novelraw Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Chapter 21 Height DifferenceQin Qing, trapped inside the classroom, felt both frustrated and helpless. She had no idea what Wen Yufeng was trying to do, but her intuition told her it wasn’t anything good.
The other students, who were originally planning to leave, were even more bewildered. They exchanged glances, but none of them dared to step forward and help Qin Qing open the door.
Qin Qing had no choice but to look through the narrow glass window on the classroom door, watching the boy outside who was lazily leaning against the wall. She could faintly hear some words being exchanged outside before she finally saw him release his hold on the door and turn to glance inside the classroom.
Their eyes met through the glass.
Qin Qing glared at Wen Yufeng in mild irritation, but the boy outside just smirked slightly and pushed open the door.
After opening the door, Wen Yufeng continued to lean casually against the doorframe, looking at Qin Qing with a playful smirk. His laid-back, nonchalant attitude only made Qin Qing more annoyed. She bit down on her small white teeth, glared at Wen Yufeng again, and then stepped aside, intending to walk past him and leave the classroom.
But just as she took her first step, before she could fully shift her weight, Wen Yufeng grabbed her wrist.
“Sorry, little classmate,” he said, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, filled with a lazy, indifferent amusement. “I didn’t close the door on purpose.”
The apology clearly lacked any sincerity.
Qin Qing was infuriated and struggled to pull her wrist free from his grip, but she couldn’t break free. With students both inside and outside the classroom watching, and with the subtle stares and occasional whispers making her feel extremely self-conscious, her ears began to turn pink, and her delicate face grew more and more tense.
“Let go,” she demanded in a low voice, clearly upset.
Wen Yufeng raised an eyebrow slightly. “I’m just apologizing. If we don’t do it face-to-face, where’s the sincerity?”
“…Wen Yufeng!” Qin Qing was so angry that she finally shouted his name, though not too loudly.
The students both inside and outside the classroom were startled, and even those who hadn’t been paying attention turned to look. After all, if their notorious school tyrant was about to lose his temper, they wanted to know in advance to take precautions.
“…” Wen Yufeng’s dark eyes suddenly darkened with various emotions.
After a moment, he lowered his gaze and let out a soft laugh. His long, elegant fingers slowly released their grip on Qin Qing’s wrist, one by one.
“Make sure you always call me that,” he said, leaning slightly closer to look down at her. His dark eyes glinted with amusement. “Be good.”
After that, Wen Yufeng didn’t linger any longer. He stepped aside and walked away.
Ling Yu, who had been ignored for a while, looked at Qin Qing with a complex expression before reluctantly following him.
“So, this is what you call ‘just an ordinary classmate’?” a teasing female voice said near Qin Qing’s ear. Still not fully composed, Qin Qing turned around to see Zhuo Anke standing beside her.
Zhuo Anke continued teasing, “I mean, even Wen Yufeng’s closest buddies don’t dare to call him by his full name, but you did?”
Qin Qing looked down, her face tense. “He’s just weird like that. He likes people to call him by his full name. Maybe you should try it next time.”
“Oh, no way,” Zhuo Anke laughed, waving her hands dismissively. After a moment, she glanced over at where Wen Yufeng and Ling Yu were standing. “But his ex-girlfriend just showed up. If you don’t make a move, he might run off with our campus queen.”
Qin Qing looked at the girl standing with Wen Yufeng. “Is that Ling Yu?”
Zhuo Anke, clearly enjoying the drama, eagerly confirmed, “Yep, that’s her. So, how does it feel? Are you starting to feel the pressure?”
Qin Qing continued to look in their direction and sighed. “She’s really tall and beautiful.”
Zhuo Anke made a face, as if exasperated. “Don’t sell yourself short! You’re just as good-looking, if not better. Your features are more delicate than Ling Yu’s. As for height…”
Zhuo Anke paused awkwardly, then cleared her throat. “Height is something that’s decided by genetics, and being petite like you is really cute…”
The description of “petite” made Qin Qing look at Zhuo Anke with a bit of resentment.
Zhuo Anke quickly changed the subject with a sheepish grin. “But what was that about with Wen Yufeng just now? Why wouldn’t he let you out? And why was he asking who was looking for you?”
Qin Qing was taken aback. “He asked that?”
“Yeah,” Zhuo Anke replied, mimicking a frightened expression. “His face was so scary—I thought I’d done something to upset him.”
Before Qin Qing could respond, Zhuo Anke continued, “But after I admitted it, nothing happened, so I was really confused.”
Qin Qing couldn’t figure it out either, so she just nodded and let the conversation drop.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Wen Yufeng leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets. “What do you want?”
The boy’s tone was lazy, tinged with impatience. Even while standing across from the girl in front of him, his eyes kept glancing towards the main entrance of the classroom from time to time.
Ling Yu noticed this and her expression became somewhat unpleasant.
After a few seconds, she finally spoke softly, “The day after tomorrow is the weekend. Do you have any plans? If not, I’d like to invite you to—”
“I don’t have time.”
The response was almost reflexive, and the tone was indifferent.
Ling Yu’s face paled, and she looked up. “But Li Xiang said you didn’t have any plans—”
Her words trailed off under the cold glare that Wen Yufeng suddenly directed at her.
Wen Yufeng looked at her coolly for a moment before impatiently averting his gaze. “I don’t like people asking around about my business. You’d better stop trying to annoy me.”
“Also,” Wen Yufeng’s voice turned icy, “I’m aware of the rumors about a so-called ‘ex-girlfriend,’ and I know who’s been spreading them.”
With that, Wen Yufeng raised his eyes, fixing Ling Yu with a gaze that made her already pale face turn even whiter.
“Out of respect for Li Xiang, I won’t hold your past actions against you—
but remember, my patience has limits.”
After saying that, Wen Yufeng coldly withdrew his gaze. Just before he walked away, the last image lingering in his peripheral vision was still of Ling Yu.
After pondering for a few seconds, Wen Yufeng clicked his tongue lightly.
——
“School flower”? She’s nowhere near as attractive as my little classmate.
…
A few days after Ling Yu’s visit to Wen Yufeng, a new rumor spread around the school.
It was said that the “school flower” had clarified that she and Wen Yufeng had no special relationship and were just ordinary classmates.
Such gossip always spread quickly, and Zhuo Anke sent a text to Qin Qing the very next day—
“Turns out I falsely accused Wen Yufeng. It seems there was never a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship between them. So, it looks like you’re the first girl to have an unusual relationship with Wen Yufeng. Better seize the opportunity!”
Qin Qing received the text while eating breakfast, and as soon as she saw the notification and opened it, she choked a little.
After recovering, she didn’t even pay attention to Zhuo Anke’s final “encouragement.” Instead, she replied in confusion—
“Didn’t he have lots of girlfriends before?”
“Eh? Who told you that?”
“…”
Qin Qing thought for a moment, then decided not to mention Lin Manxue and simply replied, “I heard it from classmates before I came to Yishi.”
“Wow, then you really misunderstood him. Those are just rumors, and not very credible. At least at Yishi, Ling Yu is the first person rumored to be Wen Yufeng’s girlfriend. That’s why everyone was so curious and eager to verify it.”
Qin Qing fell silent.
——
So, did she really misjudge him?
Maybe he wasn’t as frivolous as she had imagined.
Just as she was thinking this, her phone buzzed again, and another text came through.
“And you should know that before you came along, we’d never heard of Wen Yufeng being this close to any girl; let alone initiating anything. In fact, many girls who tried to confess to him ended up being scared off.”
“…”
Qin Qing lowered her eyes as she held her phone, feeling something inexplicable.
It really seemed like she had misjudged him.
…And because of her own assumptions, she had said such harsh things to him.
Thinking about this, Qin Qing started to lose her appetite.
“Tian Tian, why aren’t you eating?” Grandma Qin asked from across the table.
Qin Qing snapped out of her thoughts, put down her utensils, and pushed back her chair to stand up.
“Grandma, I’m not hungry anymore. I’m heading to school now.”
“Oh, you child! Just finish your breakfast before you go!”
“No, I really have to go now, Grandma…”
…
On her way to school that morning, Qin Qing kept thinking about how she could apologize to Wen Yufeng. But the more she thought about it, the more hesitant she became. By the time she arrived at the classroom and noticed that Wen Yufeng was still absent, her last bit of resolve had completely dissipated.
Moreover, since Zhuo Anke’s visit the previous day, Wen Yufeng hadn’t said a word to her. She figured that her words from that night had really upset him, and now she’d have to make the first move…
Qin Qing sighed and put her backpack on her desk.
“Hey, Qin Qing.”
Just as she was lost in thought, a voice came from behind her.
Qin Qing instinctively responded and turned around.
It was their class’s hygiene monitor.
The boy approached with a checklist in hand. “It’s your turn with Fang Xiaojing to clean the blackboard today. Make sure to clean it after each class, and don’t forget.”
“Okay.”
Qin Qing nodded. When Fang Xiaojing arrived in the morning, Qin Qing told her about it.
Fang Xiaojing paused as she was organizing her things, looked up at the class schedule on the board, and her eyes flashed with an idea.
“Let’s divide the work.”
Fang Xiaojing suggested, “I’ll clean the odd-numbered classes, and you clean the even-numbered ones.”
Qin Qing blinked in surprise but then nodded, “All right.”
As soon as Qin Qing agreed, Fang Xiaojing smiled and quickly grabbed her water bottle to leave.
“Qin Qing, you’ve been tricked by Fang Xiaojing.”
As soon as Fang Xiaojing walked out of the classroom, the boy sitting behind Qin Qing spoke up with a sigh.
Qin Qing blinked and turned back to ask, “Why?”
The boy pointed at the schedule for the day.
“This afternoon’s second class is Chinese, and the Chinese teacher loves writing on the board. Even with a projector available, she won’t use it. Your workload will be much heavier than hers.”
“…”
Qin Qing frowned slightly.
It wasn’t that she minded the extra work, but with the boy’s reminder, she realized—
This Chinese teacher was quite tall, and her handwriting often reached the top of the board, which Qin Qing probably couldn’t reach.
Thinking this, Qin Qing still smiled politely at the boy and said, “Thank you, I’ll manage.”
…
In the afternoon, as soon as the second class ended, Fang Xiaojing quickly left the classroom, as if afraid Qin Qing would ask her to help with the blackboard.
Qin Qing looked up at the chalk marks covering the blackboard, especially the lines near the top, and couldn’t help but frown in frustration.
After a few seconds, she resigned herself, stood up, and slowly dragged her chair to the podium.
Being short and having to showcase it to the entire class was… incredibly embarrassing.
Qin Qing thought to herself as she anxiously climbed onto the chair.
Once she stood up, the students who hadn’t left the classroom noticed her.
Many of them chuckled softly at the sight of the petite new student standing on a chair, struggling to clean the board.
At the back of the room, Li Xiang was discussing plans for a game of basketball with Wen Yufeng when he suddenly noticed the boy standing in front of him had disappeared.
He instinctively looked toward the front of the classroom.
Sure enough, he saw Wen Yufeng’s tall figure now standing beside the girl on the podium.
“Get down.”
Qin Qing was in the middle of wiping the board when she suddenly heard a cold, low voice beside her.
The boy’s tone carried a hint of chill.
Qin Qing turned to look and lowered her gaze, seeing Wen Yufeng standing silently beside her.
He was looking up at her with his dark eyes, which gleamed like polished black gems, though they held a slightly cool light.
Realizing the difference in their heights, Qin Qing paused.
——
The fact that even standing on a chair didn’t make her much taller than him was a bit of a blow to her self-esteem.
Seeing that Qin Qing wasn’t moving and was still standing in such a precarious position, Wen Yufeng’s eyes darkened.
Without a word, he stepped forward, wrapped his arm around her waist, and lifted her up.
Then, he turned slightly and gently placed the stunned girl on the floor.
Qin Qing was in shock.
The students who hadn’t left the classroom were also stunned.
The entire room fell into a dead silence.
Everyone was left speechless, staring wide-eyed at the two of them in front of the blackboard.
Author’s Note