Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 256: Triangle

Lin Zhengran let go of Jiang Xueli.

“Lili, hold on a sec.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Sniffling, Jiang Xueli kept following closely behind him. “Z-Zhengran, where are you going? Don’t leave me.”

Lin Zhengran chuckled and patted her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

He walked to the storage room door. The rusty iron lock hanging on it made a dull clink as he tapped it with his fingers.

With a snap, the lock broke cleanly.

Lin Zhengran opened the door. The room inside was surprisingly spacious, with only a few scattered items.

He turned to her and said, “It just rained, and crying out here in the cold air could get you sick. Come in and cry instead.”

Hearing that, Jiang Xueli started crying even harder. She hadn’t even noticed what Lin Zhengran just did.

“The nicer you are to me, the sadder I feel~ Waaah...”

Lin Zhengran pulled her inside, took off his jacket, and laid it down on a flat spot like a cushion.

Then he sat with her, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed her heart out.

In the quiet, dim space, it was easier to feel safe and relaxed.

No one knew how long she’d been bottling it all up, but finally, Jiang Xueli’s sniffling began to slow down.

Lin Zhengran asked, “Feeling better?”

Jiang Xueli snuggled into his chest. “I’m all out of tears. And your chest is so warm. I can’t cry anymore.”

Lin Zhengran chuckled. “Then let’s just stay like this a while.”

“Dummy…”

She hugged him even tighter.

Her voice was hoarse.

“If I had known… I would’ve gone with He Qing this afternoon to find you. Should’ve turned off my phone, not answered any calls. I was so dumb, grinning in my room because I got that invitation to join the show. I thought it was such great news. I had no idea our home was getting robbed… and you were with He Qing that whole time…”

She was about to cry again by the end of it.

Lin Zhengran cupped her face gently.

Her expression softened, understanding his meaning. Her cheeks turned slightly pink.

As Lin Zhengran leaned in, Jiang Xueli opened her mouth slightly, still crying, and kissed him.

Their lips met and lingered for a while.

When they parted, Lin Zhengran asked, “Feeling any better now?”

Jiang Xueli looked away and didn’t answer.

So Lin Zhengran leaned in and kissed her again. This time, she closed her eyes and kissed him back.

Her hands slowly gripped his shirt as his arms wrapped around her waist.

When they broke apart again, he asked, “Feeling better now?”

“Dummy, that’s cheating. But… it’s already happened, crying won’t fix it. I’m not the type to sob and mope anyway.”

Lin Zhengran thought to himself: Really? From what I remember, Lili cried a lot growing up…

Jiang Xueli said, “At least your first kiss was mine. It’s not like you gave He Qing everything.”

Lin Zhengran paused.

Jiang Xueli looked at him, confused by the sudden silence. Their eyes met, and her expression shifted as realization hit her.

“Wait—don’t tell me your first kiss wasn’t with me either?!”

Lin Zhengran: “.....”

Jiang Xueli: “.....”

Her lips trembled. Then she let out a full wail, crying even harder than before.

Lin Zhengran quickly tried to comfort her. “Okay, okay…”

“I can’t believe this! You’re always bullying me! Ever since we were kids, all you’ve ever done is bully me!”

Seeing her about to fall apart, Lin Zhengran knew this couldn’t go on. If she cried any longer, her eyes would be swollen the next day.

He held her face again and quickly kissed her.

It worked.

Jiang Xueli chose kissing over crying.

This time, the kiss lasted a long while—long enough for her to finally calm down.

Resting in his arms, she muttered, “Always cheating. Taking advantage of the fact that I like you. You’ve been bullying me nonstop since we were kids.”

“Come on, that’s not bullying. We’ve been bickering since forever.”

“I’m not talking about scolding or hitting me—that stuff doesn’t matter. You always tap my head anyway. I mean emotionally. After all these years, you’ve never given me any of your firsts.

When I met you, we were in second grade. But you already knew He Qing! I wasn’t your first childhood friend. I wasn’t the first girl you met. I wasn’t any of your firsts.

I still remember how back in elementary school, you’d secretly call He Qing behind my back. And in middle school, when she came back, you didn’t even try to hide it anymore.”

“What do you mean, ‘secretly’?”

She looked up at him. “Wait. Are you still thinking about He Qing right now?!”

Lin Zhengran replied, “What? No way. I’m with you right now, aren’t I?”

She narrowed her eyes sharply, her gaze serious for the first time. “You better not lie. You’ve never lied to me before.”

“Yeah. I’m not lying.”

Jiang Xueli really didn’t see any hint of dishonesty in his eyes. That meant she still held a place in his heart.

She finally relaxed a little.

Leaning against him again, she seemed to be pondering something—trying to find a glimmer of hope in a hopeless situation.

Softly, she asked, “Zhengran… have you already tried everything with He Qing?”

“What do you mean, ‘everything’?”

Suddenly, Jiang Xueli sat up and searched the floor. She found a blade of grass and folded it into a triangle.

Holding it up seriously, she said, “Take this triangle, for example. Everyone knows a triangle has three sides. Each side is the same length and equally important. The top corner represents the top, the front corner represents the front, and the back corner… also represents the back.”

It sounded like nonsense, but Lin Zhengran actually understood her meaning.

Blushing, Jiang Xueli looked tsundere as ever. “You get what I’m saying, right? You’re way smarter than me.”

Lin Zhengran chuckled helplessly and nodded.

Jiang Xueli pointed to the front corner.

“This one’s first time?”

Lin Zhengran replied, “No need to ask. You already know.”

Jiang Xueli gave him a jealous look and then pointed to the top corner. “What about this one?”

Lin Zhengran nodded.

Her eyes widened, cheeks turning bright red. “You! He Qing even did that kind of thing?!”

Actually, she didn’t.

Little He Qing had been shy and nervous that afternoon. Although Lin Zhengran had teased her for hours, they hadn’t gone all the way.

The reason he nodded was because he’d done that with Wenwen.

Jiang Xueli was both angry and jealous—but now, she was also scared. This last corner… it was her final hope. She pointed to the last angle.

“This one?”

Lin Zhengran shook his head. “No.”

Jiang Xueli blinked in surprise. It was like she could finally see a glimmer of victory. She asked again, “This one?”

“Nope.”

“You’ve never tried this triangle side?”

“Mm, my math hasn’t reached that level yet.”

Jiang Xueli’s face flushed deep red. She shyly looked away and lowered her hand. “Then why’d you try the first two but not this one?”

“Want the truth?”

Jiang Xueli hesitated. She was afraid the answer wouldn’t be what she hoped for—but even so, she wanted to know. “Of course I want the truth. What’s the point of lies?”

Lin Zhengran said, “Didn’t you say last week that you owed me a favor? I haven’t forgotten. So I planned to try this one… when we were together.”

Jiang Xueli blushed like crazy. She clenched her small fists, shouting like she was throwing a tantrum:

“You—you perv! Zhengran, you big perv! Freak! Dummy! Idiot!”

But after shouting, she looked into his eyes… and couldn’t bear to look any longer.

Because that answer—was exactly the one she wanted to hear.

Her heart felt warm.

She looked down at her golden ponytail, slowly lifted it, and placed it in his hand.

“You can hold it. I promised to make it up to you—I won’t break my word.”