Chapter 38: It's Not That I Won't Go Back, It's That She Won't Let Me

"Damn..."

Zhong Jincheng’s mouth fell open in astonishment.

Hu Caiwei looked equally stunned. Gao Qiang, Wang Haoran, and the others were simply dumbfounded.

Everyone knew Bai Qingxia was pretty, but somehow, they all tended to forget about her presence.

It was because she was just too low-key. Her ponytail never changed, her uniform never changed, her quietness never changed, and her cold expression never changed.

But today, she had suddenly transformed. A change in hairstyle and attire made her look like a completely different person.

A Bai Qingxia who shone as brightly as a star.

It was clearly the same girl, yet she seemed fundamentally different from before.

In the back corner by the window, Bai Qingxia stood up and placed the class sign on her desk.

Sensing the attention directed toward her, she quietly lowered her head, clutching the sign as she walked toward the door. Along the way, she couldn't resist glancing back, and only when she saw Lu Yuanqiu following behind did she feel a little more at ease.

Wang Haoran snapped back to himself and called out, "Uh... let’s go, everyone head downstairs to assemble, assemble!"

As soon as he finished, he couldn't help but steal another quick glance at Bai Qingxia in front of Hu Caiwei before heading out, his spirits soaring.

Bai Qingxia was just too damn beautiful!

Everyone filed downstairs together. Walking among the crowd, Bai Qingxia felt ill at ease, constantly checking Lu Yuanqiu’s position. If he lagged behind, she would slow down, only resuming her normal pace when he was right behind her.

"Nervous?" Lu Yuanqiu asked her quietly as he came up beside her.

The girl nodded. The class sign in her arms seemed less a sign and more her source of security.

Her skirt wasn’t even particularly short, but Bai Qingxia still wanted to pull it down, feeling uncomfortable under the growing number of stares. More and more people were casting glances her way.

Though the looks were full of awe and admiration, to Bai Qingxia, they felt like searing, blinding spotlights, leaving her nowhere to hide and unbearably exposed.

After years of social anxiety and low self-esteem, even the appreciative gazes of strangers felt lethal.

"Be confident, don’t be nervous," Lu Yuanqiu tried to comfort her, noticing her discomfort.

She nodded, but Lu Yuanqiu knew she hadn’t really heard him.

So he said, "Whenever you take an exam, you always perform at your usual level. Why don’t you get nervous then?"

"It’s different," she mumbled, head bowed.

Lu Yuanqiu chuckled softly. "It’s the same. Today is just another test, a test called youth. Carry the sign for those hundred meters, and your youth scores a perfect one hundred. Do you believe it?"

Bai Qingxia looked up, following the direction of Lu Yuanqiu’s finger.

That was the track below the podium—where each group would walk.

Lu Yuanqiu said, "Aren’t you wearing the birthday gift I gave you? Isn’t that enough courage for you?"

He didn’t realize he’d just offered an encouragement that carried particular weight for Bai Qingxia.

She turned to look at him, her beautiful eyes reflecting his face. Gradually, her gaze became resolute.

"Take a deep breath and go on," Lu Yuanqiu said. "Come on, one, two, three, inhale—"

Bai Qingxia nodded and obediently stood still, inhaling, her chest rising.

Lu Yuanqiu glanced down at her chest, then said, "Exhale—"

Her chest slowly fell.

Lu Yuanqiu was quite pleased with the view.

Bai Qingxia gripped the class sign tightly and walked to the head of the group.

Beneath her deep blue pleated skirt, her legs were long and straight, gleaming white in the sunlight, her hair cascading down her back like seaweed, swaying as she walked, almost as slender as her waist.

More and more eyes turned her way, and to Lu Yuanqiu, Bai Qingxia walking with the sign looked as if she was stepping out of the shadows and into the light, one step at a time.

As they stood in formation, Lu Yuanqiu surveyed the field.

All manner of oddities were present.

Imperial eunuch costumes, white lab coats, hospital gowns, the Calabash Brothers—anything you could think of. Compared to that, Class 28’s JKDK uniforms seemed absolutely normal.

Ahead of them, Class 27 was dressed in Hogwarts robes—Gryffindor’s, no less.

Because of his height, Lu Yuanqiu was assigned to the last row and saw Bai Qingxia standing at the very front with Liu Wei.

The girl kept her head down, lost in thought. Then she glanced back as if searching for something, and only after spotting Lu Yuanqiu in the back row did she turn away.

The processional music still played on the field.

"And now, approaching us is Class 1, Grade 10..." The announcer’s voice echoed across the field through the speakers.

Things were already underway. Lu Yuanqiu waited, a little bored, and glanced at Zheng Yifeng, who stood beside him. Damn, that guy really was good-looking.

Tall, fair, and lean—next to Lu Yuanqiu, he looked like the quintessential male lead from a campus novel.

But Zheng Yifeng, like Lu Yuanqiu, didn’t really have any friends in class. Not that he minded; his life revolved around sleeping and more sleeping.

"Bai Qingxia really is stunning today. Even Zhong Jincheng is practically drooling," Zheng Yifeng remarked, arms folded unexpectedly.

"Yeah? Do you like her?" Lu Yuanqiu replied.

He knew that, regardless of Zheng Yifeng’s feelings, the guy’s future partner was already set.

Zheng Yifeng shrugged. "Sure, who wouldn’t like someone that pretty? But I doubt she’d go for someone like me."

Lu Yuanqiu asked, "Then what kind of guy do you think she likes?"

Zheng Yifeng turned to answer, but was interrupted by a sudden commotion up front.

People in the front rows were stepping aside, making way for someone. Both Lu Yuanqiu and Zheng Yifeng looked over to see Bai Qingxia squeezing through the crowd with the class sign, heading toward the back.

Her head was bowed, her earlobes tinted red. In full view of the entire Class 28, she stopped right in front of Lu Yuanqiu.

She said nothing, didn’t even look up at him. She simply reached out her fair hand, grabbed Lu Yuanqiu’s wrist, and without a word, pulled him through the crowd to the very front of the formation.

Everyone was stunned, unable to understand what this usually cold and silent beauty was trying to do.

The front rows were all girls, so Lu Yuanqiu, tall and awkward, stood out like a crane among chickens. Even someone as outgoing as him felt a bit out of place.

He leaned over and whispered, "Wait... what are you doing?"

Bai Qingxia hugged the class sign, refusing to speak, keeping her head lowered in silence.

The homeroom teacher, Liu Wei, gave an awkward smile and couldn't help but ask, "Qingxia, what’s the meaning of dragging this guy up here?"

Bai Qingxia still didn’t answer, keeping her head down, silent as ever.

Liu Wei and Lu Yuanqiu exchanged a glance. Liu Wei shot him a disdainful look, while Lu Yuanqiu raised his eyebrows, looking like he had nothing to do with it.

"Why are you still standing there? Get back! You’re making a scene," Liu Wei scolded, rolling her eyes at him.

"Tch." Lu Yuanqiu shrugged, raised his hand, and turned to leave, but as soon as he took a step, the silent girl grabbed his arm again.

She wouldn’t let him go.

Hu Caiwei and the other girls watched the scene with confusion.

Liu Wei was speechless, completely unable to figure out what the girl meant by all this.

Seeing the teacher lost for words, Lu Yuanqiu grinned cheekily and said, "Look, see? It's not that I don't want to go back—she won't let me."