No Ulterior Motives C43

Chapter 43: The Most Embarrassing Moment Ever

“Keep your voice down.”

“Don’t push me!”

Jiang Ning clutched a lavender-scented purple envelope in her hand as she and Luo Shanshan sneaked up to the third floor of the teaching building.

It was class time, so they didn’t dare to be too conspicuous.

Even so, a few teachers going up and down the stairs still noticed them.

One of them, a math teacher from another class, even joked with Jiang Ning:

“Jiang Ning? What brings you to the third floor?”

“Thinking about transferring classes? Come to Class 10! Our class—”

After a long introduction, Jiang Ning and Luo Shanshan could only nod politely.

Finally escaping the teacher, Jiang Ning patted the pocket containing her item and sighed softly.

“Who knew delivering a letter would be this hard?”

“No wonder Qi Wen refused to come no matter what!”

But Luo Shanshan didn’t see it that way.

“It’s because of that face of yours—too eye-catching.”

“Good thing it’s not break time, or else—”

Ding Ling!!!

At that moment, the class bell rang.

Jiang Ning’s face changed instantly, and she cursed.

“You jinx!”

“What do we do now?!”

“Deliver it, of course. If you turn back now, how will you explain it to Wenwen?” Luo Shanshan looked downright smug as she said it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wait right here. It’ll be quick.”

“Just think of it like giving birth—painful for a moment, but you’ll feel better after!”

Giving birth, my ass.

Looking at the students streaming out of their classrooms, Jiang Ning really wanted to turn and leave.

But then she thought about the deal she made with Yang Mei and the promise she made to Qi Wen.

Gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and muttered:

“It’s just delivering something!”

“Just think of it as being a delivery person!”

Ignoring the strange looks from passing students, she strode toward Class 9’s door.

“Ahem, uh, is Tao Tao here?”

That single sentence immediately caught the attention of a chubby boy sitting in the front row of Class 9.

He instinctively looked up and followed the voice—

Only to see a bright, beautiful face, tinged with a slight blush, looking straight at him.

In an instant—

He froze.

Stared blankly for a long moment.

Then, as if realizing something, he turned around and, using the loudest voice he had since school started, shouted:

“T-Tao bro! A fairy is looking for you!!!”

Fairy?!

That word instantly captured the entire class’s attention.

And the moment they saw the charming girl at the classroom door, a chorus of “Whoa!!” erupted.

They sounded like a bunch of monkeys in the mountains during mating season.

Jiang Ning’s smile stiffened.

The word fairy was bad enough. Now add a bunch of howling monkeys?

At this moment—

She really wished the ground would open up so she could disappear.

But she had already come this far.

Damn it.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself, Jiang Ning ignored the crowd and marched into Class 9.

Following the students’ gazes, she reached a desk in the back by the window.

There sat a young man, mouth slightly open, face full of confusion.

Without hesitation, Jiang Ning pulled the items from her pocket and slammed them onto Tao Tao’s desk.

“Delivering something on someone else’s behalf!”

With those four words, she completely ignored his dumbfounded expression, turned on her heel, and strode out of Class 9.

Once outside, Jiang Ning bolted down the hallway like she was escaping.

Leaning against the wall, she gasped for breath while glaring at Luo Shanshan, who was watching leisurely.

“I’ve decided—from now on, I will treat every love letter I receive with utmost respect.”

“Because delivering them is absolute hell.”

Luo Shanshan burst into uncontrollable laughter, slapping the stair railing repeatedly.

Jiang Ning, still feeling humiliated, couldn’t stand the mockery.

She immediately transformed into Crazy Jiang and chased Luo Shanshan downstairs.

—

Meanwhile, back in Class 9.

Tao Tao’s desk now held a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao Healing Spray, a light purple envelope, and a thin, square object with small flowers engraved on it.

The first two were easy to recognize.

But the last item? Tao Tao was confused.

Just as he reached out to pick it up, his seatmate—Summer Solstice, a tomboy—grabbed it first.

Then, turning around, she stared at Tao Tao with an expression as if she was looking at a complete pervert.

“Tao Tao! Why the hell did a girl give you a pack of sanitary pads?!”

—

Jiang Ning had no idea she had accidentally included something disastrous in the delivery.

At that moment, she was confidently reporting back to Qi Wen.

Luo Shanshan was still laughing but nodded in agreement.

Qi Wen blushed slightly, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention before whispering:

“Don’t tell anyone.”

Ah, afraid of embarrassment, huh?

I get it, little girls and their secrets.

Jiang Ning immediately made an OK gesture.

—

One class later.

A voice called from outside:

“Jiang Ning, someone’s looking for you.”

Who?

Jiang Ning was in the middle of battling a reading passage. Hearing her name, she looked up, confused.

And saw—

A girl dressed in neutral clothing standing in front of her.

“Jiang Xiaoning, we meet again.”

Hearing that name, Jiang Ning was briefly stunned.

Then memories flooded back—of this person scratching her palm.

A strange itch.

“Summer… Solstice?”

“Ahem, what brings you here?”

“Delivering something on behalf of a certain limping idiot.”

Summer Solstice pulled a yellow envelope from her pocket and placed it on Jiang Ning’s desk. Along with it, she set down a thermos flask—

And a thin, square object.

The first two were fine. Jiang Ning was confused but not overly concerned.

But when she saw the last item—

Something about it looked familiar.

Instinctively, she checked her pocket.

Finding it empty—

She froze.

Sat stiffly in her chair, mind blank, ears ringing.

She didn’t even hear Summer Solstice’s parting words.

Luo Shanshan, puzzled, leaned over and quickly stuffed the sanitary pad into Jiang Ning’s desk—after all, it was a girl’s personal item.

Then she curiously picked up the thermos and sniffed it.

“Oh? Brown sugar water!”

“Jiang Jiang, who gave this to you? They even know brown sugar water is good for period cramps!”

“Wait—Jiang Jiang, why are you crying?”

“Are you moved?”

“I mean… if I were on my period and someone gave me a flask of brown sugar water, I might cry too—”

———