Try Saying You Don't Like It - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

He Xinglan didn’t answer. After looking at the new teaching building in the distance for a while, she joked easily, “Then, shouldn’t I stop calling you ‘Big Scholar’ from now on? Should I call you ‘Big Designer’?”

He Xinglan had no intention of letting Yin Qiuman enter her life, at least not yet.

Yin Qiuman was a little disappointed, but she wasn’t anxious. When they were eighteen, Yin Qiuman and He Xinglan hadn’t suddenly become lovers either.

So, the twenty-five-year-old He Xinglan wouldn’t suddenly reconcile with her as if nothing happened.

Yin Qiuman calmed her mind and answered He Xinglan’s question: “Anything is fine. You can call me whatever you like.”

“But I’d still prefer to hear you call me your girlfriend.” Yin Qiuman boldly laid her private desire out in the open.

Even though her ears were burning fiercely, as if she was about to ignite completely the next second.

How to put it? Yin Qiuman was really quite forward now.

If He Xinglan hadn’t been entrenched among her younger sisters all these years, she would have already raised the white flag.

But she was battle-hardened and had heard even more aggressive terms. Yin Qiuman was truly showing off her meager skills to an expert.

So, He Xinglan smoothly bypassed Yin Qiuman’s expectant gaze and changed the subject: “Let’s hurry up. It’s not good for non-students to linger too long on campus.”

She finished speaking, and as if to prove that this was genuinely her thought, He Xinglan shook off Yin Qiuman’s interlocked fingers and accelerated her pace.

Yin Qiuman saw He Xinglan’s retreating back and unhappily hmphed. Don’t think I can’t tell you’re avoiding the question.

However, she was only avoiding it, not refusing it! Yin Qiuman felt she still had great hope.

Thinking this, Yin Qiuman became happy again and quickly jogged to catch up.

“He Xinglan, wait for me. My legs are too short. I can’t keep up if you run so fast.”

He Xinglan heard the shout behind her. Before her mind could make a decision, her body was already acting.

Her pace slowed. He Xinglan thought, Yin Qiuman is quite self-aware to say her legs are short.

Finally, Yin Qiuman caught up and walked side-by-side with He Xinglan.

While they were getting closer, Yin Qiuman quickly grabbed He Xinglan’s hand again. Then, her fingers gently worked their way between He Xinglan’s, reverting back to a tight interlace.

Completing the action, Yin Qiuman curled her lips, a satisfied smile on her face.

“He Xinglan, look, actually this school hasn’t changed much except for the new teaching building. Doesn’t walking in here now feel like we’re back in our senior year of high school?”

“Do you remember? We weren’t deskmates at first. You sat in the back of the classroom, always sleeping or playing games and being lazy. You didn’t even know who I was then. Fortunately, our class got a new homeroom teacher later. The new teacher was kind and didn’t give up on you, even knowing you were a bad student. That’s how you and I became deskmates. But at first, you still ignored me. It wasn’t until that time I fainted from menstrual pain that you carried me to the clinic and stayed with me until I woke up…”

Yin Qiuman’s voice constantly echoed in her ears. He Xinglan’s mind involuntarily followed Yin Qiuman’s words, recalling the memories she had hidden away. The scenes were so clear they felt like they had just happened.

Turns out, I hadn’t forgotten either.

The corner of her mouth lifted into a slight, faint curve. When Yin Qiuman later mentioned how she tried to tutor her and how she seemed to have a blockhead, unable to learn, He Xinglan finally couldn’t help but retort.

“It wasn’t that I was dumb. It was clearly because you were too good-looking and spoke too gently. I was just staring at you. How could I focus on studying?”

Beauty corrupts people. Yin Qiuman started doing that from the age of eighteen.

“Is that so?” Suddenly, a magnified face appeared before her.

Yin Qiuman was practically cheek-to-cheek with He Xinglan. He Xinglan froze for a moment. In that instant of He Xinglan’s confusion, Yin Qiuman swiftly and decisively kissed He Xinglan’s lips.

It was light, gentle. He Xinglan felt her lips were brushed by a feather.

It made all the hairs on her body tingle.

“Yin Qiuman, you…” He Xinglan’s pupils constricted violently. She subconsciously licked her lips. The instant her tongue touched them, it felt as though she inhaled Yin Qiuman’s scent into her body and filled her heart, making the owner of the body feel fulfilled and satisfied.

Snapping back to reality, He Xinglan instinctively looked around, acting like someone who had done something bad and was afraid of being caught by a teacher.

Yin Qiuman enjoyed He Xinglan’s series of reactions, feeling as though she was seeing the eighteen-year-old He Xinglan. Suddenly, she felt a brief kiss was not enough.

Her arms quickly climbed around He Xinglan’s neck. Standing on her tiptoes, Yin Qiuman wanted to continue the kiss.

But this time, He Xinglan reacted quickly. The moment Yin Qiuman leaned in for the kiss, she tilted her head. Yin Qiuman’s lips missed, landing on He Xinglan’s ear instead.

He Xinglan’s body shuddered. Her ear immediately flushed crimson.

“Yin Qiuman.” He Xinglan forcefully pulled Yin Qiuman away from her, her eyes blazing with fury, and her voice was utterly exasperated.

“You… do you know what you’re doing?”

“You dare to do this even in school… Aren’t you most afraid of…” He Xinglan was referring to the eighteen-year-old Yin Qiuman.

The eighteen-year-old Yin Qiuman was a model student in the eyes of her parents and teachers.

But only she knew she was secretly doing something wrong.

She was in an early relationship, and with a girl, no less.

So, outside of school, Yin Qiuman would hesitate but eventually fulfill He Xinglan’s inappropriate requests. Inside the school, however, Yin Qiuman firmly refused any intimacy with He Xinglan. Even knowing no one was around, she was afraid of having her secret discovered.

Perhaps being in the sensitive location of the school, He Xinglan momentarily forgot that she was already twenty-five years old.

Yin Qiuman was happy to see He Xinglan angry. Since their reunion, He Xinglan had been too composed. No matter what she did, the expressive, easily irritated eighteen-year-old He Xinglan had not reappeared.

Yin Qiuman had initially thought He Xinglan had truly changed and that the eighteen-year-old He Xinglan would never be seen again. But now it seemed the eighteen-year-old He Xinglan was just hidden by the twenty-five-year-old He Xinglan.

Although she didn’t successfully kiss her, Yin Qiuman’s eyes shone even brighter.

“He Xinglan, promise me something.”

He Xinglan immediately looked at Yin Qiuman with caution. Her female intuition told her that what Yin Qiuman was about to say wasn’t simple.

“You go first.”

“Uh, well… why don’t we get married first and fall in love later?” Yin Qiuman looked at He Xinglan with shining eyes, and her words were indeed shocking.

“What?” He Xinglan looked at Yin Qiuman in astonishment, like she was looking at a madwoman.

“You aren’t even my girlfriend, and you want to be my wife?” He Xinglan genuinely wanted to open Yin Qiuman’s head and see what kind of thought process could generate such an idea.

How did she manage to say such an outrageous request out loud?!

He Xinglan was so angry she laughed.

Yin Qiuman saw the shock on He Xinglan’s face and felt a little embarrassed. She knew her request was excessive but still bravely explained, “I just kissed you a moment ago.”

“And then?” He Xinglan stared coldly at Yin Qiuman. She wanted to hear the reasoning behind this request.

“I realized I don’t just want to kiss you.”