Chapter 217: Confession
The classmates filled three big round tables, with over ten people squeezing onto each one.
The food hadn’t been served yet, but many students were already excitedly running to get beer, carrying box after box and hiding them under the tables.
Li Mu’s table had all eight girls from the class, plus a few boys they weren’t very close with, and also Yang Ye.
Yang Ye was usually the strictest teacher when it came to catching students smoking. He often made surprise checks at the dorms and even in the bathrooms. Because of this, the students at the other two tables were still acting a little careful at first.
But after someone lit a cigarette, the two tables quickly became filled with smoke. Soon, students were drinking, smoking, and talking loudly. Surprisingly, Yang Ye didn’t scold them like he usually would. He just looked a little helpless and quietly drank his coconut water.
Meanwhile, Li Mu’s table stayed pretty clean and smoke-free. But Wang Ruoyan had also grabbed a box of beer and was now happily pouring herself a glass while talking nonstop.
“Teacher! Want a drink? Li Mu, how about you? Chen Li?” she asked.
This girl looked just like an excited puppy.
Yang Ye probably knew he couldn’t avoid drinking today, so he finished his coconut water in one gulp and accepted the beer bottle Wang Ruoyan handed him.
Li Mu, however, just quietly ate the free peanuts and sunflower seeds from the table, resting her chin on one hand and watching Xiao Jing play and mess around with Yu Fan not far away.
“Is that your cousin?” Yang Ye suddenly asked.
“Yeah, she’s staying at my place for now. I was worried she’d be bored alone at home.”
Li Mu nodded and popped a handful of sunflower seeds into her mouth, chewing happily. The rich, nutty flavor made her eyes squint slightly in satisfaction.
She thought to herself that in the future, she should train Yu Fan, and maybe even Xiao Jing, to help crack the sunflower seeds for her. Otherwise, doing it too much would make her teeth hurt and lips dry.
“Keep an eye on her. Don’t let her run around too much,” Yang Ye said.
“No worries, Yu Fan’s watching her,” Li Mu replied.
As she was speaking, she noticed a small glass of beer being pushed toward her. She turned her head and saw Wang Ruoyan smiling brightly at her.
“Come on, have a drink~ Even Chen Li is drinking!”
“No thanks, I hate alcohol.”
Li Mu stuck to her principles. She was surprised, though, that even the usually well-behaved Chen Li was drinking.
She glanced over and saw that Chen Li’s face was already very red. Every time she drank, she would frown hard, looking very uncomfortable. While Li Mu was wondering about it, Wang Ruoyan leaned closer and whispered, “How else is she going to get the courage to confess to the teacher?”
Ah, that made sense.
The food came out pretty fast. Before they could talk much more, several simple stir-fried dishes were already being placed on the table.
“What if Yang Ye says no? Won’t it be super embarrassing?” Lin Yuanyuan, who had overheard them, whispered, looking worried for Chen Li. “It’ll be so shameful, confessing in front of everyone... and liking a teacher is kinda...”
“It’s fine! After today, who knows how many of these classmates we’ll ever see again anyway,” Wang Ruoyan said casually, hugging Chen Li.
“But there’s a class reunion every year...”
“Just don’t go, problem solved!” Wang Ruoyan said with a carefree smile. “Right? If you really like someone, you can't give up just because it’s hard!”
Li Mu didn’t say much. She just focused on eating, thinking that since she paid for the meal, she should eat enough to make it worth it.
The party became livelier. Some classmates came over to offer drinks to Yang Ye, some were chatting about funny stories from the past few years, and some were quietly comparing answers from the recent exams, sighing every now and then.
“Sister! I want to drink too!”
At some point, Xiao Jing ran over to Li Mu, tugging at her.
“Be good, just eat,” Li Mu said, picking up a piece of meat and stuffing it into Xiao Jing’s mouth. “Drink your coconut juice.”
Xiao Jing’s mouth was stuffed full. She waved her hands and pointed at Yu Fan, mumbling, “Your boyfriend is drinking too!”
Li Mu’s face froze for a second. Then she instinctively looked up and realized that everyone at the table was already staring at her.
Well, since her gender was already exposed, it didn’t really matter if her relationship got exposed too.
It was just like Wang Ruoyan said, after today, Li Mu probably wouldn’t have many chances to see these classmates again.
She sighed helplessly and kept stuffing food into Xiao Jing’s mouth.
“Stop talking and just eat!”
After a few rounds of drinking, in just a little more than half an hour, not even all the food had arrived yet, and some classmates were already drunk.
The one who stood out the most was Chen Li, who usually never drank but had decided to drink today to get some courage.
At this moment, Chen Li’s whole face and body were red and hot. She was holding a cup of beer, her eyes blurry and confused, and her body gently swayed from side to side.
“It’s time for you to confess! If you drink any more, you’ll fall asleep,” Wang Ruoyan quickly poked her in the waist and reminded her.
Chen Li froze for a second, then started crying a little, her red eyes full of tears as she hugged Wang Ruoyan’s arm.
“What’s wrong with you?” Wang Ruoyan asked.
“I... I want to eat ice cream!” Chen Li whimpered.
Wang Ruoyan smacked her lightly on the head and said, “Go do what you’re supposed to do! Everyone’s waiting to see the show!”
“I want McDonald’s~”
“Go eat your ‘Yang Ye’!”
“I... I want to go to the bathroom...”
“I’ll take you.” Wang Ruoyan sighed and pulled Chen Li up by the arm, heading toward the restaurant’s bathroom.
Li Mu could tell that Chen Li wasn’t fully drunk yet. She still knew what was happening, she was just making excuses to delay confessing.
Her courage was still too small.
If Wang Ruoyan liked Yang Ye, she wouldn’t even need to drink. She’d probably just burst into Yang Ye’s office and confess on the spot.
“What’s going on with them?” Yu Fan asked as he slid into the seat next to Li Mu, noticing the empty spot.
His face was already a little red, but he didn’t seem completely drunk yet. His eyes were just a bit unfocused.
“You shouldn’t drink so much,” Li Mu muttered, unhappy. “Don’t get so drunk you can’t even go home.”
“I’m not going home tonight anyway! I’m staying up all night playing games with Xu Ze and the others,” Yu Fan said happily.
He looked at the table, then grinned and grabbed a piece of braised pork.
At his own table, the food would disappear the moment it arrived, everyone’s chopsticks fighting like crazy for it. Compared to that, Li Mu’s table was much more peaceful. There were even a few pieces of meat left!
If he had known earlier, he would’ve sat with Li Mu to eat.
“Are you coming to KTV later?” Yu Fan asked while chewing.
“Probably not. I don’t really like KTV,” Li Mu answered.
Except for when she practiced singing for a contest with Yu Fan, she almost never went to KTV. And she didn’t need to imagine, she could guess how wild and crazy a group of students would act at a KTV party.
Chen Li came back.
Li Mu looked over and saw Wang Ruoyan dragging Chen Li right in front of Yang Ye.
Yang Ye didn’t know what was going on. He smiled and picked up his beer, thinking they were just coming over to toast him like the others.
“Teacher! Chen Li has something to tell you!”
Wang Ruoyan gave Chen Li a hard push, almost sending her straight into Yang Ye’s arms. Luckily, Yang Ye reacted quickly and grabbed her to steady her.
Still, it couldn’t completely avoid some accidental touching.
Li Mu watched with great interest, her hands folded under her chin like she was watching a good show.
“Chen Li! If you don’t confess now, you’ll regret it later!” Wang Ruoyan whispered in Chen Li’s ear. “You don’t want to meet the teacher years from now and regret not saying anything, right?”
“You’ve had some drinks! Right now, the whole world belongs to you! What are you scared of?”
Yang Ye heard a little bit of their whispering and froze awkwardly.
And Chen Li finally mustered up the courage.
“Teacher! I like you!”