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Translators: togekiss, shl, MissBookie
Editors: maripaz, jehovah belmont
Proofreaders: MissBookie, Librismuse
Li Erqin and Rong Si were both hauled off to the staff room by the very same teacher who had reprimanded her earlier in the broadcasting studio. They were guilty of ‘suspected puppy love’ or looking like they were about to start a relationship.
The teacher refilled his teacup with more hot water and looked searchingly at the two of them. Then, he blew on the tea leaves that had floated to the top, carefully took a sip of the hot tea and spat the tea leaves he had accidentally ingested back into the cup.
After this series of actions, he placed the cup down and cleared his throat before asking, “Do you have anything to say on your behalf?”
Neither of them spoke.
The teacher then stood up and poked Li Erqin on her forehead with his finger, saying, “You, you, you, don’t you ever stop with your nonsense? If I hadn’t come downstairs just at that time, you guys would have violated the school rules, do you know that?”
“Teacher,” Rong Si said.
The teacher clasped his hands behind his back and looked at him.
“What did you hear Li Erqin say?”
The teacher continued poking Li Erqin’s forehead. “Girls nowadays . . .”
“Teacher,” Rong Si interrupted once again, saving Li Erqin’s forehead from yet another poke. “Li Erqin did not say anything that deserves punishment.”
“What?” The teacher turned back.
With a face devoid of expression, Rong Si looked down at the teacher who was a full head shorter than him and said, “If you have to punish someone, then how about punishing me?”
The teacher was stupefied. “You!”
“Teacher,” Li Erqin finally spoke.
The teacher looked across at Li Erqin and saw her quietly looking at him, her eyes as cool and transparent as clear water. “Is it a punishable offence to like someone?”
The teacher could not restrain his irritation and said, “At this stage in your life, you need to focus your energies on your studies!”
Li Erqin asked again, “Is it possible to control your liking for someone?”
Rong Si coughed lightly and flicked a casual glance at Li Erqin.
Li Erqin obediently stopped.
The teacher once again reached out a finger to poke Li Erqin’s forehead. “At your age, you should be studying hard!”
Li Erqin stood up straight and said, “I like my father and mother.”
The teacher was struck dumb.
“I like fellow student Rong Si. I also like students Su Zi and Peng Zige.” She took advantage of the teacher’s stunned immobility to quietly take a step back as she said, “I also like you, teacher.”
The teacher was completely blindsided by this sudden sugar-coated bullet. “What did you say?”
Li Erqin solemnly rectified her earlier words, saying, “I love and respect *you, teacher, and it is the kind of love that cannot be controlled.”
(TN: she corrected herself by using the formal “you”)
(MissBookie: Oh, she is just precious! I can totally imagine her saying her mini monologue with a straight face while her teacher would be sitting there, having a mini heart attack! Priceless! I really need a LEQ in my life!)
(Minodayz : IKR, and while the teacher is having conniptions, RS is probably rolling his eyes, looking skywards and wishing Spook would beam him up ~ok showing my age or maybe he could put on the cloak of invisibility! LOL)
They thought that it would be a long disciplinary session, but in the end it just fizzled out.
Rong Si led Li Erqin back into the classroom. Peng Zige had already finished answering a set of questions and was getting ready to tackle the next set. Looking at the pair return, he asked suspiciously, “What were you guys doing? The self-study session is almost over.”
Li Erqin pursed her lips. The words she had just spoken were so contrary to every cell in her body that right then, all she wanted to do was to gargle and cleanse her mouth.
Peng Zige turned questioningly towards Rong Si, only to find his demeanor even more sour and off-putting than Li Erqin’s. He lowered his voice and asked, “You guys
 just what in the world happened?”
Rong Si sneered.
“Don’t sneer at me!” Peng Zige said, aggrieved. “What happened?”
Rong Si searched under his table and asked suddenly, “Where is my pencil?”
Peng Zige let out a laugh and then reached his hand out. “I have it 
”
“Why did you take my pencil?”
Peng Zige scratched the back of his head and said, “I thought that if I used your pencil, I might be able to get a greater number of correct answers.”
Rong Si was speechless.
He stretched out his hand and patted Li Erqin’s shoulder.
Li Erqin turned her head to look at him questioningly.
“Lend me a pencil.”
Li Erqin immediately gave him the pencil she was holding.
Peng Zige didn’t understand. “Can’t I just return the pencil to you?”
Rong Si shot a glance at him and replied, “I’m afraid I might get a greater number of wrong answers then.”
(Minodayz : ohhhh myyyy.. (*≧▜≊) The rate of RS making LEQ-like statements are getting higher and higher too! LOL!!!!)
Peng Zige was rendered speechless. ⊙▂⊙
At the same time, Su Zi secretly passed on a note to Li Erqin: What happened?
Li Erqin sighed and wrote back: Was just told off by the teacher.
Su Zi was surprised: Because of that noon radio thing?
Li Erqin sighed even more deeply: That was the previous conversation. I was reprimanded twice this afternoon.
Su Zi simply drew a question mark in return.
Li Erqin thought back to the events that had transpired earlier and decided that the whole thing could not be explained in a few words. Besides, the whole situation where the teacher had caught them the second time, it was really just
 too awkward and too funny.
When Su Zi saw that it was taking Li Erqin a long time to reply, she asked again: What’s the matter?
Li Erqin finally picked up her pencil and summarized it in one sentence: I think Rong Si figured out that I like him.
“Really?” Su Zi blurted out loudly in surprise. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands and gave an apologetic look to the classmates around her who had been disturbed.
On turning back, she discovered that Li Erqin had already written her answer on the paper: Rong Si asked me if I liked him.
Su Zi, anxious to know what happened after that, and feeling that her hands were too slow in writing, instead mouthed, “Then what?”
Li Erqin was her usual, unhurried self as she wrote: Then we were caught by the teacher.
Su Zi said, “Oh.”
(Minodayz : YAH – big fat OH! Party pooper indeed!)
After calmly thinking it over, she turned over the page and continued writing:Seriously, which teacher was it? So annoying!
Li Erqin: Teacher Qian who manages the library and broadcasting rooms.
(orig: book and radio room)
Su Zi rolled her eyes: He is such a busybody! He can hardly even manage our own class!
Li Erqin wrote helplessly: Maybe it’s better this way . . . I didn’t know how to answer him . . .
Su Zi mocked her: Just tell the truth!
Li Erqin pondered this statement for a long time before replying: What if I had said, I like you. Then Rong Si says, sorry, I want to focus on my studies. Then what?
Su Zi: “Pooh!”
Minodayz : OH MYYYYY they were hauled up! (≧▜≊) I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh to throw something! Hahahaha!!! But the whole incident with the teacher was almost hilariously – I mean, LEQ can really plow herself right in! (Tâ–œT*) She had me at her “I love you teacher!” – Seriously if I were a fly on the wall then, I may fall off my perch laughing and kissing her!!! MWAH ⊂(˃̶͈̀Δ ˂̶͈́ ⊂ )
RS’s level of humor is becoming more and more like LEQ – it’s seriously rubbing off! He does it with such flair and panache(âșŁâ—ĄâșŁ)♡ PZG seem to be wearing a bulleye with words “hit me” rofl!!! I do like that LEQ was honest to share with SZ her misgivings but I think SZ is ready to nudge her too – what do you think????
Anyway, Happy Weekend!!! Don’t forget to hang out with us on Discord. We love to hear your thoughts and just to hang out.