The Rules of Playing Truant

"Ahem." Lu Yichen let out an awkward cough and took a gentlemanly step back, his face unnaturally red.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Mu Xiaoxiao shook her head. "I'm fine… Now where do we go?"

"You don't have anywhere you want to be?"

Mu Xiaoxiao thought for a while before grinning at him. "Rule number one of playing truant is that you shouldn't loiter near school, or you will be dead meat if a teacher accidentally sees you."

Lu Yichen chuckled at her cute expression and said, "I see that you are very experienced."

"Let's go to the bus stop then before we continue our discussion on where to go," he suggested.

"Okay," Mu Xiaoxiao answered before heading off in a random direction like a headless fly.

"It's this way."

"Oh, oh!" Her face reddened and she turned around quickly to follow him.

The bus stop was not too far away and only had a few people. Mu Xiaoxiao thought this experience a novelty and arched her neck to look at the bus information board.

"Have you thought of where you want to go?" Lu Yichen asked again. Even though he looked like he alredy had an idea, he still asked the girl for her opinion.

Mu Xiaoxiao shook her little head. "I dont know where to go… How about you? I'm fine with going anywhere, so it's up to you."

She had studied overseas in America since middle school, and though she came back once in a while, she was still very unfamiliar with the surroundings here.

"Want to go to the bowling alley? I know just the right place," he said.

"Sure!" Mu Xiaoxiao nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Just then, a public bus arrived. Lu Yichen indicated that she should board it, and surmising that she probably didn't have any pocket money, he paid her fare himself but swiped his with his bus pass.

"Come up," he said. She had been following him behind when he seemed to remember something suddenly and asked, "Have you never ridden on a public bus?"

"Of course I have!" Mu Xiaoxiao exclaimed. After climbing up the steps of the bus, she lifted her head and glanced at the interior. "But there aren't any seats left. Let's go," she said gloomily.

Actually, she had been lying earlier. She had never taken a bus in China, even though she had ridden buses in America. Over there, they didn't allow anyone to board if all the seats were taken.

Seeing that she really wanted to get off the bus, Lu Yichen chuckled in surprise and hastily stopped her from doing so. "Don't get down. It'll be the same for the next bus — it won't have any seats too."

Even though the seats were all occupied, there was still a lot of room for passengers to stand.

"Then what are we going to do?" The driver glared at Mu Xiaoxiao, which made her rush up the steps. Just as she passed him, the bus started to move. Shocked, she almost lost her balance.

"Hold this right here to keep your balance," he said, taking her to the rear of the bus near the back door so that she could grab a pole.

She was on the shorter side, so it would be difficult for her to hold on to the handrail like he was doing.

Lu Yichen had guessed long ago that she had never been on a public bus. So, he stood in front of her to supervise and protect her.

Mu Xiaoxiao lifted her eyes discreetly and studied his handsome face. The distance between them was a little close, reminding her of the idol dramas that she had watched, where the male and female leads would also have such a similarly intimate scene while riding the bus.

———

When Mu Xiaoxiao was busy playing truant.

On the other side of town.

In Year Two's Class S, the atmosphere was exceptionally bizarre. For the teacher, he felt extremely uneasy throughout the entire period. When at last the bell rang for the end of class, the teacher wiped his sweat and announced hastily, "Class dismissed!"

He then ran out of the classroom with his tail between his legs.

Everyone in the class could feel the tension emanating from Yin Shaojie and see his infuriated expression. No one dared to get close to him.