Try Saying You Don't Like It - Chapter 62

Chapter 62

“Here?” Yin Qiuman looked around, a hesitant expression on her face, and seriously wondered if He Xinglan had some kind of fetish.

A flicker of awkwardness crossed He Xinglan’s eyes, but she quickly rationalized it.

“It’s not safe anywhere else either.”

He Xinglan didn’t mind if their puppy love was discovered, but Yin Qiuman did.

She was different from Yin Qiuman. He Xinglan was the type to “smash a broken pot,” while Yin Qiuman was a good student. If their relationship was discovered, He Xinglan wasn’t sure how Yin Qiuman would react.

Would a good student be willing to take on a blemish because of a relationship with her?

He Xinglan didn’t want to dwell on it. Therefore, she preferred to be more careful in their interactions, ensuring, for the time being, that only the two of them knew about their relationship.

Yin Qiuman had nothing to say, so she stood on her tiptoes and lightly touched He Xinglan’s cheek.

Although it wasn’t the lips she craved, He Xinglan was still overjoyed to be kissed on the cheek.

“I’ll go out first.” Satisfied, He Xinglan left the restroom stall with a silly grin.

After the sound of her footsteps faded, Yin Qiuman waited a little longer before stepping out.

He Xinglan returned to the classroom first.

Xiao Hua had been watching the classroom door ever since He Xinglan and Yin Qiuman went out together, like she was catching a thief, though she wasn’t sure what her goal was.

She was naturally the first to see He Xinglan return. How to put it, she felt strange.

Just like the last time she bumped into He Xinglan and Yin Qiuman staring at each other.

“Hey, He Xinglan, did a pie fall from the sky and hit you on the head? That’s a silly smile,” Xiao Hua spoke, her hostility and mockery undisguised.

He Xinglan was still savoring Yin Qiuman’s kiss and couldn’t be bothered with Xiao Hua. She walked straight past her without even giving Xiao Hua an extra glance.

Xiao Hua: “???”

Xiao Hua laughed out of anger.

She simply stood up and walked toward He Xinglan, determined to get to the bottom of it: “Hey, He Xinglan, tell us! Since it’s good news, we’re all classmates, what’s there to hide?”

“Classmates?” He Xinglan looked up, frowning with displeasure at Xiao Hua: “Is being classmates a very close relationship?”

Xiao Hua choked on the question, trying to figure out how to refute He Xinglan’s words, when He Xinglan added: “At least they have to be a deskmate. Only then do I, He Xinglan, consider it a decent relationship.”

For some reason, Xiao Hua felt He Xinglan’s words were aimed directly at Yin Qiuman.

He Xinglan was implying that her good relationship was only with Yin Qiuman?

Xiao Hua felt even more irritated inside.

“He Xinglan, what do you mean? You…” Xiao Hua was fuming, looking like she needed an explanation today. To make her presence stronger, she raised her voice considerably.

“What’s wrong?” Just as Xiao Hua was about to raise her voice, Yin Qiuman’s voice came from behind.

The voice was not loud, just an ordinary, calm tone, but it instantly extinguished the fire Xiao Hua had just built up.

Yin Qiuman wasn’t questioning her, yet Xiao Hua felt inexplicably guilty.

Yin Qiuman wouldn’t defend He Xinglan, would she?

Thinking this, the words on the tip of her tongue took a turn and became “Nothing.”

Yin Qiuman looked at He Xinglan, her eyes questioning.

He Xinglan shook her head. Just then, the class bell rang.

Xiao Hua reluctantly returned to her seat.

Yin Qiuman knew Xiao Hua’s temper, so she looked at He Xinglan again, her eyes asking for confirmation.

This time, He Xinglan still said nothing was wrong. She was completely immersed in the joy of being kissed by her girlfriend and didn’t take Xiao Hua’s provocation seriously.

Gradually, throughout the week, kissing during breaks in the restroom, kissing in a secluded corner during gym class, and kissing in the alley after school while walking Yin Qiuman home—He Xinglan felt as if she had been immersed in a honey pot.

On Friday, after enough sweet interaction in the alley, He Xinglan reluctantly watched Yin Qiuman enter the community gate. Not until Yin Qiuman’s figure was completely out of sight did He Xinglan move her feet toward home, sighing with every three steps, turning back every few steps.

On Friday, when Yin Qiuman returned home, Yin Huaishan and Leng Ci had already returned from work.

Both had an early shift today, so when Yin Qiuman came home, she saw the table filled with various delicious dishes, all her favorites.

Hearing the door open, Leng Ci and Yin Huaishan, who were sitting on the sofa, looked at the entrance and smiled in unison.

“Manman is back,” Leng Ci and Yin Huaishan said as they got up and walked toward the dining room.

“Quick, wash your hands and eat. Mom made all your favorite dishes today,” Yin Huaishan said to his daughter with a beaming smile.

Yin Qiuman nodded and replied: “Okay.”

Then she put down her school bag and walked toward the bathroom.

Leng Ci looked at her daughter’s retreating back and suddenly said to Yin Huaishan beside her: “Old Yin, don’t you think Manman seems… to be in a very good mood?”

“A very good mood?” Yin Huaishan didn’t think much of it and said instinctively: “Is being in a good mood not good? Do you, as a mother, want your daughter to be unhappy all day?”

Leng Ci rolled her eyes at Yin Huaishan when she heard this: “You really are dense.”

“Do I want my daughter to be unhappy? I’m not a stepmother.”

“What I mean is, didn’t you notice our daughter is a little different from before?” Leng Ci asked with a worried frown.

“What’s different about her?” Yin Huaishan hadn’t paid that much attention and didn’t notice the details.

Listening to his wife, he subconsciously recalled the daughter he had just seen.

It seemed… nothing was different.

Seeing Yin Huaishan’s puzzled expression, Leng Ci knew she had asked a pointless question.

How could she expect a big, rough man to be sensitive enough to notice that small difference in their daughter?!

Leng Ci glanced at the bathroom. The sound of running water had stopped, meaning her daughter was about to come out, so she didn’t continue the conversation.

When Yin Qiuman emerged, Yin Huaishan and Leng Ci were already seated at the dining table.

After Yin Qiuman sat down, Leng Ci served some food into her bowl and opened the conversation tentatively: “Manman… did you make a new friend at school?”

Yin Qiuman’s hand, holding the bowl and chopsticks, paused. A moment of panic flashed in her lowered eyes, but she quickly regained composure. After hesitating for two seconds, she replied normally: “Mhm.”

“The teacher changed my deskmate,” Yin Qiuman briefly explained what had happened.

Changing deskmates was a common occurrence at school. Leng Ci didn’t ask in detail, only saying: “It seems Manman’s relationship with her new deskmate is very good. When you came home today, Mom saw a smile you couldn’t suppress on your face. Although it was subtle, a mother knows her daughter best. Mom could tell you were very happy.”

Yin Qiuman subconsciously pressed her lips together when she heard this, and the slight curve of her smile reflexively straightened.

But thinking of He Xinglan, the corners of her mouth lifted uncontrollably again.

Leng Ci saw this subtle expression of her daughter and chuckled: “It looks like Manman is very satisfied with this new deskmate.”

“What’s her name? Is she a girl? Are her grades good too?” Leng Ci seemed to have an endless stream of questions, asking so many that Yin Qiuman didn’t know which one to answer first.

Yin Huaishan nudged his wife’s elbow, reminding her: “We’re eating. How can our daughter eat properly with so many questions?”

Leng Ci then stopped her questioning.

Yin Qiuman secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that saying too much would expose the true nature of her relationship with He Xinglan.

But, how long could she keep it a secret?

Yin Qiuman, buried in her food, began to worry.