Chapter 46: “Not a Good Day to Tease Your Deskmate”
“artificial — artificial.”
“pessimistic — pessimistic…”
Pu Tong was reciting English vocabulary, but his eyes kept drifting toward the classroom door from time to time.
There were many ways to memorize English words. If you searched online, you’d find countless opinions—some read silently, some copy repeatedly, some use association techniques…
What era was this still, doing traditional rote memorization?
Like what he saw from Xie Mu a few days ago: fold a sheet of paper in half, write the word on one side and the meaning on the other. Then look at the word and recall the meaning, and vice versa. It actually looked quite effective.
It seemed like a method taught by someone who really knew how to study…
Still, there was no “best” study method—only what suited you. Pu Tong still preferred normal memorization.
Not long after, a familiar figure slowly walked into the classroom. Pu Tong also withdrew his gaze.
She had arrived.
“Morning!”
“Morning!” Yu Wanwan responded and quietly took her seat without doing anything extra.
She sat there in a daze, eyes unfocused, as if thinking about something.
“Wanwan, your hair isn’t tied properly,” Lin Yuxi turned around and pointed at the back of her head.
Only then did Pu Tong notice Yu Wanwan’s braid was slightly crooked…
“Oh.” The girl didn’t react much, as if it didn’t matter.
“You today…”
“My manager isn’t here. I was too lazy, so I just tied it casually.” Yu Wanwan lay down on the desk and pushed her head forward a bit, as if saying “fix it for me.”
“Ask your deskmate to help!”
“Tch…” she snorted in disdain. “I’d rather believe pigs can climb trees.”
Pu Tong felt this was really beyond him…
In his past life, he was an orphan, a shut-in, basically a socially useless guy with only decent looks. He had almost no social experience—how could he possibly know how to tie a girl’s hair?
“Alright, I’ll do it!” Yi Zhi Xuenai raised her hands and turned around eagerly.
“I want to try a bun for Wanwan… or maybe a high ponytail!”
“Maybe a side ponytail! Hanging to one side would feel so… mature!”
“What kind of dangerous hairstyle is that…”
That would probably survive less than three episodes in an anime.
“Mmm.” Yu Wanwan shook her head slightly, unconcerned.
“Alright then, I’ll improvise!”
Pu Tong watched the quiet girl letting the foreign girl tie her hair and felt that something was off with her today.
Without proper tools, Yi Zhi Xuenai only helped tie it neatly and didn’t do any “artistic styling.”
“Wanwan, you…”
“We should study.” Yu Wanwan interrupted him and pulled out a book randomly, flipping it open without purpose.
No target, no plan—just going through the motions.
Lin Yuxi and Iori Yukino both looked at Pu Tong with mild resentment.
“Hey, this has nothing to do with me…”
Pu Tong wasn’t slow. From her unusual state today, he had already formed a conclusion.
She was probably on her period.
So what could he do? Just tell her to drink hot water.
As for the “warm boyfriend” clichés from romance novels—warming hands, ginger tea, caring phrases—he really couldn’t bring himself to say them.
But as a deskmate, some concern was still necessary.
“Mm…”
Yu Wanwan looked over, slightly curious, as if waiting for what he would say.
“Mm… drink more hot water!”
Only that sentence. Safe, defensive, universal.
“Okay, thank you,” she nodded.
“You don’t think I’m being perfunctory?”
“Why? Isn’t drinking hot water effective?”
Yes… isn’t it effective?
At some point, being straightforward had become “low EQ” in modern perception.
When a girl catches a cold, a “warm guy” might say: “Let me get sick instead so I can feel your pain.”
Sounds touching—but actually useless.
While “drink more hot water,” though simple, is practical.
The real issue wasn’t the phrase itself, but the feeling of not being cared for.
For someone like Pu Tong, simply asking was already a form of care.
Because of her condition, Yu Wanwan wasn’t in good shape all morning.
She wasn’t the type who suffered extreme pain, but she definitely felt uncomfortable—sitting still was okay, but moving around made her weak and dizzy.
Girls who don’t suffer much during menstruation probably saved the galaxy in a past life.
“You still okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” she replied weakly, face pale.
“Being a girl is really not easy,” Pu Tong sighed.
“I don’t think so,” she said softly. “Even though it’s uncomfortable… I’ve never thought being a girl is a bad thing.”
Then she paused, gritted her teeth slightly, and stopped speaking.
“I am a girl…”
Suddenly, Pu Tong spoke.
Yu Wanwan lifted her head in surprise.
“I am a girl, a girl who cries. I am a girl, a strange girl. I am a girl—you don’t understand girls…”
He hummed a few lines softly, slightly embarrassed.
That was all he remembered.
This song had once been everywhere when he was young.
Yu Wanwan smiled faintly. “A light song… you really are quite talented.”
“You want to hear more? I can sing similar ones.”
“Maybe next time. I just want something quiet. Tell me a story instead.”
Pu Tong nodded. “Wait a bit.”
Then he grabbed her cup and ran out.
“Drink hot water?” she wondered.
Soon he came back and placed the cup beside her.
“I already have hot water,” she said.
“Yours is insulated and not hot to the touch. Mine is plastic—you can hold it to warm your stomach.”
She was slightly surprised. “Thank you.”
He tightened the lid. “Be careful, it’s hot. Just pull the strap.”
She hugged the cup gently against her lower abdomen.
Warmth spread through her body.
“Tell me a story…”
“Something warm.”
“Then… Cinderella.”
From that moment on, she listened quietly as he narrated softly.
Her stomach was warm.
So was her heart.
(End of Chapter)
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