Wang Hao, Li Yang’s deskmate, entered the classroom right at the last possible second.
His front foot had just stepped inside when the bell rang behind him.
“Cutting it close again?”
“Thank goodness I made it. I stayed up way too late last night.”
Li Yang bantered with Wang Hao for a bit before opening his bag to look for something.
Suddenly, he turned around and looked at An Ling with an urgent expression.
“Quick, quick! An Ling! Pass me your bag. It’s urgent!”
“Oh, okay, right away.”
Seeing how anxious he looked, An Ling panicked too.
She hurriedly grabbed her bag from behind and handed it to him.
Li Yang took the bag, turned around, and An Ling asked anxiously from behind him, “What is it?
What is it? Did you grab the wrong book? Is it at my house? I didn’t see your books this morning when we left.”
Once he had the bag, Li Yang was no longer in a hurry. He pulled out a few books—the homework the teacher had assigned yesterday.
Only then did An Ling realize she had been tricked.
“You—! You tricked me!”
“I didn’t trick you. How could I dare?”
Li Yang said as he took what he wanted and neatly returned the bag to An Ling.
“The first class is probably going to go over the homework. Isn’t that super urgent? Thanks, An Ling my savior.”
“You…” An Ling felt her face heat up again. She was completely helpless against Li Yang.
Li Yang, now in possession of An Ling’s homework, lay on his desk and started scribbling furiously.
Anyone who didn’t know the truth would probably think he was a diligent student working hard on practice questions.
Watching him bent over the desk writing at top speed, An Ling couldn’t help but sigh.
“Ugh! Li Yang, whose homework are you copying this time?” Wang Hao immediately spotted the key point.
“Your young master here has connections and resources.”
“Move over, I didn’t do my homework either. Put it in the middle so I can see too.”
“Go away. If you sit here it’ll be hard for me to read. Wait until I’m done copying, then you can look at mine.”
“An Ling, An Ling.” Zhou Meng nudged her.
“What is it?”
“You and Li Yang are really close, huh.”
“Not at all. He tricked me into giving him my homework.”
“Hehe, whatever you say, An Ling.”
The morning classes proceeded as usual.
Li Yang slept through them as usual.
An Ling listened attentively and took notes as usual.
Occasionally, when Li Yang was about to be caught by the teacher, An Ling still couldn’t help poking him.
During breaks, some classmates came over to ask her various questions.
With help from Li Yang and Zhou Meng, An Ling handled them all smoothly.
At lunchtime, An Ling once again failed to resist Li Yang’s enthusiasm.
He dragged her to the cafeteria, enthusiastically recommending all kinds of delicious food as usual.
An Ling followed along as usual, listening to his constant chatter and occasionally replying with one or two words.
This time, An Ling paid for both of them.
She convinced herself that this way, it canceled out Li Yang treating her yesterday, so it didn’t count as eating together.
Everything seemed no different from yesterday.
An Ling thought this to herself while doing exactly that, then convinced herself again afterward.
Near the end of the last afternoon class, Li Yang turned around right on time.
“After school, let’s go buy groceries together.”
“I… I can go by myself.”
“That won’t do. Grandma told me to go with you. If I go home alone and Grandma sees you carrying a bunch of heavy bags by yourself, won’t I get scolded?”
This guy could always find all kinds of excuses.
An Ling looked at him, opened her mouth to say something, but finally just nodded.
The two packed their bags and walked out of the classroom together.
Near An Ling’s house, there was a small fresh food store selling vegetables and meat. It wasn’t far from either of their homes.
After leaving the school gates, they headed in that direction.
Li Yang walked beside An Ling, telling her about funny videos he had seen on his phone that day.
An Ling listened and occasionally responded.
When they arrived at the small fresh food store, there was quite a good selection, and everything looked very fresh.
“What should we eat today?” Li Yang asked.
An Ling thought for a moment. “What do you and Grandma want to eat?”
“Me? I’m not picky. Anything is fine.”
Li Yang said, then added, “But Grandma told me to make sure you eat more meat. You’re too skinny.”
“Then… how about braised pork belly?” An Ling suggested.
“And stir-fried shepherd’s purse with bamboo shoots and shredded pork, plus a soup? Tomato and egg soup?”
“Sounds good.” Li Yang nodded. “Whatever you make is fine with me.”
They walked around the vegetable and meat sections and picked out pork belly, lean meat, tomatoes, eggs, fresh crisp bamboo shoots, shepherd’s purse, and various seasonings, ginger, and green onions.
“That’s enough.” An Ling looked at the shopping bags. “This should be plenty for us.”
“Alright, let’s go pay.”
After paying, the two carried the bags out of the store.
“Let’s head back. I’m not as fast at cooking as Grandma, so it’ll take some time,” An Ling said.
“No problem, no problem at all. I get to enjoy delicious food without lifting a finger. Eating a bit later is totally fine.”
By the time they got home, the sun was already setting in the west.
An Ling opened the door, and Li Yang followed her inside, curiously looking around the house.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been in here. It still looks the same,” Li Yang said with feeling.
“Mm, not much has changed.”
“Oh, I don’t think I have any slippers that would fit you.”
An Ling realized that the only slippers in the house were the ones that fit her feet.
They would be too small and delicate for Li Yang.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. A little small won’t matter. I can adapt,” Li Yang said as he took off his shoes.
“You said it yourself,” An Ling replied. She took out a pair of slippers. She had thrown away the old ones, so now there were only the three pairs she had brought with her.
There were just enough. They might fit Grandma Li, but for Li Yang…
Sure enough, Li Yang, who had said it was fine, ended up wearing slippers where his heels were completely outside and his forefeet could barely squeeze in.
They were quite tight even though only the front part went in.
Watching him walk awkwardly forward, An Ling finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Pfft… Hahaha!”
As An Ling burst out laughing, the cold and distant mask she had been trying so hard to maintain these past few days finally cracked.
She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but the crescent shape of her smiling eyes couldn’t be hidden.
Her tail wagged happily behind her.
Li Yang looked down at his pitiful feet.
The slippers only covered half of them, with his heels hanging out.
Every step made a loud flap flap sound.
He really did look like a clown from a comedy skit.
“What are you laughing at?”
Li Yang pretended to look wronged.
“I’m doing this so I don’t dirty your floor, you know?”
“Then don’t wear them,” An Ling finally managed to stop laughing, though there were still traces of tears at the corners of her eyes.
“You can go barefoot.”
“Barefoot would be too cold.” Li Yang said righteously. “Besides, I didn’t laugh at you.”
“Huh? What would you laugh at me for?” An Ling lifted her foot to show him her perfectly fitting slippers.
“At least I don’t walk around wearing shoes that look like diving flippers and make flap flap sounds with every step.”
“Oh really? Is that so?”
Li Yang looked at the smug An Ling.
“Then who was the young lady who secretly swapped out this innocent boy’s spicy strips last night?”
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