Chapter 14: The Sudden Invitation from the Beautiful Girl
Chapter 14: The Beautiful Girl’s Sudden Invitation
Li Jingkun appeared very gentlemanly, mainly because he wasn’t yet familiar with her, so it was definitely not the time to joke around casually.
As a result, the notes were only passed back and forth twice, but someone’s expression darkened.
Every time the note was passed, he was asked for help—after all, Xu Yuebin happened to sit right behind Xie Wenmin.
Song Hairong once said that among those who had confessed their feelings to Xie Wenmin on Penguin Chat, he was one of them.
One day, Xu Yuebin seized the opportunity to ask Xie Wenmin, “Wenmin, have you been on Penguin Chat recently?”
Xie Wenmin came from a well-off family and had a computer at home, but rarely went online, not wanting to waste time from studying.
“No, I haven’t been online for a long time,” she replied.
Xu Yuebin laughed, “Haha, there’s someone in our class whose Penguin username is hilarious. Do you know it?”
“No, what is it?”
“It’s ‘Beautiful Girl Chases Me Ten Streets,’ hahaha. What a shameless guy, saying there’s a beauty chasing him for ten streets.”
“Really?”
Xie Wenmin’s deskmate, Xiaoling, was a bit surprised but mostly found it funny. The two exchanged looks and laughed together.
“Don’t you think it’s quite shameless?” Xu Yuebin asked.
“Yeah, it is,” Xie Wenmin nodded, then chuckled, “But it’s kind of cute. Who came up with that username?”
Most people’s online names these days either go for a melancholy, deep style or a non-mainstream vibe. Funny names like this were rare, and shameless ones even rarer.
Seeing Xie Wenmin’s reaction, Xu Yuebin felt a bit suffocated. Shouldn’t she look down on a guy like that? Yet she found it cute? He muttered gloomily, “It’s Li Jingkun’s.”
Xie Wenmin couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah, it does seem like his style.”
“...”
…
There was still some time before the novel started serializing. Li Jingkun had signed and mailed back the contract and sent all the remaining content.
But in his free time, he was still writing novels. In other words, he had begun copying out his second novel, though not in a rush.
High school courses were indeed more demanding than middle school, requiring more focus.
At the same time, he bought the third volume of the New Concept English series and had been regularly squeezing in study time.
He also organized a barbecue gathering.
Li Jingkun was the initiator, and the boys pooled money to buy equipment and food. The location was an abandoned area in the suburbs.
Most participants were boys—Li Jingkun’s roommates, deskmates, and students sitting around them. Of course, there were girls too, about a dozen or so in total. Many were surprised to see Xie Wenmin and her deskmate Xiaoling had also come.
“Who invited you? How come I didn’t know?” Li Jingkun asked.
“Didn't you say we could bring one or two friends? I asked you,” Song Hairong replied.
They were all a bit stunned. “You invited them?”
“Yeah, is there a problem?”
“No problem at all.”
They all shook their heads in denial.
Li Jingkun gave a thumbs-up. “No problem whatsoever, and you’ve actually managed to get all the boys really excited.”
In fact, even without Xie Wenmin’s presence, everyone was already in high spirits—who doesn’t like a party?
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Xie Wenmin thought Li Jingkun had invited her, especially after hearing that he was the one who initiated the barbecue.
It turned out that Song Hairong had added her on Penguin Chat some time ago but only had the chance to talk to her once or twice a few days later.
Song Hairong’s academic performance was above average; he was an ordinary straight guy, with a bit of a sycophantic streak and not very good at chatting with girls.
He just said whatever came to mind. At least seven or eight out of ten sentences were about Li Jingkun. Especially after realizing that mentioning him got a reaction, he talked even more.
He said he went to the internet cafe with Li Jingkun; Li Jingkun was writing a novel but wouldn’t let others see; Li Jingkun was great at guitar and often played accompaniment for them in the dorm; Li Jingkun was also good at English and could even sing English songs.
After hearing so much, Xie Wenmin understood: Song Hairong was helping Li Jingkun pursue her?
Indeed, this was more skillful than other boys who just bluntly confessed.
So when Song Hairong invited her to the barbecue, she brought Xiaoling along.
“Ladies first,” Li Jingkun said, placing some grilled chicken wings and hot dogs on a plate for the boys to serve the girls.
“Okay!” Song Hairong gave an “OK” sign and carried the plate to Xie Wenmin and Xiaoling.
“...” Li Jingkun was speechless. “True sycophant!”
He continued grilling.
From nearby, Xie Wenmin glanced at him, thinking to herself that no matter what, he was much more considerate than other boys.
She said “thank you” to Song Hairong and began eating with Xiaoling.
---
What goes around comes around.
When most people started taking a break, Xie Wenmin brought Li Jingkun a cup of soda.
“Not taking a break?” she asked.
“Thanks.” Li Jingkun took the soda. “I’m fine, not very tired. Many of them are having their first barbecue, and their skills are poor—often burning the food—so I have to grill extra.”
Xie Wenmin was speechless. What’s the point of working so hard without saying much? Besides, how many times had they actually talked?
Shouldn’t she seize the moment to get closer instead of relying solely on Song Hairong’s help?
“Shall we take a walk and chat?” Xie Wenmin suggested.
Li Jingkun looked surprised, glancing at her.
He had to admit, up close, she looked even more beautiful.
Xie Wenmin was just over 1.6 meters tall, with long hair cascading over her shoulders; her face was very pretty, her skin white and delicate; her eyes weren’t particularly large but looked lovely when she smiled.
Such a fair-skinned, beautiful young girl was hard not to be liked by boys.
In his previous life, he had read some reincarnation novels where the protagonists claimed to be mature and showed no interest in high school girls, thinking they hadn’t grown up yet.
He really wanted to retort: Who says high schoolers haven’t grown up? Many of them at sixteen or seventeen are no longer children!
Moreover, no matter how old a man is, he will always be attracted to young, beautiful girls.
Not to mention many boys who, when scrolling through videos of little girls on social media, have to silently repeat “three years minimum” dozens of times to suppress their impure thoughts.
Facing high school girls, who are in the prime of youth and beauty, can you say you’re not interested?
You’re kidding yourself.
So what’s the correct way to say it?
The right way is: Although she’s young and beautiful and I’m attracted, I have some decency and principles. I don’t want to use an adult’s mindset to deceive an inexperienced high school girl.
That’s why teacher-student romances are usually the adults who are in the wrong.
Whether male or female teachers.
So back to the topic: Now that Xie Wenmin invited Li Jingkun to take a walk, would he accept?
Li Jingkun was a man of principle and decency, with the wisdom of an adult. Would he agree to an unreasonable invitation from a high school girl?
(End of chapter)