Chapter 178: A Sudden Confession
Time kept moving forward.
Even though Li Mu was already being very careful, sneaking in and out of the girls' dormitory, some classmates still noticed she was living there. Soon, rumors began spreading that Li Mu was actually a girl.
Some even made mean jokes, saying Li Mu had gone to Thailand for surgery and a full makeover...
But anyone who was paying attention knew she had never taken any long breaks from school, so those rumors didn’t really spread far.
In the end, gossip flew around for a while, but since the spring exams were coming up, most students started focusing on studying again and slowly forgot about Li Mu’s situation.
“Just two more days until the 31st.”
Chen Li, with her eyes curved like a crescent moon, looked at Li Mu. “You’ll go on stage then, right?”
“That’s my older sister.”
Even though the truth had mostly come out, Li Mu still stuck to this story. Just so people wouldn’t realize how different her personality was on and off stage.
“The you in a dress is your ‘sister’, huh?”
Chen Li smiled and hooked her arm around Li Mu’s.
“You should dress like a girl more often. It must be tiring pretending to be a guy all the time in class.”
Honestly, Li Mu didn’t really feel tired.
It was just that sometimes Wu Lei, or other clueless classmates, would put their arms around her like they would with a brother, and that made her feel a little uncomfortable.
It was already around 7 or 8 in the evening.
Chen Li was great in most ways, but she had a weird habit. She liked to eat snacks while doing homework.
Now that they had more and more assignments, she’d snack during class and also when doing homework in the dorm.
According to her, they were doing so many practice tests lately that it used up too much brainpower, and she needed snacks to stay energized.
They arrived at the small store tucked in the far corner of the admin building’s first floor.
When they looked inside, there were still quite a few students around.
Vocational school students didn’t get as much money as college students. 200 yuan per week was about average, and some only had 150. Since it was almost the end of the month, many students were relying on instant noodles and bread from the store for dinner.
Chen Li went inside to pick out snacks, while Li Mu stayed outside, yawning and looking at her phone.
“I don’t know what Yu Fan is up to lately. He’s been acting really sneaky.”
Starting last week, Li Mu noticed that Yu Fan had been visiting the teacher in charge of the New Year’s performance quite often. He even secretly talked to Xiao Jing over the weekend, and when Xiao Jing came out and saw her, her expression was kind of complicated.
Yu Fan still acted like a normal friend around her, even after all this time. The most physical contact they had was holding hands or sometimes him being bold enough to hug her by the waist.
He hadn’t said anything like a love confession. It was like they both silently agreed they had “something,” but no one said it out loud.
“Waaah!”
Suddenly, loud cheering came from somewhere far away, sounding like a mix of screaming and excitement. It caught Li Mu’s attention.
Bright lights were flashing in that direction. Students on the field were hurrying over to see what was happening.
Everyone seemed excited, and even though someone was talking over a loudspeaker, the mix of noise and students shouting made it hard to understand what was going on.
“What’s happening over there?”
Chen Li came out of the store carrying a big bag of snacks. She looked toward the noise and handed a pack of cookies to Li Mu.
“Isn’t that the direction of the dorms?”
“What kind of event is going on at the dorms now?” Li Mu was also curious.
The two of them walked together toward the crowd. As they got closer, they saw a huge group of students surrounding something, packed in several layers. Even more students were running out from the dorm building, and when they looked up, they saw lots of heads sticking out from the dorm windows, trying to see what was going on.
What’s happening that’s got everyone so excited?
Li Mu tiptoed and stretched her neck, trying to see through the crowd.
“Li Mu! I like you!”
Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from the loudspeaker again, followed by a wave of cheers and shouts from the crowd, like a huge ocean crashing in.
“Li Mu! Come down! Li Mu! Come down!”
The crowd was shouting in unison, probably because someone in the crowd was helping to lead the chant, or else it wouldn’t sound so organized.
Chen Li looked at Li Mu, confused. But Li Mu looked just as confused.
“Could it be… Yu Fan?” Chen Li’s dazed voice slowly turned excited. “How romantic!”
“Yu Fan?” Li Mu was still confused.
Was Yu Fan really going to confess his feelings so loudly in public?
The loudspeaker had distorted the voice, so she couldn’t tell who it was just by listening.
Yu Fan... didn’t he know she hated being the center of attention? Why would he do something like this?
Chen Li grabbed her hand and happily pulled her through the crowd.
Li Mu had no choice but to follow, already thinking about how she was going to scold Yu Fan later.
But once they reached the center of the crowd, Li Mu looked ahead and saw... a classmate she wasn’t even close with.
That guy was holding a big bouquet of roses. On the ground was a heart shape made of LED lights, and in his other hand was a loudspeaker. He shouted loudly at the dorm building. “Li Mu! I like you!”
“Isn’t that Xie Bin?” From far away, Chen Li widened her eyes. “Isn’t he that classmate who’s supposed to be rich?”
Li Mu was completely stunned. She scratched her head, trying to figure out what was going on.
Xie Bin was her classmate, and rumor had it he was from a rich family. He always had a sidekick following him around, but his personality was a bit strange, so besides that one guy, no one really hung out with him.
Without hesitation, Li Mu started stepping back. But by then, Xie Bin had already spotted her.
His eyes lit up, and he walked toward her quickly. “I like you!”
The cookie in Li Mu’s mouth fell to the ground without her even realizing it. She stared at him, completely shocked. She had no idea when Xie Bin started liking her.
And usually, he didn’t seem like the type who liked to show off. He hardly joined in on class events and mostly kept to himself. He was almost invisible at school.
“Sorry.”
Li Mu’s face quickly turned cold. She looked at him with a blank, emotionless expression and said in a flat voice.
“I’m not thinking about dating until after college.”
“But... I’ve been getting ready for this for a long time.” Xie Bin looked surprised and scratched his head. “How about... we just try going out?”
“No!” She suddenly threw the cookies in her hand at him. “You? Don’t gross me out!”
Xie Bin was stunned, and even Chen Li next to them was shocked.
After saying that, she rolled up her sleeves and looked like she was about to kick him, but luckily Chen Li quickly hugged her and pulled her back toward the dorm building.
“Stop it, stop it!”
“I swear I’m gonna—” Li Mu suddenly went quiet.
Her eyes were burning with anger, but her body strangely followed Chen Li into the building without resisting.
“Why were you so fierce just now? That didn’t seem like you at all.”
“Um.. I... I’m just mad!” She clenched her teeth and looked down at her own body.
Xiao Jing! Are you asking for a beating?!
She had planned to just calmly reject him, but Xiao Jing had taken control of her body and caused a scene!
“That was so sudden.” Chen Li was still shaken. “People say a confession is the trumpet of success, not the horn for charging into battle~”
“I wonder if Yu Fan will get really mad when he hears about this.”
Li Mu paused and muttered, “Yu Fan and I are just normal friends.”
“Sure, sure. You’re probably just mad that he hasn’t confessed to you yet, huh?”
“No, I’m not!”