I Probably Won't Like Girls (GL) - Chapter 2

After one week of classes, having completely exhausted the study habits she had accumulated over the summer, An Yue finally could not help but expose her lazy nature.

Aside from the few classes she was interested in, for the rest, she was either daydreaming or doing her own things. In short, studying hard was impossible, and would be for life.

Listening to the teacher’s vague explanations, she glanced at Shi Mingyuan next to her, who was listening intently. An Yue couldn’t understand why she was so focused; otherwise, she could have pulled her aside to secretly share some class gossip, and the time would have easily passed.

An Yue flipped through her empty notebook, suddenly found a little game to relieve her boredom, picked up her pen, and began writing something in the book.

After slogging through another lesson, An Yue stood up from her seat and invited Shi Mingyuan: “Do you want to go to the restroom together?”

Shi Mingyuan had just picked up the textbook for the next class. She paused at the request, recalling that going to the restroom arm-in-arm was one way girls this age built friendship. After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head and said, “You go by yourself. I don’t feel like going.”

“How come I’ve never seen you go to the restroom?” An Yue’s expression became serious, and she sincerely advised, “Mingyuan, holding your pee is bad for your health.” Her main reason for saying this was still to convince Shi Mingyuan to go with her; how lonely it was to go to the restroom all by herself.

Luo Xiaoxiao, sitting at the desk in front of them, burst out laughing when she heard An Yue: “An Yue, why are you so concerned? Are you planning to help Mingyuan go?”

An Yue was about to retort when she saw Shi Mingyuan look at her watch, then hold up three fingers towards her, saying: “Three minutes.”

“Three minutes of what?” An Yue was puzzled.

“You have three minutes for a restroom break.”

An Yue’s face changed. She didn’t have time for any more nonsense and ran to the restroom like a gust of wind. She then returned to her seat just as the final school bell rang, also like a gust of wind.

The bell subsided, and the English teacher for this period entered the classroom right on time: “Classmates, today we are starting on Part Two. Please open your textbooks…”

Amidst the neat sound of pages turning, the breathless An Yue patted her chest and opened her book, saying thankfully, “That was close, I almost got a tardy.”

The water stains on her wrists from washing her hands hadn’t even dried completely. Seeing this, Shi Mingyuan took out a packet of tissues from her bag, pulled one out, and handed it to her.

An Yue accepted it unceremoniously, smiling widely, “Thanks.”

Shi Mingyuan looked at the tally marks An Yue had drawn in her notebook during the last class—a series of “correct” characters, which was actually a drawing An Yue made of the teacher when she was distracted—and hesitated to speak. On the other side, the English teacher had already started leading them in reading new vocabulary. Shi Mingyuan didn’t want to get distracted, so she held back what she wanted to say.

The next day, An Yue arrived in the classroom on time. She thought she was early enough, but unexpectedly, someone had arrived even earlier than her.

She looked up at the clock hanging on the blackboard. Class started at 7:30, but it was only 7:00, and Shi Mingyuan was already sitting at her desk reading.

An Yue walked over in surprise and asked, “What time do you wake up? How did you get to class so early?” Especially since Shi Mingyuan didn’t board at the school.

“It’s not early. I woke up at six; coming to school now is just right.” Shi Mingyuan also glanced at the time, then pulled out a bottle of milk and a loaf of bread from her desk drawer and placed them on An Yue’s desk.

“If I woke up that early, I would definitely go back to sleep for a while.” An Yue’s eyes lit up when she saw the milk and bread and she asked, “How did you know I hadn’t eaten breakfast?”

Shi Mingyuan avoided the question, saying, “Skipping breakfast can cause stomach problems.” In her future, Shi Mingyuan was often woken up by stomach pain in the middle of the night.

An Yue didn’t take it seriously, giggling, “You sound just like my mom. But I don’t have much of an appetite when I wake up, so I don’t want to eat breakfast.”

She picked up the milk and bread and was delighted to find they were her favorite flavors: “I can’t believe you bought the exact flavors I like. I guess I’ll force myself to eat breakfast today.” With that, she tore open the bread wrapper and started stuffing it into her mouth.

Shi Mingyuan smiled and said no more.

An Yue ate the bread while pulling out her homework, mumbling, “If I hadn’t forgotten to do my homework yesterday, I wouldn’t have come this early.”

“Oh right, Mingyuan, did you finish your homework?” An Yue had a sudden thought and asked a question she already knew the answer to.

Shi Mingyuan saw through her intention and blinked, “Of course I finished it. Why do you ask?”

“Then, can I borrow it to copy?” An Yue shamelessly leaned in, pleading with Shi Mingyuan, “Look, morning self-study is about to start, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish all this homework in time.”

“Since you knew you couldn’t finish it in time, why didn’t you do it last night?” Shi Mingyuan tapped the desk like a teacher and asked.

“Last night, Luo Xiaoxiao and I were playing in the dorm…” An Yue almost slipped up in her candidness but quickly corrected herself: “I did do it! I just didn’t finish until the lights turned off, so I had no choice but to drag it until today…”

“Please, please!” She shook Shi Mingyuan’s arm, begging pitifully.

Shi Mingyuan couldn’t resist her. She took her own homework books out of her desk drawer and handed them to An Yue.

“I knew Mingyuan was the best!” Before An Yue’s sweet words were even finished, she sharp-eyed noticed a pink object fall out of Shi Mingyuan’s drawer as she took out the homework: “What is that?”

If An Yue hadn’t pointed it out, Shi Mingyuan wouldn’t have known something had dropped. Following An Yue’s line of sight, she reached down and picked up the item from the floor.

Once in her hand, she realized it was a paper heart folded from pink paper.

Seeing the suggestive color and shape, An Yue instantly understood: “Is that a love letter someone sent you?”

Fortunately, there were few people in the classroom at the moment, and the few who were there were far away from them, otherwise, this incident could have caused a huge stir.

Shi Mingyuan opened it without hesitation and was immediately disgusted by the various sappy words inside. The love letter didn’t leave the sender’s name. Shi Mingyuan couldn’t figure out who sent it, so she deduced, “It’s probably just a prank.”

“You only transferred here a little over a week ago, and you haven’t offended anyone in this class. Who would play a prank on you?” An Yue insisted, “It must be from someone who likes you.”

Afterward, she smiled slightly and said righteously, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep this a secret for you.”

Shi Mingyuan, seeing her curious expression, simply slapped the letter onto An Yue’s desk and said, “If you want to read it, go ahead.”

An Yue quickly recoiled as if encountering a viper, saying, “I’m not going to read it, that’s your love letter.”

After Shi Mingyuan took the letter back, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can, An Yue immediately leaned over to gossip: “What did it say inside?”

Shi Mingyuan was generous enough to let her read it, but she wouldn’t. Then, after it was thrown away, she couldn’t resist her curiosity and had to gossip. Shi Mingyuan had never realized she had such a cheeky side.

There was only one way to deal with this kind of person: don’t let her get what she wants.

“Guess?”

“Fine, don’t tell me.” An Yue sniffed twice, opened Shi Mingyuan’s homework, and quickly began copying.

As the time for morning self-study drew nearer, the students gradually filled the classroom. An Yue finished copying her homework. While she still had time, she tapped Luo Xiaoxiao on the shoulder, “Lend me your mirror.”

Luo Xiaoxiao pulled her mirror out of her desk drawer and handed it to An Yue without looking back.

An Yue looked at her own chubby cheeks in the mirror, then glanced at Shi Mingyuan’s delicate features, and had to admit that the goddess Nüwa (who created humanity) played favorites. If Shi Mingyuan was a clay figurine Nüwa personally sculpted, then she herself was just a splash of mud Nüwa flung out casually—and a splash of mud that was largely watered down at that.

No wonder Shi Mingyuan received a love letter after only a week of transferring, while she had never been liked by a boy her entire life.

An Yue sighed, muttering to herself, “Will anyone in this world ever like a fat person like me?”

Shi Mingyuan was doing a math calculation on paper. Her pen tip paused when she heard this. She put down her pen and said to An Yue, “An Yue, put the mirror down.”

An Yue thought Shi Mingyuan must have heard her murmuring and said dismissively, “You don’t have to comfort me; I know where I stand…”

However, Shi Mingyuan didn’t comfort her. After An Yue put the mirror down, Shi Mingyuan gently lifted An Yue’s heavy bangs with her fingertip and said warmly, “If you’re willing to thin out these bangs, I think you’ll become much prettier.”

There was no reason for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl to be considered ugly. The sheer presence of their pure white school uniforms and youthful aura was enough to make weary adults envious.

If there truly was a difference, it was likely in how they presented themselves.

“Really?” An Yue said awkwardly.

Suddenly, a snicker came from the front row. The boy sitting next to Luo Xiaoxiao cut in, saying, “Ugly is ugly. What’s the use of just thinning out your bangs? You might as well go burn some incense and pray to God for a better face in the next life.”

His casual remark instantly made the self-confidence An Yue had managed to muster plummet back to rock bottom. Pouting, she handed the mirror back to Luo Xiaoxiao.

Shi Mingyuan disliked people who unnecessarily and casually attacked others. What did her conversation with An Yue have to do with him?

After a slight thought, she countered the boy’s comment with a sharp edge hidden beneath a soft tone: “That’s fine. I think An Yue has a good foundation and will definitely become beautiful later. Unlike some people, who are naturally plain and wouldn’t improve even with a complete overhaul.”

Luo Xiaoxiao also frowned and chimed in, “Song Jintian, mind your own business. If you can’t say anything nice, just shut up.”

Feeling that he was in the wrong, the boy pouted and stopped talking.

Even so, An Yue’s low mood could not be salvaged.

In Shi Mingyuan’s eyes, the current An Yue was not ugly. The flesh on her cheeks that made her look a bit chubby was merely baby fat that had yet to fade from adolescence. Although her skin was a bit dark, it would naturally lighten once she learned to use sunscreen.

If she listened to Shi Mingyuan and was willing to trim her heavy bangs, people would discover that she had a pair of bright, sparkling eyes and well-defined features.

Shi Mingyuan was so certain that An Yue would transform from an ugly duckling into a swan because she had witnessed An Yue’s complete change.

However, the An Yue back then was also fundamentally changed inside, having long lost the current An Yue’s cheerful nature…