Mark Me, Okay? - Chapter 31

“But come to think of it,”

“I haven’t seen Wu Zhi around today.” Hearing Du Ziheng bring it up, Qi Xiangxing suddenly remembered what had happened during Friday’s exam. A whole weekend had passed—surely the results of the investigation should be out by now?

“Who knows,” Qi Xiangxing shrugged and started reviewing as usual. Du Ziheng opened his mouth but then realized his class monitor wasn’t studying just because of that bet.

It must be to get into the same university as her girlfriend! Oh my god, Mom, my ship is real! They must be real!

“What are you grinning at, you idiot?” Qi Xiangxing rolled her eyes at him.

Cao Nannan hadn’t had a great weekend.

First, Director Zhao gently informed her to take a few days off at home and temporarily step down as the homeroom teacher for Class 7. Then came the message from Director Wen, stating that Wu Zhi’s misconduct warranted expulsion.

Finally, while out grocery shopping, she ran into Qin Qing and Yue Qiu at the supermarket—together, as a couple.

Damn it, damn it!

Cao Nannan was so furious she could explode.

What a streak of bad luck!

Who would’ve thought that when she gave Wu Zhi the answers, he’d actually spread them to the whole class? Was he out of his mind?

Her original plan was to give Wu Zhi the answers so he wouldn’t fall too far behind Qi Xiangxing. But this idiot had gone and copied them on the blackboard, claiming he wanted the whole class to do well.

Cao Nannan laughed bitterly in anger. She’d vaguely heard other teachers mention Wu Zhi’s lack of brains before, but she’d never witnessed it firsthand and hadn’t taken it seriously.

People only start reflecting on past warnings when things blow up in their faces.

Cao Nannan glanced at the text message on her phone—sent by Wu Zhi:

“Don’t worry, teacher. I won’t rat you out.”

Cao Nannan: ???

Was this supposed to be reassurance? It sounded more like a threat!

Gritting her teeth, she thought, The punishment would probably just be suspending her homeroom duties, not outright dismissal. That was the most appropriate outcome—the school leadership wouldn’t fire her. Even if they did uncover something, they’d never publicly admit she’d leaked the answers, not if they wanted to save face.

Cao Nannan let out a sigh of relief.

“What do you think the school will do about Cao Nannan’s situation?” Yue Qiu, sitting in the passenger seat of Qin Qing’s car, suddenly remembered the matter and turned to ask her.

Qin Qing, keeping an eye on the traffic behind them, pondered for a moment. “They definitely won’t openly accuse her of leaking the exam. If it really was her, they’ll probably handle it quietly—like removing her as homeroom teacher or something…”

Yue Qiu shifted in her seat.

Qin Qing then added gratefully, “Thank you so much. My mom was hospitalized yesterday, and I wouldn’t have managed without your help.”

Not long after running into Yue Qiu at the supermarket, Qin Qing had received a call from her father about her mother being hospitalized. Yue Qiu had immediately offered to drive her there.

That evening, Qin Qing had sent her father home, leaving just the two of them at the hospital.

“Thank you. It’s getting late—you should head back now,” Qin Qing said wearily. Until now, Yue Qiu had only ever seen Qin Qing radiant and composed. This was the first time she’d seen her looking so exhausted.

As if guided by some unseen force, Yue Qiu spoke up, “You’ve been busy all day, get some rest. I’ll stay here with Auntie.”

After a long hesitation, Qin Qing finally agreed.

She knew that by agreeing to this, many other things would gradually change—transforming into something beyond her control.

When she woke up in the morning and saw Yue Qiu asleep by the hospital bed, Qin Qing felt something inside her collapse silently. She gently patted Yue Qiu’s shoulder, watching as she groggily forced herself awake. Qin Qing’s heart suddenly trembled violently.

What are you still hiding from, Qin Qing?

What are you still waiting for?

If not her, then who?

All her previous reservations vanished like smoke. On Monday morning, after Qin Qing’s father arrived, she went to work with Yue Qiu. Since Yue Qiu hadn’t rested well the night before, Qin Qing drove them to school in her car.

“What do you want to eat?” Qin Qing glanced at the time. “There’s no time to cook now. Let’s buy something. We’re almost at the breakfast place—I’ll go get it.”

Yue Qiu yawned. “I’ll go.”

Qin Qing let out a small “ah,” her usually quick mind momentarily blank. One hand still on the seatbelt buckle, she stared blankly at Yue Qiu.

Yue Qiu chuckled. “I’ll go buy it. Park the car here so we don’t get a ticket. What do you want, Teacher Qin?” She paused, then added, “The usual? Soy milk and fried dough sticks?”

Qin Qing, still frozen in place, gave a slight nod.

Watching Yue Qiu’s retreating figure, Qin Qing suddenly had the illusion that they had returned to years ago when Yue Qiu was still her student.

Back then, she had asked the same question:

“What do you want to eat?” The young Yue Qiu blinked, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Teacher Qin?”

Then she turned and ran off like a deer.

A lively deer that had, at some point, barged into her heart.

“What’s wrong?” The autumn morning carried a chill. Yue Qiu, wrapped in a black coat that carried the scent of the season, got back into the car and placed the soy milk and fried dough sticks on her lap, looking curiously at Qin Qing.

Qin Qing smiled faintly. “Nothing. I just suddenly thought… time flies.”

As if in the blink of an eye, you’ve grown up and now stand before me.

Yue Qiu was momentarily confused, not quite understanding what Qin Qing meant. She smiled and changed the subject. “I’ll keep the food on my lap for now, or it’ll get cold too quickly in this weather.”

The words felt familiar to Qin Qing. Hazily, she recalled a time long ago when Yue Qiu had smiled and spoken to her just like this.

“Teacher Qin, Teacher Qin, what do you want for breakfast?”

“I don’t eat sweets.”

“Then, Teacher Qin! Do you prefer soy milk with steamed buns or fried dough sticks?”

“Fried dough sticks.”

Memories flooded in like a tidal wave, overwhelming Qin Qing for a moment.

“Not eating breakfast will make your bl00d sugar drop!” Yue Qiu rambled on. “I told you to eat before coming to school, but you insisted on coming so early. So what if the supervisors are checking today? Your health is more important. Qin Qing, this isn’t good. If you really—”

“Yue Qiu.” Qin Qing stepped on the brake and turned to look at her seriously.

Yue Qiu froze for a moment before uttering a confused, “Huh?”

Qin Qing paused, ultimately swallowing the words she meant to say. Instead, she simply offered, “It’s lunchtime. Let’s eat together.”

Yue Qiu nodded.

On the campus forum, mockery directed at Wu Zhi was everywhere. Although student council members had been diligently removing inappropriate comments, their efforts couldn’t keep up with the flood of new posts.

Moreover, the person who made the bet with Wu Zhi was none other than their chairman’s wife. Realizing this, the student council members turned a blind eye.

“BTW, what do you guys think about Wu Zhi’s latest stunt?”

“Damn savage! Did you steal all the bamboo from pandas or what?”

“Holy crap, this class monitor’s ridiculous move left me speechless. My mom asked why I was rolling on the floor laughing.”

“I’d love to interview Class 7 students about their trauma—how does it feel having such a class monitor?”

Below, replies from Class 7 students appeared:

“Thanks for asking. It’s pure despair.”

“Um… makes me want to transfer classes immediately (not really).”

“Just super embarrassing. But we haven’t seen our homeroom teacher today—did something happen to her?”

In Class 7, Zeng Yu exchanged bewildered looks with his deskmate.

Neither Wu Zhi nor Cao Nannan had shown up today, making them wonder about the school administration’s stance. How had things escalated to this point? How did Wu Zhi even get his hands on the midterm exam papers?

But for Qi Xiangxing and Luan Li, this wasn’t their main concern.

Circling a multiple-choice question, Qi Xiangxing clutched her head and wailed, “Ahhh! How did I get this wrong?! My calculations were right! Seriously! I just filled in the wrong option at the end!”

Luan Li smoothed her ruffled hair and comforted her, “It’s okay. This is the only mistake in math, right? We’ll be more careful next time.”

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes reddened. “Really?”

“Of course!” Luan Li pulled her into an embrace, kissing her forehead. “Don’t worry. This exam was particularly hard, especially English and math. Everyone’s scores will drop overall.”

Qi Xiangxing nodded, then suddenly grew self-conscious about their position. “…D-do you think our current pose is a bit—a bit…” She hesitated. “Reversed.”

Tilting her head, Luan Li feigned hurt. “So you’re saying… you don’t want a hug?” Her lips quivered as she put on a pitiful expression, eyes glistening. “Xingxing doesn’t want my hugs anymore?”

Flustered, Qi Xiangxing stammered, “N-no! That’s not it! I just meant the pose is kinda…”

Luan Li cut her off dramatically. “You don’t like my hugs? You just don’t like me anymore!”

Taking a deep breath, Qi Xiangxing buried her face in Luan Li’s neck and whispered, “I do.”

She liked Lili. She liked Lili’s hugs.

A tender smile curved Luan Li’s lips. Her Xingxing was always so soft-hearted.

What to do? Xingxing was so sweet—she just wanted to devour her.

Whether Qi Xiangxing liked it or not, the day of the results arrived quickly. Early in the morning, Qi Xiangxing saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of the teaching building, tightly surrounding the posted results. Occasional exclamations of “You stepped on my foot!” could be heard.

Qi Xiangxing swallowed hard, her palms instantly sweating.

Damn it, why are the results out already? Help!

Pushing her electric scooter, Luan Li stood beside her and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

They had estimated their scores the day before. Luan Li figured that since the exam was difficult this time, the cutoff for the top 100 in their grade would be around 570 points. Qi Xiangxing’s score should be around 580—no problem.

“Improving by over 100 points in such a short time is already amazing!” Luan Li reassured her.

But Qi Xiangxing was still nervous.

“Someone posted the results on the forum! No need to queue here!” someone in the crowd shouted. The students dispersed, returning to their classrooms.

Luan Li glanced at her phone and saw the scores Zeng Yu had sent her for both of them. She smiled, then, noticing Qi Xiangxing’s anxious expression, suddenly felt like teasing her.

Luan Li patted her shoulder. “Let’s park the scooter first.”

Qi Xiangxing: “…”

Shouldn’t the priority right now be showing me the results or calming me down?!

While Qi Xiangxing was parking, Luan Li suddenly said sorrowfully, “Xingxing, what if your score doesn’t meet your expectations?”

Qi Xiangxing: “!!!”

She shuddered, breaking into a cold sweat instantly, her words stumbling out. “N-no way, right?”

Didn’t we estimate the scores? Didn’t you say it’d be fine?

Wahhh, was it because of that multiple-choice question after all?

“So… what do I do?” Qi Xiangxing’s eyes reddened as she fidgeted helplessly, even forgetting about parking. Pouting, she looked utterly dejected.

“Well, what if you didn’t make the top 100 but instead ranked 80th?” Luan Li said calmly before taking the scooter’s handlebars and pushing it forward.

Qi Xiangxing, still lost in her thoughts, mumbled, “If I didn’t do well, I—huh?” Her eyes widened as she froze in place, staring at Luan Li.

Luan Li grinned at her. “Come on, Qi Xiangxing, 80th place!”

Qi Xiangxing shrieked and threw herself into Luan Li’s arms. “Ahhh! Lili! 80th in the grade! Even at my absolute best before, I never scored this high!”

Luan Li quickly realized that parking a scooter while soothing an overexcited girlfriend was no easy task.

Once the excitement faded, Qi Xiangxing remembered how Luan Li had teased her earlier. She playfully bit Luan Li’s shoulder through her uniform and pouted, “Lili, you’re so mean!”

Luan Li ruffled her hair, undoing the neat styling. “Alright, I’m sorry, baby.”

It was the first time Luan Li had called her “baby.”

Qi Xiangxing’s face instantly flushed crimson. Covering her cheeks, she fled back to the classroom.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw her classmates beaming with joy. Someone had written in large letters on the blackboard:

“Congratulations to our class president for breaking into the top 80!!”

“Congratulations to our class president for crushing the competition!!”

Qi Xiangxing: “…”

No need to go that far…