A few days had passed in the blink of an eye, and it was Friday afternoon again. In recent days, everything had settled back into a calm and steady routine.
Now, 10 of the 12 girls had appeared, and as for the remaining two, there was no point in rushing—it was already hard for him to manage the current situation.
On the bright side, the store was completely ready, and they could definitely open this weekend. However, he only planned to show up for a while during the opening in the morning, leaving the rest to his father-in-law and mother-in-law. After all, he couldn’t be much help there.
Instead, he planned to take a few of the girls to visit the elders back home since it had been quite a while since he had last gone. Originally, it was just supposed to be Ji Yun and Chu Fengyi going with him, but after chatting with Chu Qingchan the other day, she insisted on coming along too.
Xu Lin thought it made sense—after all, they had first met back in his hometown, but since then, only Chu Qingchan had gone back once. It was about time for another visit.
That said, tonight, he still had to visit Su Qingwan’s house. Last time, no one was home, but this time, he had to go. He’d heard the elders were there too, which meant he’d have to put on his best acting skills.
Then there was the conversation between Ji Yun and Qin Yunhe scheduled for tonight. It made him a bit nervous, mainly because Ji Yun had arranged it all herself, and he wasn’t involved at all. He had no idea what they would talk about. Still, given Ji Yun’s personality, there probably wouldn’t be any conflict with Qin Yunhe. He just had to wait patiently for the results.
Yawning at the thought, Xu Lin was snapped out of it by the teacher calling on him to answer a question.
About ten minutes later, the last class of the day ended. Xu Lin immediately headed toward the back of the room—it was his turn for cleaning duty again.
Their class was a bit unique. Girls participated in cleaning too, but the mopping was always left to the boys—not because they were better at it, but because the sink for rinsing mops was far away. Making four trips back and forth was exhausting, and the old-fashioned mops got really heavy when wet.The boys had voluntarily taken on the task, which, in a way, helped foster camaraderie between the boys and girls in the class.
Today, it was Xu Lin and Wu Chunyi’s turn for cleaning. Xu Lin grabbed a mop and headed downstairs without delay.
Carrying the mop, he made his way to the water pipe dozens of meters away, already feeling that it would have been tough for the girls to make this trip repeatedly.
At the sink, quite a few students were already rinsing mops. Xu Lin had to wait his turn.
Then he spotted Bai Xiaoxiao walking over with a mop, followed by a boy.
Xu Lin frowned immediately. Was this guy harassing Bai Xiaoxiao?
Recently, Bai Xiaoxiao had stopped intentionally wearing dark makeup. Even without any special effort, her natural beauty was shining through, attracting the attention of many boys.
But since they were all students, most of them kept things subtle, trying to strike up random conversations.
This guy following her around, however, crossed the line for Xu Lin. Still, since he wasn’t being physically inappropriate, Xu Lin decided to observe the situation first.
After all, the reason he had any interaction with Bai Xiaoxiao to begin with was because he thought she was being bullied—but it turned out she wasn’t.
As Bai Xiaoxiao got closer, Xu Lin could hear their conversation.
“Bai Xiaoxiao, let me take the mop. I’ll do it for you.”
“No need, Xiao Yue. You can go home.”
“But if you’re tired, just give it to me. I’ll wait for you after school and walk you home.”
“I… really don’t need help…”
Bai Xiaoxiao looked flustered, her expression almost on the verge of tears.
Xu Lin walked over immediately.
Bai Xiaoxiao saw him and quickly ran to hide behind him, clutching his shirt with one hand.
Without saying anything, Xu Lin stared directly at the boy. The boy looked back at him but averted his eyes after just a few seconds, giving an awkward laugh. ṘâɴóβƐꞩ
“See you tomorrow, Bai Xiaoxiao.”
“Stop harassing her,” Xu Lin said.
“I’m not harassing her, just thought carrying the mop might be tiring for her. Are you her boyfriend?”
“Dating isn’t allowed at school,” Xu Lin replied, smirking. “You could say I’m her man.”
He glanced back at Bai Xiaoxiao, who immediately pressed her face against his back.
The other boy didn’t say anything else. He waved his hand dismissively, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left.
“Alright, everyone’s watching you now…”
“Oh.” Bai Xiaoxiao nodded, slowly stepping out from behind him.
In truth, she was only a few centimeters shorter than Xu Lin, so she hadn’t been entirely hidden.
“Was he trying to pursue you?”
“Mm… Don’t be mad, okay~”
“Why would I be mad? Unless you think you might actually like someone else.”
“I don’t!”
Hearing that, Bai Xiaoxiao’s voice grew noticeably louder. Xu Lin chuckled as he reached out to smooth her hair.
“Alright, I was teasing you. He’s gone now. Let’s rinse the mop.”
“Okay, okay.”
As soon as he dipped the mop into the water, Xu Lin felt a sudden heaviness in his hands. Damn! Where did the school even get these mops? Soaked, it must’ve weighed over 30 kilograms. After rinsing the mop, he twisted out the excess water and headed back toward the classroom with the other students.
“By the way, have you been eating properly lately?”
Xu Lin noticed that Bai Xiaoxiao’s complexion looked a bit rosier than before—his dietary suggestions must’ve had some effect.
“Yeah, lots of meat and fish. I’ve even gained a few pounds.”
“That’s good. With your height, no matter how much weight you gain, it won’t show.”
Xu Lin reached out, gently taking her wrist in his hand, and pressed his thumb against the prominent bone there.
“Once this stops sticking out, that’s when you can ease up on the big meals.”
“That’s probably going to take a long time.”
“No matter how long it takes, I’ll wait.”
…
By the time they finished cleaning, it was already dark outside. Wu Chunyi had just finished tidying up the chairs.
“Xu Lin, let’s go!”
“Alright. Oh, Wu Chunyi, don’t forget your bag.”
“Almost did, thanks!”
“Sure.”
Xu Lin smiled and turned to lock the door.
Wu Chunyi glanced at Xu Lin’s profile and couldn’t help but sigh. Back then, she didn’t have the courage, and now she had even less…
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing, just thought you’ve gotten even more handsome lately.”
“Haha, have I now?”
Xu Lin wasn’t oblivious—he could clearly see the expression on her face.
But he didn’t say anything. Youth was what it was—leaving behind unspoken words and unfinished deeds.
“By the way, did you hear? Our history teacher is being replaced.”
“Huh? Why? She’s been teaching just fine. Is she retiring? But she’s only 55, isn’t she?”
Xu Lin remembered that retirement age had only recently been updated to 60.
“Not retirement—she’s sick, and it’s pretty serious. Even after treatment, she’ll need a few months to recover.”
“That’s tough. Well, maybe we’ll get a pretty new teacher.”
“Haha, you boys always think like that. Actually, it’s a young male teacher, and he’s pretty handsome too.”
“More handsome than me?”
“No way.”
“Good enough, then.”
“Hahaha! Oh, and apparently this new guy is a top graduate and came here just to chase after Teacher Chu.”
“Chasing after Teacher Chu… Where did you even hear that?”
“Hehe, my uncle works in the school’s logistics department. Trust me, it’s reliable.”
After hearing that, Xu Lin decided he’d ask Chu Fengyi about it when he got back. Today had been quite something—now he even had a rival in love.
Then again, it wasn’t surprising. These girls were all so outstanding. It would’ve been odd if no one else was pursuing them or competing with him.
Still, whether it was one rival or two, it made no difference. Let the storm come—no matter how fierce, he’d handle it all.
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