Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 29

Liu Fujiang had never encountered such a situation before.

In the past, as a subject teacher, he often dealt with homeroom teachers who were worried about students getting too close to each other, or about young romances blossoming. He always thought these things were normal. After all, who didn’t have crushes during their teenage years? Back then, he himself had a secret crush on the class beauty, although he never dared to speak more than a few words to her before graduation.

However, now as a homeroom teacher himself, Liu Fujiang thought seriously about it and suddenly understood the concern. It felt like watching his own child develop a crush— both comforting and worrisome, leaving him unsure whether to intervene or not. For a moment, this experienced teacher of twenty years felt a bit lost.

He stared at his phone for a while, refreshed the page, and saw that the original poster had uploaded a short video. He clicked to watch. The noisy gym in the background revealed a boy leaning on a mat and a girl squatting beside him. The video was taken from a distance, making it hard to see their expressions.

Liu Fujiang squinted, his head almost buried in his phone, watching the video three or four times from different angles. He couldn’t detect any sign of “happiness” around Shen Juan. Instead, the surrounding students seemed quite fearful, maintaining a distance of two meters from them.

As soon as class ended, He Songnan hurried to the gym entrance. The gym was close to the north building of the senior year teaching block. When he arrived, Shen Juan was walking out, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and damp temples. He glanced at He Songnan and headed towards the water fountain.

Without saying a word, He Songnan followed him, watching as Shen Juan turned on the tap and splashed cool water on his face. He Songnan leaned against the sink, staring intently at him.

Shen Juan turned off the tap and looked over, “What do you want?”

He Songnan grinned, “Just wanted to see what happiness looks like on you,” he said teasingly, looking Shen Juan up and down, “What’s up with that? The poster’s filter is too thick. I can’t see any happiness on you at all.”

Shen Juan remained silent, his expression questioning if He Songnan was an idiot.

“Seriously, do you know your desk mate is quite famous in our school now?” He Songnan continued.

“I don’t know,” Shen Juan replied uncooperatively.

Undeterred, He Songnan pressed on, “Do you know why she’s famous?”

This time, Shen Juan didn’t even bother to respond, heading straight for the convenience store.

He Songnan persisted, “It’s because of you, man. I’m serious. Don’t you think you’re being too flashy while flirting? What were those moves during the exam? You’re still desk mates, right? Aren’t you afraid the teachers will separate you? Imagine sitting on opposite ends of the classroom, you’d be crying.”

Shen Juan paused, took a can of cold cola from the small fridge, and said, “I’m not flirting.”

“Bullshit! Do you think everyone in the exam room is blind? They just don’t like studying, not that they’re stupid,” He Songnan retorted, eyeing the cola. He couldn’t help but jab, “Drink less of that. Cola kills sperm. Don’t ruin things now that you’re shedding your asexual image, only to create new problems. Think about Lin Yujing’s happiness.”

Shen Juan turned his head, expressionless, and gestured, “Turn around.”

“What? What’s behind me?” He Songnan asked, turning around as instructed, “I’m serious. My cousin drank cola for ten years and now—”

He Songnan growled, “He’s impotent! Can you believe that, Juan?” Shen Juan kicked him.

He Songnan stumbled forward, almost falling into the fridge, barely steadying himself, “Damn—” He was about to turn around when Shen Juan kicked him again.

Angry, He Songnan thought it was unfair. He was trying to help but ended up getting kicked. As he was contemplating fighting back, a boy in a sophomore uniform walked in. Seeing Shen Juan, he hesitated before approaching, “Shen Juan?”

Shen Juan turned to look.

Li Lin cleared his throat. He was one of the few in class who had spoken to Shen Juan more than five times, which gave him the courage to approach, “I just overheard our biology teacher talking to the homeroom teacher about you and Lin Yujing. They might separate you two.”

Shen Juan raised an eyebrow.

“They said the situation with you and Lin Yujing looks bad and might separate you,” Li Lin whispered, “The homeroom teacher might talk to you.”

Shen Juan was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Thank you.”

Surprised and pleased, Li Lin waved it off, “No problem. Just doing my duty as a righteous friend.”

He Songnan, although he expected this might happen eventually, didn’t think it would be so soon. It made sense though—two top students with over 700 points each, potential city or provincial top scorers, the school wouldn’t allow any issues.

Despite being kicked twice, He Songnan was a loyal friend.

Quickly reacting, He Songnan pulled Shen Juan by the wrist, causing Shen Juan, lost in thought about what Li Lin said, to lean forward. With one hand holding the cola and the other propping himself on the fridge, he regained balance.

With a soft “thud,” He Songnan leaned against the fridge, Shen Juan slightly taller, supporting himself with one hand on the fridge door, head lowered, hiding his expression.

The students in the convenience store were stunned. Fridge kabedon.

The school bully really liked kabedon!

But why was it a guy this time?!

Why didn’t he care about gender?!

Shen Juan didn’t even realize what happened.

He Songnan, looking determined, whispered, “I’ve done all I can, bro.”

Shen Juan: “…”

He Songnan sprinted back to the classroom, feeling that the next moment Shen Juan realized what had happened, he might get beaten up.

It wasn’t easy for Shen Juan to like a girl. Although He Songnan didn’t know if he actually liked her or to what extent, at least he treated Lin Yujing differently.

Panting heavily at the classroom door, he felt like a hidden hero who had accomplished a great deed. He stood by the door for a while, catching his breath before heading to his seat. He pulled out his phone and opened the school forum.

Sure enough, a new post had just appeared three minutes ago, fresh and hot. He Songnan sat at his desk and suddenly looked up, grinning like a lunatic. Xu Ruyi, who was distributing exercise books, was startled as she passed by him.

Feeling good, He Songnan greeted her, “Good afternoon, little stutterer.” Xu Ruyi looked at him, scared, and stepped back a little.

He Songnan remembered seeing Li Shiqi and her friends bullying Xu Ruyi and calling her names at the rice noodle shop, causing her to cry. He quickly apologized, “Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m not making fun of you. Don’t be mad.”

Xu Ruyi shook her head.

He Songnan pointed to the homework she was holding, “Want me to help you distribute them?”

“No… need,” Xu Ruyi said softly, clutching a thick stack of exercise books. She had just taken a couple of steps when He Songnan called out, “Hey! Little… Ruyi!”

The words “little stutterer” almost slipped out, but he quickly corrected himself.

A few students nearby fell silent and turned to look.

Xu Ruyi turned around, blushing and looking at him in horror.

Ignoring their reactions, He Songnan asked, “Are you and Lin Yujing close?”

Xu Ruyi’s eyes lit up at the mention of Lin Yujing. She nodded, then shook her head, looking a bit downcast, “No, I think we’re close, but she… she doesn’t know me well.”

He Songnan didn’t understand her convoluted explanation. To him, being close meant being close.

He smiled at her, “Do you want to go out with her?” —

As soon as Shen Juan returned to the classroom, Liu Fujiang called him to the office. Lin Yujing, sitting nearby, glanced at him.

Shen Juan’s expression was so complex that Lin Yujing couldn’t decipher his emotions.

She wasn’t really mad at Shen Juan; she just felt embarrassed and awkward, and didn’t want to talk to him. But after their incident today, she didn’t feel anything anymore.

She suddenly thought that Shen Juan had a really good temper. If someone kept squatting beside her and knocking on her head, she would probably slam their head into the ground.

Lin Yujing began to reflect on whether she was too harsh.

She opened her mouth and asked softly, “Did I hit you hard? Just to clarify, I didn’t do it on purpose,” she added awkwardly, “I wasn’t taking out my anger. The gym teacher made me do it.”

“Mm, you didn’t,” Shen Juan said with a bit of amusement, “It didn’t hurt, didn’t feel a thing.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Lin Yujing chose her words carefully, “You look like someone harassed you.”

“…” Shen Juan leaned back, raising an eyebrow at her, “My little deskmate, you’re pretty bold now, daring to talk to me like this?”

Lin Yujing puffed out her cheeks, looked up, and didn’t say anything.

Shen Juan paused, seemingly thinking, “Do you want to…”

“Hmm?” Lin Yujing leaned closer, “Want to what?”

“Nothing,” Shen Juan lazily smiled and stood up, “I’m going out.”

He stopped halfway through his sentence, which made Lin Yujing uncomfortable. She glared at him, “Finish your sentence. Want to what?”

Shen Juan lightly tapped her on the head, “I’ll tell you when I get back.” —

Liu Fujiang had been pondering how to talk to Shen Juan. The boy was usually very quiet. Liu Fujiang didn’t know much about him until he chatted with Shen Juan’s former homeroom teacher and learned a bit.

Would Shen Juan be willing to change seats and sit with a boy?

Sighing, Liu Fujiang thought about how to start the conversation while mechanically refreshing the forum.

A new post popped up on the homepage: “Breaking News: The Boss Is Confirmed Single!”

Liu Fujiang’s hand trembled as he clicked on it. The post featured a photo of a tall boy in school uniform standing in a convenience store, leaning against a fridge, facing another boy. It looked quite romantic, except the other person was also a boy.

Wait, also a boy?

Post author: “Just finished reading the confirmed relationship post next door, and now my mood is unsettled. I went to the convenience store to buy a popsicle, and while choosing a flavor, the boss and his buddy came in. I’ve seen them hanging out together a lot. I didn’t pay much attention, just admired Shen’s good looks for a while. His buddy is handsome too. But the point is, while talking, the boss suddenly kicked his buddy… And then, after I turned my head to pay, I looked back and saw the boss kabedonning his buddy… What’s going on? Shen’s love life just got confusing!!!”

Liu Fujiang: “…”

Liu Fujiang didn’t understand at first. He read it three times, feeling his worldview refreshed.

He had never read the school forum before. This was his first time, and Liu Fujiang realized he still had much to learn.

Kids nowadays seemed different from his time.

Liu Fujiang, an elderly teacher, felt his understanding shaken. He hadn’t fully processed it when Shen Juan knocked and entered.

Liu Fujiang looked up, his phone still displaying the photo.

Shen Juan walked over and, glancing down, saw the picture of him and He Songnan.

Shen Juan’s mouth twitched, and he turned to Liu Fujiang.

The teacher, still dazed, looked at him, thinking he always respected students’ personal choices, but he was a bit taken aback.

The two stared at each other for three minutes.

As class was about to start, Shen Juan lowered his head and finally spoke, “You wanted to see me?”

Liu Fujiang snapped out of it, “Oh, right, yes, I did. I wanted to ask you…”

He hesitated, thinking many things were just rumors and wanted to know the truth from the source.

But how to ask was a delicate matter.

For the first time, Liu Fujiang realized how hard being a homeroom teacher was. Shen Juan waited patiently, showing no emotion.

Liu Fujiang scratched his head awkwardly, “I just wanted to ask…”

He tentatively said, “Shen Juan, do you want to date a girl?”

“…”

Shen Juan thought He Songnan’s move was a masterstroke. The author’s note:

Best performer of the scene — He Songnan