In a quiet corner of the campus, a voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Yu Na's back was facing Principal Qin. She was so frightened by the voice that her back went cold, her pupils contracted, and her mouth opened into an O shape.
Xiao Chen, on the other hand, was nonchalant about being discovered.
Yu Na's hand was still on top of Xiao Chen's head.
She suddenly had a flash of inspiration and, regardless of Xiao Chen's life or death, pulled out a strand of his hair.
Xiao Chen didn't react to her move, but the pain came instantaneously.
He couldn't help but gasped in a breath of cool air and painfully said, "Ow!"
Yu Na turned around and saw Principal Qin walking over with a puzzled look.
She forced herself to stay calm. "Principal, what's the matter?"
Principal Qin had the look of someone catching others red-handed. He pushed his glasses up again, and there was a sharp glint in his eyes behind the thick lenses.
He glanced at the two people in front of him, one trying to stay calm on the surface but panicking badly inside; the other truly calm, not even blinking an eye.
"You two," Principal Qin pointed at Xiao Chen and Yu Na, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh - " Yu Na concealed her inner panic, smiled awkwardly, and showed the strand of hair. She said, "I saw Brother Qiao Rui had a white hair, so I wanted to help pull it out for him."
Xiao Chen: ?
Yu Na babbled on by herself, "But, Principal, you startled me. I pulled out the wrong one..."
Principal Qin was full of question marks. "Oh, so it's my fault, isn't it?"
Yu Na conceded, "It's my fault."
Xiao Chen rubbed his hair. He had to admit, when Yu Na pulled his hair just now, she really didn't treat him as her boyfriend.
His hair was short. Pulling one strand was very painful!
"Principal," he cleverly changed the topic, "I have white hair at such a young age. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Staying up late, anxiety, those can all lead to white hair."
Principal Qin's attitude towards Xiao Chen was still quite polite. "Ah, as a teacher, who doesn't feel anxious."
"It really comes down to one's own mentality. Don't let the students affect you too much. Have some black sesame when you have time to nourish yourself." He said, "Well Principal, Teacher Yu, I'll get going first. No need to walk me out."
"Oh oh, take care, Brother Qiao Rui."
"Got it."
This conversation left Yu Na dazed and confused.
He was...too natural.
Yu Na wanted to keep sending Xiao Chen off, but was called back by Principal Qin, "Teacher Yu, come here for a second."
She felt something was wrong and stiffly turned back, "...What's the matter, Principal?"
"You - " Principal Qin reacted belatedly, "You and Brother Qiao Rui just now didn't seem to simply be pulling out white hair."
"We were just pulling out white hair. What did you think it was?"
"I saw the way he looked at you, and you at him, it was quite unlike just talking about romance."
"..." Yu Na smiled wryly, "Principal, aren't you going a little overboard lately with catching student romances?"
"That's true," Principal Qin was led astray again. As he walked with Yu Na, he said, "Let me tell you, Teacher Yu, in just these past few days since school started, I've caught more than just Qiao Rui and Xu Yi. The relationships between boys and girls in our school are a little too intimate. I must think of a way to handle this. Keep an eye on the students in your class! Otherwise when they can't get into college because of these juvenile romances, I won't say anything, but the parents won't let you off."
"I understand."
"Also," Principal Qin looped back to the previous topic, "Also, I still feel like there was something unusual between you and Brother Qiao just now. Is he married?"
"I don't think so."
"Then does he have a girlfriend?"
"I don't...don't know..."
"I understand. You young women like guys of that type, but Teacher Yu, although he's only Qiao Rui's elder brother, he's still a student's parent after all. Be mindful of the influence. I felt his gaze towards you was inappropriate. This is at school, you know what I mean?"
"I understand." Yu Na indirectly reminded him, "Actually Principal, the reason I know Qiao Rui's brother, do you know who it's because of?"
"Because of who?"
"You."
"...Me?"
"Mm." Yu Na put the blame on Principal Qin's head, "If it weren't for you always calling him to school, I might never have any connection with him in my whole life."
Principal Qin: ?
...
At the same time.
Xu Yi returned to her seat under the stares of the whole class.
Qiao Rui was not studying. He was lying with his head down sleeping on the desk.
Hearing the noise, he immediately sat up. "Your mom didn't hit you, did she?"
Xu Yi: "No."
She opened her textbook and tightly clutched her pen. "Qiao Rui, why did you lie?"
"What?"
"You said you told me to feed you the bread."
In fact, before the evening self-study period, Xu Yi went to the cafeteria to buy bread. She randomly bought one, but didn't expect this bread to be especially hard and dry to eat.
After buying, she and Qiao Rui went to the sports field to recite vocabulary.
Xu Yi wanted to get rid of this bread, but didn't want to eat it herself, and even more didn't want to waste it by throwing it away. So she came up with a clever idea.
"Let's do this. We'll recite vocabulary to each other. Whoever gets one wrong has to accept being fed this bread by the other person."
Qiao Rui's mouth twitched. "Damn, this bread is so nasty, tastes totally like wood."
"That's why it's a punishment! Hurry up and start!"
The two divided up the scope and quizzed each other back and forth.
Entering high school senior year, the two had strong motivation to study hard. After quizzing each other for a long time, the bread didn't decrease by a single bite.
Finally, with great difficulty, Qiao Rui made a mistake.
Xu Yi was both alarmed and delighted. She tore off a big piece of bread. "Open your mouth!"
Qiao Rui complained, "This really is so nasty to eat..."
"You lost!"
Qiao Rui reluctantly opened his mouth. At the instant she fed him the bread, whether by coincidence or not, they were discovered by Principal Qin and the principal who happened to walk by.
And so, the farce today occurred.
But Xu Yi didn't expect Qiao Rui to suddenly fabricate a reason on the spot, saying that he told her to feed it to him.
He took all the responsibility onto himself alone, clearing Xu Yi completely.
Faced with Xu Yi's question, Qiao Rui explained without hesitation: "They wouldn't believe us if I didn't make up a lie. Also, you're a good student, it's not good to get tangled up in this. I'm different. I have thick skin. Let them scold as they want."
Xu Yi had complex feelings inside. "Fine you made up a story, but why did you have to make that poisonous oath? And joke about your own future!"
Qiao Rui leisurely looked her over. "Worried about me?"
"...Qiao Rui."
"What?"
"My mother just said - " Her tone was dejected. "Won't let me live on campus anymore."
It was like hearing a sudden bolt from the blue. Qiao Rui sat up straight. "What?!"
Just then, Yu Na also returned to the classroom.
The matter of Qiao Rui and Xu Yi before evening self-study quickly spread and caused a sensation.
This was the only thing that could liven up the dull, monotonous school life - to be at the forefront of gossip.
Yu Na stood at the lectern and looked to the last row. "Qiao Rui, Xu Yi, come out for a moment."
With her words, all eyes once again turned to Qiao Rui and Xu Yi.
