Chapter 9: Holding Hands

The teacher looked at Su Nuannuan, who was sound asleep, sighed, and nudged Zhou Qianqian beside her.

Zhou Qianqian caught on immediately and quickly poked Su Nuannuan’s arm.

“Nuannuan, wake up! The teacher’s looking at you!” Zhou Qianqian whispered.

Su Nuannuan groggily lifted her head, drool still at the corner of her mouth.

She blinked in confusion, noticing the entire class staring at her. Her face flushed red as she clumsily wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

The teacher on the podium saw her like this, opened his mouth to say something, but ended up just shaking his head helplessly and waved for her to sit properly.

Well, no matter, this kid’s grades couldn’t really drop any further anyway.

Clearing his throat, the teacher continued with the lesson.

Finally, lunchtime arrived. Zhou Qianqian leaned over and poked the still-dazed Su Nuannuan.

“Nuannuan, what’s up with you? What did you do last night? Why are you so tired?”

Su Nuannuan rested her head on the desk, weakly replying, “Hmm… just didn’t sleep well.”

“Alright, alright,” Zhou Qianqian pulled her up, “let’s go, let’s go, time to eat. You won’t be sleepy after you’ve eaten.”

Su Nuannuan was pulled to her feet. After a few steps, she suddenly remembered her task to look after her sister. She stopped and hesitated, then turned back to glance at Lin Wei in the back row.

Zhou Qianqian followed her gaze, frowning. This girl couldn’t be waiting to be called, could she?

Taking a deep breath, Su Nuannuan summoned her courage and quietly asked toward Lin Wei, “Sister… do you want to go to the cafeteria together?”

Lin Wei looked up at the sound.

Seeing Su Nuannuan’s timid eyes, she snorted inwardly, nearly forgetting to call herself.

Lin Wei felt a bit prideful—should she go or not? Would agreeing make her seem too nice? Her face showed no expression and she didn’t answer immediately, instead leisurely continuing to pack up her things.

Su Nuannuan, seeing no reaction, grew even more nervous. So she really didn’t like her?

Zhou Qianqian watched the two silently, her impatience flaring up instantly.

She strode over to Lin Wei’s desk, grabbed Lin Wei’s wrist with one hand, and pulled Su Nuannuan’s hand with the other, shoving Su Nuannuan’s hand directly into Lin Wei’s!

“Hey, you two! Stop dawdling! It’s just lunch! Come on, come on!” Zhou Qianqian said breezily, dragging the two stunned girls toward the exit.

Su Nuannuan…

She was holding hands with Lin Wei!

Oh no, oh no, Lin Wei must be mad! Qianqian, you’ve doomed me! She felt her palm sweating.

Lin Wei was also stunned by Zhou Qianqian’s sudden move and instinctively tried to pull her hand away, looking at Zhou Qianqian with some disgust—only to meet Zhou Qianqian’s mischievous grin.

Did she just kind of understand Zhou Qianqian’s intention?

How’s the feel?

Glancing at the hand she was holding with Su Nuannuan, that feeling… hmm, not bad? Actually, quite soft.

Lin Wei pursed her lips, didn’t pull away, lightly snorted to avoid Zhou Qianqian’s gaze, and half-heartedly went along with being pulled to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was crowded. Zhou Qianqian led them to get their food first. Lin Wei followed, watching as Su Nuannuan hesitated at several windows, eventually choosing a rather ordinary set meal.

What, was that on purpose for her? Trying to show she didn’t waste money?

With their food in hand, the three found an empty table and sat down.

Zhou Qianqian plopped down next to Su Nuannuan, sitting close to her affectionately.

Lin Wei sat opposite Su Nuannuan. As soon as she sat, she saw how close Zhou Qianqian and Su Nuannuan were, their shoulders touching.

Her eyes scanned the spot where their shoulders met but said nothing, picking up her chopsticks to eat slowly.

Usually, it was just Su Nuannuan and Zhou Qianqian eating together. Now that Lin Wei was sitting opposite, Su Nuannuan was nervous and buried her head in her food, wanting to finish quickly.

Zhou Qianqian glanced at Su Nuannuan, who was focused on eating, then at the quiet Lin Wei across from her, her mind full of question marks.

Nuannuan said they were real sisters, right? Why were they acting like strangers sharing a table?

She couldn’t hold it anymore, swallowed her mouthful, looked at Su Nuannuan, then at Lin Wei, and blurted out, “Hey, I have to ask—are you two really sisters?”

“Cough, cough!” Su Nuannuan had just stuffed a mouthful of food in when Zhou Qianqian’s words made her nearly choke. Her face instantly turned bright red as she glanced nervously at Zhou Qianqian.

Could Qianqian have figured something out?! Was it that obvious?

Even with mind-reading, who could be sure?

Lin Wei also stopped eating.

Zhou Qianqian laughed quietly at Su Nuannuan’s fearful expression, as if she’d seen through her thoughts: “Haha, I knew it!”

Su Nuannuan’s eyes widened. Oh no, her fake heiress identity was exposed.

Zhou Qianqian looked pleased with herself and continued, “Your relationship is obviously not good! Nuannuan, you always avoid her, and she—”

Pointing with her chopsticks at Lin Wei, “She looks hard to talk to. Does she bully you at home, Nuannuan?”

“Ah?” The anxious knot in Su Nuannuan’s throat suddenly eased.

So it was a misunderstanding! Hehe, she hurriedly waved her hand and peeked at Lin Wei, stammering, “N-no bullying! We just… aren’t very close.”

Lin Wei’s face was expressionless. She probably didn’t bully her, right?

Watching their reactions, Zhou Qianqian tapped her chin thoughtfully.

If they were real sisters, why had she never seen Lin Wei? Nor had Su Nuannuan ever mentioned her?

What a schemer!

Could this Lin Wei be an illegitimate child from the Su family living elsewhere? Oh man!

Why was she so accepting of this possibility?

Forget it. Seeing Su Nuannuan like this, Zhou Qianqian felt there was no point in probing their sister relationship further. As long as Su Nuannuan didn’t tell her that she and Lin Wei were the real sisters, it was fine.

Her eyes darted around as she remembered something else. “Oh, Nuannuan, did you hear? This semester, they’re starting some kind of interest clubs.”

Su Nuannuan was still eating hard, but when she heard that, she raised her head with a blank expression. “Huh? Clubs? Didn’t the school always say clubs are bad for studying and don’t have them?”

She wasn’t interested in clubs anyway. If there were a snack club or a nap club, maybe she’d consider joining.

“Hehe,” Zhou Qianqian said mysteriously, lowering her voice, “I heard it’s because of a new transfer student, just like your sister—someone suddenly wealthy!”

“Apparently, they donated a big chunk of money to the school, not only setting up clubs but also proposing some… study group plan.”

She clicked her tongue. “The school’s going to hold a placement test soon, saying they’ll group students by exam results, with top students helping the weaker ones. Just thinking about it is exhausting.”

“Study groups?” Su Nuannuan’s head was full of question marks. Grouped by grades? Was this some custom script made just for her?

Her face immediately fell, worried sick. What a hassle! Who came up with this stupid idea? She mentally deducted points from that so-called transfer student.

Transfer student! You’re the worst!

Lin Wei was savoring her food when she heard this, glanced up at the frowning dumpling face opposite, and couldn’t help but smile quietly. This idiot really did have a sense of her own grades.

But… what if she ended up in the same group as Su Nuannuan?

“That’s right, super annoying!” Zhou Qianqian immediately agreed with Su Nuannuan. Her grades were better but not by much, or else they wouldn’t be hanging out together.

“Nuannuan, let’s try to be in the same group!” She patted Su Nuannuan’s shoulder.

Su Nuannuan nodded gratefully. “Yeah, Qianqian, you’re so nice!”

At least if she was with Qianqian, she’d have a companion.

Lin Wei looked at the two who had just formed an alliance opposite her, especially at Su Nuannuan’s expression like she’d found a team, and couldn’t help but want to laugh.

Idiots really do get along.

Zhou Qianqian suddenly remembered something else. “Oh yeah, that new transfer student’s name is Ning Baiyao? Heard her family’s really rich and she’s pretty too, but also kind of… well, hard to deal with.” She racked her brain.

“Ning Baiyao?” Su Nuannuan repeated the name softly, with no impression.

Her mind was already full of the upcoming clubs and study groups, making her food taste bland.

She had no intention of joining any clubs and planned to find an excuse to skip them.