“Long Aotian.” Li Qingxue waved her small hand, greeting the person who appeared outside the classroom.
As Long Aotian entered the classroom, he saw Li Qingxue waving at him.
Smiling, he walked over: “What a coincidence, you're in this class too.”
“Yeah, yeah, where’s your seat?” Li Qingxue asked, completely oblivious to the stunned expression on Wang Rui’s face beside her.
Wang Rui first glanced at Long Aotian, then quickly looked away, turning her gaze to the cheerful Li Qingxue, unable to help but feel anxious for her.
“Over there.” Long Aotian pointed to the window seat at the very back of the classroom.
“It feels like you have a special connection with that seat.” Li Qingxue’s playful nature couldn’t resist making a joke.
After all, in Class 7, Long Aotian had occupied that very same seat.
Long Aotian shrugged: “Who knows.”
“By the way, did you eat breakfast?” Li Qingxue said, taking out a sandwich and milk from her backpack: “Here, have this.”
The last time Long Aotian had talked to her and consoled her, he hadn’t taken her milk. Today, she wanted to make up for it.
“Thank you, but I’ve already eaten at the cafeteria.”
As the two chatted and laughed as if they were old friends, Wang Rui shook her head in disbelief.
She couldn’t understand how Li Qingxue knew Long Aotian.
At school, she had always been by Li Qingxue’s side, going to the toilet together, eating lunch together in the cafeteria.
She had never seen Li Qingxue interact with Long Aotian, but the sight before her made it clear that Li Qingxue and Long Aotian were quite familiar with each other!
Fortunately, it was the end of the month, and there was a mock exam. The two didn’t chat for long before Long Aotian headed to the last row.
Once Long Aotian left, Wang Rui leaned closer to Li Qingxue and whispered, “Qingxue, that’s Long Aotian. How do you know him?”
“Has he been bothering you?”
Li Qingxue chuckled upon hearing this, looking at Wang Rui: “Actually, he’s quite a nice person.”
“Nice?”
Wang Rui subconsciously shook her head. Her roommate had said Long Aotian was the school's 'tough guy', the leader of the troublemakers.
Without some serious skill, how could he have earned the respect of the other bad students and become their leader?
Moreover, she had heard from her roommate that he had once punched someone so hard that their head bled. How could someone like that be associated with the word 'nice'?
If he could be considered nice, why would her roommate have such a negative opinion of Long Aotian? She had even advised everyone in the dorm to pretend not to see him and to quickly walk away if they encountered him.
"Qingxue, you really shouldn't get too close to Long Aotian," Wang Rui sincerely advised Li Qingxue.
If one person called Long Aotian a bad guy, it might just be because that person had a personal grudge against him.
But if ten people all said Long Aotian wasn’t a good person, it could only mean that Long Aotian really wasn’t someone to be trusted.
So Wang Rui chose to believe the latter.
Li Qingxue didn’t know how to explain it to Wang Rui. She turned back to glance at Long Aotian.
A person who liked to watch the scenery, listen to running water, and feel the breeze. A gentle and refined conversationalist.
Someone who could console her and listen to her pour out her heart like a tree hole (confidant).
At least in Li Qingxue’s eyes, he... was not a bad person.
On the contrary, being friends with someone like him made Li Qingxue quite happy.
But seeing how nervous and concerned Wang Rui was, Li Qingxue smiled and comforted her: “Alright, alright, don’t worry. I know which friends I should have and which I shouldn’t.”
At that moment, the homeroom teacher of Class 6 walked in with a stack of test papers.
As the teacher entered the classroom, the room immediately quieted down.
The preparatory bell rang.
The teacher distributed the test papers to the students in the front row, who then passed them back.
The second bell rang.
The entire classroom fell silent, with only the faint sound of pens gliding across the paper.
It was a mock college entrance exam, and everyone was incredibly focused.
Two periods passed.
The bell rang again, signaling the collection of the test papers, followed by a break before the next exam.
“Qingxue, want to go to the bathroom together?” Wang Rui stretched and asked.
“No, you go ahead,” Li Qingxue said with a smile after tidying up her desk.
“Alright, then.”
After Wang Rui left, Li Qingxue turned to look at the last row, where Long Aotian sat.
After a moment of thought, she decided to approach him: “Long... Aotian, how do you feel?”
“Not too bad,” Long Aotian said, scratching his hair. The liberal arts subjects weren’t too stressful for him.
“How about you?”
Li Qingxue’s bright eyes sparkled like a vigilant young deer: “Same here.”
The youthful energy Li Qingxue exuded felt like an uncharted world, one filled with positivity. Her charm was distinct from that of Hu Yuying.
Such a girl would likely easily become the "white moonlight" (pure, idealized love) in the hearts of many young, naive boys.
“Um, how’s your friend doing now?”
Long Aotian asked casually.
Before this, he hadn’t known that this vibrant girl in front of him would become the male protagonist's white moonlight (the purest, unattainable love).
He also wasn’t sure if the things he had said to her would affect the overall storyline.
Hu Yuying was beyond help. Long Aotian didn’t consider himself a pure-hearted good person, but he couldn’t stand by and watch a girl being bullied.
Perhaps it was a difference in mindset. In his original world, Long Aotian had often seen incidents of school bullying on social media.
Just watching those videos made him feel uncomfortable.
And now that it was happening right in front of him, he couldn’t just look away.
Moreover, Long Aotian didn’t believe that the female lead had to endure bullying to advance the plot between her and the male lead.
Based on his experience reading novels, the male and female leads were like the opposite poles of a magnet.
As long as they met, they would naturally attract each other. That was the law governing the relationship between protagonists.
“Oh, don’t mention him,” Li Qingxue said, clearly not in the mood to discuss it further.
Seeing her response, Long Aotian decided not to press the issue.
After all, things had already reached this point, and it was better to avoid the topic in the future.
Long Aotian would just treat Li Qingxue as a friend. After all, in a short while, they would be going their separate ways, and chances were they would never see each other again.
“Long Ge (Brother Long).” A voice called out.
Long Aotian looked towards the back door of the classroom and smiled.
Li Qingxue also turned to look at the door.
Hu Yuying’s smile froze as soon as she saw Li Qingxue.Long Aotian got up and walked out to the corridor outside the classroom.
For some reason, Hu Yuying suddenly felt a pang of sadness, a strange emotion that had crept up on her.
It was a strong feeling that she hadn’t experienced even when she was being bullied.
As Long Aotian and Li Qingxue approached, Hu Yuying instinctively took a step back.
This inexplicable emotional turmoil was overwhelming...
[Thank you for the gifts, thank you for all the gifts and power-ups. I can only add an extra chapter to express my gratitude. Thank you all so much. 💖 May you all live long and prosper!]