Chapter 28

Having transferred to the new school for just over ten days, Bi Chun had already adapted to campus life here.

The class schedule and daily routine at Second High School were not much different from those at First High School. She liked the grand yet simple and traditional campus of Second High School, appreciated the teaching styles of a few teachers here, and her homeroom teacher, Teacher Guo, also showed considerable care for her… All of this was very good.

It’s just that she seemed unable to get closer to her dormmates…

Another thing that wasn’t so great was… Bi Chun puffed out her cheeks and glanced at the empty seat beside her. The homeroom teacher had temporarily assigned her to sit with that guy who was notorious for fighting.

It’s not that she disliked being desk mates with him.

Bi Chun thought back to the day before yesterday—

The long-absent desk mate had finally shown up in the classroom.

And it really was that boy who had helped her before!

Bi Chun sincerely, albeit nervously, thanked him. To her surprise, he didn’t even glance at her. Instead, he slumped onto the desk and closed his eyes to sleep.

Had he forgotten her? Bi Chun agonized over it for half a class period. Then, finding an excuse to leave, she went back to the dormitory to retrieve the gift she had prepared long ago and brought it to the classroom.

Once again, she thanked him sincerely and gently placed the gift on his desk.

“Take it away,” he finally spoke.

But his expression was impatient, and his tone was cold.

Bi Chun felt a bit scared, but she thought to herself: She had to thank him, and as desk mates, they needed to maintain a good relationship.

She didn’t take the gift away but instead tugged at the corner of her shirt and offered him a small smile.

Unexpectedly, he waved his hand and slapped the gift aside.

Bi Chun stared at the gift box that had tumbled back in disarray, feeling both wronged and intimidated.

This person was so fierce…

Bi Chun picked up her water cup and stood up, ready to leave the classroom to fetch some drinking water. Just then, she saw Ji Wenchen enter through the back door.

He strolled lazily to his seat and leaned back against the chair with an air of indifference.

He didn’t spare her even a glance.

Bi Chun tightened her grip on the water cup, unable to describe the feeling in her heart.

…

Qin Xiaoxiao was going over the problem-solving method explained by the math teacher during class.

Her thick, butterfly-like eyelashes were lowered, and beneath her elegantly straight nose, her slightly plump cherry lips were pressed together.

She had an expression of deep concentration.

Yan Yangcan hesitated for just a moment before stepping forward. “Qin Xiaoxiao, sorry to bother you, but there’s a question I’d like to ask you.”

Qin Xiaoxiao’s eyelashes lifted slightly. “Which question?”

“This one.” Yan Yangcan placed the open exercise book on Qin Xiaoxiao’s desk, pointing to one of the problems on the page.

Qin Xiaoxiao replied calmly, “The teacher already went over this problem in class.”

“Yes, I know,” Yan Yangcan said with a gentle smile. “I want to try a method the teacher didn’t mention.”

“And then?”

“But I only have part of the idea and couldn’t solve the whole thing,” Yan Yangcan admitted.

Qin Xiaoxiao became slightly interested and waited for him to continue.

“Can I borrow your pen and some scrap paper?” he asked.

Qin Xiaoxiao pushed the items toward him.

Yan Yangcan, smiling as if he had anticipated her reaction, sneaked a glance at her and, still bent over, began writing out the solution steps on her desk.

Halfway through, he pushed his glasses up in frustration. “I don’t know how to proceed from here.”

When Yan Yangcan put the exercise book down, Qin Xiaoxiao instinctively leaned slightly toward Yang Min, keeping a proper distance from him.

At this moment, as she focused on the steps he had written, she unconsciously straightened up and leaned back toward him, closing the distance between them.

Yan Yangcan’s attention was hardly on the problem he had written out. His back was bent, yet he didn’t seem to feel tired at all.

The two of them were just a few centimeters apart, their faces separated by mere inches, and their elbows nearly touching.

“Let ‘a’ be the x-axis and ‘b’ be the y-axis. Establish this rectangular coordinate system…” Qin Xiaoxiao suggested uncertainly, “Try calculating the cosine of the angle between AB and ‘a’ first.”

“Okay…” Yan Yangcan picked up his pen and, following her suggestion, wrote out the next step, which he had already figured out beforehand.

Qin Xiaoxiao suddenly understood. “That works. Continue calculating like this, and then find the cosine of the angle between AB and ‘b’ as well.”

“Alright, I’ll calculate it and see if the result is correct.”

Beside them, Yang Min, whose mind was already bubbling with gossip, noticed how close the two of them seemed to be. She wanted to remind her desk mate, who always kept a safe distance from boys, but hesitated to interrupt their focused discussion.

It seemed like this Yan Yangcan really had an interest in her Xiaoxiao.

Ji Wenchen tugged slightly at the corner of his lips, his eyelids half-lowered, concealing the ripples of emotion surging in his eyes.

…

Qin Xiaoxiao submitted her physics homework to the homeroom teacher’s office and headed back to the classroom along the same route.

It was still during evening study time, and the entire teaching building echoed with a kind of chaotic harmony from the sounds of students reading aloud.

As she approached the stairway landing between the fourth and fifth floors, Qin Xiaoxiao suddenly paused.

A boy in a black T-shirt and light blue track pants was leaning against the wall, his handsome face slightly lowered, with his eyelids drooping.

After sensing something, he lazily lifted his gaze.

He straightened up, and walked toward her step by step.

Qin Xiaoxiao averted her gaze and continued walking up, planning to act as though she hadn’t seen him and bypass him entirely.

But unexpectedly, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

After pulled into a corner and pressed against the wall, Qin Xiaoxiao felt a wave of helplessness: Wasn’t this the third time he had grabbed her wrist? Did he have some sort of fixation on grabbing people’s wrists?

“You…” Qin Xiaoxiao was momentarily stunned as she found herself face-to-face with Ji Wenchen, who was mere inches away.

Instinctively, she leaned her head back, but behind her was the hard corner of the wall, so, there was nowhere to retreat.

What closed in on her along with the narrow space was a faint scent of tobacco.

The lighting in the hallway wasn’t very bright, and with his tall figure casting a shadow, it grew even dimmer.

“Let go,” Qin Xiaoxiao frowned.

“Don’t get so close to him.”

A cryptic remark with no context, Qin Xiaoxiao couldn’t understand. “What?”

Ji Wenchen pressed his lips together. “Be with me.”

This time, Qin Xiaoxiao understood perfectly. “Didn’t I make myself clear last time?” she replied, attempting to free her wrist from his grip.

Ji Wenchen instinctively tightened his grip, the deep emotions seeping through the gaps of his long lashes making him appear resolute and unyielding.

“What will it take for you to be with me?”

“There’s no way…” Qin Xiaoxiao wanted to say: No matter what, I won’t be with you.

“Qin Xiaoxiao, I’m pursuing you.”

“Don’t,” Qin Xiaoxiao immediately looked up and quickly replied, “Don’t pursue me. I just want a peaceful campus life. I just want to study hard and get into college.”

Ji Wenchen tugged at the corner of his lips without much humor. “Then you shouldn’t have provoked me in the first place.”

She had provoked him, then acted indifferent as if nothing had happened, and finally cast him aside.

He felt unwilling, but it wasn’t just that—damn it, his heart kept thinking about this cold and detached woman.

Seeing her get too close to other boys made him deeply uncomfortable.

He wasn’t the kind of person who liked overthinking things. Once he was sure he liked someone, he confessed; once he was sure he wanted someone, he said it outright.

Qin Xiaoxiao’s heart was like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

But Ji Wenchen had to admit—he was willing to dive into the sea to find that needle.

However, all Qin Xiaoxiao wanted right now was for Ji Wenchen to let go.

She even felt that Ji Wenchen’s words carried a bit of a “domineering CEO” vibe, making her feel slightly amused.

Of course, she didn’t laugh.

Her face remained completely expressionless.

Not receiving a response, Ji Wenchen felt a twinge of frustration, but even more so, an overwhelming emotion swelling in his chest that made him uncomfortable.

“… Class is about to end. Let me go,” came Qin Xiaoxiao’s response after a pause of several seconds.

Ji Wenchen’s phoenix eyes narrowed, and for a moment, he felt an intense urge to silence her with a forceful kiss.

In fact, he acted on that impulse.

Ji Wenchen tilted his head and leaned in closer…

Suddenly, a sharp pain in his foot made his brows furrow.

Qin Xiaoxiao turned her face away, her foot still pressed firmly on his shoe. “If you dare try anything, I’ll never talk to you again—never acknowledge you.”

She knew that the words she blurted out couldn’t really be called a threat; they sounded weak and lacked any force. But in her panic, she truly couldn’t think of anything more effective to say.

What she didn’t see, however, was Ji Wenchen clenching his teeth, his jaw muscles twitching as he heard her words.

Ji Wenchen stared at her soft, pale earlobe, his voice slightly hoarse. “Give me a chance.”

How many times did she have to say it? Qin Xiaoxiao endured the warm breath brushing against the side of her face. “I just want to focus on my studies…”

“I won’t disturb your studying.”

“I just want a peaceful campus life. I don’t like being the center of attention…”

“I’ll try.”

“Try what?” A somewhat confused Qin Xiaoxiao asked instinctively.

“Try to pursue you quietly.”

Qin Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened slightly. How did things turn out like this? Wasn’t there something off about Ji Wenchen?

If Ji Wenchen could hear Qin Xiaoxiao’s thoughts, he would no doubt grit his teeth and mock himself. What could he do—beat her into submission and force her to be with him?

He couldn’t bring himself to do that.

As the end of class approached, Qin Xiaoxiao, her composure restored, spoke up as a reminder: “Class is about to end. I don’t want any teachers or classmates to see this… Let go of me.”

The grip on her wrist loosened. Qin Xiaoxiao turned sideways, stepping away from the corner—and away from Ji Wenchen.

Her figure quickly disappeared around the corner.

Ji Wenchen pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, his gaze dropping to the white sneakers marked with a faint half-print of a shoe. He tugged at the corner of his lips in a faint smile.

After recalling the provocation from that bastard at First High School, Ji Wenchen headed downstairs, deciding it was time to stretch his muscles a bit.

…

Ji Wenchen wanted to pursue her?

Qin Xiaoxiao rarely found herself spacing out during self-study time.

Wasn’t the female lead already sitting with him? Why was he still coming after her, his so-called “first love”?

Had he not fallen for the female lead yet?

Wait, no. In the original text, it was mentioned several times that the female lead liked the male lead, but it never explicitly used the word “like” to describe the male lead’s feelings for her…

Enough thinking. Qin Xiaoxiao closed her eyes. In any case, Ji Wenchen absolutely couldn’t really like her. That’s right—he was just unsettled after being rejected by her. It was his need for conquest that made him claim he wanted to “pursue” her.

After finishing a fight, Ji the school bully still felt restless.

Lying on his bed at home, he stared at the ceiling for half the night, his thoughts circling around a single question: How do you pursue a girl? However, having never pursued anyone before, Ji Wenchen ended up disliking every idea he came up with.

He sat up and dialed Jiang Zhousi, the only person who both understood his feelings and had a rich dating history.

“Ah Chen, I’m still in class over here, what do you—”

Hearing the chaotic chatter in the background on Jiang Zhousi’s side, Ji Wenchen hung up the phone.

Within less than a minute, Jiang Zhousi, who was far away in England, called back.

As soon as Ji Wenchen picked up, Jiang Zhousi shouted, “Why’d you hang up so fast? It’s rare for you to call me. Even if I skip class and lose these credits, I’ll still answer. What’s up? Miss me, huh?”

“I need to ask you something,” Ji Wenchen replied.

“Well, this is rare. What’s it about?”

“How to pursue a girl.”

“What? You’re trying to win back Junior Xiaoxiao?” Jiang Zhousi immediately responded, phrasing his confirmation as a question.

He got excited. “That’s easy. Just send her red roses every day. Within a month—”

“No, too flashy,” Ji Wenchen interrupted.

“Flashy? Don’t most girls like flashy gestures?”

“She doesn’t.”

“Let me think… How about sending her sweet words on WeChat every day? Slowly win her over with romantic messages? No, wait, I can’t even imagine you doing something like that.”

Ji Wenchen pulled the phone away, ready to press the hang-up button.

“Actually, the best way is to show up in front of her more often, increase your chances of interacting with her. If Junior Xiaoxiao doesn’t like flashy gestures, then keep it low-key—uh, maybe subtle physical touches, no, I mean more low-key communication and connection…”

Ji Wenchen listened to the next two minutes of advice in silence.

After ending the call, he reached for the lighter on his bedside table. With a click, a small flame sprang to life in the darkness of the night.

…

The end-of-September monthly exams were approaching.

Yang Min had something she wanted to tell her desk mate.

Seeing her desk mate so focused on studying, Yang Min sighed inwardly. Since that person didn’t want her to say anything, she decided to keep quiet.

Sigh, Xiaoxiao will find out after the exams anyway.