Chapter 76

Chapter 76: I Feel Fine

In junior high school, girls were still in the process of growing and developing. Most of them were still very young and had not yet fully matured.

However, there would always be some girls who matured earlier. They pursued fashion and dressed in avant-garde styles, giving them a mature charm at that age. In the eyes of most teachers and students, they became known as “bad girls.”

Their intention was not to become bad girls; they just loved looking pretty.

Peng Xue was Mei Fang’s classmate from junior high.

Such beautiful girls like Peng Xue didn’t really intersect with Mei Fang, who was only interested in games at the time. He did have a relatively deep impression of her, such as how popular she was among boys in the class.

In the first year of junior high, Peng Xue’s academic performance was quite good, consistently ranking in the top ten of the class. However, the teachers did not like her because they thought she had poor study habits and spent too much time on her appearance. She often got criticized and picked on by the teachers. Her rebellious personality gradually formed during this period.

Over time, she began to pay more attention to her appearance. Mei Fang often saw her playing and laughing with boys and girls who had a “Shamate” hairstyle and non-mainstream style in the corridor.

As the rebellious phase reached its peak, grades inevitably declined, and conflicts with teachers increased. Eventually, due to improper relationships between male and female students, her parents were called to the school.

Peng Xue went through the same process. Later, she stopped focusing on her studies altogether. Due to conflicts with her head teacher, she even got into a fight with him in class, causing a huge uproar throughout the school.

At that point, she couldn’t continue attending school and eventually transferred.

As for what happened after that, Mei Fang didn’t pay much attention. He didn’t attend any junior high reunions, so he didn’t know the details.

Mei Fang naturally felt a bit worried about Xia Yuan making friends with such a “bad girl.”

But no matter what, those were things from his past life. Different circumstances greatly changed a person. Mei Fang couldn’t make hasty judgments about Peng Xue now.

In summary, he would observe for a while…

Mei Fang told Lin You Xi about Xia Yuan buying hand warmers with her new friend that night. He mentioned that Xia Yuan wanted to bring her new friend along.

Although Lin You Xi initially seemed reluctant, she finally nodded in agreement.

Xia Yuan had many friends in elementary school, but they rarely interacted with Lin You Xi. Whenever Xia Yuan played with Lin You Xi, she always brought Mei Fang along. On weekends, Xia Yuan was usually busy with special classes, and the little free time she had was spent with Mei Fang and Lin You Xi. This was the first time she had taken other friends out shopping.

“But I didn’t bring any money today. I’ll just accompany you guys to look around. Tell Xia Yuan that I already bought the hand warmers… otherwise, she’ll insist on paying for me.”

“I brought some.”

Mei Fang took out a 100 yuan note from his wallet and gave it to Lin You Xi, “I’ll lend it to you first, and you can return it to me later.”

“That works too.”

Lin You Xi accepted Mei Fang’s money but appeared somewhat distracted.

When it was time to leave after evening study, Mei Fang and Lin You Xi packed up their bags and went to the corridor. Class 8 next door was still having class.

Because it was winter and cold, both doors of the classroom were closed, and no one knew how long the class would last.

“…This weather is really cold.”

Seeing Lin You Xi shivering with her arms crossed, Mei Fang suggested,

“Let’s go back to the classroom and wait there.”

“It should be over soon, let’s wait a bit longer…”

Lin You Xi adjusted the rabbit ear hat Xia Yuan had given her. She noticed that Mei Fang’s ears were bright red from the cold, so she took off her own ear warmer and handed it to Mei Fang.

“If you’re cold, you can wear this.”

“So cute, I don’t deserve it, I don’t want it.”

“There’s no one else here, what’s there to be shy about?”

Since everyone in the class had left, Lin You Xi felt bolder. She walked up to Mei Fang and put the rabbit ear warmer on his head. Mei Fang resisted, and as they argued, the door of Class 8 suddenly opened. They were startled and immediately stood at attention, gazing at the lights and night sky outside the corridor.

The first person to rush out from Class 8 was Xia Yuan.

“Sorry, sorry! Our old Zhu from Class 8 is really too much… dragging on the class for so long… Have you been waiting for a while?”

“Not long, it’s fine.”

Seeing Mei Fang wearing the ear warmer she had given Lin You Xi, Xia Yuan became extremely excited.

But it was an excited kind of excitement.

“Ah ah ah ah ah ah! Fang, you’re so cute! I love your outfit now!”

“You insisted on giving it to me…”

“Just like that! Isn’t it nice? You did great, You Xi! You really understand me!”

“Mm-hmm… I just suddenly wanted to try it.”

Suddenly, someone hugged Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi from behind, getting close to them.

“Xia Yuan! Let’s go, let’s go! Let’s buy hand warmers at the store I recommended!”

“Wow, Xiao Xue, you scared me!”

“…”

Lin You Xi instantly sensed a different aura when Peng Xue called her “Xia Yuan.” Mei Fang immediately felt a chill.

You Xi… visibly unhappy.

Oh, this must be how girls are!

They really care so much about nicknames!

Afterwards, Xia Yuan formally introduced her new friend Peng Xue to Lin You Xi. Peng Xue greeted Lin You Xi warmly, “Oh, oh, you’re the class president of Class 9! Your friends are all amazing, Xia Yuan.”

“We’re not friends,” Lin You Xi said coldly.

“What?”

Lin You Xi paused for a moment, then seriously stated, “We grew up together from kindergarten. We’re very good friends.”

“Mm-hmm, You Xi is right!”

Xia Yuan nodded in agreement, “You Xi and I are super close friends, we’ll never separate!”

“Wow, I’m really envious of you three… It’s like a fairy tale come true.”

Your tone… sounds like you’re acting in a Taiwanese idol drama!

Mei Fang slightly disliked Peng Xue’s somewhat artificial way of speaking.

Of course, since he and Xia Yuan, Lin You Xi had known each other since childhood, he might not find anything particularly strange or special about it. Perhaps others really saw it as something beautiful.

“Then let’s hurry and buy the hand warmers. Xiao Xue, you can help us find the store.”

“Mm-mmm! The store I know has many cute and lovely hand warmers, including Sakura’s!”

“Then we definitely need to see them! Come on, let’s go!”

Peng Xue and Xia Yuan, both outgoing personalities, chatted happily about their favorite anime characters and plot points along the way;

While Lin You Xi, who wasn’t talkative, found it hard to join in the conversation and eventually walked closer to Mei Fang.

Mei Fang understood Lin You Xi’s thoughts and immediately comforted his introverted childhood friend, “I think we should play separately with Xia Yuan’s friends in the future. Otherwise, it’s awkward if we can’t keep up with the conversation.”

“Oh, is it awkward?”

Lin You Xi made a surprised face, “I don’t think so, I feel fine.”

“Besides, if it’s awkward, it shouldn’t be me who feels awkward.”

Lin You Xi’s gaze fell on Peng Xue, who was chatting and even holding hands with Xia Yuan.

Ah!

Even now, You Xi is still being stubborn!

With his adult-like mindset and excellent ability to read atmospheres, Mei Fang now found himself in a great dilemma—

His social anxiety was acting up!

He couldn’t breathe!

Because today is Tuesday, I need to post the book in advance! So, the second update will be at noon!

(End of Chapter 76)