Chapter 17 – Hate by Association

A pair of shiny black leather shoes with butterfly bows came to a stop in front of Jiang Mingzhi.

She looked up and saw Sheng Qiaoxi’s arrogant face. Her makeup was immaculate, her hair a striking light color with platinum streaks at the ends.

Despite it being early spring, she was wearing a short skirt, exposing her long, pale legs. On top, she had on a fitted sweater.

The whole look was quite mature.

She glanced down at the dictionary in Jiang Mingzhi’s hands and chuckled lightly. “You really study hard, huh?”

Then, turning to the girl linked at her arm, she casually introduced, “This is the one staying at Jinyang’s house.”

The other girl suddenly understood. “Oh, so it’s her. No wonder she was able to skip a grade if she works this hard.”

She covered her mouth and laughed softly.

In their eyes, people who worked this hard all the time were kind of lame. After all, in their circle, many could get a lot without trying. And if someone did need to study, it was something done secretly—only then could they seem effortlessly smart.

Sheng Qiaoxi asked, “Hey, I read online that in your small county, English basics are all ‘mute English.’ Is that true?”

Jiang Mingzhi looked her straight in the eye. “If you’re that curious, go see for yourself.”

“Mute English” refers to people who do well on written exams but struggle with speaking and communication.

It was true that English teaching in smaller towns could have issues. Some English teachers had heavy accents—let alone the students.

Sheng Qiaoxi had attended international schools since childhood, always had foreign teachers, and had even studied abroad. She always thought her American accent was particularly impressive.

Now that Jiang Mingzhi had presented this so-called weakness herself, Sheng Qiaoxi’s sense of superiority exploded.

So what if she was pretty?

Sheng Qiaoxi pursed her lips and gave her a look of false concern. “Just memorizing vocabulary isn’t enough. Speaking is more important. You should probably take a few tutoring classes—don’t embarrass Uncle Pei and the others in the future.”

Pei Jinyang had been able to hold fluent conversations with foreigners since he was four.

Lin Wan couldn’t stand her condescending tone and frowned. “Who are you to butt in?”

In a place like Beijing, there were plenty of impressive people—just as there were plenty of posers.

Having followed her parents around, Lin Wan had met many people. The truly capable ones were usually humble. Girls like the one in front of her, who radiated arrogance from their very pores, were often all bark and no bite.

Sheng Qiaoxi sneered and looked Lin Wan up and down.

There wasn’t a single obvious luxury brand logo on her outfit, but the cut and texture clearly showed it wasn’t cheap.

She recognized the jacket Lin Wan was wearing. It cost 12,000 yuan.

Just then, the boys’ voices at the other end of the hallway grew clearer. All four girls turned their heads.

As soon as Sheng Qiaoxi saw who it was, she beamed and walked quickly toward them.

“Jinyang!”

The boys were tall. In just a few steps, the two groups were close.

Jiang Mingzhi, who had been leaning against the wall, suddenly straightened up and raised a hand to wave in their direction.

Her smiling face was brighter than the sunlight pouring through the window.

“Guan Jingxu, nice game out there!”

Guan Jingxu and Zhuang Heyang were walking a few meters behind Pei Jinyang.

The faint smile that had been on Pei Jinyang’s face vanished instantly.

She’d kept her head down the entire time he was on the court, and now she was complimenting his rival’s skills right in front of him?

She always went around school saying she was his “sister,” but in reality, she ignored him every chance she got.

What a two-faced act.

He brushed past her, trailing a wave of humid heat—residual warmth from post-game exertion.

Jiang Mingzhi pulled a bottle of water from Lin Wan’s bag and tossed it to Guan Jingxu, her voice light and teasing. “That dunk was amazing.”

Guan Jingxu caught the bottle easily. His forearm was lean and defined, with a red wristband on it.

His smile was full of spirit. “Thanks. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Jiang Mingzhi had once told him she’d haunt him like a ghost. Knowing Guan Jingxu would be playing basketball today, of course she showed up. She didn’t need to be overly friendly—just interacting with him was enough to make Pei Jinyang hate her by association.

And clearly, it worked. Pei Jinyang hadn’t even spared her a glance.

End of the Game

After the game, everyone had their own plans. Jiang Mingzhi and Lin Wan went shopping and bought a lot of cute stationery.

Pei Jinyang’s group had planned to go sing karaoke in the evening, but after Pei Jinyang took a shower at home, he suddenly said he wasn’t going.

Sun Shiyao bombarded the group chat with messages.

“Why not, Jinyang?”

“Why do you look more upset after winning the game than if you’d lost?”

“Did you fall in love?”

“The beautiful girl who took a photo with you earlier is coming too.”

“…”

Sun Shiyao went crazy as he watched his messages being deleted from the chat, and he was even more sure that Pei Jinyang had a short fuse today.

So, one by one, he privately messaged to ask what had happened to Pei Jinyang in the last couple of days.

The information showed everything was normal.

After thinking for half an hour, Sun Shiyao finally got a clue. A figure in pale yellow appeared in his mind.

---

Under the soft light of a protective eye lamp, the boy wiped his short hair roughly with a towel, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over the two books on his desk. His mood visibly lifted, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.

The covers of the books were of his favorite fighter jets, but of course, what made him happiest wasn’t just the fighter jets.

It was also the girl who bought the books for him.

He had many books on military topics, but these two had never made it onto the shelf and were always left on his desk. Every time he looked at them, he’d think of that bright and beautiful girl.

Now, there was also a bottle of water on his desk. Half of it had been drunk, and Guan Jingxu picked up the bottle and twisted the cap off.

He tilted his head back and took a couple of swigs. The mineral water vanished at a visibly fast rate.

Not even a drop was wasted, as the water beads at the corner of his lips were quickly swept into his mouth by his tongue.

He still didn’t have her WeChat.

Guan Jingxu opened WeChat and searched for Jiang Mingzhi among the over forty colorful profile pictures in their class group.

Her profile picture was a cluster of blooming white magnolias, with a blurred wall in the background, seemingly taken by her herself. It was likely from her hometown in the south.

Not long after sending the friend request, the white magnolia jumped into Guan Jingxu’s friend list.

She sent a cat emoji.

Guan Jingxu typed: “Thanks for the water.”

Before he could finish typing, a voice message popped up in the chat. When he opened it, the girl’s sweet voice filled the room.

“No need to thank me. My friend carried a few bottles of water for me. I just helped her lose some weight.”

Guan Jingxu’s lips curled into a slight smile as he held down the voice message button.

“Old Yu said you’re starting to review for the final exam subjects. Do you need any help?”

Jiang Mingzhi listened to Guan Jingxu’s voice message, glancing at the time at the top of the screen. Seeing that it was almost time for a late-night snack, she slipped on her slippers and left her room.

Passing by Pei Jinyang’s room, she happened to run into him as he came out of the door.

Jiang Mingzhi pretended not to notice and bypassed him, her slender fingers pressing down on the voice message button again. In a deliberately exaggerated voice, she said, “Thank you, Classmate Guan~”

Pei Jinyang followed her down the stairs, his gaze fixed on the low bun she had tied at the back of her head.

Unable to resist, he reached out and poked it.

The texture was as smooth as he had imagined.

Jiang Mingzhi turned her head and glared at him. “What are you doing?”

Pei Jinyang rubbed his finger and looked down at her from above. “You’re in a relationship. Be careful, I’ll tell your mom.”

Jiang Mingzhi held back the urge to roll her eyes. “Are you sick?”

Under the spotlight, the boy’s shadow loomed over her.

Pei Jinyang, pleased to see Jiang Mingzhi enveloped in his shadow, raised an eyebrow. “Your taste in boyfriends really isn’t that great.”