I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 102 - 98 Preliminary Round 3

Chapter 102: Chapter 98 Preliminary Round 3

Old Wu had notified the students in the group on May 1st that a few of them would be arranged to stay in one dormitory by then.

Qingran, with the foresight to bring a sleep mask, couldn’t be bothered with how late Yang Xueting and another girl studied until—once the sleep mask was on, she lay straight down to sleep.

The next day, Qingran woke up at six o’clock.

Enough sleep made her feel energetic all over, while the other three behind the curtains had yet to make a sound.

Qingran quietly got dressed, washed up, and then got her luggage ready.

They would have to return the way they came after the competition results were announced in the afternoon, as they couldn’t interfere with tomorrow’s regular classes.

As Qingran finished packing, there was also the sound of Wen Shiyi getting dressed on the bunk bed next door; Wen Shiyi, who was tormented by the glaring lights until midnight, also got up.

Although Wen Shiyi tried to keep her movements light, she still disturbed the bespectacled girl next to her, who complained loudly and displeased: "Hey, when you guys get up, can you not disturb others’ sleep??"

Wen Shiyi paused in the act of putting on her shoes and couldn’t help but retort: "It’s 6:30; it’s about time to get up."

"Only 6:30?"

Yang Xueting in the far left also got up, probably with some grumpiness from waking, and roughly pulled the curtains aside to question: "Do you know what time Ruoyi and I went to bed last night? We were doing problems until nearly dawn, and now we are being disturbed by you early in the morning, can’t a person live?"

Wen Shiyi’s face also turned somber: "The dorm is for everyone, you only turned off the lights after midnight, and the light also kept us from sleeping well."

But the soft voice of Jiangnan still lessened her intensity.

That Ruoyi was unrelenting when she had a point. She too pulled the curtain aside, with her hair in disarray: "By your logic, if you don’t study, it’s our fault that we do?"

The two glared at Wen Shiyi and Qingran angrily.

"Of course studying isn’t wrong," Qingran placed her neatly packed backpack on the bed, glanced at Yang Xueting and the others indifferently, and scoffed: "But the idea that I’m weak so I’m right, that’s where you’re wrong."

Faced with Qingran, Yang Xueting didn’t dare to say anything out of guilt.

The bespectacled Ruoyi, however, was different. She was aggressive: "What do you mean ’I’m weak so I’m right’? I’m not weak and I’m right to begin with! The ones without a point are you two!"

"What point do you have?" Qingran was unmoved by their angry emotions and even calmly smoothed out the wrinkles in the bed sheet.

She could be just as relentless when she was right: "Do you have the point where you frantically cram because your grades are poor, not caring if it will affect others’ rest? Or did you not take what the teacher said yesterday to heart at all?"

Yesterday, Old Wu had specifically told them to rest well and not to cram at the last minute if it wasn’t necessary.

Ruoyi and Yang Xueting were choked up, they looked at each other and shut their mouths, then started getting up, their movements so rough they made various items clatter loudly.

Qingran and Wen Shiyi chose to ignore them.

As Wen Shiyi folded her quilt, she wondered why Li Qingran in her memory wasn’t supposed to be like this?

She shouldn’t have a smart, wise mind.

She shouldn’t have a beautiful, bright appearance.

She shouldn’t have excellent grades and a harmonious family.

In Wen Shiyi’s recollection, Li Qingran should have poor grades, just like Huang Qianyu, always unpleasant to look at, and should have found every possible way to take her down.

Not the laissez-faire girl before her.

——

At 7:15 a.m. while having breakfast on the first floor, there were still about a dozen students missing.

The homeroom teacher of class two, Teacher Liu, frowned, "Didn’t everyone get notified yesterday that we were supposed to have breakfast here at 7:15 today? Why are some people still not here?"

As she was speaking, her students Yang Xueting and Ruoyi hurried over, and Teacher Liu glared at them before checking to see which students were still absent.

At the dining table, Xie Ying’an passed a peeled egg to Qingran.

Qingran caught the item with practiced ease and a natural air, making it look like this was definitely not her first time, amidst her classmates’ jaw-dropping stares.

The girls sitting across from them were taken aback, exchanging glances to find shock and the shatter of secret crushes in each other’s eyes.

Wen Shiyi clenched her spoon tight, bowing her head and speeding up her eating.

Since Qingran was hospitalized, Xie Ying’an’s tasks evolved from peeling and cutting fruits to peeling eggs and pouring milk, and even cooking late-night snacks when they felt hungry after evening self-study upon returning home.

At first, not only was Qingran surprised, but Li Qingmo also went "Holy shit!" in a triple roar.

Li Qingmo was always a late riser in the mornings, barely getting up in time.

During the time Xie Ying’an stayed at Qingran’s home, after running in the morning for two days, he had figured out Qingran’s routine and would always come back from his run before 6:20 AM to have breakfast with her.

The side effect of their joint breakfasts was that Xie Ying’an took on the tasks of serving breakfast, peeling eggs, and pouring milk—things that required labor. Initially, Qingran felt awkward and secretly speculated about Xie Ying’an’s intentions.

Was he trying to show her through his actions that he would be a good domestic man in the future?

Such a ridiculous idea was soon cast aside by her.

It wasn’t until one day when Qingran’s dad joined them for a meal that she watched Xie Ying’an pouring milk for her dad and serving porridge, it finally dawned on her.

Could it be that Xie Ying’an just had a bit of a servile streak in him?

But he wasn’t like that with Li Qingmo. When Li Qingmo gave orders in a bossy manner, Xie Ying’an would completely ignore him.

Qingran asked Xie Ying’an, "Where’s my brother? Why hasn’t he come over yet?"

This guy is already over here; don’t tell me he’s still in bed?

"I left while he was still asleep," Xie Ying’an replied, placing a bowl of millet porridge in front of Qingran.

Qingran felt the millet porridge might taste a bit rough, and she refused, "I don’t want this."

Apart from fruits she didn’t like to eat, Qingran was never picky with food and ate all kinds of vegetables.

This was the first time Xie Ying’an had heard her refuse something other than fruits.

Xie Ying’an, surprisingly easygoing, took the bowl of millet porridge for himself and then leaned in to ask what type of porridge Qingran would like to drink.

This time, not only the girls across from them but also those next to them turned to look.

Who the hell posted that Li Qingran was throwing herself at someone? Was this her manner of doing so?

The school hunk they’re slavering over is clearly theirs, isn’t it?

Qingran asked again, "Didn’t you call my brother when you got up?"

Before Xie Ying’an could answer, Li Qingmo showed up around the corner, his face ugly, with petite Teacher Sun following behind.

It seemed Teacher Sun had woken them up.

Li Qingmo, still a bit groggy from sleep, swept his gaze around and walked over to Qingran’s table.

The young man, frowning and irritable, sat down and asked Xie Ying’an, "Why didn’t you wake me up in the morning?"

As Xie Ying’an handed the plain porridge to Qingran, he gave Li Qingmo a cool glance: "If I had called you, would you have gotten up?"

Li Qingmo: "..."

Damn, Xie Ying’an has a point.

During the time Xie Ying’an lived at their house, at first, he did indeed call to wake him up, which Li Qingmo found annoying. If he weren’t actually too sleepy to get up, he might have even fought Xie Ying’an.

Li Qingmo stopped talking and now eyed the millet porridge in front of Xie Ying’an with envy. He passed his empty bowl to Xie Ying’an, "Give me a bowl of millet porridge too."

Xie Ying’an refused to take it: "Serve yourself!"