Chapter 9: Eight Big Characters

After receiving a call from Chi Haiyin asking for Pei Zhou’s contact information, Song Boyan had no choice but to give it, and no way to ask too much either.

But he was just as surprised. Chu Chu was found out this quickly?

Curious what the situation was, Song Boyan finally sent Lin Chuge a WeChat message.

When she received Song Boyan’s message, Lin Chuge was still lying on her bed, studying her tutoring schedule.

Seeing the notification pop up on her screen, she froze for a second.

Song Boyan was asking her on WeChat if she was okay.

This afternoon’s matter—did Song Boyan already know? If he knew, did that mean other classmates knew as well?

[Lin Chuge: “You know already? Did anyone else find out?”]

[Song Boyan: “No. I didn’t tell anyone.”]

[Lin Chuge: “That’s good then.”]

[Lin Chuge: “Actually, it’s nothing. My mom knows, but she didn’t say much.”]

[Song Boyan: “Auntie is very open-minded.”]

[Lin Chuge: “Mm!”]

[Lin Chuge: “Also, don’t tell anyone else, okay? I don’t want the other classmates to know.”]

[Song Boyan: “Got it.”]

After this short exchange, both of them felt relieved.

Lin Chuge once again felt guilty for her earlier pettiness. Song Boyan was really such a good guy!

And indeed, nothing spread around school.

Lin Chuge went to class with peace of mind, while patiently waiting for Pei Zhou’s reply.

To make sure her attitude appeared firm enough, she deliberately avoided hanging around in front of Pei Zhou these next few days.

Even if she didn’t seek him out, the hints had to keep coming.

Every night, she made sure to post one WeChat Moment aimed squarely at Pei Zhou—complaining her back hurt, or that she could only sleep face down at night and it was really inconvenient. The point was, as long as Pei Zhou saw it, he’d immediately be reminded of that day!

Yet before Pei Zhou’s reply came, a delivery arrived for Lin Chuge.

She was sure she hadn’t ordered anything. She asked a few possible people, but all denied it. Just when she was about to refuse the package, Pei Zhou sent her a message:

[Pei Zhou: “The package—make sure you take it.”]

Only then did Lin Chuge sign for it.

She carried it back to her room and replied:

[Lin Chuge: “What is it?”]

[Pei Zhou: “God, are you annoying or what?”]

[Pei Zhou: “Just open it and see for yourself!”]

[Lin Chuge: “…You firecracker.”]

After roasting him, she tossed her phone aside, grabbed scissors, and opened the box.

Inside, wrapped in clear plastic, was a big bundle of bright red fabric. She frowned hard, pulled it out, and gave it a good shake.

The red bundle unfolded—

And what she saw was: a banner.

Bright red satin, with golden-yellow tassels and golden-yellow characters embroidered on it.

At the top:

“Respectfully Presented by: Yinghua International School, Class 2–3”

“Student: Lin Chuge”

In the middle, the eight large characters—

“Acting Bravely for Justice, Model for Classmates.”

At the bottom—

“Pei Zhou, September, 20XX.”

Lin Chuge stared blankly for a few seconds. Then she collapsed onto her bed in laughter.

Hahahahahahaha! Had this guy been kicked in the head by a donkey or what?

Honestly—not bad.

Pei Zhou sending a banner was really not bad.

She laughed until her face hurt before finally stopping. Picking her phone back up, she snapped photos of the banner from every angle, then fired off a storm of messages.

[Lin Chuge: (photo)]
[Lin Chuge: (photo)]
[Lin Chuge: (photo)]
[Lin Chuge: “Pei Zhou, I get it now.”]
[Lin Chuge: “You genuinely want to study hard with me.”]

[Pei Zhou: “……”]
[Pei Zhou: “Are you a pig?”]

[Lin Chuge: “Didn’t you say yourself only someone kicked in the head by a donkey would study with me?”]
[Lin Chuge: “If you weren’t kicked by a donkey, why else would you send me a banner?”]
[Lin Chuge: “Rounding up, it means you want to study with me.”]

[Pei Zhou: “……”]

[Lin Chuge: “Anyway, I’ll be waiting.”]

Typing out that last line, she set her phone down.

Climbing out of bed barefoot, she looked around her room for the perfect spot to properly enshrine the first banner of her life.

By the time she found a satisfactory place and hung it up, quite a while had passed.

She picked up her phone to snap a picture to show Pei Zhou, only to find he had already sent several more messages.

[Pei Zhou: “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”]
[Pei Zhou: “Hey!!!”]
[Pei Zhou: “Don’t think that just because you took a hit for me you can boss me around however you like.”]
[Pei Zhou: “Warning you, I don’t fall for this.”]

Lin Chuge studied his words for a moment, then felt she basically understood.

So she replied:

[Lin Chuge: “Then tell me—what do you fall for?”]

[Pei Zhou: “…Are you a pig?”]

[Lin Chuge: “?”]
[Lin Chuge: “I’m not a pig. Maybe I’m a donkey—because right now I really want to kick you in the head.”]

[Pei Zhou: “……………………”]

After bickering a bit, she sent him a picture of the banner hanging on her wall.

His reply was merciless:

[Pei Zhou: “It’s ugly as hell.”]

That made Lin Chuge furious.

Call her a pig, fine—she could endure that. But how dare he insult her banner? Even if he gave it to her, he wasn’t allowed to say that!

[Lin Chuge: “Pei Zhou, dear classmate.”]
[Lin Chuge: “What if I post these pictures to my Moments? What do you think?”]
[Lin Chuge: “And if you’re still not satisfied, I could add that video of you doing square dancing last time?”]

[Pei Zhou: “???”]
[Pei Zhou: “How the hell do you even have something like that???”]

[Lin Chuge: “Because I recorded it.”]

Of course, when she recorded it, she definitely hadn’t thought of using it to threaten him—it just looked fun at the time.

But hey, he provoked her first!

After fuming for a bit, his reply came:

[Pei Zhou: “You’re so annoying.”]
[Pei Zhou: “Hurry up and delete that crap!!!”]

[Lin Chuge: “My banner isn’t ugly.”]
[Lin Chuge: “Now hurry up and study properly with me.”]
[Lin Chuge: “Classmate Pei Zhou Zhou, take your time thinking about it. I’m going to review now.”]

The feeling of having the upper hand was simply too good.

Especially since, this time, she had the upper hand against Pei Zhou—the one nobody dared mess with. Double the satisfaction.

Humming happily, Lin Chuge went off to review her notes, ignoring her phone.

When she finally finished studying and checked it, she sighed. No reply from Pei Zhou at all. Maybe her plan had failed.

Stubborn as a mule, hard as stone.

Really difficult to deal with.

If she couldn’t manage Pei Zhou, at least she could manage herself.

She almost felt like giving up. After all, as long as Pei Zhou didn’t go down the wrong path, it would be fine… right?

That evening, Chi Haiyin came home.

Hearing the noise, Lin Chuge rushed downstairs from the third floor, pulled her mother into her room, and proudly displayed her treasure.

“Ta-da! Mom, look!”

Chi Haiyin humored her, glanced over—froze, then her face broke into a bright smile.

“Wow! Our Chu Chu actually received a banner!”

Lin Chuge smugly nodded. “Yep! Pei Zhou gave it to me.”

“You know, Grandpa and Grandma Li’s grandson…”

As she explained, she hugged her mother’s arm. “Even though I got hurt, it was thoughtful of him, wasn’t it? So really, my injury wasn’t his fault. You get what I mean, right, Mom?”

“You’ve spelled it out so clearly—how could I not understand?”

Chi Haiyin stroked her daughter’s hair. “Your dad and I won’t make things hard for him, don’t worry.”

Lin Chuge grinned and hugged her tightly.

“Mom, you’re the best!”

---

Resolving to study seriously, Lin Chuge naturally told her best friend Xu Luoluo about it.

She even asked if Luoluo wanted to join her in tutoring.

But Luoluo, determined to laze her life away, refused without hesitation. She thought Lin Chuge was just on a whim and would soon be back to slack off with her.

Yet, after witnessing how diligently Lin Chuge now listened in class, did homework, and reviewed daily, Xu Luoluo had to change her mind. Her Chu Chu was serious this time.

With ten minutes before the first class started, Lin Chuge was still grappling with a question she hadn’t figured out last night.

Xu Luoluo turned around from the front row to look at her.

“Chu Chu, you’re working too hard. Does this mean I’ll be the only one at the bottom from now on?” she whined pitifully.

Without looking up, Lin Chuge said, “We can work hard together.”

“…But it’s so tiring.”

“Then whenever you feel like studying, we can work hard together. For now, I’ll blaze the trail for us two lazy fish. Let’s see if we can turn things around.”

Xu Luoluo reached out and patted her head. “Chu Chu, you’re the best! But don’t always turn me down when I ask you to go shopping or to my idol’s events. It’s boring alone.”

She had indeed neglected her friend a bit.

Lin Chuge looked up, smiling sweetly. “Okay, next time I’ll definitely go with you.”

Satisfied, Xu Luoluo began rambling about a gorgeous lipstick shade she’d been eyeing.

They were mid-conversation when sudden noise broke out outside the classroom.

Students poured in from the hallway. Xu Luoluo stood to look but saw nothing, so she grabbed a classmate and asked, “What happened? What happened?”

“See for yourself.” The classmate jerked their chin toward the podium.

Turning, Xu Luoluo’s eyes went wide.

She glanced at Lin Chuge, who was also staring at the podium.

“Quiet,” said their homeroom teacher, Mr. Xue. At once, silence fell.

“Let me introduce a new classmate. He’s transferring from Class 6.”

“This is Pei Zhou.”

“From now on, he’s a member of our Class 3. Be nice, get along.”

Mr. Xue pointed to an empty seat in the back, signaling him to sit there.

Pei Zhou slung his bag over one shoulder, one hand in his pocket, his handsome face set in a cold expression as he walked down the aisle.

Lin Chuge’s eyes followed him the entire time.

Honestly, she was stunned. No—she was very, very stunned.

Why was he transferring into their class?

What was this supposed to mean? Could it be…?

She quickly pulled out her phone under the desk and shot off a message.

Pei Zhou, just settling into his seat, felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He glanced at the message, then smirked faintly.

Lifting his gaze, he met Lin Chuge’s eyes directly.

His smirk turned sly. Then he tucked it away and typed back.

[Pei Zhou: “Lin Chuge, classmate.”]
[Pei Zhou: “If I’m not going to have an easy time at this school, I’ll make sure you don’t either.”]

Lin Chuge: …

That reply was a huge disappointment. She had thought he’d changed his mind and wanted to study hard.

Burying her head, she finished her reply just as the bell rang. She put her phone away and focused on class.

[Lin Chuge: “Do whatever you want.”]
[Lin Chuge: “But even people like me who hate studying sometimes decide to try.”]
[Lin Chuge: “So… I don’t think I could ever like someone who’s a slacker.”]

Pei Zhou stared at those messages for a long time.

What the hell did that even mean?

Was she kidding him?

Clearly—it was she who liked him!

Face darkening, Pei Zhou let out a silent sigh and shoved his phone deep into his desk.

Different classroom, same routine—he lowered his head onto his desk and promptly went to sleep.