Chapter 95: Classroom Whispers

From today, Jiang Qian occasionally starts asking some strange questions.

Her questions aren’t as frequent as that fox’s were back then. This second miss only suddenly asks about Lin Zheng Ran’s daily habits, like when the teacher has desk mates discuss certain topics—that’s when Jiang Qian tosses out her questions.

This way, Lin Zheng Ran doesn’t get tired of answering.

“Class Monitor, how long have you been learning piano?” Jiang Qian asked seriously, holding her math book.

Lin Zheng Ran replied casually, “I never really studied it properly. I just picked it up for a while after watching others play. Besides, we don’t have a piano at home for practice.”

Jiang Qian’s expression turned gloomy. If anyone else said that, she might not believe it, but Lin Zheng Ran’s casual answer felt incredibly genuine—especially since she’d already seen his skills.

That gloom quickly shifted to shyness. Lin Zheng Ran asked, “What’s wrong?”

She blushed and turned away. “Nothing, just asking randomly.”

She grew even more amazed at the boy sitting next to her—a genius so powerful that her curiosity about Lin Zheng Ran only deepened over the days instead of fading.

Her heart raced.

Fang Meng watched these shy moments from the back of the classroom, staring blankly at Jiang Qian. “Qian Qian…”

Fang Meng suddenly pressed her lips together, her eyes firm. She knew this couldn’t go on or trouble would brew. As Jiang Qian’s assistant and childhood friend, she felt she had to do something to help her.

So she clenched her fists, determined to uncover this guy’s flaws.

Right then, the bell rang, and at the classroom door, a girl with a ponytail and a pure look passed by Class One—it was Heqing.

As Heqing walked past Class One, she peeked through the back door at Lin Zheng Ran sitting inside. Seeing him next to Jiang Qian and them talking, jealousy made her bite her lip.

She thought, how did they end up as desk mates? They’re getting so close.

Slowly, she headed toward the girls’ bathroom.

Fang Meng saw the whole scene.

During military training and the freshman party, Lin Zheng Ran had shown off his talents, drawing countless little fangirls and senior girls to chat him up.

At first, Fang Meng didn’t mind because Jiang Qian always had guys trying to talk to her at the start of each school year, but the cold Jiang Qian never spoke to anyone she wasn’t interested in.

But this girl with the ponytail… Fang Meng had seen Lin Zheng Ran talking to her before, and for a long time.

She knew Lin Zheng Ran, like Jiang Qian, rarely paid attention to the opposite sex. If he talked to this girl, their relationship had to be special.

Since direct investigation yielded nothing, she’d start with this girl.

Fang Meng glanced again at Jiang Qian, her face still flushed, and once the bell rang, she headed straight out of Class One toward the girls’ bathroom.

Waiting for her.

Heqing finished in the bathroom, pulled up her pants, and unexpectedly heard girls chatting in the next stall.

“By the way, did you watch that drama last week? It’s been really popular lately.”

“What drama?”

“The one called Butterfly Knot. You know, that kind. It’s super hot right now, and I heard there are girls like that at our school too.”

“Really? Who with who?”

“I don’t know, just rumors. Let me tell you about the details from a novel I read recently. The female lead starts by making friends, then…”

At first, Heqing listened in confusion, not sure what ‘butterfly knot’ meant, but as the girl described it in detail, Heqing suddenly blushed and felt awkward.

Girls with girls… So things like that exist in the world?

That must be wild—doesn’t seem like something normal people would do.

She covered her ears and stepped out to wash her hands, only to see a pretty girl with a side ponytail staring at her.

Heqing kept her head down, wanting to walk past, though her fear of strangers had improved a lot thanks to Lin Zheng Ran, she still tensed up when someone stared like that. If they tried anything, she’d be ready to throw them.

But Fang Meng walked right up. “Hey, classmate, I’m Fang Meng from Class One. Can I get to know you?”

Heqing looked up in a panic. “Know me?”

Fang Meng studied her seriously. “Just to make friends and chat a bit.”

“Make friends and chat?”

Heqing suddenly remembered what she’d heard in the bathroom and blushed, waving her hands. Thinking this might be about that ‘knot’ thing, she said, “No, no! Let’s skip the friends part. I have things to do, so I’ll go. Sorry, I have a boyfriend.”

With that, she hurried off.

Fang Meng thought, why is this girl so on guard? And what’s with mentioning a boyfriend? She glanced back and heard those same girls still talking about the butterfly knot.

Fang Meng’s face reddened too as she quickly caught up and grabbed Heqing’s arm. “Wait! I don’t mean that. I just want to ask about Lin Zheng Ran! My preferences are normal!”

Straight to the point.

Heqing had thought Fang Meng might get violent, so her alert nerves made her instinctively grab Fang Meng’s wrist. If things escalated, she might flip her.

When their hands met, both were shocked.

Heqing was surprised—this girl had trained before? The coach once said you could tell a martial arts girl by her grip; those slim arms packed more strength than most.

Fang Meng noticed Heqing’s hold on her wrist and thought, that’s a throw setup—if I move wrong, she’ll slam me down.

They stared at each other warily, then slowly let go.

That’s when Heqing snapped to it. “Wait, what did you say? Lin Zheng Ran?”

Fang Meng jolted too. “Hold on, you said you have a boyfriend? Is it Lin Zheng Ran?!”

Heqing nodded honestly. “Yeah, Lin Zheng Ran is my boyfriend.”

“Huh?” Fang Meng froze. “Lin Zheng Ran has a girlfriend?”

Wait, does that mean Qian Qian would be the other woman? No! Qian Qian’s personality means if she knew he had a girlfriend, she wouldn’t blush like that. I just don’t want her getting in too deep out of simple curiosity.

Fang Meng suddenly brightened. “Thanks, classmate! See you!”

Heqing let out a confused “Huh,” but quickly figured it out. “She’s another girl who likes Lin Zheng Ran. She just said her preferences are normal, and she’s in his class.”

Jealous, Heqing clasped her hands together. “High school brings even more pretty girls liking him. Not happy at all…”

Heqing slowly headed back to her class, but she didn’t notice Lily had just stepped out of the classroom too.

And she overheard Heqing’s words, standing there stunned.

“What did Heqing just say? Zheng Ran is her boyfriend?!”