Senior Wang smiled brightly, completely missing how fake Qiao Li's answer sounded.
"Oh! That's a good one," he said, nodding like he actually read the book. "It's about getting the hard stuff done first, right?"
Qiao Li nodded slowly. "Yeah... totally."
Behind the bookshelf, Ou Lin almost choked on air.
Eat that frog? Really? he thought, raising an eyebrow. She only read that because her mom forced her to for a school project. She didn't even finish it — she just watched a YouTube summary!
Qiao Li sat there, trying her best to pretend she was totally fine.
But she wasn't.
Her smile was getting tighter by the second. Her eyes kept flicking toward the windows, the clock, the ceiling — anywhere except Senior Wang's face.
He leaned in just a little closer.
"So, uh…" he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "what kind of guys do you like?"
Qiao Li froze.
Her brain: Error. Error. Error.
"Um… ones with… brains," she said slowly.
