After the argument, the two hugged each other and ignored each other.
Finally, she surrendered leisurely: "What I meant was that I was tricked today."
That afternoon, You Ran's class finished their professional course at the college's teachers' office. When the bell rang, she had just reached the door with her textbooks when she bumped into someone.
The chest looked familiar, and You Ran knew who it was without even looking up, so she chose to walk away without raising her head.
However, Qu Yun called out to her, "Li Youran, please come back, I have something to say."
You Ran could only grit her teeth and return to her seat.
Qu Yun was going to talk about something that the school was about to hold some kind of celebration or event, and that included a cleanliness competition. Each college would be inspected next Thursday. The college was taking this competition very seriously and was requiring all faculty and staff to give it their all.
They also divided up areas of responsibility. Youran's grade was responsible for cleaning and tidying up the academy's storage room.
Upon hearing this, the entire class erupted in groans of despair.
You should know that the academy's storage room has never been cleaned since the academy was founded. It is full of miscellaneous items, and the dust on the floor is three feet thick.
The college leadership's requirement was that everything be kept spotless.
Immaculate, what a state of being!
Qu Yun reassured everyone at the right time: "There's still a whole week until next Thursday, so there's plenty of time. Let's work together and try to finish the task as soon as possible. So, are there any students who want to take charge of this cleaning?"
Upon hearing this, the heads of those who had just been swaying like wheat fields in spring due to their indignation and discontent immediately drooped to the dust.
This is a classic case of doing something thankless and only a fool would do it.
"Since no one is willing, then I will appoint them." Counselor Qu began to select the candidates.
You Ran couldn't take those words to heart. She was thinking about other things, things that would make her forget that her ex-boyfriend was standing in front of her.
So when Qu Yun called out Li Youran's name, Youran felt like she had been bitten on the butt, and almost jumped up.
"Was he calling me just now?" You Ran asked the classmate on her left, looking bewildered.
"I told you to be a free cleaner, Youran, my condolences." The classmate patted Youran on the shoulder.
You Ran looked up, confused and angry, and just then saw a long-lost white light flash across Qu Yun's pretentious non-prescription glasses.
The "ding" sound made You Ran's eardrums ache slightly.
After reminiscing, he asked casually, "What do you think he meant by doing this?"
"It's actually quite easy to understand." Xiaoxin crushed the soda can, threw it, and accurately put it into the basketball hoop.
That pose was both arrogant and cool.
"How so?" You Ran asked.
"Because you're so annoying, everyone wants to mess with you, even your ex-boyfriend." That was Shin-chan's answer.
The next second.
"Grandma Li, where are you going to throw this?!"
"I'm going to throw it down your crotch, I'm going to make you infertile!!!...Hey, why are you carrying two bottles?"
"You've made me childless, so I'll make sure your son never gets a baby bottle!!!"
"Ah!!! Don't come any closer!!"
And so, on the basketball court, the two began chasing and playing around again.
Although it was Qu Yun who made the decision, it was the academy that gave the order. You Ran didn't dare to resist and could only resign herself to tidying up the storage room.
The position of person in charge sounds nice, but it's actually the most miserable one. Despite repeatedly notifying the whole class to gather in the storage room at 3 pm, You Ran waited for nearly half an hour in the cold corridor, but there wasn't a single person in sight.
Those with a conscience will at least put on a show, making a phone call to ask for leave, and their reasons are all quite consistent.
One said his father was sick, another said his mother was sick, one said he himself was sick, and yet another said his goldfish was sick.
In the end, You Ran could only grab Xiaomi and ask her to come with her.
Upon opening the storage room, You Ran immediately felt that this place was definitely a good place for time travel—incredibly gloomy and mysterious.
Spider webs of all sizes, dust everywhere, clutter scattered about, and rotten wooden floors that creak when you step on them.
He sighed deeply, covered his mouth and nose with a scarf, and resignedly began cleaning.
After working diligently for an hour, she had only managed to sweep a small area. Exhausted and with a sore back, she sat down on the floor, not caring about the dirt.
"Why did Qu Yun do this to you?" Xiaomi asked.
"Because I'm a person who deserves a beating, everyone wants to mess with me, even my wicked ex-boyfriend is no exception." You Ran twisted her neck and rubbed her waist, plagiarizing Xiao Xin's reason.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem to make sense," Xiaomi agreed.
You Ran was too exhausted to even be angry, and decided to spare Xiaomi's life.
While resting, You Ran's tentacles began to wriggle: "Don't you feel that there's a different smell in the air?"
"I only have the idea of releasing hydrogen sulfide, it hasn't become a reality yet," Xiaomi confessed.
With a gentle push, she shoved Xiao Mi away. Then, she saw Cao Cao standing behind Xiao Mi, in front of the storage room door.
Although the light was dim, Cao Cao's high-bridged nose and flat eyes once again flashed with white light.
White light, white light again.
Xiao Mi was a coward who clung to life, and upon seeing Qu Yun, she quickly slipped away, saying, "You Ran, I have class. I'll come find you next time. Bye-bye."
As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared without a trace.
You Ran got up, picked up a rag and began wiping the heavy wooden frame. The only purpose of doing this was to turn her back to Qu Yun.
You Ran hoped that when she turned around, Qu Yun would be nowhere to be found, just like when they broke up last time.
But You Ran's wish was in vain, because she heard Cao Cao walking towards her—the old wooden floorboards creaked and groaned.
The rag in You Ran's hand was crumpled into tofu dregs.
"It seems the efficiency wasn't very good; they only cleaned this little bit of space?"
He closed his eyes leisurely, ignoring it.
"I forgot to mention that the college will conduct an inspection one day before the school's visit. That means this place must be cleaned by next Wednesday. Is there a problem?"
No one spoke, no one spoke, only the dogs barked, You Ran told herself.
"What, are you the only one here? Doesn't anyone else give you any face? Li Youran, it seems you're not very popular."
Things should not happen more than three times.
You Ran suddenly turned around and threw the dusty rag at Qu Yun's face. The rag slid smoothly across Qu Yun's perfect facial contours before falling to the ground.
You Ran looked at Qu Yun coldly and said to her ex-boyfriend, "Teacher, you talk too much."
Although her face was wiped with a dirty rag, Qu Yun did not seem to show any emotional fluctuation.
He simply stood there, watching You Ran.
The windows of the storage room were boarded up, but over the years, wind and sun had caused cracks to appear in the boards.
A ray of sunlight shone through the tiny gap and fell between the two of them.
Countless dust particles float in the air.
You Ran noticed that Qu Yun's face seemed to have been tinged with the warm yellow of the sunlight, and his lips were blooming with a silent smile, a smile that was gentle and radiant.
Then, he turned and walked out.
You Ran stood there, constantly recalling: Did I use too much force just now and give Qu Yun a concussion?
If concussions were so easy to get, then Qu Yun wouldn't be Qu Yun.
The next afternoon, You Ran was working diligently in the storage room as usual. That day, not a single student called to ask for leave; all the other students had disappeared.
As I was breathing heavily, for a fleeting moment, You Ran understood the feelings of the perpetrator who quietly shot and killed his classmate on an American school campus.
After working for two tiring hours, I finally managed to clean up the southeast corner. Although it was still far from the unrealistic, spotless state that the college leaders aspired to, I was quite satisfied.
Just then, a strange and unsettling smell began to waft through the air.
As is customary, You Ran turned her head and, unsurprisingly, saw Qu Yun.
He moved slowly and quietly, gripping the broom tightly.
"Efficiency has improved, that's good." Qu Yun smiled.
Good girls shouldn't talk to their ex-boyfriends, You Ran reminded herself.
"Are you still drinking lately? Drink less; drinking too much will harm your health," Qu Yun said.
Even if I drink sulfuric acid, what's it to you? You Ran thought to herself.
Seemingly noticing her body language, Qu Yun continued, "Besides, it's not good for a man and a woman to drink together; it's easy for... misunderstandings to arise between them."
So you and your Tang Yongzi could just strut around the campus like two scrambled crabs after the autumn harvest?!
You Ran felt her teeth clench, but then she realized how ridiculous she was: who cares what he does with Tang Yongzi.
Then, with a relaxed and relieved smile, he continued—
He swung the broom horizontally and smacked Qu Yun's calf with a "smack".
She was quite strong; although she didn't break a bone, she at least got bruises. You Ran was satisfied with herself for completing the action.
"Teacher, I'm so sorry, it was an accident, my hand slipped," she said coldly.
The day was overcast and there was no sunshine, so the smile on Qu Yun's lips was not very clear in You Ran's eyes.
But she was certain that this smile was exactly the same as yesterday's.
They've definitely knocked him out of his mind.
He gracefully withdrew without saying another word, and walked past Qu Yun to leave.
Having encountered Qu Yun at the same location for two consecutive days, You Ran figured she couldn't escape him on the third day either. So she brought her MP4 player, which was filled with heavy metal music, and decided to wear it while cleaning, determined not to listen to Qu Yun and make him lose interest so he would leave as soon as possible.
But when she opened the door to the storage room, You Ran froze for a minute. Then, she began to regret that she hadn't brought a kitchen knife—the southeast corner of the storage room, which she had just cleaned yesterday, was now piled with a lot of clutter and dust.
Qu Yun did not come that day.
That evening, You Ran and Xiao Xin were drinking at the school's tennis court.
“I want to kill him.” You Ran’s face was gloomy. “But I can’t do that. I can’t go to jail for a scumbag. So, the only way is…”