Chapter 86: Don’t You Dare Like Me!
This statement piqued Long Aotian’s curiosity instantly. He rolled over to Li Qing Xue and asked, “Good stuff?”
“Yep yep!” Li Qing Xue nodded proudly and then pulled out a couple of practice notebooks from her tiny backpack she brought today.
“This is my practice notebook. It’s packed with knowledge points and some of the mistakes I made over the past few years. You can take a look, maybe it’ll help you out a bit.”
“Hey, why are you turning your back on me again? Turn around! Don’t pretend to be asleep—I saw your eyes blink just now…”
As soon as Li Qing Xue pulled out her notebooks, Long Aotian spun around, keeping his back to her, simply enjoying his peaceful leisure moment.
In the end, Li Qing Xue still shoved the notebook into Long Aotian’s arms and sat on the side, gazing at the shimmering river far away.
Ever since the unpleasant incident with Ye Liang Chen last week, her obsession seemed to gradually fade away.
She no longer allowed Ye Liang Chen’s recent social media updates to mess with her mood.
This feeling made her lighter—physically lighter, sure—but more so, mentally free as a bird.
Even though she no longer needed Long Aotian’s guidance, she still came here.
Honestly, she didn’t know why—probably because the environment here actually made her feel happy.
Just like now—sitting with Long Aotian, not exchanging a single word, and still feeling pretty good… unexpectedly!
But this mood didn’t last long.
Soon, bored Li Qing Xue poked Long Aotian with her finger again.
“What?” Long Aotian raised his hand and waved it, signaling her to stop poking.
“What’s wrong with you? You look so draggy,” Li Qing Xue asked with concern.
Then her eyes suddenly lit up: “Oh, I get it! You’re nervous, huh? About the college entrance exam? Under pressure?”
With the exam approaching, anxiety was inevitable.
So Li Qing Xue, imitating Long Aotian’s manner, patted his shoulder and said earnestly, “You gotta stay positive. You always say all worries come from overthinking, right?”
“Come on, you look totally uncool right now.”
That got Long Aotian moving. He slowly sat up from the grass and tidied his clothes.
“Ahem, so… what now?”
Seeing Long Aotian’s series of actions, Li Qing Xue couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing: “Cool, very cool.”
“Just a tiny bit cool,” Long Aotian responded modestly.
Everyone loves compliments, whether it’s women or men.
“You’re a little b*stard!” Li Qing Xue chuckled even happier, while Long Aotian shot her a strange look. “What are you smiling so foolishly for? Be a bit reserved!”
Li Qing Xue, after her giggling fit, gradually calmed down, but her mischievous smile didn’t fade much: “Yeah, yeah, I’ll try to be more reserved.”
After this little nonsense, Long Aotian didn’t lie back down again, but instead sat up and looked at the glittering river with Li Qing Xue.
“Long Aotian, where are you planning to apply for university?”
“First choice is Kyoto first. The rest I still need to think about,” he replied.
Hearing “Kyoto” made Li Qing Xue’s heart flutter inexplicably—an almost imperceptible change she wasn’t aware of herself: “Really?”
Long Aotian turned his head to look at the more excited Li Qing Xue, feeling surprised: “Why are you so excited?”
He then scrutinized her from top to bottom: “Don’t tell me you like me or something!”
Li Qing Xue hesitated, then bit her lip lightly—perhaps the first time someone was so straightforward in teasing her—her cheeks blushed a little.
To divert from her embarrassment, she raised her hand and playfully tapped Long Aotian’s shoulder. “You’re dead if you like me!”
“No, you’re the one secretly liking me,” Long Aotian said, amused.
“Should be you not secretly liking me,” she retorted.
Long Aotian found this amusing. All the dullness and boredom from studying in recent days vanished.
“What are you laughing at? Do you believe I’ll go to the school tomorrow afternoon and tell Hu Yuying about this?” he challenged.
“Tell on her? Don’t you know I’m Hu Yuying’s big brother? If you want to complain about her, just say it to me directly,” Li Qing Xue wiggled her clever eyes and blinked softly.
Proudly, she hummed twice, “Don’t think I don’t know—y’all are probably dating or something. Big bro and little follower—just to hide it.”
Seeing Li Qing Xue so confident and proud made Long Aotian interested.
He was bored anyway, so he asked with a playful tone, “How did you figure that out?”
Li Qing Xue thought Long Aotian was admitting something and responded confidently: “I saw it.”
“Oh wow, you’ve gotten so good at this—can tell just from that?”
“Why do I feel like you’re teasing me now?” she replied, but kept going: “I’ve seen you stare at Hu Yuying and smile a few times.”
“So maybe I’m also smiling at you now—do I like you too?”
“Different,” Li Qing Xue shot a glance at Long Aotian. “The way you smile at Hu Yuying is full of affection, and you’re always gentler to her than anyone else.”
“That just shows Hu Yuying is different from others in your eyes,” she explained.
Long Aotian scratched his head: “Is that all?”
He was Hu Yuying’s big brother, watched her transform from a gloomy girl into a confident, slightly lively girl right in front of him—how could he not feel a sense of achievement?
Plus, being gentle to her? That’s just Hu Yuying being a kind soul who naturally deserves all the gentle treatment from everyone.
“You’re just stubborn!” Li Qing Xue said with a grin.
“Hu Yuying feels the same about you too. She’s especially different when she looks at you—her gaze is cold to others but turns red and full of you when she looks your way,” she said, crossing her arms, acting as if she’s delivering a verdict.
Long Aotian couldn’t help but laugh and tapped her on the head.
“What are you doing?” Li Qing Xue pouted, clutching her head in mock anger. Then suddenly, she had an idea: “Looks like I’m right—you’re just embarrassed and angry now!”
“Bullcrap,” Long Aotian replied, failing to resist and giving her another light tap on the head.
“I’m Hu Yuying’s big brother. Ever since I transferred here on her first day, I said I’d protect her, so I often give her extra brotherly care,” Long Aotian explained seriously.
“Hu Yuying being especially close to me? That’s because she’s a kind girl—she’s grateful she’s helped by me,” he finished.
Li Qing Xue hummed dismissively, her delicate face puffed up slightly: “No way—girls understand girls best…”
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