Xia Zimu heard the name Lin Bai and felt it sounded somewhat familiar, but couldn’t quite place it. “Oh, hello,” he said, his gaze involuntarily lingering on Lin Bai for a moment longer.

Shen Nanxing noticed everything, silently thinking to himself: This is the first time they’ve met, yet Xia Zimu seems to already have developed a liking for Lin Bai. Is this the mutual attraction between the main characters?

Lin Bai sensed Shen Nanxing’s gaze and a sense of smugness surged within him. So what if Shen Nanxing was the young master of the Shen family? His fiancé was still tangled up with him. It seemed like his friends might have different feelings toward him too. This possibility made Lin Bai’s eyes gleam with self-satisfaction. He apologized to Shen Nanxing with a regretful expression, saying, “Student Shen, are you still angry with me? I’m really sorry about what happened that day.”

Shen Nanxing furrowed his brows upon hearing this, and his anger flashed across his face. “Do you think the court summons you got weren’t enough?” he coldly added, “Don’t act pitiful here; I’m not buying it.”

Lin Bai’s expression froze upon hearing Shen Nanxing’s words, and his nails unintentionally dug into the flesh of his palm. Shen Nanxing’s words hit a raw nerve. Although he didn’t know how Fu Chengyu helped him resolve this issue, his reputation at school had plummeted. Those who had once scorned Shen Nanxing turned around and started calling him a troublemaker. Some even accused him of ruining the relationship between Fu Chengyu and Shen Nanxing. Lin Bai felt wronged, especially since Fu Chengyu had told him to avoid appearing in front of Shen Nanxing.

Shen Nanxing couldn’t be bothered with his dramatic act and walked past the two of them, leaving. Xia Zimu tried to follow but was stopped by Lin Bai’s call.

“Senior Xia, you must help me explain to Student Shen that I was wrong about the post. I sincerely hope he can forgive me,” Lin Bai said, looking at Xia Zimu with an innocent, remorseful expression, his tone full of pleading.

Xia Zimu’s face darkened. It turned out this was the person who had spread rumors online before. No wonder the name sounded so familiar. He sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm, “Lin Bai, right? What right do you have to ask for forgiveness? Even if Nanxing never forgives you, it’s something you deserve!”

Xia Zimu thought to himself: Where does this guy get the courage? He caused trouble for Nanxing, and now he’s acting all innocent.

Lin Bai watched Xia Zimu’s retreating figure with jealousy, his heart filled with resentment. Why was it that Shen Nanxing, so fortunate, had so many friends who stood by him?

“Xia Zimu, can you stop looking so fierce?”
“You and Fu Chengyu are ‘lovers,’ not enemies. Can you soften your expression a little?”
“And you, Fu Chengyu, stop standing there with that cold face acting all aloof. Smile a bit more.”

Xia Lin watched their performance from the sidelines, her brows nearly knitted together. They didn’t look like “lovers” at all—when they stood there, it was like they wanted to kill each other, more like enemies than anything. She had already removed many of the intimate actions they had requested, but if this continued, it wouldn’t be a youth campus drama anymore, it would turn into a martial arts film! Xia Lin regretted her decision. She had thought Lin Sheng’s role would be the hardest to find, but now it seemed the real challenge was dealing with the two leads!

“Consider this a request—can you just act properly? Tomorrow’s the official performance, you two young masters.” She pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture.

Xia Zimu sneered. “It’s Fu Chengyu who’s not cooperating, what am I supposed to do? Fu Chengyu has that pretentious face and can’t even remember his lines. Who’s to blame?”

Fu Chengyu immediately exploded in anger. “Xia Zimu, are you looking for trouble?!”

Here we go again. Everyone was used to it by now—the two of them couldn’t go a day without fighting. They had all switched from trying to mediate to simply watching the show. Some even made a small group to bet on how long they would argue this time.

Xia Lin loudly intervened. “Enough, stop fighting! Let’s rehearse again. If this doesn’t work, we’ll just switch actors!” She felt utterly exhausted, cursed by fate.

The two of them finally stopped. Xia Zimu wasn’t trying to make things difficult for others; he wasn’t going to make things harder for the rest of the crew. After all, he had agreed to act because of Shen Nanxing. If they really switched actors, he wouldn’t be able to perform alongside Shen Nanxing anymore. That simply wouldn’t do—he had been looking forward to showing off in front of Zhou He.

He glared at Fu Chengyu, gritting his teeth, and shot back, “From now on, anyone who messes up, is a dog!!!”

Fu Chengyu gave him a smug look. “That person is definitely you!”

The two of them went through the script again. Though their tone and gestures were still a bit stiff, it was a vast improvement from before. Xia Lin saw a glimmer of hope. She had known it—how could two faces as handsome as theirs not be a perfect match? Especially when Chu Xuan’s hand rested on Li Fu’s waist—good heavens, it was practically brimming with unspoken tension!

In stark contrast to the charged atmosphere between them, Shen Nanxing’s side felt unusually peaceful. He had classes in the afternoon, so he didn’t go to the drama club again. For the first time in ages, Shen Chuanqiong finished his early shift and came to school to pick him up.

As Shen Nanxing stepped out of the school gates, he immediately spotted Shen Chuanqiong leaning against the car door, patiently waiting for him. Shen Chuanqiong noticed Shen Nanxing from afar and waved, his voice carrying a barely perceptible warmth. “Good boy, over here.”

“Brother.” Shen Nanxing called obediently.

Shen Chuanqiong took the bag from his hand and casually asked, “Good boy, what’s in the bag?”
He remembered that Good Boy hadn’t brought anything with him when he left in the morning.

Shen Nanxing’s eyes dodged for a moment. “It’s a costume for the performance. I need to take it home to wash.”

When Shen Chuanqiong heard it was a performance costume, he immediately became interested and tried to open the bag. “What kind of costume is it? What role is Good Boy playing?”

Shen Nanxing was hesitant to explain. He certainly couldn’t tell him it was women’s clothing. He quickly stopped Shen Chuanqiong and placed the bag on the backseat. “Brother, it’s just an ordinary costume. There’s nothing special about it.”

Shen Nanxing quickly changed the subject, asking, “By the way, brother, who are we going to meet?”

Shen Chuanqiong remembered the main point. “Good boy, I’m taking you to meet a friend.”

“Friend?” Shen Nanxing had already met Su Chen and Fu Zhiyuan, so his brother must have a friend he didn’t know. He cupped his face with one hand, furrowing his brows, and tried to guess who this friend was.

He took another careful look at Shen Chuanqiong and suddenly realized, “Brother, is it your girlfriend?”

He had been wondering why his brother was so dressed up today. It turns out he was meeting his girlfriend.

Shen Chuanqiong was taken aback by this remark and coughed. “Good boy, she’s not my girlfriend yet. I love hearing that, but when we meet her, don’t say anything strange, alright?”

Shen Nanxing quickly assured him, “I know, I know.” Then, with a curious expression, he looked at Shen Chuanqiong. “Brother, is it the one who hit you last time?”

Shen Chuanqiong’s expression stiffened slightly. “…”

Why did it feel like Good Boy wasn’t being very good today?

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Shen Nanxing didn’t press further. In his mind, he secretly thought: I didn’t expect my future sister-in-law to be so wild! So this is what my brother likes.