Chapter 156: Has Sister Qing Returned Today?

It took a while for the door to be opened. Gu Ting appeared, wearing a tied silk robe, his hair slightly disheveled and his expression still hazy with sleep.

Shen Qing raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping toward his chest, where a glimpse of pale skin was visible.

"How did you sleep last night?" Gu Ting took the copper brazier from Shen Qing's hands and gestured for her to come inside.

"Quite well." Shen Qing didn't enter, choosing instead to lean against the wall.

Gu Ting curled his lips into a smile. "Good. I'll send it over to you again tonight."

"Oh." Shen Qing recalled what happened the previous night, and her face darkened instantly.

"Are you free for lunch? I ordered enough for three people," Gu Ting said with a smile.

Shen Qing glanced at him, puzzled. "Three people?"

"Yes, two portions for you and one for me."

"..."

***

Fancheng.

The senior students at No. 1 High School only had a single day off for New Year's Day. Classes resumed on the second, and since it fell on a Friday, the math teacher walked in clutching a stack of test papers.

"Your P.E. teacher is on leave, so we'll be using these two periods for math."

"Ah?" The students of Class 3 groaned. The boys had been looking forward to playing basketball, but now their plans were ruined.

Nie Huan, however, seemed indifferent. She found the problems the teacher was about to cover, while Chu Yu snuck from the front to the back, settling into Shen Qing's seat.

Nie Huan glanced at him sideways and said coldly, "Sit back."

Chu Yu grinned, "I'm just sitting here for one period. I've been missing Sister Qing."

Nie Huan narrowed her eyes, lowered her head to look at her problems, and said nothing more.

Little Pang glanced back at Chu Yu and gave him a thumbs-up. Chu Yu winked back at him.

"Hey, you little fatty, watch the blackboard! Why are you looking at the back?" The math teacher glanced down and caught Little Pang slacking off.

Called out, Little Pang quickly turned his head and began to listen attentively.

Chu Yu moved his stool closer to Nie Huan and leaned over to look at her test paper. She had scored 98, which was still a bit lower than their class average.

"Sister Huan, you could try this method for this big problem." Chu Yu flipped the test over and used his pen to sketch a simple diagram on the scratch paper, adding an auxiliary line.

Nie Huan took a look. Chu Yu's method was less convoluted than the teacher's and quite clever.

"Mm, I see." Nie Huan withdrew her gaze and looked up to listen to the teacher.

As soon as the break began, Yao Panpan came over to ask Nie Huan when Shen Qing would return.

"Sister Huan, when is Sister Qing coming back? If she doesn't return soon, Yu Min'er's popularity is going to overshadow hers." Yao Panpan rested her head on her hand, looking worried.

Recently, Fanxing Entertainment had been heavily promoting Yu Min'er. Despite her playing a secondary female lead in the film, she was acting more pompous than the lead at press conferences.

Her popularity on forums and Weibo was climbing, and Shen Qing's fan support club was losing members every day, while Yu Min'er's follower count had surged.

With Yu Min'er back at school today, and people noticing Shen Qing hadn't been seen for over half a month, many were comparing them, mostly to praise Yu Min'er.

"I don't know the exact time." Nie Huan narrowed her eyes. The rumors circulating around the school lately had become quite intense.

Some said Shen Qing had been expelled for poor grades, while others claimed she was off on an assassination mission or hiding from pursuers.

"Sister Huan!" Liu Yichen hurried in.

Yao Panpan took one look at him and said, "Don't ask, I don't know."

Liu Yichen paused, let out an "oh," and then moped out of the room.

"What's wrong with Liu Yichen?" Chu Yu asked. "Is that some kind of new secret code?"

Yao Panpan sighed. "Ugh! After Sister Qing became a hit on Weibo, so many girls in school came to buy signatures from him for a dollar each. He sold over five hundred of them."

Hearing this, Nie Huan looked up at her as well.

Yao Panpan paused. "Then, when Sister Qing took leave, all those rumors started flying around the school. A lot of people wanted refunds. Sigh, Liu Yichen's first business venture is ruined. He should have just given them all to me back then."

"Five hundred people actually bought those things?" Chu Yu couldn't fathom it.

"Of course! One girl bought a hundred at once and even had Liu Yichen help her deliver a love letter to Lin Ruiyang," Little Pang added, walking in from the back door and immediately joining the conversation.

"Don't even mention it—even Old Xie was almost tricked into buying one back then."

Listening to this, the corner of Chu Yu's mouth couldn't help but twitch.