
“Music Club.”
“Music?” Ling Fan mumbled.
At this moment, the system status panel appeared before Ling Fan’s eyes. Under the Teaching LV2 skill, the Music skill lit up, indicating it could be upgraded. Ling Fan was eager to try it, but unfortunately, he didn’t have any extra skill points.
Skill points, like stats points, were not easy to earn; they usually required completing tasks or triggering hidden conditions. Ling Fan had spent a lot of time studying this thing that always followed him.
Ling Fan crossed his arms and lowered his head, deep in thought about how to acquire a skill point to test this out.
Meanwhile, Liu SiYu observed Ling Fan with her chin resting on her hands.
If Ling Fan joined her Music Club, he would basically be within her sight all the time. Suddenly, this thought crossed Liu SiYu’s mind.
“The dishes are here. Please enjoy.”
The waitress, who had previously recommended the couple’s set, noticed Liu SiYu staring at Ling Fan while Ling Fan appeared deep in thought. She couldn’t help but shake her head in sympathy for Liu SiYu.
That boy, could it be that he’s a blockhead?
Regardless of how she felt, she had to go about her duties. The waitress interrupted their thoughts and started serving the dishes.
“Class monitor, I’ll start eating. I’m a rough person, so please excuse me.”
Ling Fan could not wait any longer. As soon as the dishes arrived, he grabbed his knife and fork and began eating heartily.
“Eat, eat, don’t starve yourself.” Compared to Ling Fan’s mountain-dweller eating style, Liu SiYu was much more refined.
As they enjoyed their meal, Ling Fan and Liu SiYu engaged in a lively conversation about a range of subjects. As expected, the conversation among the top students primarily focused on academic matters.
Liu SiYu was taken aback by Ling Fan’s impressive breadth of knowledge, which surpassed hers, and she began to unconsciously ask him about some of her more challenging study problems.
Ling Fan, being an experienced tutor, started answering these challenging questions that Liu SiYu struggled with.
Unfortunately, Ling Fan failed to consider one crucial matter.
Since most of the competition problems were as easy to him as 1+1=2, he answered without much thought.
The challenging questions Liu SiYu asked were, to Ling Fan, similar to 1+1=2.
By the end of the meal, Liu SiYu couldn’t shake off a lingering question.
How is it possible that Ling Fan is only ranked around the twentieth place? However, Liu SiYu, being a clever girl, refrained from enquiring.
One must say you get what you pay for. Although Ling Fan spent several hundred yuan on the meal, it was indeed quite good. Ling Fan patted his belly in satisfaction and left the Golden Bull Restaurant with Liu SiYu.
“Thank you for the treat, Ling Fan.” Liu SiYu said with a cheerful smile as she looked at Ling Fan.
“It’s nothing, really. I enjoyed the meal as well. I’m very grateful you reminded me about the credits.”
“Well, I am the class monitor. It’s only right that I help out.”
“There’s no need to mention it. I owe you a favour. If there is anything I can do in the future, please let me know.” Ling Fan had his own set of principles, and he was not the type to be overly shameless.
“Is that a promise?” Liu SiYu’s voice carried a hint of joy.
“Yeah, it’s valid anytime. I mean it.” Lin Fang nodded.
They chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the place where Ling Fan had seen Liu SiYu earlier.
“Eh, isn’t this Ling Fan? SiYu, what are you doing here?” Another voice that sounded familiar to Ling Fan rang out.
Ling Fan followed the voice and spotted an even more familiar face. He’d seen this face for more than two years.
Xue LingYun, a girl who always sat right in front of Ling Fan, had a height of 160 cm and possessed a distinct oval face. Her eyebrows were delicately arched, her eyes sparkled with liveliness, and a stylish ponytail enhanced her refined appearance. She was a lively girl, exuding energy wherever she went, a striking contrast to Ling Fan’s ordinary demeanour.
When Lan XiaoYue arranged for Xue LingYun to sit in front of Ling Fan, it was with the idea of “being influenced by good company,” but Ling Fan was impervious to any such influence, leading Lan Xiaoyue to abandon the idea.
Ling Fan felt like he was running into everyone he hadn’t seen in two years today. Why was he coming across so many familiar faces over the course of a single dinner?
Xue LingYun and Liu SiYu were close friends. Ling Fan knew this because he sat right behind Xue LingYun. Liu SiYu had two main reasons for coming close to him—either to talk to him or to spend time with Xue LingYun.
“Good evening, LingYun! I happened to be walking down this street and ran into Ling Fan, so we talked for a while,” Liu SiYu explained calmly. It appeared that Xue LingYun was familiar with this street.
But Ling Fan noticed Liu SiYu’s hand gripping a corner of her cloth tightly.
Something felt off.
“Yeah, Xue LingYun, the class monitor just happened to convey a school notice to me, and we happened to see you while we were talking.”
“Did you really just run into each other?” Xue LingYun stared intently at Ling Fan as if trying to see through him.
At this moment, Liu SiYu chooses to stay quiet, and Ling Fan can tell that Liu SiYu is being careful.
“Yes, Xue LingYun, you have to trust me,” Ling Fan assured, glancing at Liu Siyu, who remained silent and then continued from where Liu SiYu had left off.
“Liar…”
Ling Fan glanced at his phone, realising he didn’t have much time left for gaming and didn’t want to be a lightbulb here.
“Since you’re here, you two should enjoy yourselves. It seems like you have plans. I have something to take care of, so I’ll be going now.” Ling Fan cleverly made an excuse.
“There’s no plan or anything. Since you have something to do, you can go ahead. Remember to bring the handkerchief back to me on Monday.”
“LingYun, you lent your handkerchief to Ling Fan?” Liu SiYu was clearly surprised.
“Yes, Ling Fan dozed off during class this afternoon with a bit of drool escaping. I offered him my handkerchief, and he told me that he would clean it and give it back to me by Monday.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Fan couldn’t help but feel a sense of awkwardness in the air. Xue LingYun had an uncanny ability to kill the conversation.
Incidentally, Ling Fan found himself in an unusually uncomfortable sleeping position for the first time. Back then, he had the intention of using his clothes to clean his mouth, but Xue LingYun caught sight of him and kindly used her handkerchief to clean him up.
Ling Fan felt embarrassed and promised to wash the handkerchief and return it to Xue LingYun.
“Ling Fan, you’re such a pervert, using a girl’s personal handkerchief to wipe your saliva and even taking it home. You are not planning to do anything inappropriate, are you?” Liu SiYu looked at Ling Fan with suspicion.
“SiYu, Ling Fan isn’t like that. I’ve sat in front of him for a long time, so I know him a bit,” Xue LingYun defended Ling Fan.
Xue LingYun really stepped up at a crucial moment. The past two years of helping her with difficult questions weren’t in vain. Xue LingYun’s grades are not as good as Ling Fan’s, so she occasionally turns to Ling Fan for help with questions.
“Miss Liu, trust is important between people. So, trust me a bit more. I’ll take my leave now. Enjoy yourselves.” Ling Fan said and quickly left.
Liu SiYu remained silent, fixating her gaze on Ling Fan as he gradually faded into the bustling crowd.
“SiYu, SiYu~” Xue LingYun waved her hand in front of Liu SiYu’s eyes.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Let’s go.” After Liu SiYu regained her composure following Ling Fan’s departure, she grabbed hold of her friend’s hand and left.