BDBE 67

Chapter 67 Love Letter

During tutoring sessions, there were no sports or computer science classes to relieve the boredom of school life. Everyone spent the whole day bobbing up and down in the vast ocean of Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, biology, politics, history, and geography. 

Two consecutive math classes had already left Shen Wanchao completely defeated. 

He looked at the handwriting on his notebook (which was even more abstract than the newly unearthed prehistoric characters from Sanxingdui) and decided it would be better to go to the toilet to wash his face and clear his head. 

As he walked out of the classroom, Shen Wanchao almost collided with a girl he didn’t recognize. He said “sorry,” and then looked up to see Zhou Mingchen standing in the corridor talking to Fang Chi. 

The temperature today reached a high of 37 degrees Celsius, and they didn’t want to sit in the air-conditioned classroom after class, which proved how dizzying math class was. 

Shen Wanchao looked away and went to the toilet. 

As soon as he left, Zhou Mingchen and Fang Chi turned around and went back to the classroom. 

“It’s good that you’re okay. If you still couldn’t sleep, then we would have to separate.” Fang Chi said as he sat down in his seat. 

Zhou Mingchen followed, confused, “I don’t know why I was able to fall asleep last night. Damn, now I can’t skip class.” 

As he spoke, Zhou Mingchen reached into his desk drawer for his Chinese textbook for the next class, and a letter fell out. 

“What’s this?” Zhou Mingchen bent down to pick it up. 

It was one of those common white envelopes found in stationery stores, sealed with a cute lined dog sticker. In the center of the envelope, in elegant handwriting, were written: “To Zhou Mingchen, Class 1, Grade 11.” 

“Holy crap!” Fang Chi exclaimed as he slung his arm around Zhou Mingchen’s shoulder, “This is definitely a love letter!!” 

Zhou Mingchen was stunned; he could hardly believe it: “No way, someone actually likes me?” 

Fang Chi grabbed his neck, “Open it and see, open it and see!” 

Lu Niannian, seemingly still working on math problems, was actually listening. 

Zhou Mingchen hesitated for a moment, then gently pushed the overly excited Fang Chi back down: “Go away, stop being so gossipy.” He then stuffed the envelope back into his desk drawer. 

Just then, Shen Wanchao returned after washing his face and saw Fang Chi clinging to Zhou Mingchen, engrossed in something. He chuckled and asked, “What are you two talking about that’s so exciting?” 

Fang Chi looked up, ready to announce to the world that Zhou Mingchen had received a love letter, but Zhou Mingchen quickly covered his mouth. 

Zhou Mingchen replied, “Nothing much, Fang Chi just farted and won’t admit it.” 

Fang Chi: “Mmmmph!!!” 

I didn’t fart, you can’t slander me! 

Shen Wanchao covered his mouth and nose, but still said tolerantly, “Farting is a normal ​unauthorized copy​physiological phenomenon, don’t use it to make fun of your classmate.” 

Fang Chi: “Mmmph!!!” You’re not much better, Shen Chao!

Shen Wanchao returned to his seat. He comforted Fang Chi by saying it was okay, everyone farts, while taking out a small fan and placing it on the table.

Fang Chi: “…” 

My innocence! 

In the end… Fang Chi, barely able to protect himself, had no more interest in gossip, so the matter of Zhou Mingchen receiving a love letter was temporarily forgotten. 

While Shen Wanchao was attentively listening to the lecture, Zhou Mingchen secretly opened the envelope and quickly read the contents. 

It really was a love letter. 

The writer said she noticed Zhou Mingchen at the sports meet, initially just thinking he was handsome but unapproachable. Later, he changed his image, and she gradually realized her feelings. Now that they were about to enter their senior year of high school, they would become increasingly busy, so she wanted to muster the courage to seek an answer. She hoped Zhou Mingchen could meet her at the Jinxiuyuan Reading Pavilion during dinner time tonight. 

The young Zhou Mingchen was tall and had long legs, and was handsome. Top-tier, outgoing, and from a wealthy family, he was practically the campus heartthrob, a status he held firmly in middle and high school. He’d frequently hear rumors of crushes and love letters. 

But ever since he started getting his hair permed and wearing earrings, and the ensuing gossip, he hadn’t heard of anyone liking him anymore. 

To be honest, Zhou Mingchen was a little happy to be liked after so long. 

However, he didn’t even remember the girl’s name, so it was visit our site unlikely he could give her a good answer. 

Two years ago, Zhou Mingchen would have ignored the letter without a second thought; the girl would have understood. 

But after more than a year of misunderstandings and cold treatment throughout the school, Zhou Mingchen now felt he needed to be gentler with his classmates. 

What to do? He was really troubled. 

During lunch break, Zhou Mingchen stormed into Class 4, straddled the chair in front of Lin Anyi without a word, and slammed the envelope onto Lin Anyi’s desk.

Lin Anyi looked up: “What’s this?”

“Aren’t we good brothers?” Zhou Mingchen asked instead of answering. 

Lin Anyi cautiously replied, “We can be.” 

“…” Zhou Mingchen was speechless. “It’s not “can be”! We are!” 

Then he lowered his voice and explained, “I brought it here to show you because I trust you. You absolutely mustn’t tell anyone else, it’s a love letter a girl wrote to me.” 

Lin Anyi frowned slightly, then he smiled and said, “Did you come all this way just to show off to me?” 

“No, would your brother be that bored?” Zhou Mingchen scoffed. “I wanted to ask you to help me figure out how to reject the girl firmly without hurting her feelings.” 

Lin Anyi leaned back in his chair stolen contentwith a smile. “You should ask Dad about this. He definitely has experience.” 

Zhou Mingchen narrowed his eyes. “You also think Dad is the type that everyone adores?” 

Lin Anyi smiled while fiddling with his pen, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Forget it.” Zhou Mingchen retreated. “If you received a love letter, would you tell Dad? Stop talking nonsense and answer me seriously.” 

“I don’t know, I’ve never received a love letter from anyone.” Lin Anyi tapped the cap of his pen. 

Zhou Mingchen was a little surprised: “Really? It doesn’t seem like it…” 

Lin Anyi pointed the pen tip at Zhou Mingchen: “Haven’t you received them before? Just do what you did before.” 

Zhou Mingchen touched the tip of his nose and said: “Don’t laugh at me, I’ve only received one or two. I used to just ignore them, but now… I think maybe I can be more polite?” 

“Do you want to reject her or accept her?” Lin Anyi asked. 

“Of course I want to reject her.” Zhou Mingchen replied without hesitation, “I don’t even know her.” 

Lin Anyi chuckled: “If you politely reject her, you’ll know each other.” 

Zhou Mingchen looked closely at his expression and tentatively asked: “So you mean I should pretend nothing happened, ignore her, and not reject her?” 

“I didn’t say that.” Lin Anyi lowered his gaze.

After asking around for a while and getting nowhere, Zhou Mingchen sighed and stood up. “Forget it, asking you is useless. I’m leaving.” 

With that, Zhou Mingchen left Class 4. 

All the other students had already gone to the cafeteria for lunch, leaving only Lin Anyi in the classroom. 

He leaned back in his chair. His face devoid of any smile, lost in thought. 

He didn’t know what had gotten into him. He had become a little angry. So he couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark. 

Lin Anyi tilted his head back. He slowly exhaled as he stared at the long incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and then left the classroom. 

Before the afternoon classes, Zhou Mingchen called Lin Anyi to the door of Class 1’s classroom. 

Zhou Mingchen discreetly handed the love letter to Lin Anyi, saying, “I thought about it one last time and decided to give her a reply. I wrote my rejection on a note and put it inside. Could you give it to her for me?” 

Lin Anyi didn’t reach out to take it, but instead took a step back. “Why are you asking me for help?” 

“Because I’ve only told you about this.” Zhou Mingchen reached for his hand. “It’s not good if too many people know. Please help me.” 

Lin Anyi tried to dodge but couldn’t, and Zhou Mingchen stuffed the envelope into his hand. 

Zhou Mingchen continued, “If I go by myself, it might cause misunderstandings. If you Read on go, it won’t attract attention.” 

Lin Anyi stared at the letter in his hand and said, “You’re quite thoughtful.” 

Zhou Mingchen patted his shoulder. “Of course! From now on, your brother’s persona is that of a warm-hearted man!” 

“…” Lin Anyi put away the envelope. “Okay, I’ll deliver it for you.” 

“Thanks. I’ll treat you to wontons at the cafeteria tonight.” Zhou Mingchen watched Lin Anyi leave. 

The girl was in Class 6, upstairs. It was a bit too late to go there now, so Lin Anyi planned to go after the first period. 

A class was forty minutes long, and the letter lay intact in Lin Anyi’s desk drawer. 

Actually, for a few moments, Lin Anyi considered simply opening it to see what the girl had written, to see if Zhou Mingchen had really rejected her. 

After all, Zhou Mingchen had already opened the envelope, and the lined puppy sticker was slightly curled at the edges; if he opened it again, no one would know. 

But in the end, Lin Anyi did nothing. He calmly waited for the class to end, and then went to Class 6 with the letter. 

The girl came out of the classroom, looking a little confused at first. But when she saw Lin Anyi, she was surprised. 

Lin Anyi was also surprised, because her expression clearly indicated she recognized him. 

Then the girl spoke: “You’re always with Zhou Mingchen…” 

Oh, so that was why she recognized him. 

Lin Anyi didn’t intend to say much to her. He simply took out the envelope and handed it to her: “Zhou Mingchen asked me to give this to you.” 

The letter was returned. The girl had already sensed the bad outcome, and her expression darkened. 

She reached out, took the envelope, and said very apologetically, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you and Zhou Mingchen were together. I thought he was single, that’s why I wrote to him. I’m sorry for causing you both trouble.” 

Lin Anyi was stunned. 

Before he could react, the girl had already turned around and ran back to the classroom. 

The girl returned to her seat, opened the envelope, and found a small note torn from a notebook inside. 

The girl’s heart suddenly raced. She opened the note and read: 

“Thank you for your interest, but let’s focus on our studies ^ ^.” 

Her deskmate immediately came over to ask, “What did he write?” 

The girl quickly folded the note, and playfully complained to her deskmate, “Zhou Mingchen clearly has a boyfriend! It’s so embarrassing!”

Her deskmate exclaimed in surprise, “That shouldn’t Read on be the case! My connections in Class 1 say Zhou Mingchen is clearly single!” 

The girl pointed to the back door of the classroom and said, “The person who delivered the letter just now must have been Zhou Mingchen’s boyfriend. I know him, the one who’s always in the top ten of the grade, from Class 4.” 

Her deskmate quickly looked over, but there was no one at the back door.