Chapter 60: Bad News
Zhang Shaoqing swaggered into the classroom, hands in his pockets.
The moment he walked in, he spotted Ning Chu sitting in the front row, surrounded by a group of stunning girls.
There was a fox-girl, a wolf-girl, and even a succubus.
All high-quality girls!
Ning Chu fit right in with them, too. Even though she was still wearing simple boy’s clothes, her youthful, feminine face didn’t lose out to the succubus next to her. Combined with her small stature and slender frame, she looked almost indistinguishable from the other girls.
Well, except for being a bit flat.
Zhang Shaoqing couldn’t help but think Ning Chu was better off staying a girl.
“Tsk~ Looking all girly does have its perks. Now even the fox-girl’s her bestie?” He turned to Wang Jie with a smirk. “What do you think? Should we sit next to Ning Chu, or find our own seats?”
“Whatever works.”
“Obviously, we’re sitting next to her! Who knows, maybe one of the girls will take a liking to me!”
“I’ve got a girlfriend, remember.”
“Well, I don’t!”
Zhang Shaoqing eagerly plopped himself down beside Ning Chu, grinning like a fool. “You’re here early! Have you had breakfast yet?”
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Ning Chu, resting her head on the desk, lazily glanced at Zhang Shaoqing and Wang Jie.
It was obvious he had an ulterior motive. Normally, Zhang Shaoqing wouldn’t be this friendly. He’d usually greet her with some snarky comment to get under her skin.
Too tired to bother with him, Ning Chu shifted to a more comfortable position and laid her head back down on the desk.
“Seriously? You’re just going to ignore me now?” Zhang Shaoqing grumbled as he sat down. “I even brought you breakfast! You ungrateful brat.”
“That was my idea...” Wang Jie mumbled, pushing a bag of food toward Ning Chu’s desk. “Wen Yang said you’re lazy and have low blood sugar, so he told me to bring you breakfast.”
Ning Chu hadn’t eaten breakfast, but she wasn’t feeling very hungry.
Still, since they’d gone through the trouble, she figured she should eat something, even if she didn’t have much of an appetite.
“Thanks.”
Yawning, she sat up a little straighter and started nibbling on her food, still looking half-asleep.
“Didn’t sleep well?”
“Mm, I’m not used to it.”
“Then why not move back to the boys’ dorm? Why hang out with girls all the time?” Zhang Shaoqing’s tone was as obnoxious as ever. “You already look like a girl, and now you’re living with them? What, getting ready for surgery in Thailand?”
Ning Chu’s lips twitched, ready to retort, but Zhang Shaoqing just kept going. “Oh, by the way, someone from class saw you going in and out of the girls’ dorm, and now the counselor knows about it.”
“Huh?”
That woke her up. Panic flickered across her face. “How does the counselor know?”
“Someone took pictures and sent them to the group chat, saying they saw you—some guy—sneaking around the girls’ dorm multiple times. They said they didn’t feel safe.”
What the—! Who did that?
Ning Chu immediately turned to glare at Lin Li. Could it be her?
“Why are you looking at me? What’s it got to do with me?” Lin Li huffed, rolling her eyes. “We were all out last night, remember? I was busy drinking, no time to report you.”
Yan Xinya leaned in, her wolf ears twitching guiltily. “If you get caught letting a guy stay in the girls’ dorm, the minimum punishment is a warning, right?”
“!!!”
Ning Chu froze. What the heck—why were people here so two-faced?
In the boys’ dorm, it wasn’t unusual to see a few girls wandering around. Sometimes you’d even hear about girls spending the night, and nobody cared! But now she was the one in trouble?
Zhang Shaoqing, on the other hand, didn’t seem concerned at all. “No big deal. It’s just a warning. Why are you freaking out?”
Yeah, it’d be a different story if he was the one being punished.
Ning Chu couldn’t help but feel wronged. What’s so bad about a girl staying in the girls’ dorm?
But then again, her student record still said “male,” and only a few close friends and Wen Yang knew the truth.
Wang Jie, trying to be helpful, chimed in, “I checked. If it’s just a verbal warning, they’ll scold you and make you write a reflection letter.”
Ning Chu sighed with relief. Getting yelled at was fine. She’d been a troublemaker as a kid and had written countless apologies. She had it down to an art.
“But if it happens again, and you get caught, the next punishment goes on your permanent record...”
“...”
So now what? Wen Yang wasn’t back yet. If the counselor really gave her a warning, she’d have to move back to the boys’ dorm for the next few days?
Faced with the choice between punishment or her safety, Ning Chu knew what she’d pick.
There was no way she’d risk staying in the boys’ dorm without Wen Yang around. It wasn’t just about losing her innocence—it could escalate into something much worse.
“Ugh, this is a headache...”
Ever since Wen Yang left, it felt like trouble had been following her everywhere.
After halfheartedly eating a few more bites, Ning Chu slumped back onto her desk, unlocking her phone to check her messages.
“Good morning.”
Was that all? Why send something so vague, like they were in a relationship? Don’t you have better things to do?
Ning Chu grumbled to herself, but still happily typed back, “Good morning.”
She waited eagerly for Wen Yang’s reply, but after a few moments with no response, she sighed and laid her head back down.
Wen Yang’s uncle was having surgery today, so he was probably busy.
After a restless night, she planned to catch up on sleep.
She wasn’t too worried about any creeps right now. Last night’s outing had made her realize that the romance novel world wasn’t as dangerous as she’d feared.
At least it wasn’t as bad as she had imagined, where losing Wen Yang’s protagonist aura would suddenly make perverts spawn around her. She wouldn’t be abducted off the street, harassed in a ride-share, or attacked in her dorm.
Public places were pretty safe.
That sense of security slowly returned to her, but oddly enough, it just made her wish Wen Yang were back even more...
“Ning Chu!”
At first, she thought it was the teacher calling attendance, but when she looked up, she realized the entire class was staring at her.
She blinked in confusion, then glanced toward the hallway.
Sure enough, there stood the counselor.
“The counselor’s looking for you,” Zhang Shaoqing said, standing up to let her pass, barely hiding his laughter. “Looks like your time’s up.”
“I’ll write your reflection letter for ten yuan a hundred words,” Lin Li added, never one to miss a business opportunity.
Ning Chu sighed heavily.
Should I explain the situation to the counselor?
But if I do, they’ll definitely call my parents.
And I’m not ready to face them yet...
Her mind spinning, Ning Chu slowly made her way into the hallway, feeling the weight of the counselor’s angry gaze.
“So you’ve been sneaking in and out of the girls’ dorm like you own the place, even spending the night? What were you thinking?”
“If you had to do something like this, you could’ve at least been discreet! Climbing the wall or sneaking in would’ve been better than being seen.”
“...”
“You’re just giving me more headaches!” the counselor snapped. “Follow me to my office!”
Ning Chu, utterly defeated, trailed after her.
Why does this sound way more serious than I thought... I’ve never been in trouble before, so I don’t know how to handle this!