Minodayz: It"s Friday and I"m wondering if we have seen the last of SM. Spidey senses still tingling though!!! So will LEQ come back and how will the foursome recover. Do we get some sweet melting moments??? I know I need some after the last chapter. When our foursome are together, I know there"ll be smiles and teasing banter – all the things that make this 4 so precious. TBH I"m wondering about RMX – he has been rather quiet! Hmm…me thinks!!!! Someone from the past is making an appearance too. As a special treat from the MG team, we are giving you a full chapter.
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Don"t forget to check out Tranzgeek"s & event .
Chapter 54
Even though Shi Meng was usually arrogant and domineering, she was still a little girl at heart. As this was the first time she had received such treatment, she very quickly burst into tears. With a wave of her hand, she pushed all of Rong Si"s things off his table, then turned around and ran off.
Peng Zige, who was sitting next to Rong Si, was. .h.i.t by flying textbooks and stationery. Totally at a loss, he jumped up and said, "She"s crazy!"
Rong Si picked his things off the floor and asked, "Are you ok?"
Peng Zige grumpily replied, "I"m fine."
Their cla.s.smates nearby helped Rong Si to pick up his scattered belongings and replace them on his table.
Temperamental Su Zi was so angry she was about to explode. "Wasn"t she suspended from cla.s.s for investigation? Why is she back in cla.s.s so quickly?"
"I heard her family has connections."
Su Zi and Peng Zige looked simultaneously at the cla.s.smate who had spoken.
That person"s face was completely guileless. "I don"t really know for sure. That"s just what I heard. She"s always been pretty arrogant and has bullied quite a few girls from other cla.s.ses. Sometimes, she"s even tangled with male students."
Su Zi laughed grimly.
Peng Zige looked at the silent Rong Si and felt anxious. "Ah Si, are you ok?"
"Ok."
"You . . ." Peng Zige scratched the back of his head. "Don"t be so upset . . . just take it that you were bitten by a dog."
Rong Si didn"t say anything. Two of his books which had fallen had bent corners. Looking at them, he felt sick at heart.
"Li Erqin."
Someone suddenly shouted.
"You"ve come back to cla.s.s!"
Rong Si quickly turned his head and saw Li Erqin, wearing a backpack, standing blankly at the door. She was so taken aback by her cla.s.smates" enthusiastic welcome that she stood there with huge eyes and a wide, open mouth.
When her eyes met Rong Si"s gaze, she smiled.
Rong Si straightened up and gave her his first smile in the past few days.
"Erqin!" Su Zi excitedly welcomed her, "You"re finally back!"
She had really cut a sorry figure when she left school that day so she was a little bashful as she entered the cla.s.sroom. Her heart was still in disarray and unable to calm down. She was worried that her cla.s.smates would look at her weirdly, but as she looked around, their faces mostly bore looks of concern.
Li Erqin lowered her head and pursed her lips.
Actually she had to overcome a little mental resistance about returning to school. Somehow she felt that this place now held some tainted memories. Moreover, she didn"t want to meet and encounter anyone besides their group of four friends.
However, she owed her previous myopic thinking an apology. Ultimately in this world there will always be those who harbour bad and ulterior intentions, but there are even more wonderful, adorable people who possess earnest and altruistic qualities.
Su Zi dragged Li Erqin towards her seat and looked her up and down with concern. "Are your wounds all better?"
Li Erqin nimbly moved her four limbs. "Just look, they"ve all recovered."
A sharper-eyed Peng Zige spotted a few plasters still on her and felt his heart hurt. "Will there be any scarring?"
Li Erqin fretted, "I don"t know."
Peng Zige lamented, "It"s so wonderful that you"ve returned! We were almost worried to death!"
Li Erqin giggled.
"Erqin," Rong Si called to her.
Li Erqin blinked and looked back.
Rong Si put down the books that were in his hand. "Come out with me for a moment."
Who knew what kind of magic Rong Si had, but he had only to say a single sentence, and she found that she couldn"t keep her face from heating up and her heart from jumping.
Around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, the evening light showed dust particles shimmering into action. A cla.s.sroom building had sliced the red brilliance of the setting sun in half.
Rong Si and Li Erqin were standing, face to face, in the sharp, straight line of the building"s shadow. The male student"s tousled hair flopped in front of his eyes as he gazed down at the girl whose foot was facing his own foot.
In this time prior to the evening self-study cla.s.s, the stairs weren"t all that quiet. The sounds of cheerful banter mingled with footsteps resounded from above their head and then floated back again.
It was a good thing that Li Erqin was not involved in the unpleasant incident that had transpired earlier. Now her eyes could still reflect tranquility and warmth.
"Li Erqin." Rong Si spoke up, his voice in the darkness was faintly coa.r.s.e.
Li Erqin smiled. "I"m here."
"I"m sorry."
She was stunned and did not comprehend. "Huh?"
Rong Si stretched his hand towards her, palm facing up and waited for her response.
Li Erqin very naturally placed her hand on his.
A big hand engulfed the small hand and squeezed tight.
When he held her small dainty hand in his, his heart finally was able to soothe the impetuous and heavy feeling that until now had been so oppressive.
"I"m so sorry," he once again apologised.
"Why?"
"Because of me, you had such a thing happen to you."
Li Erqin extracted her hand from his grasp, and before Rong Si could react, she slapped her hand down on his palm. "Ok then, I forgive you."
Rong Si sighed softly, and once again held her hand tightly in his. "I"ve missed you."
Li Erqin couldn"t resist taking a step forward, bringing her closer to him.
At the same time, she heard him say, "Missed you so much."
Li Erqin and Rong Si returned to their seats one before the other. Peng Zige was sprawled on his desk, and with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he sized the two of them up very obviously. He winked at Li Erqin. "I say, Erqin."
"Huh?"
"Did the two of you," Peng Zige glanced towards Rong Si, afraid that he would get beaten, and moved closer to Li Erqin to speak softly into her ear, "Did you kiss?"
A heated blush crept up Li Erqin"s face. Pushing him away, she replied, "NO!!"
Rong Si paused in the process of his ma.s.sive task of tidying up his books to quietly sweep a glance at Peng Zige. "Zige."
Peng ZIge turned and gave Rong Si an innocent look.
Rong Si gave a quick perusal and redirected his attention before saying, "You"re too close to Erqin."
"WHAT?!" An incredulous Peng Zige could not believe what he was hearing.
"If you can, please try not to whisper in her ear in the future."
Peng Zige"s face was all astonishment. "I didn"t think you"d be like this, Rong Si!"
An imperturbable Rong Si replied, "There is a lot that you haven"t thought of."
"Erqin," Peng Zige grinned, "Let me tell you, if you"ve found a possessive boyfriend, it will cause you….."
Peng Zige was interrupted by a sharp pain as he reached out to grab Rong Si"s hand that was squeezing the back of his neck. "I was wrong! I won"t say anymore!"
Rong Si released his handhold.
Peng Zige stood up and rotated his neck before bending over and, in hurried tones, snuck in one last word, "Those with violent tendencies are even worse!" With that said, he disappeared out of the cla.s.sroom at breakneck speed.
(MInodayz : Awww PZG, that"s for speaking out what we all want the couple to do – KISS!!! You are my hero!!! Even if you had to make quick exit! LOL!!!)
Li Erqin had on a seldomly-seen-before expression of being confounded.
Rong Si looked at her placidly before clarifying, "That"s not me."
Li Erqin poked her tongue out.
Rong Si chuckled.
In any case, it was about time for some people to get their just dues.
(Minodayz: ooooo ROng Si… guess no one should mess with you or should I say LEQ!!! The Prince has risen!!!)
During the break in between the evening self-study period, someone who had not been seen for a while in these parts walked along the dark corridor: Ruan Nuonuo.
Li Erqin and Su Zi walked out of their cla.s.sroom to speak with her. Although in their hearts, they were still really close friends, in reality, it had been almost six months since Ruan Nuonuo"s failed confession. Somehow the time apart had created an irreparable chasm in their once close intimate friendship.
Ruan Nuonuo was wearing a flounced short-sleeved chiffon jacket. As she was talking to Li Erqin, her peripheral gaze kept wandering into the cla.s.sroom.
She was not able to see him, but somehow her heart seemed to hop up and down like a bunny.
Just as her mind was scattered here and there, from behind her came a familiar voice, "*Hey, lady~~ What are you guys doing here?"
(TN: The chinese text actually had "Hey, lady~" written.)
Ruan Nuonuo automatically turned back and saw Peng Zige with a strained smile on his face.
"Ruan Nuonuo." He quickly recovered and put on his usual smile. "Haven"t seen you in ages."
"It"s been a while."
The group conversed casually for a while, and Ruan Nuonuo stole glances at Peng Zige. Peng Zige was still the same bright spark and energetic youth, and he had not changed from her memories of him. Yet somehow she felt that her heart had slowly, with the pa.s.sing of time, began to undergo some changes.
She was afraid that if she saw Peng Zige again, she would like him even more and have an even harder time of forgetting him. For a long time, those three words, Peng Zi Ge, had become a forbidden area for her.
However, as she stood before Peng Zige again, it dawned on her that what she had feared as a conundrum had already ceased to exist.
He was still him.
It"s just that her heart was no longer responding.
Gone were those feelings of liking him.
Ruan Nuonuo pulled Li Erqin aside just before she was about to depart. Understanding that Ruan Nuonuo wanted to have a private moment to speak with Li Erqin, both Su Zi and Peng Zige took the initiative to step aside.
"Li Erqin." Borrowing the momentum of the night breeze, Ruan Nuonuo spilled out what she had been hesitant all evening to say. "My brother…. he"s very concerned about you."
Li Erqin was stunned.
Ruan Nuonuo ticked her hair behind her ears and proceeded, "He asked that I pa.s.s on his message to you."
Li Erqin piped in, "It wouldn"t happen to be "I"m sorry", right?"
Ruan Nuonuo abashedly nodded.
Li Erqin just couldn"t wrap her head around it. "What does he have to apologise to me for?
Ruan Nuonuo explained, "If he had not dragged you to take cover from the rain, then you wouldn"t have been subjected to those kinds of talk."
Li Erqin knitted her brows.
Ruan Nuonuo continued, "Ever since he found out that you were hurt during the fight, he wanted to come see you. However, he was afraid that if he met up with you, it would further spark more unpleasant gossip…."
Li Erqin serenely looked at Ruan Nuonuo. "Do you feel the same?"
"What?"
"That Ruan Mingxian should apologise to me."
Ruan Nuonuo replied in a soft voice, "Well, he did have some connection with it…."
Li Erqin quietened and then smiled, "I don"t agree at all."
Ruan Nuonuo looked at her.
Li Erqin continued, "The one who said those nasty things wasn"t Ruan Mingxian. The ones who gave me trouble also wasn"t Ruan Mingxian. So why then would Ruan Mingxian be the one to apologise to me?"
"But…"
Li Erqin stuck her nose up (an uppity posture) and said, "Please pa.s.s on my thanks to Ruan Mingxian. Thank him for alerting me to the fact that my clothes were soaking wet, thank him for offering to teach those foul speaking people a lesson on my behalf and thank him for his concern towards me."
The bell rang for the second period of the evening self-study to begin.
The two bade each other farewell, and Li Erqin, who was returning to her cla.s.s, made a face at Ruan Nuonuo. "Do also pa.s.s on these *three words to him."
"What?"
"Gutless Scaredy Cat"
(T/N : 胆小鬼 danxiaogui – literal small gut ghost – to mean gutless or scaredy cat. I"ve joined them coz she used 3 words, so I"ve strung those 3 words that bore the same meaning.)
"Gutless Scaredy Cat?"
Ruan Mingxian had returned home for the weekend only to hear from his dear sister"s mouth these three words. He found it hilarious and, wide-eyed, he repeated, "Gutless Scaredy Cat?"
Ruan Nuonuo was lying on the sofa eating an ice pop. "That"s right."
"What else?"
"Just those few things, like you didn"t need to apologise because you weren"t at fault at all. Then she thanked you for your concern."
Ruan Mingxian, who had propped his shoulder against the cabinet, burst out laughing.
Ruan Nuonuo was flipping through a magazine and swapped her hand that was holding onto the ice pop. "Hey brother, do you really like Li Erqin?"
"Yes, I do." He honestly replied in his usual laid-back manner.
"I feel that you don"t stand *a chance."
(T/N : the words used here is "you don"t have a show" or to mean you don"t have a role in the show – as in not a chance)
Ruan Mingxian was still all smiles as he fiddled with a random decoration nearby. "I know that."
Ruan Nuonuo sat upright. "And still you continue to like her?"
"Yup."
Ruan Mingxian tousled his hair as he headed towards the bathroom. "I"m taking a shower, you go have an early night."
"Bro."
Ruan Mingxian turned back.
"Actually what Li Erqin said was wrong."
"Huh?"
"You are rather brave."
"Thanks."
"Bro."
Her call out prevented Ruan Mingxian from entering the bathroom again.
"What now?"
"I don"t like Peng Zige anymore."
Ruan Mingxian scratched his ears. "So?"
"You haven"t interacted with Li Erqin nearly as much as I had with Peng Zige, so what is it that you like about her?"
Ruan Mingxian seriously pondered before replying, "Well….I don"t know." He smiled impishly and then said, "Everything."
(Minodayz : awwww… so sweet RMX!!! I really appreciate your candour and honesty. Yet it does break my heart that you won’t get the girl. Do hope there will be someone down the road who will be worthy of your love – I"ll nominate @shl when she time travel back! LOL!)
At the same time, Li Erqin was lying on her belly with her legs curled up sending a text message to Rong Si.
[what do you get when you mix a sheep and a wolf together?]
Rong Si was sitting on the ground by some floor-to-ceiling windows and working on a jigsaw puzzle when he received such a text message. He was rather perplexed.
[What?]
A reply text came back instantly: [Still a sheep and a wolf.]
Rong Si chuckled silently. [Oh.]
Li Erqin asked again. [Do you know why"s that?]
Rong Si quickly set aside his jigsaw puzzle and walked into the kitchen to get a gla.s.s of water. [Why?]
[*Because in my world, the wolf does not eat the sheep.]
(TN: the term used was something like "settings" or "preferences", so she set her personal preferences to "wolves don"t eat sheep".)
Rong Si had on an inscrutable expression. [ : ) ]
The phone was silent for a while before another notification appeared.
[Do you know why I set up my world like that?]
[Why?]
Minodayz Musing :
This texting is having me in st.i.tches…. initially I can"t quite follow the conversation much like Rong Si but somehow I feel she is getting at something. So LEQ, I really like to know how your world would be like! I love how the group surrounded LEQ and supported her. Plus how they rally around her. Don"t you just delight in PZG teasing… DID YOU KISS INDEED!!!! Oh man, all of us are waiting for that kiss – not even sure if we will get one!!!! Hahahaha!!! The scene with RNN was interesting too, 1st with LEQ and then with RMX. I like that she has resolved her feelings for PZG. I recalled we did ship them together but I think I"m leaning more towards SZ for our puppy dog. The dialogue between Bro & Sis was special in that he was opened to talking with her and honest too. The author really has made most of our characters rather endearing. Well, on that note, enjoy the weekend. Thanks also for all the comments – we thoroughly love them and discussion them with all of you.
Translators: shl, minodayz
Editor: maripaz
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