Long after the girls had run away, Xiao Heqing finally felt a belated wave of panic, thinking, "Are they going to tell the teacher? Then won't I get scolded?"
She consoled herself that even if she got scolded, so be it. After all, she had done a good deed. Even if Lin Zhengran found out, he probably wouldn't blame her.
She turned back to Han Wenwen, whose face was still bleeding. "Are you okay? Was I a little too slow to step in...?"
Han Wenwen recovered from her shock and smiled. "No, thank you for helping me. If they tell their parents, I'll testify for you."
Xiao Heqing breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she couldn't help but marvel at how truly beautiful this girl named Han Wenwen was. When she smiled, her eyes gave off the charm of a Little Fox. Her face was incredibly small—a delicate oval shape that was indescribably exquisite.
"You're welcome," Xiao Heqing said. "Do you want me to go with you to the infirmary? Your face is cut."
"It's fine." Han Wenwen took a small mirror from her pocket and examined the wound. "A minor scratch like this doesn't hurt at all. I can go by myself. You should go to the cafeteria and eat."
With that, Han Wenwen walked off into the distance, braving the rain without even taking an umbrella. Seeing this, Xiao Heqing chased after her.
"Don't you have an umbrella? Let me go with you instead—you'll catch a cold like this!"
Seeing Xiao Heqing running after her, Han Wenwen looked a little puzzled by her kindness. "Why are you being so nice? If you accompany me, you won't be able to have lunch."
Xiao Heqing gave a helpless smile. If Lin Zhengran were here, he would immediately recognize that she was imitating his exact expression. "Skipping one meal doesn't matter. The teacher said that helping classmates is the most important thing, and we're in the same class, after all."
Han Wenwen never in her life expected someone to actually say something like that out loud. All she could do was smile, nod, and walk together with He Qing.
However, the two of them didn't head to the infirmary. Instead, they went to the school's small garden, which featured a few pavilions and a koi pond.
Xiao Heqing wondered why they were here. She watched as Han Wenwen approached a wall and pulled a tiny box out from a gap between the bricks.
Inside the box were Band-Aids, lip balm, hair clips, and other small accessories for girls.
Han Wenwen applied a Band-Aid to her face, kept a small hair clip in her hand, and put the rest of the items back before sitting down on a bench in the small pavilion.
"Why are you sitting here?" Xiao Heqing blinked in utter confusion. "If you're not going to the infirmary, you can still make it to the cafeteria for lunch."
"I'm sitting here waiting for someone to bring us food," Han Wenwen replied.
"Bring us food? Who would bring us food? Do your parents work at the school? Are they coming to bring you food at noon?"
Han Wenwen blinked her beautiful Little Fox eyes. "No, you'll see in a bit. By the way, what do you like to eat? I heard the cafeteria has chicken cutlet rice bowls for lunch today. Do you like that?"
Xiao Heqing had heard about it too. "I mean, I like it, but you can't get the chicken cutlet rice unless you line up early, right? It's really hard to get."
Han Wenwen smiled meaningfully and patted the empty spot next to her. "Sit down and wait with me. Since you helped me, there's no way I can let you go hungry."
Xiao Heqing still didn't understand, but she soon discovered that someone really was coming to bring Han Wenwen food.
And it wasn't just one person... nor were they adults. It was a group of boys!
The boys arrived with umbrellas, each holding a takeout container. "Han Wenwen, what do you want to eat today? We bought everything for you."
To Xiao Heqing's absolute shock, Han Wenwen walked over and picked out two portions of chicken cutlet rice from their hands.
She smiled sweetly at them. "Thank you guys. As a reward for getting my food, here, I'll give you my hair clip."
The two chosen boys blushed, their hearts pounding as they accepted her hair clip. They looked incredibly thrilled.
As for the remaining three boys who hadn't been picked, Han Wenwen didn't even spare them a glance before returning to sit beside Xiao Heqing.
She beamed at Xiao Heqing. "See? I told you someone would bring us food. This portion is for you."
Xiao Heqing took the container as if driven by some unseen force, watching as Han Wenwen picked up her spoon and started eating.
The boys slowly trickled away.
However, one boy who refused to give up turned back and shouted, "Han Wenwen! Tomorrow, I'll definitely guess what you want to eat! You have to give me a gift too!"
Han Wenwen still didn't respond, entirely focused on eating her meal.
It wasn't until all the boys were gone that Han Wenwen finally explained to He Qing between bites of chicken:
"I know you have a lot of questions. Simply put, these boys who brought food all like me, and they've all confessed their feelings to me. But I don't like them, so I don't want to pay them any attention.
"However, some boys are really stubborn. They think that even if I reject them, as long as they keep chasing me, I'll eventually like them. So they bring me gifts and food every day. But I really have no feelings for them. At first, I even found it super annoying.
"But later, I figured it out. Since they want to bring me food, why shouldn't I accept it? I just treat it as them fetching my meals for me. I give them my hair clips or hair ties as a token of gratitude, and everyone is happy."
Xiao Heqing was dumbfounded. "I feel like I understand what you're saying, but at the same time, I don't... Is this really the world of children...?"
"You don't understand? That shouldn't be right. He Qing, you're very pretty too. Hasn't any boy ever confessed to you?"
Xiao Heqing blushed deeply and waved her hands frantically. "No... oh, wait, yes." She lowered her hands. "There was one last year, and one this year too. But of course I rejected them! How old are we right now? Besides, I..."
She didn't mention that someone had already taken residence in her heart, and she would never like any other boy.
Han Wenwen blinked her Little Fox eyes. "Then maybe it's just because too few boys are chasing you. Let me think..." She bit on her spoon as she did the math. "Just this semester alone, there have been at least seven or eight who confessed to me."
"Ah! That many?! Why? I mean, I know you're beautiful, but... isn't that a bit too exaggerated?"
Han Wenwen's eyes curved into lovely crescents. "Maybe it's because I look like a vixen. Even though I'm not the absolute prettiest, facts have proven that boys like my type of face the most. It seems like every boy wants to have me."
Noticing that Xiao Heqing hadn't taken a bite, she urged, "Eat up. I traded my hair clip for this, and that clip was quite expensive."
Xiao Heqing stared at the takeout container in her hands. She opened it to find that it really was the chicken cutlet rice—the kind you could never normally manage to snatch up in time. She was flabbergasted.
She scooped a spoonful into her mouth. It was absolutely delicious. But soon, she suddenly realized something and remembered how Han Wenwen had been bullied just moments earlier. "Then those girls from before... you were framed, right? After all, you don't seem to like boys at all."
Han Wenwen blinked her gorgeous eyes. "Mhm, of course. How could I possibly seduce their childhood sweethearts or older brothers? I find those guys more annoying than anything else."
Xiao Heqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, Han Wenwen continued, "But it's true that their childhood sweethearts and brothers keep pestering me. Among the boys who brought me food just now, those two were actually there. Speaking of which, I'm quite kindhearted. Otherwise, if I told them that their sisters hit me, they would probably listen to my orders and take revenge for me."
Xiao Heqing was speechless.
Han Wenwen's tone slowed down. She took another blissful bite of rice and said, "I actually never wanted to tear those people apart. It does me no good anyway.
"I'm telling you all this because you saved me. I'll remember this, and I'll repay you in the future. After all, even with those boys... I've never taken their things for nothing. I always give them something of equal value in return. I never take advantage of people."