CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 18 MOSQUITOES, KIND OF BIG (PLEASE ADD TO BOOKSHELF)

Almost involuntarily, Sui Yi felt a burning heat rising from the palm of her hand, which was also resting on the desk, connected to hers. With a frown, she surreptitiously glanced at Yhan Qingwu’s serenely beautiful profile, pursed her lips, and a thin stream of air flowed out from her palm...

It slowly adhered to the string of black jade beads, and then...

An inexplicable force suddenly exploded, compelling Sui Yi to desperately want to move her hand closer to the other’s...

To grab that bead?

"What’s going on, could it be that bead?" Sui Yi thought anxiously, her hand tightening involuntarily, but it was...

In an instant... Yhan Qingwu’s hand inexplicably slapped down on Sui Yi’s backhand.

Moreover, the slap sounded rather loud.

The whole class turned around, and the Chinese teacher lecturing at the front also looked over, holding a piece of chalk.

Under everyone’s gaze, their hands were stacked together.

And, it was Yhan Qingwu’s hand that was placed on top of Sui Yi’s.

Sui Yi: "...."

Yhan Qingwu: "..."

The whole room was silent, wasn’t it?

Yhan Qingwu looked at Sui Yi, then slowly turned her eyes to their hands. Her expression, well, how should I put it, was as dopey and cute as one could be.

She truly couldn’t understand or explain why just now her left hand felt a mysterious suction force, and even more inexplicably slapped down...

And after Sui Yi’s palm touched the black pearl, the energy that dissipated enveloped the black pearl in a blink of an eye, and the magnetic force she felt surged like violent waves, crazily rushing into her palm.

Was she absorbing the magnetism of this string of black pearls?

Sui Yi felt that after absorbing this magnetic force, the pain in her calves intensified, and the magnetic force circulated within her body, her lower abdomen felt burning hot, as if a gas within was rioting. She bit down slightly on her teeth and subconsciously looked toward Yhan Qingwu.

At this moment, Yhan Qingwu’s expression was very unnatural because she had just felt a jolt, like an electric shock!

Especially after she saw Sui Yi showing a somewhat painful expression, her heart suddenly panicked.

Thus, with an unnaturalness about her, her face unwittingly turned a shade of pink, resembling peach blossoms touched by spring water in March, exceptionally lovely,

Was that just...

Almost reflexively, Yhan Qingwu raised her hand, and then many saw a red mark on Sui Yi’s snow-white skin.

In that instant, a lot of people couldn’t help but purse their lips, right?

What was the situation?

As clever as Yhan Qingwu usually was, she absolutely couldn’t make sense of such a bizarre situation, or perhaps she had already descended into her own confusion.

Suppressing the anomaly in her body, Sui Yi silently looked at Yhan Qingwu’s left hand, then with a deep look on her face, she softly said, "Thank you for helping me swat a mosquito."

Yhan Qingwu, after all, was not a foolish person, and she quickly realized what was happening. She looked deeply at Sui Yi and said somewhat unnaturally, "You’re welcome."

Overall, there were no hints given away.

Glancing again at the red mark on Sui Yi’s hand, she felt even more embarrassed, "Sorry, because it was quite big, so..."

So she had hit rather hard, had she?

She was rather good at making excuses.

Sui Yi slightly turned her head and said softly, "It’s okay."

Yhan Qingwu felt that there was nothing left to say.

Anything she could say wouldn’t be appropriate, and besides, this situation was too weird!

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When school was over, Sui Yi, enduring the discomfort in her body, went to the finance office to pick up a set of school uniforms and then got a cup of hot water to drink, which made her feel a little more comfortable, but her calves and hands still ached.

This sensation was too obvious, her body was undergoing changes.

"This puberty is coming too late and too intensely," Sui Yi attributed all of these occurrences to that strange fragment. Holding the chemistry and physics books stacked on top of her clothes to her chest, she followed the crowd out of school and suddenly saw the steamed bun stall at the school’s gate.

Suddenly remembering that my pen had run out, I realized I needed to buy a few—while I still had over a hundred yuan on me.

However, the steamed-bun shop was clearly overcrowded today, and even the best study circle at Second High School couldn’t explain such a scene, unless it was...

At a glance, I saw the person standing in front of the shop buying something.

No wonder~~

"Hey, Sui Yi, how does it feel to share a desk with Great Beauty Yhan?!"

An arm carelessly draped over my shoulder as if embracing me, Sui Yi turned her face to see her classmate Ye Anan, who was very forward, grinning at her with chubby cheeks.

This person had been her desk-mate in sophomore year, but so much time had passed that Sui Yi’s impression of her was nothing more than a name and her nickname for being overly familiar.

Familiar to the point of perhaps not being "close" with anyone.

"It’s fine," Sui Yi disengaged from her embrace without a stir and walked towards the steamed-bun shop as Ye Anan took no offense. That was just Sui Yi’s personality, but she didn’t follow because her friends had already gathered around her.

"Heh, Anan, isn’t that your class’s Great Beauty Yhan over there?"

"No shit, who else could it be..."

"Tsk, what are you showing off for, your class only stands out because of her, otherwise..."

Although the words were unpleasant, they were true, and all Ye Anan could do was mutter her discontent.

A group of people moved towards the steamed-bun shop.

Sui Yi stood out in the crowd of uniformly dressed students, especially since she was holding her books and school uniform.

Freeing one hand to pick a pen, she was in a hurry and thus had no leisure to mind others.

In that era, Morning Glory ballpoint pens were the usual choice for students, their smooth tips gliding over pages infused with the scent of knowledge and youth.

But Sui Yi preferred fountain pens and brushes; she liked the true feeling of the pen tip crossing the paper. Though she didn’t understand why and knew her finances were limited, she still indulged in this preference—a bit capricious, perhaps.

So, as usual, she reached for a fountain pen, but accidentally, her hand met another reaching for the same.

Equally slender and delicate, hovering over the pen container,

Qing Wu, bathed in the twilight haze that softened her austere beauty, regarded Sui Yi with a faint smile.

"You’re choosing a pen too, desk-mate?"

Desk-mate, that was the moniker Qing Wu had inexplicably given to Sui Yi.

Neither close nor distant, or perhaps it was a touch of the awkwardness of adolescence within the large campus environment.

It was fitting for her character as well.

"Yeah, I need to buy another one..."

Sui Yi took the fountain pen.

"This brand, although its ink flows elegantly, is too sharp and can easily tear the paper, a bit dry, not smooth. You might want to consider this one," Qing Wu suggested, picking out a different fountain pen.

Sui Yi glanced at the price—hmm, about the same?

"Never mind, I’m used to this type, but thanks for the suggestion," Sui Yi smiled at her, and Qing Wu, non-committal, responded with a smile. Onlookers didn’t expect Sui Yi to disregard Qing Wu’s advice.

At The Gate, Sui Yi settled the bill and was left with only sixty yuan—yeah, fountain pens are more expensive.

But Sui Yi didn’t mind. As she was about to leave, she saw Ye Anan, flanked by a group of friends, blocking her path.

"Sui Yi, it’s our senior year, which university do you plan to apply to?" Among Ye Anan’s companions were students from other classes and her own; most were acquaintances. Sui Yi realized the malice behind their question but looked at their youthful faces and flamboyant hair, momentarily lost in thought.

Despite being the same age, they seemed to possess something she lacked, or rather, they squandered their exuberance carelessly, while she observed their happy youth from a perspective tinged with a more somber and bleak foresight, envisioning the joy and sorrow that awaited each of them.

From something as tangible as poor grades amongst the lower ranks in the same class—while they would be heartbroken or pretend indifference, or rack their brains over how to deal with their parents’ censure—she felt nothing at all.

It was clear that they were fundamentally different people.

And at this moment, as senior students, they were all taking part in an early trampling of the future.

—Sui Yi was on the receiving end of that trampling.

(Although this story may start off slow, I still ask for everyone’s support in the early stages; please add it to your favorites to give it a boost—thank you so much!~~)