Whether it was a secret crush or not, Bai Jiangxin really needed to say something now to wrap things up.

His mind-reading ability was actually not as mystical as what movies and TV shows made it out to be.

Bai Jiangxin could hear other people’s thoughts, but not all the time, and not whoever he wanted. If he truly had that kind of power, he would already know how many lovers and illegitimate children the President of the United States had.

He needed some kind of medium in order to hear them. So far, the simplest medium was physical transmission—once his body made contact with the other person, their thoughts would transmit directly into his brain like an electric current. Once the contact was broken, the transmission would stop as well.

Another kind was biological transmission. The other person’s saliva, blood, or even any bodily fluid—its organic or inorganic components—so long as they came into contact with him, could all become a medium for transmitting thoughts.

As for how to interrupt it, there was only one way.

Endure it, and wait for his body to digest and absorb it.

That was also why he had severe mysophobia and had to keep his distance from people. If he really couldn’t avoid going somewhere crowded, he could only put on a mask.

After sharing a cup of milk tea with Xiang Di, even without any further physical contact, he could now hear what she was thinking at any time.

As for when it would stop working—unknown. Because since he had gained individual consciousness, this was the first time he had ingested someone else’s… saliva.

Because Xiang Di’s inner activity was far too rich, Bai Jiangxin even subconsciously imagined what her real expression looked like at this moment.

Her face flushed red, round eyes smiling into crescent moons, the corners of her mouth stretched to her ears, revealing a row of small white teeth.

She had really seized the opportunity to gloat in front of him.

Bai Jiangxin forced himself to ignore the shouting in her mind and, with a stiff face, apologized to her: “…Sorry.”

“I’ll buy you a new cup.”

If Bai Jiangxin couldn’t hear her thoughts right now, this matter would most likely already be over. He apologized, she forgave him, and afterward they would still be classmates who were basically strangers.

But clearly, that was no longer possible.

【Compensate me? Heh.】

What was she sneering for?

【Man, you can’t afford it.】

It was just a cup of milk tea, what was there he couldn’t afford? He wasn’t that poor.

【But you could use something else to compensate me, like your body.】

“………” Speechless beyond words.

Bai Jiangxin wanted to laugh. Turns out when someone is speechless to the extreme, they really do laugh.

Her most urgent task right now was to hurry up and uninstall the novel-reading app on her phone.

No matter how speechless he was, Bai Jiangxin still didn’t expose Xiang Di.

If she had the guts, she should say it out loud. He really wanted to see if she dared.

Because she was overly excited, Xiang Di’s mind flashed with all kinds of domineering CEO lines, yet in reality she didn’t dare say a single one out loud. In her heart she said she wanted to see how he would wrap things up, but in the end she still couldn’t bear to make the boy she secretly liked feel awkward.

So when the words reached her lips, they turned into the most spineless response: “It’s fine, it’s fine, no need to compensate. I’ve already almost finished it anyway.”

If it were someone else who drank her milk tea, she might have minded a little, but Bai Jiangxin wasn’t just someone else to her.

She had just shared a cup of milk tea with Bai Jiangxin, what difference was there between that and kissing?

She was happy if anything.

She wondered whether his lips tasted the same as the impression he gave people—cool and cold, wrapped on the outside in a layer of frost, like a chilled, filled mint candy.

Thinking about the taste of mint candy, Xiang Di couldn’t help but press her lips together.

She didn’t notice that, at that very second, Bai Jiangxin also pressed his lips together, extremely subtly. She was imagining the taste of his lips, and he sensed it too.

After such a sweet accident had happened, Xiang Di no longer had much of a mind to keep listening to Bai Jiangxin explain the problem.

Bai Jiangxin probably didn’t feel like explaining problems to her anymore either. It was better to give him a bit of time to calm down—after all, the dignified school heartthrob had actually made such a low-level mistake.

Xiang Di tactfully said, “I think I’ve got a bit of an idea now. I’ll go back and study this problem myself later. Thank you.”

After politely thanking him, Xiang Di picked up her problem notebook and milk tea, preparing to slip away.

“…Wait.”

Bai Jiangxin called out to her.

Xiang Di was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

The way she looked confused seemed very innocent.

But perhaps only her face was innocent. What truly innocent person would randomly imagine what someone else’s lips tasted like?

Forget it—after all, this whole mess was caused by him. She wasn’t really at fault.

Bai Jiangxin silently looked away and said in a low voice, “Give me the milk tea. I’ll throw it away for you.”

Xiang Di hadn’t expected him to be so eager to help.

“Huh? No, no need, I can throw it away myself.”

He left no room for refusal. “Give it to me.”

He had to personally take this cup of milk tea to throw it away. Otherwise, who knew whether she might do something unspeakable to the milk tea he had accidentally drunk from.

Xiang Di didn’t dare refuse either, afraid he would be unhappy, so she could only let him take it.

What a pity. She had originally planned to take the straw his mouth had touched home, wash it, and then keep it as a souvenir.

Xiang Di secretly pursed her lips.

“…”

Was she some kind of pervert?

It really had to be thrown away quickly.

When he took the milk tea, his fingers accidentally brushed against the back of her hand, and Xiang Di’s hand trembled unconsciously.

Deliberately avoiding physical contact with Xiang Di was now rather meaningless. Bai Jiangxin kept a blank expression and walked straight toward the trash can at the back of the classroom.

Thought transmission was similar to Bluetooth transmission—it had a certain receiving range. The classroom was only so big; he could still hear what she was thinking at this moment.

【Husband’s hand is so cold.】

【They say people with cold hands were wing-broken angels in their past life…】

Whether he had been a wing-broken angel in his past life, he didn’t know—but he knew that in this life, she was definitely a terminal non-mainstream case.

【But it could also be qi and blood deficiency, kind of a weak constitution…】

【Oh no, he wouldn’t be… not good in that area, right?!】

The thought process of a terminal non-mainstream was way too jumpy. Bai Jiangxin almost couldn’t keep up and paused mid-step.

Not good in which area?

【Only for looking, not for using—then what am I supposed to do about my happiness for the rest of my life?】

What did she want to use him for?

【It’s okay, it’s okay—since I love him, I should be tolerant of everything about him.】

【Using hands works too.】

“……”

Bai Jiangxin was a little disgusted with how quickly he understood.

May he ask—what exactly was she comforting herself about? Taking ten thousand steps back, whether he worked or not, what did it have to do with her?

Using hands—she really thought beautifully. Did she think she was especially great, especially magnanimous? Actually being able to tolerate something like a man being “not good at it.”

Bai Jiangxin couldn’t quite endure it anymore and turned his head back. Xiang Di was still standing where she was.

Caught off guard by the sudden eye contact, Xiang Di froze for a moment, her heartbeat speeding up. Fortunately, she was very good at hiding this kind of flutter—at least on the surface, nothing showed.

She calmly asked him, “Hm? What’s wrong?”

That delicate, cute face was full of innocence. Bai Jiangxin’s throat tightened, and he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of helplessness—like being harassed by a pervert but having no way to file a complaint.

Because she really hadn’t done anything to him. Up to now, all their physical contact had been accidental and the responsibility lay with him.

Even if she had shouted “husband” eight hundred times in her heart, this marmot who only dared to mouth off internally was timid to the extreme when actually facing him. She wouldn’t even dare touch a single finger, remaining polite and courteous without a single flaw.

After all, imagination was free. Even if Xiang Di imagined herself as the President of the United States, the FBI couldn’t charge her with a crime.

Even if he went to report it, the police would probably just say he had delusions and advise him to hurry to the hospital and register with neurology.

Feeling stifled by a both infatuated and cowardly marmot, Bai Jiangxin forcefully tossed the milk tea into the trash can.

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

An afternoon passed in a daze. Before evening self-study, Xiang Di really did receive the milk tea Bai Jiangxin was compensating her with.

At the time, Xiang Di was planning to take advantage of the few minutes before self-study started to copy a few English template essays and memorize some vocabulary to pass the time.

Suddenly, a hand appeared and set the milk tea on her desk.

The fingers were beautiful and slender, the skin tone like that of their owner—icy and jade-like. Xiang Di could never have imagined that one day, the boy she had a crush on would take the initiative to walk over to her desk and bring her a cup of milk tea.

Bai Jiangxin stood with the ceiling lights of the classroom behind him, his whole figure seeming to be rimmed with a halo. And even under such a deadly top-down angle and backlighting, it somehow didn’t diminish his good looks at all.

Xiang Di couldn’t help sighing again—so handsome. From his brows and eyes to his nose and then to his lips, he was simply Goddess Nuwa’s greatest masterpiece of this century.

Especially those cold, taciturn lips—pink and soft, looking very kissable. She wondered if, after kissing him enough, she might hear some contrasting gasps slip from his mouth.

In just a few seconds, Xiang Di had already imagined an entire domineering CEO drama by herself.

First came the helpless thought: 【Being that handsome and still daring to sway in front of me, are you tired of living?】

More greasy: 【Are you testing me? Hm?】

Then grease doubled: 【So confident that I won’t do anything to you?】

Finally, ruthless: 【Man, believe it or not, I’ll kiss your mouth raw!】

“……”

Isn’t there anyone who can control her?

Fortunately, this internal drama wrapped up quickly. Xiang Di softly and reservedly thanked Bai Jiangxin, then lowered her head and continued copying her English essay.

Bai Jiangxin didn’t leave right away. He stood in front of her desk for a while.

His shadow fell across her desk. Xiang Di couldn’t help but notice. She looked up again and asked politely, “Uh, do you still need something?”

Bai Jiangxin parted his lips, the corner of his mouth moving slightly. “You…”

Xiang Di blinked in confusion.

At this moment, her inner activity was exactly the same as the blankly cute expression on her face—a huge question mark hovering over her head.

A few seconds later, Bai Jiangxin said in a low voice, “Nothing.”

After returning to his seat, Bai Jiangxin pressed his fingers to his temple, not wanting to speak.

One misstep leads to everlasting regret—how could he make such a low-level mistake, even drinking the wrong milk tea.

What college entrance exam, he should just take leave and go home.

Originally, it was enough just to keep physical distance from people. Now, unless he stopped coming to school altogether.

He never should have bought that milk tea.

No matter how much he regretted it or sighed, it was useless now. His mood was far too complicated. In the end, Bai Jiangxin still pulled out a tissue from his desk and silently wiped his mouth—spotlessly clean in reality, yet seemingly already defiled by some marmot.