There’s a Baby Too

However, the shriek I had expected from Lin Shujing never came.

After examining the contents of Chen Shen’s backpack, Lin Shujing calmly handed it back to him.

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

Curiously, I craned my neck to peek into Chen Shen’s bag, only to find nothing but textbooks.

‘Damn it, Chen Shen, where’s that thing of yours? You didn’t put it back in your bag after all?’

‘Why did you act so reluctant earlier, making me worry for nothing?’

‘You owe me my innocence!’

“Well, Class Monitor,” Chen Shen said, smiling at Lin Shujing, “didn’t I tell you there was nothing in my bag?”

Lin Shujing hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

“No, that’s not right. You two were definitely fighting over something just now.”

‘Seriously, Class Monitor, are you still so stubborn?’

‘Even if we were fighting over something, does it automatically have to be something bad? Couldn’t it have been a Chinese textbook? Or a math textbook? Or homework?’

‘In your mind, are Chen Shen and I only capable of fighting over contraband? Are we really that wicked in your eyes?’

‘Hmm, this must all be that pervert Chen Shen’s fault.’

“Uh, Class Monitor,” I urged Lin Shujing with a smile, hoping she would leave quickly, “we really weren’t fighting over anything. Class is about to start, why don’t you head back to your seat?”

To my surprise, my words only made things worse.

The moment I spoke, Lin Shujing immediately shifted her attention to me.

Her bright, sparkling eyes suddenly darted, pointing towards my backpack as she declared, “Li Qingchen, please hand over your backpack for inspection.”

My face instantly stiffened.

‘Hey, hey, Class Monitor, you’re going too far! How dare you suspect me? I didn’t do anything!’

“No!”

I turned my head away, clutching my backpack tightly to my chest, adopting a stance of defiant resistance.

Lin Shujing immediately frowned.

“Li Qingchen, you’re making this very difficult for me.”

‘Damn it, I should be the one who’s troubled, not you! You’ve got it all wrong!’

“Class Monitor, this is an invasion of privacy.”

I continued my protest.

“This is for your own good,” Lin Shujing stated righteously.

‘Hey, Class Monitor, that’s something usually said by middle-aged aunties, and hearing it from you feels a bit out of place.’

‘Please don’t say it again!’

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Anyway, I’m not giving it to you.”

I let out a huff, deciding to be difficult.

‘Seriously, Class Monitor, don’t keep hovering around here so early in the morning.’

‘You must have other things to do, so hurry up and leave!’

“You…”

Seeing my “dead pig not afraid of boiling water” demeanor, Lin Shujing immediately pouted, entering a stalemate with me.

‘Honestly, the Class Monitor looked rather cute when she pouted.’

‘I couldn’t help but sneak a few glances.’

Finally, the Class Monitor deflated.

She looked at me with dissatisfaction and said, “Alright, you don’t have to show me, but I must know what’s in your backpack. So tell me yourself.”

‘Huh, that’s all it takes? Class Monitor, aren’t you afraid I’ll lie?’

I froze on the spot.

Seeing my silence, Lin Shujing spoke again: “Li Qingchen, you’re not even willing to say that much, are you?”

Snapping back to reality, I pressed my lips together and replied, “What’s there to it? My backpack only contains textbooks and a pencil case, nothing else.”

“Really, nothing else?”

Lin Shujing’s gaze bore into me, her eyes practically warning me that if I lied, the consequences would be dire.

I involuntarily shivered.

“Nothing else.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

I nodded, but then suddenly remembered the voodoo doll that girl Li Qingcheng had tossed into my backpack that morning.

However, mentioning a “voodoo doll” didn’t seem quite right, so after a moment’s thought, I casually said, “Oh, right, there’s also a doll.”

The moment those words left my mouth, not only was Lin Shujing stunned, but even Chen Shen froze.

‘Hey, what’s wrong with you two? Why are you staring at me like you’ve eaten something disgusting? Did I say something wrong?’

“You, Li Qingchen, I can’t believe you’re that kind of person!”

Lin Shujing immediately pointed an index finger at me, her voice trembling slightly.

‘What happened to me? Class Monitor, the way you’re looking at me has completely shifted from a classmate to a pervert!’

It wasn’t just the Class Monitor; Chen Shen, standing beside her, mimicked her actions exactly, pointing at me and saying with a tremor, “Brother Li, I can’t believe you’re that kind of person!”

‘Alright, though the Class Monitor and Chen Shen said similar things, I’d bet five cents that what Chen Shen meant was the exact opposite of hers.’

Confused by their words, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Li Qingchen, you still want to argue?!”

The Class Monitor pointed at me, speaking sternly, much like a police officer interrogating a suspect.

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t her dream to become a police officer?’

“So what exactly is wrong? I just said there was a doll… ah.”

In an instant, understanding dawned on me, and then, fury erupted.

‘Damn it, the “doll” you’re imagining is completely different from the “doll” I mentioned!’

‘I meant a voodoo doll! Who said anything about an inflatable one?!’

‘It’s one thing for Chen Shen to get the wrong idea, but Class Monitor, how could you jump to conclusions so quickly too?’

‘Don’t you realize your hidden perverted tendencies have been completely exposed?’

‘Besides, my backpack is so small; how could it even fit an inflatable doll?’

‘All of you with dirty minds, go kneel in the corner and face the wall!’

“How disgusting! So that’s what you two were fighting over earlier?”

I quickly waved my hands, attempting to explain.

“No, Class Monitor, you’ve misunderstood. I wasn’t talking about that kind of doll. I meant, oh, just let me show you.”

Finding explanations too troublesome, I simply placed my backpack in front of Lin Shujing, intending to pull it out and show her right then.

“No…”

Chen Shen seemed to be trying to stop me.

That scoundrel must still think I had an inflatable one, trying to prevent me from revealing it.

Too lazy to bother with that pervert, I unzipped my backpack, flung it open, and presented its entire contents to Lin Shujing.

‘Now she should believe I wasn’t carrying that kind of thing, right?’

I smugly observed the Class Monitor’s expression.

‘Hmm, what’s going on? Lin Shujing’s face suddenly paled considerably, turning completely red.’

‘And Chen Shen had already hunched his entire body, covering his face!’

‘Hey, hey, I already told you there wasn’t that thing in my backpack, so why are you acting like this?’

‘What exactly did you see?’

I slowly lowered my head, peering into my own backpack.

Between the stacks of textbooks, the voodoo doll lay flat in one corner.

That alone would have been fine, but beside it, an additional item had appeared.

It was a small, pink box, resting quietly there.

‘A pink… box?’

‘This thing…’

I fell silent for three seconds, then realization struck me, and I whipped my head around to glare at Chen Shen.

“Chen—Shen—!”

“Y-yes, I’m sorry, Brother Li!”