Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 50

Shen Juan was feeling quite pleased with himself just a second ago.

Lin Yujing knew he did it on purpose, but she still crawled under the jacket. It meant she was slowly, unconsciously starting to compromise with him.

Lin Yujing scrambled out as if escaping for her life, Shen Juan’s school jacket still draped over her head. He remained unhurried, savoring the moment alone in the darkness, before touching the band-aid on his chin and finally pulling the jacket off.

Then he found himself face to face with the kindly-looking Liu Fuxiang. The entire classroom was silent, everyone watching them.

Lin Yujing looked utterly terrified, her eyes frozen in place.

But she always reacted quickly.

“We…” Shen Juan began, but Lin Yujing swiftly regained her composure, leaned forward, reached into the desk, pulled out her phone, glanced at it briefly, and quickly opened a game.

With a clear “plop,” the phone fell onto the classroom’s marble floor. Liu Fuxiang took a step back, glancing down.

The phone had landed perfectly between Lin Yujing and Shen Juan, screen up, showing the game she had just opened.

Lin Yujing looked up, face full of remorse, “Teacher, I’m sorry, we shouldn’t be playing games during morning study.”

“…”

Shen Juan watched in amazement, wanting to applaud her if the situation allowed.

What a reliable deskmate.

Why did she think playing games during morning study was a lesser offense than putting on a band-aid?

Liu Fuxiang was also stunned. He knew kids their age loved games—he’d once caught Li Lin and others playing during lunch break and had sneaked in to discuss game strategies with them for five minutes.

Liu Fuxiang saw games as a suitable way to relieve stress, nothing wrong with playing in moderation.

But he hadn’t expected Shen Juan and Lin Yujing to play secretly, under a jacket. What did this indicate?

It showed how immense their academic pressure was!

Being the top students was no easy feat.

Their excellence brought heavy pressure and a sense of responsibility much greater than their peers. As model students, they felt they had to set a good example, even forgoing open game-playing during breaks like Li Lin and others.

Instead, they resorted to sneaky playing under a jacket!

Liu Fuxiang felt he had failed as a homeroom teacher, not noticing their stress and not helping them relieve it in time.

That was also a teacher’s duty.

Not wanting other students to catch on, Liu Fuxiang maintained a neutral expression, picked up the phone, and called them out.

Lin Yujing felt a bit panicked inside, unsure if Liu Fuxiang called them out for playing games during morning study or if he saw through their lie.

Though they hadn’t done anything wrong.

They had just put on a band-aid under the jacket.

But Lin Yujing had no idea how to explain why they had to cover themselves with a jacket just to put on a band-aid.

“Teacher, we were just putting on a band-aid under the jacket.”

Lin Yujing felt desperate.

She deeply regretted her momentary impulse to go along with Shen Juan’s whim.

They entered the teacher’s office, Liu Fuxiang closing the door and glancing down the corridor.

He pulled up two chairs at the desk and placed Lin Yujing’s phone on the table.

The screen still showed the game she had randomly opened, a cat avatar in the top left corner, the game ID—”Your Loving Father.”

Liu Fuxiang was silent.

Lin Yujing hung her head low, looking very obedient, her attitude of admitting wrongs appearing sincere.

Liu Fuxiang sighed, “Go ahead and play.” “…”

Lin Yujing: ?

She looked up.

Liu Fuxiang glanced at her, then at Shen Juan, and sighed again, “The academic pressure is quite high, isn’t it? At your age, it’s natural to want to play. I understand. I see you don’t usually play games, always studying hard. It’s normal to occasionally give in to the urge to play.”

“…”

Lin Yujing was momentarily bewildered and couldn’t help but glance at Shen Juan beside her.

Shen Juan, who always slept with great dedication, accepted these words without any guilt.

“So go ahead and play. I’ll keep watch for you,” Liu Fuxiang lightly tapped the desk and continued, “For this morning study session, you two just stay here and play your game.”

Shen Juan: “…”

Lin Yujing: “…”

Lin Yujing was so shocked she couldn’t speak.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of a few months ago, the first day of the new term, when Liu Fuxiang had stood at the podium, smiling, and told them to “face your deskmate.”

She had thought back then that her homeroom teacher was quite unconventional and unpredictable.

Now she realized she had underestimated Liu Fuxiang. –

This morning study session was agonizing. Even though Liu Fuxiang had told them to stay and play their game, if it weren’t for the earlier context, Lin Yujing would have thought he was angry.

But they couldn’t really just sit there and start playing.

So the three of them sat there, staring at each other for half an hour, while occasionally enduring Liu Fuxiang’s prompts—”Don’t be shy,” “Don’t just sit there,” “Go ahead and play.”

When the bell rang for class, Lin Yujing let out a long sigh of relief.

She had never heard a class bell sound so pleasant.

As they left the office and stood at the door, Lin Yujing turned to look at Shen Juan. Shen Juan looked back at her.

Lin Yujing glared at him, saying nothing, but her eyes were full of reproach.

Shen Juan, with his hands in his jacket pockets—having just put it on without zipping it up—looked casual and nonchalant.

Still handsome, though, with a blue band-aid featuring colorful Rilakkuma bears on his chin, and a slightly bruised nose from yesterday’s altercation.

His look was very creative.

Lin Yujing suddenly felt like laughing.

She held back for a few seconds but couldn’t help it. Leaning against the wall, she pulled out her phone, opened the camera app, and snapped a photo of him before he could react.

Behind him was an empty school corridor, classroom doors shut, the blue sky visible through the windows, and the morning sun flooding the hallway with a fresh breeze.

The boy in the lens, caught off guard, looked a bit bewildered. He seemed tired from the previous night’s lack of sleep, eyelids drooping, listless and lazy, forever captured in the frame.

Like a scene from a youth film, requiring no filter, it was already the best image time could preserve.

But this moment of beauty was quickly shattered.

Over the next few days, Shen Juan became noticeably more restrained.

Although he still brought breakfast every day, Lin Yujing, who lived off-campus, liked the rice rolls from a nearby shop, and he always got her three with salted egg yolk.

Initially, Lin Yujing would transfer money to him to keep up appearances, but eventually, she became indifferent.

Yet, considering Shen Juan’s family situation, after a day of indifference, she transferred the money again the next day.

After all, he was a hard-working student, partly earning his own living expenses.

Even if neither of them believed the scholarship talk after the midterm exams, Lin Yujing thought Shen Juan’s words were half-true, while she still had some money at hand.

But Shen Juan was different.

Shen Juan was genuinely poor!

Even in such poverty, he still persisted in wanting to date!

What a noble love!

Lin Yujing sighed.

When Shen Juan decided to make someone like him and pursued them, it was hard to resist.

She enjoyed their interactions and even their closer physical contact, but rationally, she resisted.

Once a relationship was established, it would change things.

A fragile, intangible connection would form between them, volatile and easily shattered, with high risks and deep consequences, bringing more harm than good.

She had always been fine in her own world, good at controlling her emotions. The growing dependency on him… okay, affection, she managed well.

But Shen Juan insisted on pursuing her.

Despite his poverty, couldn’t he focus on his studies? Why bother with a relationship!

It was the second-to-last self-study period on a Friday. Without evening classes, two more periods, and they would be dismissed. Everyone’s minds were wandering, some sleeping, some playing.

Lin Yujing turned to Shen Juan, who was working on a math worksheet.

He seemed a bit indifferent, lazily leaning against the wall, twirling a pen, reading the questions quickly, almost as if the answers appeared just by glancing at them.

He didn’t bother writing out the solutions for some simple problems, just highlighting key information and deriving the answers.

But he was actually very serious.

Lin Yujing watched him for three or four minutes before he noticed and looked up, leaning closer: “What’s up?”

He asked while glancing at the last big problem on the worksheet.

Lin Yujing had finished it by noon, but the last problem had stumped her for a while on how to draw the auxiliary lines.

She said nothing, and neither did Shen Juan. He just leaned against her, pen tapping on the paper. After a few minutes, he drew several auxiliary lines and started writing.

With his head slightly lowered, the boy’s slender fingers held the pen, writing line after line swiftly. Each line ended with a habitual lift of the pen.

Focused yet indifferent.

Lin Yujing turned away, sighing silently again.

When a boy was focused, he seemed to radiate a certain aura, dazzlingly attractive.

Even his small gestures seemed cool.

Why had she ever thought he needed small ads to motivate him to study?

Clearly, he exuded the aura of a top student.

Shen Juan finished the last question in a few minutes and put down his pen.

He was still leaning sideways, his arm almost touching her, half-leaning and half-sitting. He turned his head, “What were you about to say?”

“Nothing…” Lin Yujing stood up and said softly, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Shen Juan raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Nice, now you even report to me when you go to the bathroom?”

“Just finish your worksheet,” Lin Yujing casually grabbed a sheet and slapped it on his face, then left the classroom.

Late autumn days were short, and at this time, the shadow of dusk was already faintly visible. The corridor was quiet, empty.

Lin Yujing took out her phone to check. At her previous school, pulling out a phone would get it confiscated in seconds. Here, they weren’t so strict.

Lin Zhi had sent her a message three hours ago, saying she would come to City A next week.

Another message was from Fu Mingxiu, concise as ever: [Coming back for oranges this week?]

Walking towards the bathroom, Lin Yujing opened Fu Mingxiu’s message and quickly replied: [Why, already missing your little sister?]

Three minutes later, she came out of the stall, washed her hands, and checked her phone. Fu Mingxiu had replied.

[… Do I have nothing better to do than chat with you? Bye.]

Lin Yujing found it amusing, considering whether to respond. She walked out of the bathroom and looked up, seeing someone standing by the opposite wall.

She blinked, holding her phone, “You’ve got the wrong place. This is the girls’ bathroom, and Shen Juan is in the classroom.”

Ning Yuan leaned against the wall, looking at her, “I’m not looking for him.”

Lin Yujing nodded, “You’re looking for me. I figured you wouldn’t let it go after being tricked into running laps. You agreed to the bet, Ning Yuan. A deal’s a deal.”

Ning Yuan smiled, “A deal’s a deal. And it was only ten laps. I’m not petty enough to hold a grudge against a girl. I’m here because I like you and want to talk.”

Lin Yujing almost got goosebumps.

He had a harmless look, even a gentle smile, but it made her feel deeply uncomfortable, instinctively wanting to avoid him.

“Well, I don’t really want to talk to you. We have nothing to discuss,” she said, waving her hand and smiling politely. “You hit our classmate, I made you run and apologize. We’re even. Goodbye, Ning Yuan.”

Ning Yuan didn’t move, standing in place, “I want to talk about Shen Juan.” Lin Yujing paused.

She turned her head, looking at him curiously, “Do you have a grudge against Shen Juan?”

“Maybe…” Ning Yuan thought, “No, not really.”

“Either you do or you don’t. If not, just leave it,” Lin Yujing was getting impatient. “Wasn’t the incident your fault to begin with? Why are you fixated on Shen Juan? And what’s it got to do with me? Are you some kind of leech?”

Ning Yuan didn’t get angry, still smiling at her, “Aren’t you curious? He seems to like you a lot. And judging by your reaction, you probably like him too. Are you two dating?”

Leaning against the wall, Lin Yujing’s gaze grew cold, “Are you sick?”

“Don’t be so irritable. I happened to know something about his past,” Ning Yuan said, resting his arm on the window sill and glancing outside. “I wanted to kindly remind you. Be careful. The last person he liked—”

He stopped mid-sentence, then smiled.

Lin Yujing turned to see Shen Juan walking quickly towards them from the stairs.

She froze for a moment, then instinctively straightened up to meet him.

She didn’t want to listen anymore.

It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to hear it herself; she didn’t want Shen Juan to hear it either.

Whatever it was.

Ning Yuan seemed to understand her intent immediately, continuing as if nothing had changed, his words clear in the quiet hallway: “The last person he liked is still in the hospital because of him, never to wake up.”

Lin Yujing stopped in her tracks, body stiffening.

Shen Juan had reached them, and without pause, punched Ning Yuan in the nose, sending him stumbling back half a step.

Ning Yuan covered his nose, blood seeping through his fingers.

Shen Juan grabbed Ning Yuan’s collar, looking down at him, his voice low and hoarse, devoid of emotion, “Are you looking for death?”