Chapter 55: I Arrived Too Late

Ji Niansheng finally caught up with Yu Fan. "Did you really have to reject her in such a cool way? She’s still a girl, you know. Even if you can't be gentle, could you at least soften your tone? Besides, Dieyan is beautiful, she’s a good student, she comes from a great family, and she's kind to others. What exactly is it about her that doesn't suit you?"

"Then why don’t you like her?" Yu Fan retorted.

"Tch, she’s not interested in me."

"That doesn’t mean you can’t pursue her."

Ji Niansheng thought about it—he supposed that made sense. No matter how good or perfect someone was, it didn’t necessarily mean you’d have feelings for them. Take Leng Xinmeng, for example: she was undeniably beautiful, but she was also violent and unreasonable. Still, he felt far more for her than he did for Dieyan.

Qiao Xi was reading a comic when she felt someone approach. She looked up and saw Oya.

"Sorry I’m late," he said.

She had been so engrossed in the comic she’d lost track of time, not realizing an hour had already passed.

She closed the comic and stood up. "I’ll put the book back."

"Okay." Oya watched her walk away, and before long, she returned. He said, "Shall we go?"

She nodded, and the two of them left the library—not through the main entrance, but through the back gate of the school.

"Let’s get something to eat first," Oya suggested.

Qiao Xi nodded.

"Same place as last time?" Oya asked.

"Sure." She didn’t mind. Although she’d transferred here two weeks ago, she still wasn’t familiar with any of the nearby restaurants.

It had been over an hour since school let out, yet there were still students in uniform dining at the restaurant.

They made no effort to avoid attention, choosing a seat by the window.

"Hey, isn’t that the vice president?"

"Really? I didn’t expect to see him here. Who’s that girl with him?"

At another table, students from their own school had noticed them. Few people at school didn’t know the vice president, but no matter how much buzz there was about Qiao Xi, she had only just transferred, so not many had actually met her.

"Could she be his girlfriend?"

"Just because a boy and a girl eat together, that makes them a couple? Then which of you is my girlfriend?" the boy sitting across from the two girls chimed in.

"Don’t take advantage of us," one of the girls shot back.

"Exactly. Even if you have a point, everyone knows Xu Jia’er has her eye on the vice president. No one else would dare be seen with him in public—except the new transfer..."

"Qiao Xi," someone concluded.

In the end, they guessed correctly. They spoke quietly, and the distance muffled most of their words, but a few phrases still drifted over. Qiao Xi had never cared what others said about her, and it was clear Oya didn’t either.

After dinner, they left the restaurant.

Dusk was settling in. Qiao Xi turned to Oya, about to speak, but he was already asking in a gentle tone, "If you’re not in a hurry to go back, shall we take a walk?"

Qiao Xi nodded.

They walked slowly side by side in silence.

When they reached a corner, Oya stopped and looked at her. "There’s a park over there. Want to sit for a while?"

Qiao Xi didn’t answer immediately.

"If you don’t have time, we can do it another day. I’ll walk you home," Oya offered.

"It’s not that," Qiao Xi said, pausing before adding, "Let’s go."

Oya smiled faintly.

"Come on, I’ll show the way."

The park was fairly close. It took them about ten minutes of slow walking to get there, and by then, night had fallen. They sat down together on a bench with a backrest.