This time Qi came to the library, bringing along an extra booklet of error-correction exercises.
She discovered that even with someone else’s well-written notes, there were many parts she simply couldn’t figure out no matter how hard she pondered.
She planned to first copy down and remember the parts she didn’t understand.
After finishing this notebook, she would go look at other people’s problem-solving approaches. Having another perspective might just help her learn it.
However, the moment she stepped into the library, she bumped into Jiang Wanli talking with the librarian on the first floor.
“Good afternoon, Sister Xiaoli,”
the black-haired girl approached and greeted her.
“Hmm? Shouldn’t you be eating lunch in the canteen at this hour? Why did you come to the library?”
Jiang Wanli asked with some confusion.
“I know the answer to this, President!”
The librarian next to her quickly raised her hand to answer first, “Qiqi lost her campus card last night, so she probably can’t get lunch right now.”
The doubt in the young woman’s heart faded, replaced by an understanding, light chuckle.
“Is that so? Well, I was just about to go to the canteen for lunch myself. Qiqi, come with me.”
“Huh? But I just ate some bread…”
“No matter what, you still need to eat proper meals, otherwise you won’t grow tall.”
Jiang Wanli raised her hand and patted her head in a soothing manner. She then carefully instructed the librarian lady beside them before walking straight out of the library.
“No wonder Qiqi refused my tutoring invitation last night. So your heart already belongs to someone else~”
the librarian said to the black-haired girl in a teasing tone.
“I don’t, don’t talk nonsense.”
“Don’t be shy. Everyone knows you like the President. Tutoring is indeed very suitable for fostering feelings. Qiqi, you have to seize this opportunity.”
Qi was slightly taken aback, seemingly somewhat surprised. The librarian lady waved at her.
“Alright, stop spacing out. The President is getting far away. Hurry up and catch up to her!”
She really did need to catch up to Jiang Wanli quickly. Reminded of this, Qi snapped out of it, suppressing the words of explanation she wanted to say in her heart.
She waved at the librarian and took small steps to follow the direction Jiang Wanli had left.
Just after exiting the library, she saw the young woman waiting for her not far away.
“Finished talking?”
Jiang Wanli looked at her.
“Let’s go to the canteen then.”
“Mm.”
The black-haired girl followed behind her.
Perhaps to accommodate Qi’s smaller steps and slower pace, Jiang Wanli also slowed her own pace.
So Qi didn’t feel much pressure along the way.
“Sister Xiaoli, have you… heard any strange remarks recently?”
At this point, the black-haired girl asked cautiously.
“I haven’t heard any strange remarks. Did that person just now say something to you?”
“No, I was just asking casually. Sister Xiaoli, don’t worry about it.”
After that, Qi fell silent and didn’t say anything more.
It wasn’t until they reached the canteen, found a seat, and Jiang Wanli went to order food that Qi took out her phone, opened the forum, and checked.
The forum didn’t contain any strange words like “pursuit” or “like.” Although there was indeed a portion of people shouting weird things like “cp” or “so sweet” under photos of her and Jiang Wanli together, those should just be jokes, not people genuinely believing it.
Then why did that librarian lady say “everyone knows”?
Did she also browse the forum?
Qi had thought the “everyone” in her mouth referred to the active crowd on the forum.
The black-haired girl was somewhat troubled.
She didn’t actually like Jiang Wanli in that way.
Or rather, the persona she played in front of Jiang Wanli wasn’t one of desiring a romantic relationship.
She hoped to enter Jiang Wanli’s view as a victim, stimulating the other’s protective instincts but without becoming overly dependent.
She just needed Jiang Wanli to help her a bit when she faced Bai Qiaoyu.
This kind of mutually caring friendship was the safest. It could be easily severed when no longer needed. But taking it a step further would be troublesome.
Was it the path dependency developed from previously pursuing other girls?
Had she subconsciously created some somewhat ambiguous atmosphere without realizing it? Qi felt a bit worried.
She thought back. The only scenarios that could be considered ambiguous were hiding in Jiang Wanli’s arms the entire time at the cinema because she was scared of the spider, Jiang Wanli unconsciously groping her chest in the locker, and because her legs were weak, she kept clinging to Jiang Wanli’s embrace, her face remaining flushed and shy the whole time…
Wasn’t that all ambiguous?!
The more the black-haired girl thought about it, the more alarmed she became.
Although she was forced in those situations, and it was urgent so she didn’t pay too much attention, the atmosphere was just too wrong!
Thankfully, that librarian lady had reminded her. It probably wasn’t too late to turn back now.
Judging from Jiang Wanli’s reactions all along, she should be a straight girl with normal sexual orientation.
Her relationship with Qi was also an utterly pure one between girls. This was also something Qi found comforting.
Qi had never been a girl before, but she’d heard that good female friends groping each other’s chests was a normal interaction.
From the perspective of a normal girl’s thinking, that’s why Jiang Wanli hadn’t shown any reaction to touching her chest that day. She probably also thought it was no big deal.
Even so, she needed to slightly cool down the temperature of her interactions with Jiang Wanli from now on. Some things had to be guarded against.
While she was calculating this in her heart, Jiang Wanli returned with their lunches.
The black-haired girl thanked her, took her portion of food, and began to eat.
“Can you get your campus card back? Do you need to get a replacement?”
Faced with Jiang Wanli’s inquiry, Qi thought for a moment before slowly recounting how Bai Qiaoyu had taken her campus card last night.
“It’s her again?”
“Mm…”
The black-haired girl nodded pitifully.
“It’s okay. Until you get your campus card back, you can come find me,” Jiang Wanli comforted her gently.
Qi nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with both gratitude and a hint of guilt.
“Sister Xiaoli, I’m always causing trouble for you…”
Jiang Wanli smiled and shook her head.
“That’s not true at all. Don’t overthink it. Hurry up and eat.”
After lunch, Qi bid farewell to Jiang Wanli and returned to the library.
She didn’t plan to follow the librarian’s suggestion for now, to ask Jiang Wanli for tutoring help. As previously thought, the interaction pattern between the two needed appropriate cooling.
When she stepped through the library entrance again, the look in that librarian lady’s eyes held a touch of regret.
The black-haired girl didn’t pay it any mind. She returned to her previous spot on the third floor and took out yesterday’s notes and textbooks again.
As time passed bit by bit, the sky approached evening. Qi’s attention was pulled back by the notification sound from her phone. She picked it up to look. It was a message from Bai Qiaoyu.
The black-haired girl’s heart began to wrestle with indecision. The anxiety that had vaguely accompanied her all day gradually amplified at this moment.
Should she go or not?
***
In the park near the school, Bai Qiaoyu waited.
This park rarely had visitors because its layout was extremely simple—just a few stone tables and chairs within a grove of trees. Its only redeeming quality was probably its seclusion.
Bai Qiaoyu leaned against a stone table, her posture relaxed and elegant.
She was a hunter waiting by a stump for a rabbit, so she wasn’t in a hurry.
No matter how much Qi avoided her, she would definitely come to retrieve that campus card.
At that moment, the sound of slow, approaching footsteps reached her ears. Bai Qiaoyu looked up.
Before her stood a young woman she had never seen before.
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