Chapter 4 The Ugly Duckling Turns Into a Swan_3

After Li Li had her vision checked and walked into the shop hall, she didn't see Pei Shangxuan's figure. A shop assistant told Li Li that the picky boy had already left with several male classmates. Li Li thought back to Pei Shangxuan's abnormal behavior in the previous days and suddenly realized—being friends with her was an extremely embarrassing thing for Pei Shangxuan.

Li Li went home alone, her ears echoing the words he had previously said, "At worst, I'll just concentrate on taking notes during class and then lend them to you to copy."

Indeed, those were just casual remarks from Pei Shangxuan, not to be taken seriously.

Before getting her glasses, copying from the blackboard during class was still a difficult task for Li Li. Seeing her squinting her eyes, struggling to discern what was written in chalk on the blackboard, Pei Shangxuan couldn't help but snatch her notebook, intending to do the task for her.

"Let go." She raised her arm and pressed down hard on her own notebook, "I still have notes to take." She lowered her voice and said.

"With your eyesight, I think you better forget about it." Pei Shangxuan effortlessly lifted her arm that was holding onto her, and with his other hand smoothly pulled away the notebook, comparing what she had written with the language teacher's chalk writing on the blackboard.

Li Li bit the pen, thoughtfully watching the serious-faced boy—this guy, who clearly cared about others misinterpreting their relationship, sometimes acted as if he was missing a few screws, behaving intimately in ways that led to even more misunderstandings, which left her torn between laughter and tears.

Pei Shangxuan's academic performance wasn't great, but his handwriting was unexpectedly beautiful. Every teacher said he lacked concentration and that if he were willing to put some effort into his studies, he could definitely make it into the top ten of his grade. However, he seemed to let advice go in one ear and out the other, sincerely accepting his unchanging behavior.

When bored, Li Li would try to persuade him to become a "study hard and make progress every day" student, rather than always thinking about eating, drinking, and having fun. Pei Shangxuan would raise an eyebrow, tousle her hair, and say Li Li sounded like his mom.

Li Li would then glare, jump up, and firmly choke Pei Shangxuan's neck while repeatedly cursing him as "detestable."

All the classmates looked on, saying there was no relationship between the two of them, even the most honest girl in class, Chen Qian, shook her head in disbelief.

It used to be coincidence when they bumped into each other at the entrance of the alley, but from some point on, it became a deliberate wait. Every day they went to school together, walking the ten-minute journey. If he didn't go out to play after school, he would head home with Li Li.

Boys and girls of this age are sensitive, and everyone seemed to be using a microscope, magnifying every trace to the extreme. Li Li and Pei Shangxuan were a pair nobody could understand clearly.

Pei Shangxuan returned the notebook to Li Li with an obviously proud expression, "I said I would help you copy your notes, I didn't lie, did I?"

"I will be getting my glasses in a couple of days, there will be no need to trouble you anymore." Li Li thanked him indifferently, turned her head, and did not engage in further conversation with him.

"When? I'll accompany you." He had left in a hurry on the day she was getting her glasses without saying goodbye and felt somewhat remorseful.

"How strong is the prescription?" Seeing that Li Li ignored him, Pei Shangxuan leaned most of his body over the desk, persistently bringing his well-proportioned face close to her eyelids.

"Are you angry?" Pei Shangxuan remembered that when Li Li was angry, she liked to bite her lip, as if the raw pain could distract from her inner anger. He called this behavior "self-torture" and tried to stop her from continuing to mistreat herself, but he was always defeated time and again.

Li Li was a stubborn girl, hard to persuade. Sometimes he even thought she was deliberately uncooperative, as though by hurting a part of her own body, she vented her frustrations.

Suddenly, Li Li released her teeth, calmly glanced at him, "I'm not angry, you have no ability to upset me." She tilted her head back, radiating a brilliant smile.

In an instant, Pei Shangxuan felt dazzled—Li Li really wasn't a beautiful girl, and at first glance, she was kind of ugly, but after getting used to her features, one could occasionally find charming moments. Like now, her smile was the kind that could sweep away the frustration in one's heart. Many years later, Pei Shangxuan finally understood, Li Li with such a smile, had always had a heart shrouded in dark clouds—Li Li was a cheerful pessimist, a paradoxical combination.

Pei Shangxuan didn't understand Li Li, even though this girl had been by his side for the long fifteen years.

Ultimately, he asked her, "Is it because we're too familiar that I can't see through your thoughts?"

She revealed the smile he had known for fifteen years and answered insouciantly, "Because, you don't love me."

Pei Shangxuan and Li Li left the school one after another, with him waiting for her at the entrance of the glasses store.