Chapter 9

In the broadcast room, Yan Can stood up and gave up her seat. “Thanks.”

“Mm...” The girl nodded, her face red, too shy to look at her.

She was a freshman announcer and had come over five minutes early to open the room after classes ended. She hadn’t expected someone to be there even earlier than she was.

At first, she thought it was a colleague assigned to the same broadcast duty that day, and she was just about to greet her when that person turned around and asked with a smile if she could borrow one minute.

The senior smiled so beautifully that she froze and could only nod dumbly.

She completely forgot the school rule that outsiders were not allowed to use the broadcast room.

The senior kept her word; she really only delayed her for one minute.

She said two sentences, played one song, then gave the seat back to her.

Still, was Senior Yan friends with Wang Hui from Class Six?

She had even specially dedicated a song to her.

While she was feeling envious, she heard the senior mention another second-year student and even say in front of the whole school that she should wait for her after class.

The girl drifted off in a daze and didn’t even realize that the song “Chilly” on the broadcast had finished and was now playing on repeat.

Since the senior had dedicated the song to a friend, then they might as well let it play a few more times. Thinking this, the girl watched Yan Can leave the broadcast room.

Once outside, Yan Can turned on her heel and headed right, following the covered walkway toward the second-year teaching building.

She had only taken a few steps when she saw the dean of discipline approaching from the corner with a dark expression.

They ran straight into each other. Yan Can’s right eyelid twitched wildly; her instincts told her this was bad.

The dean of discipline gave her a sharp glance. “Come to my office with me.”

The dean of discipline’s surname was Gou. She treated every student in the school the same; no matter which young master or young lady from which wealthy family you were, if you violated school rules, she would punish you without mercy.

Students who were serious and obedient respected her deeply. For those who disliked her, she was a thorn in their side, and they secretly called her not “Teacher Gou” but “Gou Shi.”

Yan Can figured she was probably here because of the broadcast room.

She just didn’t know how long this dean wanted to talk; she still had to go find Su Ci.

At the thought of Su Ci, Yan Can wondered if she had already left. Her mind wandered again.

Just as Yan Can had guessed, Teacher Gou had come because of her nonsense in the broadcast room.

Was that broadcast room somewhere you could just barge into? Right after the bell, she’d said a bunch of inexplicable things and even played a song without permission. And what song was that, “Chilly”? You could tell at a glance it wasn’t any proper song.

She simply didn’t take the school rules seriously at all! Even if she were the daughter of a school board member, she would still have to be properly disciplined today!

Teacher Gou already had a stern face to begin with; now that her brows were furrowed, she looked downright fierce.

“Yan Can, you should know the rules for the school’s broadcast room. Students other than the announcers are strictly forbidden from using the broadcast. If you..."

Before she could finish, Yan Can lowered her head and admitted her mistake on her own. “Teacher, I was wrong. It won’t happen again.”

Please let me go quickly.

Yan Can glanced at her wrist without making a sound. More than ten minutes had already passed since class ended, and she didn’t know whether Su Ci was still waiting at her seat.

At that thought, she grew anxious; her palms dampened slightly, and her heartbeat went off rhythm.

Probably because this was Yan Can’s first offense, and she looked properly remorseful, Teacher Gou, who was usually known for being strict, didn’t make things difficult for her. She told Yan Can to remember this and not do it again, then waved her off.

“Thank you, Teacher!” Yan Can turned around, took three steps in two, reached the door, yanked it open, and shot out in one motion; she slammed straight into the other person’s chin, drawing a pained cry.

Then came a shout: “Which little bastard is it this time—Yan Can?” The voice cut off abruptly.

Ji Yun hadn’t expected the one who came stumbling out to be Yan Can. When she saw Teacher Gou behind her looking over here, and then looked back at Yan Can, she understood what had happened.

“Teacher, are you alright?” Yan Can covered her forehead. That collision hadn’t been light; her head still hurt a little.

Ji Yun was probably worse off than her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Ji Yun touched her chin as she spoke.

“That’s good then.” Yan Can let out a breath of relief. “Then I’ll go first. Goodbye, Teacher Ji!”

She disappeared in a flash.

Ji Yun looked at her proud student and, once she entered the office, asked the person inside in a not-very-friendly tone, “Teacher Gou, why did you frighten my student like that?”

...

After “Chilly” on the broadcast had repeated three times, it finally changed to a school-approved, positive, uplifting, youthful, energetic song—the national anthem.

“Su Ci, you’re still not leaving?” Zhao Panpan had packed up her schoolbag. Seeing Su Ci, she walked over to greet her.

Thanks to Yan Can’s broadcast farce, Chen Yan and the others no longer dared to trouble Su Ci at all; the moment the music started, they all fled in embarrassment.

Zhao Panpan was on duty today; after finishing cleaning the classroom and seeing that Su Ci still hadn’t left, she came over and asked casually.

Su Ci set down the pen in her hand and looked up at the girl in front of her.

She didn’t have much interaction with Zhao Panpan, after all, this girl had only transferred in a few days ago. Remembering that she had spoken up for her today, Su Ci sincerely thanked her. “Thank you for today.”

Zhao Panpan was a little embarrassed and scratched the hair at her forehead. “It’s nothing. Those people were bullying you; they were the ones in the wrong to begin with. I’d have done the same no matter who it was.”

Seeing that Su Ci didn’t seem to be leaving, and thinking of what Yan Can had said on the broadcast, she asked, “Are you still waiting for Senior Yan Can?”

Su Ci glanced toward the corner of the wall and quickly looked back. “Mm.”

Zhao Panpan checked the time. “But class ended almost half an hour ago...”

Su Ci said nothing. After a pause, Zhao Panpan said a little awkwardly, “Maybe, maybe the senior got held up by something. She’ll be here in a bit.”

Su Ci gave a quiet “Mm” and softly said, “She’ll come.”

Zhao Panpan...

She didn’t interact much with Su Ci, but after watching her these past few days, she’d discovered that Su Ci was surprisingly stubborn in some moments.

Seeing that Su Ci meant to keep waiting, Zhao Panpan didn’t say anything else. After greeting her, she left.

Meanwhile, at the school infirmary.

“Teacher, is she alright?” Yan Can asked, looking at the girl lying on the bed.

When she had just run down from the third floor and was about to reach Class Two, Year Two, a girl turned the corner and threw herself straight at her. Yan Can had been startled and thought she had scared the girl unconscious, so she immediately carried her to the infirmary.

The original body had always been frail to begin with, and after carrying someone all this way, her arms were still trembling.

“She’s fine. Her period started, and she was low on blood sugar, so she fainted.” The school doctor handed the girl a cup of sugar water.

Before that, she had already given her a packet of high-sugar glucose.

“Senior, I’m fine. You should go first,” the girl said awkwardly.

She had noticed more than once that Yan Can kept looking at her watch, as if she had something urgent to do.

Even if the girl hadn’t said it, once Yan Can heard the school doctor say she was fine, she would have asked to leave first anyway.

She had already delayed too much time.

“Alright, then I’ll go first.” Before leaving, Yan Can politely lowered her head to thank the school doctor again.

After Yan Can left, the school doctor looked at the girl and chatted casually. “You told your classmate to go back. You can manage on your own in a bit, right?”

She had already noticed that the girl wasn’t just low on blood sugar; she’d also twisted her ankle.

That classmate hadn’t noticed it, but as a doctor, she could tell at a glance from the awkward way she was walking.

The girl shook her head. “We’re not in the same class.” She didn’t want to trouble anyone else.

By the time Yan Can came out of the infirmary, it was already dusk.

The sun was slanting westward; a streak of evening light fell across the desktop.

Su Ci had her head down, writing on a test paper; the rustle of her pen over the page rose and fell, sometimes slow, sometimes quick.

When she finished one side and turned the page, Yan Can’s slightly excited voice came from the doorway.

“Great! Su Ci, you’re still here!”

Yan Can walked in while gasping for breath, a thin layer of sweat covering her forehead and neck.

“I was worried you’d already left.” Standing before her, she smiled, revealing a row of neat, clean teeth.

Su Ci still looked as cool and detached as ever. “Didn’t you tell me to wait for you?” She casually folded the paper into three stacks and slipped it into the pile of books beside her.

Her movements were pleasing to the eye, even elegant.

Yan Can got a little dazzled again.

“Sorry. I was supposed to come find you right away...”

So many things had happened today; her Chinese wasn’t great, and her ability to organize her thoughts wasn’t strong enough either.

She did her best to explain everything that happened after she left the broadcast room, from getting caught by Teacher Gou to sending the girl to the infirmary. “...So that’s why I’m only getting here now.”

Su Ci said nothing; she seemed to have listened and understood.

Yan Can watched her expression and asked worriedly, “So you’re not going to blame me for making you wait so long, right...”

“No.” She still didn’t show much expression, but Yan Can could hear from her tone that she really wasn’t angry.

Knowing she wasn’t angry, Yan Can smiled, then leaned in mischievously and asked, “Hey, Su Ci, if I never came, would you keep waiting here forever?”

Su Ci didn’t answer her; instead, she asked, “Would you not come?”

Yan Can choked. “I-I definitely wouldn’t not come.”

“Then isn’t that enough.”

Seeing that Su Ci was about to stand up, Yan Can straightened as well, and the two of them put a little distance between themselves. Su Ci gave her a light glance. “Let’s go.”

She slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and walked in front.

“Oh, okay.” Yan Can immediately followed. After walking a few steps, she suddenly figured something out and asked, “Su Ci, did you mean just now that no matter how late I came, you’d wait for me?”

Thinking of that, she grinned so widely her lips nearly split.

She hadn’t expected Su Ci to trust her this much.

Su Ci didn’t reply, only kept walking forward.

Not getting an answer, Yan Can started acting spoiled and clung to her. “Su Ci, why won’t you answer me? Hurry up and answer me!”

This girl; was it really that hard to say she’d wait for her?

Was it really that hard to make her happy for a moment?

She pestered Su Ci for a long while, but the other still didn’t respond. Her expression remained cool and unreadable, giving nothing away.

Fine, fine.

Yan Can looked at the slender back in front of her and thought that if she wouldn’t say it, then she wouldn’t say it; who cared anyway!

Even though she thought that, she still hoped Su Ci would give her a definite answer.

By the school gate, the driver was already waiting there.

Yan Can proposed having the driver take Su Ci home, but was ruthlessly rejected by Su Ci.

“Come on,” Yan Can said. “I still want to spend a little more time with you.”

“No.” Su Ci still refused.

Knowing there was no point in arguing further, Yan Can gave in. “Alright, then add me as a contact. I’ll chat with you on my phone.”

Fearing she’d get home and forget again, she added, “Right now. Add me now.”

She stared at Su Ci unblinkingly, clearly intent on not leaving unless Su Ci added her in front of her.

Su Ci didn’t move. After a long while, she said, “I lost my phone.”