The smile at the corner of Lin Xiche’s mouth froze for a moment as she stared at him, but she soon lowered her head, silently placing her phone into her pocket.
A few male students nearby let out suppressed laughter.
To spare her from embarrassment, Wen Jingjing hurried over and held Lin Xiche’s hand, explaining, “Um, excuse us, fellow student. We were just playing a dare game, and we’re really sorry if we disturbed you.”
Not wanting to linger there any longer, Wen Jingjing whispered to Lin Xiche, “Let’s go.”
In fact, the other people present were a bit slow to react. Because except for bad weather conditions, there were usually large groups of students playing games on the school’s artificial turf every evening. With games came winners and losers, and hence, penalties.
So, it was quite common for a dare to involve asking a stranger for their WeChat, and those asked for their WeChat typically didn’t take it too seriously and would usually give it as a formality.
This was the first time they had encountered someone who refused so bluntly.
Seeing Lin Xiche keeping her head down and not speaking, Xu Fang raised an eyebrow and lowered his head slightly. He tilted his head, but still couldn’t see her expression.
Meanwhile, the tall guy who had been talking to Xu Fang earlier leaned in curiously and exclaimed, “Isn’t this the girl…”
Xu Fang pushed his head back and clicked his tongue, “What are you trying to say?”
Lin Xiche turned her head, smiled at Wen Jingjing, and said, “It’s okay, you guys go ahead.”
Wen Jingjing wanted to say more, but she refrained.
Ye Shaowen stood at the back of the crowd, squinting his eyes, and suddenly noticed Xu Fang’s face, recognizing him as the guy who had sat next to Lin Xiche that day. He playfully stroked his chin, but didn’t continue to watch. Instead, he pulled the others away with a grin.
After the crowd dispersed,
Lin Xiche pursed her lips and looked up at Xu Fang.
Lin Xiche thought about where to start hitting him to make him feel both hurt and embarrassed. In the end, she opted for her usual move, jumping up and hooking her arm around Xu Fang’s neck, applying pressure.
Xu Fang didn’t resist, coughed a couple of times, and let her do it. After a few seconds, he chuckled and said, “You’re going to hit me just for that?”
His voice deliberately elongated, low and husky, sounding lazy and mischievous.
Lin Xiche clenched her lips and muttered in her mind, “Hitting you isn’t even close to hitting someone.”
“Xu Fang,” after a moment of struggling, Lin Xiche released some of the pressure, deliberately calling him by his full name as she distanced herself from him. She looked at his face and couldn’t help but kick him lightly. “I’m going back, we’ll settle this another time.”
She took a few steps, but Xu Fang called out, “Come back.”
Lin Xiche stopped and turned around. She looked at him, puzzled. “Why do you want to go to the school clinic?”
Was he trying to pull off a scam? She only applied a little pressure on his neck; did he really need to go to the clinic for that?
But Xu Fang didn’t seem like he was joking. His expression remained unchanged as he pointed to the red mark near his eye. “I got scratched just now.”
Lin Xiche finally noticed the red mark near his eye. She didn’t say anything and continued walking back to her department.
Seeing her walk away, Xu Fang lazily commented, “Then I’ll go by myself.”
Lin Xiche turned around and shouted back, “I’m getting my stuff!”
She returned to her department, picked up her things, and explained to her friends who had come to comfort her. Afterward, she retraced her steps.
The other military training students had already left, leaving only Xu Fang standing there, looking at his phone.
“Leaving,” Lin Xiche walked up to him and said that before heading toward the exit.
Xu Fang followed behind her, his steps leisurely.
Lin Xiche slowed down her pace, walking beside him, and started to complain about his behavior. “Xufang, I have to say, your behavior just now was shameless.”
“What?”
“Generally speaking, under normal circumstances…” Lin Xiche kicked a small stone on the path as she continued, “Where would a girl as good-looking as me ask for your contact information?”
“…”
“If it weren’t for the fact that I know you, I would never have asked you.” Lin Xiche felt more and more justified as she spoke. “You should think about it. I was actually saving face for you in front of your friends.”
Xu Fang was taken aback by her words and sighed. “Get lost.”
“You don’t even want to reflect on your own actions?”
“Why don’t you think about who started it first?”
Lin Xiche fell silent.
After a while, she asked curiously, “So, did someone really ask you for your contact information?”
Lin Xiche’s slightly incredulous tone made Xu Fang choke for a moment, but he managed to restrain himself from looking at her. He sighed and said, “More than you can imagine.”
Xu Fang had a scratch near his eye, but it wasn’t deep, and it didn’t bleed much. The school clinic cleaned the wound with a wet tissue, applied some iodine, and then let them leave.
By the time they left the clinic, it was almost ten o’clock.
Lin Xiche pulled him to a spot under a streetlight and looked up at the mark near his eye.
“…” Lin Xiche made an “Oh” sound, lowered her head, and took out her phone, muttering quietly, “I need to call Aunt Xu.”
Xu Fang’s throat moved, and he licked his lips. His head still felt heavy and dizzy. He didn’t catch Lin Xiche’s words clearly and asked in confusion, “Who are you calling?”
Lin Xiche instinctively replied, “Aunt Xu.”
Hearing this, Xu Fang suddenly became alert. He swiftly grabbed her phone, wearing an inexplicable expression. “Why are you calling my mom?”
“I want to ask Aunt Xu if you need to go to the hospital for this injury,” Lin Xiche explained.
“This injury is like being pricked by a needle. Why would I go to the hospital?” Xu Fang retorted.
Lin Xiche raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you come to the school clinic?”
“…”
“Anyway, I’ll just ask. The clinic here seems to have a rough technique, not very reliable.”
Thinking about his mom’s reaction when something happened to him, Xu Fang suddenly felt a headache. “If you call her, don’t ask me for money this month.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiche raised her eyes, pondered for a moment, and then decisively made the call.
“Okay.”
Afterward, Xu Fang, who was still on the phone with his mother, didn’t seem to mind Lin Xiche using her phone. He handled the call casually while accompanying her back to the dormitory.
By the time they reached the dormitory building, Xu Fang’s call had ended.
Lin Xiche took her phone back and asked cautiously, “What did Aunt Xu say?”
Xu Fang shot her an unfriendly look. “Ask her yourself.”
It was already 10:20 PM.
With that remark, Xu Fang immediately said, “I’m leaving,” and rushed off in the direction of the male dormitory building.
Lin Xiche walked back to her dormitory slowly, texting Xu Auntie on WeChat.
Lin Xiche: [Aunt Xu, what did you say to Xu Fang?]
As she was typing the next sentence, “Why is he so angry?” Xu Auntie sent two voice messages.
Xu Auntie: “I originally wanted to come and see him, but this brat got angry with me and told me not to make such a fuss over a small matter.”
Xu Auntie: “It really infuriates me. How can he call this a small matter, this brat.”
Lin Xiche paused and deleted the sentence she had just typed: [So, are you coming over?]
Xu Auntie: “No need to come.”
Xu Auntie: “Just transfer some money to him.”
“…”
Lin Xiche couldn’t believe what she was reading, so she read it several times to make sure: she had managed to get Xu Fang some extra living expenses from his mother.
So why did he give her such a hostile look just now?
She snorted and continued to scold Xu Fang as unreasonable on WeChat before returning to her dorm.
Upon entering the room, she saw Chen Han and Xin Zidan huddled around Nie Yue, all looking at a computer screen.
Lin Xiche placed her bag down and asked curiously, “What are you guys looking at?”
Nie Yue replied, “We’re looking at the school forum. Something just happened, and someone posted a photo.”
Hearing about some gossip, Lin Xiche walked over.
The uploaded picture wasn’t very clear, but you could see a group of military training students in their uniforms, along with a group of regular students. In the center, there were two people.
One was a military training student, and the other was a girl.
Lin Xiche squinted her eyes, feeling like she had seen this scene before.
Nie Yue continued, “It seems like…”
Before Nie Yue could finish her sentence, Lin Xiche had already seen the headline.
“Shocking! Female University Student Asks for a Military Training Student’s WeChat, Gets Rejected and Sends Him to the School Clinic!”
“….”
Leave a Reply