Chapter 116: Ye Qiong Plays the Fool

"What do you mean?" Ye Qiong tilted her head and asked Zhang Shen.

"It wasn't just the afternoon; it was the whole lunch hour plus the entire afternoon."

Ye Qiong was left speechless by Zhang Shen's words. She had only known that Wang Ying called her once earlier that day, implying she wanted to take the afternoon off, which was why she had asked Zhang Shen the way she did. She hadn't expected them to have already left during lunch. Seeing Zhang Shen return alone, she felt compelled to press him for an answer.

"Get to the point. What exactly were you two doing?"

Seeing Ye Qiong’s impatience, Zhang Shen answered truthfully, "Actually, it was because Wang Ying’s father was poisoned, so she asked me to go and treat him."

"Poisoned?" Ye Qiong looked at him in disbelief.

"Yes. The Principal, Hao Lei, Lu Ming, and Meng Ran were all there with me."

"Then why didn't you call me?" Ye Qiong had assumed it was something trivial; the news of Wang Ying's father being poisoned caught her off guard.

"My dear lady, the situation was urgent. There was no time to come find you, so we just left."

"So, how is his condition now?" Ye Qiong asked anxiously. Zhang Shen, however, was full of confidence regarding such sensitive matters.

"Are you questioning my skills?" Zhang Shen’s retort was intended to show that Wang Ying's father was out of danger, while also fishing for a compliment. Ye Qiong, however, was unimpressed. After all, the health of Wang Ying's father was the priority, and as for Zhang Shen's medical abilities, she had already witnessed them before and had no interest in discussing them further.

"I’ll go visit her house later then."

Just as Ye Qiong turned to leave, Zhang Shen quickly called out to her. He wanted to take this opportunity to hand over the pile of test papers he had been carrying, sparing himself a trip back to the girls' dormitory later.

"What is it?"

"Well... it’s like this. Wang Ying said she’ll be back tonight, so you don't need to go to her house."

Ye Qiong found this strange. Should she really wait for someone to be in a certain state of health before visiting a roommate's father? Being sharp, she knew Zhang Shen was up to something, but she decided to play dumb.

"If you say so, then when Xiao Ying gets back, I’ll tell her that I wanted to visit her father, but Zhang Shen insisted on stopping me. That way, my filial piety will have been completely ruined by you." Ye Qiong tilted her head, speaking to Zhang Shen with a playful smirk.

Zhang Shen knew she was capable of doing exactly what she threatened. If she disrupted his "plans," all his efforts would go to waste.

"Miss Ye, I’m actually just asking for a favor."

Seeing Zhang Shen finally drop the act, Ye Qiong felt her suspicions confirmed. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. "Out with it! You can't hide your little schemes from me. Tell me the truth."

Seeing her smug expression, Zhang Shen knew he had no choice but to concede. "It’s not a big deal. I just need you to help me split these test papers and give half to Wang Ying."

"What?" To Ye Qiong, this felt like Zhang Shen was trying to leverage his favor of saving Wang Ying's father to demand a payoff. Besides, she had seen the mountain of papers Hao Lei had given him; even just copying them would take two nights, let alone solving them without an answer key. "No way. Don't even think about it."

Zhang Shen looked confused. He hadn't asked her to do the work; why was she refusing? "Miss Ye, I’m not lying to you. If you don't believe me, look at this message." He pulled out his phone and showed her the message Wang Ying had sent him earlier. "Look, it’s written clearly right here. You can't blame me for this!"

Ye Qiong didn't doubt the message, but as Wang Ying's best friend, her only choice was to ignore it. "Why are you showing me this? I didn't agree to do your homework. Go find whoever agreed to do it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to eat."

Seeing her resistance, and not knowing when Wang Ying would return, Zhang Shen decided to try a different approach.

"Miss Ye, I’m not asking you to do the papers. I just want you to take them to your dorm so that when Wang Ying gets back, she’ll see them."

Although it was a small favor, Ye Qiong still sought ways to refuse. "Even if it’s simple, I’m feeling quite frazzled lately. I can't even look at these papers, or I won't be able to sleep tonight. If I bring them back for you, aren't you just hurting me?" She cast a sidelong glance at him and feigned dizziness. "See? I’m not lying. Just hearing the word 'test' makes my head feel like it’s going to split open. You’ll have to find Wang Ying yourself; I can't help you."

Just as Zhang Shen was about to try again, his phone rang.

"Hello, Teacher Lu?"

"Master Healer! As my father mentioned at lunch, we want you to come over for dinner tonight. I’m here to pick you up!"

It turned out Lu Ming was following his father Lu Fuguo's instructions to bring Zhang Shen to their house.

"Understood, Teacher Lu. Wait a moment, I’ll be right down."

Seeing that Ye Qiong wasn't going to give him an inch, Zhang Shen stopped trying to persuade her and turned to leave the classroom.

"Zhang Shen, stop right there!" Ye Qiong suddenly perked up.

"What is it?"

"Are you going out? Give me a ride!"

Zhang Shen realized she had only called him back to hitch a ride. In the past, he might have agreed, but now, he didn't feel like indulging her.

"I don't think we're going the same way," Zhang Shen said, though he felt the excuse was quite flimsy.

In reality, the route to the Lu family home and the dumpling shop where Wang Ying’s family lived was the same, and the shop was directly on the way. It was precisely because Ye Qiong had heard him address Lu Ming that she had called him back.