Chapter 183: School Secrets and Surprises

Jiang Qian and Fang Meng jumped at the sound of Lin Zheng Ran’s voice, each blushing in her own way.

Jiang Qian answered the phone.

“Miss Jiang, I’ve delivered your clothes to the gate, right at the guard’s post,” the driver said.

Jiang Qian replied, “I’ll come get them now.”

After hanging up, Jiang Qian stood and looked at Lin Zheng Ran, ignoring his question. “I’m going to grab the clothes. Wait here for me a bit.”

“Okay, go ahead,” Lin Zheng Ran nodded.

Jiang Qian hurried away like she was escaping.

She couldn’t quite pin down her exact feelings for Lin Zheng Ran; she knew it was curiosity, but not all curiosity felt the same.

As for whether she liked him, at least she was sure she didn’t dislike Lin Zheng Ran.

Once Jiang Qian left, Lin Zheng Ran turned to Fang Meng, still sitting there.

Fang Meng hugged her arms around herself with one hand and tugged at her torn pants with the other, her face red as she bowed her head slightly.

At least she responded.

“I didn’t say much, but what did you mean by that to Jiang Qian?”

“Hmm?”

After a pause, Fang Meng spoke up: “Jiang Qian just told me that yesterday you mentioned ‘going to bed’ with her. How could you say something like that to her?”

Lin Zheng Ran walked over and crouched down in front of her.

Fang Meng’s heart raced as she asked, “Why are you getting so close?”

Lin Zheng Ran explained, “I overheard bits of your conversation earlier. But when I brought it up with Jiang Qian, I didn’t mean ‘going to bed’—and wasn’t it you who mentioned it first?”

“Me first? When did I…” Fang Meng suddenly remembered what she said last week about agreeing to one request from Lin Zheng Ran.

Anything except going to bed.

Seeing her realization dawn, Lin Zheng Ran got straight to the point:

“Got it? Back then, Jiang Qian also said she’d agree to one request from me. I assumed her conditions were the same as yours, so I casually asked if everything except going to bed was on the table. She misunderstood at first, but I explained and she got it.”

Fang Meng murmured to herself, “Oh, so that’s what happened. I get it now.”

“Good, as long as you understand,” Lin Zheng Ran said, standing up again.

Fang Meng understood, but her mind kept turning it over—realizing that Lin Zheng Ran’s casual mention of going to bed stemmed from her own words.

Yet, while she could fulfill one request from him as long as it wasn’t going to bed, Jiang Qian had no such limits. Was Jiang Qian open to dating Lin Zheng Ran and even taking things further later?

Did that mean Jiang Qian was completely smitten with Lin Zheng Ran?!

After all, ever since Jiang Qian’s personality changed, she avoided getting too close to guys.

Over the years, countless boys had chased her, but she never gave them a second glance. Now, with Lin Zheng Ran, she was willing to give it a try.

And most importantly, what Jiang Qian had muttered to herself earlier was totally different from how she’d acted toward Lin Zheng Ran back in high school.

Fang Meng looked up at Lin Zheng Ran, who was fiddling with his phone.

She suddenly snapped to her senses—what were her own thoughts exactly?

She’d thought Jiang Qian liking Lin Zheng Ran was rash at first, but now, after knowing him for so long…

He was a great guy—talented, kind, honest, handsome, and all-around perfect. Jiang Qian dating him shouldn’t be a problem; she should start supporting and even helping them.

But…

Fang Meng pressed her lips together, her eyes fixed on Lin Zheng Ran’s slightly gaunt profile, feeling confused.

Why did she still feel reluctant about Jiang Qian and Lin Zheng Ran together? Deep down, it seemed like she didn’t want him with any girl at all. Was this jealousy?

Did that mean she was starting to like him too—the same guy Jiang Qian liked?

Lin Zheng Ran, noticing Fang Meng’s gaze while he checked his phone, asked:

Fang Meng kept staring at him, lost in thought.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Fang Meng looked away and pressed her legs together. “Nothing.”

A couple of minutes later, Jiang Qian returned to the sports warehouse with two new sets of clothes.

“Xiao Meng, I got the clothes. I brought two sets just in case they get damaged again.”

She handed them to Fang Meng, who snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. “Thanks, Jiang Qian. But I don’t think they’ll rip again. I’ll change now.”

Both girls glanced at Lin Zheng Ran, who hadn’t left.

“Hand over my jacket—I’ll step out and wait,” Lin Zheng Ran said, extending his hand.

Fang Meng, still wearing his jacket, agreed. Lin Zheng Ran turned away politely.

Fang Meng blushed as she took it off and passed it to him. “Thanks again.”

Lin Zheng Ran waved it off. “No problem.”

He walked out of the sports warehouse.

Fang Meng and Jiang Qian exchanged glances and shared a laugh, their friendship mending. But as Fang Meng started to open the new clothes,

a ripping sound echoed.

Her hand froze, thinking her clothes had torn again.

Then Jiang Qian looked back and realized it was her own pants caught on the sports warehouse shelf’s metal edge.

Though the hole wasn’t as big as Fang Meng’s, it was still on her thigh, revealing her pale skin.

Jiang Qian stared at her pants in disbelief. “Is this for real? How does this place keep snagging clothes?”

Fang Meng couldn’t hold back a laugh and handed her the extra set. “Good thing you grabbed two. You should change too—these shelves have too many sharp edges; it’s risky.”

“Yeah, guess I have to,” Jiang Qian said, taking the clothes.

Outside the sports warehouse, Lin Zheng Ran was about to put on his jacket when he noticed Class Three, where Heqing was, had arrived on the playground.

The PE teacher had already finished explaining the fitness test simulation to their group.

The three girls were discussing where Lin Zheng Ran had gone, since both classes had PE today, but he was nowhere in sight on the playground.

Han Wenwen and Heqing with Lily went over to Class One to ask some boys.

Han Wenwen asked, “Where’s your class monitor? Why isn’t he around?”

A boy sitting on the grass from Class One replied, “The monitor? No idea. I just know he went off with Fang Meng and hasn’t come back.”

Heqing frowned. “With Fang Meng?”

Lily scanned the freely moving Class One students and confirmed Fang Meng wasn’t there.

The three girls grew tense.

Han Wenwen then spotted something odd. “What about Jiang Qian? Your deputy class monitor isn’t here either?”

The boy from Class One shook his head again. “Don’t know. Those three are probably together. The deputy monitor’s been sticking with the class monitor lately, and so has Fang Meng.”

Heqing looked around and finally spotted a familiar figure at the sports warehouse.

She smiled. “There he is! Lin Zheng Ran’s over there!”

Han Wenwen and Lily followed her gaze and, spotting him, dashed over excitedly.

Lin Zheng Ran was just outside the warehouse, putting on his clothes.

Seeing the three girls run up, he asked curiously, “Did your class get here late? The third period’s almost over.”

Heqing said, “Our math teacher extended the lesson, so we’re late. Lin Zheng Ran, what are you doing here?”

“Just some trouble, but it’s sorted now,” Lin Zheng Ran replied.

Lily’s bright eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Trouble?”

Han Wenwen, with her keen nose, sniffed the air and caught a hint of something—another woman’s scent.

Heqing asked, puzzled, “What are you doing, Wenwen?”

Han Wenwen, after sniffing, looked at Lin Zheng Ran suspiciously, recalling what she’d seen. “Lin Zheng Ran, I noticed you putting on clothes just now?”

Before she could finish, voices of girls came from inside the sports warehouse.

Heqing, Lily, and Han Wenwen all turned toward the warehouse door.

The three exchanged glances and said in unison, “There are girls inside?”

Lin Zheng Ran answered, “Yeah, it’s Jiang Qian and Fang Meng. They’re just changing clothes and will be out soon.”

The three girls froze for a moment, then remembered seeing Lin Zheng Ran at the door earlier, and blurted out together:

“What? Changing clothes?”

Lin Zheng Ran understood their shock and clarified, “It’s not what you’re thinking. What are you three imagining?”