Chapter 36.1: Classmate Shen, do you have a girlfriend?

Shen Juan began to wonder if he was a little bit crazy.

He was full of indescribable hostility toward Cheng Yi and now this guy Lu Jiaheng, who came out of nowhere. He was very upset.

The feeling was very strange for him. When he looked at people, little about them stood out to him, and he didn’t think so much about whether he liked them or not. A lot of the time when he would first meet someone their facial features would be difficult for him to discern, and he would only differentiate between male and female.

For people who didn’t matter to him, as long as they didn’t involve or provoke him, Shen Juan might not even bother to remember their names, let alone register feeling sudden and inexplicable emotions like “hostility.”

Shen Juan’s feeling didn’t come out of nowhere, nor did it just happen as he met the two in person; the persistent irritability and uneasiness with Cheng Yi and Lu Jiaheng began when Lin Yujing borrowed the clothes from him. When he saw the drones with the idiotic banners on the sports field, those feelings slowly grew.

Now, seeing those two people face-to-face, he’d never felt more threatened. When Cheng Yi talked about Lin Yujing’s past with them, it seemed to remind Shen Juan personally how little he knew about her.

Brother, who are you? Don’t you just sit next to her? We grew up with her and are her closest friends. 

For a moment Shen Juan felt like an overly-sensitive, delicate, flaky little girl, cynically questioning every word and getting nowhere. His reaction was unexpected and irrational, and it annoyed him.

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Shen Juan didn’t show up in the afternoon. The morning had consumed all the boss’s patience and enthusiasm. Though his seat was now empty, Lin Yujing couldn’t help looking back.

Cheng Yi looked at the vacant seat as well. “That deskmate of yours won’t come this afternoon?”

“Ah,” Lin Yujing said, “I don’t know, probably not.”

Cheng Yi leaned back. “This guy, does he not like us? Do I especially look like a prick? Is ‘I’m looking for a fight’ written on my face?” Cheng Yi rubbed his chin, looking puzzled. “Or do I look like his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend? Was he cuckolded?”

Lu Jiaheng laughed and looked at him with great suspicion. “Can you explain to me, with your appearance, how he would be cuckolded by you?“

Cheng Yi replied, “Through my tenderness and emotional intelligence?”

After that Lin Yujing couldn’t help laughing. “That’s fine, it’s good for young people to be confident.”

Feeling he’d been insulted, Cheng Yi detailed for her the strengths and benefits of his own body, and while he bragged Lu Jiaheng received his second love note from a girl.

Lin Yujing held her head up, suddenly feeling a bit doubtful. “Isn’t my deskmate handsome?”

Cheng Yi was bewildered. “Huh? Very handsome! What else would you call him?” 

“Then—” Lin Yujing took a breath, and pointed at Lu Jiaheng, “If you compare my deskmate to him, who is more handsome?”

She looked at Lu Jiaheng’s face for what felt like years, but couldn’t decide how to rank his appearance.

Cheng Yi seemed to be in a tough position. “Your question… it makes me a little uncomfortable.”

Lin Yujing nodded and answered simply, “I feel like Shen Juan is more handsome.”

Cheng Yi glanced over at Lu Jiaheng. He was talking to a girl, paying no attention to the conversation with Lin Yujing. There was also a lot of noise around them, and it was a bit difficult to hear clearly, so he nodded back, “I think you’re right.”

“So,” Lin Yujing said indignantly, “Why hasn’t a girl slipped my deskmate a note? What’s wrong with him?”

Now Cheng Yi was at a loss. “None?”

Lin Yujing said reluctantly, “None.”

Cheng Yi: “No girls pursuing him?”

“It’s been two months.” Lin Yujing raised two fingers, “I’ve never seen it.”

“That can’t be.” Cheng Yi was confused, and when the confusion seemed to pass, he glanced at Lin Yujing and felt even more confused.

Cheng Yi considered himself to be very perceptive. Although Shen Juan’s aloof and domineering aura toward them was almost tangible, when he lowered his eyes and talked to Lin Yujing, that hostility was noticeably restrained.

Combined with Lin Yujing’s attitude towards Shen Juan, Cheng Yi even considered that the two of them may have some kind of dubious hidden relationship, but when Lin Yujing asked this question, he felt again like something was off.

What kind of girlfriend would, with a face full of indignation, ask her childhood friend how her boyfriend can be so handsome but still not get love notes from other girls? Could this be some f*cking emerging interest?

Cheng Yi was beginning to feel like the two might really have that kind of pure deskmate relationship. He thought for a while and said, “You and Shen Juan have a good relationship.”

Lin Yujing nodded.

“I think he’s the person you’re most familiar with here,” Cheng Yi continued.

Lin Yujing leaned back and corrected him with a smile, “He is the only person I’m familiar with here.”

Cheng Yi nodded and asked suddenly, “Are you sure Shen Juan doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

Lin Yujing froze. “I guess he doesn’t, not that I’ve seen.”

Cheng Yi asked, “Have you asked him?”

Lin Yujing didn’t respond.

Cheng Yi continued, “Then, let’s assume he really doesn’t have a girlfriend, but he has to talk about it, right? What if one day the only person you know suddenly talks about a girlfriend?”

As Cheng Yi spoke, something suddenly seemed to catch his eye. He glanced over, but quickly retracted his gaze and said, “If Shen Juan talks about a girlfriend one day, you can’t be so close to him. You have to avoid arousing suspicion, so you can’t talk to him too much during and after class. On the weekends you’ll have to endure the photos of him hanging out with his girlfriend, swiping the screen on friends’ posts–”

Lin Yujing interrupted him, looking incredulous. “You think he looks like someone who would swipe the screen?”

“I’m just giving you an example,” Cheng Yi said, “If Shen Juan dates a girl one day, and you have to keep your distance from the only friend you have in this place, will you feel unhappy?”

“Why would I be unhappy?” Lin Yujing spoke quickly, “I’ll jump for joy and buy him two more strings of 500 firecrackers to celebrate.”

Cheng Yi was silent.

He raised his eyebrows and leaned his head to the side, letting his eyes fall on something behind her.

Lin Yujing turned her head and followed his gaze. Shen Juan had come back at some point. He calmly leaned on the seat, with his long legs bent. He looked down at his phone, his long eyelashes casting a shadow, as if he hadn’t heard them speak.

Lin Yujing stared at him for a few seconds, but he didn’t seem to notice or lift his head. His fingertips fell on the phone screen as he typed.

Shen Juan was very sensitive to being watched. Sometimes during class when he would sleep with his face turned toward her, if Lin Yujing kept looking at him he would suddenly open his eyes.

Now her movements were obvious and her eyes were clear, but Shen Juan didn’t react.

Lin Yujing opened her mouth and looked at Cheng Yi. He fell onto Lu Jiaheng’s shoulder and laughed, looking very cheap.

Lin Yujing’s shotput and javelin competitions were held in the afternoon. The first day of the sports meet was all competition between individuals. On the second day, except for a 400-meter final in the morning, the rest of the games were team competitions.

Since Lin Yujing had fallen and injured her hands and legs, she went to talk to Liu Fujiang and their sports committee representative to withdraw. The sports committee representative was depressed, but there was nothing they could do. Other than Lin Yujing, no girls would likely be willing to participate in these two events.

“Okay, your safety is important, so don’t compete.” The sports committee representative was afraid that Lin Yujing would feel bad about it and, wanting her to be as energetic as possible, patted her arm and comforted her, “It’s okay, our class will just forfeit. This kind of competition is not as popular as the 200-meter and 400-meter events, and many classes have forfeited anyway.”

Wen Zihui was sitting nearby and raised her head. “So then, give up?”

The sports committee person: “Then what should I do, wear a wig and go myself?”

Wen Zihui pursed her lips. “I’ll go, what are the events?” 

———-

[1] “like fish in muddy water” – Difficult to spot.

Edited By: ceres