Chapter 18: Scouting the Territory to Bully You

“Oh my god, Jiang Cheng is here.”

“Seriously? He’s carrying a bubble tea. How outrageous is that?!”

“It’s probably for Ji Shuyi. Someone saw them hugging near a corner. Jiang Cheng even held her in his arms and wouldn’t let her leave.”

“I heard that Ji Shuyi bumped into Jiang Cheng and he made her apologize. He even made her cry! In the end, Ji Shuyi had to call her family for help to get away. You know the Ji family is very rich.”

“You heard wrong. If they weren’t together, why would Jiang Cheng bring bubble tea? Wouldn’t it seem weird for someone like Jiang Cheng to buy bubble tea? Unless… he’s humbling himself for love, yeah… definitely!”

“…”

A single incident that morning had already spawned multiple versions of the story.

“Hey, you…”

Standing at the door, Jiang Cheng randomly stopped a student who was late, intending to have him deliver the bubble tea to Ji Shuyi. However, the moment he located Ji Shuyi in the crowd, all eyes were instantly drawn to the man beside her, and his brows furrowed deeply.

Jiang Cheng never forgot those he had a past with and was overly cautious. Even just a glimpse of the back of someone’s head was enough to identify that the person sitting next to Ji Shuyi was Kyle, the racer who had tried to orchestrate a crash that night.

What’s that trash doing next to Ji Shuyi? He refused to believe it was a coincidence.

“Ch-…Cheng-ge…” The guy who’d been stopped at the door stood frozen, not daring to move. Seeing that Jiang Cheng had called him but said nothing, he nervously asked, “Is there anything you need?” (Note: “Cheng-ge” is an honorific, showing respect.)

“Never mind,” Jiang Cheng replied in a deep voice. Then, driven by some unknown impulse, he walked directly towards Ji Shuyi with the bubble tea in hand.

The professor on stage recognized Jiang Cheng. Besides his excellent grades, his mysterious family background and other outstanding qualities made him hard to ignore. If it were anyone else who was late, the professor would definitely ask, “Which class are you in? I don’t recall you being in my elective.”

However, when faced with Jiang Cheng, the professor decided it was best to avoid trouble and just casually said, “Latecomers, please find a seat quickly and don’t disturb others.”

Even so, Jiang Cheng walking towards Ji Shuyi with the bubble tea in hand still attracted a great deal of attention.

Especially since Ji Shuyi’s bubble tea was the featured “Love Bubble Tea” from that particular shop. Even the packaging was uniquely pink and adorned with little hearts. It was usually bought by couples, because they weren’t just drinking bubble tea, they were drinking a specialized love potion.

In an instant, a barrage of gossipy whispers began, enough to fill a book.

Ji Shuyi was sitting in a seat towards the middle and back. It wasn’t until Jiang Cheng was nearby that she curiously looked up amidst the hushed gossip. Seeing Jiang Cheng with the love-themed bubble tea and a distinctly unpleasant expression, the little girl felt a rather underhanded sense of smug satisfaction, especially when she vaguely heard someone murmur,

“See? I told you he was here for Ji Shuyi. Jiang Cheng definitely likes Ji Shuyi. Those posts about Ji Shuyi and Tang Yu on the forum were probably deleted under Jiang Cheng’s forceful pressure. Now he feels threatened, so he’s setting aside his pride to pursue her…”

Jiang Cheng glanced at Ji Shuyi, who had propped up a book and was hiding her small head behind it, a smug smile on her face. Then he looked at the man next to her – as expected, it was Kyle.

At the same time, Kyle also looked up and saw Jiang Cheng. The moment their gazes met, sparks flew. Kyle even provocatively raised an eyebrow at Jiang Cheng, while simultaneously leaning closer to Ji Shuyi.

Jiang Cheng had a fiery temper, but he wasn’t a brainless idiot, a bomb that could be detonated with a single spark.

Therefore, he found Kyle’s provocation uninteresting and laughable, giving him a disdainful glance as if looking down at a lowly ant.

Due to the layout of the university classroom, Jiang Cheng was standing in the row behind Ji Shuyi. He directly leaned over, stretching his long arm to place the bubble tea in front of Ji Shuyi. However, he didn’t retract his arm; instead, he continued to block Kyle from her. Tilting his head, he looked at her and ordered in a low voice, “Go sit on the inside.”

That Kyle being near this little firecracker couldn’t mean anything good.

“I don’t want to,” Ji Shuyi protested softly from behind the book, refusing to listen to him.

“Get in there!” Jiang Cheng’s expression suddenly plummeted to the depths of an icy abyss.

His words were laced with an overbearing and forceful tone that brooked no resistance.

In that instant, Ji Shuyi was startled by Jiang Cheng’s sudden domineering gaze, her big eyes blinking in surprise. If the Jiang Cheng of the past was arrogant and aloof, the Jiang Cheng before her now was absolutely unyielding and authoritarian, allowing no room for argument. Even Ji Shuyi, who was used to arguing with him, inexplicably obeyed him at that moment.

“Okay,” Ji Shuyi muttered, pouting, and moved one seat over.

Once she had moved, Jiang Cheng directly strode past her, sitting between Ji Shuyi and Kyle.

“???” Ji Shuyi was utterly baffled by his actions. “What are you doing?”

Jiang Cheng rested his elbow on the table, propping his head up with one hand, and replied casually, “Waiting to see you get scolded by the professor.”

Ji Shuyi: “…”

This damn dog is really asking for it!!!

Ji Shuyi ignored him, listening attentively to the lecture for a while. Feeling awkward, she turned her head to look at Jiang Cheng and asked, “Don’t you have class?”

Jiang Cheng: “No class.”

“…” Ji Shuyi said helplessly, “If you don’t have class, why did you come to school so early in the morning?”

Jiang Cheng: “Scouting the territory to bully you… Ouch!”

That was because Ji Shuyi, annoyed, had kicked him in the shin. She kicked him hard enough to clearly see the dog-like man wince in pain.

Kyle, who had inexplicably been force-fed some bizarre dog food, curled his lips in displeasure. Seeing that he couldn’t make any progress, he ultimately took advantage of the professor’s distraction and slipped out the back door. (Note: “dog food” here is slang for public displays of affection.)

Hurrying out of the teaching building, he turned around and unexpectedly came face-to-face with Jiang Cheng, who had followed him out at some point.

With his hands in his pockets, Jiang Cheng directly blocked Kyle’s path. With a face full of arrogant fearlessness, he took a step closer to Kyle and coldly warned him, word by word: “If I ever see you near that girl again, the steel rod I smashed into your car will be used to burst your worthless head!”

Kyle simply smiled, took a step back, and shrugged. “You really have balls.”

That evening, Jiang Cheng, who rarely attended evening self-study, stayed for the session.

When school was dismissed, Lu Zhixia had already left. Ji Shuyi slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked outside, thinking about what gift to bring Yan Yan when she visited her on the weekend.