Chapter 37: Chapter 30.2

Minutes after the warm-up session ended, the teacher acting as the referee blew the whistle and signaled the start of the match. Immediately, everyone but Qin Youran focused their attention on the court. Qin Youran was only here to accompany Jun Zishu; she wasn’t here to watch the basketball match.

Partway through the match, Cheng Chaoyang scored a slam dunk, causing the atmosphere in and around the court to soar.

However, amidst all the clapping and cheering, Jun Zishu and Qin Youran remained silent, their behavior a stark contrast to the people around them.

Despite being at a basketball court, Jun Zishu behaved as if she was sitting in a library. She did not speak and simply observed the ongoing match.

Qin Youran’s expression was even stranger than Jun Zishu’s. Rather than spectating a basketball game, the stern expression she wore made it look like she was visiting a Martyrs’ Memorial Garden.

Jun Zishu was doing her best to maintain her character setting, so she focused all of her attention on watching her new friend perform.

Qin Youran, on the other hand, felt extremely upset, and she couldn’t even be bothered to wear a perfunctory smile.

After the slam dunk, the sweaty youths on the basketball court clapped hands with each other and continued with their match.

When Cheng Chaoyang looked at the spectator stands and saw Jun Zishu looking at him attentively, joy filled his heart, and he started playing with even greater enthusiasm.

Cheng Chaoyang had won this match beautifully. With a towel wrapped around his neck, he approached Jun Zishu while wiping his sweat.

“How was it? Did it look cool?”

“Mhm.”

Jun Zishu nodded. Then, she opened the bottled water in her hands and handed it to Cheng Chaoyang.

Many people noticed this scene, and those ignorant of the situation thought that Cheng Chaoyang had already succeeded in wooing Jun Zishu.

Qin Youran also caught this action with her eyes, a mix of feelings filling her mind. However, she did not voice any opinions about it.

After the match, Jun Zishu and Qin Youran went to have dinner at the cafeteria. Then, on their way back to the dormitory, Qin Youran dragged Jun Zishu into the school supermarket.

“Do you have something you want to buy?” Jun Zishu asked.

“No, but didn’t Cheng Chaoyang give you some snacks yesterday? Let’s pick out some for him today,” Qin Youran said as she grabbed a bag of chips and waved it in front of Jun Zishu.

“Okay.”

Jun Zishu nodded and started picking snacks together with Qin Youran.

After Jun Zishu made payment, Qin Youran took the plastic bag full of snacks and said, “You head back and tidy up first. I’ll take these to him and tell him that you bought these for him.”

“Hm? I can pass it to him myself.”

“You’d just cause him to misunderstand if you do that. It’s the same thing even if I give him the snacks, anyway. You’re the one who paid for them, after all. I’m just helping you deliver them. It’s the thought that counts. It’s cleaning day today, and you know that I’m bad at cleaning. So, you should head back and start first. I’ll help out once I come back,” Qin Youran said, flooding Jun Zishu’s ears with a bunch of excuses.

In response, Jun Zishu nodded in a daze and made her way back to the dormitory.

Meanwhile, Qin Youran left in a different direction with the bag of snacks in hand.

After Jun Zishu left Qin Youran’s line of sight, her expression subtly changed.

Little Fairy, once Qin Youran meets up with Cheng Chaoyang, broadcast the scene to me.

[Okay! No problem!]

After Jun Zishu returned to the dorm, she started cleaning up the room while watching the show.

…

After parting ways with Jun Zishu, Qin Youran visited the boys’ dormitory and called out Cheng Chaoyang. Then, she tossed the big bag of snacks to Cheng Chaoyang, saying, “Catch.”

“What’s this?”

“You bought some snacks for Jun Jiayao yesterday, so she bought some for you in return today.”

“Where is she?”

“She didn’t come with me.”

Qin Youran maintained a cool posture and spoke in a cold tone.

“Then, thank her for me. Did she like the chips I bought her yesterday?”

“You don’t need to buy her these things from now on. If she wants some, she can get them herself.”

“Huh?”

Cheng Chaoyang scratched his head, failing to understand what Qin Youran was trying to say. If he didn’t give his Little Cutie presents, how was he supposed to pursue her?

“Keep your distance from her in the future.”

“Why?”

“She doesn’t like you. She won’t like you in the future, either.” So, can you scurry back to wherever you came from and stop being a nuisance in front of our eyes?

Cheng Chaoyang stopped smiling after hearing Qin Youran’s words. Realizing that Qin Youran didn’t come here with kind intentions, he put on a strong pose and said, “What interesting words you have there. How would you know if she won’t like me in the future? While I admit that she doesn’t like me right now, I am confident that I can move her heart with my sincerity. Even if I can’t win her heart, shouldn’t it be fine if I am friends with her?”

“Why must you pester her?”

“Because I like her. Also, why do you care that I am pursuing her? You are only her close friend, not her mother. On what basis are you interfering in her private affairs?”

Qin Youran fell silent upon hearing Cheng Chaoyang’s response. She realized that she was quickly losing ground in this argument.

“Although I don’t know what kind of problem you have with me, the person I am pursuing is her, not you. She doesn’t seem to hate me, either. So, doesn’t it seem inappropriate that you are telling me to stay away from her?” Cheng Chaoyang said.

However, Cheng Chaoyang wasn’t exactly on the mark with his words. Specifically, what Qin Youran had an opinion against wasn’t “Cheng Chaoyang” but “the people pursuing Jun Zishu” instead.

“I just think that your actions will affect her performance,” Qin Youran stated.

“You can see that she is superbly excellent in her studies. I don’t wish for things like romance to affect her development, even if we are only in our freshman year. It is for this reason that I don’t like you,” Qin Youran stated with her chin raised and a faint look of disgust on her face.

Qin Youran’s stance instantly became a lot sturdier with this excuse. Now, it no longer looked like she was making a fuss out of nothing.

“This…”

Cheng Chaoyang was a little troubled. It was true that his Little Cutie had a limitless future and that she had already transcended the level of ordinary top students and reached the level of an academic goddess.

“So, I hope that you can keep those thoughts of yours to yourself until we graduate. I am totally fine if you two remain friends right now. So long as you can become a benefit to her, I am more than willing to let you befriend her.”

Qin Youran had already made her stance clear. Anyone who heard her words now would think that she shared a close relationship with Jun Zishu and was striving to help Jun Zishu.

Meanwhile, when Jun Zishu heard Qin Youran’s words through Little Fairy’s broadcast, the corners of her lips raised a little.

Jun Zishu didn’t know whether she should consider Qin Youran as smart or dumb.

From Jun Zishu’s perspective, it was obvious that Qin Youran held an abnormal desire to possess her and become the only person in her life. Yet, Qin Youran had cleverly hidden those dark thoughts of hers under honey-like kindness. She had perfectly disguised her sinful desires into something that others would praise as good.

However, Jun Zishu could also tell that Qin Youran was subconsciously doing all of these things. The girl remained foolishly ignorant regarding the true nature of the possessive thoughts she held toward her friend, and she had made up that excuse to temporarily convince herself.

“I’ve already said my piece. What to do next is up to your decision,” Qin Youran said. The more she spoke, the more reasonable she found her excuse to be. Then, she turned around and left elegantly.

Meanwhile, Cheng Chaoyang remained standing in place as he submerged himself into his thoughts.

…

When Qin Youran was on her way back to the dormitory, she remained in a somewhat unhappy mood. Even though she had won the previous argument, Cheng Chaoyang’s words had stabbed her heart like a thorn.

You are only her close friend, not her mother. On what basis are you interfering in her private affairs?

On what basis? On the basis that I am the one responsible for opening her up, Qin Youran thought. With how slow-witted Jun Zishu was, if she didn’t help Jun Zishu change, there was no way Jun Zishu would behave as she did now.

From how Qin Youran looked at the situation, since she was responsible for helping Jun Zishu change, she must also maintain Jun Zishu’s academic performance.

Yes, this must be the case.

When Qin Youran arrived in the dormitory, Jun Zishu had already finished cleaning their room.

“What’s wrong?” Jun Zishu asked when she saw the somewhat dark look on Qin Youran’s face.

“What kind of relationship do you think we share?”

“We’re friends.”

“Then, do you think I have the right or qualifications to manage your affairs?” Qin Youran asked as she stared straight into Jun Zishu’s eyes, seemingly trying to see Jun Zishu’s inner thoughts through those lenses.

Jun Zishu was stunned. She failed to understand why Qin Youran would ask such a question.

Then, she started earnestly pondering, realizing that this was a question that required careful consideration.

“Hurry up and say something,” Qin Youran urged, her eyes narrowing dangerously. It felt as if her eyes were saying, I dare you to say no.

“I think it depends on which aspect you are talking about,” Jun Zishu carefully voiced the answer.

“It depends on the aspect, is it?”

Suddenly, Qin Youran pushed Jun Zishu down onto the bed behind her and tickled her neck and waist.

Jun Zishu was momentarily taken aback by this familiar lunging action. Then, she dully stared at Qin Youran as the latter tried to tickle her.

Unlike her previous body, Jun Zishu found that this new body was quite resistant to tickling.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu’s calm reaction made Qin Youran look like an idiot as she frantically tried to tickle Jun Zishu.

When Qin Youran eventually noticed that Jun Zishu remained unfazed against her tickling, she couldn’t help but be shocked.

“You’re not afraid of tickling?”

“By the looks of it, that seems to be the case.”

“I don’t believe it.”

Qin Youran switched to tickling Jun Zishu’s chin and waist. However, Jun Zishu remained unfazed. She didn’t even have the slightest thought of smiling.

Then, Qin Youran started caressing Jun Zishu’s thighs. Because Qin Youran’s touch was light and couldn’t be ignored, the ticklish sensation it brought caused Jun Zishu to involuntarily shudder. However, other than the initial shudder, Jun Zishu remained mostly unfazed.

After Qin Youran went through Jun Zishu’s body from top to bottom and failed to find any ticklish spots, she decided to make a last-ditch effort and tickled Jun Zishu’s armpits.

To Jun Zishu’s surprise, her body showed a reaction this time.

“Don’t… Hahahahahahahaha…”

Jun Zishu desperately twisted her body to get away from Qin Youran’s hands. However, no matter what she tried, she couldn’t shake away Qin Youran’s devilish claws.

“Hurry up. Hurry up and answer me. Tell me whether I have the right and qualifications to manage your affairs,” Qin Youran repeated when she saw Jun Zishu finally succumbing to her tickling.

Jun Zishu was on the brink of tears from laughing. However, she adamantly persisted with her original answer.

“It…hahahahahaaha…depends…hahaha…on the situation…hahahahaha… Stop tickling me…hahahahaha…”

“I’ll give you one more chance to change your answer,” Qin Youran said, a delighted smile appearing on her face as she continued tickling Jun Zishu.

“It depends on the situation.”

Jun Zishu gasped for air as she persisted with her answer. She refused to break character and change her answer.

Amidst Jun Zishu’s struggling, the glasses she wore fell off to a side.

At this time, there was a thin layer of transparent liquid covering Jun Zishu’s eyes, and her cheeks were flushed red like a pair of ripe and delicious peaches. Paired with the wide smile she currently wore, she looked both sweet and tender.

Unable to hold back herself, Qin Youran leaned into the side of Jun Zishu’s mouth and licked the shallow dimple that had formed on Jun Zishu’s flushed cheek.

Jun Zishu was caught off guard by this sudden development. Not knowing how to react, she stared at Qin Youran with a blank look on her face.

Qin Youran also didn’t think that she would subconsciously do such a thing, so she couldn’t help but feel deeply embarrassed. However, she honestly thought that Jun Zishu’s cheeks were filled with sweetness at that moment.

Subsequently, the two stared at each other without saying a word.

For some inexplicable reason, the atmosphere in the room gradually turned ambiguous.

Jun Zishu was the first to break free from this atmosphere. Then, she gently pushed Qin Youran away, grabbed her glasses that had fallen aside and put them back on, and rubbed her slightly sore face.

“Why did you ask such a question?”

“I’m just asking.”

Qin Youran calmly sat up, the atmosphere that made her feel strange dissipating immediately.

“I’ll go back to studying.”

“Mhm.”