Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 10

Lin Yujing wanted to press Shen Juan’s head against the wall to show him what it means to call someone “Dad.”

But on second thought, what he said wasn’t wrong; it was just a new perspective. Plus, his lazy, slightly hoarse voice made it sound more annoying.

He absolutely didn’t say it on purpose.

He’s not a jerk.

Lin Yujing looked at him, silent for two seconds, then said, “Shen, we still have two more years to go.”

Shen raised his eyebrows: “Threatening a street-wise guy.”

“…”

Are you never going to stop?

Lin Yujing sighed deeply. Forget it, sometimes patience is the best solution, and backing off brings vast horizons.

Moreover, she had a favor to ask.

“Sorry,” the English teacher on the podium was reading a text, translating it for them as she read. Lin Yujing lowered her voice, placing her chin on his desk, and whispered, “I shouldn’t have called you a street-wise guy. I just said it casually, not on purpose. I offer my most sincere apologies and hope my deskmate can be generous and forgive me this time.”

A girl’s voice is already pleasant to hear, and when lowered, it becomes soft and tender. Like a kitten lifting its paw to scratch and then stepping down with a warm, soft pad. After she finished speaking, Shen Juan said nothing.

Lin Yujing could barely hold back anymore; her ruthless deskmate was a bit petty.

Miss Lin also had a bit of a temper, and with the hot summer weather stoking her fire, coupled with the constant irritation over the past period and being messed with by Meng Weiguo yesterday, her mood was already very bad. When truly angry, she wouldn’t even cater to her dear dad, let alone a deskmate she barely knew for a few days.

No matter how street-wise, I can still appease you?

Lin Yujing rolled her eyes, withdrew her arm and head from Shen Juan’s desk, and ignored him.

This went on all morning.

Lin Yujing had transferred from almost halfway across China, and the curriculum had some differences she needed to adapt to, so she spent the whole morning attending classes without feeling much.

The school had a decent reputation for its high graduation rate, and although her classmates didn’t seem to be paying much attention in class, the teachers’ lectures were quite good, and the lessons went by quickly.

Shen Juan wasn’t talkative either. After the English class, he had been sleeping, lying on the desk facing the wall, sleeping deeply. Even when the grumpy physics teacher threw two chalk heads at him, he didn’t wake up.

It wasn’t until the noon dismissal bell rang that Shen Juan slowly sat up.

After sleeping all morning, his head was still a bit groggy. He sat in his seat for a while, then turned his head.

No one was next to him; his deskmate had already left. Checking the time, it was noon; she must have gone to eat.

Shen Juan recalled the girl glaring at him for a while in the morning and then grinding her teeth slightly.

Shen Juan couldn’t help but laugh out loud with his dry lips.

Everyone had gone to eat, and the classroom was empty except for him. The window was open, and faint sounds of laughter came from outside.

The boy’s low, raspy laughter echoed in the empty classroom, somewhat abrupt.

He hadn’t reacted at the moment due to a fever clouding his mind, making him slow to respond.

When he did, he didn’t know what to say.

Then he heard the little cat grinding her teeth.

She really had a temper.

Shen Juan leaned against the wall, yawned, and his eyes fell on two sheets of paper on Lin Yujing’s desk, pausing.

They were densely packed with words, with names written in various sizes and styles, some neat, some scribbled, all ugly.

He squinted, trying to recognize the words, then slowly tore a sheet from a notebook, took a pen, and leaned back.

Just as he started writing, a voice wailed from the hallway: “Juan Bao! Are you there, Juan Bao?” He Songnan poked his head in, “I’ve been waiting downstairs for ten minutes, called you, but no answer. Had to climb four floors to find you. Let’s eat. What are you doing?”

Shen Juan answered with a “Hmm,” without looking up, writing: “Wait a minute, almost done.”

He Songnan was taken aback: “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Got a cold.”

“Oh, caught a cold?” He Songnan leaned against the door frame, looking down at him, smiling mischievously, “Facing your long-legged beautiful deskmate every day, getting a cold?”

Shen Juan glanced at him without speaking.

“Get a cold, huh?” He Songnan continued teasing, “If you like her, go for it. Don’t waste your looks. Leave behind a beautiful romantic story in your youthful days. Don’t let us remember Shen Juan as a cold fish in high school.”

Shen Juan ignored him, letting him perform his monologue, and kept writing. He Songnan eventually quieted down, looking at what he was writing, mumbling, “Agree to let Lin Yujing board… Parent…”

Before he finished, Shen Juan had finished writing, folded the paper, grabbed the top book from Lin Yujing’s desk, and tucked the paper inside.

He Songnan was confused, “Who’s Lin Yujing?”

Shen Juan ignored him, put the book back, stood up, and shook out his school uniform, putting it on.

He Songnan glanced at the book: “Your deskmate?”

“Yeah.”

He Songnan, puzzled: “What are you doing? You’ve only known her for two days, and you’re already playing dad?”

“Get lost,” Shen Juan laughed, “You think I’m you? Waves visible ten kilometers away.” “You’re the real wild one. You’re not me; you’re a cold fish,” He Songnan said, realizing Shen Juan had written a boarding consent form for his deskmate. Recalling the previous incident where Shen Juan kicked him for staring at her legs, He Songnan found it hard to accept, “What’s going on, Juan? Really like her?”

Shen Juan, putting on his jacket, muttered as they walked out of the classroom, “Like what?”

“Like what and you’re already playing dad?” He Songnan walked beside him down the stairs, “And last time, I just looked at her legs, and you weren’t happy, kicked your brother! You don’t like her?”

“Unrelated,” Shen Juan slightly tilted his head back, pressing his throat, “You stared straight at her legs. Don’t you think you looked like a pervert?”

“I don’t think so,” He Songnan answered bluntly, shamelessly, “Don’t you have an eye for beauty? Aren’t you getting a cold from staring at your new deskmate? Sore throat? The fire must be raging, huh?”

Shen Juan kicked him.

They went downstairs, where a few boys were waiting, playing on their phones.

Though the school uniforms were the same, there were slight differences between grades, mainly in the pants’ and sleeves’ stripes: light blue for seniors, purple for juniors. Seniors’ classrooms were separate from juniors’, so they rarely interacted outside of shared spaces like the field or cafeteria. Thus, a few seniors standing outside the juniors’ building were conspicuous, catching the eyes of passing juniors with boxed lunches.

One boy looked up from his phone, spotted Shen Juan, and quickly put his phone away, clapping twice.

The other three followed suit, putting their phones away and standing in a line, shouting, “Good afternoon, Master Juan! Thank you for your hard work, Master Juan! Welcome back, Master Juan!”

Passing juniors: “…”

Shen Juan: “…”

Shen Juan walked past them expressionlessly: “Idiots.”

He Songnan laughed so hard he could barely stand, shouting, “How cool is that, boss!” Shen Juan turned, pointing: “My throat hurts, don’t make me hit you.”

There were many places to eat near the school. Turning right out of the gate and crossing the street led to a row of small restaurants offering spicy hot pot, rice noodles, and various other dishes.

Lin Yujing, with no acquaintances, chose a small restaurant for rice noodles. Seeing no empty tables, she approached a girl sitting alone in a corner, “Is this seat taken?”

Startled, the girl shook her head quickly, her big eyes wide and her mouth full of noodles.

Cute, Lin Yujing thought, sitting down beside her. She ordered her meal and pondered how to deal with Meng Weiguo. She didn’t want to stay at home, but even if she forged a consent form, she’d face an argument when Meng Weiguo returned, shattering her well- behaved image.

She had forgotten her outburst last night, yelling, “You’re a gold-digging phoenix man!”

The food arrived quickly. Lost in thought, Lin Yujing realized she didn’t have chopsticks. Just as she reached for them, a small hand holding a pair of chopsticks appeared before her. She looked up to see the girl shyly offering them.

“Thank you,” Lin Yujing said.

“No… no problem…” the girl stammered softly, barely audible in the noisy restaurant. “Do you need vinegar?” the girl asked hesitantly.

“No, thanks,” Lin Yujing smiled.

The girl’s nervousness puzzled Lin Yujing, who prided herself on being approachable.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Lin Yujing pulled out her phone. It had been off since the night before. As soon as she turned it on, messages and notifications from Meng Weiguo flooded in.

A full screen of text.

Meng Weiguo: What did you just say? Say it again.

Meng Weiguo: Lin Yujing, do you think you’ve grown wings now?

Meng Weiguo: Haven’t I been good to you? I’ve provided you food and drinks, sent you to a good school, and your mother didn’t want you. It’s me who has been raising you—

With a click, Lin Yujing locked her phone with a blank expression. The screen instantly went black, and the world finally quieted down.

She placed her phone on the edge of the table and continued eating her rice noodles.

Just as she bit into a fish ball, a burst of laughter came from the store entrance. A group of girls walked in, and the one in the lead called out, “No tables left?”

“Nope!”

“Then we’ll wait a bit. I really want rice noodles today.”

“Wait my ass, this is so annoying.”

“Hey, isn’t there an empty seat? Let’s just pull a chair over and share the table.”

The girl next to Lin Yujing, who looked like a little marshmallow, visibly stiffened. Lin Yujing turned her head slightly and saw the girl with her head lowered, her long eyelashes trembling.

Their table was the only one with empty seats in the small shop. It was a long table for four people. Lin Yujing and the marshmallow girl sat on one side, while the opposite side was empty after the previous person had just left.

The group of girls discussed briefly outside before coming in. Suddenly, someone laughed and said, “Isn’t that our dear Yi Jie?”

A hand was placed on the edge of Lin Yujing’s table. The fingers were clean and pretty, with a simple red string bracelet on the wrist. “Our dear Yi Jie is here for rice noodles too? Let’s share a table then.”

The tone was annoying.

The girls sat down opposite them. Three of them, with one pulling a chair to sit next to Lin Yujing. After ordering, they started chatting loudly, their laughter piercing and irritating.

Lin Yujing sighed and sped up her eating, wanting to finish quickly and leave.

A few minutes later, the three girls’ attention shifted to Lin Yujing’s side, focusing on the marshmallow girl beside her. “Yi Jie, are the rice noodles tasty?”

The marshmallow girl didn’t respond. Lin Yujing turned her head slightly and saw her hand trembling as she held her chopsticks.

“Hey, Yi Jie, your classmate is talking to you. Why aren’t you responding? Be a bit friendlier to your classmate.”

The girl with the red string bracelet laughed, “What do you expect her to say? She’s a stutterer.”

The marshmallow girl hung her head low, not moving, her expression unseen.

“Yi Jie, why are you so quiet? Say something, let us hear your voice. How rude.” “We just love hearing you talk,” another girl mimicked mockingly, “You-you-you’re annoying! Gi-gi-give it back!”

She spoke loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the shop. The three girls burst into harsh laughter.

Lin Yujing felt the girl beside her shaking all over.

Lin Yujing closed her eyes.

Just then, the rice noodles for the girls with the red string bracelet were ready. The owner brought three small pots to their table.

The girls laughed and picked up their chopsticks, then went to get some vinegar. After pouring the vinegar, the red string girl suddenly said, “Yi Jie, don’t you put vinegar in your rice noodles? Let me add some for you. Is this enough? If not, I’ll add more…” She unscrewed the cap and poured an entire bottle of vinegar into the marshmallow girl’s pot. The strong sour smell spread through the air.

The three girls opposite laughed again, one laughing so hard she slapped the table, making the wobbly table shake dangerously. “Li Shiqi, you’re too much. Why are you bullying her?”

“How am I bullying her?” The red string girl laughed. “Aren’t I being considerate?”

The marshmallow girl didn’t make a sound, her head hung low, her shoulders shaking. Lin Yujing heard a faint sniffle.

With a snap, the tension in her mind that had been building up for days finally snapped. It was like a constantly shaken soda bottle, the pressure inside building up until the cap finally couldn’t withstand it and popped off.

Damn, do idiots show up everywhere?

Lin Yujing pushed away her pot, lifted her head, and threw her chopsticks onto the table with a loud clatter.

The three girls fell silent, the red string girl’s hand still holding the vinegar bottle over the marshmallow girl’s pot, turning to look at Lin Yujing.

Lin Yujing smirked, “Are you brainless?”

The girl was stunned. “What?”

The shop was quiet, everyone watching the scene.

“What, what? You didn’t hear me? Not only are you brainless, but you’re also deaf,” Lin Yujing, now seething, spoke sharply, every word dripping with irritation and impatience. “You’re so annoying, can’t you shut up while you eat?”

“Damn…” The girl laughed angrily, “Why do you care if we talk? Who the hell are you—”

“Who am I?” Lin Yujing squinted her eyes. “I’m your godfather. So either shut up and eat quietly or let your godfather teach you some manners and civility.”

Author’s note:

Lin Yujing: I have a good temper, right!!!!!!