Chapter 10 - What Should I Do if My Younger Brother’s Crush Has Taken a Liking to Me?

Chapter 10 "Achoo!" In the corner of the last row, the windows were tightly shut, and Tu Xiaoyuan sneezed again. Sitting in the aisle surrounded by desks, Su Yuqi held a piece of pizza and moved away from her, handing her a tissue with disdain. Tu Xiaoyuan covered her nose with the tissue and turned to look at Xi Ning, who was drinking from a straw. She said in a affected tone, "Ning Ning... You are dirty, there's the scent of another woman's perfume on you." Xi Ning was taken aback and almost sprayed the cola in her mouth. "Cough... cough..." Su Yuqi quickly reached over to grab the snack plate in front of Xi Ning and handed her a tissue, saying, "Xiaoyuan, be careful about what you say while eating." "What do you know? You are always scolding me." Tu Xiaoyuan sniffed and stared intently at Xi Ning, trying to detect any trace of guilt on her face. Xi Ning took the tissue and was wiping her mouth. She had exceptionally well-defined features, with slightly double-edged phoenix eyes, a cold yet elegant demeanor, restrained and composed. At the moment, her face showed no emotion, and her movements were calm and deliberate, as if her previous loss of composure was just an illusion. Eyes like hers were rare. Their gaze was flowing and unchanging, giving a sense of concealed depth. Xi Ning's personality was somewhat similar to this, rarely sharing her feelings. With her cold and clear face, it was impossible to discern any emotional flaws once she "composed" herself. Tu Xiaoyuan sighed softly. If it weren't for the fact that pinching her leg would hurt, she would have thought she was dreaming - to think that Ning Ning was flirting with Kong Nianxi in the classroom, and even underneath the desk? ... What on earth was going on! Tu Xiaoyuan caught the hem of Xi Ning's shirt, with a hint of faint disappointment. She couldn't believe that she didn't even notice this "underground romance" happening right under her nose! How could she still claim to be the gossip queen? "When did this start between you two?" "... " Xi Ning paused in the motion of wiping her mouth, momentarily speechless. "And, you didn't walk back under the umbrella with Kong Nianxi, did you? Your clothes are all wet..." As the two of them had walked in together from the front entrance, the comparison was particularly evident. Tu Xiaoyuan could clearly see that compared to Xi Ning, Kong Nianxi's uniform was dry and clean, almost untouched by the rain. With a sound of disapproval, Tu Xiaoyuan, noting her taller height, recalled that when they used to share an umbrella, Xi Ning would usually hold it, and the other party would instinctively lean towards her. In fact, although Xi Ning seemed aloof and unapproachable on the surface, she was quite different upon closer interaction, especially with other girls. "Zhi-la—" As the chair legs scraped, Xi Ning stood up, disposed of her trash, and then casually greeted Tu Xiaoyuan on the shoulder before returning to her seat. The weather in October was not very cold here, and with the intermittent rain, the windows on the inside of the classroom were closed, and only the ones on the other side remained open, so there was no draft inside. Xi Ning's school uniform jacket was hanging behind her, and she was only wearing a shirt, feeling not too cold. However... Glancing at the other jacket in her desk pocket, she could faintly smell a particular fragrance wafting around her nose. At that time, she was probably feeling impulsive, just wanting to break free from the focus of everyone, and only realized later that she was still holding onto the other person's clothes. She looked over in the direction of laughter and saw Kong Nianxi leaning against the classroom door with a lazy posture, her long hair tied up in a bun, and seemingly applied some lipstick. She was occasionally amused by the group of friends outside, her smile bright and captivating. Xi Ning's gaze rested on her for two seconds. Suddenly, the conflict over the jacket seemed unimportant, and she was about to avert her eyes when Kong Nianxi unexpectedly turned to look in her direction. Their eyes met briefly, and she quickly lowered her head, fixedly staring at the books on her desk. "Xi Ning, can I ask you a question?" At that moment, a girl in the front row turned around, holding a book, and pointing to an advanced question on it to ask her. "Sure, let me take a look." Xi Ning readily agreed, took the book, and patiently explained it to her on a piece of draft paper. "What are you looking at?" In the corridor, the girl next to her noticed that Kong Nianxi's smile had become somewhat rigid. She curiously glanced into the classroom, thinking that something was wrong, but she couldn't see anything unusual. "Nothing." Kong Nianxi smiled and withdrew her gaze. ... The rain continued almost continuously from noon into the evening, intermittently drizzling. After the evening self-study, as they walked downstairs from the dormitory building, Tu Xiaoyuan suddenly clamored for a snack, leaving Xi Ning waiting under the crowded convenience store awning. Xi Ning stood outside the store, holding an umbrella. Under the sporadic drizzle of the streetlights, other female students passed by, holding umbrellas, as they made their way back to the dorm. "Classmate Xi seems to have many spare umbrellas." The voice beside her brought Xi Ning back from her reverie. A girl with facial features hidden under the umbrella spoke, with only her blurry silhouette visible under the shadow of the umbrella. However, even from the voice alone, Xi Ning could recognize her. Though she couldn't see her expression, Xi Ning subconsciously sensed the girl's gaze directed downwards, finally settling on her school uniform jacket which had been half-dried out in the afternoon. "You..." Kong Nianxi hesitated for a moment, but before she could say something, she heard someone calling her, so she waved and left. Later, Xi Ning remembered the clothes she had in her bag. Still, before she could say anything, a tightly packed "sea of umbrellas" had obscured her view of the person. A few minutes later, Tu Xiaoyuan finally emerged triumphantly from the convenience store with her "spoils of victory" and joyfully pulled Xi Ning back to their dorm rooms. Opening the door with the key, the other two roommates had not yet returned. Xi Ning took out Kong Nianxi's clothing from her bag, hesitated for a moment, then stepped out. The girls' dormitory rooms in the same class were adjacent. Crossing past two neighboring rooms, she stopped at the door of room 612, which was brightly lit but eerily silent with no one inside. Xi Ning paused, considering whether to come back later, but just as she turned, a girl with double ponytails rushed in hesitantly. "Ah, Da Mao! Something's not right! Where is... anyone?" Holding a pair of freshly washed socks, the girl with double ponytails looked around the empty room in bewilderment. Then, she ran to the balcony to confirm that nobody was there before noticing Xi Ning standing at the door and expressing surprise, "You... Xi Ning? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" "I..." Before she could say "I'm looking for someone," the girl with double ponytails grabbed her sleeve and dragged her out. "Never mind, Da Mao. Let's check what's happening with Nini. She's being surrounded by some second-rate lunatic. You need to come and see this!" As they walked, the girl with double ponytails continued to mutter angrily about something, all the while dragging Xi Ning along. Before she knew it, they had reached the other end of the corridor. It was a dead-end, a bit away from the farthest dorm room, and was usually quiet, but now it was unusually "busy." At the end, a window was open, and a chilly breeze occasionally blew in. The sound-controlled lights overhead cast a dim yellowish light. Peering through the crowd, Xi Ning immediately noticed a group of girls cornering someone, and among them was Kong Nianxi, leaning against the window with an indifferent posture. With her shoulder bag and a dripping umbrella in hand, Kong Nianxi's delicate figure appeared even more vulnerable under the ferocious gazes of the surrounding crowd, resembling a scene of campus violence where a delicate beauty was accosted by ruffians while returning to the dorm, despite her seemingly nonchalant posture against the wall. If one ignored her casual lean against the wall, the long legs folded beneath her skirt, and... "Miss Kong, you should stop. We understand you are beautiful, but there's no need to steal Nini's man, right?" Facing her was a girl with eye-catching blue-dyed hair and elaborate makeup, despite the dim lighting. She frowned, her tone unkind. Kong Nianxi chuckled softly, ran her hand through her hair absentmindedly, her red fingernails particularly eye-catching, and casually glanced around the crowd, “Who is Nini?" "...," After a moment of silence, a round-faced petite girl stepped forward and met Kong Nianxi's gaze, before timidly moving closer to the girl with blue hair. "I, I understand you may not like him, but X has been pining for you every day, neglecting his studies for the upcoming exams, neglecting his sprint practice, going off to drink and coming back in tears. You... umph!" The sudden interruption was met with stunned silence, as the girl who had been speaking was interrupted by a rush of footsteps. A few minutes later, Tu Xiaoyuan finally emerged triumphantly from the convenience store with her "spoils of victory" and joyfully pulled Xi Ning back to their dorm rooms. Upon unlocking the dormitory door, the other two roommates had not yet returned. Xi Ning took out Kong Nianxi's clothing from her bag, hesitated for a moment, then stepped out. The girls' dormitory rooms in the same class were adjacent. Crossing past two neighboring rooms, she stopped at the 612 door, which was brightly lit but eerily silent with no one inside. Xi Ning paused, considering whether to come back later, but just as she turned, a tightly packed "sea of umbrellas" had obscured her view of the person. A few minutes later, Tu Xiaoyuan finally emerged triumphantly from the convenience store with her "spoils of victory" and joyfully pulled Xi Ning back to their dorm rooms. As they opened the door, the other two roommates had not yet returned. After taking out Kong Nianxi's clothing from her bag, Xi Ning hesitated and then stepped out. The adjacent girls' dormitory rooms were empty. Crossing past two neighboring rooms, she stopped at the door of room 612, which was brightly lit but eerily silent with no one inside. Astounded by the emptiness, she was about to turn back when she saw a girl with double ponytails, who dashed wildly into the room. Without waiting for her to finish, Kong Nianxi suddenly lowered her head and smiled, taking two steps forward, pinching the girl's chin and drawing her close with a captivating smile on her lips. "You are right. I not only look down on him, I have no interest in knowing what he looks like. But, dear, perhaps I might be more interested in you than in this X guy of yours." ... The previously restless crowd fell into an abrupt silence. "Ah!" After a while, a piercing scream shattered the silence. The round-faced girl sprang up like a thunderbolt, covering her face and rushed out of the crowd. "...," "Damn, Wang Li, dare to cause trouble in the dormitory?" At this moment, a group of tall girls came striding from the other end of the corridor, heading toward them aggressively. The girl with blue-dyed hair glanced into the distance, then turned to Kong Nianxi, cursed under her breath, and then pushed through the crowd and ran off. Left behind, the group that had tried to cause trouble soon dispersed. As the crowd dissipated, Xi Ning, who was still standing in place, met eyes with Kong Nianxi from across the way. "Nianxi, you—" Before the girl with double ponytails could come over to comfort her, Kong Nianxi brushed past her and, with a weak and helpless demeanor, went straight to Xi Ning and threw herself into her arms. "Sniff, I think I was just bullied." Xi Ning: "..."