Chapter 54: Worm, Can’t We Be Friends?…

Early the next morning, as soon as Fang Chuning arrived at school, she was intercepted by Tang Jiali. He looked anxious, “I had something to do last night and couldn’t get online. It doesn’t count. Let’s continue playing tonight!”

Is this person a child?

“It’s your business if you’re not free. I’m not as idle as you to play games every day.”

Tang Jiali was very frustrated. He caught up with the girl’s steps, walking backwards facing her, with his hands clasped together, “Please! It’s just a game. When you play with Gao Qiong, just invite me along. My requirements are very low, as long as you can help me rank up!”

What a humble boy. Fang Chuning was impressed by him, “If you simply want to rank up, you can totally pay someone to help you.”

“That’s soulless. I want to play myself. Please, please, okay?”

Seeing that he didn’t “threaten” her with Fang Hong again, Fang Chuning reluctantly agreed: “But I’m not free every day. I’ll call you when I’m free.”

Tang Jiali happily revealed his two little tiger teeth, “Okay.”

When Fang Chuning arrived at the classroom, she found that not many people had arrived yet. She looked at the time; she had come earlier than usual today.

She threw her bag onto her seat and then went out to use the bathroom. When she returned nearly ten minutes later, the classroom had filled up.

She saw the new transfer student standing in front of her seat talking to Xu Muzhou about something.

By the time she went over, the person had just finished talking and left. Fang Chuning sat down in her seat. Her bag had already been placed neatly in the drawer. She leaned over curiously and asked, “What did that person just say to you?”

Xu Muzhou was doing pre-class notes. Hearing this, he didn’t even lift his eyelids, “Classmate Lin asked me about the homework assignment the teacher gave yesterday.”

“Oh.” So even top students make such low-level mistakes, forgetting the questions assigned by the teacher?

During the break, Fang Chuning and Gao Qiong, along with several other female classmates, were on the rooftop enjoying the breeze. Except for her, everyone else had cigarettes in their mouths, and the white smoke blew into her face with the wind, making her uncomfortable.

She changed her position to play on her phone. When she looked up, her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a piece of clothing at the rooftop door. She pretended not to see it and lowered her head to continue playing on her phone.

Fang Chuning had known for a while that someone often secretly followed her. At first, she was curious, but as time went on, she just let it be. She wasn’t good at dealing with such persistent people.

“Hey, what are you doing standing here?”

Probably blocking someone’s way, a girl’s voice came from inside the door. The boy was a bit flustered and nervous, “So-sorry.”

The familiar voice caught Gao Qiong’s attention. She walked over, “Well, look who it is. Classmate Jiang, are you just passing by?”

The teasing question, knowing full well the answer, made Jiang Luoyu blush. He stammered, his handsome face full of awkwardness.

“Come on, if you’re passing by, just join us. We’re all so familiar, what’s there to be shy about?”

Gao Qiong grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the group of girls, ignoring his reluctance.

Finally, she stopped in front of Fang Chuning.

“Sit down. It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to Classmate Jiang.”

Jiang Luoyu didn’t sit. He couldn’t imagine how she would think if she knew he had been secretly following her all this time. It was like being a pervert.

“I……”

Just as he opened his mouth, the person in front of him suddenly stood up, “I’m going back to the classroom first.”

Then she walked past him and went downstairs.

Jiang Luoyu’s red face gradually turned pale. Gao Qiong sighed and patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Let it go.”

Yes, he wanted to let it go too. Continuing like this would undoubtedly be like a moth flying into a flame. But after falling in love with someone, it wasn’t something he could control. Even if she just glanced at him, he felt very happy.

There weren’t many classes in the afternoon. The teacher organized a class-wide cleaning. Their class was divided into two groups, responsible for cleaning the classroom and the garden outside the library.

Fang Chuning automatically assigned herself to the outside group.

Actually, the cleaning was quite easy. The school had rules against littering, and although there were some rebels, they were a minority. Most of what was on the ground were just fallen leaves.

Fang Chuning held the broom without moving, her eyes staring blankly at Xu Muzhou who was seriously cleaning not far away. A boy next to him said something, and he smiled slightly, like a walking luminous body, dazzlingly bright.

It’s so nice to have such a person as her boyfriend.

Fang Chuning sighed contentedly. Before she could look enough, the transfer student who was also assigned to clean together walked over for some reason and started talking to him.

They were a bit far away so she couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying. She only saw her gentle and kind boyfriend generously showing his smile to the transfer student, his eyes as gentle as always.

This indiscriminate treatment made Fang Chuning a bit sour. Her boyfriend was good in every way, but he was too good sometimes, making it hard to tell the difference between how he treated her and others.

Just as Fang Chuning was immersed in her own thoughts, she suddenly heard a scream. She turned her head to look. It turned out that a bug had fallen on a boy’s shoulder.

The bug wasn’t small, about the size of a thumb. Everyone present, regardless of gender, was pampered and spoiled. The few brave girls were laughing and watching the scene, and for a moment, no one dared to go help him.

As soon as Fang Chuning saw this bug, she thought of the time she was bitten by a leech. The psychological shadow was so large that she didn’t even want to go help.

The boy was almost scared to tears, standing there not daring to move, until a figure came forward and directly took the fat bug off with his hand.

“Don’t be afraid, this kind of bug doesn’t bite,” Jiang Luoyu comforted the boy.

The boy sat down on the ground as if relieved of a heavy burden, his face pale and expression a bit terrified, “It’s not about whether it bites or not! It’s disgusting!”

Jiang Luoyu put the bug on his palm. The bug curled up into a ball due to shock. He touched it with his finger, “It’s not. I think it’s quite cute.”

“……”

Fang Chuning, who witnessed everything, was very surprised. Is this still the timid and cowardly Classmate Jiang?

As if sensing her gaze, Jiang Luoyu looked up and their eyes met.

Fang Chuning casually looked away, not seeing his disappointed expression.

“Quick, throw the bug on the ground and step on it!” The scared boy looked at the tender green fat bug in his hand with disgust.

“No, it just accidentally fell from the tree. We can just put it back,” Jiang Luoyu said.

As if hearing some horrifying joke, the boy’s expression was strange, “Are you okay? Why would you want to put back such a disgusting thing?”

Jiang Luoyu lowered his eyes and said nothing.

The boy stepped forward and slapped his wrist, causing the bug to fall to the ground. He was about to step on it when Jiang Luoyu pushed him away, “Don’t do that!”

“You pushed me!?”

Jiang Luoyu bent down to pick up the bug, lowering his head submissively, “I’m sorry, I just felt there was no need to step on it.”

The boy completely forgot who had helped him out of his predicament, and said sarcastically, “What are you pretending for? Haven’t you eaten meat yourself? If you’re so sanctimonious, you might as well become a vegetarian.”

Isn’t he just trying to act pure to attract girls’ attention? Such people are really annoying.

“I just felt there was no need…”

“But I feel there is a need! Throw it on the ground quickly!”

The onlooking classmates were watching with great interest, showing no intention of intervening. Fang Chuning sighed and walked over, “Stop arguing. It’s not like it wants to eat you, why do you have such a big grudge?”

“Chairman!” The boy was even more angry seeing her speak for the other side, but he didn’t dare to say anything.

Fang Chuning looked at Jiang Luoyu, nodding towards the tree, indicating that he could do what he wanted.

Jiang Luoyu immediately brightened up with a smile, walked to the tree, stood on tiptoe to put the bug on a lower branch, then ran back to the girl’s side, “Thank you.”

“No need.”

Jiang Luoyu didn’t want to let go of such a good opportunity and tried hard to find a topic: “That kind of bug feeds on tree leaves and dew. It doesn’t harm the tree itself.”

“You even know this?”

“Because I lived in the countryside when I was little.”

Fang Chuning nodded, “It’s almost time to go home. Let’s hurry up and clean.”

“Chairman,” Jiang Luoyu called out to her, nervously looking into her eyes, “I know it’s impossible now, but if we can’t be lovers, can’t we at least be friends?”

Afraid she might misunderstand, he quickly explained: “I have no intention of ruining your relationship with Xu. I just want to have someone to talk to at school.”

Fang Chuning looked at him for a moment, not saying yes or no.

Come to think of it, she had almost dated him back then. It would be a lie to say she didn’t like him at all. She was somewhat attracted by his thoughtfulness. It’s just that fate was a little thin.

Not far away, Xu Muzhou watched them with pale eyes, his face expressionless, his fingers gripping the broom handle so tightly they turned blue.

After finishing the cleaning, they could leave school early to go home. Fang Chuning stuffed her books into her bag, leaned her upper body to the side, and kissed the young man’s fair and delectable cheek, “It’s still early. I’ll accompany you outside for a bit.”

Normally, Xu Muzhou would certainly agree, but now he was expressionless, “No need. I want to go home early.”

Fang Chuning hadn’t noticed anything amiss yet, “But it’s still so early…”

Xu Muzhou didn’t respond to her anymore, hugging his books and walking out of the classroom.

“Hey,” Fang Chuning slung her bag over her shoulder and followed, standing beside the young man and examining his expression, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Then let’s go on a date.”

“No.”

“Why not?” It’s rare to get out of school early today.

Xu Muzhou pursed his lips, turning his face slightly away, “Anyway, you have plenty of people to date. No need to waste time on me.”

“……” Fang Chuning stared at his profile for a while, a bit uncertain: “Did you misunderstand something?”

The young man suddenly quickened his pace, going down the stairs ahead of her.

Fang Chuning caught up, grabbed his arm, and controlled him in the corner of the middle landing of the stairs, “I’m saying, if you have something to say, just say it clearly, okay? If you don’t say it, how would I know what I did wrong to make you unhappy!”

The voice was almost shouted out. She really couldn’t stand him keeping things bottled up inside and then giving her the cold shoulder, while she didn’t even know where she had gone wrong.

There were other students going downstairs in the stairwell, wanting to look but not daring to, glancing once and then pretending they hadn’t seen anything as they passed by.

Xu Muzhou seemed to be frightened by her outburst, his beautiful peach blossom eyes welling up with tears.

Fang Chuning’s heart immediately softened, her tone becoming much gentler, “I didn’t mean it that way. I just want you to tell me if something’s bothering you. Keeping it bottled up inside will make you sick.”

This comforting was too much, and the person who wasn’t crying before now had tears flowing out of his eyes like a broken string. He bit his lip tightly, refusing to make a sound.

Fang Chuning cupped his face tenderly, wiping away his tears. Finally, the two reconciled with a deep kiss of lips and tongues.

The next day, as soon as Fang Chuning arrived at the classroom, she saw everyone gathered together whispering. When they saw her come in, someone immediately reported: “Chairman, someone wants to harm the vice chairman!”

Hearing such words from a student’s mouth always makes one feel a bit chuunibyou, but when she clearly saw the situation, she didn’t think so anymore.

Only to see Xu Muzhou’s desk covered with crawling worms, some of which had even crawled onto her desk. The densely packed, pale green, squirming mass made one’s scalp tingle with extreme discomfort. Looking at it for too long could even make one uncontrollably nauseous.

The closest to it was Xu Muzhou. He was now frozen like a statue, his face pale without a trace of color.

Fang Chuning, suppressing her nausea, quickly went over to support him. The moment she touched him, her hand was tightly grasped. Xu Muzhou buried his face in the crook of her neck, his breathing a bit rapid: “Ning Ning… I… don’t feel well…”

“Where’s your medicine?”

“……” He didn’t speak.

Fang Chuning guessed it should be in the drawer. She glanced at the area difficult to approach, asked someone to hold him steady, and steeled herself to go over and rummage through his drawer. She comforted herself that this kind of worm doesn’t bite, but the soft sensation still made her nauseous and gave her goosebumps. Fortunately, the medicine was found quickly.

Soon, the teacher and the staff responsible for cleaning arrived. This incident was not small. Although the worms were harmless, everyone in the class knew that Xu Muzhou had asthma.