Not long after, Chen Zhuang walked into the classroom with two male classmates, still in his basketball uniform and sweating profusely.
Well, there was no need to ask; he had most likely been playing basketball for quite some time.
Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan exchanged a helpless glance before looking at Shen Siqi, who was sitting inside.
As expected, Shen Siqi propped her chin with one hand, her expression clearly a little unhappy.
The two boys sat with their roommates in front, and Chen Zhuang, upon seeing Qin Tian and the others, walked straight over and sat in the seat next to him with a grin.
"Brother Tian, you guys are here so early!"
"Serves you right for being single!"
Qin Tian muttered with a speechless expression.
"What did you say?"
Chen Zhuang hadn't quite heard clearly. He placed his basketball at his feet, pulled up the collar of his basketball jersey and shook it, then said to himself, "It's so hot, why isn't the air conditioning in this classroom turned down?"
"I said, you didn't happen to play basketball all day, did you? You stink of sweat!"
Qin Tian said to him with annoyance.
"No, I started playing around two in the afternoon."
"What about the morning? What were you doing?"
"What was I doing? I was in the dorm after breakfast!"
"Playing games?"
"Yeah, let me tell you, my hands were on fire today. I consecutively carried several matches. It's a shame the shooters were so useless, they contributed nothing in team fights. If they had even a tenth of your skill, Brother Tian, they would have ranked up."
Chen Zhuang said with disdain.
Qin Tian chuckled, rendered speechless for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Zhuang wore a somewhat bewildered expression.
"Nothing, I think you can go play ball again after roll call."
Qin Tian rolled his eyes, too lazy to waste any more words on him.
"No, we've already agreed to go back to the dorm to play together after dinner. Brother Tian, you coming? Carry us!"
"No, I refuse."
"Why? Do you have plans tonight?"
"Even if I didn't, I'd rather duo queue with Nuannuan. A girlfriend is the priority."
Qin Tian looked at him seriously, his tone carrying a hint of frustration that he couldn't be more driven.
Xia Nuannuan, sitting to his right, bloomed into a sweet smile at his words, while Shen Siqi, sitting further in, her expression turned even colder.
Look at someone's boyfriend, then look at that傻子 (shǎzi - fool), truly a case of comparing goods leading to discarding.
At this moment, Chen Zhuang also realized what was happening belatedly and quickly looked towards Shen Siqi inside.
Shen Siqi propped her chin with her left hand, gazing forward, not looking at him at all.
"Um... Shen Siqi? I'll treat you to dinner later!"
Chen Zhuang tentatively invited.
Qin Tian slapped his forehead.
Shen Siqi feigned intermittent deafness and ignored him.
"Siqi?"
Chen Zhuang called out cautiously again.
Only then did Shen Siqi turn to look at him, her expression blandly saying, "Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah!"
Chen Zhuang nodded.
"Ah, sorry, I was so bored today, I slept all day in the dorm. My brain is a bit groggy from sleep. I didn't hear clearly. What did you just say?"
"This..."
No matter how slow Chen Zhuang was, he could hear the wrong emotion in her words. He cast a pleading look towards Qin Tian.
Qin Tian gave him a 'good luck to yourself' look and ignored him.
At this moment, the counselor Shu Peng walked into the classroom, drawing everyone's attention.
"Good evening, everyone!"
"Good evening, Counselor!"
"Sister Peng, we haven't seen you for a couple of days. Why do you seem even more beautiful?"
A girl sitting in the front row, smilingly delivered a compliment.
"Don't tease, how could I be as beautiful as you young ladies?"
Shu Peng smiled brightly and engaged in a round of reciprocal flattery with her.
Over the past half month, everyone had gradually become accustomed to interacting with the counselor.
Furthermore, Shu Peng had a very amiable personality, and usually acted more like a close senior sister to everyone.
After putting down some files, Shu Peng descended from the podium and began chatting with the boys and girls sitting in the front.
"How was the joint party for Class 1 boys yesterday? Did anyone make a connection?"
"Counselor, girls aren't that easy to chase. It was only half a day, how can things be settled just like that? We still need to see what happens next!"
"That's true, haha... Keep up the effort. As long as you exchange contact information, there's hope!"
"Sister Peng, they don't have a ghost of a chance. Can't they see so many beauties in our class? They're blind and have low emotional intelligence. I think they just went to eat some grilled skewers."
"What are you talking about? We do have many beauties in our class, but you girls never give us a chance either!"
"Isn't it the same for you girls? You have the nerve to talk about us?"
"We have plenty of people pursuing us, so we're not in a hurry!"
"Heh, then don't say we're blind and have low emotional intelligence. We'll chase our own, and you guys continue not to be in a hurry. Don't wait until graduation and still be dreaming."
"Ahem..."
Shu Peng, listening to the two argue, suddenly felt like she had been stabbed. She cleared her throat and tried to mediate.
"Alright, alright, what are you two doing? Can't we chat happily?"
The two of them snorted simultaneously and gave each other looks of disdain.
As it approached seven o'clock, the remaining students from both classes arrived one after another.
As Qin Tian and the others guessed, Cao Mingliang indeed seemed to be out on a date with Lu Yanran. They walked into the classroom arm in arm, just like Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan.
Lu Yanran had a brand-new designer bag on her shoulder, which caught the attention of many girls, causing the discussion in the classroom to become noticeably louder.
"Nuannuan, how much do you think that bag costs?"
Shen Siqi leaned towards Xia Nuannuan's ear and asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, I don't understand these things."
Xia Nuannuan shook her head and then changed the subject, "But I do recognize this brand. My mom has a few bags of this brand."
"Your mom has them? Then it must not be cheap! Cao Mingliang is really willing to spend!"
Shen Siqi said with a somewhat strange expression.
Xia Nuannuan just smiled in response.
What she didn't say was that her mother often used bags of this brand to go grocery shopping, sometimes changing them every few days.
That's why she didn't have much of a sense of the value of designer bags, cars, and such things.
In her eyes, as long as something was useful, it was fine.
Meanwhile, Chen Zhuang was also quietly talking with Qin Tian.
"Brother Tian, has that Cao bandit gone crazy? They've only been dating for a few days, and he's already giving her a designer bag. He's got money, but he shouldn't squander it like this!"
"You worry about yourself first. Today, you were playing games and basketball, and you forgot about Shen Siqi. Your favorability has dropped by half, you know."
"Huh? That serious?"
"Of course!"
"Then what should I do?"
"Nothing you can do but accept it, figure it out yourself!"
Qin Tian said with annoyance.
Cao Mingliang and Lu Yanran walked straight over and sat down in the row behind them, with Lu Lei, who had brought a few books earlier, sitting next to them.
"Lu Lei, what book are you reading!"
Lu Yanran sat down beside her and asked with a smile.
"A novel from abroad."
Lu Lei tilted her head to look at her, then her gaze fell on the bag she had placed on the table, and she praised, "This bag is very beautiful."
"Thank you!"
Lu Yanran said with a bright smile.
Lu Lei smiled gently and didn't say anything more, lowering her head to continue reading.
Lu Yanran froze for a moment, a flicker of inexplicable annoyance rising in her heart.