Minodayz: Well, well, well…. what are we in for this chapter! I have to admit, this week we are unlocking those extra post starting today with our usual post, however, I"m sure like me, you"ll all be eager to find out LEQ"s answer and if we get fluff or more head banging. So without further delay….
Chapter 50.1
Li Erqin reflexively shook her head.
"So, do you accept?" Rong Si asked again.
Li Erqin felt that her mind was in total chaos, and thus she could not help doubting the reality of what was happening at the moment.
From the back door came the sound of Peng Zige talking to Su Zi. "I said, next time, can you please bring your brain with you when you go out. I asked you to help me wring the hem of my clothes, not give me a shower!"
Upset, Su Zi asked, "Then why on earth did you look for me? Go look for Erqin!"
Rong Si turned to her and asked once more, "Do you agree?"
Li Erqin nodded.
Rong Si looked directly at her and laughed before rising from Su Zi"s seat.
At the same time, Li Erqin blushed hotly and lowered her head.
(Kira: young love …Hohoho)
Peng Zige"s voice was coming closer. "Do you know what is the difference between looking for Li Erqin and looking for you?"
"What?"
"I thought you would be more reliable than Li Erqin."
Su Zi strode to Li Erqin"s side and complained, "Erqin, Peng Zige says you"re unreliable."
Peng Zige glared in annoyance.
However, at that point, Li Erqin was incapable of processing any thoughts. The only thoughts flying around her head were —
Who am I?
Where am I from?
Where am I going?
Puzzled by Li Erqin"s lack of response, Su Zi called, "Erqin?"
"Hm?" Li Erqin"s verbal response was quick, but her brain still hadn"t caught up, so she simply looked bewildered.
Su Zi wanted to touch Li Erqin"s forehead to check whether she had a fever. "What"s the matter?"
Li Erqin replied, "Nothing."
Peng Zige had also observed that something was not right with Li Erqin so he asked, "What"s happened to you?"
Li Erqin did not reply.
She could not think of a reply and could only look at Rong Si.
Rong Si propped his chin with his hand and laughed.
There was something fishy there, too.
After a moment"s deliberation, Peng Zige whispered to Rong Si, "Did you and Li Erqin fall out again?"
Rong Si replied, "Nope."
If they didn"t have a falling out, then that would have been strange.
This one idea dominated Peng Zige"s thoughts all the way until the evening self-study session, and it was because Li Erqin and Rong Si had also continued this abnormal behavior all the way until then.
That day, the normally expressionless Rong Si had a perpetual, faint smile on his face, while the queen of facial paralysis, Li Erqin, was unwilling to look at anyone else the entire day. Whoever spoke to her had to endure a long period of silence before getting a response.
It would be even more bizarre if this wasn"t due to their having some kind of altercation.
During the second evening self-study session, Rong Si left for compet.i.tion training at the lab again, and Li Erqin sprawled listlessly on her table doing her homework. Occasionally, Su Zi would turn around to check the answer to a question with Peng Zige.
The third time she turned around to check an answer with him, Peng Zige kept her back.
"Do you think Rong Si and Li Erqin have had a disagreement?"
Su Zi shook her head and whispered, "I don"t know. I think ever since school reopened, Rong Si"s att.i.tude towards Li Erqin has changed."
Peng Zige said sorrowfully, "Whenever the two of them are in a foul mood it doesn"t seem to affect them at all. The ones who suffer are the two of us."
Su Zi laughed in amus.e.m.e.nt. "How are you suffering?"
Peng Zige replied, "I was so anxious, I couldn"t eat anything at dinner, and now I"m starving."
After a pause, Su Zi said, "You ate quite a bit at dinner."
"Rubbish!"
Their conversation had taken an unexpected turn, but the two of them continued to argue until they were red in the face.
At the same time, Li Erqin received a text from Rong Si.
Li Erqin felt she was in some kind of illusion. Her hands were shaking as she took out her cell phone in antic.i.p.ation of what Rong Si would say.
She slid open the locked screen, and Rong Si"s message came into sight:
[My solution on the second major question on the physics paper is wrong. Skip it first. When I get back, I"ll explain it to you again.]
Oh.
Ok.
Li Erqin put her cell phone back in her table and took out the physics examination paper that Rong Si had revised and handed to her at noon. The first thing she did was to flip to Rong Si"s annotated comments.
Rong Si"s handwriting was just like him; clean and nice to look at with elegant strokes.
Since he had mentioned that he had made a mistake, she became even more curious and decided to just try out the question. She had obviously gotten the question wrong in the first place because her knowledge of the topic was lacking, so she had no choice now but to crack open her textbook and look up that subject area. Then she looked up corresponding practice questions.
Despite several repeated calculations, her answer was always the same as Rong Si"s.
She really felt that, at the very least, she could rely on her own ability to solve and grasp the key learning for this question. However, she was breaking out in sweat as she worked on the problem.
Li Erqin crossed out her answer and started on a fresh round of calculations. As she calculated, doubts began to grow.
— Isn"t this the answer?
— But Rong Si says it"s wrong.
— Then I must have made a mistake in my calculations somewhere.
After a minute, Li Erqin once again came up with the same answer.
As she frowned in confusion, the cell phone inside her table started vibrating again.
She pursed her lips and took out the phone – Rong Si had texted her:
[Fooled you. The answer on that question is not wrong.]
What?!?
Li Erqin"s eyes widened in outrage. She had just wasted half an hour in repeated calculations, only to be told now that he was pranking her?
What on earth for?
Rong Si"s next message came in.
Li Erqin looked down at it.
[Because I wanted to talk to you.]
(Minodayz : awwwwww…. i mean AWWWWWWW – soooooo sweet! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)）
Li Erqin once again felt as if she were floating in the clouds, and the corners of her mouth could not help lifting upwards into a slight smile.
Coming to the awareness that it was now the evening self-study time and that suddenly giggling foolishly at her cell phone would invite lots of suspicion, she did her best to control her emotions and straighten her lips.
Failed.
Totally unable to keep it under control.
So much so that she even exploded into a boisterous laugh.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
（Minodayz ： I can so see that happening！！！！！(＾∀＾)ﾉｼ)
When Rong Si returned from the compet.i.tion training and didn"t see Li Erqin at her seat, he asked Peng Zige, "Where"s Li Erqin?"
That Rong Si would return and immediately ask about Li Erqin put Peng Zige in a great mood.
With Rong Si"s question, Peng Zige concluded that his relationship with Li Erqin had found a satisfactory resolution. He hurriedly answered him in an ingratiating manner, "Just now, for no reason, Li Erqin suddenly laughed out loud. So, the teacher sent her out to throw the trash away."
Rong Si did not reply.
He who had just walked into the cla.s.sroom, suddenly turned around and went back out.
Peng Zige turned to Su Zi with a satisfied smirk and boasted, "Look at me, I"ve once again rescued their relationship from the brink of collapse."
Su Zi couldn"t be bothered with him. "I"ve finished my homework. What about you?"
Peng Zige was surprised.
He looked down at his remaining homework and asked, "Why on earth did you finish so fast?"
Su Zi glanced at Li Erqin"s table. "It looks like Erqin finished her homework very early and was studying physics."
Peng Zige blinked his eyes stupidly. "I"m the slowest?"
Su Zi nodded her head as she replied, "I think, if you keep to this pace, your grades will be the worst among the four of us."
Peng Zige scoffed, "Impossible."
"We"ll just have to wait and see," said Su Zi.
In the quiet corridor, Rong Si waited for Li Erqin, who was walking up with the trash can.
The first light in the corridor had inexplicably burned out a few days before and had not yet been replaced. At nighttime, when the sky was completely dark, the lighting in this corner of the corridor was particularly dim.
As a result, Li Erqin did not notice the person who was leaning against the wall, waiting for her.
As she ambled past, someone suddenly grabbed her arm.
Just before her shocked scream was about to escape from her lips, Li Erqin caught sight of the person who had grabbed her, and she hurriedly suppressed her cry of surprise.
Rong Si was so amused by her shocked expression that low rumbles of laughter kept trying to burst forth from the back of his throat.
Li Erqin felt that the heat in her face was extending all the way beyond her ears and to the back of her head. Her heart was beating so rapidly, and she wasn"t sure if it was out of distress or shock.
However, it could be due to another reason.
No one said a word.
Li Erqin was preoccupied with the business of getting her heartbeat under control, as well as getting her face to cool down.
Rong Si, on the other hand, was composedly watching her.
The atmosphere between them grew increasingly ambiguous and uncertain. Perhaps it is this way with the start of any relationship; Li Erqin was so nervous that she had no idea what to say or even where to put her hands.
At the side, Rong Si chuckled softly.
She gathered her courage and lifted her head to look at him.
The instant she met his eyes, which were looking unwaveringly at her, Li Erqin immediately looked upwards. Her eyes darted around for several moments before she decided to look at the floor.
Rong Si had pulled her towards the corner where the light was dimmest, where n.o.body would notice them unless they were looking deliberately.
They were standing very close to each other. Li Erqin was almost pressed against Rong Si"s body.
Rong Si was silent for a moment before he whispered, "Erqin."
"Uhm." Her voice was trembling.
"I"m sorry."
Li Erqin looked up. "What?"
The next second, she felt herself being tugged against a warm chest, the left side of her face aligned with the position of his heart. She could feel Rong Si"s left hand placed on her back with just the right amount of force, and his right hand, at the back of her head, was gently pressing her head against his chest.
Li Erqin listened to his heartbeat.
It was also very fast, but steady. Not at all like her own, which was going crazy.
"I couldn"t stop myself from holding you," Rong Si explained. His voice rumbled from his chest into Li Erqin"s ear.
Li Erqin also stretched out her arms and encircled Rong Si"s slim waist.
Correspondingly, the heat in her face went up several degrees.
Ever since Rong Si had asked her whether she was willing to be his girlfriend, she had always thought that her responses had been consistently disastrous. Now was the moment*! She thought she had better put on a good showing.
(TN: 天时地利人和 (tian shi di li ren he) – lit. the time is right, geographical and social conditions are favourable; i.e. it"s a good time to go to war)
"Rong Si."
"Uhm."
Li Erqin looked up at him with her chin propped on his chest. Her eyes were like those of a little fawn, shining brightly. "I like you."
Rong Si laughed, and his expression deepened.
He raised his hand to cover her eyes, and at the same time turned his head and cleared his throat.
When he spoke, his voice was still a little hoa.r.s.e. "I know."
(Minodayz : Oh my,… be still my rampant heart!!!! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)Sugar dripping, heart fluttering and giggles…. so sweet & innocent!!! And about time – how about we serenade once more Missbookie， give us a note Sebastian!!!! NOW KISS THE GIRL!!!)
Li Erqin couldn"t understand why he would cover her eyes. She unconsciously bit her lower lip and then pouted.
She didn"t know why, but she suddenly felt like Rong Si"s heartbeat had been thrown into chaos.
She heard him cough lightly and say, "Let"s go back to the cla.s.sroom."
He released her and bent down to pick up the trash can she had previously discarded.
Li Erqin looked on and felt that she had lost* once again.
[TN: This is in reference to the metaphor a few lines above (it"s a good time to go to war), where she feels this is the time to prove herself, that she can behave appropriately with respect to her feelings for Rong Si]
Just now, she, Li Erqin, had actually confessed to Rong Si next to a trash can, and had even held Rong Si"s waist with hands that had previously thrown the trash away.
Ha ha.
Minodayz: Wooo hoooo。。。I was holding my breathe waiting for …. He lowered his head and ! Oh well, guess we have to wait on!!! Lol. But truth be told, were you about to bash PZG for coming in at the moment? I was almost ready to holler, stay away but still RS manage to get the answer he required, so I was able to leave PZG be! LOL.
RS prank of LEQ was priceless. His first ever initiative and what a laugh. Poor LEQ was no match! Hahahaha!!!! I do love these darling characters. Now WHYYYY didn"t they kiss!!! Sebastian we failed!!!! TT^TT
See you Friday!!!!
Translator: shl
TL Checker : Minodayz
Editors: kira, maripaz
Proofreader: Librismuse
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