Chapter 19

The girl’s tone was so serious, Qi Yu almost thought she was about to confess.

But then she blurted out, “Can we be friends?”

Wait—we’re at this point already, and I’m still not even considered her friend?

Qi Yu felt like the world went dark for a second.

But the girl was being completely earnest, innocent, with no hint of teasing—just like the time she’d roasted him in the alley. He had no defense against that kind of honesty.

They locked eyes, but Qi Yu didn’t reply right away. Zhong Yao started to lose confidence.

Maybe she’d assumed too much. After all, she was just an illegitimate daughter of a celebrity. A “super second-gen” like Qi Yu probably wouldn’t want to be entangled with someone like her, right?

Not wanting to hear him reject her, she opened her mouth to say “never mind”—but just then, the boy suddenly grinned.

“Sure,” he said with a smirk, a little roguish, “but only if you give me flowers after my performance later. Then we’ll be friends.”

Zhong Yao froze, visibly conflicted.

She had made the offer to be friends in a rush of emotion from the night before—she hadn’t exactly thought it through.

At that moment, Qi Yu’s condition felt more like a reminder—making Zhong Yao realize what becoming friends with him would truly mean.

Back when she had just transferred, merely exchanging a few words with him had already caused people to verbally attack her like that.

Being friends would naturally mean more interaction with Qi Yu. It would be strange to keep that completely under wraps, and when others inevitably found out… what would she have to face then?

But then Zhong Yao thought again: last time things went wrong because of a misunderstanding between her and Qi Yu. If they genuinely became friends, maybe it wouldn’t turn out as badly again.

Anything could happen—she suddenly didn’t know what to do.

In truth, Qi Yu hadn’t thought that deeply about it at all.

In his mind, friendship simply meant interacting in whatever way felt comfortable for both people. Just like Song Shi and Tang Yiming—they were very close, but because they’d developed many “CP fans” after that parent-child reality show, they chose to go to different schools and only hung out privately.

Qi Yu hadn’t considered that Zhong Yao would start thinking so seriously about how they’d interact at school.

Right now, he just thought one thing: I’m a guy—do I really have to keep letting a girl have the upper hand all the time?

He couldn’t let her keep controlling the pace. He had to throw her a curveball once in a while too!

Seeing the conflicted expression on her face, Qi Yu felt deeply satisfied.

Time was almost up. He stood lazily from the bench and said, “Alright, then I’ll be waiting for your flowers.”

——

Shen Qingqing was in an unusually good mood today. More precisely, she’d been in high spirits ever since she heard last night that Zhong Yao’s blackboard poster had been destroyed.

Although many people suspected she was the one behind it—and truthfully, she wasn’t—she still felt thrilled.

She hated Zhong Yao. And the enemy of her enemy was her friend. If someone else took the trouble to teach Zhong Yao a lesson, why wouldn’t she enjoy the show?

So, early that morning, Shen Qingqing arrived at school, planning to follow the teacher and the rest of the class to visit Class 9 and watch the drama unfold.

As she entered the school gates, she was already imagining the look on Zhong Yao’s face when the grade supervisors announced a score of zero for Class 9’s blackboard. Just the thought of that scene made her want to laugh out loud.

As soon as she reached the classroom door, her friend Liu Meng came rushing up in pink heels, eyes shining with excitement: “OMG! Qingqing, Class 9’s blackboard—”

“I already know. No need to say it,” Shen Qingqing cut her off smugly and walked into the classroom to sign in.

Liu Meng was stunned, thinking Qingqing must’ve somehow already found out about Zhong Yao redrawing the poster overnight. She said admiringly, “Wow, no wonder your family runs an entertainment company. Your info network is insane!”

Shen Qingqing pulled out a compact mirror and checked her stage makeup. “Of course. The judges will be reviewing the blackboard posters soon. Come with me to Class 9—we’ll go admire it.”

“Huh?” Liu Meng was surprised. “You actually want to go admire it?”

Shen Qingqing snapped her mirror shut and raised an eyebrow. “An event this big? Of course I have to witness it with my own eyes. If you don’t want to come, fine.”

With that, she patted Liu Meng on the shoulder and headed upstairs toward Class 9.

Truthfully, many students were just like Shen Qingqing. Not knowing Zhong Yao had already turned disaster into brilliance, they came with the same mindset—to watch her embarrass herself.

After all, most people still didn’t know the full story about her and Qi Yu, and remained hostile toward her.

But—

As they snuck over to Class 9, all of them—including Shen Qingqing—were stunned to hear bursts of admiration and surprise from students nearby:

“No way! Is she some kind of genius? She actually redrew the whole thing overnight?!”

“And the colors look even better than before! Is she Nezha reborn or something? Like, three heads, six arms, just tossed her fire-tipped spear onto the blackboard??”

“LOL, you clown. That’s just ‘cause there’s no dust now, of course it looks better. She was already insanely good!”

“Who wouldn’t say Zhong Yao is a badass after seeing this?!”

…

There were so many compliments that Shen Qingqing couldn’t help but peek in doubtfully. What she saw wasn’t the chaotic mess of colors that had gone viral the night before—it had been replaced by a vibrant, fresh new masterpiece.

“What?!” Shen Qingqing, completely disregarding the presence of Class 9’s homeroom teacher, stormed through the back door, her face grim as she stood in front of the blackboard. “This board was ruined just last night. How could it be restored in one night?!”

“This is impossible!” she declared, suspecting they had printed out a fake image and pasted it up instead. She reached out to tear at it.

“Shen Qingqing, what are you doing?!”

He Lingli was the first to rush forward and grab her arm, furious: “You already destroyed it once—now you want to ruin it again? Our teacher and the whole class are watching!”

Her words set off a storm. Class 9’s students stepped forward to protect the blackboard:

“Yeah, Shen Qingqing! Don’t you dare destroy our collective achievement!”

“This is so lame. Can’t you settle personal grudges in private? What kind of person messes with another class’s blackboard?”

“Even if it is personal, destroying someone’s hard work is way out of line!”

“The grade supervisors are almost here, Shen Qingqing. You’re just in time—we were about to report this. There’s no way we’re letting the person who sabotaged our blackboard get away with it!”

Shen Qingqing never expected things to turn out like this. Instead of catching Zhong Yao in a moment of disgrace, she had somehow dragged herself into trouble.

“Shut up!” she snapped, furious. “The blackboard disaster yesterday wasn’t even my doing! Stop falsely accusing me!”

He Lingli rolled her eyes, too angry to care that Shen Qingqing was the “queen bee” of their grade. She shot back, “If it wasn’t you, then who was it? Everyone knows you hate Zhong Yao most. And why else would you storm into our class all worked up like that?”

It was true—Shen Qingqing had the most obvious grudge against Zhong Yao. That’s why people instantly assumed she was the culprit when it all happened.

Shen Qingqing, used to being bold and brash, was enraged by the accusations. “If I wanted to deal with Zhong Yao, do you think I’d stoop to some cowardly trick like that? I’d confront her face-to-face! I’d block her myself, okay? If you want a confrontation, I’m game. There are cameras in the halls and classrooms—once the grade supervisors arrive, we’ll check the footage. Let’s see who’s lying.”

The way she spoke with such righteousness made it genuinely difficult to refute her.

It was actually Class 9’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Jiang Kexue, who finally broke the silence. He cleared his throat and walked over. “Shen Qingqing, let’s set the blackboard issue aside for now. Just now, you mentioned ‘cornering someone.’ What exactly did you mean by that? No matter the circumstances, school bullying is unacceptable. Please come to the office later and explain yourself.”

Shen Qingqing had completely shot herself in the foot. She choked on her own words.

Even Zhong Yao was stunned.

At first, she had also thought Shen Qingqing was behind it—after all, the last time she tried to block Zhong Yao and failed, she even threatened her. There was clearly bad blood between them.

But just now, Shen Qingqing had been so adamant in denying it—so much so that she was willing to admit to “cornering” her but not vandalizing the board—that even Zhong Yao started to have doubts.

Their eyes met in mid-air, and Shen Qingqing completely lost the battle.

Her face flushed with frustration, she turned away awkwardly and stubbornly said, “Mr. Jiang, the blackboard issue is more urgent right now. I think this incident is far more serious!”

Both acts were school rule violations, but Mr. Jiang didn’t think “cornering someone” was any less serious. Still, this was the best opportunity to deal with the blackboard incident.

“They’re both serious matters,” he said sternly. “Open bullying and deliberate destruction of someone else’s work—trying to sabotage others through unfair competition—are all wrong, and must be dealt with severely! The blackboard issue will be handled seriously with the grade-level committee. Clearly, some students still don’t understand the true meaning of the ‘70th Anniversary Celebration.’ The school is commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of our country to pass down—”

As always, once Mr. Jiang started lecturing, it was guaranteed to put people to sleep.

Students from other classes, who had come to watch the drama unfold, immediately scattered like birds. Only Class 9 and Shen Qingqing, who now had to prove her innocence, remained behind, miserably waiting for the school administrators to arrive.

This was probably the darkest day of Shen Qingqing’s life. Not only did she fail to witness her rival’s humiliation, but she also had to watch her rival’s blackboard take first place in the entire school!

And on top of that, she had to carry the blame, and accompany Zhong Yao along with the entire judging panel to the surveillance room to prove her innocence.

Finally—

The hallway security footage revealed the true culprit: a boy wearing the largest-sized school uniform, with both a hoodie and a baseball cap layered on his head, completely concealing his face.

But it was obvious—the person who had destroyed the blackboard was a male student.

——

By the time the school celebration officially kicked off, the news that “Class 9’s blackboard won first place” and “the vandal was actually a boy” had already spread among the students like wildfire.

The academic office was continuing its investigation, and students across all grades were starting to speculate about the culprit based on physical features described in the footage.

During the principal’s speech, the entire assembly field buzzed with whispers. Only once the performances began did things finally settle down.

As the main victim, Zhong Yao’s attention had already shifted to the school showcase.

Her thoughts were completely occupied by Qi Yu’s performance. She was still struggling to decide—should she go up to the stage later? And if she did, where was she supposed to find a bouquet of flowers on such short notice?

She even began to suspect: maybe Qi Yu didn’t want to be friends with her at all—that’s why he made such a condition.

As the events progressed—poetry recitals, group dances, and the grand chorus of “My Motherland and I”—Qi Yu’s performance drew closer and closer.

Suddenly—

Mr. Jiang walked over to Zhong Yao holding a bouquet of flowers. With his usual serious tone, he said, “Zhong Yao, you’ve been selected to present flowers to Qi Yu as a reward. Please head to the front row to prepare.”

The girls nearby either squealed with excitement or sighed with envy. Zhong Yao—the one who was actually chosen—was left completely bewildered.

“Huh?” she blinked in confusion. “Mr. Jiang, what do you mean by ‘rewarded with presenting flowers to Qi Yu’?”

“Aaaahhh!”

He Lingli bounced in place, explaining eagerly: “Here’s the thing! When Qi Yu performed at school for the first time, a girl got so excited about presenting flowers that she broke the stairs to the stage! So the school came up with a new system—only one designated student gets to present flowers now. Anyone can be chosen, boy or girl, and the person is selected from the Honor Class of the month, at the homeroom teacher’s discretion.”

Mr. Jiang added with a kind smile, “That’s exactly right. Our blackboard was outstanding this time, and next month’s Honor Class has already been confirmed to be us.”

He handed the flowers to her and patted her shoulder. “Keep up the great work, Zhong Yao. I have high hopes for you.”

So, still dazed, Zhong Yao was pushed to the front row by He Lingli.

Dressed in camouflage, Qi Yu just happened to be stepping onto the stage nearby. He glanced at her and the bouquet in her arms—and broke into a satisfied smirk.

In that instant, Zhong Yao understood—he knew all along the flowers would end up in her hands.

He had planned this!

Zhong Yao now saw Qi Yu’s childish side in a new light and glared at him fiercely.

But the boy seemed completely unfazed. Standing tall in his military uniform, he and his classmates performed a martial arts routine that drew wild cheers and screams from the crowd of girls.

He exuded confidence—and that was what gave him the audacity to act so boldly.

Whenever Qi Yu was on stage, Zhong Yao could always understand his arrogance. But even so, she was still a little annoyed.

With a huff, she grabbed Tang Yiming nearby and said, “Tang Yiming, do me a favor—go up there and give him the flowers. And give him a message from me.”

“Huh?” Tang Yiming looked totally confused.

But after she whispered in his ear and quickly walked away, the girls around them started looking at him with a sparkle in their eyes, as if they’d just sensed something juicy.

Terrified he’d be eaten alive by the swooning crowd, Tang Yiming fled for the stage.

A few minutes later—

Under the gaze of the entire school, Tang Yiming stepped onto the stage with the bouquet and said to Qi Yu, “Yu-ge, bet you didn’t expect it—I’m the one giving you flowers this year. Surprise~”

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Qi Yu took the flowers with a deadpan face and nearly tripped Tang Yiming as he walked off the stage.

“Damn it, bro! I was framed,” Tang Yiming muttered, then leaned in to whisper, “This wasn’t my idea! The little beauty told me to do it. Oh, and she said to tell you something…”

Qi Yu finally stopped and deigned to glance at him.

Tang Yiming leaned in mysteriously and said, “She told me, ‘Actually, this is pretty nice too.’”

“Yu-ge, what does the little beauty mean by that? What does ‘this is pretty nice too’ mean?” he asked in confusion. “Wait… don’t tell me you’re thinking about starting a relationship early? Isn’t that a bit soon?”

Qi Yu shot him a cold glare. “Her name is Zhong Yao, not ‘little beauty.’”

Tang Yiming: …?

By the time the boy began subtly looking around for Zhong Yao, she was already in a cab on her way home.

After pulling an all-nighter and watching nearly an entire morning’s worth of performances, she couldn’t hold on any longer and asked her homeroom teacher for early leave.

Mr. Jiang Kexue had originally intended to reprimand her for staying overnight at school, but when he saw the dark circles under her eyes and how utterly exhausted she looked, he relented and let her go home first.

When Zhong Yao finally arrived home, she was so tired she couldn’t even lift her eyelids. Head drooping, she considered just crashing on the sofa.

But as she reached the couch, she suddenly saw Jin Chuan sitting there upright. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she must be hallucinating from exhaustion.

She closed her eyes, opened them again—the man was still there.

Not a dream.

Zhong Yao stood frozen in place.

And the first thing Jin Chuan said upon seeing her was a sharp rebuke: “I’ve only been gone ten days, and you’ve already learned how to stay out all night?”