Chapter 36: A Misunderstanding Unraveled and a New Admirer

Seizing the fleeting moment their gazes locked, Zhong Tian activated his mind-reading ability.

In an instant, the fleeing girl’s inner world unfolded in his mind.

The first image that surged into Zhong Tian’s mind was of a disheveled him and Li Jianren, on the infirmary bed… engaged in something rather illicit…

It had barely begun, yet it nearly jolted Zhong Tian out of his mind-reading state.

‘What on earth was that person imagining?’

Unexpectedly ‘forced’ to watch such a suggestive scene, Zhong Tian immediately flushed with embarrassment and annoyance, quickly activating a ‘sub-ability’ with a thought and switching to the next image.

More precisely, it was an excerpt of the ‘historical events’ the girl had experienced.

This was a branch ability of his mind-reading that Zhong Tian had discovered: ‘Memory Browse,’ allowing him to selectively view scenes and hear sounds the target had experienced.

‘That girl named Zheng Qiao had been staring at him since the opening ceremony. Why?’

He switched to an earlier memory of hers, a scene of her and a girl named Bai Ruijin trailing him and Su Linxi.

‘An enemy?’

‘Why would they call me Bai Ruijin’s enemy?’

This was the limit of the memories Zhong Tian could browse for now.

After all, the brief eye contact limited the information he could gather.

‘It still didn’t make sense.’

However, from the content thus far, Zhong Tian had largely understood that Zheng Qiao and Bai Ruijin must have misunderstood something, developing hostility towards him… especially Zheng Qiao…

Zhong Tian pondered.

There was, in fact, a way to find out.

He could use ‘Memory Browse’ again on the person within the frozen frame of Zheng Qiao’s ‘Memory Browse’! Currently, ‘Memory Browse’ was showing Zheng Qiao’s first-person perspective, and in one particular scene, she and Bai Ruijin were looking directly at each other!

Yet, Zhong Tian would have to bear a higher risk.

If he merely performed a single mind-read or a single ‘Memory Browse,’ the side effects would likely only be headaches or dizziness.

But if he were to layer its use like nesting dolls…

Zhong Tian couldn’t say for sure, as he had never attempted it.

It was possible he might simply pass out, just like last time.

However, in this situation… a persistent misunderstanding was never good, and what if it involved his cross-dressing?

Zhong Tian gritted his teeth, and used ‘Memory Browse’ on Bai Ruijin from that ‘historical’ memory!

This time, even less information was available; he saw only a single scene.

It was a conversation between the two girls in a restaurant called ‘Cat’s Paw Café.’

“Xiaobai… I remember the person you like is Li Jianren, right?”

“Ah, it’s pronounced ‘xian’…”

‘So it’s pronounced ‘xian’??’

“Well, whatever, whatever. I’ll just say it… it seems he has a girlfriend…”

‘So that’s what happened!’

After viewing that segment of memory, Zhong Tian instantly understood, exiting the ‘Memory Browse’ state.

‘It was that girl who had been staring at Li Jianren and him back at the KTV!’

‘She misunderstood his relationship with Li Jianren, and then told Bai Ruijin, the girl who secretly liked Li Jianren.’

‘They had been keeping an eye on him ever since, leading to today’s incident!’

‘Fortunately, he had been decisive this time; otherwise, he might have jeopardized Ren’s budding romance!’

‘Now, the next step was to explain everything clearly to them!’

Through Zheng Qiao’s memory, Zhong Tian learned that she had added his secondary account, which he had never accepted.

‘First, he should apologize to the girl…’

‘But this also provided him with the quickest way to contact her.’

‘Next was to return to class and retrieve his phone…’

A sudden, excruciating pain abruptly halted Zhong Tian’s thoughts and actions; his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.

It felt as though two sharpened steel rods were rotating and drilling into his temples.

A persistent, piercing agony!

He gasped for breath, his body drenched in cold sweat.

The intense pain lasted for nearly half a minute.

When the agony subsided, Zhong Tian lost all his strength, leaning against the wall, drenched in sweat, breathing weakly.

‘This was truly excessive…’

Zhong Tian was now completely incapacitated; he estimated it would take a while to recover, just sitting there.

‘Then… he should rest for a bit…’

With no other option, Zhong Tian closed his eyes.

****

‘How utterly embarrassing!’

Upon returning to class, Zheng Qiao recalled what had just happened, and couldn’t help but cover her face with her hands.

If it had just been a normal encounter, it would have been fine, but in that situation, right after someone had ‘finished’…

Her face, hidden beneath her hands, slowly flushed crimson.

‘How utterly embarrassing!!’

“Qiaoqiao, what’s wrong? You look… a bit unwell…”

Zheng Qiao’s unusual behavior caught Bai Ruijin’s attention, and out of concern, she cautiously inquired.

“I’m fine! Really!”

Zheng Qiao’s overly strong reaction nearly startled Bai Ruijin, and only made Bai Ruijin more perplexed.

“Really…?”

‘Hiss—’

‘What should I do?!’

‘Should I tell Xiaobai about this… No, that’s definitely something I can’t say!’

‘I can’t possibly tell Xiaobai that the boy she likes was in the infirmary with another girl… doing…’

‘Even if I were more subtle and just said Li Jianren was truly with Zhong Tian, it would still be a huge blow to her!’

‘But… I can’t not tell her…’

‘Better a short sharp pain than a long dull ache.’

She glanced at the perplexed Bai Ruijin, deciding to tell her the truth during lunchtime.

****

After an indeterminate amount of time, Zhong Tian’s consciousness gradually sharpened.

A strange sensation emanated from his thighs and back, as if someone’s hands were there.

This was followed by a sensation of being lifted.

This jolted Zhong Tian almost fully awake.

‘Who was carrying him?’

Zhong Tian slowly opened his eyes.

****

Ten minutes earlier.

Class teacher Wang Changgeng and a group of boys moved the books back into the classroom, and organized the group leaders to distribute the new textbooks.

Standing at the podium, Wang Changgeng quickly noticed two students were missing from the class.

He was about to ask when Jiang Nanjin raised her hand.

“Zhong Tian took Li Jianren to the infirmary.”

Wang Changgeng nodded. “About how long have they been gone?”

“Hmm, about ten minutes, I guess.”

‘Been gone that long?’

Li Jianren, being late, was understandable; after all, he had looked like he needed to be taken to the infirmary when he entered.

‘But why was Zhong Tian gone for so long? To accompany him?’

Wang Changgeng glanced at Zhong Tian’s deskmate, the short-haired young man.

He recalled the class roster. “You… Wu Rui, go find her and bring her back.”

“Alright.”

Wu Rui agreed and headed towards the infirmary.

Even from a distance, before he reached the infirmary, he saw Zhong Tian leaning against the wall, seemingly asleep.

A jolt went through him, and he jogged over to her side.

‘What was happening?’

‘It seemed as though she had suddenly fainted…’

‘Was the school doctor not here?’

He knocked on the door, then entered the infirmary, but did not find the school doctor.

Of the two beds in the infirmary, one had its curtain drawn.

From behind it came intermittent snores, which must be Li Jianren.

‘So, after Zhong Tian brought Li Jianren to the infirmary, she herself had suddenly collapsed for some unknown reason?’

He knelt down, observing Zhong Tian’s appearance.

Not being a medical professional, he couldn’t discern any specific symptoms.

However, from Zhong Tian’s pale face and the sweat that had nearly soaked through her school uniform, he could tell that she must have endured unbearable pain before losing consciousness.

And…

He averted his gaze, a slight flush rising to his cheeks.

Having been deskmates for so long, this was the first time he had observed her face so closely.

Only now did he truly understand why everyone in class unanimously called Zhong Tian the ‘class beauty.’

‘Ahem, for now, he should move her to a bed, and then go find the school doctor.’

He lifted Zhong Tian in a princess carry.

‘So soft, so light…’

The sensation in his arms momentarily disoriented him.

‘No, he shouldn’t be thinking such things.’

He shook his head, standing upright with Zhong Tian in his arms.

“Hmm…”

Just as he reached the bedside, preparing to gently lower Zhong Tian, a faint sound came from his embrace.

Zhong Tian’s cherry lips parted slightly, exhaling slowly, then her large, misty eyes slowly opened and turned, meeting Wu Rui’s gaze.

Wu Rui froze in place, simply staring wide-eyed back at Zhong Tian.

‘Her eyes were deep blue…’

‘No!’

He suddenly snapped back to reality, and gently placed Zhong Tian onto the infirmary bed. “I’m sorry, I saw you sleeping outside just now, so I, uh… took the liberty of carrying you in… that…”

Fearing Zhong Tian might misunderstand, he grew nervous, unable to form coherent words.

The person lying on the bed merely blinked, then slowly sat up and offered him a faint smile.

“Thank you.”

Wu Rui’s breath hitched.

“I’m fine.” Zhong Tian sat up and got off the bed. “Is the class in self-study now?”

“Ah, it should be time to catch up on summer homework.” Wu Rui reacted, nodding. “They say it will be collected during evening self-study, giving those who haven’t finished a chance…”

“Alright, I’m heading back then.”

“Aren’t you going to wait for the school doctor to check you?”

“No need.” Zhong Tian shook her head, and left directly.

Wu Rui paused for a second before following.

He instinctively maintained a distance of about two meters from Zhong Tian, walking slowly behind her.

He hadn’t fully recovered from the situation just now.

Zhong Tian’s delicate beauty lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.

He used to find the students who secretly fantasized about Zhong Tian and other cute girls in class boring and impolite.

Only now did he profoundly realize that some things simply couldn’t be fought against…

Wu Rui, who had buried himself in studies until now and believed he had no interest in romance, now felt a slight flutter in his heart.

****

The class teacher actually gave students time to finish their summer homework… Li Jianren’s cleverness had truly backfired on him.

Indeed, what was meant to come would always come, and what couldn’t be escaped would remain inescapable.

Having long since finished his summer homework, Zhong Tian could now confidently deal with Zheng Qiao’s matter.

He quickly returned to class, then took out his phone from his canvas bag, logged into his secondary account, and accepted Zheng Qiao’s friend request.

‘Hmm, it would probably be better to talk in person.’

–Are you free for lunch? I’ll wait for you at your classroom door. There’s something I need to talk to you about.–

Zhong Tian thought for a moment, then added a line,

–Bring Bai Ruijin with you.–

****

Zheng Qiao nearly dropped her phone.

‘Zhong Tian… accepted the friend request… and even said he wanted to talk…’

‘And not only did he call for her, but Zhong Tian specifically asked for Xiaobai to come along!’

‘No, no, how did she know about Xiaobai?’

‘She’d seen my face, so recognizing me was reasonable, but Xiaobai?’

‘Could Li Jianren have told her?…’

The more Zheng Qiao thought about it, the more complicated and confused she became.

‘No, it’s better if I go alone!’

…

Bai Ruijin secretly observed her reactions from the side, remaining silent.

“What’s wrong with Qiaoqiao…?”