Chapter 74 This Really Won’t Do

After finishing lunch as usual, the two strolled around the playground to aid digestion before returning to class. When they got back to the classroom, Zhang Qi’s seat was empty—she hadn’t returned all afternoon. It wasn’t until the preparatory bell for class rang and most students had returned that she finally came in through the back door, her eyes slightly reddened.

Zhao Ying, sitting in the front row, noticed and turned to give Xu Yannuo a meaningful glance. Clearly, Zhao Ying had also sensed that something was off with her.

Afterwards, Zhao Ying took a scrap of paper, wrote a few lines while looking down, then turned and handed it to Xu Yannuo.

Xu Yannuo took it and glanced at it: Her eyes were definitely red from crying—did she get dumped by someone she was dating? Who’s the blind idiot? If I find out, I’ll definitely go after him!

Just as Xu Yannuo finished reading, Zhao Ying passed another note. Before Xu Yannuo could reply, she received the next one: With a handsome guy like Chen Ciyi sitting right behind her, how could Zhang Qi possibly fall for someone else and still get dumped? Maybe she realized she was blind and cried out of frustration.

Xu Yannuo stared at the note, speechless and unsure how to respond. After a moment’s thought, she wrote back a few words: Let’s not bring it up after class—just talk to her about something else.

After passing the note, Zhao Ying read it and turned back to nod at her.

However, Xu Yannuo still felt that Zhang Qi’s behavior didn’t seem related to any boy. It just didn’t feel like it intuitively, but the possibility of being called to the teacher’s office for criticism was also unlikely. Students like them—quiet, average-performing, and well-behaved—were never the ones teachers needed to worry about.

Family matters? Both she and Zhao Ying knew about Zhang Qi’s family situation. Her parents worked as white-collar employees at a company in Shanghai, so busy that they rarely even saw Zhang Qi during her holidays. She lived with her grandparents, who were in good health. Just this morning, on her way to school, Xu Yannuo had seen the elderly couple practicing Tai Chi in the park.

Xu Yannuo couldn’t focus well during the entire class. When it ended, though Zhang Qi didn’t go out alone again, she seemed completely absent-minded. Zhao Ying tried to engage her in conversation, but it was as if Zhang Qi didn’t hear her, lost in thought with a solemn expression. It wasn’t until Zhao Ying asked a second time that Zhang Qi slowly reacted, realizing someone was talking to her. Xu Yannuo asked if she wanted to go to the restroom. Normally, she would’ve said yes immediately, but today she outright refused, telling Xu Yannuo and Zhao Ying to go without her.

But whether this series of unusual behaviors was specifically due to a breakup, Zhang Qi didn’t mention it, and Xu Yannuo and Zhao Ying didn’t feel comfortable asking directly. Zhao Ying, sitting in front, kept prying indirectly, trying to make conversation. Meanwhile, Xu Yannuo glanced at Chen Ciyi beside her out of habit, wanting to ask for his opinion. But as the words reached the tip of her tongue, she thought of Chen Ciyi’s emotional intelligence and decided it was better to drop it.

Xu Yannuo watched Zhao Ying and Zhang Qi in the front row. Zhao Ying was asking Zhang Qi if she wanted to go to the school canteen to buy an ice cream. Although it was autumn, the lingering summer heat was still intense, especially around two or three in the afternoon, when the classroom felt stuffy. But Zhang Qi simply laid her head on the desk, saying she was a bit sleepy and wanted to take a nap.

It was a complete refusal to communicate.

Zhao Ying turned back to look at Xu Yannuo, truly unsure of what to do. Fortunately, though, during the breaks that afternoon and before evening self-study, Zhang Qi didn’t leave the group to go off on her own again. They stayed together, which made Xu Yannuo and Zhao Ying feel a little more at ease.

But during the self-study session the next evening, Zhang Qi actually took leave from Sister Hua and went home, and she didn’t even tell Xu Yannuo and Zhao Ying. It was only when the two of them asked Sister Hua that she responded in surprise, “She took leave—didn’t she tell you two?”

Xu Yannuo quickly stepped in to smooth things over, “Maybe when you took leave, the two of us were in the restroom, so you couldn’t find us. That’s how we missed it.”

After asking Sister Hua and returning, Xu Yannuo and Zhao Ying felt that something was even more off.

Normally, Zhang Qi was especially afraid of interacting with teachers and would never ask Hua Jie for leave unless absolutely necessary. Once, when she had a fever and was so sick she couldn’t even lift her head from the desk, she still didn’t dare to ask Hua Jie for leave. In the end, Zhao Ying had to go request leave on her behalf, and Xu Yannuo helped her to the school infirmary.

But today, she actually went behind her and Zhao Ying to ask Sister Hua for leave.

During the evening self-study break, Xu Yannuo put her phone in her blazer pocket and went with Zhang Qi to a quieter area near the library to call Zhang Qi’s home. Zhang Qi’s grandmother answered the phone. After asking who they were, she said Zhang Qi hadn’t returned home yet and worriedly asked if they had been let out early today.

Xu Yannuo immediately grew anxious but dared not show it, afraid of worrying the elderly woman. She quickly explained that she had taken the day off due to not feeling well and wanted to ask Zhang Qi about the homework, but had mistaken the time, thinking it was already 9 p.m. and school was over. Then she asked the grandmother to pass on the message for Zhang Qi to call her back after school.

Fortunately, the grandmother didn’t become suspicious, and the matter was glossed over.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Yannuo looked at Zhao Ying. At this time, even if they took leave to leave campus and search, they wouldn’t have a specific direction. For now, they could only temporarily pin their hopes on Zhang Qi’s reply in an hour.

During the last self-study session, Xu Yannuo was completely distracted. All the current signs indicated that Zhang Qi definitely had some issues, but what exactly was the problem? Why wouldn’t she tell them about it?

Perhaps she had been doing nothing but spacing out in this class, and even Chen Ciyi noticed something was off about her. When she had zoned out for half the class, Chen Ciyi tapped the back of her hand with his gel pen, leaned in, and whispered, “Deskmate, what are you thinking about?”

Xu Yannuo glanced at him but didn’t answer. Chen Ciyi looked at the empty seat in front and asked, “Still thinking about her strange behavior?” Although Chen Ciyi still couldn’t tell Zhao Ying and Zhang Qi apart, the empty seat and the fact that she and Zhao Ying had been passing notes conspiring during class were obvious.

Xu Yannuo nodded, “A little worried.” She thought for a moment, then suddenly leaned closer to Chen Ciyi, “Do you know how to track someone’s location?”

“…I really can’t do this!”

“Oh.” Xu Yannuo sat back down and continued to worry.

Chen Ciyi’s voice came from beside him, “Don’t worry too much either. She’s usually a quiet and reliable person, so she should be fine. If not, I can go with you to her house after school to check on her.”

Xu Yannuo nodded, casually picked up a magazine and flipped through it, but after a few pages, she couldn’t take in anything—not even the pictures, let alone the text. She glanced up at Zhao Ying and guessed she felt the same.

Finally, the evening self-study session ended. It was the same duration as usual, but Xu Yannuo had never felt it drag on so long. She and Zhao Ying immediately grabbed their backpacks and dashed out of the school, with Chen Ciyi, who wasn’t carrying a backpack, following close behind. The school didn’t allow phones to be used openly on campus, but once they were outside the school gates, it was allowed.