Chapter 126: Social Death Is Everywhere at School
October 12th, Sunday evening.
Song Huanhuan, carrying her bag, followed beside Wang Xin out of the library.
“Are you going to the department’s dining hall for dinner?” Song Huanhuan asked, looking at Wang Xin’s fair profile.
“Mm.” Wang Xin nodded and walked straight towards the dining hall.
“The semifinals are tonight. I’m so nervous.”
“Mm.”
“You’re the ace fourth speaker of the team. It all depends on you tonight~”
“Mm.”
“Why don’t we go to the second floor of the department building to eat as a treat ahead of time?”
“Okay.”“What do you want to eat? I want duck leg rice! I haven’t had it in a while. How about you get roast duck rice, and we can have a whole duck feast~”
“Sure.”
Song Huanhuan chattered away beside Wang Xin, but he didn’t find it noisy.
It was mainly because he was used to it.
Ever since the military training ended, he had been going to the library to study almost every day.
After Song Huanhuan, who was on the same team, found out, he went from studying alone to studying with her.
“It looks like there aren’t many seats,” Song Huanhuan said. After she and Wang Xin got their food, they walked through the dining hall, carrying their trays. After walking for a while, she finally spotted empty seats. “There are seats over there!”
Seeing the empty spot, Song Huanhuan quickly walked over, set down her tray, and stood to reserve the seats, then waved to Wang Xin excitedly.
Wang Xin calmly carried his tray over. Just as he was about to set his tray down, he met the eyes of Jiang Miao and Su Huaizhou, who were sitting at the same table.
“Ah, it’s Senior Sister?” Song Huanhuan finally recognized Su Huaizhou and was surprised. “What a coincidence. Are you eating here too?”
“Yes, I’m leading the team to the debate match tonight, and this place is pretty close.” Su Huaizhou smiled gently. However, under the table, she yanked her hand hard and finally escaped from the hot palm of the annoying Junior Brother.
As a class assistant for Accounting Class 2, Su Huaizhou found it really difficult to maintain her composure in front of her junior brother and junior sister while Jiang Miao was holding her hand.
Song Huanhuan greeted Jiang Miao and sat down without thinking too much.
After all, he was on the same team as Su Huaizhou, so it was normal for them to have dinner together.
However, Jiang Miao looked at Wang Xin and winked at him while glancing back and forth between him and Song Huanhuan.
Wang Xin’s expression remained unchanged. After nodding to Su Huaizhou in greeting, he started eating.
With her classmate and senior sister around, Song Huanhuan wasn’t as lively as before and simply focused on her meal.
It wasn’t until Su Huaizhou and Jiang Miao finished their meal and left that she perked up again and grabbed a piece of duck meat from Wang Xin’s plate with a grin.
Wang Xin continued eating, meticulously finishing all the food on his tray. He chewed each piece of duck meat and bone thoroughly, ensuring he would consume all the meat.
He didn’t neglect the vegetables either and mixed them in with his rice.
After finishing everything, he placed the bones neatly in the center of his plate with his chopsticks, wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin, and finally covered the bones with the napkin as if he were burying bones.
Looking at the pristine white plate, Wang Xin’s eyes revealed a comfortable expression, feeling peace in his soul.
Next to him, Song Huanhuan followed suit and tried her best to clean her plate. She imitated Wang Xin’s actions and covered the bones with a napkin.
When she saw him looking at her with a gratified expression, she smiled brightly.
“Let’s go. We should get there early to prepare,” Song Huanhuan said as she stood up.
“Mm,” Wang Xin replied, his expression still calm as he stood up.
…
“It’s all your fault. We almost got caught.” Su Huaizhou glared at Jiang Miao as they walked.
“So what if we get caught? It doesn’t matter.” He held Senior Sister’s hand and pinched her soft palm, feeling he could never get enough.
“That girl is from your class. If she finds out, won’t all the other girls know?”
“Isn’t that better? That way, you won’t have to worry about other girls eyeing your boyfriend.”
“You’re so full of yourself.” Su Huaizhou rolled her eyes at him. “I’m still your class assistant. It won’t be good if people find out.”
“Using public power for personal gain?” Jiang Miao teased. “Shocking! A second-year senior sister actually abused her position as a class assistant to force a first-year guy to be her boyfriend!”
“Get lost!” She was both amused and exasperated as she pushed his hand away.
He quickly moved closer and wrapped an arm around Senior Sister’s slender waist.
“Don’t…” Su Huaizhou still felt a bit shy when he made such an intimate gesture while they were walking. She quickly stuffed her hand into Junior Brother’s palm and urged him not to hold her like that.
Once they entered the Law School and approached the mock courtroom on the second floor, she quickly withdrew her hand, restored her gentle smile, and stepped inside.
Jiang Miao followed behind with a smile, feeling that the shy side of Senior Sister was quite cute.
The debate match would begin at 6:30 p.m., and it was already past six. Ding Ning and the others had already arrived.
Jiang Miao had already released his chapters for the day in the afternoon, so he didn’t need to write anything here.
It was better not to bring his laptop in case Senior Sister locked him here after the debate match ended and forced him to write more in a small dark room.
“I’m so angry. The chapters this afternoon ended abruptly again,” Ding Ning whispered to Pei Jue in the first row, discussing something animatedly. “How exciting. She’s at her best friend’s house and getting cozy with her boyfriend. How can there be no bonus chapters on Sunday?! Ahhh~”
“I haven’t caught up to the latest chapter yet. Don’t spoil it for me!” Pei Jue quickly pressed her hand over Ding Ning’s mouth to stop her from continuing.
Jiang Miao overheard their conversation in the back row, and his face immediately darkened.
He had just written about the male and female leads visiting a best friend’s house and checking out newborn ragdoll kittens, planning to adopt one.
In the afternoon, he had just finished the scene where they were going to sleep. The male lead was sleeping on a mat on the floor beside the bed, while the female lead was sleeping with her best friend on the bed.
Then, in the middle of the night, while her friend was asleep, the female lead sneaked out of bed and curled up in the male lead’s embrace.
As for the rest of the plot…
That was it~
Cliffhangers were an essential skill for authors, and Jiang Miao had mastered the essence.
But hearing his classmates discuss the dog food novel he had written, this feeling of being secretly delighted and worried was really exciting…
Hearing praise from his readers in real life was undoubtedly a very gratifying experience.
But when Jiang Miao thought of what would happen if his identity were exposed, he couldn’t help shivering.
Fortunately, apart from Senior Sister and Chen Haoshang, no one else at school knew his other identity.
As long as he was careful, it was basically impossible for him to be exposed.
Senior Sister had recognized him because they knew each other online and had arranged to meet at school, which led to his identity being discovered and being teased for a month.
As for Chen Haoshang, it was mainly because he hadn’t turned off his laptop when he lent it to him, accidentally exposing his writing software and author’s dashboard.
Under normal circumstances, both of these situations were unique and not replicable.
Jiang Miao really didn’t believe that he would be exposed as long as Senior Sister and Chen Haoshang didn’t spill the beans.
While he was thinking, Wang Xin and Song Huanhuan arrived after finishing dinner.
The first match of the semifinals was between Jiang Miao’s team and another team. Wang Xin’s team was in the second match, so they weren’t in a hurry.
After finding Jiang Miao, Wang Xin sat down beside him. Seeing that he wasn’t wearing a suit, he asked, “Aren’t you going on stage today?”
“My teammates are strong. I’m just coasting alone.”
“What about the finals?”
“Ahem, you know…”
After they chatted for a while, it was already 6:30 p.m.
The first semifinals officially began, and Ding Ning and the others went on stage and took their seats.
Su Huaizhou sat on Jiang Miao’s other side, holding a pen and paper, preparing to take notes for a post-match review.
This time, their debate topic was: My mother is obsessively supporting a male celebrity and neglecting our family. Should I stop her?
Jiang Miao wasn’t very interested in the debate topic, mainly because it easily veered into discussions about women’s liberation and fandom culture.
Watching the eight girls on stage go all out, he felt really fortunate not to have to go on stage.
After a fierce battle, Ding Ning and the others won this round and advanced to the finals.
However, they were not in a hurry to leave. They planned to stay and watch the second semifinals to get to know their opponents in the finals.
Afterwards, Jiang Miao got to see Wang Xin’s strength.
As the fourth speaker, according to the rules of the first-year competition, Wang Xin had one chance to question the opposition’s first speaker at the beginning. After that, he had to wait for the opposing third speaker to cross-examine them and for the free debate before he could speak again.
Even so, he displayed an impressive level of dominance.
Especially during the free debate, he delivered strong arguments one after another, practically riding on the opponents’ heads. By the time he reached the closing arguments as the fourth speaker, it was almost unquestionable that he was the best debater of the match.
Jiang Miao only clicked his tongue and sighed. But Pei Jue, their fourth speaker, was already clenching her fists, her body tense with anxiety.
“I feel like the finals are going to be very close,” Jiang Miao whispered into Senior Sister’s ear.
“Then you should go on stage and wipe the floor with Wang Xin,” Su Huaizhou teased.
“Wouldn’t it be me getting wiped on the floor?” He was speechless. “Why aren’t you nervous at all, Senior Sister?”
“Why should I be nervous?” she asked, looking puzzled. “It’s just the first-year competition. I’ll save my nerves for the Magnificence Cup later.”
“Magnificence Cup?”
“It’s the school-level debate competition, with each department participating,” Su Huaizhou explained, then suddenly asked, “Junior Brother, after the first-year competition, are you coming for the interview?”
Jiang Miao quickly shook his head. “I haven’t finished paying off the chapters I owe. Senior Sister, please spare me.”
“It’s fine. Joining the debate team doesn’t mean you have to participate in every match.” Su Huaizhou discreetly held Jiang Miao’s hand under the table while keeping a calm facade.
“Senior Sister, are you trying to bribe me?” He gently held the hand that she had willingly offered, unfazed.
“You haven’t joined any association or club. When I asked you to join the Youth Association, you weren’t willing. Now, I’m just asking you to join the debate team.” Su Huaizhou huffed in frustration. “If you join the team, I can have more reasons to find you often.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll come find you often.”
“Are you joining or not?”
“Nope.”
“Are you joining or not?”
“Senior Sister, you can’t threaten me like this.” Jiang Miao found Senior Sister’s slightly sulky expression a little amusing. “Why do you want me to join the debate team so much?”
“I just want to be on the same team as you,” Su Huaizhou whispered.
People who had just fallen in love were probably like this. They wished they could be as close to each other as possible and never wanted to be apart for even a moment.
“Then, is there any reward if I do?” Jiang Miao asked quietly.
“What reward do you want?” Su Huaizhou asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she turned to look at Jiang Miao. She soon noticed him staring at her lips and instantly became flustered and annoyed. “What are you thinking about?!”
She pinched his palm hard, but he didn’t mind. Seeing that most of the audience had left after the match, he took the chance to lower his head, raise her hand, and plant a quick kiss on the back of her hand.
With a whoosh, Su Huaizhou pulled her hand back and looked around nervously.
And then she found Ding Ning, who was packing her things in the front row, staring at them in shock.
Su Huaizhou: “…”
Jiang Miao: “…”
“I-I didn’t see anything!” Ding Ning blurted out, her face flushed. She quickly grabbed her bag, covered her face, and slipped away.
Didn’t this mean… she saw everything?
“It’s all your fault! Now we’ve been seen!” Su Huaizhou’s face was bright red as she slapped Jiang Miao’s shoulder hard.
“It’s fine. Ding Ning and the others already knew.”
“But you can’t just kiss me in front of people!” Su Huaizhou complained angrily.
“So, it’s fine if it’s not in front of people?”
“No, it’s not!”
“How about this, Senior Sister? If you give me a kiss, I’ll agree to join the debate team. Deal?”
“You wish!”
Although Su Huaizhou said this, after most of the people in the mock courtroom had left, and as they walked hand in hand out of the classroom hand in hand, she stopped near a restroom, quickly raised Jiang Miao’s hand, and gave it a swift peck.
“Is this good enough? You promised me you’d join the debate team after the first-year competition.”
“Senior Sister, I meant on the cheek, not the hand.”
“?” Su Huaizhou’s eyes widened. “I’ve already kissed you! And now you’re backing out!”
“How is this backing out? Besides, it’s not like we haven’t kissed before.”
“No… Kissing on the cheek can only be done in the second stage. You haven’t unlocked it yet,” Su Huaizhou murmured quietly, turning her head away.
But just as Jiang Miao was about to tease her some more, she suddenly turned back, cupped his face in her hands, and quickly kissed him on the cheek.
Then she let go of him and asked softly with a blushing face, “I-is this okay now?
“Let’s make it clear first. You forced me to do it. It’s not like I really wanted to kiss you… So the second stage is still locked…
“Anyway, I’ve already kissed you. You have to come for the debate team interview…”
As she spoke, her voice became quieter and quieter.
By the time she finished speaking, she realized that Jiang Miao wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he was staring awkwardly behind her.
Confused, Su Huaizhoue turned her head and instantly froze.
Wang Xin was standing at the restroom door, hands still wet from just washing them.
He had just come out and unexpectedly ran into them.
“I didn’t see anything. You two continue.” Wang Xin nodded at Jiang Miao and considerately went downstairs, giving them space.
“Senior Sister.” Jiang Miao touched his face. “That was too sudden. How about another one?”
“Go away!” Su Huaizhou stepped on Junior Brother’s foot. The thought of being discovered by his roommate after she had taken the initiative to kiss him made her feel like she was about to die from embarrassment.
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