Chapter 158: First Step into the "Forbidden Zone"

Listening to Wang Ying’s heartfelt and sincere confession, Ye Qiong almost felt like slapping her right across the face. Although Wang Ying was a female, such an act still somehow managed to "taint" her own innocence. Fortunately, there were only two people in the room. If there had been one more person, it wouldn’t just be an extra soul sharing the secret.

Yet through this incident, Ye Qiong witnessed Wang Ying's "uninhibited" side for the very first time.

"I must solemnly warn you, if you ever pull something like this again, I won't be polite!"

"Oh, come on, I just brushed against your little cheek, is there any need to make such a big fuss?"

Wang Ying didn't care about her first kiss at all; instead, she felt that Ye Qiong was making a mountain out of a molehill. Without dwelling too much on these minor details, Wang Ying grabbed Ye Qiong by the hand and headed straight downstairs.

For some inexplicable reason, the initially angry Ye Qiong acted like a block of wood, letting herself be led away by the hand without any resistance. Soon, she followed Wang Ying to the dormitory building where Zhang Shen lived.

"Wang Ying, what took you so long?"

As soon as Lu Ming caught sight of Wang Ying, he blurted out anxiously. However, when he noticed Ye Qiong standing beside her, a look of surprise crossed his face. After all, Hao Lei had told him over the phone that only Wang Ying was coming—how did Ye Qiong suddenly pop into the picture?

"Ye Qiong, why did you tag along?"

Before Ye Qiong could reply, Wang Ying immediately cut in, "Teacher Lu, how is Zhang Shen?"

Hearing Wang Ying’s question, Lu Ming realized he had gotten his priorities mixed up and hurriedly said, "I'm not too sure myself. Let me accompany you two upstairs to take a look first."

With that, Lu Ming led the two girls into the male dormitory.

The moment they set foot across the threshold of the men's dorm, the two young women exchanged glances, their eyes betraying a hint of strange emotion. After all, this was the first time in their four years of university that they had so blatantly stepped foot inside a male dormitory.

Ye Qiong, however, had much more complex thoughts running through her mind. If some handsome god happened to appear before her eyes in the middle of the night, she might actually devour him whole as a midnight snack.

Holding hands with Ye Qiong, Wang Ying could naturally sense that something was off with her. Glancing to her left, she saw Ye Qiong’s eyes slightly narrowed with an involuntary, upward curve at the corners of her mouth. Wang Ying knew at once that Ye Qiong was daydreaming again.

"Miss Ye, don't let your imagination run wild. This is a boys' dorm after all—watch out or they might just pounce on you!"

Wang Ying’s words acted like a precautionary vaccine, reminding Ye Qiong to keep her wits about her. Yet Ye Qiong didn't look annoyed in the least; instead, she continued to wear a cheerful, beaming smile.

Soon, guided by Lu Ming, the two girls arrived outside Zhang Shen's dorm room.

"Meng Ran, open the door!"

Knowing that something was amiss with Zhang Shen's physical condition, Lu Ming called out to Meng Ran.

Inside the room, Meng Ran had been agonizing over how to resolve Zhang Shen's situation, never expecting help to arrive so quickly. But the moment he opened the door, he discovered that the people outside were all familiar faces.

"Teacher Lu, why are you here?"

Before Meng Ran could finish his sentence, he spotted two graceful figures standing behind Lu Ming. To his astonishment, despite the school's strict regulations explicitly forbidding female students from entering the male dormitories, Wang Ying and Ye Qiong had openly defied the rules. This left Meng Ran somewhat bewildered.

In his heart, if only Ye Qiong had come, it would have been one thing, but Wang Ying appeared to be the one most deeply concerned about Zhang Shen, which left a sour, unpleasant taste in Meng Ran's mouth.

While Meng Ran's thoughts were still struggling in his mind, the scene inside the room suddenly shifted.

Lu Ming flipped the dormitory wall switch, and the previously pitch-dark room instantly brightened. Upon learning that something was wrong in Zhang Shen's dorm, Lu Ming had gone ahead and turned on the main power breaker for that entire floor.

"Fatty, how is Zhang Shen?"

"I don't know!"

Hearing Meng Ran's reply, Lu Ming sighed and walked over to Zhang Shen's side. Gazing down at the soundly sleeping and unresponsive Zhang Shen, Lu Ming had no idea what was going on either. Being a sports teacher, all he could tell through his own observation was that Zhang Shen was still breathing; as for anything beyond that, he dared not draw any conclusions.

"Teacher, do you think Zhang Shen will..."

Hearing Lu Ming's answer, Wang Ying stepped forward and asked. But before she could finish her question, a sound of hurried panting echoed from the entrance of the dormitory.

"How is Zhang Shen?"

Lu Ming was thoroughly familiar with Hao Lei's voice. He quickly turned his head and said to her, "Xiao Lei, I have no idea what's wrong with Zhang Shen either. Why don't you come and take a look?"

Knowing that Lu Ming didn't even know the basics of medicine, let alone how to handle strange and difficult medical conditions, Hao Lei walked over to Zhang Shen's bed and carefully examined him. However, after a thorough external check, she failed to discover any abnormalities whatsoever.

Yet if that was the case, why was Zhang Shen trapped in a deep sleep, and how was such a mystery to be explained?

Unable to hold back, Hao Lei reached out and gently patted Zhang Shen's face a couple of times, calling out repeatedly, "Zhang Shen, Zhang Shen..."

Still, she failed to elicit even the slightest reaction.

Witnessing this scene, Hao Lei quickly turned to question Meng Ran: "You share a dorm with Zhang Shen. What on earth is going on with him?"

Faced with Hao Lei's interrogation, Meng Ran was filled with doubts of his own. Zhang Shen had seemed perfectly normal when he walked out of the classroom with the principal earlier that morning; nobody could have imagined he would end up in this state upon his return.

"I'm talking to you! Speak!"

Seeing that Meng Ran remained silent, Hao Lei could no longer contain her mounting impatience, and her tone inevitably turned sharp.

Relatively speaking, Wang Ying was currently the person at the scene who understood the situation best, so she quickly stepped forward to explain things to everyone.

Just as Wang Ying was about to speak, another familiar figure appeared at the doorway.

"Principal!"

Everyone cried out in unison upon seeing Chen Rong. Among the group, save for Hao Lei, no one had expected that tonight's ordeal would actually alert the principal. Although Wang Ying and Ye Qiong had previously discussed asking the principal for help, that phone call had ultimately fallen through due to certain objective reasons.

Yet seeing the principal now, the turbulent waves in their hearts finally settled down a fraction. In their eyes, the principal had eaten more salt than they had eaten rice.

Even though the principal was no longer practicing clinically, he still possessed a wealth of extensive experience.