Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 23

Lin Yujing watched Shen Juan leave the school gate alone, step by step walking towards Meng Weiguo.

Meng Weiguo, with his head down and a frown on his face, glanced absentmindedly at his watch, then pulled out his phone from his pocket and placed it against his ear.

Lin Yujing knew he was calling her, but her phone was in her backpack, turned off during the exam, and still not on.

Shen Juan crossed the road. As he reached Meng Weiguo, the man happened to put down his phone. He looked up impatiently, gave a casual glance, and then looked down at his phone again.

The two brushed past each other, and Shen Juan walked towards the school’s dining street.

Lin Yujing breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and headed towards the dormitory building.

Meng Weiguo’s return was sudden and without warning. It was clear why he came. After discovering Lin Yujing had moved to the school dormitory against his wishes, he was furious and came to assert his authority as a father.

What was bound to happen had to happen, but Lin Yujing did not want to argue with him at the school gate, in front of so many people, especially not in front of Shen Juan. She didn’t even want Shen Juan to know this man was her father.

The thought of it made her feel sick, like a slap to her face.

The dormitory building was quiet at noon, with few people around since most were out for lunch. It would be at least fifteen minutes before anyone returned for a nap.

So, even if the building wasn’t well soundproofed, it didn’t matter.

Lin Yujing returned to her dorm, closed the door, put her backpack on a chair, took out her phone, and turned it on.

She placed the phone on the desk, waited for two minutes, and then it rang again.

As soon as she picked up, Meng Weiguo started shouting, “Did you block my number?”

Lin Yujing was speechless.

“You’ve got quite an imagination.”

“I had an exam today. We had to turn off our phones during the exam,” Lin Yujing explained.

Meng Weiguo must still be outside because it was noisy on his end. He suppressed his voice, trying to sound calm.

Mr. Meng always maintained his mature and gentlemanly image in public. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “How did the exam go?”

“Probably okay. The questions weren’t difficult,” Lin Yujing replied casually.

There was a loud bang from Meng Weiguo’s side, likely him closing his car door. The noise was cut off, indicating he was now in the car. “I’m at your school gate right now. Come out here. Lin Yujing, you’ve really grown wings now, haven’t you? Didn’t I say you couldn’t stay at the dormitory? Are you ignoring your father’s words?”

Lin Yujing looked out the window. The dormitory was some distance from the school gate, shielded by greenery and the library, isolating it from the bustle outside. “No, the house is too far, and all my classmates stay at the dormitory.”

“Come out now.” Meng Weiguo was determined to assert his authority in person.

“I’m helping our class teacher organize the exam papers,” Lin Yujing lied, staring at a leaf on the tree outside. “He asked me to help right after the exam.”

“Fine,” Meng Weiguo tapped the steering wheel, “Tonight, I’ll have Lao Li pick you up. You’re coming home to explain this dormitory business. What were you thinking? Didn’t you understand what I said? Your brother didn’t stay in the dormitory when he was in high school. It didn’t affect his studies. Why are you so troublesome? And how did the school even allow this without parental consent? Your class teacher—”

“My brother approved it,” Lin Yujing interrupted, her head starting to ache. She rubbed her temples, “He signed the consent form.”

Meng Weiguo was taken aback, “Which brother?”

Lin Yujing found Meng Weiguo amusingly hypocritical. He always referred to him as her brother as if they were long-lost siblings, but now he was confused.

She smiled, “How many brothers do I have?”

Realizing his absurdity, Meng Weiguo cleared his throat, “Anyway, you’re coming home tonight. Don’t play rebellious games with me. Even if you don’t share my surname, you’re still my daughter. I’m your father, and you have to listen to me.”

He hung up.

Lin Yujing held her phone, staring out the window expressionlessly. She stood there for half a minute, suddenly feeling very tired.

She sighed deeply, put her phone on the desk, sat down, rubbed her eyes, and then rested her head on the desk, gently bumping it with a “thud.”

After a month of comfortable days, she had become complacent. —

Shen Juan only came to his senses after entering a restaurant and ordering a plate of fried rice noodles.

The dining street of No. 8 High School was just one small street. At noon, it was filled with No. 8 High School students. Shen Juan occasionally came out for lunch with He Songnan and the others, and he often saw Lin Yujing. She was almost always alone.

Later, she met Xu Ruyi. Shen Juan thought she would finally have someone to eat with. However, one afternoon he saw her eating alone again.

Shen Juan wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs. For ninety percent of things, he could deal with them using four words: “None of my business.”

Moreover, he usually didn’t mind. He liked being alone, eating by himself. He Songnan and the others were noisy and annoying.

But girls seemed to be different. They liked to stick together, doing everything as a group, even going to the restroom. Shen Juan didn’t understand why.

That day, they were sitting upstairs. Lin Yujing was downstairs and didn’t see them. Shen Juan leaned against the second-floor railing, watching her sit quietly in a corner, eating her stir-fried rice noodles and occasionally glancing at her phone.

Nearby, three girls were eating and chatting softly, occasionally laughing together, looking very close.

Watching this, Shen Juan suddenly felt annoyed.

Other girls ate with friends. Why did his deskmate have to eat alone?

Why did his deskmate, Lin Yujing, have to sit quietly in a corner, like an abandoned kitten, eating by herself?

Shen Juan felt a rare surge of sympathy and decided to accompany his deskmate for a meal.

He found his own reaction puzzling. He knew Lin Yujing didn’t want to be near him. She seemed to remember something or saw something that made her want to stay away from him urgently.

Normally, Shen Juan would have left without asking any questions.

But Lin Yujing’s sudden change in attitude, as if she wanted to write “hurry up and leave” on her face, annoyed him. The more she tried to hide something, the more he wanted to find out.

Shen Juan, are you crazy?

It’s normal for people to have secrets. Why were you getting so worked up?

Shen Juan, are you out of your mind?

He stared at the plate of stir-fried rice noodles in front of him, suddenly recalling the moment when Lin Yujing grabbed his collar, her dark eyes staring at him, so close he could feel her shallow breaths and the faint scent of flowers mixed with milk.

Her actions were sudden and urgent, but her words were soft, almost like she was acting coy…

“…”

Shen Juan felt a tension inside him, his mind fixating on her trembling eyelashes and her lips close to his.

“Damn,” Shen Juan muttered, clenching his molars, “I’m really screwed…” —

After the call, Lin Yujing lost her appetite and decided to skip lunch. She set an alarm and took a nap in the dormitory.

In the afternoon, she arrived at the exam room twenty minutes early. Shen Juan was already there. After her nap, Lin Yujing felt calmer and a bit guilty.

She had indeed overreacted earlier.

Lin Yujing sighed, sat down, and glanced at Shen Juan. She took out her pen, sneaking another glance at him.

Shen Juan looked calm, nothing unusual about him. Noticing her furtive glances, he turned to look at her.

They locked eyes for a few seconds. Lin Yujing bit her lip and spoke, “Um…”

Her voice, hoarse from the nap, startled her. She cleared her throat and continued, “I wasn’t avoiding you on purpose earlier. How

about I treat you to something nice another day?”

Shen Juan didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he asked, “What did you eat for lunch?” Lin Yujing blinked, “Huh?”

Shen Juan narrowed his eyes, “Did you skip lunch?”

“Ah… I forgot,” Lin Yujing said sincerely, “I was too focused on studying.”

“…”

Shen Juan clicked his tongue and turned his head away, saying nothing more.

Though his expression remained neutral, the air around him seemed to grow colder, his lips pressed into a tight line, showing his annoyance.

But he didn’t say anything else.

Lin Yujing also turned away, pulling out her chemistry book from her backpack and flipping through it.

The classroom, usually well-disciplined with Shen Juan around, was quiet. His presence was commanding even in this last exam room. It was either his influence or the fact that everyone was busy with last-minute cramming and making small cheat notes.

After about three minutes of silence, Shen Juan suddenly stood up.

The metal legs of his chair scraped against the tiled floor, making a long, grating sound that drew everyone’s attention.

Lin Yujing turned her head as well.

Without looking at her, Shen Juan walked out of the exam room through the back door.

As soon as he left, the room buzzed with activity. Many of their classmates from Class Ten exchanged confused, fearful, and excited glances.

It seemed like Shen Juan had left in a hurry, as if to confront someone.

“Maybe he got an urgent message about someone bullying his little brother,” a boy in a leather jacket speculated, tapping on his phone. “Like, ‘Fight at the BBQ place on Hengping Road, eight people, come quickly.’ And the big boss just rushed out immediately. Such a brotherly thing to do!”

“…”

He continued, “Just imagine, with clouds gathering and thunder rumbling, the big boss appears beside Wang Ergou, who was getting beaten up, after a series of flashy moves…”

Lin Yujing couldn’t help but feel amused by his dramatic storytelling. Even Cheng Yi and Li Lin weren’t as talkative as him.

His friends surrounded him, talking about “cheating on physics,” “just copying the multiple-choice answers,” and “leaving the rest to luck.” Typical exam room chatter.

Then, suddenly, his friend’s smile froze. The room fell silent again.

The leather-jacketed boy, oblivious, kept narrating, “With a series of flashy moves, the big boss wipes out the opponents. Wang Ergou cries out, ‘Are you the legendary king of the first server, the road king—Shen—’”

His friend’s face was filled with despair.

The leather-jacketed boy sensed something was wrong, stopped talking, and turned around, only to see the big boss himself walking back in through the back door.

“…”

The boy’s face turned pale as he watched Shen Juan, carrying a plastic bag, walk in expressionlessly, step by step, towards the last row by the wall, without even glancing at him.

Shen Juan put the plastic bag on the desk, opened it, and started taking things out one by one.

A box of milk.

A bag of bread.

Two bars of chocolate.

A peach-flavored jelly.

And even a packet of spicy peanuts.

Lin Yujing, with her head down, watched as Shen Juan laid out all the food on her desk like performing a magic trick.

Finally, he took out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and placed it on her desk corner. He crumpled the empty plastic bag, stuffed it into his jeans pocket, and leaned on her desk with one hand.

“Lin Yujing,” Shen Juan bent down, looking at her with eyes filled with suppressed anger, “Next time, if you don’t want to tell me something, just say so. I won’t ask. But stop making up ridiculous lies that even a fool wouldn’t believe.”