Chapter 95: Lin Zhengran and Fang Meng’s Childhood Engagement |
Jiang Xueli’s brain short-circuited as she watched Little He Qing return to the classroom.
After a long silence, she clutched her head as if it were about to explode!
She recalled that moment on the military training field—Zhengran had confessed to her, and she had said yes.
Even though they hadn’t spent much time alone together in the past two days, wasn’t he still her boyfriend?!
That night after delivering water to him, she had been too shy to sleep the whole night.
She had even cherished that cup of water he drank from, savoring it little by little over the past two days.
“What the hell?!” Jiang Xueli covered her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and blushed furiously. “That idiot—whose boyfriend is he, exactly?! Did he confess to He Qing too?!”
Just then, Han Wenwen walked out of the classroom and saw Jiang Xueli clutching her head in agony. “Lili? What’s wrong?”
Jiang Xueli quickly dropped her arms behind her back, her face still flushed. “N-Nothing. I’m just… going to the restroom.”
That day, he had confessed to her—she had heard it with her own ears!
How could he go back on his word?! That damn playboy!
The midday sun shone brightly over the public high school, where a beautiful lotus pond sparkled. Beneath a small pavilion beside the pond, the cold and aloof Jiang Qian sat on a long bench, gazing at the water rippling as koi fish occasionally bumped against the surface.
Away from Lin Zhengran, her face no longer showed any trace of shyness—she had returned to her usual self.
“You said you had something important to tell me. What is it?”
Her assistant, Fang Meng, held a file in her hands and spoke seriously. “Qianqian, have you noticed anything strange about yourself lately?”
Jiang Qian stared absentmindedly at the lotus pond, her thoughts drifting back to Lin Zhengran—his side profile, the determined way he worked hard…
Fang Meng, seeing no response, called out again, “Qianqian? Are you even listening to me?”
Jiang Qian snapped out of her daze, her face flushing. But when she saw it was just Fang Meng, she quickly composed herself. “What? Oh, I heard you. I don’t think anything is wrong with me—I feel perfectly normal.”
Fang Meng disagreed. “Not at all! You were just thinking about Lin Zhengran again, weren’t you?”
Jiang Qian turned her head away, suddenly looking guilty as she continued staring at the pond.
Fang Meng sighed. “I knew it—you’re completely lovesick… At first, I thought you’d get over it in a couple of days. But now, it’s obvious that as long as you’re still curious about him, this isn’t over.”
She took a deep breath and looked down at the file in her hands. “Luckily, I’ve found something crucial that might help cure you.”
She handed the file to Jiang Qian. “Just take a look.”
Jiang Qian accepted the file and saw that it contained information about a girl named He Qing and her relationship with Lin Zhengran.
As she read, Fang Meng explained.
“This girl, He Qing, is Lin Zhengran’s girlfriend. He admitted it himself, so there’s no doubt about it. According to my quick investigation, they grew up together and even went to the same middle school. Lin Zhengran has always taken care of her, so honestly, Qianqian, the fact that you’re blushing over him right now…”
Jiang Qian stared at Lin Zhengran’s picture on the document. Then, suddenly flustered, she covered her face with her hands.
Fang Meng was stunned and quickly snatched the file away. “Qianqian! Are you even listening to me?! Are you okay?!”
Jiang Qian took a moment to calm down before exhaling deeply. “I don’t know why you’re telling me all this. It’s not like I like him. Whether he has a girlfriend or not has nothing to do with me. I’m just interested in his talent, that’s all.”
Fang Meng stared at her, dumbfounded. “Really? You actually know you don’t like him? Well, that makes things easier.” She relaxed a bit.
“I was just worried about you. Every time you talk to him, you blush like crazy, so I was afraid that if this kept going, you’d really start falling for him. That’s why I wanted to help you snap out of it.”
Jiang Qian slowly stood up, her icy-cold eyes staring at Fang Meng.
“Xiaomeng, what are you even thinking? How could I possibly like a guy? Besides, I made a vow a long time ago—if I ever date someone, it will only be someone far stronger than me, someone who surpasses me in every way. If they don’t meet that standard, I could never fall for them.”
Fang Meng, now sitting on the bench, finally relaxed. “Oh yeah, I remember you saying that before, so…”
She suddenly tensed up again and looked at Jiang Qian. “Wait, hold on—aren’t you basically describing Lin Zhengran?! That’s exactly what you said you wanted in a boyfriend!”
Jiang Qian blushed. “Really? Does it really sound like him?”
“Of course it does! Look, you’re blushing again! You can’t just like him because he’s strong! A boyfriend should be someone who treats you well, not just someone powerful. You’ll only hurt yourself if you think like this! And how did this whole situation even come to this?!”
The next second, Jiang Qian returned to her usual cold demeanor. “I told you—I don’t like him. How could I possibly hurt myself?”
Fang Meng: “…”
Was she developing a split personality?!
Jiang Qian slowly stood up. Fang Meng asked where she was going.
Jiang Qian answered, “Back to the academic building to sit for a while. And… to meet this He Qing girl. I want to see what Lin Zhengran likes about her. What does she have that I don’t?”
“Huh?!” Fang Meng couldn’t see Jiang Qian’s face from behind, but she did notice how tightly she clenched her fists. Curious, she tilted her head to get a peek at Jiang Qian’s expression.
And what she saw was… a girl puffing her cheeks in jealousy.
Fang Meng was speechless.
Then, in an instant, she shot up and wrapped her arm around Jiang Qian’s neck. “Oh no, you’re not going anywhere! You’re obviously jealous! If you go, you’ll definitely start liking him for real!”
“I won’t.”
“You will!”
“I won’t. Let me go.”
“No one’s going to believe that!”
“Then tell me—what reason do I have to like him?”
“How should I know?! I’m not the one who likes him!” Fang Meng was utterly exhausted.
The weekend arrived quickly. Fang Meng, who returned home every two weeks to visit her family, took a bus home as usual.
But when she entered the house, she was surprised to see not only her parents but also two other guests sitting in the living room.
Her parents introduced them. “Mengmeng, you’re back? Let us introduce you—this is your Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin, old friends of ours from our school days. We haven’t seen them in years, but we happened to run into them recently.”
Lin Yingjun and Lin Xiaoli greeted her warmly. “Xiaomeng, hello! You’ve grown so much—so pretty now!”
Fang Meng had never met them before, but she still nodded politely.
“Hello, Uncle Lin, Aunt Lin.”
Her parents chuckled. “Oh, now that we see you, we suddenly remembered—your son must be grown up by now, right? Back when we were in school, didn’t we joke about letting our kids marry each other when they grew up? We even arranged a childhood engagement for them!”