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Chapter 21 – Confession 2
As soon as the bell rang for the end of the evening remedial, the Chou Jiu who had beaten Peng Zige and then unceremoniously left once again appeared at the classroom door. She blocked Rong Si’s path and gave him an impudent smile. “Hey!”
Rong Si gave her a blank stare; then, looking past her, he walked around her and towards the stairs.
Chou Jiu rushed after Rong Si and shouted at his retreating back, “RONG SI! I LIKE YOU! BE MY BOYFRIEND!”
With her loud holler, the bustle in the corridor immediately quieted to a hush. The students who had rushed out of class to either hurry back to their hostels and rest or to head to the kiosk to grab a late night snack all came to a stop as they looked, slack-jawed, at the proud Chou Jiu.
However, Li Erqin’s first reaction was to cast a glance at Su Zi to register her expression, and Su Zi, indeed, had paled and was unable to mask her reaction.
Rong Si did not even look back but walked forward at a leisurely pace, weaving through the throngs and disappearing down the stairs.
The incident of Chou Jiu blocking Rong Si’s way and publicly making a love confession was witnessed by many students from the same year.  Su Zi and Li Erqin returned to their hostel to find a group of girls gathered around discussing this very incident.
Su Zi pretended to be cool and calmly walked over to ask, “Who is this Chou Jiu anyway?”
Immediately someone with a tone of disbelief asked in return, “How could you not know?”
Li Erqin, who had come up behind Su Zi, also nodded her head. “Well, I don’t know her either.”
The student gave Li Erqin a look that screamed “no one is asking for your opinion” and then continued to explain to Su Zi, “She’s the big boss of the art class. Lots of boys have been chasing after her, but no one’s been successful so far.”
Another added, “No, that’s not it. I heard that her boyfriend isn’t from our school.”
“That’s right! I remember seeing this guy waiting for her outside the school gate. He was really handsome!”
Li Erqin asked, “As handsome as Rong Si?”
(Minodayz: atta girl! I so get why I love you- got your priorities in the right place! Hahahaha – only you my LEQ!)
“There are many types of handsome you know!”
“So which of them is more handsome?” Li Erqin doggedly asked.
The other person considered for a moment, “…..Rong Si.”
A satisfied Li Erqin nodded her head, “You may continue.”
(Minodayz : I just love her to bits! Cracks me up!)
“That’s why Erqin, you should just stop interrupting me!” the younger girl flustered. “I heard that she was fond of skipping class and that the teachers can’t even do anything about it because I think the school’s lab was donated by her family.
“That can’t be,” Li Erqin corrected her. “The school notice that went out said that the lab was donated by a local literary writer. Moreover he made donations to education all over China (From across north and south China)…..”
“Ok, we got that,” The younger girl interrupted. “But from what I heard, she’s from an influential family and is even chauffeured all the time.”
The younger girl paused here; accustomed to being interrupted, she was waiting for Li Erqin to jump in. However, after waiting awhile, Li Erqin was still silent. The younger girl looked over with some misgivings at Li Erqin only to see Li Erqin stare right back, equally mystified.
Clearing her throat, the younger girl continued, “Anyhow, from fighting, smoking, skipping class, there isn’t anything she hasn’t done. However, she is known to be very loyal. Sometime back when the girls in her class were being bullied by some guy, she had the boy beaten up in the bathroom.”
“Wow”
Everyone turned towards the person who had exclaimed ~ Li Erqin.
Li Erqin answered in all seriousness, “Rushing into the guy’s toilet is too cool! Wonder if the other guys in there were embarrassed.”
“I suppose most of them would have cleared the scene prior?” Su Zi replied uncertainty.
Li Erqin nodded her head in understanding.
(Minodayz : I’m seriously not sure what she understands here what with her mental wavelength – lol)
The younger girl gave a sigh in conclusion, “We’re all high school girls, but her life is so much more colorful and exciting! And she has a handsome boyfriend to boot! In comparison, our lives just seem so boring and mundane!”
Li Erqin once again expressed her disagreement. “What do you mean boring? We have so many assignments; there’s not even enough time to finish them all.”
(Minodayz: Ok at times as these, I can only wonder LEQ!)
The girl couldn’t resist giving Li Erqin’s head a slap, “You obviously have your priorities wrong!”
Li Erqin protected her head and gave it a rub but chose not to reply.
The next day, as Li Erqin and company were at the cafeteria having breakfast, they happened upon an uninvited guest – Chou Jiu.
She smiled as she balanced her tray and nudged aside Peng Zige, sitting herself down beside Rong Si.  “What a coincidence!”
After having been pushed aside, an annoyed Peng Zige took his plate and walked over to sit beside Li Erqin, giving her an aggrieved look.
Li Erqin casually patted his shoulder, giving what should count as some type of consolation.
Rong Si, meanwhile, continued eating, totally ignoring Chou Jiu.
Chou Jiu treated the other three as if they were just background scenery. Her eyes focused on Rong Si’s breakfast. “You’re just eating that bit of rice porridge (congee) with an egg? I’ve got a bun here. Would you like some?”
Thus saying, she took a bun from her tray and moved to put it on Rong Si’s tray.
(Minodayz: a tad confusing here as RS is eating congee, so I would say it would be in a bowl, but they used the word plate..hmmmmm! – anyway, I digress! lol)
Rong Si quietly moved his tray aside and swept his icy cold eyes towards her, “Please beware of your personal hygiene.”
Chou Jiu’s face stiffened and then quickly returned to normal, “I just bought this bun. It hasn’t been eaten.”
Rong Si: “I don’t need it. Thanks.”
“Hey, Rong Si.” Chou Jiu totally didn’t mind Rong Si’s cold treatment. She lazily propped her chin on her hands and said, “I’m chasing you! The question I asked you last night. Do you have an answer yet?”
Before Rong Si could reply, Li Erqin raised a question, “Everyone says you’ve already got yourself a boyfriend.”
Chou Jiu obviously did not expect that someone would speak up at this point. Caught totally unaware, she blanked for a few seconds before asking, “Who said that?”
“Everyone,” was the calm reply.
“Who’s everyone?” Chou Jiu was not pleased at all. “Who are these people who are such busybodies. Wait ‘till I find them. I’ll shut their mouths!”
Li Erqin frowned. “Well, I guess you’ll have quite a lot of mouths to shut then.”
“Psycho!” Chou Jiu glared at her. “I was talking to Rong Si. What right do you have to butt in?”
A chill crossed Li Erqin’s face. “I was having breakfast with Rong Si. What right did you have to sit here?”
(Minodayz: Singed! ouch! You go girl! FIGHTING LEQ!!! Such a good comeback!!! You never cease to amaze me! lol)
Chou Jiu wanted to react, but Rong Si was sitting beside her, putting her in a lurch. Not sure whether to attack or retreat, she issued a: “Just you wait and see.”
By contrast, Li Erqin had laughter in her eyes as she replied, “I won’t be waiting.”
“Whoa!” Peng Zige had been holding it in this whole time. ”Erqin…you…hahahahahahaha!”
Rong Si finally finished with his breakfast. He placed his chopsticks down slowly and then turned to Chou Jiu saying, “I don’t plan on dating. So in the future, kindly don’t come looking for me.”
(minodayz : cough… cough.. splutter.. splutter..erh hemm…”famous last words RS buddy – don’t plan on it! lol we won’t too!)
After clearing his utensils, he lifted his chin towards Li Erqin and said, “Let’s go.”
Li Erqin, receiving his command, obediently took up her plate and followed him.  Peng Zige hurriedly said, “Wait for me” as he chased after them. Su Zi remained to slowly finish up her last spoonful. With her naturally sweet-looking appearance, Su Zi piled on the saccharine as she turned to Qiu Jiu with a smile. “Take your time! (Enjoy your meal.)”
Chou Jiu alone was left at the original table, her small face fuming until it turned deathly white.
(Minodayz: the group is such a blast – I could feel RS’s chill and LEQ – she was just amazing. Poor PZG has too much heart, while Su Zi shows some claws too! woohoo! Love it how when the others had left the table, she so calmly finished hers and then threw in that line! They are just such a fun group! Wonder what CJ will have under her sleeves – sure looks like a tornado is brewing…. how will our group cope! LEQ ‘who is not waiting’ – do watch out!!! Stay tuned)