The School Beauty from the Next Class Insisted I Confess - Chapter 32

After evening self-study, at home. Madam Yan Chunhua came home relatively early today. She cut a fruit platter and intended to bring it into Xu Qingfeng’s room. When she entered, she found her daughter was unresponsive. She stood there curiously, observing that Xu Qingfeng wasn’t reading a book but was constantly scrolling through products on her phone.

This surprised her greatly.

Not studying, Madam Yan could understand. But during break time, not reading and instead staring at her phone, Madam Yan couldn’t comprehend.

Has my daughter changed her nature?

The Xu Qingfeng before her had rarely put on her glasses. Her long, slender fingers slid across the screen, blocking out all surrounding noise. She hadn’t noticed Madam Yan’s approach. If this were an awkward scenario, it was certainly one that had never occurred between mother and daughter.

Madam Yan glanced over her shoulder and saw the striking words on the mobile shopping cart: Gift for a Girl.

Is Xiao Gao Zhi having a birthday soon? Madam Yan wondered. Besides Gao Zhi, there was no one else worthy of her little Xu classmate spending so much effort. Thinking of Gao Zhi, Madam Yan realized she hadn’t been over to play in a long time. That little Gao Zhi was the only one who had managed to play well with her daughter since childhood.

Madam Yan patted Xu Qingfeng’s back.

“Buying a gift for a friend? I haven’t seen Xiao Gao Zhi in a long time; I actually miss her a bit.” Madam Yan smoothly placed the fruit platter on the desk.

A hint of softness flashed in Xu Qingfeng’s eyes. “Not Gao Zhi. It’s someone else.”

“Someone else?” Madam Yan was surprised. There’s someone else? Looking at her little Xu’s shy expression, if she didn’t know the gift was for a girl, she would have suspected her daughter was having an early romance.

Madam Yan prided herself on being an open-minded parent. As long as her little Xu turned eighteen, she wouldn’t interfere with her dating life; it would be the child’s own business. At most, she’d help with advice.

Clearly, Madam Yan’s open-mindedness still had room for improvement. She never considered that the moment her little Xu saw Xia Yiqiu when she was young, her sexual orientation had already shifted toward girls.

“It’s President Xia, the one I mentioned to you last time.” Xu Qingfeng didn’t feel there was anything difficult to say. If her dream came true, she would inform everyone she knew about Xia Yiqiu without any hesitation.

Oh, the one who is first in the Science stream, just as outstanding as my daughter. Parents often value academic performance, and in Madam Yan’s mind, Xia Yiqiu belonged to the top tier of students.

“Very nice. You should pick carefully. If you have time, you can bring her over to the house to play.” Madam Yan left this sentence as she departed.

“Okay, Mom.” Even if Madam Yan hadn’t said it, Xu Qingfeng would invite Yiqiu if she had the chance. She wanted the other person to understand her better and share more secrets belonging only to the two of them.

If one were to ask why Xu Qingfeng was in such a rush to choose a gift tonight, it was because Han Feng let slip yesterday noon, saying that Li Tian had told him that the following week, when she came over, it would coincide with her best friend Xia Yiqiu’s birthday.

This was her seventeenth birthday. Although not as significant as the eighteenth, it was the first important day of the other person that they would celebrate since they became close. A song once said that the seventeenth year’s rainy season is the most precious【1】. They had become acquainted as autumn winds were just beginning, and she wanted to leave her memory on Xia Yiqiu’s seventeenth birthday.

Ultimately, she was indecisive. This choice didn’t feel right, and that one didn’t feel suitable. She kept procrastinating and hadn’t chosen one even by midnight, so she had to go to bed and think about it tomorrow.

The next day, when Xu Qingfeng arrived at class, Gao Zhi was already in her seat reviewing.

Hmm, our Gao Zhi has finally grown up.

The evidence from the past month hadn’t completely settled the uncertainty and doubt in Xu Qingfeng’s heart. Seeing Gao Zhi, who usually liked to sleep in and just made it on time, in the classroom so early today, she was thoroughly convinced.

The magic of love displayed a powerful motivation in Gao Zhi, Xu Qingfeng thought more than once. Perhaps a positive emotion is better than self-indulgence.

“Qingfeng, you’re here.”

Gao Zhi’s voice was tired, her eyes were dark, and her whole appearance was dishevelled. However, her spirits were good, and she could still greet people with a loud voice. But after a glance at Xu Qingfeng, she lowered her head and returned to her struggle with the sea of questions.

“Mhm.”

Xu Qingfeng nodded at Gao Zhi and didn’t say much. It was better not to disturb such a hard-working Gao Zhi.

She then remembered the unfinished task from last night. Xu Qingfeng was a person who finished what she started, and this unresolved matter was truly frustrating.

Xu Qingfeng glanced around. Hmm, there aren’t many people yet. It’s probably fine to look secretly, right?

Wecheng No. 1 High School prohibited bringing mobile phones, but students still brought them privately. In fact, as long as they weren’t seen by a teacher, the students would cover for each other. Who would do something harmful to others for no personal gain?

And so, Xu Qingfeng put down her backpack, mimicking how Gao Zhi used to play with her phone: placing her book between the seats to block the view of others and burying her head.

Just as she opened her phone, Han Feng’s enthusiastic greeting came from above.

“Yo, Class Monitor, good morning.”

“Hey, Gao Zhi, you’re here so early too.”

Han Feng didn’t look closely, he just thought it was a bit strange that Gao Zhi was early. Upon closer inspection, Gao Zhi was working on a test paper, and the Class Monitor was playing with her phone.

This was a total reversal of the norm.

If Gao Zhi was studying, it made sense, but the Class Monitor would never take out her phone in the classroom.

Xu Qingfeng was already uncomfortable. Her principle was always to study when it’s time to study and rest when it’s time to rest. She dedicated one hundred percent of her focus during study periods, which was why Xu Qingfeng was so efficient.

She put away her phone, intending to try and find out what Xia Yiqiu liked at noon. Xu Qingfeng felt that her secret crush was a failure: she didn’t know Yiqiu’s birthday, nor her specific preferences. I am an incompetent secret admirer.

Xu Qingfeng resolved to be more diligent starting today.

However, sometimes luck comes so quickly. The meeting she anticipated at noon happened earlier, during the last class of the morning, which was English class.

Due to the English teacher having a sudden commitment, the English class was swapped with the Physical Education class to the first class in the afternoon. Coincidentally, Science Class 0 was also having P.E. class this period. They shared the same P.E. teacher, and teaching one class was the same as teaching two.

Since the P.E. teacher had notified the students in the Liberal Arts class after the third class, Xu Qingfeng waited at the doorway of the adjacent Science class for Xia Yiqiu before the fourth class began.

She leaned against the door, watching Xia Yiqiu stand up from her seat. Clearly, the other person didn’t know why she was at the door.

“Qingfeng, why are you here?” The girl in front of her had bright eyes and a clear, pleasant voice.

“I’m here to have P.E. class with you. The P.E. teacher swapped the class to this period,” Xu Qingfeng explained the reason for her arrival.

“That’s great. We can go to the canteen early today.” Xia Yiqiu held Xu Qingfeng’s arm, intending to go down together like this.

Xu Qingfeng didn’t find this inappropriate. Their friendship was growing deeper, and some intimate actions were understandable, especially since Xia Yiqiu had been doing this for a long time.

If Xia Yiqiu knew what she was thinking, she would likely be angry. She had previously thought Xu Qingfeng was slow to react, but who would have thought that the other person knew all along and just treated it as a sign of deepening friendship?

During class, since they previously had the same teacher, their class routine was essentially the same, only they were split into two teams. After the basic running and training, the P.E. teacher let everyone have free activity time.

Some students went to the classrooms for self-study. After all, they were both Class 0, and everyone’s motivation to study was strong. This included Gao Zhi, who, in order to seize every available moment for review, found Han Feng to take her duty.

If Xia Yiqiu wasn’t here today, Xu Qingfeng would undoubtedly have gone to the classroom. However, the situation was different today, and she chose to stay.

There were many options for free activity: table tennis, basketball, badminton. The sports committee member took out all the equipment, allowing everyone to choose.

Liang Hao, who was constantly by Xu Qingfeng’s and Xia Yiqiu’s side, saw Han Feng come out with a large bag of table tennis paddles and her eyes lit up.

Heaven knows she, Liang Hao, hadn’t done anything bad. This time, she wasn’t in much of a hurry to study and stayed on the field for activities. But why was it that in P.E. class, which is a course that builds friendship between girls, these two lovebirds got together again? Where did that leave her, Liang Hao?

Could the three of them play three-person basketball? Clearly, none of them knew how to play basketball.

But if she quietly withdrew, where would she find a good friend to spend this boring time with? After getting into the top ten, she didn’t want to get involved in the competitive studying any longer.

Han Feng, who daily chatted enthusiastically in the “Xǔ Nǐ Qiū Fēng Support Group” (Xu Qingfeng-Xia Yiqiu), was a good candidate, especially since he was holding her favorite table tennis paddles.

I, Liang Hao, am Wecheng No. 1 High School’s “Table Tennis Star.”

“Yiqiu, I’m going to play table tennis with Han Feng. Bye.” Liang Hao waved her sleeve, not taking away a single cloud, living as freely as poetry.

“Let’s go too!” Xia Yiqiu said cheerfully to Xu Qingfeng. Although neither of them had played before, they usually played badminton. Since it was the national sport, why not give it a try? It would be fun.

Upholding the belief that as a Chinese national she should inherently have a talent for table tennis, Xu Qingfeng happily agreed.

“Alright.”

Da. Da. Da…

She lost count of how many times the two of them couldn’t even return the other’s serve. Even worse, some serves couldn’t even clear the net.

I was too careless, Xu Qingfeng lowered her head in shame. I’m so terrible.

On the table next to them, Liang Hao and Han Feng’s ball made a ping-pong sound with each strike of the paddle. Since they weren’t in a competition but were just feeding balls back and forth and playing for fun, the ball never seemed to drop. Being bad wasn’t so bad, but the comparison was.

Xia Yiqiu, who still had a good attitude, quietly pulled her dejected little simpleton toward the badminton court.

On the badminton court, Xu Qingfeng realized that today was not her day for ball games. Since both of them had played badminton since childhood, they played better than table tennis, but even here, the shuttlecock only went back and forth two or three times at most. Fortunately, there were no experts nearby, so their frequent bending down to pick up the shuttlecock didn’t seem too out of place.

How strange. When I play with Old Xu (her dad) at home, it’s smooth. Has Old Xu always been feeding me the shuttlecock? Xu Qingfeng guessed correctly; she was genuinely terrible at ball games, and so was Xia Yiqiu.

Just as Xu Qingfeng ran to the center line to save the shuttlecock yet again, she failed once more.

I think I remember a way to pick up the shuttlecock without bending down. Xu Qingfeng recalled Old Xu’s racket-scooping method. Having bent down many times today, she decided to give it a try.

Xu Qingfeng quickly pushed the racket forward. The shuttlecock didn’t land on the racket and into her hand; instead, it moved even further away.

“Xu Qingfeng, don’t try to look cool.” Xia Yiqiu stood nearby with her racket up, speaking with a tone of helpless affection.

Me? Trying to look cool?

Xu Qingfeng felt this was a huge misunderstanding. Although she did genuinely want to impress the fair lady and win her heart, this time she was truly just trying to pick up the shuttlecock.

Xia Yiqiu couldn’t guess the other person’s thoughts. Ever since she learned that the other person liked her, she felt that every single action of Xu Qingfeng carried a different meaning.

This simpleton, wants to look cool for me? Does she need to do it now? Playing ball is the important thing now, and I won’t like anyone else anyway.

Forget it. She’s just trying to tease me.

No choice. This simpleton just loves me this much.

Support The School Beauty from the Next Class Insisted I Confess