Chapter 43: Completely Baffling
Gu Qinghuan rubbed her eyes, wondering if her vision was playing tricks on her.
Had she just seen a hand reach out from under the dining table? And snatch her bowl?
The buffet’s long table was just the cafeteria’s regular tables pushed together with a tablecloth thrown over.
Someone hiding under there? What for? She had the urge to lift the tablecloth to check, but before she could crouch down, Chen Zelin’s voice came from behind her:
“Why are you just standing there?”
Gu Qinghuan picked up another bowl. “There’s too much good food — I don’t know what to choose.”
Chen Zelin chuckled. “Then try a bit of everything. Eat more.”
She nodded. With her homeroom teacher nearby, she obviously couldn’t go lifting tablecloths to investigate. She obediently served herself some food instead.
Chen Zelin didn’t leave right away and brought up something else. “The homeroom teacher of Class Eight told me you and Yu Xin donated money to Su Lin?”
“That was Xin—Yu Xin who donated, not me.” Gu Qinghuan almost blurted out “Xin Bao” out of habit, but stopped short. “Qin Yue was the one who first saw the fundraising notice. Yu Xin and I happened to be discussing what to do with a sum of money, and he suggested donating it.”
“Yu Xin and I checked Su Lin’s situation and thought it was suitable, so we donated to her,” she added. “Besides, it’s not a free donation — Su Lin’s grades are excellent, so we’ve asked her to tutor us.”
“Tutoring?” Chen Zelin was a little surprised, but still approved. “True. Su Lin was admitted here with the highest score in the entire city and is the school’s top prospect for the champion title. Having her guide you makes perfect sense.”
After saying that, Chen Zelin hesitated: If Su Lin is tutoring my students, will it hurt her own studies? Will her homeroom teacher pick a fight with me?
Since nothing had happened yet, he decided not to dwell on it, comforted himself, chatted with Gu Qinghuan for a bit longer, then went to another table for food.
Gu Qinghuan still thought about the person under the table, but it wasn’t a good idea to expose them in public. Besides being strange behavior, revealing them might not be a good thing.
So she didn’t linger there, walked to another area, and pretended she hadn’t seen anything.
After eating and drinking her fill, she said goodbye to Chen Zelin and left.
She was heading to the office to do homework. The last shuttle bus was at nine p.m., so she needed to finish early to catch it home.
The sun hadn’t completely set; the clouds on the horizon were dyed orange-red by the sunset, while the upper sky was already fading into night.
Tomorrow should be nice weather, she thought, her steps lighter, her worry about her grandmother easing.
I’ll do chemistry first — less work — then biology… she was planning when she suddenly noticed something:
It sounded like someone was following her.
Footsteps trailed behind her at a steady pace, keeping the same distance. When she stopped to listen, the person behind stopped too.
Frowning, Gu Qinghuan turned around without hesitation.
The person clearly hadn’t expected her to turn so abruptly and froze on the spot, not having time to run.
Before her stood a boy about her age. His build was lean but not particularly sturdy.
His skin tone was between bronze and wheat, his eyes dark and bright, though his gaze carried a hint of gloom.
On the outer end of his left eyebrow, medical tape held down a small gauze pad — apparently an injury, though there was no sign of blood.
Most notably, he wasn’t wearing the Mingde school uniform, but a white shirt and black pants… a familiar-looking uniform?
“Cafeteria work uniform?” Gu Qinghuan asked uncertainly.
Her words seemed to snap him out of his surprise, and he blurted, “Why didn’t you run?”
“Why would I run?” she countered.
“That’s how it always goes on TV — when people realize they’re being followed, they run. I was planning to wait until you ran somewhere deserted to stop you,” the boy said.
Gu Qinghuan was speechless. She pointed toward the school gate. “This is school property. All public areas in Mingde High have surveillance cameras. There are security guards at the gates, and everyone entering or leaving is registered.”
“In this situation, if you keep following me, the security guard watching the cameras will soon send someone to check it out.”
The boy scratched the back of his head, looking like it had never occurred to him.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t waste time. “Who are you? Why are you following me? What do you want to say to me?”
He didn’t answer right away, glancing around before finally squeezing out a sentence: “Can we go somewhere without people to talk? I don’t want to be seen.”
“First, give me a reason to believe you mean no harm,” she said flatly.
He hesitated again, but seeing her suspicion deepen, he quickly said, “My name is Wen Ye, I’m… I’m Su Lin’s…”
“Su Lin’s what?” she pressed.
A faint flush crept across Wen Ye’s face. His skin was dark, so it wasn’t obvious, but since she was staring straight at him, she noticed immediately.
“Nei… neighbor, I guess…” he stammered.
“Then why are you looking for me?” she asked, thinking “neighbor” was most likely just a cover.
Otherwise, why blush?
“The one who caught your bowl in the cafeteria earlier — that was me.” Seeing she didn’t chase the Su Lin topic, Wen Ye visibly relaxed and spoke more smoothly.
So it was him. Gu Qinghuan looked at his hands. She hadn’t paid much attention at the time, but now that he mentioned it, it did seem to match.
“I overheard your conversation with the teacher,” Wen Ye continued. “You and your classmate donated money to Su Lin. I wanted to say thank you.”
Gu Qinghuan raised an eyebrow. “Why are you thanking me? We didn’t donate to you. And it’s a mutual arrangement with Su Lin — we both benefit. There’s no need for thanks.”
What right does he have to thank us? She didn’t like his attitude.
He probably liked Su Lin, but claimed to be “just a neighbor,” meaning he likely hadn’t told her.
And in their unclear relationship, saying something like this made it sound like he could speak on Su Lin’s behalf.
Wen Ye froze at her words. “I just wanted to show my appreciation…”
“Then keep it to yourself,” she said. “That’s your own feeling — whether I know about it or not makes no difference. We didn’t help Su Lin to make her — or you — feel grateful.”
If Su Lin’s mother had come to thank them, Gu Qinghuan wouldn’t have been so cold.
But Wen Ye’s approach had left a bad first impression.
It was like… imagine she’d been helped by someone, and was determined to repay the favor, only to find out her neighbor had gone to thank the benefactor on her behalf.
Completely baffling. Totally presumptuous.
