34: Chapter 34 You're Hurting Me

Su Bai stood in place, not knowing what to say for a moment.

He looked at her reddened eyes, her slightly trembling lips, and the way she was trying her best to hold back her tears and not make a sound.

"Um..." he began.

Xin Yaoqiao's tears began to fall.

"I'm not done with you!" she cried out, turning around to run.

"I'm going to tell the teacher that you bullied me!"

Su Bai quickly grabbed her.

"Wait!"

If she ran out looking like this, anyone who didn't know better would think he had done something awful to her!

Xin Yaoqiao struggled and yelled, "Let go of me!"

"Stop crying first," Su Bai said, his face full of helplessness.

"I... I apologize to you."

Xin Yaoqiao froze for a moment and turned to look at him.

Su Bai sighed. "I shouldn't have hit... hit you. I'm sorry."

Xin Yaoqiao looked at him, tears still flowing, but her emotions seemed to have stabilized a little.

"What... what's the use of you apologizing..."

she sobbed. "You already hit me..."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

Su Bai was truly at his wits' end.

Xin Yaoqiao thought about it and sniffled. "Well, unless... you let me hit you back!"

Su Bai felt a massive headache coming on. Looking at her tear-stained face, he helplessly gritted his teeth.

"Fine!"

Xin Yaoqiao's eyes lit up.

Tear stains still lingered on her face, her eyelashes were wet, and her eyes were red, but the corners of her mouth were already starting to curl upward.

"Really?" Her voice still carried a crying tone, but there were no more tears in her eyes.

"Really!" he said, resigning himself to his fate.

"Great!"

She wiped away her tears, the grievance on her face completely vanishing, replaced by a smug curl of her lips.

"You said it yourself!" She wiped away the remaining tear stains. "Bend over the desk and stick your butt out!"

Su Bai was stunned, then quickly realized what she meant, his face filled with speechlessness.

Holy crap! Is this what she was planning all along?!

Is she a little witch or what?!

She changes faces faster than flipping pages!

Su Bai rolled his eyes.

But seeing that the exam was about to start, it would be hard to explain if people came in and saw them like this.

So he turned around, leaned down slightly, and braced his hands against the edge of the desk.

"Go ahead and hit me."

Smack!

"Is that enough?"

"Not even close. We've barely started."

Xin Yaoqiao said, completely self-righteous.

"I cried for so long just now, I have to hit you at least ten times!"

Su Bai took a deep breath and endured it.

But right at that moment, the classroom door was pushed open!

Fuck!

Su Bai's reaction was extremely fast!

He spun around abruptly, trying to stand up straight.

But he forgot that Xin Yaoqiao was standing right behind him.

He turned around too quickly and crashed directly into her!

Xin Yaoqiao's foot slipped, and she fell forward, losing her footing—

"Ah—"

She gasped in surprise, her body falling straight toward Su Bai.

Su Bai instinctively reached out to catch her, but his center of gravity was already unstable.

Both of them fell backward together.

Thud!

Su Bai fell backward onto a nearby chair. The chair tipped over, and he crashed onto the floor.

As for Xin Yaoqiao—

she happened to land right on his waist.

The classroom fell dead silent.

Su Bai lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, feeling the heavy weight on his waist.

Xin Yaoqiao sat on top of him, one hand propping herself up on his chest, while the other instinctively clutched his shirt.

Her grey shorts had ridden up a bit, revealing her thighs clad in black stockings.

She froze for a moment, then frowned, her voice carrying a hint of flirtatious complaint,

"Su Bai! You're hurting me!" she said, shifting slightly to adjust her posture.

Su Bai: "..."

A clamor came from the doorway.

At the classroom entrance, a dozen or so people were standing there.

The leading group of young punks were the very ones Su Bai had beaten up yesterday.

Everyone froze in their tracks, their mouths half-open, their eyes wide and round.

One boy's mouth hung open, completely forgetting to chew the steamed bun in his mouth.

A girl's milk tea fell to the ground with a splat, splashing everywhere.

From their perspective—

Xin Yaoqiao was straddling Su Bai, her hands resting on his chest in an intimate posture.

Su Bai was lying on the floor, pinned beneath her, his hands resting on her legs.

No matter how you looked at it, this pose was highly suggestive!

Su Bai closed his eyes, his face full of bitterness.

Damn it! Just destroy everything!

When are the aliens going to invade?!

When is the school going to blow up?!

The air froze for a solid five seconds.

Then, one of the punks stammered out,

"S-Sister Qiao... we didn't see anything!"

He turned and ran.

The others also snapped out of it, scattering like startled birds.

The door slammed shut with a bang!

Silence returned to the classroom.

Xin Yaoqiao was still straddling Su Bai, staring blankly at the door.

Then she looked down at Su Bai beneath her.

Su Bai was also looking at her.

The two of them stared at each other.

"They..." Xin Yaoqiao said blankly.

"They misunderstood," Su Bai said, swallowing hard.

"Yeah."

"Get up."

"Oh."

Xin Yaoqiao climbed off him and patted down her shorts.

Su Bai also stood up and brushed the dust off his back.

The two of them locked eyes, both seeing a trace of complexity in each other's gaze.

Xin Yaoqiao suddenly giggled.

"Well, we can't explain this away now," she said, her eyes curving into crescents with her smile.

Su Bai didn't say anything.

He went back to his seat and sat down.

Xin Yaoqiao also returned to her seat, turning around to lean against the back of her chair and look at him.

"Su Bai," she called his name.

Su Bai ignored her.

"That fall just now," she lowered her voice, "was actually pretty exciting, huh?"

Su Bai still didn't say a word.

Xin Yaoqiao didn't get upset either, simply staring at him with a beaming smile.

After a moment, she spoke again:

"Actually, it doesn't matter even if they misunderstood."

Su Bai looked up.

Xin Yaoqiao met his gaze and winked.

"Anyway..."

She paused, the corners of her mouth curving into a meaningful arc,

"I quite wanted to sit on you anyway."

Su Bai withdrew his gaze and frowned.

"Be serious."

"I am being serious," Xin Yaoqiao said, resting her chin in her hands. "Much more serious than when you hit me."

Su Bai took a deep breath and decided to ignore her completely.

Xin Yaoqiao didn't mind either, just watching him with a perpetual smile on her face.

After a while, the classroom door was pushed open again.

The group of punks poked their heads in to peek.

"Sister Qiao..." the leader asked cautiously, "Can we come in now?"

"Come in," Xin Yaoqiao waved her hand. "Remember, don't go spreading around what just happened."

"Yes, yes, yes, we didn't see a thing!"

The crowd filed in one by one, finding their respective seats.

But every time someone passed by Su Bai, they would steal a glance at him, their eyes filled with admiration, curiosity, and a hint of fear.

Su Bai remained expressionless, pretending he didn't feel a thing.

Xin Yaoqiao leaned on her desk, tilting her head to look in his direction, the smile on her face deepening.

The bell for the start of the exam rang.

The invigilator pushed the door open, put the exam papers on the podium as usual, and started playing with their phone.

Su Bai looked at the simple exam paper, but his heart was far from calm.