1239 Side Story 18: Return

As usual, the tone of his voice was cold and distant. The people sitting in the front row heard him and subconsciously turned around, looking shocked and surprised.

Xu Zhe’s eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

No, Shen Zhijin had deliberately stopped working on his experiment to come to class today. He had even sat with this girl. He thought that it was because he liked her!

After all this effort, his intention had just been to reject her to her face? He just wanted to completely nip the girl’s feelings in the bud?

Xu Zhe silently cursed.

Absolutely.

When it came to the ways of making a girl give up on him as quickly as possible, Shen Zhijin was ranked second. No one at Xijing University could possibly be ranked first.

Naturally, Gu Tingyin also noticed the probing and gossipy gazes and panicked for a moment.

She looked at the young man sitting next to her and felt a faint aura of coldness around him. The light in her eyes dimmed and a sense of helplessness appeared in its depths.

After a moment, she lowered her head and mumbled, “Oh, I… I see.”

With that, she turned around and sat down, her hands still gripping the book tightly.

Shen Zhijin saw her slightly pursing her lips. Her originally relaxed posture had also become tense. Her entire person was now listless, as if she had been hit by frost. She was no longer as lively as before.

He furrowed his brows.

The bell rang and Professor Li walked in.

When he saw Shen Zhijin sitting in the corner of the last row, he was very surprised. He glanced at the young girl sitting next to him and smiled as he teased, “Oh, I was wondering why I saw Zhijin attending my class today. So it’s not because the sun has risen from the west, but because he’s accompanying someone to class?”

Shen Zhijin was a young genius. Although he rarely attended classes, he scored full marks in all his subjects. In addition, he was aloof and proud, and he did things in a low-key and rigorous way. The professors admired him greatly, so they did not bother much about these things.

It was truly a rare sight for him to come to class, especially with a young girl seated next to him. Naturally, Professor Li could not help but tease him a little to gain back a slight upper hand over him.

Everyone in the classroom turned around to look.

Such an atmosphere should have been very embarrassing… if Shen Zhijin had not rejected the girl so publicly just now.

Gu Tingyin’s head drooped even lower.

She… She seemed to have caused him trouble…

Shen Zhijin’s lips moved slightly. He wanted to explain, but from the corner of his eye, he saw that her fingers had become pale from the force of her grip, and he suddenly stopped.

He did not say anything.

…

This class was too difficult for Gu Tingyin to endure.

She remained silent, without even having the courage to turn her head to look at him. All she could do was try to reduce her presence.

A gust of wind suddenly blew outside the window, and soon, raindrops the size of beans fell upon the window.

The sky was so dark that even the classroom grew dark.

Many students looked outside and became restless.

“It’s raining?”

“The rain is too heavy, I didn’t bring an umbrella!”

“I still have to go back to the campus for my second class later. It’s raining so heavily, do you want me to swim over???”

A thought came to Shen Zhijin’s mind and he looked at the young girl beside him.

Her backpack was very small, and it looked like it was barely enough to hold the book “Popular Astronomy”. It did not look like she had an umbrella.

Moreover, she had come from the Academy of Fine Arts, so it would be more troublesome if she had to return there later.

As if sensing his gaze, Gu Tingyin finally raised her head from her book and looked over.

Their eyes met.

Her red lips moved slightly, as she looked rather conflicted. She hesitated, as if she wanted to ask something.

He had always been thorough in his work. The weather forecast had predicted showers for the past few days, so he had carried an umbrella throughout that time.

“You…”

She said hesitantly.

Shen Zhijin quietly thought that if she wanted to borrow it from him, he would just give it to her.

“Please don’t be angry.”

She said in a lowered tone of voice.

Shen Zhijin was slightly stunned.

At such a close distance, her face heated up again, and her heart beat so fast that she could not control it at all.

Thinking of what he had said earlier, her heart turned cold, and her loudly beating heart calmed down a little.

“I… I won’t come here to disturb you anymore. Really!”

As if to prove her feelings, she even put her fingers together as a gesture of assurance.

Shen Zhijin looked at her dark and moist almond-shaped eyes.

This was the answer he wanted, but for some reason, it did not feel as easy about it as he had expected.

After a long while, he finally came back to his senses when a look of confusion appeared in her eyes.

“Okay.”

…

Even though the class was over, the rain did not seem to have any intention of stopping.

The rain continued to pour down heavily.

Several students were holding umbrellas, while a few ran past in the rain.

“Sigh, this rain is too heavy! Even if you’re holding an umbrella, you’ll still get wet if you walk back to the campus from here.”

Xu Zhe stood in the corridor, pulling out an umbrella as he muttered, “I don’t know how the girl is going to return! I don’t think she brought an umbrella.”

Shen Zhijin calmly held up his umbrella and walked out into the rain without a care.

A gust of wind blew.

“Hey, d*mn!”

Xu Zhe could not dodge in time, and the wind blew his umbrella to the side, causing the cold rain to fall on him.

He wiped his face sadly.

“Forget it, forget it. The girl is so pretty. I don’t know how many people are waiting for this opportunity to court her!”

Shen Zhijin stopped in his tracks.

…

Gu Tingyin was still sitting in the classroom.

Another boy walked over.

“Junior, didn’t you bring an umbrella? Why don’t I let you have mine?”

She shook her head.

“Thank you, but there’s no need. Someone’s coming to pick me up.”

She had already called the chauffeur and told him that she would be there a little later.

Her family had been very worried about her coming to the Capital to study alone. They bought a villa near Xijing University and even specially arranged for a driver and a housekeeper for her.

However, she spent most of her time in school and kept a low profile. She had never let the driver come over, so no one else knew about it.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, obviously not believing her words.

She was a new student from the Academy of Fine Arts. Who would come to pick her up?

He thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “Then shall I wait here with you?”

Gu Tingyin looked up in surprise. Before she could reject him, the boy had already taken two steps towards her, as if he was going to sit down next to her.

She furrowed her brows slightly.

“I…”

Tap, tap.

A slender and fair hand came into view, as his fingers tapped on her desk.

Gu Tingyin’s heart skipped a beat.

This hand was a little familiar.

She slowly turned her gaze to the side and saw that Shen Zhijin had returned without her knowing and was standing beside her.

The black hair on his forehead was damp, and there was a faint rain vapor around him, making his brows and eyes even darker.

He was holding the umbrella in his other hand.

Drip, drip.

Drops of rainwater fell, leaving a small dark trail on the ground.

Without even casting a glance at the boy standing beside her, Shen Zhijin only looked at her indifferently.

Gu Tingyin was pleasantly surprised.

“Are you here to send me off?”

The words that Shen Zhijin was about to say suddenly stopped.

He had originally planned to leave after giving her his umbrella.

But for some reason, when he met her gaze, the speech he had prepared was replaced by something else.

His distant voice sounded even colder in the rain.