Chapter 128: Li Lanyue

Inside the office, the young woman gave a feigned hum and said, "Little Bingyan, the reason I asked for you is to tell you that there is a student in our class who is quite arrogant, aloof, and looks down on me, his counselor. Tell me, how should I handle such a student?"

"Aren't you talking about me? Why beat around the bush?" Leng Bingyan thought to herself. Feeling awkward being lectured by a teacher who looked like a student herself, she gave a faint smile and replied, "Perhaps it is just that student's nature. It wouldn't be because of his personality that he failed to show the same reverence as the others toward a beautiful counselor, would it, leading you to have an opinion of him?"

Lin Xueyue was stunned. This boy, who was excessively handsome and usually very silent, had said such a long sentence—it was truly...

Never mind. Lin Xueyue smiled at Bingyan and said, "Forget it, I won't hold it against you."

"By the way, aren't sports meets usually held in the autumn? Why now..."

"How would I know?" Lin Xueyue rolled her eyes at him and pulled out a form. "Here is the basic information sheet for the sports meet. Fill it out."

Lin Xueyue noticed that after Leng Bingyan took the form and glanced at it, a look of pain and helplessness, mixed with a bitter smile, appeared on his face. Just as she was wondering why he had such a complex expression, Leng Bingyan handed the form back. Lin Xueyue looked and saw that he had only written his name, leaving everything else blank. Thinking he was deliberately being difficult, she said with some annoyance, "What, are you trying to argue with me again? Is it inconvenient to write it down? Since you left so much blank, do you want me to fill it out for you?"

However, Leng Bingyan's words left her stunned. A flash of imperceptible pain crossed his face as he said, "I'm sorry, Teacher. My mother has already... and I don't know who my father is." He wanted to say that his mother had abandoned him, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Lin Xueyue seemed to understand a little and hurriedly said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Bingyan..."

Leng Bingyan shook his head, smiled faintly, and said, "It's alright, Teacher. Is there anything else?"

"By the way, since the sports meet is coming up and your physique is... well, a bit frail, I will supervise your training starting this afternoon. Alright, wait for me when class ends." In truth, looking at Bingyan, Lin Xueyue really did think he looked quite delicate.

What?! Leng Bingyan was startled. Although he had no classes in the afternoon, he had other things to attend to. It seemed he had no choice but to yield. Helplessly, he walked toward Lin Xueyue and said, "Teacher, I have important matters to attend to. Can I skip training this afternoon?"

"No. I don't want someone without any strength to ruin our class's reputation." Lin Xueyue rejected the request without a second thought. *You're the one who made me sign up, aren't you?* Leng Bingyan rolled his eyes internally and said, "Teacher, look at my outfit and your sexy clothes. Do we look like people going to train?" As he spoke, he cast a deliberately wicked glance toward her chest. Anyone unaware might think they were preparing for a tryst or a date.

Hearing the word "sexy," Lin Xueyue's face flushed red again. Scolding him with a mix of embarrassment and anger, she said, "What did you say? What sexy? Today I..." Just as she was about to say that she meant for him to go train, she realized Leng Bingyan had already slipped out through the side door. She let out an angry cry, "Leng Bingyan..." and chased after him.

Leng Bingyan ran ahead. Judging by his speed, he could win a championship without any training at all. From behind came Lin Xueyue's angry scolding: "Leng Bingyan, you stop right there!"

Unfortunately, she only saw the "little boy" in white casual wear running far away. The surrounding students looked at her with burning gazes, as if she were standing there undressed before them. She couldn't help but blush; her outfit today was truly too eye-catching.

"Who is that guy? He's heartless, letting his girlfriend chase him so hard. If I were him and had such a beautiful girlfriend, I'd make sure she was happy; I'd never make her angry!"

"Exactly. He doesn't know how lucky he is. And that girl, she's so pretty, why hang on to such a heartless person? Doesn't she know there's a good man from the New World right in front of her?"

"Yeah, I feel bad for her. She's so beautiful, she shouldn't have any trouble finding a boyfriend. Is it worth getting so angry and anxious over him?"

The students' comments reached Lin Xueyue's ears. It seemed they were collectively despising both her and Leng Bingyan. With Bingyan having already made his escape, leaving her all alone, she felt her face burning. She turned around and fled back to her office, staying inside for a long time before sneaking back to the faculty dormitory like a thief.

Once back, she lost no time. The first thing she did was strip off those "sexy" clothes; they hadn't brought her any luck today—only bad luck! Standing before the mirror, the person reflecting back still had a flushed face. Feeling uncomfortably hot, she hurried to the bathroom to splash her face with cold water.

Just then, the phone rang suddenly. She rushed over to answer it.

"Hello? Who is it? Speak quickly if you have something to say!"

"Dead girl, what's wrong with you? Why such a temper? Tell me, were you bullied by a boyfriend?" a female voice came through the phone.

"How could that be? Sister Lanyue, you know I don't have a boyfriend, how could I be bullied?" Lin Xueyue hurriedly tried to cover her tracks. "Sister Lanyue, I heard you've returned to work at the family company. I was just thinking that if I ever couldn't make it as a teacher, I'd come over to your place and beg for a meal!"

"Is that so? Good! If our great beauty Lin wants to come here, I'll definitely welcome you warmly. With a beauty like you, I'm sure the company would attract many talented young men." The person Lin Xueyue called "Sister Lanyue"—whose full name was Li Lanyue—laughed. She was ten years older than Lin, and although they shared the same "Yue" character in their names, they were close friends who had grown up together.

"Oh, wow! You're actually asking me to go pimp for you?!"

"I'm just making the best use of everything. It's a waste to have such a great beauty sitting there unused. Remember, if that day comes, you're not allowed to go anywhere else, okay? Anyway... enough of that. How have you been lately?" The person on the other end seemed to sense that Lin Xueyue was on the verge of an explosion and quickly changed the subject.

"Sigh, don't get me started. I was infuriated by a student today. Even though the little guy looks quite delicate, he doesn't listen to me at all. It's so infuriating! What makes me even madder is that he completely ignores my presence and keeps arguing with me. I mean, I'm considered a beauty, aren't I?"

"Hehe... little girl, so you've hit a wall? You've finally met your match? What kind of person is he? Do you think he's a good fit for you?"

"You... you're still making fun of me! Instead of comforting me, you're teasing me. How hateful! I have nothing to do with him!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay? When will you let me meet this student? I want to see what kind of person he is that he hasn't fallen at our beauty Lin's feet. He sounds like quite a character!" the voice on the other end teased.

"Hmph, let me tell you, he is excessively handsome and delicate-looking—a rare type of boy. I'm afraid that if you actually saw him, you'd be the one falling at his feet."

"Does that mean our great beauty Lin has already fallen for him? What a pity, another woman blinded by love. She clearly likes him but refuses to admit it."

"Get lost! That's not it! He's younger than me, I'm his teacher! Anyway, are you free now? Shall we go shopping?" Lin Xueyue suggested.

"Sure," the other side laughed.

"Then you'd better bring plenty of money. We are the proletariat; overthrowing the local tyrants and smashing the conspiracies of capitalism is our bounden duty."

"Hehe, listen to you! Who doesn't know that our beauty Lin is also a big capitalist?"

Having escaped, Leng Bingyan wandered around the school. He didn't return to the classroom for fear of being caught by Lin Xueyue, so he decided to head outside. Thinking this, he hurried toward the school gate.

(Once again, the third-person pronouns "he" and "she" are used according to context; readers, please interpret for yourselves.)

However, she didn't take the main entrance. Instead, she came to a wall about a hundred meters away. It was a high wall hidden by a small cluster of trees, but there was a faint path; though it had once been covered in grass, it had been trampled into a clear trail by those who had come before.

Leng Bingyan looked at the wall ahead. In her eyes, this was nothing. She stepped forward, kicked off with her right foot into a depression in the wall, kicked again, and flipped her entire body over the top.

"Perfect!" Bingyan couldn't help but cheer for herself, casually making a victory sign.

"Clap, clap..." Applause rang out beside her. Bingyan was shocked, and at that moment, a familiar female voice sounded: "Little brother Bingyan is quite impressive. That whole movement was so fluid, so smooth—magnificent and graceful. Do you have time to teach your big sister?"

Turning around, she saw that Ling Xin'er was standing right next to where she had landed, her hands on her hips, looking like she was ready to settle the score.

"Hehe," Bingyan gave a dry laugh to hide her embarrassment: "Sister Xin'er, why are you here?"

"Me? I saw someone walking in this direction. As the student council president, my sharp intuition told me he must be planning to climb the wall to get out of school. How could I see a student violating rules and pretend I didn't know? So, I came out of the main gate and circled around here. And just my luck, I caught you climbing out. Hehe... tell me, what should I do about this?" From Ling Xin'er's mischievous face, Leng Bingyan saw the look of a plot about to succeed.

She hurried to compose herself and said, "What should you do? I haven't even settled the score with you yet! Why did you tell everyone about some 'relationship' between me and Tianyu when you knew it was a lie? Isn't that framing me?"

"No, no, that was just my duty." Ling Xin'er smiled shyly, then realized she'd said the wrong thing and quickly changed tack: "No, that... let's not talk about that. If I don't report your disciplinary violation, as a condition of the trade... you treat me to a meal..."

"But why do I feel like I'm the one losing out?" Before Bingyan could think it through, Ling Xin'er grabbed her hand and ran—not back into the school, but away from it.