Skipping School Grandly Under the Moonlight (Thanks for the Gift 8/29)

Chen Zhi felt like he was a little bit dead.

His workload tonight was way over the limit.

First, he ran back and forth a few times to accompany that girl Li Zhiyi to eat pork trotter rice, and then he rushed non-stop to pick up Lin Wanwan and bring her back to school.

Just now, he had accompanied the bunch of rank-slaves in the back row to a five-game winning streak in ranked matches.

Even a donkey on a production team would shed tears seeing this.

As the sound effect of the crystal exploding rang out on the screen, Chen Zhi stuffed his phone into his desk cubby and let out a long breath.

"I'm logging off, not playing anymore."

A soft chuckle came from beside him.

Pei Ningxue was still looking down at her phone, the faint light from the screen illuminating her delicate and aloof side profile.

"Giving up already?"

Miss Pei didn't even lift her head. Her slender fingers swiped across the screen, her tone carrying a hint of mockery.

Chen Zhi ignored her. He yawned, adjusted himself into a comfortable position to lie down on his desk, his face turned toward Pei Ningxue, and his voice grew softer and softer.

"I'm a bit sleepy. If the teacher on duty comes to patrol, remember to kick me."

After saying that, he didn't care about Pei Ningxue's reaction and just buried his face in his arms. In less than half a minute, his breathing became long and steady.

He was truly exhausted.

He slept deeply and soundly. His dreams were filled with pork trotter rice chasing him, Lin Wanwan holding a metal detector to test his conscience, and Li Zhiyi silently giving him demerits on the side.

He didn't know how long had passed.

Chen Zhi was awakened by a sudden chorus of exclamations.

"Holy crap!"

"Ahhh!"

He groggily rubbed his eyes and subconsciously lifted his head.

It was pitch black in front of him.

The bright fluorescent lights were all extinguished now. Only the moonlight outside the window barely outlined the chaotic, swaying figures in the classroom.

Chen Zhi froze for two seconds, his brain not yet successfully rebooted.

"Who the hell turned off the lights in their sleep?"

He subconsciously complained.

No one answered him.

Because the entire academic building was boiling over at this moment.

"Power outage! Holy crap, the power's out!"

"Stop making noise! Quiet! Everyone sit back in your seats!"

On the podium, the physics teacher on duty tried to soothe the students' restless emotions.

"Don't panic, everyone. The school is repairing the circuit, and the power will be back on soon! Keep quiet and continue with your self-study!"

But these words clearly lacked any persuasive power.

To high school students who had been suppressed for a long time, a power outage was tantamount to a signal for a carnival.

The darkness covered up the order and released the restlessness.

Especially the residents of the VIP lounge area in the back row; they had already started rustling about packing their bags.

"Did you hear that?! If we don't run now, the power will come back on!"

Someone who didn't mind making things worse shouted.

This sentence was like a spark thrown into a pan of boiling oil.

"Run!"

"School's out!"

Class One, which had been relatively restrained, instantly exploded.

This was the so-called top class. They usually acted all proper, but once someone took the lead, they rebelled faster than anyone else.

Chen Zhi had just woken up from his dream, and his brain still hadn't caught up.

"Damn, these guys usually act like they're dying after running a few laps in P.E. class, but now they're running faster than me."

Chen Zhi cursed, but his body was very honest.

He grabbed his phone and keys from his desk cubby and stuffed them into his bag.

"Pei Ningxue, let's go."

He subconsciously called out to his side.

No one responded.

Chen Zhi reached out and felt the desk next to him.

Empty?

Did this young miss run away even faster than he did?

At this time, the classroom was already a chaotic mess.

The sounds of desks and chairs colliding, books falling, and excited weird screams mixed together.

Chen Zhi put on his backpack and squeezed toward the back door relying on muscle memory.

The back door was already blocked tight.

In the darkness, he didn't know whose elbow poked his ribs, nor whose foot stepped on his Air Jordans.

"Don't push! If you push any more, someone's getting pregnant!"

Someone screamed weirdly in the dark.

Chen Zhi was swept up by the crowd, struggling to move near the doorframe.

Just at the moment he prepared to exert force and squeeze out.

A hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and grabbed his collar.

Chen Zhi froze for a moment, just about to ask which bastard was ambushing him.

A faint, delicate fragrance wafted against his face.

It was a very, very faint scent, like a gardenia covered in morning dew.

The next second.

A moist, warm, and soft sensation came from his cheek.

The touch was fleeting.

Like a startled butterfly, lightly resting and then instantly flying away.

"...!"

Chen Zhi completely stiffened in place, his pupils shaking.

He turned his head abruptly, his hand grabbing blindly in the dark: "Who?!"

His fingertips seemed to brush past a lock of smooth long hair, but in an instant, he couldn't grasp anything.

"What the hell?"

Chen Zhi covered his face, standing at the back door in a mess.

Who?

Who the hell took advantage of the chaos to assault me?

In broad daylight... no, in this pitch-black darkness, is there any law left?

That fragrance just now...

It was a bit familiar, but it was mixed with the sweat of too many people around, making it impossible for him to distinguish for a moment.

Was it Pei Ningxue?

Unlikely. That young miss was usually as cold and aloof as an iceberg; taking advantage of a crisis like this shouldn't fit her persona.

Or was it Li Zhiyi?

Although that girl looked easy to bully, she could be quite fierce sometimes.

He looked back and found that Li Zhiyi seemed to still be sitting in her original spot.

Could it be some random extra who had a secret crush on him?

"Excuse me, coming through!"

"Don't block the way, Chen Zhi!"

Someone behind him pushed him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Never mind, retreat first!"

Now was not the time to play Conan.

He went against the flow of people, relying on his slick footwork to weave through the crowd.

He arrived at the second floor.

The level of chaos here was no less than on the fifth floor.

The doorway of Class Seven was also packed with people.

By the moonlight shining into the corridor, Chen Zhi spotted the figure standing in a daze at the corner of the stairs at a glance.

"What are you standing there like an idiot for!"

Chen Zhi rushed over and grabbed her wrist.

Lin Wanwan was startled. After seeing clearly that it was Chen Zhi, her eyes instantly lit up: "Chen Zhi! What took you so long to come down? I was scared to death; I thought you got trampled to death!"

"Can't you wish for something good for me?"

Chen Zhi rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled her as he rushed downstairs,

"Hold tight, don't let go."

The warmth of his palm transmitted through her wrist.

Lin Wanwan's originally panicked heartbeat instantly settled down a lot.

"Oh."

She obediently responded, grabbing Chen Zhi's sleeve backhanded, and followed closely behind him.

Chen Zhi forcefully carved out a path through the crowded sea of people.

"Excuse me, make way."

The entire campus was shrouded in the night, with only the distant street lamps still shining a faint light.

The two rushed out of the teaching building with the surging crowd, running all the way to the bicycle shed.

The air outside was much fresher. The moonlight spilled over the campus like water, coating this chaotic great escape with a romantic hue.

Everywhere were students as excited as monkeys.

"Hurry up, before the dean reacts and locks the school gates."

Arriving in front of that familiar electric scooter, Chen Zhi deftly pulled out his keys and inserted them into the lock.

"Get on."

Lin Wanwan was just about to straddle the back seat, but her movements suddenly paused.

At this moment, the two were standing at the edge of the bicycle shed.

The moon quietly slipped out from behind the clouds, casting its pale light into the parking shed. Though not particularly bright, it was enough for them to see each other's faces.

Lin Wanwan stared at Chen Zhi's face and leaned in a little closer.

"What's that on your face?"

She reached out a finger, wanting to touch his left cheek.

Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no.

That sneak attacker from earlier... did she wear lipstick?

He instinctively turned his head, dodging Lin Wanwan's finger, and took the opportunity to glance in the rearview mirror.

By the moonlight, he could clearly see a faint red mark on his left cheek.

The shape was a bit blurry, but it was just barely recognizable as a pair of lips.

It was a trace left by some kind of lip balm or light-colored lipstick, looking exceptionally conspicuous against his fair skin.

Crap.

Which female hooligan did this?

This was damn near irrefutable evidence!

Chen Zhi's brain started working in overdrive, his mental CPU temperature instantly spiking to a hundred degrees.

How should he explain this?

A mosquito bite? That would be one uniquely shaped mosquito mouth.

The worst part was, he didn't even know who did it himself!

"Chen Zhi..."

Lin Wanwan's voice was already laced with a hint of suspicion. Her almond eyes, which had just been smiling, were now narrowing slightly, giving off a dangerous signal.

"What is this red stuff?"

She leaned in even closer, her nose twitching a couple of times as if trying to catch a scent.

Danger!

Chen Zhi took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He raised his hand, trying to look as natural as possible, and casually wiped the back of his hand across his face a few times.

"I slept too deeply during evening self-study just now and pressed my face against a book. You know how some book covers bleed color."

"Bleed color?"

Lin Wanwan looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of book bleeds color into such a weird shape?"

Lin Wanwan stared at him for two seconds, then looked at his cheek, which had now been rubbed entirely red.

Although she still felt something was off, Chen Zhi's open and honest demeanor left her unable to find any flaws in his story.

Besides, doing something as stupid as falling asleep and getting a mark pressed onto his face was exactly the kind of thing Chen Zhi would do.

"Oh..."

Lin Wanwan withdrew her suspicious gaze and curled her lips.

"That's what you get for sleeping in class. Serves you right."

Phew—

Chen Zhi let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.

He had managed to bluff his way through.

But the cold sweat on his back had already soaked through his school uniform.

That sensation from earlier...

That fragrance...

And that incredibly bold move.

Who on earth was it?

Chen Zhi hopped onto his electric scooter and twisted the throttle.

Carrying the two of them, each preoccupied with their own thoughts, the scooter rushed into the vast night.

Meanwhile, on the fifth floor of the teaching building behind them.

By a certain window.

A slender figure stood quietly in the darkness.

Pei Ningxue was holding a tube of lip balm, having just put the cap back on.

It was a light cherry color.

She watched the electric scooter fade into the distance, her fingers gently stroking her slightly cool lips.

The darkness concealed the breathtaking blush on her face.

"...Idiot."

She murmured softly.

Her voice was very faint.

And was instantly scattered by the night breeze.