I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 174 - 170 Late Complaint

Chapter 174: Chapter 170 Late Complaint

The afternoon competition did not produce a dark horse.

Old Wu and the teachers from City No.1 High School all heaved a sigh of relief.

This time in the semifinals, the school had a maximum of 10 people advancing, and a minimum of 2.

This also let the students experience a true chaotic scene, and those who didn’t pass had their sadness and disappointment written all over their faces. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, with no tempering from society, they wore their emotions unconsciously.

Before it got dark on the way back,

Xie Ying’an didn’t care about others’ gazes, pulling Qingran along as he walked out, leaving several seniors who wanted Qingran’s WeChat trailing far behind.

This included Bai Wenxing from City No.1 High School.

The girl who always followed Bai Wenxing glanced at him standing stiffly in place, watching Qingran’s leaving figure, and sneered, "A girl who is pretty and has good grades definitely has already been taken, how could it be anyone else’s turn?"

She actually wanted to add: What’s so great about such a girl? She can be all touchy with boys in front of the teachers, who knows what her private life must be like?

Bai Wenxing’s usually gentle face showed a rare impatience, and his warm voice turned cooler: "I’ll give you the same takeaway, don’t judge others by yourself."

Having said that, he too turned and walked outside.

The girl’s face showed a myriad of expressions, ending in frustration as she stamped her foot and followed him.

Lin Zhou, who was still there, stood at the judges’ table and looked back. The competition venue lights were at their brightest, and he could see very clearly the teenager holding the girl’s hand tightly as they walked out.

The ubiquitous fat professor looked in the direction Lin Zhou was gazing at, but Qingran and Xie Ying’an’s figures had long disappeared around the corner.

The fat professor asked Lin Zhou, "What are you looking at?"

Lin Zhou retracted his gaze and shook his head, "Nothing, let’s go."

Without further suspicion, the fat professor happily discussed with Lin Zhou about whether they should go for dinner together, as he had found a restaurant with great flavor...

On the return trip, because no one had taken their belongings off the bus, the students sat in the same places as on the way there.

This time, with much more experience than before, they knew they would miss dinner, so everyone brought snacks.

Qingran didn’t feel much appetite and chose to close her eyes and rest.

As for Li Qingmo, it didn’t even need to be said. Like a sleep deity reincarnated, he lay down again to sleep.

Sun Ningzhi looked at him skeptically several times and even came over to quietly ask Qingran whether her brother had been studying or playing games late into the night yesterday.

Qingran didn’t know the answer to this question. Considering her brother had the summer habit of only wearing boxer shorts to sleep, she hadn’t been to his room at night for a long time.

The bus had been driving for about half an hour, and Qingran, who was already half-asleep, was woken up by Qi He’s sobbing next to her.

Sheesh, here we go again.

Qingran sighed inwardly, not understanding why Qi He always seemed to have more tears to shed.

It would make sense to cry on stage when you learn you haven’t advanced, as it’s normal to feel heartbroken after days of effort yielding no results.

But the competition had been over for hours, and continuing to cry just seemed pointless.

The reason lay with one’s own insufficient foundation, and the solution was to just work harder next time. What problem could be solved by crying?

At first, there were still people comforting Qi He, but everyone had been on edge for the whole day and was very tired. It was already good that no one was telling Qi He to be quiet for being too noisy. Even Wen Shiyi, sitting beside her, was resting with her eyes closed and did not try to console her anymore.

Qingran sighed silently, just about to close her eyes again when she noticed something was off.

Wait, why was she so close to Xie Ying’an? Almost leaning over onto his shoulder?

She distinctly remembered that when she closed her eyes just now, she had been leaning against the car window.

Qingran carefully moved her head and took a sneaky peek at Xie Ying’an. He seemed tired too, with his eyes closed, leaning against the seat back, his breathing even and steady. It seemed like he was asleep.

In such a noisy environment, Qingran found it hard to believe that Xie Ying’an could actually sleep. Observing him for a while, the young man’s long and straight eyelashes didn’t even flutter, presumably, he was just exhausted.

Actually, Qingran was also aware that it was only because Xie Ying’an dropped his answer board as a reminder that she snapped back to reality today. If Xie Ying’an hadn’t reminded her or if he had done so just one minute later, she definitely wouldn’t have finished her answers in time...

On the other side, Qi He’s voice suddenly became much louder, apparently complaining about Professor Yan’s favoritism.

Her voice was hoarse from crying: "... If it weren’t for Old Man Yan’s bias which knows no bound, I wouldn’t have failed today. Every time he teaches, he only teaches one or two students as if we are not the students meant to be taught by him. Someone like that, who shows such favoritism, doesn’t deserve to be a teacher. And he claims ’students across the lands’ – does he even deserve it? If I knew Old Man Yan..."

The gist was that if she had known that Professor Yan was so biased, she would have applied to transfer to Teacher Qin’s class along with Qingran and the others.

Qingran did not believe a word Qi He said.

Anyone who attended Professor Yan’s class that day knew that Li Qingmo directly confronted Professor Yan just because of this favouritism issue.

When Qi He came to borrow notes to copy from Qingran, Fang Jin even subtly asked her, if she felt she couldn’t keep up with Professor Yan’s lectures, why didn’t she transfer to Teacher Qin’s class as they did?

At that time, Qi He dodged the question, clearly indicating that even if Professor Yan was biased, she still trusted the more experienced Professor Yan.

She did not expect that after failing the rematch today, she would say such things.

It wasn’t just Qingran who could not stand to listen any longer, even Wen Shiyi, who was sitting next to Qi He meditating with her eyes closed, was frustrated. Frowning, she opened her eyes, turned her head, and glanced at Qi He, saying, "Regardless of anything else, Professor Yan has taught us for so long. Once a teacher, always a father, speaking of Professor Yan behind his back as ’Old Man Yan’ –"

"Haha!" Qi He interrupted her coldly, her voice suddenly rising several pitches, sounding somewhat shrill: "Once a teacher, always a father? Has he ever shown me any patience and taught me everything he knew? Does he deserve to be my father?"

Wen Shiyi took a deep breath, turned her head, and chose not to engage with the unreasonable Qi He anymore.

But Qi He was not about to let it go. She simply couldn’t accept the setback in her studies, especially one with a clear cause.

She gave Wen Shiyi an ambiguous look: "One thing I did forget, Old Man Yan may not be fit to be a teacher for others, but he is suited to be both your teacher and your father. Doesn’t everyone know that you are his favorite student in the class? Even Xie Ying’an and Li Qingran, who have better grades, can’t compare to you."

Wen Shiyi, hugging her belongings, switched seats, not bothering with Qi He at all.

With the seat next to her empty, Qi He knew no one was going to listen to her complaining anymore, and she lowered her head and started sobbing again.

Xie Ying’an, pretending to be asleep on the other side, knew Qingran was looking at him. His heart had sped up several times in just a few minutes, but the crying from the other girl was so loud that he felt it would seem too deliberate to keep pretending. Just as he thought about waking up as though the crying had disturbed him—

Li Qingmo, asleep in the back, impatiently kicked out his leg. His temper was the worst whenever his sleep was interrupted. With his eyes still closed, he bellowed loudly, "Shut up!!! If you want to cry, get the hell outside and cry. If you disturb my sleep again, you’ll regret it!!!"

Qi He’s shoulders jerked, and her sobbing abruptly stopped.

The whole carriage became quiet, and even the whispering in the front rows ceased completely.

Qingran: "..."

Seeing is believing, her brother’s reputation as the school bully was indeed not unwarranted.

Old Wu and Sun Ningzhi, who were sitting in the front and heard Li Qingmo’s roar, exchanged glances.

Old Wu showed sympathy for Sun Ningzhi, "Zhi, it’s really tough dealing with a student like this."

Sun Ningzhi smiled helplessly, "You get used to it."