Chapter 36: Working Through It

Ji Shuyi’s eyes widened in shock, her entire body frozen as she stared at the person kissing her forcefully, so close in front of her.

His eyes were wide open, and as her gaze collided with his, her heart trembled, and it was as if her soul had returned to her body in an instant. Only then did she flusteredly push him away…

“…Jiang, Jiang Cheng…”

All her breathing and heartbeat were in disarray.

But she had nowhere to retreat, and she was unable to break free. She didn’t feel a single bit of heartwarming emotion, only feeling like she was being endlessly humiliated. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she felt so wronged that she was about to die.

Seeing that she was crying, Jiang Cheng seemed heartbroken and froze all his movements.

Ji Shuyi, finally freed, glared at him with tears in her eyes. In the next second, she slapped him hard across the face.

Pa-

Jiang Cheng was stunned, and then he heard the girl’s voice, tinged with sobs, shout at him:

“You’re too much! Why do you always bully me? What right do you have to kiss me? What am I to you?”

“You’re shameless!”

After shouting the last three words, she turned around and ran away, feeling wronged.

She had just felt that he wasn’t so bad,

But what right did he have to kiss her?

He had never said he liked her,

Nor had he ever confessed.

It was as if he had just changed the way he bullied her on a whim.

Standing there stunned, Jiang Cheng clearly saw Ji Shuyi raise her hand to wipe away her tears as she turned around. How did he make her cry again? Her wronged appearance was like a barbed knife stabbing into his heart.

But…

Jiang Cheng’s eyes trembled slightly, and he lowered his eyes in frustration, his voice low:

“I didn’t want to bully you…”

But he still made you feel wronged. How did it seem like whatever he did was wrong?

A feeling of powerlessness and frustration washed over him like a tidal wave, eroding every cell, driving him crazy.

That was the first time he deeply experienced the collapse of being at a complete loss and having no way to solve the situation.

That night, he drank a lot of alcohol, pouring one cup after another into his mouth.

Chen Xingyi and Song Yu, who were next to him, didn’t persuade him, just silently watched him.

At the bar, Jiang Cheng shook the glass in his hand with a low and listless mood. The wine sparkled under the bar’s dazzling lights, rippling in circles, setting off his loneliness. His head was filled with her crying and running away.

Ji Shuyi, if I could foresee the future, I definitely wouldn’t have bullied you in the first place,

I definitely wouldn’t have bullied you…

That day was also the first time Jiang Cheng let himself get drunk and unconscious.

Before that, he never would and never dared to let himself lose his sobriety and reason.

He didn’t go to school for the next two days.

When Ji Shuyi saw him again at school, she could visibly see that he had become much more haggard. She didn’t want to pay attention to him, but she didn’t react as excessively as before and turn around and run away. She just calmly treated him as an unimportant stranger, brushing past him.

But this calmness was fatal to Jiang Cheng.

Ji Shuyi joined the school’s baseball club, baseball being the only sport she had liked since she was a child.

This day, it just so happened that their daily training coincided with Jiang Cheng’s physical education class.

Jiang Cheng, sitting on a long chair, gazed at Ji Shuyi training through a net. He didn’t expect her to look so delicate and soft, but she actually liked baseball and was playing well.

As if sensing his gaze, Ji Shuyi suddenly lost focus during training, her movements a beat slower, and the flying ball whistled towards her face.

In the nick of time, Jiang Cheng instinctively got up quickly and was about to rush over, but saw that someone had taken the initiative and caught the ball in time.

The baseball club president Zhao Yu asked urgently, “Are you okay?”

Ji Shuyi smiled politely and replied, “I’m fine, thank you, President.”

“It’s good that you’re okay,” Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “Go take a rest.”

Ji Shuyi directly said, “Or, I’ll leave first.”

Zhao Yu: “Okay, practice again when you have time.”

Jiang Cheng, who was stunned halfway, watched her being protected by someone else, watched her show a light smile to someone else, watched her pick up her coat and turn around to leave without leaving him a single glance.

For a moment, it was as if something had been stripped from his body, and a lonely emptiness burned his heart.

Slowly, people at school secretly gossiped, saying that Ji Shuyi was flirting with a boy, and Jiang Cheng caught them and beat the boy up. Then Ji Shuyi ignored Jiang Cheng for that boy.

The rumors became more and more outrageous, and slowly turned into Ji Shuyi being restless, seducing boys everywhere, but even if the Ji family could shut down the forum, they couldn’t shut everyone’s mouths.

“Those people are sick, damn it,” Lu Zhixia said angrily, “These rumors really don’t cost anything.”

Ji Shuyi also pouted helplessly, “They’re all jealous, jealous that this young lady is beautiful and rich, and lives as she pleases, causing them to collectively lose it.”

And Jiang Cheng never bothered to pay attention to any gossip or rumors at school, and he never got caught up in the self-justification from the rumors, but he didn’t want her to be surrounded by rumors…

A few days later.

At noon after school, Lu Zhixia hugged Ji Shuyi’s arm secretly and said, “Have you not heard any rumors about you recently?”

As the end of the semester approached, Ji Shuyi, who was preparing for the final exams, didn’t pay much attention to the rumors, after all, she didn’t want to get caught up in self-justification either, but after hearing Lu Zhixia mention it, it seemed like there weren’t any.

“It seems like there aren’t any,” Ji Shuyi said in a flat voice.

Lu Zhixia suddenly smiled excitedly and said, “It seems that Jiang Cheng stopped the rumors for you.”

Ji Shuyi’s eyes suddenly dimmed for a moment, and after saying “Oh,” she changed the subject and asked, “What are we eating for lunch?”

Seeing that she still didn’t want to mention Jiang Cheng, Lu Zhixia had no choice but to end the topic, and then the two girls began to discuss what delicious food to eat.

On the eve of New Year’s Day, Jingda (京大 – Abbreviation for Beijing University) had an annual freshman wilderness physical training.

It was a training camp similar to a wilderness simulated gun battle.

The sponsor of the event was the Jiang family.

The Jiang family had done a lot of public welfare and sponsored school events over the years.

On the day of the training camp, except for freshmen, the others were directly released for the New Year’s Day holiday.

Lu Zhixia, who had received the training uniform, said to Ji Shuyi, “I heard that the winners can get extra credit, and there’s a bonus, and a Monkey King model.”

Ji Shuyi, who liked to play all kinds of games, was very enthusiastic about this event, and directly boasted:

“For my Monkey King, I must win.”

Jiang Cheng, who was eavesdropping, curved the corners of his lips. The little girl really liked the Monkey King.

All the students participating in the training camp changed into camouflage uniforms, holding simulated machine guns, each of them looking like a cool, potential commando.

Several school buses sent the people to the training ground. After the class counselors gave them the precautions, they officially entered the training camp.