Vol 2 Chapter 2: Found You

Her hand extended toward the young man before her.

Li Wanran, who appeared to be a high school student but was actually an adult woman, gazed at him with a smile.

She watched the expression on his face.

Liu Changqing froze for a moment, first looking at Li Wanran's face before shifting his gaze to her outstretched hand.

His brows furrowed.

"Oh."

A single word—Liu Changqing responded coldly.

He turned his head away, staring at a small pebble in the distance.

He knew Li Wanran.

Having just transmigrated, he had inherited the memories of his original body, learning from them how deeply infatuated this body had been with the girl before him.

To the point of degrading himself.

At this thought, Liu Changqing secretly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

To be honest, in this era, this girl did possess striking beauty—her jet-black hair was especially appealing, and her exposed forearm was noticeably fairer than his own skin tone.

A clean, pretty girl.

But... given the memories he had inherited, he couldn't muster much goodwill toward her.

The girl who had ignored his original self's desperate attempts at courtship...

Simps die miserable deaths!

Harboring such thoughts, Liu Changqing seemed to realize his attitude might be too harsh and decided to remain silent.

He still needed to figure out why he had ended up in this world.

Her outstretched hand hung awkwardly in the air. For the first time, Li Wanran felt a pang of disappointment at being rejected, but she quickly rallied.

She took a few steps forward, smoothed her long skirt, and sat down right beside Liu Changqing.

Her gaze followed his line of sight.

"What are you looking at?"

"..."

"It's class time right now. Is it really okay for you to skip?"

"Like you're not skipping either."

Liu Changqing responded bluntly, feeling puzzled by the girl who had sat so close to him.

His eyes held deep confusion as he looked at her.

"By the way... aren't you worried about getting your clothes dirty? Sitting straight on the ground like that—your skirt's already dusty."

"Aren't you worried about it?"

"I put a piece of paper under me. Only an idiot would sit directly on the ground."

"..."

Watching Li Wanran fall silent, Liu Changqing found the situation baffling.

He pushed himself up from the ground, picked up the torn sheet of notebook paper he'd been sitting on, and was about to crumple it when he noticed Li Wanran's gaze fixed on him.

He paused.

Glanced at the paper in his hand, then at Li Wanran.

He held it out to her.

"Here, use it to sit on."

"I don't want it."

"Suit yourself."

His goodwill rejected, Liu Changqing looked visibly annoyed.

He crumpled the paper into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket before striding off toward the school building.

Meanwhile, Li Wanran, still seated under the tree, silently observed everything that had happened.

Watched him walk away.

Watched his retreating figure...

For some reason, her cold expression softened into a smile once she was alone.

She lowered her head slightly before raising it again,

squinting up at the sky above.

Almost as if talking to herself, she murmured softly,

"Found you."

——————————————

Li Wanran's behavior was appalling.

She openly ignored the teacher during class and skipped right in the middle of the lesson.

The inexperienced teacher, emotionally affected, chose to report her to the dean.

The dean was furious and summoned Li Wanran to his office.

Having returned to the classroom after the bell, Li Wanran was immediately informed of this by An Yuanyao, who had come looking for her. Without hesitation, she turned right back around and headed for the office.

After knocking, she pushed the door open—only to spot Liu Changqing in the corner, doing horse stance with a book balanced on his head.

He noticed her too.

The moment their eyes met, he quickly looked away.

He couldn't bear the humiliation.

Shifting her gaze, Li Wanran approached the teachers.

The dean had dragged over a chair and was sitting beside the teacher.

Upon seeing Li Wanran enter, the elderly dean's anger flared.

"Just how could you skip class like that? Do you have any idea how much psychological damage you've inflicted on your teacher?"

"I'm sorry. I was wrong."

"..."

The dean faltered—he hadn't expected such an immediate apology.

Based on his experience, shouldn't she have argued back, spouted nonsense, and then been punished with horse stance?

Why had this girl admitted fault right away?

"Well, you still shouldn't have—"

"Teacher, I'm really sorry. I suddenly had terrible stomach pain during class, so I rushed to the restroom and forgot to inform you."

"Oh, I see..."

Though the excuse was flimsy, the dean studied Li Wanran's impassive face...

and let her off.

Then he turned his wrath toward Liu Changqing, still holding horse stance nearby.

The dean sprang from his seat, marched over, and smacked the back of Liu Changqing's head—

knocking the book off his head.

It clattered to the floor.

"Look at her, then look at yourself! Huh? You act all high and mighty even after causing trouble!"

"I wasn't acting high and mighty!"

"Talking back? Add another five minutes!"

With that, the dean turned back to Li Wanran, his expression turning kindly.

"You're free to go. Head back and prepare for your next class."

"Mm."

Li Wanran turned toward the door. As she passed Liu Changqing, she noticed him looking at her again.

So she secretly flashed him a smile.

This only infuriated Liu Changqing, who had been slapped for no reason.

We're both humans—why the double standard?!

Before he could dwell on it further, Li Wanran walked past him. Sharp-eyed, Liu Changqing noticed the dust smudged on the back of her skirt.

Out of goodwill, he called out,

"Li Wanran, your butt's covered in dust."

"..."

Silence fell over the office.

Every pair of eyes locked onto Liu Changqing.

Li Wanran paused at the doorway before slowly turning to look at him.

She bit her lower lip.

"Pervert..."

"Huh?"

"You brat! How dare you harass a female classmate in public!"

"I didn't! Is giving a friendly reminder harassment now?!"

"Shut it! Still talking back?!"

"Teacher, you're seriously biased!"

"Keep squatting until class starts!"

"NOOOOO!!!"

Li Wanran stepped out of the office,

closing the door behind her.

The shy expression she'd worn earlier vanished instantly—

now looking like she'd gotten away with mischief,

she struggled to suppress her laughter.