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Ruan Mingxian stopped in his tracks. Close behind him was Ju Xiaoyu.
After Li Erqin took her leave from the teacher in charge, she turned and saw Ruan Mingxian.
Ruan Mingxian clenched his fists. From Li Erqin’s expression, he couldn’t guess what the teacher had said. His heart shivered in his chest.
Li Erqin walked up to him, hesitating for a moment before she spoke, “Ruan Mingxian.”
He almost immediately responded, “Yes.”
Li Erqin glanced behind him.
Only then did Ruan Mingxian remembered that Ju Xiaoyu was behind him. He turned and asked, “Can you leave us for a moment?”
Ju Xiaoyu’s face turned a little red.
Ruan Mingxian’s impatience reached its peak as he repeated, “Can you?”
Not knowing what she had done wrong, she looked at Li Erqin, hoping that Li Erqin would speak up for her.
In the end, Li Erqin only looked at her silently.
Ultimately, Ju Xiaoyu still left.
Ruan Mingxian’s mood had already changed for the better. However, this time, he face was lacking his did not smile as he solemnly stared at Li Erqin.
Li Erqin was expressionless from start to finish.
“What did the teacher say to you?” he asked.
“She told me to give up on this opportunity to be an emcee.”
Ruan Mingxian drew a blank, subconsciously apologizing, “I’m sorry.”
“It was not your fault,” Li Erqin pulled the zipper of her cotton-padded jacket all the way up and hid her chin in the collar. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back first.”
“Li Erqin,” Ruan Mingxian called her again.
Li Erqin turned around.
“Wait a moment and I’ll go talk to the teacher again.”
“There’s no need.”
Ruan Mingxian stared at her.
The cold and raw wind blew in from the end of the hallway. The black clouds in the sky rolled up in layers. It almost felt like a burst of torrential rain was approaching. The lights in the neighboring building were all lit up, and one could easily distinguish every single student in each of the classrooms as they walked to and fro. It was so clear that one could even see a student by the window as she leaned her head on her arm, while she used her other hand to flip through the pages. However, although Li Erqin stood only a few steps away from Ruan Mingxian, he still could not see through her expression.
“Don’t go,” Li Erqin repeated. She had no means to continue her words. She did not wish to remember what the teacher-in-charge had just told her, as, in short, they were not words that made one feel happy.
As Li Erqin finished speaking she turned to leave, but Ruan Mingxian stopped her by grabbing her hand.
She was stunned.
Ruan Mingxian grasped her hand with a strength that did not invite refusal.
“Are you really not going to participate?”
Li Erqin noddedshook her head.
“Then I won’t participate either.”
When Ruan Mingxian had finished speaking, he relaxed his tone and smiled, “Are you returning to the classroom? I’ll can send you back.”
Li Erqin took a step back.
The two people were silent. Ruan Mingxian thought Li Erqin would ask him, ‘Why?’
Thus, he waited patiently, as he still had things to say.
Sure enough, Li Erqin opened her mouth. However, she asked, “Ruan Mingxian, do you know what the teacher said to me?”
Ruan Mingxian’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
She hadn’t decided whether she wanted to say anything, so she glanced over at the building on the opposite side, in an attempt to find her own classroom. It was upstairs, on the third floor; the second classroom from the left. The nighttime self-study classes were about to begin, and a majority of the students had already returned to their seats. Li Erqin looked around, but she could not find Rong Si’s silhouette.
She was a bit disappointed.
Whenever she felt she was in the midst of a difficult decision, she would know what she should do after she looked at Rong Si.
She withdrew her line of sight, passing the last window in the classroom, seeing a white figure.
It was Rong Si!
She didn’t know how long he had been standing there. The two of them looked at each other from the same level, some distance apart. From such a far distance, obviously she could not make out Rong Si’s expression, but the grievances that she had been working hard to suppressed in her heart, suddenly *advanced dauntlessly in waves. She felt wronged yet sad.
(T/N: 前赴后继 qianfuhouji – an idiom to denote the dauntlessly advancing of wave, like the crashing of waves upon waves.)
She was not a short-sighted person. She had no schemes, she had not entered through the back door, and she had not secretly entered into an intimate relationship.
She did not wish to wear any of those “labels”.*(T/N: the author uses the imagery of hats – literal : These so called ‘hat’s”, she has no intention of putting any them on.)
Earlier when the teacher-in-charge’s scarlet lips were opening and closing, she had spoken with such *righteous convictions that is was not that easy to refute.
(*T/N: 理直气壮 lizhiqizhuang – idiom used to denote bold and confident advocating justice, holding onto one’s conviction)
“Li Erqin?” Ruan Mingxian called out to her in doubt.
Li Erqin was pulled back from her train of thought, as she waved at Rong Si who stood at the opposite window.
The person on the other side quickly lifted his own hand and responded.
“You should go do your own work,” Li Erqin replied. “I’m going to go to the classroom to self-study now.”
“I’ll go over with you.”
“I don’t need your help.” Li Erqin refused as she looked at him again. This time, her eyes were not heavy with gloominess, but had become bright and clean again. “Ruan Mingxian, I do not wish for your refusal to be an emcee to implicate me.
Ruan Mingxian went blank, understanding thoroughly what she meant.
“Then I’ll return first. Good bye.”
She waved at him and then brushed past him.
When she got back to the classroom, Rong Si had already returned to his own seat. Peng Zige was jabbering on beside him.
When he saw her return, Rong Si’s attention immediately focused on her.
Peng Zige was oblivious to what had occurred as he happily asked Li Erqin, “How was it? Was it super cool?”
After he finished asking, Rong Si kicked him under the table.
Not understanding, he looked at Rong Si. When he looked back at Li Erqin, he realized that she did not look right.
“Who bullied you?” This was the first conclusion Peng Zige thought of.
Su Zi heard the word “bullied” and immediately put her pen down before turning around.
Through it all, Li Erqin’s eyes were fixed on Rong Si (from start to end). The moodiness that she had just gotten rid of was sent into overdrive again because of his caring expression.
She frowned, the corners of her mouth slanting downwards. This was probably the most wronged expression she could make. “I can’t be the emcee anymore.”