Chapter 97: Drama

“White Li! White Li!”

In a daze, a figure flickered in front of White Li’s eyes.

The shadow grew big and small, like the little people you see after eating mushrooms, or like the ghost crawling out of a TV in a horror movie.

White Li squinted, but couldn’t make out anything, and closed her eyelids again.

She waved her hand impatiently, then turned over and buried her face in the pillow, her silver-white hair spreading across the pillowcase.

“Ugh—don’t bother me, let me sleep a little more…”

“You’re going to be late.

Get up now.”

Lin Du didn’t give up.

He bent down, one hand propped on the edge of the bed, the other pulling her wrist, trying to drag her out of the covers.

Halfway up, White Li’s wrist slipped out of his hand like it was greased, and the whole fox flopped back down limply.

The blanket slid to her waist, revealing her pale back, completely oblivious.

Lin Du let go and stood by the bed, looking down at the white furball curled up in the covers.

He sighed and rubbed his brow, feeling like he was her parent.

He’d been calling her for almost five minutes, from soft whispers to patting her shoulder and calling her name, from shaking her shoulders to pulling her wrist—nothing worked.

She was glued to the bed, impossible to pry off.

Though he couldn’t pull her up, her tail seemed to have a mind of its own, poking out from under the blanket.

Lin Du was fretting over how to wake White Li when he suddenly saw the big tail swaying gently on the bed.

His eyes lit up, and an idea struck him.

White Li was still groggy.

After what happened on Saturday, she and Lin Du had agreed that she’d sleep in his room on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays.

After all, that bed was big and soft, 1000% more comfortable than the fold-out mattress.

The pillow was just the right height, the blanket was the perfect thickness, and even the air carried a reassuring scent.

With her eyes closed, she thought, ‘No wonder a big bed feels so nice—it’s completely different.’

White Li pulled the blanket up to her chin.

‘I don’t want to get up… Maybe I’ll just skip class? It’s not like I’m good at studying anyway, and I’m not counting on it for a job in the future.’

After all, she was a strange person.

All her identity information was fake, her file was forged by Madam, even her household registration book had come from Martha via some unknown source.

Exams, college, the future—none of those things had ever belonged to her from the start.

Come to think of it, why wasn’t Lin Du moving?

Had he left her behind and gone to school alone?

White Li pricked up her ears and waited, but didn’t hear any footsteps.

Just as she was thinking of turning over to sneak a peek, a rustling sound came from behind her.

Then, a pair of hands touched her tail.

“Huh?”

White Li’s body trembled slightly.

That sensation traveled from the tip of her tail, climbing up her spine.

The hands wore a thin pair of gloves, and the surface of the gloves had fine particles.

Those particles gently brushed through the fur of her tail, carrying away the tangled fluff from sleeping, smoothing every hair perfectly.

White Li wanted to scold him, but these hands were surprisingly gentle today.

The thumb pushed up from the base of the tail, following the direction of the fur, slowly sliding to the tip.

The index and middle fingers clamped on either side of the tail, gently twisting, untangling the strands one by one.

“Ah… ah… hmm…”

White Li’s breathing quickened.

Her legs curled under the blanket, knees knocking together.

The hands combed slowly, from base to tip, over and over.

They paused briefly, changed the angle, and started combing from the side of the tail, fluffing up the downy fur she couldn’t reach herself.

“That feels so good…”

“Are you awake?”

White Li couldn’t help but let out a moan.

Lin Du took off the gloves, pinched the tuft of silver-white fox fur between his fingers, rolled it into a tiny ball, and placed it beside White Li’s pillow.

White Li lifted her face from the pillow, her eyelashes fluttering as she opened her eyes.

“Yeah… I’m awake.”

She lowered her head, her voice growing softer.

“If you’re awake, get up and wash up quickly.

We’re almost late.

I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

Lin Du stood up, folded the gloves neatly on the bedside table, and turned around to leave.

“Oh.”

White Li buried her face in the blanket and let out a muffled breath.

‘That guy… when did he buy grooming gear?’

“Ring, ring, ring, ring…”

Riding the bell, the two of them rushed in from the end of the corridor into the classroom.

The homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

The classroom was bustling—some were whispering, others were dozing on their desks.

White Li let out a sigh of relief and waved at Xiao Yu.

“Morning, Xiao Yu.”

“Morning, White Li.”

Xiao Yu waved back.

White Li sat down in her seat, looking at the chattering classmates around her, and asked,

“What are they talking about?”

Just as Xiao Yu was about to answer, the homeroom teacher strode in.

A middle-aged man with glasses, wearing a slightly yellowed white shirt, carrying a textbook and a thermos.

He walked up to the podium, placed the textbook on the desk, unscrewed the thermos cap, took a sip, and cleared his throat.

“Ahem!”

The classroom instantly fell silent.

Even the sleeping students lifted their heads and opened their eyes.

“Next month’s school anniversary—have the casting for the play been arranged?

Class Monitor?”

The girl with the ponytail slowly stood up, stammering,

“Well… we came up with a script, but the actors… haven’t been confirmed yet.”

She handed the script forward with both hands and said in a low voice,

“You can read the script first—it needs two leads.”

The homeroom teacher took the script, flipped through a couple of pages, and frowned.

He placed the script on the podium, lifted his head, and scanned the class.

“The school anniversary is coming up soon, and you haven’t even decided on the actors?

Aren’t any of you class cadres volunteering?

Aren’t any classmates stepping up?”

Dead silence.

Some buried their heads behind their textbooks, some stared at their desktops, others doodled circles in their notebooks.

The homeroom teacher sighed.

He took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with the corner of his shirt, and put them back on.

“Sigh, same as always.”

His eyes swept across the room.

“Like being called on, do you?”

Everyone he looked at involuntarily shrank their necks, wishing they could burrow straight into the ground.

“Class Monitor.”

“Here!”

The girl shot up, body ramrod straight.

“Bring me last month’s exam rankings.

I’ll pick two people.”

“O—okay.”

The girl hurried up to the podium.

Her foot accidentally kicked the step, and she stumbled forward, catching herself on the blackboard.

She bent down, rummaged quickly through the desk drawer, and finally pulled out an A4 printout from under a stack of test papers.

The homeroom teacher took the list and scanned it from top to bottom.

“First place again last month.

This time, you’ll be the lead and show Class Four’s spirit.”

He nodded, a hint of approval in his tone.

“Lin Du.”

“Okay.”

Lin Du responded, his face expressionless.

The homeroom teacher’s gaze continued downward, stopping at a name.

He frowned.

“White Li.”

“Huh?”

White Li nearly slid off her chair, flailing to grab the edge of the desk.

“Although… you transferred in mid-semester, you still need to put more effort into your studies.

We can’t have you dragging down our class average.”

The homeroom teacher folded the list and placed it on the podium.

“The actors are set: Lin Du and White Li.”

“Uh… okay.”

White Li lowered her head, staring at her toes.

“Take this opportunity to learn from Lin Du.”