Chapter 54: A Few Abs
Jiang Yan suddenly seemed to think of something and, with a mischievous grin, poked Wen Xia’s shoulder. “Xia Xia, you must have seen your cousin without clothes on, right?”
What did she mean by “seen”? She was now his “cousin,” and how could a cousin possibly have seen her cousin without clothes?
Cough, cough… Wen Xia almost choked on her saliva again, speaking in a slightly unnatural, low voice. “I’ve only seen the top, not the bottom.” She felt a little guilty as she said the last part.
Liu An’an and Jiang Yan both burst into teasing laughter. Jiang Yan grinned and said, “Hehe, what are you thinking? I never said you saw handsome cousin’s bottom, okay?”
Soon, she grew excited again. “Xia Xia, how many abs does handsome cousin have?”
Wen Xia really didn’t know. He used to have eight, but that was because he worked out every day. Now that he was a student, he probably didn’t have as many—or maybe none at all.
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Yan and Liu An’an were both instantly disappointed, feeling deflated.
Wen Xia laughed and knocked their heads lightly, handing them both a box of chocolate. “Stop reading so many novels. You’re almost turning into p*rverts. Have you finished your homework? Not copying anymore?”
As soon as homework was mentioned, Jiang Yan quickly snapped out of it, panicking, “Xia Xia, quickly let me copy your math homework!”
“I want the English homework,” Liu An’an quickly interjected.
After sending the two of them off, Wen Xia took out her phone and secretly sent a message to Qin Mo.
[Husband, how many abs do you have?]
While Qin Mo was busy working on some test papers, he felt his phone vibrate. He opened the message and immediately burst into laughter.
How did a high school student like him have abs?
He replied with a message: [I’ll let you touch them when we get home.]
“…”
Wen Xia quickly typed another message: [Don’t you have any?]
Her words seemed to question his abilities in that area, and Qin Mo’s hand, holding the pen, paused. He accidentally left a black mark on his exam paper.
[Ask for leave, we will discuss it in depth at home.]
Wen Xia didn’t reply for a long time, clearly choosing to be a “turtle” and hide.
Qin Mo started searching for nearby gyms on his phone. There was one near the De’an Community, so he noted down the number, planning to ask about it after evening self-study.
Suddenly, someone tugged at his sleeve. He looked over at Zhao Zichuan. “Hm?”
Zhao Zichuan gave him a knowing look. Qin Mo looked up and met the gaze of Zhou Gang, who was just as kind as usual. “Qin Mo, it’s time for self-study now. You can check the materials after class.”
Zhao Zichuan: “…”
Qin Mo didn’t even try to play it off in a casual way, sounding as fresh and refined as ever.
Qin Mo put his phone away and placed it in his desk drawer. Under Zhou Gang’s watchful eye, he filled in a C on his test paper.
Zhou Gang glanced at the test sheet for a moment, seemingly satisfied, before walking off. Shortly after, his stern voice rang out: “Xu Xiaochun, take your phone out. Don’t think I didn’t see it just because you put it away fast.”
“Can you score full marks in math? Full marks in English? Or full marks in your science subjects? If you could get full marks, I’d happily sit with you and play games all day, but since you can’t, take your phone out, and you can come pick it up after school on Friday.”
Zhao Zichuan: “…”
…
After the third evening self-study session ended, Wen Xia and the others, using Liu Boyi’s connections, borrowed the school’s music room to practice dance.
“Xia Xia, I’ve learned the entire square dance. Let me show you!” Jiang Yan started dancing and recited the steps, “123, shake your butt, 456, wave your hands, 789, turn around…” Her movements were stiff and comical.
Wen Xia and Liu An’an couldn’t stop laughing, clutching their stomachs, unable to straighten up. Wen Xia waved her hand, signaling for her to stop, and laughed again, “Yan Yan, let’s not do this one. Let’s go back to the previous one.”
After watching Jiang Yan dance, she had even less courage to get up and perform square dance.
As for Qin Shueba, she kept it a secret from him.
Just as Jiang Yan was starting to get the hang of it, she exclaimed, “Ah, didn’t you say the dance costumes were too expensive?”
“Plus, I think square dance is so great—simple and easy to do.”
Liu An’an waved her hand dismissively. “I agree with Xia Xia. Yan Yan, watching you dance is honestly hard to bear, haha…”
“An’an!!” Jiang Yan jumped up and put her arms around Liu An’an’s neck.
The three of them began practicing the dance, and occasionally, they could hear Jiang Yan groaning, “My waist is about to twist into a pretzel.”
When Zhou Qing and Liu Boyi arrived, they happened to hear that, and they both couldn’t help but laugh.
“Brother, you’re the best.”
When Liu An’an saw Liu Boyi bringing three bottles of water, she immediately ran over to grab them and handed one to Wen Xia and one to Jiang Yan.
Zhou Qing walked over to Jiang Yan’s side, patted her on the head, and chuckled lightly, “Take it easy.” He then took her water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and handed it back to her.
Jiang Yan’s face turned a little red as she took the bottle and drank a few sips.
Liu An’an and Wen Xia exchanged sly looks, and Jiang Yan’s face reddened even more.
Liu Boyi looked at Wen Xia and asked, “How’s the practice going?”
“Not bad,” Wen Xia said, twisting open her water bottle to take a sip.
The three of them continued to practice the dance, running through it twice before heading back to the classroom to grab their things and go to the dormitory. There were still the class monitor and the study committee member in the classroom, absorbed in their books.
While Wen Xia was gathering her things, Xu Min suddenly called out to her, “Wen Xia, can you explain this question? Both the class monitor and I can’t figure it out.”
The problem was the last question on their midterm math exam.
Qin Mo had told her that the last question was where the most points were lost in math, so he always made sure to explain it to her clearly.
Wen Xia nodded. “An’an, Yan Yan, you two can go ahead if you want. I’ll catch up later.”
“We’ll wait for you,” Jiang Yan said, showing the loyalty of a good friend.
Wen Xia didn’t say anything. She took out a pen and a draft paper, pushed the books on the desk up a little to avoid blocking He Sheng’s view, and then started explaining the problem.
Both of them had better math scores than she did, so after explaining it carefully, they understood it pretty quickly.
At that moment, the lights in the classroom were turned off, and the group walked out. He Sheng locked the classroom door.
“Xia Xia, pass it to my brother, free labor,” Liu An’an started her usual antics, taking something from Wen Xia and handing it to Liu Boyi.
“I’ll carry it myself.” Wen Xia didn’t want to trouble Liu Boyi.
Liu An’an grabbed her wrist and started walking toward the stairs. “Xia Xia, my brother is like your brother, don’t be shy, haha.”
As they reached the dormitory door, Wen Xia received a call from Qin Mo. “Cousin.”
At that moment, Liu Boyi spoke up, “Here’s your stuff.”
Wen Xia quickly put her phone in her pocket, reached out to take the items, and thanked him. “Thanks, Brother Boyi.”
“No need to thank me. If you want to use the dance room again, just ask me for the keys,” Liu Boyi said, shaking his head.
Qin Mo waited a minute or two before hearing Wen Xia’s breathless voice on the phone. “Cousin?”
“Mm.”
Qin Mo, lounging on the sofa, sounded a bit lazy. “Where did you go?”
“To practice dance, just got back to the dorm,” Wen Xia said as she started washing up, getting ready for bed.
“Is Liu Boyi also there?” Qin Mo asked, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
“Brother Boyi gave us access to the school’s dance practice room,” Wen Xia replied.
Qin Mo lightly responded with an “oh,” before asking, “How’s the square dance coming along?”
“Not bad,” Wen Xia answered, feeling a bit guilty.
“If my wife dares to go against my wishes, then don’t blame your husband for making you experience that… something… ahead of time,” Qin Mo teased.
He understood his wife’s personality well—outwardly obedient, but far from it when it came to certain things.
Back in their senior year of high school, Qin Mo had a particularly strong impression of Wen Xia among all the girls.
During the summer vacation of their senior year in high school, he and Zhao Zichuan went out to play games and just so happened to run into her, along with Liu An’an and Jiang Yan, playing games together.
This was the third time they had met.
Maybe it was because her teammate was annoying, but she let out a curse, “F*ck…” Before she could finish saying anything, she saw him.
Her face flushed bright red, and she called his name, “Qin Mo.”
F*ck…
Qin Mo.
F*ck Qin Mo.
That’s when Qin Mo really started to remember Wen Xia, and soon he realized that her smile was incredibly cute.
