Chapter 40

After finishing with the tent, Shang Yan clapped his hands in satisfaction and stood up. He glanced around to ensure the tent was stable, then began walking in the direction where Su Miao Miao had run off.

**

At this moment, Su Miao Miao was hiding behind a large tree, her heart still pounding. She covered her face with her hands, feeling the heat on her cheeks that refused to fade. Shang Yan’s words kept echoing in her mind, and the more she thought about them, the more embarrassed she felt.

“How can Shang Yan be so improper…” she muttered quietly, images of Shang Yan’s teasing smile flashing through her mind.

While she was lost in her self-conflict, a familiar voice came from the other side of the tree.

“Hiding here won’t help. The tent is already set up.”

As they were about to wrap up, Wen Susu happened to return to the tent.

At that moment, Shang Yan was bending down, making a final check to ensure the stability of the tent’s key points. The midday sunlight fell unobstructed, casting a faint, somewhat dazzling glow over the boy as he straightened up. The light accentuated his already striking and well-defined features, giving them an added depth. This enhancement lent him an air of maturity beyond his youthful appearance, making one imagine how much more captivating and defiant he would look as he grew older, exuding a charm that would be hard to ignore…

Wen Susu’s gaze softened involuntarily.

She stepped forward and handed over an unopened bottle of mineral water.

“…Thank you, Shang Yan.”

Shang Yan, however, neither looked at her nor at the bottle of water. “It wasn’t for you, no need to thank me.”

His tone was very indifferent as he ended the conversation and turned to leave.

Wen Susu’s expression changed.

—

When Su Miao Miao isn’t around, is this person so indifferent that he doesn’t even bother to respond with mocking words?

She clenched the bottle of mineral water tightly and turned around, shouting at Shang Yan, who had already walked a few steps away without any hesitation.

“Aren’t you curious why Su Miao Miao behaves so oddly?”

As soon as she shouted, Wen Susu regretted her impulsiveness. But since the words were already out, she could only stand her ground, pretending to be indifferent while keeping her eyes fixed on Shang Yan’s back.

What made her feel both heartbroken and jealous was that, as expected, Shang Yan stopped when he heard her words.

However, when Shang Yan turned back around, the indifference on his face had deepened into coldness.

“Who are you calling a freak?”

“She… she is… You’ve all seen her wearing a hat and not speaking for a whole day. Isn’t that…?”

“Shut up.”

The boy’s voice suddenly dropped, becoming cold.

Also chilled was the gaze he fixed on Wen Susu, his dark eyes piercing.

Faced with this look, Wen Susu instinctively shivered.

It was the first time Shang Yan had looked at her like this.It sent a chill down to her bones.

“Don’t let me hear you mention her again.”

With a cold glance at Wen Susu, Shang Yan turned and walked away.

…

The sun was bright, the grass soft, and for once, there wasn’t a hint of wind.

Freed from the heavy academic pressures and the always strict classroom discipline, the students were like sparrows released from a cage. They chirped excitedly, almost as if they could fly up to the sky with their still-growing wings.

Unfortunately, even though they were out of the cage, the strings tied to their sparrow legs were still held by the teachers.

At the sound of a whistle, everyone focused their attention.

——

It was time to prepare lunch.

Since it was a camping trip, the school decided to have both lunch and dinner as BBQ self-service meals. There was a designated platform in the camping area for safely placing BBQ grills. Each class was divided into groups based on their tent numbers, with several groups sharing one grill.

Some group members were responsible for grilling, while others used the mountain spring water flowing down to the platform to clean and prepare the ingredients.

Naturally, Su Miao Miao was grouped with Wen Susu and others.

Most of the group consisted of girls who were closer to Wen Susu and their exclusionary attitude was evident. Especially when it came to the task of grilling, they all unanimously chose to prepare the ingredients instead.

——

Grilling was tiring, with heavy smoke and fumes, so the girls avoided it if they could. Su Miao Miao, still looking bewildered, was pushed in front of the grill.

She stood there dazed for a few seconds, then heard a familiar voice coming up the stairs to the platform:

“What are you afraid of? Brother Yan is an expert. He went to primary school abroad, and outdoor activities like this are a piece of cake for him—right, Brother Yan?”

“You’ve got it wrong. I can’t do it.”

“…”

Su Miao Miao turned around.

At that moment, Shang Yan and his group stepped onto the platform. His gaze lazily swept over the grills on the platform, and just before looking away, his eyes landed back in a specific direction.

After pausing for two seconds, he changed course, leaving Li Zhe and the others behind, and walked straight ahead.

“Hey, Brother Yan—”

Li Zhe watched in disbelief as their pillar of support chose “love” over “loyalty” without even a moment’s hesitation.

When Shang Yan stopped in front of Su Miao Miao, he had already guessed the situation in their group.

He glanced sideways, and the few people in the group, who had become unusually quiet because of his arrival, all lowered their heads silently.

Shang Yan chuckled lightly.

“My little girl is almost shorter than the barbecue grill. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to bully her like this?”

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Su Miao Miao was so angry she wanted to kick his shins.

Finally, suppressing her annoyance, she muttered under her breath, “You’re not much taller than the barbecue grill yourself…”

As several girls looked at him with laughter bordering on tears, he lazily withdrew his gaze, lifted his arm, and hooked it around the thin shoulder of the girl beside him.

“Come to our group.”

Su Miao Miao: “?”

“This group is not good, it’s child labor abuse.”

“…You’re the child labor here.”

“I’m 18, kid.”

Su Miao Miao: “I’m also… almost 18.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah!”

“Then why did someone question me a few days ago, suspecting you’re a twelve or thirteen-year-old middle school student?”

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Adding a renowned beauty like Su Miao Miao into a group that was originally all boys made several rowdy boys instantly feel intimidated, unsure of where to put their hands and feet.

However, they didn’t stay idle for long before being kicked by Li Zhe, one by one, to go wash vegetables.

Su Miao Miao, on the other hand, was carried by Shang Yan beside him.

The reason given was “being too close to those boys is not safe.”

Beside them, Li Zhe silently muttered, “It’s actually not safe to be close to you,” but he didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.

So he could only resentfully watch his little goddess standing obediently beside the barbecue grill next to Shang Yan, while he himself squatted on the side, feeling aggrieved as he skewered kebabs.

Soon, the charcoal in the barbecue pit gradually turned into a translucent red, causing the air above to tremble slightly from the heat.

Su Miao Miao curiously watched for a while, but soon felt her eyes becoming dry.

She rubbed her eyes and was about to continue watching when Shang Yan reached out and pulled her back gently.

“Be good and step back, it’s bad for your eyes.”

This rare tone of gentleness without a hint of teasing made Su Miao Miao involuntarily blush even more.

Feeling a bit uneasy, she looked at Shang Yan, “Are you okay?”

Shang Yan: “I’m different from you.”

Su Miao Miao: “?”

Shang Yan: “I’m at a higher altitude, so the temperature is lower.”

Su Miao Miao: “…………”

After a day of teasing about height, Su Miao Miao, filled with frustration and resentment, finally couldn’t bear it any longer. Summoning all her courage, she put her previous thoughts into action.

——

Beside him, Li Zhe just raised his head and saw a petite girl standing in front of the barbecue grill, lifting her short legs in frustration and lightly kicking at the leg of Shang Yan.

Li Zhe: “What the heck?!”

This scene wasn’t just witnessed by Li Zhe; across the few meters in the opposite group, someone at the table dropped their metal plate in surprise. But what surprised them even more was yet to come. Standing in front of the barbecue grill, Shang Yan appeared somewhat surprised as well.

However, when he lowered his eyes and saw the girl who had just kicked him, looking a bit timid after coming back to her senses, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Shang Yan: “Are you really angry?”

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Su Miao Miao lowered her head in silence for a moment.

Just when Shang Yan began to worry if he had gone too far in teasing the girl, he suddenly heard her soft voice as she crouched down.

“Sorry… Does it hurt?”

Her delicate hand emerged from her sleeve and gently brushed away the dust marks on Shang Yan’s trousers.

Shang Yan was taken aback, feeling helpless. “With your kitten-like strength, what’s there to hurt? …Get up.”

His hands were damp with water and oil from flipping the skewers on the barbecue grill, making it inconvenient to bend down and pull her up. He could only bow his head and look at her.

The girl paid no heed, continuing until she was certain she had wiped away the last speck of dust for him, then slowly tilted her face up to look at him.

Her jet-black pupils resembled the most beautiful amber, with tiny specks of light twinkling deep within.

However, their owner seemed a bit aggrieved at the moment, with her eyelashes curled slightly, blinking twice, and her eyes appeared a little moist.

“Exam scores, height, and even computer skills, although we are far apart in all these aspects, I’ve been trying hard to catch up with you… Please don’t always tease me…”

“….”

In that moment, it felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his heart—perhaps with the force of hitting a load-bearing wall. In an instant, all the walls around his heart crumbled, leaving dust in the air. Built painstakingly over eighteen years, the girl’s words and gaze trod upon the softest part of his heart. From then on, whenever she stood there, shedding a tear, it would cause him great pain.

He knew he was exposing his vulnerabilities, but he didn’t want to regret it. Even though he knew she might not mean what he wanted her to, he couldn’t help but deceive himself, dissecting every word and gesture, hoping to find deeper meaning.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, unable to be suppressed. His voice carried a hint of embarrassing delight, “You said it yourself. Don’t regret it.”

Su Miao Miao hesitated, not understanding the silence from Shang Yan just now.

She then nodded blankly and innocently.

“I don’t regret it.”

Shang Yan coaxed out a response, feeling pleased as if floating in the sky.

To cover up his embarrassing yet uncontrollable reaction, he turned to Li Zhe and took the freshly prepared skewers.

Observing Li Zhe’s numb expression throughout, his gaze accusing, “Brother Yan, Little Su is not even 18 yet.”

“Mm.”

Shang Yan nonchalantly responded.

“I am also very regretful.”

Li Zhe: “…”

He wasn’t thankful at all.

Just as Li Zhe was about to say something else, a sudden cry rang out.

Behind Su Miao Miao a barbecue stove tripped over by a boy fell towards the girl without any warning—