Chapter 15

Because of what happened during the holiday, Xie Shuyun had recently been absent-minded no matter what she did. It was only when PE class came and she had to move her body that she finally came back to herself and temporarily threw the matter to the back of her mind.

Compared with omegas, who preferred indoor sports such as table tennis or swimming, alphas liked running and jumping around outside more.

Xie Shuyun and Shang Yan were the same. They picked up a basketball and began shooting hoops, but before long, it turned into two teams competing fiercely on the court.

In an instant, shouts, cheers, and cries rang out one after another.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Xie Shuyun’s cheeks were flushed from the intense exercise. The bright, excited smile on her face, paired with her clear, occasionally sharp gaze, was extremely eye-catching.

“Yunzi!”

Shang Yan made a clean turn and shook off the person blocking her. With a wave of her hand, the ball flew toward Xie Shuyun.

Xie Shuyun caught the ball steadily and took a deep breath. Her knees bent slightly, and her body tensed. Before the opposing team could rush over to steal the ball, she jumped lightly on the spot.

The ball instantly flew out in a perfect arc.

Under everyone’s gaze, it fell straight into the basket with a swish.

“Ooooh!”

“So cool! A three-pointer!”

Because of Xie Shuyun’s three-pointer, the already widened score gap became even bigger. Their team successfully won.

“Haha, awesome, Yunzi! That three-pointer just now was so cool. Now we get free drinks. The losing team treats us!”

Shang Yan rushed over, hooked an arm around Xie Shuyun’s neck, and shook her a few times. At the same time, she gave her a thumbs-up, looking extremely excited.

“Why do I feel like your last sentence was the main point?”

Xie Shuyun smiled helplessly and glanced at someone who whistled after being called out, pretending not to understand.

As she wiped her sweat and prepared to go wash her hands, she finally realized that at some point, the area around the court had become packed with people. Not only had the omegas from the table tennis hall come out, even students from other PE classes had gathered around.

The alphas were rubbing their hands, wanting to come forward and join in, but the omegas’ gazes made Xie Shuyun feel a little uncomfortable.

Beside her, Shang Yan showed a teasing expression and lightly punched Xie Shuyun’s arm.

“Look at you. One basketball game, and you’ve attracted so many butterflies again. I can already imagine your desk tomorrow. The gifts and confession letters will probably double.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Xie Shuyun smiled bitterly. Her gaze subconsciously searched through the crowd.

Since most people had come out, what about Cheng Lingxue?

Unfortunately, even after scanning around a few times, she still could not find that person. She withdrew her gaze somewhat disappointedly and was dragged by Shang Yan toward the others.

What Xie Shuyun did not know was that around a corner not far away, a pair of black eyes was watching her.

Watching Xie Shuyun surrounded by many omegas and not knowing how to respond, Cheng Lingxue pursed her lips slightly, her expression somewhat tense.

She lowered her head and looked at the milk tea she had just bought. The iced drink, compared with the scorching temperature outside, quickly formed water droplets at the bottom of the cup, dripping continuously.

The girl’s breathing was a little chaotic.

Cheng Lingxue lowered her eyes, her pupils trembling nonstop.

She had only wanted to repay Xie Shuyun for taking care of her yesterday.

Why…

Why did it feel a little uncomfortable?

It should not be like this.

But…

She glanced once more at Xie Shuyun in the crowd, then quickly turned around and left. Only the ponytail swinging constantly behind her revealed the unrest in its owner’s heart.

===

“Haah. Taking a shower after exercising and then drinking a cup of cola—so refreshing.”

Shang Yan tilted her head back and took a gulp of cola, letting out a satisfied sigh. She turned her head and looked at the sports drink in Xie Shuyun’s hand, then wiped the corner of her mouth and asked,

“You’re not drinking? Yunzi, it won’t be cold later.”

“I’ll drink it later. I’m still a little out of breath. I’ll slow down first.”

Xie Shuyun waved her hand and walked into the classroom with Shang Yan. Suddenly, her footsteps paused.

On her originally empty desk, a cup of milk tea had appeared.

This stunned Xie Shuyun a little.

She had clearly already rejected those omegas’ attempts to give her water, drinks, and so on. So why was there still something on her desk?

“Who gave this? Someone from our class?”

Shang Yan reacted even faster than Xie Shuyun. She had already leaned over the desk and looked the milk tea up and down.

Mm…

Very ordinary. It was the kind sold at school.

She looked around, and every classmate whose eyes met hers shook their head. It seemed no one knew where the milk tea had come from.

“Huh? There’s a note too?”

As Shang Yan spoke, her mischievous hand already reached toward the small note beside the milk tea. However, this time, another hand got there first.

That hand naturally belonged to Xie Shuyun.

No one knew what was written on it, but it actually made Xie Shuyun smile. This was the first time Shang Yan had seen her show such an expression after receiving a gift. Her curiosity was immediately stirred.

“What does it say? Let me see…”

Before she could finish, Xie Shuyun gently pushed her face away.

“Hurry and sit properly. Class is about to start.”

“Stingy!”

Shang Yan huffed at Xie Shuyun, but she did not continue investigating.

Xie Shuyun sat back in her seat ​read the original at bailiantales.com​and once again looked at the bold, sweeping handwriting on the note.

Actually, there were only four simple words:

A return gift for the holiday.

At the library last time, she had seen Cheng Lingxue’s handwriting. It was very beautiful. Overall, it was grand and elegant, sharp yet graceful, truly very pretty.

She lightly sniffed. Aside from the faint scent of paper and ink, the note seemed to carry the lingering aura of its previous owner. The faint coconut milk fragrance was intoxicating.

It took great effort before Xie Shuyun finally moved the note away, preventing herself from acting like a pervert.

She secretly glanced at the girl who was lowering her head and continuing to work on problems, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her. After confirming that Cheng Lingxue was not paying attention to her, Xie Shuyun immediately lowered her head and rummaged through her drawer.

After hesitating for a long time, she took out her notebook and flipped to a completely blank, spotless page. Then she carefully pasted the note onto it. After repeatedly confirming that there were no creases or damage, she gently closed it.

Once done, she guiltily looked around like a thief, hoping no one had seen the scene.

Xie Shuyun lightly stroked the cover of her notebook with her fingertips, and her heart could not help guessing.

Did this mean the girl wanted to show goodwill toward her?

After all, the milk tea at school tasted quite good. It was one of the few drinks students were willing to line up for. Buying it would take quite a bit of time.

Looking at the milk tea, she forgot her habit of not drinking iced drinks within two hours after exercise. She gently inserted the [Read on BaiLianTales]straw, picked up the cup, and took a sip.

The sweetness of tea entered her mouth and wrapped around the tip of her tongue. Together with fresh milk and the thick, mellow fragrance of brown sugar as a guide, the flavors became inseparable.

The cool sensation extinguished the heat left from exercising, as well as her restless heart.

Xie Shuyun let out a long, comfortable breath.

This milk tea seemed even more delicious than usual.

Very sweet…

Sweet all the way into her heart.

While she was tasting the milk tea, she did not know that Cheng Lingxue, who was usually completely focused during class, was actually distracted.

Her beautiful willow-shaped eyes trembled from time to time, and the focus of her gaze was clearly on Xie Shuyun.

Cheng Lingxue’s fingertips lightly tapped against the desk. Her eyes lowered as she thought of Xie Shuyun’s cheeks, slightly flushed from exercise, the few damp strands of hair stuck to them, and that messy hair tied up carelessly.

This person really did not know how to take care of herself…

She could not help glancing over again.

Seeing that person still had her head lowered, her throat moving constantly as she swallowed, bailiantales.com drinking the milk tea in small sips and refusing to spare even a single glance at the teacher on the podium, Cheng Lingxue felt speechless.

At the same time, a question appeared in her heart.

Was that milk tea really that good?

The thought flashed past, and she subconsciously swallowed. A small craving actually rose because of it.

This uncontrollable thought made her freeze. Her hand clenched slightly, her fingertips digging into her palm and bringing a faint pain, stopping the thought at the same time.

Finally, school ended.

Cheng Lingxue quickly packed up her things. She did not wait for Xie Shuyun. Instead, she picked up her schoolbag and quickly walked toward the classroom door.

She had just reached the corner when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure rushing over.

“Lingxue, wait. Why did you leave first by yourself?”

Seeing that Cheng Lingxue did not respond, the person behind her seemed a little anxious. With a few long strides, she directly blocked Cheng Lingxue’s path.

Looking at the girl in front of her, who was anxiously tugging at her ear, a trace of complexity flashed through Cheng Lingxue’s eyes.

But in her heart, there was also a faint joy because someone had taken the initiative to approach her. It smoothed over the slight irritation she had felt these past few days, when this person had always been lost in thought and ignored her.

“Do you need something?”

“Ah? I… this… um…”

Xie Shuyun had not expected the other party to ask that. After thinking carefully, it seemed she really had no proper reason to block Cheng Lingxue’s path. She awkwardly rubbed her nose and said softly,

“Thank you for today. The milk tea was really good.”

As she spoke, her gaze quickly swept around. After confirming that no one nearby had heard, she felt more at ease.

Since Cheng Lingxue had chosen to act when everyone else was not around, Xie Shuyun guessed that she probably did not want others to know either.

Looking at the other person’s bright and joyful smile, Cheng Lingxue’s small mouth opened and closed slightly. In the end, she turned her face away.

“It was only a return gift for the holiday. You don’t need to care too much.”

“Actually, you don’t have to be so polite. There’s no need for a return gift or anything. Ah, let me carry your schoolbag. There’s quite a lot of homework today, so your bag should be pretty heavy. I’ll carry it for you.”

Without waiting for Cheng Lingxue to react, Xie Shuyun took the schoolbag from her hand and walked beside her leisurely.

Clearly, the scenery around them was the same as always, but today, it seemed especially beautiful. Even the air felt a little fresher.

Even though her own reply had been plain, it did not break the good mood of the person beside her at all.

Cheng Lingxue lowered her head with her lips slightly pursed.

She did not understand why this person could smile so happily.

Like a child.

It was only a cup of milk tea. Was there any need to be like this?

This person seemed…

to be growing further and further away from the figure in her memories.

Her fingertips lightly pinched the hem of her skirt.

Cheng Lingxue told herself not to investigate too much. She still had more important things to do. She had no time to play around with a child.

She had not yet taken revenge on those people.

She absolutely could not relax.

Especially that person!