Chapter 185: The First Lesson of the School Year

I brought some local specialties, everyone share them.

“Hey, how was your winter break? I worked for a month, exhausted.”

“I just stayed home playing on the computer every day!”

“I went on a hiking trip~”

“Coming back to school feels even better than being home!”

It was just past 8:00 AM, still before class time.

Classmates who hadn’t seen each other for a month gathered in small groups, some sitting, some standing, some leaning on desks, chatting about what happened during the winter break.

A figure in a long dress appeared at the classroom door.

Everyone looked up in unison, seeing a girl with double pigtails tied in buns, wearing a fluffy white long dress, so cute she looked like a princess from a fairy tale.

Even without makeup, her features and skin were exquisite without a single flaw… except for the cold expression on her face, which betrayed no emotion.

“Is that Bai Yao? Why is she dressed like a kid? So cute~ I want to take her home.”

“Holy crap! Look at that cold face—most of the classmates have figured it out. Who’d guess he’s a guy?”

Bai Yao vaguely heard the classmates whispering and noticed their gazes fixed on her.

The overly cute and childish outfit made her cheeks flush with embarrassment, but she kept her expressionless face as she walked up the aisle.

Her pigtails swayed with each step.

She reached the second-to-last row and sat down next to her roommate.

“So childish.”

Wang Zuhao immediately mocked her.

“Are you in kindergarten?”

Bai Yao couldn’t be bothered to respond.

She sat upright, complaining inwardly about the hairstyle her mother had given her.

Pigtails are way too tacky!

Why does she always style my hair like a little girl’s?

Chen Zhilong also hesitated before speaking: “You wear women’s clothes at home every day during break? Your family doesn’t say anything?”

“Probably being raised as a daughter.”

Lin Mingxin grinned cheekily.

“Your family didn’t always want a daughter, and you just happened to fulfill their wish, right?”

“Not really…”

Bai Yao sighed inwardly.

Qiu Ye pulled a handful of beef jerky from his jacket pocket.

“Beef jerky, and your book. Brother Long brought it. Try it—it’s a bit tough, suck on it.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Bai Yao took a piece of beef jerky, put it in her mouth, and habitually bit down.

It hurt her teeth.

She had to do as Qiu Ye said and hold the jerky in her mouth.

The salty, savory beef flavor slowly spread across her tongue, making her mouth water.

“Not bad~”

Like a beef-flavored lollipop, this one stick could probably last an entire class.

Qiu Ye leaned in and asked quietly, “How did it go sleeping with Auntie last night?”

“Not bad, I guess? A bit noisy.”

Last night, Bai Yao got into bed a little after 10:00.

After her mother fell asleep, she secretly played on her phone until midnight before falling asleep.

But at least she got seven hours of sleep, so she felt pretty good.

“So Auntie went back?”

Qiu Ye visibly relaxed.

“Yeah, she went back.”

Even though his future mother-in-law was pretty nice to him, she was still his future mother-in-law, so she always put a lot of pressure on him.

“By summer break, you’ll need to come meet my parents.”

That topic made Bai Yao immediately chicken out.

She slumped onto the desk, gently chewing the jerky in her mouth, and mumbled, “We’ll talk about it. We’ll talk about it.”

Qiu Ye’s parents, huh~

They seemed to like her during video chats, but she had no idea what it would be like meeting them in person.

Rumor had it they had strong controlling tendencies?

Anyway, it was only the start of the semester.

Things that were nine months away—no need to worry about them yet.

For the first class of the semester, the teacher quickly got into teaching mode.

But the students were still immersed in vacation mode, chattering noisily, making it almost impossible to hear what the teacher was saying.

Bai Yao wasn’t in a class state of mind either.

She held her phone, reading a novel, occasionally looking up at the teacher onstage and marking key points in her textbook.

“Speaking of which, did anyone fail a course?”

Wang Zuhao suddenly asked.

“I failed three.”

“That’s really rough.”

Qiu Ye laughed gloatingly.

“I passed everything.”

Bai Yao also showed off proudly: “I passed everything too~”

Although her final grades were mediocre, her class participation grades were good.

Unlike Wang Zuhao, who basically skipped morning classes.

Even if she skipped class, she’d turn in a leave slip or ask a classmate to answer roll call for her.

“Big Star?”

Lin Mingxin played on his phone, totally unconcerned: “One course. I’ll just take the make-up exam, or else wait until senior year to retake it.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Wang Zuhao sighed.

“The counselor wants us to select courses. What are you guys planning to pick?”

“There’s course selection?”

Bai Yao quickly opened the class group chat and found the counselor’s announcement.

The announcement required each student to select at least one elective course.

Elective courses had to total ten credits over four years of college, which meant about five courses.

This semester’s schedule was already tight, and most electives were placed in the evening.

“Just pick whatever interests you. In a few days, we’ll rush to grab courses. I’m picking three courses.”

Chen Zhilong had already decided on his electives.

“Three courses? Wouldn’t that make your schedule almost like high school? Class almost every night?”

Bai Yao quickly logged into the course selection website using the link in the class group announcement, asking Qiu Ye, “What about you?”

“I’m planning to pick basketball and film analysis.”

“Film analysis sounds good~”

It sounded like a class where everyone watches a movie together, even if they might have to write reviews or something.

But Bai Yao wasn’t interested in basketball.

She browsed through the website.

Qiu Ye leaned in and suggested, “How about Women’s Health?”

“Women’s Health? There’s a course like that?!”

Bai Yao nodded thoughtfully.

She had just become a girl, and she was indeed lacking in knowledge about women’s health.

This would perfectly fill that gap.

“Two elective courses means two evening classes a week. That’s not a big problem.”

Having decided on electives, Bai Yao propped her chin on her hand, pretending to listen to the lecture.

But soon, she gently nudged Qiu Ye’s arm with her elbow.

“What’s up?”

Qiu Ye was busy playing a mobile game with his roommates and asked without looking up.

But Bai Yao’s fair cheeks flushed a light red.

She whispered softly, “Want to have lunch together?”

Guiltily, she shifted her seat closer to Qiu Ye and whispered in his ear.

“Uh… we’re both going to the rented room anyway, right? Where do you want to eat?”

“Rented room? Order takeout?”

Qiu Ye almost didn’t catch on.

He glanced at Bai Yao’s reddened eyes from the corner of his eye.

She had an expressionless face, but it carried a hint of coquettish allure.

He had long realized Bai Yao was a perverted woman.

But he never thought that Bai Yao, who had such a thin skin, would be able to suppress her shyness and take the initiative to invite him.

“Doesn’t it hurt? It’s only been one day.”

Even though he had just tasted the forbidden fruit and itched for more, considering Bai Yao was injured, he had to control himself.

“What do you want to eat?”

Qiu Ye asked nonchalantly.

“Anything’s fine…”

“Then let’s eat at the cafeteria? I have a basketball game at noon, and there’s a club dinner in the evening.”

Not being upfront, huh~

So that meant Qiu Ye was busy all day today?

Bai Yao panicked and grabbed the hem of his shirt.

She felt guilty and looked around nervously, making sure no one was paying attention to her.

There was no way anyone could hear her whispering with Qiu Ye.

Only then, suppressing the shame welling up inside her, she invited him again:

“Eat me?”

Seeing the girl who could barely lift her head from embarrassment, so deliciously shy, made Qiu Ye’s mood lighten.

“Sure.”