Zhongie gave Lu Yuanyang a nudge. “Enough of that. Why on earth would you even bother about that? What’s important right now is to think of a way to recruit him to our basketball team.”


  “What do you know?” Lu Yuanyang said with disdain. “If you want to get Quan Jingyi to join the basketball team, you will have to solve his pocket-money problem first. If you don’t have any money, you won’t even be able to go to internet cafes! I’d like to see how you would survive then.”


  Zhongie silently blew a raspberry. “That’s true. But his father is a mean man! To think that he started ill-treating his son because of his concubine! Tsk tsk tsk,” he said, clicking his tongue.

  Li Jianyue began to formulate a plan as she heard their exchange.

  Li Mosen had taken them to the top floor of the Campus dining hall that day. It was also a Chinese and Western restaurant with very few people around. The prices at the outlet, though, were steep.

  Li Jianyue was a little distracted as she ate her food.

  Li Mosen noticed the change in her. “I see that you went to see Headmaster Xie today. There were a few other students in his office, too. What were you doing there?” he asked.

  Li Jianyue hadn’t expected him to find out about it. She pulled a face and quickly replied, “A little something happened. I went to help out a little.”


  Unfortunately for Li Jianyue, her help seemed to have gone unappreciated.

  Now Li Jianyue was having second thoughts. She began to wonder if she had been a little too nosy.

  Li Mosen didn’t prod her any further. With a nod, he continued eating.

  Zhongie and Lu Yuanyang had known Li Mosen for more than two years. They sensed that something was amiss with Li Mosen.

  Li Mosen didn’t look too happy.

  The feeling was subtle, but they felt that something was odd all the same.

  The two of them exchanged glances. Each saw in the other’s eyes, a look of confirmation.

  Li Jianyue remained utterly oblivious. After lunch, she looked for a place to rest.

  The homeroom teacher taught the first class in the afternoon.

  When the class bell rang, Quan Jingyi sauntered in leisurely from outside and took his seat.

  As he sat down, he calmly put a small object in Li Jianyue’s drawer.

  The object was pink. When Li Jianyue took a peek at it, she realized that it was a carton of strawberry milk.

  Surprised, Li Jianyue raised her head and looked at him.

  Quan Jingyi didn’t bother to look at her at all. “It is a leftover from lunch. I’m not too fond of the taste of strawberries. You may do with it as you please,” he said casually.

  Li Jianyue blinked her eyes. She picked up the carton of strawberry milk and noticed that it was one of her favorite brands. Li Jianyue couldn’t recognize it had first because of the redesigned packaging.

  On the carton, scribbled with a blue ballpoint pen, were the words “Thank you.”


  Someone had written it, but who?

  Seeing how ugly the handwriting was, Li Jianyue assumed it had to be Quan Jingyi’s.

  Was this guy thanking her?

  Was it because of the incident that morning?

  Before Li Jianyue could finish processing her thought, Quan Jingyi’s voice rang out again. “If you don’t like it, just throw it in the trash bin.”


  Li Jianyue was now sure who wrote the words. This guy had taken the trouble to write his thanks on the carton. Perhaps he didn’t want to thank her in person.

  Li Jianyue put the milk carton back in her drawer. Her eyes had a hint of faux contempt. “It’s bad to waste food. I’ll drink it after class.”


  Quan Jingyi didn’t mind that either. He took out his books from his bag. As he was doing this, he could hear the girl beside him mutter, “Why does he have to make things so hard on himself? If he wants to thank me, it’ll be so much easier to say it directly rather than go through all this fuss.”


  Quan Jingyi pretended not to hear her. He flipped open a book and put on a show of being engrossed in its contents.

  Li Jianyue harrumphed. She couldn’t resist thinking to herself that his actions were endearing.

  This guy had never acquired the habit of reading. It was so easy to see through his pretense. Ha!