Chapter 40

At the classroom door, Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan entered separately, she through the front, he through the back.
When Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan finally returned to class, Shen Hua looked up from her notes. “Why are you two so late?”
Su Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed. She pulled her math workbook out from her desk and spread it open. “We went to put the bikes back in the shed.”
Shen Hua glanced at the clock on the wall. “At this pace, you could’ve made four or five trips there and back.”
Su Xiaoxiao froze mid-stroke, pen hovering above the page.
Leaning closer, Shen Hua whispered teasingly, “Or were you two on a date~?”
Su Xiaoxiao ducked her head, pretending to focus on her equations, posture stiff and proper like an obedient grade-schooler. “You’re talking nonsense.”
They’d only taken a ride around campus, twice. That was all.
But as she worked, her thoughts wandered, and before she realized it, she’d written Jin Qishan’s name right across the top of her scratch paper.
The moment she saw it, she panicked and scribbled over it furiously, face burning.
For the rest of the evening, the blush on her cheeks never faded, her heart leaping and tumbling with every stray thought.
After study hall ended, she realized she hadn’t finished her math homework, too distracted to focus earlier. So she stayed behind for another half hour to complete it.
By the time she and Jin Qishan left the teaching building together, the security guard had already turned off the last hallway light and locked the stairwell door.
“We’re really late tonight,” Su Xiaoxiao sighed, exhausted. Math was always so draining.
Jin Qishan nodded absently. “Yeah.”
When they reached the bike shed, the place was deserted. Only their two bicycles remained.
Su Xiaoxiao unlocked hers and tried to push, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Huh? What’s going on? Why isn’t it moving?”
Jin Qishan stopped, frowned, and came over. He bent down and pushed the bike himself. It didn’t move an inch.
Kneeling to check, he found both tires tightly tangled with colorful ribbons.
He tugged at them, but they were knotted so tightly they wouldn’t come loose.
Su Xiaoxiao looked around for a security camera, fuming, but this corner of the campus didn’t have any. Her anger only grew.
“Who did this? How disgusting! What do we do? The building’s locked, so I can’t even grab a knife to cut it!”
She stomped her foot. “Seriously, what’s their problem? Who did I even offend?”
Her voice rose with indignation. “Unbelievable! Some people are so low it’s a talent. I hope they go to the bathroom and there’s never any toilet paper!”
“Calm down,” Jin Qishan said quietly.
He crouched again, wiped the dirt off one section of ribbon, and then leaned forward, testing it with his teeth.
Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?! That’s filthy! Don’t! Forget it, I’ll just walk home!”
He didn’t answer.
One ribbon snapped between his teeth. Then another.
There were four in total.
Su Xiaoxiao stood frozen, watching him crouched in the dim light, biting through each ribbon one by one. Her throat tightened; she suddenly wanted to cry.
Why was he always so good to her?
What if no one else ever treated her like this again?
What if she could never forget him?
When the last ribbon fell away, Jin Qishan stood up, brushed his hands off, and spat the bits of torn plastic to the side.
Su Xiaoxiao quickly offered him a tissue. “Here, wipe your mouth.”

The next day, Su Xiaoxiao told Zhang Dongshan and Shen Hua what had happened to her bike.
Zhang Dongshan slammed his hand on the desk. “Whoever did it, I swear I’ll kill that little brat!”
Shen Hua frowned, thoughtful. “This doesn’t feel like a prank, more like someone did it on purpose.”
But Su Xiaoxiao was well-liked and hardly had enemies.
Could it have been Duan Hao? Impossible. These days, Duan Hao was so terrified of both Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan that he went out of his way to avoid them.
Su Xiaoxiao thought about it all day but couldn’t figure out who the culprit was.
During the break between the second and third evening classes, Shen Hua suddenly clutched her stomach and hurried to the restroom. But every restroom on the nearby floors was packed.
So she ran to the art building’s second-floor bathroom instead, further away, but cleaner and quieter.
Moments after Shen Hua left, Su Xiaoxiao’s phone buzzed with a new text message:
“Come to the track. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t say a word. - Jin Qishan.”
Su Xiaoxiao blinked. When did he change his number? she wondered. But more than that, why was he asking her to meet at the track now, of all times?
Then again, Jin Qishan had been acting strange lately.
Last night he’d asked her to go for a nighttime ride. Tonight, to meet on the track, it wasn’t that weird by comparison.
She glanced back over her shoulder. Jin Qishan was watching her.
Their eyes met, and she blushed, giving him a small nod as if to say, I got your message.
She stood, left through the front door.
A minute later, Jin Qishan got up and slipped out the back.
The farther Su Xiaoxiao walked from the main building, the quieter it became. Students faded away, the noise died down, until all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart.
Nervous, and excited.
Was Jin Qishan, going to confess?
Why choose Su Xiaoxiaoch a private, romantic spot?
And why tell her not to tell anyone?
Just as she stepped onto the track, the bell signaling the start of evening class rang in the distance.
Su Xiaoxiao hesitated, should she go back?, but before she could decide, Jin Qishan appeared.
Hands in his pockets, he walked up beside her.
Su Xiaoxiao began strolling slowly along the rubber track, and he matched her pace.
They circled the 400-meter field once in silence, neither speaking first.
Su Xiaoxiao’s heart fluttered with impatience. Why did he call me out here? Just to take a walk?
Su Xiaoxiao was sure this wasn’t just a walk, but why wasn’t Jin Qishan saying anything?
At the same time, Jin Qishan was wondering the exact same thing, She’s the one who called me out here, was it really just for a stroll?
“You”
“You”
They both stopped at once, turned toward each other, and spoke in unison.
Su Xiaoxiao lowered her head, lips twitching as she stifled a laugh.
Jin Qishan gave a small chuckle. “You first?”
Su Xiaoxiao, suddenly shy at the thought that he might be about to confess, ducked even lower, her head nearly buried in her chest. “No, you first.”
He cleared his throat nervously. “You asked me to come…”
Suddenly, a beam of harsh flashlight light cut across the track. “Who’s there?”
The beam swept over both of their faces. “What are you two doing out here?”
The glare was so bright Su Xiaoxiao could barely open her eyes.
Is, is that a teacher? Asking what we’re doing?
A teacher???
Oh no, A TEACHER!!!
They’d been caught by the night patrol!
For half a second Su Xiaoxiao froze, but Jin Qishan reacted instantly. He grabbed her wrist. “Run!”