Chapter 61: Parent-Teacher Meetings Are Wonderful! I Absolutely Love Them!

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"This Friday afternoon, after school, there will be a parent-teacher meeting. Regarding this month's exam results, the total scores and rankings will be distributed to each parent in the form of score slips."

The entire class fell silent.

The students looked utterly dejected, their eyes lifeless, for this was hardly good news.

Except for Lu Yuanqiu.

"Great! Wonderful! Let's applaud!"

Hearing his voice, everyone turned to look at him, and Liu Wei stared in astonishment.

Lu Yuanqiu stood up at his seat: "We should have parent meetings often! Only through such encouragement can we continuously improve! Only then can we share the insights and joys of learning with our parents!"

Liu Wei was dumbfounded.

"Lu Yuanqiu, did you take the wrong medicine? Aren’t you the one most afraid of parent meetings?"

Lu Yuanqiu frowned, answering righteously, "Nonsense! I, Lu, have always been the greatest supporter of parent meetings!"

No sooner had he spoken than the whole class stared at him, faces stiff.

It seemed Lu Yuanqiu was so afraid of the parent meeting that he’d reached the point of reckless abandon.

It was only the second morning after the monthly exam, and no one yet knew his results, not even Liu Wei.

Only Bai Qingxia was quietly hiding a smile; she, of course, knew why Lu Yuanqiu was looking forward to the parent meeting.

But…

Speaking of parent meetings—

No matter how many times she’d been ranked first in her grade, Bai Qingxia, like everyone else, never looked forward to the parent meeting.

As she thought of this, the smile on her face slowly faded. She silently exhaled, turning to gaze quietly out the window at the deep blue sky and white clouds.

Though it was painful, it wasn’t unbearably so.

Perhaps because there was still something to be happy about—Lu Yuanqiu’s progress.

At noon—

Bai Qingxia, carrying her pink backpack, had just returned from School No. 65. She didn’t head for the teaching building but went instead to the campus convenience store.

Inside, she examined the notebooks lining the shelves.

The young shopkeeper didn’t even bother with his stall, sticking close to her with a friendly grin, "Here we meet again, little sister. What grade are you in?"

"Senior year."

"Oh, just turned seventeen, right? We're about the same age—I just turned eighteen. My name’s Chen Guang; you can call me Guang-ge. Come often, I’ll give you discounts. So, what are you buying today?"

Bai Qingxia glanced briefly at his face, which definitely didn't look eighteen, and kept her distance, speaking softly, "Do you have those thicker notebooks, ones with lots of pages?"

Chen Guang raised his brows slightly, "What do you need them for?"

The girl gestured as if writing, "I want to copy all my class notes from first year to senior year for every subject, so I need something thick."

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"I do, I do!"

Chen Guang immediately squatted down and pulled out a stack of thick notebooks from the lowest shelf.

"Will this do? Thick enough?"

Bai Qingxia tilted her head to check the thickness, nodded gently, and then asked the question she cared about most, "How… how much is it?"

"Seven yuan!"

Surprised by the price, Bai Qingxia tilted her head again in disbelief, glanced at the notebook’s thickness, inspected it carefully, and opened it to check the color and texture of the paper.

After three seconds, she barely audibly swallowed.

"Not satisfied? Want another one?"

"No need, this one is fine."

She quickly looked up, reaching into her pocket for a five-yuan note. She and the shopkeeper exchanged a glance, then she searched another pocket, finding only a dime.

"I… I didn’t bring enough today. I’ll come back tomorrow morning and pay the remaining one yuan and ninety cents."

She had 184.6 yuan left, which was too much to carry around, especially since she’d lost money before.

Chen Guang hesitated for a moment, then said, "It’s okay, five yuan is fine. Honestly, the wholesale price isn’t high."

Bai Qingxia shook her head, "I’ll bring it to you. I’m Bai Qingxia from Senior Three, Class 28."

With that, she handed him the five-yuan note.

She’d already benefited from a discount when buying water before and felt embarrassed to ask for another.

Chen Guang stared blankly as she left with the notebook in her arms.

Judging by her looks and demeanor, she didn’t seem like someone short on pocket money… he wondered internally.

In the afternoon break—

Bai Qingxia opened her new notebook. She raised her slender, pale fingers, gently stroking the smooth, flat paper, a faint smile on her lips.

Then she took out Chemistry Compulsory One, opened to the first page, and began copying her notes.

Sharp yet elegant handwriting appeared neatly on each line. She copied carefully, not just because the notebook was expensive, but also because she intended it as a gift.

Completely absorbed in her task, she didn’t notice Lu Yuanqiu’s head stretching close to her cheek.

"What are you copying? Is this today’s homework?"

"Ah?!"

Startled, she turned quickly, almost brushing her lips against his face. Both of them instinctively pulled their heads back.

They stared at each other across their desks.

Her back against the wall, eyes wide, while Lu Yuanqiu leaned back, staring at her with bulging eyes and a double chin.

Damn, that was almost a kiss…

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The lingering warmth of his breath seemed still on her cheek. For a moment, Lu Yuanqiu vaguely recalled the sweet scent of her skin; her cherry-pink lips, glimpsed in a rush, swept past his eyes like a delectable treat.

Those lips must surely be sweet.

Bai Qingxia quickly looked away, settling back in her seat. Her long, curled lashes quivered as she placed her pen on the notebook, only to discover she’d written a character crooked.

But she had no mind to fix it now.

Lu Yuanqiu finally continued examining what she’d written and realized, "You’re copying notes, aren’t you? That’s good. My old textbooks are blank. Let me borrow yours when you’re done."

Bai Qingxia didn’t look at him or reply, just nodded quickly. Her pen hovered over the last character, unmoving, for her heart was still racing.

Only when Lu Yuanqiu stopped watching did she resume writing, immediately correcting the crooked character.

…

Thursday.

Evening.

The area near Lucheng No. 7 Middle School was riddled with alleyways, through which many day students passed on their way home.

At that moment, three female students were laughing and playfully scolding each other as they walked into one such alley. Above, tangled wires hung like threads; below, moss-covered cement bricks lined the path.

As they walked, three expressionless boys suddenly appeared ahead.

The girls stopped. The alley was narrow, and the boys' gaze rested on them, clearly not intending to make way.

One short-haired girl with freckles on her cheeks immediately turned to look behind, only to see three more boys at the end of the alley.

They were trapped in the middle.

Five minutes later.

In the alley.

Cao Shuang bent forward, looking at the three girls, as he and the other six boys surrounded them.

"Who are you?! Are you from No. 7? When did we ever offend you?"

The freckled girl, sitting on the ground, was about to get up when Cao Shuang pushed her back down.

He shook his bangs, sneering, "You didn’t offend me. You offended someone you absolutely can’t afford to mess with."

With that, he stepped aside.

The girls immediately looked ahead.

A student in a blue-and-white school uniform, carrying a blue backpack and munching on a long bread roll, walked out from the mouth of the alley.