Chapter 16: The Second Dream

That night, Jiang Cheng dreamed of Ji Shuyi again. He had seen the screenshots and photos from the campus forum that Chen Xingyi had sent, but for some unknown reason, he had hastily stopped Chen Xingyi from sending more, as if… escaping something.

Out of sight, out of mind.

But unexpectedly, he dreamed of her again.

Jiang Cheng leaned against the headboard, not turning on the light. He lowered his eyes slightly, remaining silent in the darkness for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t resist picking up his phone. It was the first time he had opened the school forum.

As soon as he opened it, he saw the “frizzy-haired rabbit’s” (炸毛兔 – zha mao tu, likely a nickname or online handle for Ji Shuyi) overwhelming presence on the forum.

And the first thing he saw was a post:

#Is Our Nation’s First Love’s Boyfriend Actually Tang Yu From the Medical University Next Door? Pictures and Proof Inside!#

Jiang Cheng’s gaze darkened imperceptibly as he read it. He swiped his finger and tapped on the post, revealing a photo of Ji Shuyi and Tang Yu.

Bathed in the glow of the lights, Ji Shuyi, still in her performance costume, looked up at Tang Yu, who was wearing a white shirt. She was smiling serenely and charmingly, while the boy held a bottle of opened yogurt, about to hand it to her.

After only a glance, Jiang Cheng threw his phone aside in annoyance. He tried to fall asleep again, but tossed and turned, unable to find rest.

Finally, he got up and spent the entire night in the boxing room, working out.

The National Day holiday quickly came to an end.

On the first day of school, Ji Shuyi of the Department of Business Administration had a class first thing in the morning.

Lu Zhixia had slept over at her house last night, and they were driven to school together by a driver.

“Oh, right, was it you who had the posts about you and Tang Yu deleted from the forum?” Lu Zhixia gossiped curiously as they walked through the school gates. “You two looked pretty good together in the photos.”

As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something, and her expression turned serious. “Let me state this first, my liking for Tang Yu is purely admiration, just like how I admire other handsome guys. So… hehe, you don’t need to avoid him on my account, okay? After all, there are too many people I purely admire, and I don’t have time to favor him. The main theme between us sisters is that men are like clothes, sisters are like limbs!”

Lu Zhixia had an easygoing personality. Her hobby: collecting handsome guys. Her special skill: discovering handsome guys.

However, it was all purely admiration.

“It wasn’t me who had them deleted. I don’t really pay attention to the forum. It was my brother who ordered people to delete them, to prevent some people from maliciously creating sexually explicit content and rumors. You know how many perverted men online can sexualize and create rumors about anything a girl does. It’s disgusting. Wasn’t there that girl with pink hair who was sexually harassed and bullied online to the point of suicide a while ago? In the end, the public opinion only tried to cover it up, saying it was because she dyed her hair pink that she was cyberbullied. It’s just utterly speechless.”

Ji Shuyi felt angry just thinking about it. After calming down a bit, she smiled and said to Lu Zhixia, “Alright, you don’t need to explain. I understand you. But Tang Yu ge (哥 – respectful term for older brother) doesn’t like me either. And I don’t like his type of refined and gentle boy. He just knew our school was holding a welcome party for the new students yesterday and casually asked if I had any performances and invited me to come and hang out.”

Ji Shuyi also seriously declared to Lu Zhixia, “There’s no ambiguous feelings between Tang Yu ge and me, okay?”

“Hmm? You don’t like the refined and gentle type?” Lu Zhixia, hearing this, suddenly became interested and asked with a smile, “Then what type do you like? Tell me, tell me, tell me.”

Ji Shuyi wasn’t shy or secretive. Her memory instantly returned to that boy she had once secretly admired, and her face unconsciously filled with a smile. “I like the kind who’s informal, has personality, values loyalty, whose words might be a bit rough and not so gentle, and sometimes even sound annoying…”

“Ah?” Lu Zhixia suddenly stopped in her tracks, widening her eyes in astonishment. “Isn’t that Jiang Cheng?”

Still immersed in her memories, Ji Shuyi felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on her. Her whole body stiffened. After reacting, she immediately and vehemently retorted, “Lu Zhixia, what nonsense are you talking about! How could I possibly like that Jiang Cheng guy?”

“But that’s who you’re describing,” Lu Zhixia said with a teasing smile, like a bad friend. “Speaking of which, Jiang Cheng hasn’t bothered you in a long time. Has he been secretly tamed by you?”

“Who wants to tame him?” Ji Shuyi said, puffing out her cheeks in anger. “I’ve been so happy these past few days without his harassment… Ah!”

Just as they were passing an intersection, a boy rushed out in a hurry and collided directly with them, causing Ji Shuyi to scream in surprise and stumble sideways.

Coincidentally, Jiang Cheng, who was coming out of the intersection with his hands in his pockets, chatting leisurely with Chen Xingyi, raised his eyes and saw a familiar figure. Then, that figure plunged straight into his arms, even making a slight thudding sound.

It was just like their first meeting, also at a corner, when she had carelessly run into his chest while holding a cup of milk tea.

That was also the first time someone had dared to argue with him to his face after bumping into him.

So, from the beginning, she was the one who had thrown herself at him first. Now that he wanted to avoid her, she had once again crashed solidly into him.

Ji Shuyi’s entire face crashed directly into Jiang Cheng’s hard chest. Her nose hurt terribly, and tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t help but sob and was about to apologize, “Waa… I’m sorr—… How is it you?”

After steadying herself, she looked up and saw that it was Jiang Cheng whom she had bumped into. Instantly, the subconscious politeness in her heart vanished. She glared at him somewhat unreasonably with resentment and said, “No wonder I’ve been so unlucky first thing in the morning. How awful!”

As if encountering a plague, she turned around and left.

She didn’t know why, but even though she was usually quite polite and responsible, every time she saw Jiang Cheng, she wanted to ’cause trouble,’ argue with him, and get him angry. It was as if all her impoliteness and unreasonable behavior were reserved solely for him.

Ji Shuyi thought, this must be revenge for him always bullying her!

“Ah!”

Unfortunately, Ji Shuyi, who had just turned around and taken only a couple of steps, suddenly felt someone grab her neck from behind. In the next second, she was forcefully spun around and pulled back by a strong force.

“Oof…”

Her small, already sore and reddened nose bumped into someone’s hard chest once again. Being rudely pressed against his chest, she couldn’t help but cry out softly. Before she could even raise her head, she heard Jiang Cheng’s frivolous, arrogant, low, and deep voice: “Apologize.”

“I won’t!”

Ji Shuyi’s voice was muffled. She struggled desperately in Jiang Cheng’s arms, trying to push him away, but the man was like hewn from steel. No matter how hard she pushed, he didn’t budge an inch. Annoyed, she quickly pulled out her phone, wanting to make a call.

“Hey! Give me back my phone!”

The phone she had just managed to pull out was snatched away by Jiang Cheng with lightning speed. He even held it high above his head, making it impossible for Ji Shuyi to reach. He looked down at the ‘flailing’ girl with a playful look in his eyes, raising his eyebrows slightly, and retorted with disdain:

“What’s this, going to call that Tang Yu?”

The teasing in Jiang Cheng’s eyes deepened. “I’ll help you make the call.”

Tang Yu?!

All of Ji Shuyi’s movements suddenly froze. She didn’t understand why this guy would mention Tang Yu. But she was currently in a fit of anger and didn’t have the mood to overthink it. She only retorted, puffing out her cheeks, “You’re really being ridiculous. Of course, I’m calling the police because you’re harassing me!”