Chapter 7: Afraid?

Although these classmates had only just met, Ji Shuyi felt a sense of responsibility grow within her as she saw them instinctively hide behind her. Especially when facing Jiang Cheng before her, she couldn’t back down.

With his arms crossed, Jiang Cheng stared intently with his deep, cold eyes at the girl with her chin raised. After several seconds, he suddenly leaned forward, bending down to press closer to Ji Shuyi. His face loomed large in her vision, startling her into an instinctive half-step backward. Her bright杏眸 (xìngmóu, almond-shaped eyes) widened in stunned surprise as she clenched her fists.

Jiang Cheng, hands still in his pockets, chuckled with a raised eyebrow at her subconscious reaction.

“Afraid? You were pretty bold when you chased me down for my contact information earlier.”

Hearing him say this, Ji Shuyi immediately sensed the situation was turning sour. She opened her mouth to interrupt him, but Jiang Cheng preempted her.

“So, this classmate is just lashing out in anger and holding a grudge after being rejected, and now she’s slandering me.”

Jiang Cheng straightened up slowly, fixing his gaze on Ji Shuyi. He suddenly took a step towards her, pleased to see the little rabbit tremble, her eyelashes fluttering as she retreated another step, her big eyes blinking in bewildered panic.

The sight pleased him immensely. His eyes gleamed with amusement as he maliciously closed the distance again.

Here, on the main avenue of the campus, the scene attracted the attention of all the passing students, who stopped to watch. They all looked at the girl, cornered by Jiang Cheng, with gossip and sympathy in their eyes.

Awakening from her daze amidst the gazes, Ji Shuyi stopped retreating. She glared at Jiang Cheng, whose face seemed to beg for a beating, and retorted angrily, “Who confessed to you? You’re definitely delusional, seriously sick in the head!”

Recovering her composure, Ji Shuyi took a step towards Jiang Cheng, lifting her chin with delicate arrogance. “Even if every other man in the world died, I still wouldn’t give you a second glance!”

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, a snort escaping him as if he were looking at a puffed-up cat.

The next second, in front of everyone, he suddenly lowered his head and whispered in Ji Shuyi’s ear, “What a coincidence. I don’t like pretentious girls like you either.”

“You—!” Ji Shuyi, infuriated, raised her leg and kicked him. “Good dogs don’t block the way!”

She shoved him away quickly and fled the scene.

Jiang Cheng recklessly reached out to grab the back of the fleeing girl’s collar, but missed.

Just then, someone called out, “Ji Shuyi!”

Ji Shuyi quickly looked towards the voice. It was Professor Zhang from the School of Business Management.

“Professor Zhang!” Ji Shuyi’s eyes lit up, and she quickened her pace to run towards Professor Zhang.

The other girls also hurried away from Jiang Cheng, flustered.

The surrounding onlookers scattered like startled birds and beasts.

Chen Xingyi watched Jiang Cheng glance back at Ji Shuyi, seemingly still not over it. Grinning from ear to ear, he sidled up and threw an arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. “This is a sight for sore eyes! I never knew our Little Lord Jiang had such a childish and boring side. Actually bickering with a girl in public like a grade-schooler – hilarious! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never believe you were capable of this.”

After all, in Chen Xingyi’s impression, his buddy was a brooding presence far beyond his years. He also kept his emotions so tightly under wraps that no one could figure out what he was thinking, leading his old man to always say things like:

“Look at Jiang Cheng. Not only does he get good grades, but he can also share the burden with his father. Unlike you, all you know how to do is eat and shit!”

He wasn’t jealous or angry, though.

Because, he was impressed!

Thinking this, he added, “Seriously though, it’s the first time I’ve seen you so patient with someone. Usually, with your personality, a girl wouldn’t even be able to get within a meter of you, right? If they annoyed you, you’d probably just beat them up, regardless of gender.”

Chen Xingyi chuckled. “Could it be you’ve taken a fancy to her? You even held her during the last race…”

“Like her? Is my taste that bad?” Jiang Cheng immediately retorted.

“Oh ho!” Chen Xingyi, relentless, chuckled and exposed him. “If anyone else had told you ‘Good dogs don’t block the way,’ they would’ve been knocked flat before they even finished saying ‘block the way’. You just let her walk away?”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng unconsciously furrowed his brow, but then relaxed it. Expressionless, he turned his head, giving Chen Xingyi a cold glare. His voice lowered a few degrees. “You’re being too talkative today.”

Completely failing to sense the dangerous aura, Chen Xingyi, focused on digging up someone’s gossip, continued with a grin. “It’s you who’s been acting strange first. You…”

“Want me to donate your mouth?” Jiang Cheng suddenly raised his voice, interrupting him. The chilling, dangerous air between his brows made it impossible to ignore him.

Chen Xingyi: “…”.

He obediently shut his mouth.

The sunlight was dazzling. Jiang Cheng lowered his head slightly, his eyelashes casting a shadow beneath his eyes.

He wouldn’t possibly fall for her. He was just amusing himself with her in the boring schoolyard. Besides, his sister had told him not to bully her, so he was only letting her off a little.

That was all. “Director Ji specifically instructed us to take extra care of you.” Professor Zhang, kind and amiable, adjusted the glasses on his nose, looking at Ji Shuyi and continued, “He said that you studied abroad before and have just returned to attend university. If you have any difficulties in life or studies, you can come to the teacher for help.”

“Okay, thank you, Professor Zhang.” Ji Shuyi smiled at the teacher with humility and politeness.

Years ago, after her brother had an accident, her father sent her abroad to protect her. Now that her brother had awakened and everything in the family was stable, she had taken the initiative to request to return to China, to be back with her family and continue her studies. Besides, after staying abroad for so long, she realized that China was better after all; the average person’s sense of happiness was higher here.

Professor Zhang added as a final word, “Remember to send my regards to Director Ji when you get back.”

“Okay!” Ji Shuyi smiled brightly. “I will definitely pass them on for you.”

Ji Shuyi was the apple of the eye of the Ji family, a wealthy and influential clan in Dijin. Her father had even donated an experimental building to Jingda University because she was returning to China to study, only wishing that his daughter could complete her university career happily, freely, and with extra care.

Originally, there were three prominent families in Dijin: besides the Ji family, there were also the Tang and Su families. The Tang and Su families had military and political backgrounds, while the Ji family was purely capital. Now, a new family had been added: the Jiang family, who had returned from England, which is Jiang Cheng’s family.

The Jiang family had started in England a century ago, involved in both legal and illegal activities, with a highly complex background and influence distributed globally.

Chen Xingyi’s father was Jiang’s father’s “Guoshi” (advisor) and brother.

After Ji Shuyi parted ways with Professor Zhang and was planning to find Lu Zhixia, she unexpectedly heard Lu Zhixia’s voice from behind.

“Shuyi!” Lu Zhixia ran over, clutching the military training uniform she had just received.

Ji Shuyi happily turned around to greet her. “Zhixia, I was just about to look for you.”

“I just saw Jiang Cheng,” Lu Zhixia said, hooking her arm through Ji Shuyi’s as she approached. “He really does go to the same school as us.”

She then shrugged helplessly. “But he really is as arrogant as you described. I thought that since we’d all met at the bar that day, and we’re practically ‘related’, we could be considered friends, so I called out to him. Good grief, he didn’t even acknowledge me! Didn’t even give me a glance before striding right past.”

Lu Zhixia was still feeling dejected as she recalled the scene. She had walked out of the intersection and happened to see Jiang Cheng and another boy walking past. She subconsciously called out, intending to say hello, but he hadn’t stopped for even a second and simply walked past. She didn’t know if he hadn’t heard her or was simply too lazy to bother.