Chapter 58: The Invitation

White Li sat in the classroom, lightly tapping the desk with her fingers.

tap, tap, tap

Steady and unhurried.

She stared blankly at the empty blackboard.

It was recess.

Along the way, she and Lin Du hadn’t spoken a single word.

From the entrance of the residential complex to the school, it was about half an hour’s walk.

They walked side by side, separated by about half a meter.

Not too far, not too close—just enough that their arms wouldn’t brush when swinging.

White Li bowed her head and munched on a bun.

Lin Du walked beside her, eyes fixed ahead.

Neither spoke.

It might have been because of the hug earlier.

White Li stole a glance at the person sitting by the window.

Lin Du was propping his chin with one hand while flipping through a textbook with the other.

His expression was the same as usual, revealing nothing unusual.

The atmosphere was awkward.

Neither knew how to start a conversation, and neither wanted to go first.

White Li’s tapping fingers stopped.

‘What should I do? He doesn’t think I have some weird fetish, does he? That I intentionally threw myself at him?’

Her face suddenly burned.

She quickly shook her head.

‘How could it be intentional? It was that rock that tripped me! It was the rock’s fault! Not mine!’

But she couldn’t explain why, when he hugged her, her first reaction wasn’t to push him away, but to want to stay a little longer.

That feeling was like a power she couldn’t control, surging up from the deepest part of her body, overwhelming all reason.

‘It must be this body’s problem! Yes, it’s the instinct of the Fox Clan.’

‘Foxes, they like hugs, they like warmth. This isn’t my fault.’

‘In my previous life, I was an upright man. How could my heart race from a single hug?’

White Li took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

‘No, I have to explain. I can’t let him misunderstand. I’ll just say… say I didn’t sleep well last night, was still groggy this morning, and didn’t intentionally throw myself at him.’

‘Yes, I’ll say that.’

‘It’s reasonable, natural. It won’t make me look weird.’

“Good morning, White Li.”

Just as White Li was about to stand up, her deskmate Xiao Yu had appeared out of nowhere.

Her round face was smiling as she took her backpack off her shoulder and stuffed it into the desk.

“Ah, ah, morning.”

White Li had to abandon the thought of standing up and sat back down.

Xiao Yu straightened her textbooks while tilting her head to look at White Li, her eyes scanning her face.

“White Li, what happened last week? The homeroom teacher said you took two days off. Are you okay?”

Xiao Yu’s tone was concerned, her eyelashes fluttering.

“It’s nothing, just some small issues at home.”

White Li remembered her earlier excuse.

“It’s already taken care of. Don’t worry.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Xiao Yu sighed in relief, stacked her Chinese textbook on the corner of the desk, and took out her math practice book.

“You know, while you were gone, the math teacher covered two big problems. I took notes. Do you want to copy them?”

“Ah… yes, thank you.”

White Li took the notebook Xiao Yu handed her and flipped it open.

It was densely packed with formulas and solution steps, the handwriting round, just like Xiao Yu herself.

But White Li couldn’t read a single word.

Her peripheral vision kept drifting to the side, toward Lin Du.

Xiao Yu spoke again.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear? Next month’s school festival, each class has to put on a performance. Our class is doing a play, I think. The class monitor is already selecting cast members.”

“Is that so…”

White Li responded absentmindedly, her gaze still wandering.

“Do you want to join? I think you’re so—uh—”

Xiao Yu looked her up and down, as if choosing her words.

“So delicate. You’d be perfect to play a prince or something.”

“No, no.”

White Li quickly waved her hands.

“I’m not suited for the stage.”

“How could that be? You’re very natural when you talk and do things normally. You don’t seem like someone who gets stage fright.”

White Li didn’t know how to answer, so she just smiled and continued flipping through Xiao Yu’s notebook.

Xiao Yu then talked about the TV drama she watched over the weekend, the new dessert in the cafeteria, and the boy in the next class who was supposedly chasing someone.

Topic after topic, like rapid fire.

White Li couldn’t get a word in, and she didn’t want to anyway.

She just responded with “Mm-hmm,” “Is that so,” and “I see,” while her mind was entirely on Lin Du.

She secretly raised her eyes and glanced in Lin Du’s direction.

Lin Du was sitting in his seat, rubbing his brow, his forehead slightly creased as if he was thinking about something.

White Li’s heart skipped another beat.

‘No, I can’t look anymore.’

“Last Friday, the teacher said there’s a physical exam tomorrow, I think,”

Xiao Yu mentioned casually.

“A physical exam… a physical exam is good…”

White Li withdrew her gaze and stared down at Xiao Yu’s notebook.

The handwriting swam before her eyes, and she couldn’t recognize a single character.

“White Li? White Li?”

“Ah? What’s wrong?”

White Li looked up sharply.

“I called you several times,”

Xiao Yu tilted her head and looked at her.

“What were you thinking about?”

“N-nothing.”

White Li closed the notebook and handed it back to Xiao Yu.

“Thanks, I’ll copy it after class.”

“You’re welcome.”

Xiao Yu took the notebook, gave her another glance, her mouth twitching as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just smiled.

White Li was about to sneak another look at Lin Du when a girl’s voice came from the front of the classroom.

“Lin Du.”

White Li looked up, her gaze snapping toward the voice.

A girl in a school uniform, but with an entirely different aura, stood in front of Lin Du’s desk.

Her uniform seemed more fitted than the others, her skirt hem stopping just above the knee.

Her hair was dark brown, with large curls, flowing over her shoulders, the ends slightly flipped up.

Her skin was fair, her features delicate, and her lips were glossed with a light lip color.

Behind her stood two other girls, also in school uniforms, but clearly her followers.

They stood half a step behind the girl, slightly angled inward, like two open doors, making the girl in the center stand out even more.

White Li didn’t recognize her, but the others in the classroom clearly did.

“Who is that?”

White Li lowered her voice and asked Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu leaned in and whispered,

“You don’t know? She’s Sitiao Shizhi from Class 3 next door. The heiress of the Sitiao Financial Group. I heard her family is super rich. Her father is the chairman of the Sitiao Conglomerate, and her mother is from another city, so she looks a bit mixed.”

“Sitiao… Shizhi?”

White Li repeated the name.

“How does she have a Japanese name?”

“Japanese… name? What’s that?”

Xiao Yu tilted her head in confusion.

“Nothing, I just made it up.”

White Li waved her hand.

Sitiao Financial Group.

She searched her memory but had never heard of it.

But that wasn’t important.

What was important was that this Sitiao-something heiress was standing in front of Lin Du’s desk, holding a gold-embossed envelope.

The classroom had gone quieter.

Many classmates’ gazes drifted over.

Some craned their necks, some elbowed their deskmates, and some even pulled out their phones.

Lin Du looked up at the girl in front of him, his expression unchanged.

“Lin Du,”

Sitiao Shizhi’s voice was not loud but exceptionally clear and pleasant.

“Next Saturday is my birthday. I’d like to invite you to my birthday party. Would you do me the honor?”