The Daily Record of Secretly Loving the Male Idol

Chapter 39.2

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Chapter 39.2

Translated by: maripaz
Edited by: minodayz
Proofread by: Librismuse

That night when cla.s.ses were over for the day, Li Erqin tidied up her things and headed upstairs to the senior cla.s.srooms to look for Ruan Mingxian. Most of the students were crowded around and heading towards the stairs, but Ruan Mingxian was leaning idly on the wall by the back entrance. His head was lowered as he ripped open a bag of Pocky chocolates.

His fingernails were trimmed too short, and he was having difficulty opening the bag. Finally, he managed to extract a single, slender Pocky stick, and he shoved it in his mouth. Then he looked around for Li Erqin.

There she was, just standing a few steps away from him.

He stared, momentarily startled, and then broke out in a smile.

It was a sunny smile that was unique to Ruan Mingxian only and that carried a hint of mischief. “You’re here?”

“Yes.”

“Want some?”

“No thanks.”

“Oh.”

Ruan Mingxian then proceeded to eat two sticks of Pocky before Li Erqin finally asked, “Big cafeteria, small cafeteria or the stalls by the school entrance?”

“Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Then, how about going to the convenient shop for some instant noodles?”

(Minodayz: LEQ LEQ – what’s with instant noodles and you? You are such a hoot!!!)

“Small cafeteria.”

On the way to the cafeteria, Ruan Mingxian had no choice but to helplessly eat the whole box of Pocky by himself. Originally, he had wanted to offer it to Li Erqin, but he was afraid she would reject his gift. Thus, he had opened the box and the bag inside and pretended to be enjoying it.

In the end, she didn’t even want any.

She really didn’t eat a single stick. Didn’t even look at it.

Ruan Mingxian recovered from this minor setback. “Li Erqin.”

Li Erqin steadfastly walked forward and had eyes only for the path ahead. “Yeah?”

“You don’t like eating junk food?”

“I do.”

“Then you don’t like chocolate?”

“I do.”

“So it’s Pocky that you don’t like?”

“I like it.”

Ruan Mingxian turned and looked at her. “Then why did you say you didn’t want any when I asked before?”

Li Erqin finally turned her head. “Because we’re about to eat dinner.”

“So what?”

Li Erqin seemed a bit shocked. “Aren’t you not supposed to eat snacks before a meal?”

(Minodayz: I know that is what parents always say but man alive – Poor RMX just got famboozled again! lol)

By the time the two of them had sat down at the cafeteria table, Ruan Mingxian had silently looked at his tray and secretly admitted to himself that Li Erqin was right. It wasn’t that one couldn’t eat snacks before a meal, but one definitely could not eat an entire box of Pocky chocolates. Now his stomach was filled with that sweet and gooey chocolate taste, and it was utterly ruining his appet.i.te.

“Can’t eat it?” Li Erqin asked.

Ruan Mingxian forced out a bitter laugh. “Yeah.”

He thought Li Erqin would come back with some witty rebuke. However, she simply asked, “Do you need me to help you finish it?”

Ruan Mingxian was stunned. “…… No.”

Since Li Erqin no longer had the privilege of using the broadcasting studio for evening self-study, they could only finish their review in the short time before the self-study cla.s.s began. It was too rushed earlier in the afternoon, and Ruan Mingxian didn’t

get a chance to carefully look at Li Erqin’s test paper. Now he took a proper look and unconsciously curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

“Li Erqin.” He gave her a lazy glance, twirling his pen expertly between his fingers. “Was it Rong Si who’s been helping you with Physics?”

Li Erqin nodded.

Ruan Mingxian remembered how his sister had told him about Rong Si helping tutor her in Physics before. She was full of praise at how much she had learned.

He laughed. “Rong Si probably put a lot of effort into helping you with Physics, right?”

Li Erqin’s color and expression did not change. “Probably a lot.”

“However,” Ruan Mingxian’s pen made a full revolution around his fingers, “if I help tutor you, I’ll get better results with half the effort.”

Li Erqin was skeptical.

“You don’t believe me?”

Li Erqin asked back, “Does it look like I don’t believe you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I don’t believe you.”

(Minodayz: OMG … LEQ you cla.s.sic act!!! I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!!! LMAO)

Ruan Mingxian had no reply.

He quickly organized his thoughts and lowered his voice to get Li Erqin’s attention back on track. “Here, let’s look at this problem first.”

Ruan Nuonuo had, on more than one occasion, mentioned the fact that her brother was very popular and much admired in his grade. Li Erqin, though, had never quite believed it. She did think that his looks were alright and that in a sea of boys, he would stand out.

However, it was only that tiny bit more extraordinary.

That night though, Ruan Mingxian put aside his usual careless expressions and airs and explained the Physics problems with a serious face. It was so different from Rong Si’s normally calm demeanor. Sometimes when she asked him a question, the corners of his lips would curl up, as if he had heard something funny or amusing. Then he’d deliberately lower his voice and all the whys and hows behind whatever Physics concept they were studying would slowly come out.

Or maybe, it wasn’t the lowering of his voice, but the unconscious expressions that came through when he was explaining something in earnest.

Sometimes, when a person who normally seems like a layabout suddenly turns serious, it makes him seem exceptionally handsome.

(Minodayz: LEQ LEQ – what where your mind goes … remember RS, remember PHYSICS … focus!!! FOCUS!!!)

It was dusk when Ruan Mingxian accompanied Li Erqin back to her cla.s.sroom. Walking across the campus grounds, he slowed his pace to match Li Erqin’s steps. The streetlights and cla.s.sroom lights had just turned on, and in the waning sunlight, they gave off a feeling that there simply wasn’t enough light around. The last rays of the setting sun made a valiant effort, but they only succeeded in casting a shroud over everything; a haze seemed to envelope every nook and corner.

A blackboard that was left undone still had half-erased words scribbled on it. A boy at the back of the cla.s.sroom was sprawled over his desk, and it was unclear if he had fallen asleep or not. Another pair of boy and girl was walking between the school buildings. From all around, whispers arose from the various desks, and these all seemed to lend everything a mysterious air.

(Minodayz had to add her thought of RS sprawled on his desk coz she misses him in his chapter – lol! Honestly I’m a tad baffled by this little paragraph and its intention. Is the author hinting that RS is having complete faith in LEQ, while describing LEQ and RMX making their way back to cla.s.s and then the mundane of the cla.s.sroom to depict that everything is going on as per? hmmm –Maripaz: to me, it was setting the stage for something momentous or different to occur, something fuzzy and unclear, like the air around them)

Ruan Mingxian walked and waited. He looked sideways at Li Erqin. “I say, Li Erqin.”

“Yeah?”

“In the future,” Ruan Mingxian paused, as if he hadn’t quite decided if he was going to say it, “in the future, do you want me to keep tutoring you in Physics?”

“It’s alright.” Li Erqin continued politely, “Thank you for helping me tonight.”

“What’s there to thank?” Ruan Mingxian gave a crooked smile. “I’m the one who’s happy because you allowed me to tutor you.”

Li Erqin stopped walking. Her frozen face rendered her even more expressionless. “You still like me?”

Ruan Mingxian also stopped. “What do you think?”

“A whole winter vacation has already pa.s.sed.”

“So?”

“There’s been no contact, no communication. We haven’t seen each other. How much longer can you like someone?”

Ruan Mingxian thought this was funny. “Do you think that liking someone means that the more I talk to them, the more I’ll like them. Or, for that matter, if I saw them for a minute less, I would like them that much less?”

(Minodayz: RMX – such wise words. If only …)

Li Erqin very earnestly asked back. “If not that, then what?”

The smile on Ruan Mingxian’s face was replaced with his own earnestness. “For me, time and distance don’t make a difference to my affections.”

Li Erqin raised her head and quietly looked at him.

She was standing under the streetlamp, and as the sky gradually grew darker, the lamp’s light gradually illuminated her face and made her features clearer.

Earnestness, sincerity, calm. There was an innocence that was pure and untainted.

Ruan Mingxian sucked in his breath. “I just like you.”

Li Erqin’s lashes trembled ever so slightly. Ruan Mingxian was only aware that the corners of her eyes suddenly seemed to carry just a hint of a smile, and then the corners of her lips curled up just a fraction. Then, a barely discernible smile appeared on her face, giving her usual clear and cold expression a layer of warmth and gentleness.

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