Chapter 23: Bright Spot

Li Xiaoran had a dream.

A long, long dream.

She dreamed she was with the one she loved, walking into the most beautiful hall.

Then, her little mouth went ba ba ba, a little sticky.

Later, she realized she was daydreaming.

Drool had even come out.

The wet corner of Li Xiaoran’s mouth dripped onto Lin Cheng’s thigh.

Her cheeks were so hot they could fry an egg, her warm breath separated from him only by the thin fabric of the school uniform pants.

The entire classroom sank into an odd silence.

Even though Teacher Xiao Zhou’s evening self-study period was never exactly silent, the commotion Su Wanqing had just caused on Li Xiaoran inevitably drew some attention from the surrounding classmates.

Indirectly, Teacher Xiao Zhou’s gaze caused those in the back row who were playing games or reading novels to stop, and even the ones in the front who were seriously doing practice problems couldn’t resist turning to look.

All eyes converged on the pair in the back corner of the classroom, whose posture was… rather suggestive.

“Hiss…”

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

“Did Li Xiaoran faint? Or…?”

“They’re playing that big?”

“凸(艹皿艹) — just seeing people like this pisses me off!”

Whispers and suppressed chuckles quickly spread across the class.

On the podium, Teacher Xiao Zhou had of course witnessed the whole scene.

She pushed her glasses up, her gaze moving from Lin Cheng’s slightly strained face to Li Xiaoran, who was buried in his lap like an ostrich, and raised her eyebrows.

She didn’t speak immediately—only cleared her throat.

“Ahem.”

That one sound silenced most of the chatter instantly.

Teacher Zhou swept her eyes across the classroom, pausing briefly on Lin Cheng and Li Xiaoran’s direction, then spoke slowly, her voice not loud:

“Some students…”

“…need to keep their minds on the right path. Certain… extracurricular activities, let’s save those for after the college entrance exam, in a more appropriate place. Right now, the most important thing is the exam.”

“Pfft!!”

“Hahaha!”

“Ohohohohoho!”

It was certain now—Teacher Zhou’s words had made some people’s thoughts hit somewhere between f and h.

Lin Cheng awkwardly maintained his position, offering Teacher Zhou an apologetic smile.

Meanwhile, Li Xiaoran, still buried in his lap, wanted to disappear from the earth after hearing both the teacher’s comment and the whole class laughing. Her body trembled slightly, the tips of her ears so red they could drip blood. The only thing she could do was bury her face deeper and pretend she didn’t exist.

It’s over, it’s over!

Everyone saw…

I didn’t even realize it myself—my head suddenly felt heavy, and then my body tilted, and I fell right into Lin Cheng’s arms.

It was practically like I did it on purpose.

Lin Cheng must think I’m so weird!

Su Wanqing floated nearby, sulking as she watched the messy and ambiguous scene.

She figured she must have been forcibly ejected from Li Xiaoran’s body just now.

The reason? Probably when Lin Cheng stroked Li Xiaoran’s hair, she got so excited and emotionally stirred that Su Wanqing could feel her heart nearly bursting out of her chest—then, she was shoved right out.

Tsk.

Idiot Lin Cheng—she was faking it, faking it!

It was me, I was the one possessing her—you were touching my hair…

No, wait, it’s also her hair…

Ugh, so annoying.

Then Su Wanqing saw Zhou Mingyuan turn his head, wearing that disgusting smile she hated, and grew even angrier.

“Wipe that stupid grin off your face, you beast. One day I’ll kill you and your mother.”

On the podium, Teacher Zhou tapped the desk to quiet the class.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough. Back to what you were doing. There are only two months left until the college entrance exam. Study hard now—after the exam, you can play however you want.”

The laughter in the room gradually subsided, though the air still buzzed with gossip and an ambiguous atmosphere.

Students in the back row kept sneaking glances, whispering.

Lin Cheng felt his left leg was about to go numb. He carefully nudged Li Xiaoran’s shoulder.

“Xiaoran, are you feeling better? Can you get up now?”

The head in his lap moved slightly—almost imperceptibly nodding—then slowly, bit by bit, lifted up.

Li Xiaoran’s face was as red as a boiled shrimp. She didn’t dare meet Lin Cheng’s eyes, her gaze darting around.

Flustered, she sat up straight, quickly tidied her messy hair, then grabbed her pen and fixed her eyes on the chemistry paper in front of her, as if to say, I’m seriously studying, nothing just happened.

Don’t look at me, don’t look at me—people will get the wrong idea. I didn’t mean it, I just suddenly didn’t feel well…

She gently pushed Lin Cheng’s arm down as she kept her head lowered.

Lin Cheng seemed to understand a little.

So… it was probably an accident just now?

Didn’t get it.

Was this just teenage hormones running wild?

He also picked up his pen, pretending to focus intently on his chemistry paper.

The faint fragrance from the girl beside him was… indeed distracting.

A small act of special attention from a gentle girl could be enough to throw someone off balance.

Could it be that she just suddenly felt her close male friend was cute, so she wanted to touch him?

Simple, kind, and adorable girls often act especially close to their friends.

Or maybe—she just sees you as an older brother. That happens all the time.

Life’s three great delusions often come from moments like this—until you confess and find out she never thought of you that way at all.

Up on the ceiling above them, Su Wanqing hugged her knees, glaring fiercely at Zhou Mingyuan.

She poured all her resentment into him.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. A cold, resentful aura spread uncontrollably from her transparent body.

Whoosh…

A sudden cold wind spiraled up from the back corner of the classroom.

“Hiss… why is it suddenly so cold?”

A boy sitting diagonally behind Zhou Mingyuan rubbed his arms, muttering quietly.

The cold wind pierced straight into the back of Zhou Mingyuan’s neck.

He looked around.

Cold.

Like someone was watching him.

Puzzled, Zhou Mingyuan thought—

Ever since that day when he left Su Wanqing’s grave, he’d occasionally had this feeling.

Especially in the classroom, the temperature around him would suddenly drop unnaturally, making him shiver.

But no one else seemed to react much.

It was as if only he could feel it.

“…Is that you, Su Wanqing? Are you dead but unwilling to rest—here to take revenge on me?”

Zhou Mingyuan’s expression turned cold as he faced forward again, ignoring the faint chill behind him.

As before, the coldness faded after a short while.

Su Wanqing took a deep breath.

The pain of the chain around her ankle made her behave.

She turned back to watch over Li Xiaoran, noticing her condition.

That small light inside Li Xiaoran was still there—only now, like a red notification dot in a phone app, it had dimmed quite a bit.

And in the whole class, only Li Xiaoran had that bright spot inside her.

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