They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

"Mm!" Qiu Luxi nodded smugly to Ning Ruoyu.

"I... I'm telling the truth too..."

An Yu, who originally wanted to choose the dare, felt for some reason that she also had to choose the truth after hearing Qiu Luxi tell the truth.

But she regretted it as soon as she said it—right now, the worst thing she could have chosen was the truth?

Ning Ruoyu wouldn't deliberately ask those difficult questions, yeah. He definitely wouldn't.

An Yu comforted herself with this thought.

But at that moment, Xu Xingxin, who was next to Ning Ruoyu, suddenly shouted.

"Godfather above!!"

This sound not only startled Ning Ruoyu, but also caused Ge Lanlan and the others to show somewhat subtle expressions.

"……you?"

Ge Lanlan gave Ning Ruoyu and Xu Xingxin a strange look, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"We have nothing!"

"Godfather! I may never encounter such a group and such a result again in my entire life!!"

"Damn it, I'm scared of you. Here, here, I'll give you the chance. Go ahead."

Ning Ruoyu, looking utterly dejected, retreated behind Xu Xingxin and stood with Chen Di. Chen Di smiled slightly at him, while he gave Xu Xingxin the middle finger from behind.

"Hey, hey hey, Qiu, Qiu Luxi, um, my name is Xu Xingxin!"

Xu Xingxin started a conversation with Qiu Luxi in a very embarrassing self-introduction.

"Oh. Hello."

Perhaps realizing that Ning Ruoyu wasn't the one assigning the task, Qiu Luxi answered politely, but her attitude seemed much colder.

Even as Xu Xingxin was scratching his head, trying to figure out what to say, Qiu Luxi's eyes were fixed on Ning Ruoyu, who had walked up to Chen Di, like a cat staring at catnip.

An Yu was secretly watching Qiu Luxi, somewhat lost in thought.

"...So, I'm really, really honored to have this problem for the two of you!"

Xu Xingxin had probably finally finished his acceptance speech, but not only Qiu Luxi, who had obviously not paid attention to his speech, but even An Yu had just realized what was happening.

"Um. Thank you. So, what's the question?"

Qiu Luxi finally turned her gaze away and looked at Xu Xingxin.

"Don't worry! Why would I ask such a question that would put you in a difficult position? I know that you, Ms. Qiu Luxi, said in an interview three months ago that you don't have anyone you like, nor do you have a type you like! So as a fan, I would never ask such an inappropriate question!"

Xu Xingxin seemed to really know Qiu Luxi's interviews, because when he was talking about it, even Qiu Luxi herself took a long time to remember which interview he was referring to.

"Are you going to ask or not?" Grandma, who had already finished her activity, finally couldn't stand it anymore. "If you're not going to ask, we're next!"

"Ask, ask, ask!! I just have one, one small question—if, I mean if! we had to choose one person we liked from among the people here, relatively speaking, who would you choose?"

"?"

Xu Xingxin's question immediately piqued Ge Lanlan's playful interest.

"Wow, that's quite a good question! I'm also curious, which of us does Qiu Luxi like the most..."

"he."

Without hesitation, Qiu Luxi pointed at Ning Ruoyu, who was also watching the drama unfold, before even waiting for Ge Lanlan to finish her joke. After understanding the question, Qiu Luxi pointed directly at Ning Ruoyu, who was also watching the drama unfold.

"Uh, wow..."

Grandma looked somewhat bewildered and embarrassed, and could only manage a perfunctory expression of emotion.

"?"

Ning Ruoyu's expression was somewhat subtle.

"Are you sure you understand the question?" His lips twitched slightly. "This kind of question can actually be..."

"That's you."

Qiu Luxi interrupted his speech, and Xu Xingxin, who was next to him, visibly slumped down.

"Yes, could you explain why?"

Xu Xingxin spoke in a weak yet tragic tone, as if he wanted to die knowing why.

"Seriously, you don't really think Qiu Luxi would choose you, do you?" Ge Lanlan said with disdain.

"One in six probability, can't I even dream about it..."

Amid Xu Xingxin's somewhat mournful wails, Qiu Luxi tilted her head.

"Because he is a good friend."

"I'm fully recovered! I still have a chance! -- I was so scared. If it were any other reason, I almost thought I would make headlines this afternoon."

Xu Xingxin straightened his back immediately, while Chen Di, standing to the side, asked with a wry smile.

"The 'good friend' you're talking about, is it the kind I told you about last time?"

"Yeah, that's right, the one that's underage."

Qiu Luxi answered as a matter of course.

"?" Xu Xingxin looked at Chen Di and then at Qiu Luxi. "What are you two talking about now? Could it be that you, the class monitor, are also..."

"No, it's nothing." Chen Di smiled, seemingly trying to change the subject, and looked at An Yu.

"Isn't there still one student who hasn't given an answer? Aren't you interested?"

"I'm so interested, hehe, that's a great question—An Yu, so, what about you, what's your choice!"

Xu Xingxin stared blankly at An Yu with his eyes wide open, clasped his hands together in front of his face and shook them slightly, as if he had "pick me, pick me" written on his forehead.

An Yu lowered his head, somewhat at a loss.

She certainly hadn't considered choosing Xu Xingxin. But, however... after Qiu Luxi so directly chose Ning Ruoyu, for some reason, she suddenly felt a little hesitant to choose Ning Ruoyu herself.

If I choose Ning Ruoyu, I'll be compared to Qiu Luxi. But someone like me—gluttonous, clumsy, and not as pretty as Qiu Luxi…—would probably make Ning Ruoyu laugh if I were placed next to him alongside Qiu Luxi…

An Yu felt as if a large drum was pounding inside her, making it difficult to breathe.

I, I, I... how could I possibly beat Qiu Luxi?... If I were... no, it's not like that. I... I don't want to lose face in front of him. I don't want to be abandoned by him so, so clearly...

Once I say it, how will Ning Ruoyu look at me...?

"An'an?"

Seeing An Yu's long silence, Hu Dan patted her shoulder somewhat uneasily, but unexpectedly noticed tears welling up in the girl's eyes.

"...!"

An Yu seemed unaware of his loss of composure, and spoke softly and somewhat tremblingly with his head down.

"Ning, Ning, um... I would choose... Ning..."

"So how can you call this kind of question rigorous? The people present could have easily chosen the same sex."

A somewhat abrupt mocking voice came from beside Chen Di.

Ning Ruoyu, looking utterly bored, casually pointed out the flaws in the problem.

"Huh?" Xu Xingxin was stunned.

"If you add a qualifier, like 'opposite sex,' you can avoid being exploited and reduce the probability to one-third," Ning Ruoyu said with a wry smile. "Otherwise, if Qiu Luxi says she likes the other three senior students, no one might believe her, since they don't know each other very well. But An Yu—she can totally say she likes Hu Dan, Ge Lanlan, and Qiu Luxi, right?"

He said this before An Yu could give the answer.

"Or perhaps it's reasonable to say that everyone likes it."

"!"

An Yu seemed to have thought of something, and immediately raised his head and shouted at Xu Xingxin.

"Yes! That's right, I like everyone!!"

……

"Ahhh, I didn't ask the question properly, but Ning Ruoyu, you undermined me before An Yu even answered! Isn't that going too far?!" "I'm not giving you the autograph." "Godfather, this kind of question is indeed meaningless. Thank goodness you enlightened me!!"

After Xu Xingxin finished his honest talk, Hu Dan was the first to suggest that they stop playing. Although Xu Xingxin was still a little unwilling, seeing the attitude of the others, he naturally felt embarrassed to continue.

"Let's wait until later. There should be another chance for the carnival activities during the Hundred Regiments Battle in the future."

Ning Ruoyu also comforted Qiu Luxi, who was still eager to play with him alone, and Qiu Luxi nodded with some regret.

An Yu let Hu Dan pull him along, his gaze lingering slightly as he looked at Ning Ruoyu's figure.

“An’an, back then…”

"Ok?"

"No, it's nothing."

Hu Dan smiled, swallowed what she wanted to say, and rubbed An Yu's head.

An Yu smiled at her, then continued to look at Ning Ruoyu's figure.

I really am a coward.

She suddenly realized something, something that left her somewhat at a loss.

She followed someone's lead and said she liked everyone, which made Ge Lanlan and Hu Dan affectionately pat her head, and made Xu Xingxin, who realized he had made a mistake in asking the question, beat his chest in regret.

But that sentence seems to be just a way of hiding one's feelings for someone.

She was talking about everyone, but in reality, she was only thinking about one person.

"……I like?"

She wanted to think about it more, but she didn't dare to. She could only shake her head vigorously and take out some snacks from her bag.

"Um, Ning Ruoyu, do you want to...?"

She blurted it out instinctively, but then suddenly realized that Ning Ruoyu was actually quite far away. The boy was chatting and laughing next to Qiu Luxi and Chen Di, seemingly oblivious to her words, and didn't even turn around to look at her.

She suddenly felt a little sad and didn't want to eat snacks anymore. She silently stuffed them back into her bag and sighed softly.

When he suddenly spoke up, was it to help her out of the predicament, or was he simply unwilling to hear her give that presumptuous answer?

An Yu didn't know. Nor did she dare to know.

Hu Dan, standing beside her, silently watched the girl's every move, her eyes lowered.

[Next chapter preview: "Hmm, I slept a little late last night..."]

Sometimes I need some quiet space too.

"Ah, this sky. Ah, these white clouds. Ah, these thighs. Hey? Where did these thighs and..."

"...Don't joke like that."

"No, quite the opposite. Right now, probably nobody in the entire school is in the mood to eat."

Chapter 76: What about me?

"An'an, you seem a bit listless?"

"Hmm, I went to bed a little late last night..."

Since the seating arrangement changed at the start of the new semester, I can hear An Yu and the others chatting, even without trying.

"Are you looking at snack discounts again?"

"Hey? Are there any snack discounts lately?"

Their conversation was rather amusing.

I shook my head, stretched, picked up the bag from the drawer, and prepared to leave my seat.

"canteen?"

"Rooftop."

While exchanging brief words with Chen Di, I waved the plastic bag in my hand.

Sometimes I need some quiet space too.