Chapter 22

When Ji Wenchen was eleven years old, his parents divorced, and he was placed under his father’s custody.

In fact, for him, there wasn’t much difference before or after his parents’ divorce. The large house had always been spacious and coldly quiet.

From eleven to eighteen, the people Ji Wenchen saw most often at “home” were Aunt Lin, who came to clean and cook, and Uncle Lin, the driver.

After parting ways with Jiang Zhousi, Ji Wenchen climbed over the school wall and went home.

The scattered preserved plum candies in his room had already been picked up by Aunt Lin and placed neatly on the table. Ji Wenchen picked one up, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

He opened the spacious wardrobe, selected a set of clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

About ten minutes later, after showering, he stood in front of the full-length mirror wearing his freshly changed clothes.

Why does this T-shirt suddenly look ugly?

Ji Wenchen grabbed the hem of the shirt and pulled it up, revealing his well-defined upper body.

Wait a minute. Ji Wenchen frowned slightly. What was he doing?

Wasn’t it just about delivering a bouquet of flowers to her?

…

May 20th, a date that stirred the emotions of many students, was no different from an ordinary workday in the eyes of the teachers.

Classes proceeded as usual.

The biology teacher moved through the lessons quickly. Today, in Class 8, they finished the last section of Compulsory Module 3 and swiftly transitioned into Elective Module 3.

“What if we didn’t bring the elective textbook?” a student asked loudly.

Several other students chimed in, saying they hadn’t brought theirs either.

“I didn’t bring mine either; it’s in my dorm!” Yang Min, realizing she didn’t have her textbook, joined in the commotion.

The classroom became somewhat noisy.

Some students weren’t actually worried about not having their textbooks affecting their studies. Instead, they were simply being rebellious or bored, hoping the teacher might skip the lesson because no one had their books.

“Quiet!” The biology teacher knocked the podium twice with a long ruler and said loudly, “I reminded you last class to bring this book for today’s lesson, but some of you still didn’t listen. Who didn’t bring Elective 3? Raise your hand so I can see!”

When it came time to raise their hands, the number of students was noticeably fewer than those who had spoken up.

The biology teacher counted, “Four. Are there any more?”

No additional hands were raised.

“I see that your deskmates all brought their books. You scatterbrains will just have to share with them for this lesson.”

“Now, let’s begin learning…”

Qin Xiaoxiao placed her biology textbook between herself and Yang Min.

“Ah, I thought Mr. Wu would let me go back to the dorm to get it,” Yang Min said regretfully.

Qin Xiaoxiao sometimes really wondered how her deskmate’s thought process worked…

During the break, Qin Xiaoxiao was called to the homeroom teacher’s office by a classmate.

One of Yang Min’s close friends, who often exchanged gossip with her, came over to chat and sat in Qin Xiaoxiao’s seat.

“How can you be so shameless?” Yang Min, feeling a bit uncomfortable with her friend casually sitting in her deskmate’s chair and flipping through the textbooks, teased in a joking tone.

The friend pulled her hand back. “Does Qin Xiaoxiao not let others sit in her chair?”

Not really. Yang Min quickly suggested, “I need to go to the restroom. Come walk with me.”

She pulled her friend up from the chair.

The next class after biology was Information Technology. For second-year students, this subject had long become nominal, effectively turning into a self-study period in the classroom.

Thus, Yang Min wasn’t particularly worried and only returned to the classroom right when the class started.

As she entered through the back door, she noticed her deskmate still hadn’t returned, but the school bully sitting behind her deskmate had arrived.

Her friend, who had originally planned to sit next to Yang Min for another chat, noticed this as well. She immediately gave up on the idea and quickly walked back to her own seat instead.

By the time the class ended, Qin Xiaoxiao still hadn’t returned, leaving Yang Min to spend the entire period playing on her phone in boredom.

She played so much that she forgot this self-study period was the last class of the afternoon.

When the bell rang, Yang Min suddenly “realized” and grabbed her meal card, ready to dash out.

“Wait a second.”

This deep voice falling into Yang Min’s ears was no less than a clap of thunder.

Why was the school bully suddenly calling her? Yang Min froze in place, her heart pounding nervously. Could it be that her phone playing earlier had accidentally made some noise and disturbed him? That didn’t seem likely, right?

“Where is she?”

Yang Min didn’t react immediately and, mustering her courage, asked, “Who?”

“Qin Xiaoxiao.”

Oh, Qin Xiao… her deskmate? Why was the school bully asking about her deskmate? Yang Min honestly replied, “Xiaoxiao went to the… homeroom teacher’s office during the break and hasn’t come back. I don’t know where she is now either.”

“Alright.”

Yang Min waited nervously for a few seconds, making sure the school bully had nothing more to say, then lowered her head, clutching her card, and quickly made her exit.

After leaving through the back door of the classroom and turning the corner, her shoulders finally relaxed.

That tone from the school bully was definitely not meant for causing trouble for her deskmate.

This could probably count as half-solid evidence that there was something unusual about the relationship between the school bully and Xiaoxiao.

But what exactly was the school bully looking for Xiaoxiao about?

…

By the time Qin Xiaoxiao finished helping the homeroom teacher grade test papers and left the office, the class had already ended over ten minutes ago.

Her meal card didn’t have any attachments, just a thin card tucked in her pocket. So instead of returning to the classroom, she headed straight to the cafeteria.

After eating, she went back to the dormitory and queued up for a shower.

While showering, Qin Xiaoxiao heard Yang Min, who had come by to visit, calling her name from outside.

“She’s in the shower,” a roommate replied on her behalf.

“I see.”

Yang Min shouted toward the bathroom, “Xiaoxiao, hurry up with your shower!”

When Qin Xiaoxiao finished showering and came out, carrying her bucket and about to head to the sink to do her laundry, Yang Min squeezed over.

“Xiaoxiao, don’t start washing yet!”

“Why are you still here?”

“I have something to tell you,” Yang Min said, glancing at a few students nearby who were washing their things. She lowered her voice. “Let’s talk back in the room.”

Qin Xiaoxiao was pulled by Yang Min to the side of her dorm bed. “What do you want to say?”

“The school bully, after class, he asked me where you were.”

“Oh.”

“I told him you went to Miss Ruo’s office and hadn’t come back.”

“Okay.” Qin Xiaoxiao nodded calmly. “I’m going to do my laundry.”

Yang Min blinked in surprise. Her deskmate was this unfazed and just walked off like that?

…

Qin Xiaoxiao sat down in the classroom and pulled out her English newspaper to work on it.

Her posture was upright, and her expression focused.

When Ji Wenchen entered through the back door, his eyes immediately fell on her.

Qin Xiaoxiao had already read most of the cloze test passage when she heard a voice behind her, “Qin Xiaoxiao.”

She wasn’t particularly inclined to respond, so she continued reading.

Ji Wenchen stared at the back of her head, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek.

After finishing the passage, Qin Xiaoxiao began writing the answer to the first question.

Suddenly, her chair wobbled slightly.

She put down her pen and looked back.

A foot was casually resting on the crossbar of her chair.

First, he blocked her path, and now he was kicking her chair. Was this school bully being a little childish? Qin Xiaoxiao turned her gaze to the culprit.

“Come with me to the grove on the west side.”

“No, I have evening self-study.”

“After evening self-study.”

《The Cool and Arrogant School Bully Falls for Me》 had only serialized up to a few hundred thousand words, and it had never mentioned the male lead, Ji Wenchen, having a habit of inviting girls to the grove.

Qin Xiaoxiao couldn’t understand why this male lead in front of her was somewhat different from the one in the original novel.

What did he want her to do in the grove? Was he going to say some strange things again?

“I’m not going,” Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head. “I’m going back to the dorm to sleep.”

Ji Wenchen stared at the girl in front of him and tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Qin Xiaoxiao, you are now my—”

“Whatever it is,” Qin Xiaoxiao immediately interrupted him, “can’t you just say it on WeChat?”

She thought her suggestion was quite reasonable.

“No,” Ji Wenchen leaned forward, the edge of the desk pressing against his ribcage.

His long, thick lashes framed his slightly narrowed phoenix eyes.

Qin Xiaoxiao was reluctant, but since this was the classroom and mindful of this demon king’s notoriously bad temper, she lowered her voice and compromised, “After evening self-study, then.”

…

Yang Min stepped into the classroom just before the evening self-study bell rang.

The school bully wasn’t sleeping?

She lowered her head cautiously as she made her way to her seat.

Something about this felt a little unusual.

Ji Wenchen wasn’t sleepy and was feeling a bit bored as he watched the person in front of him.

The plain green T-shirt wasn’t particularly interesting, but the exposed sliver of fair skin at the neckline and the dark ponytail partly covering a delicate neck caught his attention…

His fingertips itched slightly.

Ji Wenchen lowered his gaze, took out his phone, and absentmindedly scrolled through the flood of messages in the class WeChat group.

Three people were discussing the newly released hero and complaining about the useless opponents they encountered in the last match.

Eddie Peng of Second High School: 【What kind of day is this to still be playing games?】

Eddie Peng of Second High School: 【The King’s Disdain.jpg】

Eddie Peng of Second High School: 【The newly opened cinema is pretty nice—big screen and great atmosphere.】

The three others discussing the game replied: 【Get lost.】

Eddie Peng of Second High School: 【@JWC, Ah Chen, what about you? What are you up to?】

Ji Wenchen replied with a simple 【.】, then locked his phone.

Three evening self-study periods felt so long—what could he do to pass the time?

***

Ji Wenchen walked under the hazy glow of streetlights and moonlight toward the small grove.

In his palm was a crumpled piece of paper with the words “You go first, I’ll come later” scribbled on it.

The date was special, and in the usually deserted grove at night, a few faint silhouettes could be seen.

Ji Wenchen expressionlessly tossed the crumpled paper into a trash bin.

The sound caught the attention of a couple in the grove, who nervously glanced his way. Then, intimidated, they instinctively moved away, leaving the area to the school bully.

Ji Wenchen didn’t notice.

He was deep in thought.

On his way to school, he had agonized over the thought, “Do I really have to do something as ridiculous as climbing over a wall with a big bouquet of roses?” In the end, he decided not to buy the flowers.

Now, he felt a bit of regret.

A few minutes late, Qin Xiaoxiao walked toward Ji Wenchen.

“You’re here,” she greeted him, although Ji Wenchen had already glanced her way before she spoke.

“Here,” Ji Wenchen said, opening his palm in front of her. Resting in it was a dark blue square box.

Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at the logo on it and raised her eyebrow slightly. “I don’t want it. Thanks.”

“Take it.”

Why was Ji Wenchen suddenly giving her jewelry? Qin Xiaoxiao thought about it and asked directly, “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because you’re my girlfriend.”

Qin Xiaoxiao raised her eyes. “But I already broke up with you.”

“I didn’t agree.”

Qin Xiaoxiao decided to lay everything out plainly: “Why don’t you agree? Weren’t you with me because of a game punishment?”

Her tone was calm, as if she weren’t even part of the situation—because she didn’t care.

Ji Wenchen’s deep brown pupils widened momentarily. His hand was still raised, but he didn’t know what to say.

“I…”

Qin Xiaoxiao continued, “I only like studying, not you. You don’t like me either, so…”

“Who said that?”

Qin Xiaoxiao paused, thinking he was questioning her claim that she didn’t like him. “I…”

“Maybe I did have a bit of a crush on you before,” Qin Xiaoxiao said, taking responsibility for the original owner’s feelings. She forced a small smile. “But now, I don’t like you anymore.”

“Why?” Ji Wenchen asked through gritted teeth.

Did that even need an explanation?

Only then did Qin Xiaoxiao realize that Ji Wenchen’s eyes were like a deep, dark pool.

Maintaining her calm demeanor, she made up an excuse, “Feelings are unpredictable… there’s no certainty to them.”

“I like you.”