I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 34 - 31: Return to School

Chapter 34: Chapter 31: Return to School

The little chubby kid was quickly scooped up by her old mother and, as she left, her chubby little fingers were still pointing at Xie Ying’an, her face full of reluctance.

Which made a few people burst out laughing.

Zhao Yan was the happiest among them, "I didn’t expect my Anzai to be such a hit with kids."

It was almost time to eat, so Li Qing Mo and Liu Luoxi put away their phones.

Liu Luoxi curled her lip at the chubby child, "This kid just likes the good-looking ones, a pure face fan."

Li Qing Mo looked surprised, "She can tell the difference between beauty and ugliness at such a young age?"

"She’s two years old already, okay?" Liu Luoxi rolled her eyes at him, "She can recognize people now, of course she can distinguish beauty and ugliness."

"I’ve never looked after children before, how would I know," Li Qing Mo nonchalantly draped an arm over Xie Ying’an’s shoulder, turned his head and schadenfreude asked him: "Did you enjoy physics class today?"

Xie Ying’an huffed coldly, saying nothing.

Ruan Ruan secretly picked up her phone and snapped a photo of Xie Ying’an and Li Qing Mo from behind, Qingran leaned in and inquired what they were discussing.

Xie Ying’an touched his nose, feeling somewhat embarrassed and turned his head away, "Nothing much."

Li Qing Mo chuckled, explaining to Qingran: "Today we both asked the substitute physics teacher for leave. He approved mine but not his, do you know why?"

Qingran shook her head.

Li Qing Mo’s eyes crinkled into a smile: "Because my excuse was more substantial. I asked for leave to take care of my sister, he asked for leave to visit a good friend. Can those two reasons be compared?"

Xie Ying’an gave Li Qing Mo a glance, raised an eyebrow and suddenly said: "The relationship between siblings isn’t necessarily the closest."

Li Qing Mo offhandedly retorted: "What could be closer than siblings? Father and son? Father and daughter? Pfft, isn’t it all just based on blood ties anyway?"

Xie Ying’an smiled without saying more and lowered his eyes to wipe the water stains left by the little chubby kid on his uniform.

Qingran glanced at Xie Ying’an, the teenager with his eyes lowered, his long black eyelashes seemingly falling on that teardrop mole, astonishingly handsome.

Sister An and Aunt Liu were both skilled cooks, and Ruan Ruan was exceptionally happy as she ate. Beside her was Liu Luoxi, the two foodies quickly forged a friendship through their shared interest.

Xie Ying’an squeezed past Li Qing Mo and took a seat on Qingran’s left, subtly during the meal he switched the cold drink in Qingran’s cup for warm water.

When Qingran reached for a drink, she touched the warm cup and was stunned. The male lead in the novel, who was as indifferent as a block of wood towards the female lead, now not only peeled all kinds of fruit but also paid attention to such small details like what she drank?

Qingran leaned in and whispered: "Thank you."

Xie Ying’an also leaned in, hearing those two words he started to smile, his eyes nearly brimming with light.

The two were very close, a cool mint fragrance and a gentle grassy scent intermingled, unclear whose scent was more pleasing.

——

Early Thursday morning, Qingran was already sitting in the classroom.

Wen Shiyi always arrived early, and upon seeing Qingran, she couldn’t hide her joy: "Qingran, you’ve finally come to class."

Huang Qianyu and Sun Xin chatted and laughed on their way to the classroom, and when they saw Qingran, the smile froze on Huang Qianyu’s face.

Qingran keenly observed that Shi Fanfan was sitting at her desk earnestly studying, apparently no longer walking with them.

Huang Qianyu snorted, muttering: "After such an incident, I wonder how some people still have the face to come to class?"

The words were not too loud or too soft, just enough so that the few students who had arrived in the classroom could all hear.

The already quiet classroom fell silent instantly. Qingran lifted her eyes from her notebook and looked over, her rounded almond eyes devoid of any expression.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Huang Qianyu crossed her arms over her chest, standing on the podium with a superior look, "Oh? You didn’t hear clearly? Then I’ll say it again!"

Huang Qianyu sneered nastily, deliberately raising her voice, enunciating every word, making each syllable clear: "I said you’ve been gallivanting with some guy, how do you still have the face to come to class?"

"Slap!" A notebook flew over, smacking Huang Qianyu’s face squarely.

Huang Qianyu held her nose and screamed; warm blood flowed down through her fingers.

Sun Xin hurried over with some tissues to help her stop the bleeding, while Chen Xiweng turned around and loudly accused, "Li Qingran, you actually hit a fellow student, you—I’m going to find a teacher."

Wen Shiyi finally reacted at this moment, standing up to argue on behalf of Qingran, "How can you all be like this? It was clearly Huang Qianyu who started spreading the rumors first, I can testify for Qingran."

Sun Xin warned Wen Shiyi: "New student, shut your mouth!"

Qingran sneered, gripping her phone firmly, and nonchalantly said to her, "Go ahead."

Chen Xiweng, with fists clenched and seething with rage, stormed out.

"Wait—" Qingran called out to Chen Xiweng, who was about to leave.

Chen Xiweng turned around smugly; she knew that Li Qingran wouldn’t dare make such an embarrassing issue known to the teachers.

But to her surprise, Qingran simply reminded her coolly, "Remember to call the police for Huang too."

Chen Xiweng was stunned, "Call the police?"

This isn’t something to involve the police, is it?

Qingran played the video she just recorded on her phone, turning the volume to maximum, filling the classroom with Huang Qianyu’s words— "I said you slept with some random guy, how do you still have the face to come to class?"

Leaning on the desk behind her, Qingran watched Huang Qianyu’s shocked expression with composed interest.

The whole Senior Year 2 Class A was as silent as chickens; those who knew Qingran understood that this girl had always been a "Buddhist" youth, carefree except when it came to academic ranking. She would confront everything serenely, her character was exceptionally gentle.

That Huang Qianyu had managed to push her this far was indeed a feat.

The cellphone video, just over a dozen seconds long, played three times before Qingran turned off the screen.

Sun Xin was genuinely scared now and let go of Huang Qianyu, stepping back a bit.

The ferocity of the school bully Li Qingmo’s beatings had left a not insignificant psychological shadow on Sun Xin. Qingran’s current resolute attitude and zero tolerance for bullying unnerved her, what was Huang Qianyu’s wealth to F High? The school was never short of students from good backgrounds.

Huang Qianyu’s shock was but a moment before she regained her composure, her laughter tinged with mockery, "What? Li Qingran, you dare to do it but not let people talk about it? Pretending to be a good student makes me sick seeing it."

The cellphone flipped over on the desk, and Qingran glanced up nonchalantly: "Huang Qianyu, you’re 17 this year, right?"

Huang Qianyu tossed the tissue stained with nose blood into the trash can, spat into it disdainfully, and then leisurely turned to Qingran: "None of your damn business!"

Still feeling frustrated, she slapped the podium loudly: "Li Qingran, this isn’t over yet."

Qingran wasn’t afraid, she reminded mildly: "Oh, there’s nothing much; just wanted to remind you, once you’re over 16, you have to face consequences for your actions, and I have evidence of your defamation in hand,"

She smiled, the gentleness of the past still lingering in her smile: "By the way, isn’t your dad rich? Coincidentally, so is mine. Without saying more, I’ll see your family in court to the very end if it comes to it."

Huang Qianyu, from several desks away, covered her mouth and nose, staring at her with wide eyes.

Tension crackled between the two, and classmates who had just entered the classroom didn’t dare to breathe loudly, crouching down and scampering back to their seats.

At this moment, the classroom window was knocked, and the students all turned to look outside in unison.

God Ji, always silent and aloof, stood outside the window. The young man’s eyebrows and eyes were of a subdued beauty, with a baseball cap worn backward, revealing his otherworldly face.

He just looked at Qingran through the glass, no other action taken.

Qingran froze for a moment, turned off her phone, and tucked it into her pocket before walking outside.

A girl’s voice, hushed but audible, came through, "Damn, who’s that hottie outside?"

"I’ve never seen him before, but he’s wearing our school’s uniform, so he must be from our school."

The girls behind were excited and tapped them, "It’s God Ji, ahhh..."

The two girls upfront turned around in disbelief: "Impossible, we’ve seen God Ji before, haven’t we?"

The girl behind was already flushed with excitement, "Ah ah, it’s really God Ji, I saw him put on a baseball cap just now."

The girls around them crowded over: "Yangyang, are you saying that guy outside is the real God Ji?"

The girl called Yangyang nodded vigorously, "I swear, if you don’t believe me, ask Qingran when she comes back."

A few girls looked at each other with excitement: "Damn, what is God Ji thinking? He’s finally revealed his stunning face after hiding it for so long."

"Yeah, yeah! He’s every bit as handsome as our school heartthrob Xie."

A few girls disagreed: "Not so sure about that, I still prefer Xie Xiaocao’s looks..."

"Stop fangirling, shouldn’t the focus be on why God Ji called Li Qingran out?"