Xie Xiao just quietly watched her without speaking.
Their classmates' whispering filled the air around; everyone knew how good Xie Xiao was to Zhou Mianmian, and now, seeing that there seemed to be a problem between them, they couldn't help but cast curious glances their way.
But before they could enjoy the drama any further, the homeroom teacher pushed the door open and entered.
Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Lin, was a very strict math teacher.
He was particularly fond of Xie Xiao, because Xie Xiao's grades were excellent, especially in math.
He had participated in two competitions and gotten first prizes in both, the kind that could add points to his college entrance exam.
Xie Xiao thought back to his past life—unlike his own excellent results, Zhou Mianmian's were only average.
It was certain the two of them couldn't possibly end up at the same university.
Yet in the week before the college entrance exam, Zhou Mianmian always seemed upset around him, and in the end, Xie Xiao, despite his family's objections, his teacher's advice, and even Lin Yu's cold war and calling him an idiot, insisted on estimating Zhou Mianmian's grades and applied with her to an ordinary undergraduate college, choosing an ordinary accounting major he didn't even like.
The current Xie Xiao wanted to go back in time and slap himself twice; he finally understood the feeling Lin Yu had when he couldn't help but curse seeing his foolish look.
Anyway, if he gave Zhou Mianmian even one more look in this lifetime, he deserved another three years of paralysis!
Xie Xiao looked at Mr. Lin on the podium, who had begun a speech on the importance of the college entrance exam, and didn't spare Zhou Mianmian an extra glance.
Zhou Mianmian lowered her head as tears continuously fell.
Liu Xiuping quietly passed her some tissues, feeling that it was embarrassing for her to be talked to like that by Xie Xiao.
But she was also somewhat curious about what had happened...
Zhou Mianmian took the tissues and said softly, "Thank you," wiped her eyes, and still placed her backpack first.
As she reached in automatically, her hand touched something warm.
Zhou Mianmian's eyes brightened up as she pulled it out and saw that it was breakfast—rice noodle rolls and soy milk.
Her eyes lit up; she knew it—Xie Xiao definitely wouldn't ignore her.
Was he just acting moody just now? Was it because of Yan Shi?
Xie Xiao really did have a bit of a temper. Zhou Mianmian couldn't help but feel a bit resentful inside.
But deep down, she was scared; Xie Xiao's attitude these past few days had been unpredictable.
So many people liked her, but none of them could compare to Xie Xiao. He had good grades, looked good, was gentle, and most importantly, he was willing to spend money on her.
Zhou Mianmian couldn't help but touch her necklace.
She would have to find a way to give Xie Xiao a chance to make things right after class, as for him deleting her and making her lose face.
She would settle the score with him later.
So as soon as the class bell rang, and Xie Xiao had just stood up and stretched, he saw Zhou Mianmian in front of him, her eyes red, placing a portion of rice noodle rolls and her just-removed necklace on his desk with a plaintive voice, "Since you say we are strangers, I'm returning these to you. You don't have to be nice to me anymore, not now, not ever."
She finished speaking and gazed at Xie Xiao with a mixture of sorrow and unwillingness to let go.
Lin Yu beside him rolled his eyes dramatically, "Are we filming a soap opera here or what?"
The look he gave Xie Xiao was full of disdain; man, this guy's taste really sucks.
What's his standard?
After doing all this, Zhou Mianmian turned back, counting down in her head to when Xie Xiao would try to comfort her.
As she reached the count of ten, she saw a familiar long hand placing the breakfast back onto her desk.
Just as her lips curled into a smile, she heard Xie Xiao say, "This thing wasn't bought by me. I'll just take the necklace and sell it off to make some money back."
Zhou Mianmian's facial expression stiffened.
On the contrary, Xie Xiao was in a good mood, after all, this thing was quite expensive.
He had thought about asking her to return it before, but he felt somewhat unable to swallow his pride, besides, when he seriously considered it, he had spent quite a lot of money and time on Zhou Mianmian, too much to bear thinking about.
Otherwise, he was afraid he would not be able to stop himself from waking up in the middle of the night to slap himself twice, that kind of feeling.
Xie Xiao looked at the necklace Zhou Mianmian had returned, lamenting that it's a pity it became secondhand after just one use, "Lin Yu, isn't there a place next to your house that buys secondhand jewelry? After class in the afternoon, come with me to sell this thing, it should still fetch a few hundred bucks."
Lin Yu finally realized that Xie Xiao seemed to have truly given up.
He felt a bit relieved inside, guessing that it was probably because he was rejected again last night. He must have come to his senses.
"There is a place, it looks quite new. Why don't you just give it to your aunt to wear? If you sell it like this, you'll lose a few hundred..."
"No way, my mom wouldn't want something that's been touched by others, it's dirty," said Xie Xiao without a second thought.
Zhou Mianmian in front just felt her vision blur, and tears fell.
What was wrong with Xie Xiao today?
Yan Shi had just run over and, noticing the breakfast on her desk, said attentively, "Hey, Mianmian, why aren't you eating? This place just opened, I stood in line all morning..."
Zhou Mianmian was already feeling aggrieved and angry, and just then she heard Xie Xiao's remark about being dirty.
All the anger inside her burst out at Yan Shi. She picked up the bag of breakfast and, without hesitation, tossed it at Yan Shi, "Who wants your breakfast? Can you stay away from me!?"
Having said that, she pushed away the chair next to her and dashed out, full of anger and hurt.
Liu Xiuping hurriedly followed, "Hey, Mianmian."
Yan Shi, who got splashed with the soup from the rice noodle roll all over himself, stood there dumfounded.
Xie Xiao glanced at him and quickly looked away.
A male classmate, having watched the excitement, said with a smirk, "Stone, the class belle thought the breakfast was from Xie Xiao. Who knew it was you – she doesn't want yours."
That comment was clearly adding fuel to the fire.
Sure enough, Yan Shi glared furiously at Xie Xiao, his face contorting, "Do you have no shame, Xie Xiao? Did you buy this?"
"I never said I bought it. It's not my problem if she misunderstood," Xie Xiao snorted coldly, "You're blaming me instead of the one who dirtied your clothes? What are you, a dog? Biting at anyone you see?"
The people around were stunned.
They were too accustomed to Xie Xiao's gentle and genteel demeanor.
Today, his continuous verbal assaults completely shattered their stereotypes.
Lin Yu gave a thumbs up, then mockingly glanced at the dumbfounded Yan Shi, "Stop picking on the easy targets. The persimmons have toughened up. You'd better go check on your goddess, or someone else will be licking her boots, and it won't have anything to do with you."
The classmate who had just stirred the pot whistled, "Cool!"
Yan Shi's face couldn't hold its composure, and he glared fiercely at Xie Xiao before turning away.
Lin Yu glanced at him, "Suddenly so tough."
"Simple nastiness, the ultimate pleasure, now I get why you love to squabble with others," Xie Xiao revealed a gentle smile to him.
Lin Yu: ... Did this kid just insult me?