Chapter Sixty-Three: It Truly Wasn't Me Who Bought It!

Qin Lin’er declared, “Who wants your couple’s outfit anyway?”
Half a minute later: “It’s actually pretty nice!”

Time passed swiftly, and soon it was just a few days before returning to school. Nan Zhiyi, now thoroughly familiar with the place, was sprawled on the sofa early in the morning, looking utterly relaxed—her image long forgotten, she didn’t care anymore.

The reason was simple: once, she had sneaked into Qin Xuan’s room to sleep and was caught by Wang Manshu. Thankfully, Wang Manshu hadn’t said anything, but from that day on, Nan Zhiyi realized that her well-maintained image as a good girl had completely vanished. So—there was nothing left to fear! She went there every day.

Qin Xuan was browsing videos when he suddenly noticed a message from Liu Qin.
“Qin Xuan, you can check your grades now. Someone in your group failed a course.”
Qin Xuan replied with thanks and opened the school’s website.

He checked his own grades first—good, all passed.
That meant it was most likely Liu Ruoxi who had failed. Sure enough, after checking Lin’er’s grades—all passed—it had to be Ruoxi.

Qin Xuan then handed his phone to Liu Ruoxi, who looked up at him with a puzzled expression.
“You can check your grades now. You probably failed a course...”
Liu Ruoxi’s mouth opened slightly in surprise—her? Failed a course?

Clearly skeptical, Liu Ruoxi checked her grades and then slowly looked up.
“I... didn’t fail anything.”
At once, Qin Xuan and the other two exchanged glances. That was odd, unless...

Nan Zhiyi, lounging comfortably, suddenly noticed the three pairs of eyes fixed on her. Her heart skipped a beat—had she done something wrong?
“Zhiyi, could you check your final grades?”
“Hm?” Nan Zhiyi took out her phone, answering absentmindedly, “We can check grades now?”

She couldn’t believe she’d failed anything—after all, she considered herself a clever fairy. How could she possibly fail a course?

Yet, reality proved even fairies could fail.

Liu Ruoxi and Qin Lin’er crowded around her, peering at the subject marked as failed. Unable to hold back their laughter, they teased her, “Well done!”

“Ah! No way!” Nan Zhiyi tossed her phone aside and buried her head in the sofa cushions, “I actually failed a course!”

“It’s okay, I’ll show you something funny,” Liu Ruoxi comforted her.

“What joke?” Nan Zhiyi looked up, seeing Liu Ruoxi holding her own phone, still displaying her grades...

“Shrimp and pig’s heart!” Nan Zhiyi grumbled in frustration.

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard the make-up exam is really easy,” Qin Xuan offered, trying to reassure her.

Nan Zhiyi: “I’ll believe you—just this once!”

To celebrate Nan Zhiyi’s ‘achievement’ of failing a course, Qin Xuan decided to buy a fish for lunch. Well, actually, it was Liu Ruoxi who wanted to eat fish.

Their parents were out working, so only the four of them were at home.

...

At the supermarket two streets away, Qin Xuan pushed a cart overflowing with stuff. They’d planned on buying just a fish—how did all those bags of chips end up there?

Qin Lin’er and Liu Ruoxi accompanied him, adding more items. Qin Xuan found Nan Zhiyi’s presence much more pleasant now, since her mood was low and she was questioning everything.

Still, Qin Xuan shopping with three girls drew some curious glances, especially at the checkout line.

A passerby behind them, seeing Qin Xuan flanked by two girls, with another waiting behind, grew annoyed. Driven by single-man fury, he grabbed a box labeled “Children’s Despair” from the shelf and tossed it into Qin Xuan’s cart.

Qin Xuan didn’t notice; he unloaded the items for checkout, assuming the odd box was just some gum Lin’er had picked up.

When they returned home, Qin Xuan put the groceries away, while Qin Lin’er sorted through her snacks. Suddenly, she froze—what was this?

She turned the item over in her hands, face reddening as it felt almost burning.

“Ruoxi! Catch!” Qin Lin’er mischievously tossed it to Liu Ruoxi.

Liu Ruoxi, distracted by her phone, glanced up just as the item landed in her lap. Curious, she picked it up, glanced at it, and immediately tossed it aside.

“Qin Xuan!” Liu Ruoxi yelled at him as he finished putting things away, “Why did you buy this?!”

“Huh?” Qin Xuan poked his head out, confused. What did he buy?

“What is it?” Nan Zhiyi, seeing their reactions, scooped it up from the floor, curious.

“Ew?” Nan Zhiyi held it by one corner, disgusted. “Qin Xuan! You bought this?”

“What are you talking about?” Qin Xuan wiped his hands and walked over.

He took the item from Nan Zhiyi, studied it, and—oh? He hadn’t bought this!

“Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t mine?” Qin Xuan ventured.

He was met with three skeptical pairs of eyes and quickly retreated, not forgetting to take the item with him.

Back in his room, Qin Xuan pondered who had pulled this prank on him. After much thought, he recalled the guy who’d been standing behind him at checkout, acting suspiciously.

But now, could he return it? Even if he could, he didn’t have the nerve!

Forget it. Qin Xuan resisted the urge to examine the item, and finally tossed it into his drawer.

When he emerged later, Liu Ruoxi and the others still wore teasing smiles.

“What are you laughing at? It really wasn’t me!” Qin Xuan insisted, still trying to defend himself.

After lunch, Qin Xuan returned to his room for his afternoon gaming session. Just as he was getting into it, Liu Ruoxi slipped through the door.

She began rummaging through his room, disrupting his game.

“What are you doing?” Qin Xuan asked, unable to ignore her.

“Where’s that thing?” Liu Ruoxi held out her hand expectantly.

“Wha... what thing?” Qin Xuan feigned ignorance. Liu Ruoxi, annoyed, punched his shoulder.

“Children’s Despair!”

Qin Xuan: ...

“It’s in the drawer,” he nodded toward it.

Liu Ruoxi opened the drawer, found the item Qin Xuan had hidden deep inside, examined it, and finally couldn’t resist tearing open the packaging.

Qin Xuan tensed at her actions—what was she up to now?

“Don’t misunderstand, I’m just curious!” Liu Ruoxi explained, noticing his odd expression.

“Fine,” Qin Xuan replied—what else could he say? She was his girlfriend, after all.

“Aren’t you curious, Qin Xuan?” Liu Ruoxi noticed he was still playing his game.

“What good is curiosity? Are you planning to study it with me?” Qin Xuan answered irritably, mentally cursing the guy who had tossed it in his cart: may he never need it in his life!

Hearing his words, Liu Ruoxi blushed instinctively. Qin Xuan, seeing this, knew she’d misunderstood.

“I don’t mind!”

Qin Xuan was startled: “I do! It’s broad daylight!”

“Then I’ll come back tonight!” Since Liu Hao and Bai Xiaomin were once again off traveling, Liu Ruoxi had naturally moved in, under the pretext of supervising Qin Xuan. Since then, Nan Zhiyi hadn’t entered Qin Xuan’s room, and the past days had left Zhiyi yearning...