“Yu Qian, I like you.”

Jiang Zheng’s fingers clenched into fists, his palms drenched in sweat. He stared intently at the girl in front of him, not missing a single expression on her face.

Yu Qian’s mind went completely blank the moment she heard those words. The anger that had just flared up vanished without a trace, replaced by shock and panic.

“You…… Why did you suddenly say that?” Yu Qian stammered, completely flustered.

“It’s not sudden. I’ve always liked you. I originally planned to confess after you turned eighteen, but……”

Jiang Zheng felt as if he was about to explode. The fruit he had carefully guarded was finally about to ripen, and now someone dared to lay a hand on it!

“Don’t change the subject. You only have two choices— like or not like.” Jiang Zheng’s tone was a bit fierce.

Yu Qian’s mind was in turmoil. After a long pause, she finally heard herself say, “This doesn’t seem right……”

Jiang Zheng snapped, “What’s not right?!”

Yu Qian hesitated. “You’re too young^[1]小 –  small; little; young.”

Too small? The moment Jiang Zheng heard that word, he lost it. “You haven’t even seen, so how do you know I’m small? Yu Qian, this is an insult to me!”

Hearing Jiang Zheng’s outburst, Yu Qian instantly realized what he had misunderstood. Her face turned bright red. How did this conversation take such a wild turn?!

“I meant— no, that’s not what I meant.” Yu Qian felt her words burning on her tongue. “I meant you’re too young, as in age. We’re not suitable for dating yet.”

Jiang Zheng’s anger only intensified. He sneered at her. “And that loser just now was old enough? Why don’t you look at yourself— you’re not even eighteen yet! What, are you planning to find someone in their thirties?

Yu Qian, do you actually like that guy? Is that why you’re making such a lousy excuse?”

Yu Qian was about to lose her mind. She genuinely thought Jiang Zheng was too young. In her previous life, she had already been twenty-one, and now Jiang Zheng was only eighteen. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was a cougar preying on a younger man.

Jiang Zheng saw that Yu Qian wasn’t explaining herself and assumed she really liked that guy. A sour taste filled his heart. Seeing that Yu Qian had even dressed up a little today made him even more jealous.

“No! I don’t like that guy!” Yu Qian hurriedly clarified.

Jiang Zheng scoffed. “You don’t like him, yet you dressed up for him? You don’t like him, yet you were ready to accept his confession? You don’t like him, yet you refused to have dinner with me just so you could meet him?”

The more Jiang Zheng spoke, the angrier he became, successfully working himself into a rage. “Yu Qian, you better come up with a damn good reason, or else…… I’ll go beat that guy up!”

What could Yu Qian say? Explain her previous life? That was impossible.

“I swear, I really don’t like him. That guy is a scumbag. I have a friend who was deceived by him. I was just gathering evidence to expose him.”

Yu Qian replaced Wang Jiajia with ‘a friend.’

“Really?” Jiang Zheng still looked doubtful.

“Really, I swear to the heavens.” Yu Qian sincerely raised three fingers. “If I like Zhang Yifan, may I be struck by lightning.”

Jiang Zheng sneered. “That won’t do. Swear that if you like him, he’ll be cursed to never have children!”

Yu Qian: “……” Thank goodness the scumbag wasn’t present, or he would have fought Jiang Zheng to the death. But thinking about it, Yu Qian still repeated the oath as Jiang Zheng demanded.

Jiang Zheng’s anger subsided slightly, though his tone remained sour, “So you’re sacrificing yourself for your friend? Yu Qian, how did I never realize you were such a saint?

You’re willing to seduce that scumbag, but why didn’t you ever think about seducing me?”

Yu Qian stammered, “I…… Why would I seduce you?”

Jiang Zheng pressed on, “Don’t try to change the subject. You still haven’t answered whether you like me or not!”

Yu Qian opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything.

Her mind was in chaos as a thousand thoughts flashed through her head. Saying she didn’t like Jiang Zheng would be a lie— her racing heartbeat didn’t lie.

But…… she just couldn’t get past this mental hurdle. To her, this was an older woman-younger man relationship. She had always imagined her boyfriend being three or four years older.

But then again, didn’t people say that a wife three years older than the husband ensures a richer life……

Seeing Yu Qian’s hesitance, Jiang Zheng sighed in frustration. He exhaled and said in a deep voice, “I won’t force you right now. I was going to wait until you turned eighteen to confess anyway. You have four months to think about it.”

He paused, then added in an icy tone, “Of course, you’d better not let me catch you meeting that guy again. Otherwise, I’ll break his legs. Understood?”

Yu Qian nodded obediently. Jiang Zheng said no more and walked her back to the girls’ dormitory.

After returning to her room, Yu Qian noticed that Zhang Yifan had sent her another message, asking who had taken her away and whether she was hurt.

Seeing the message, Yu Qian sneered and swiftly deleted Zhang Yifan from her contacts.

Since Jiang Zheng had already disrupted her plan, there was no way to continue as before. There was no need to keep this scumbag’s WeChat and let it pollute her friend list.

“Sigh……” Yu Qian sighed and lay on her bed, feeling frustrated. She had originally wanted to cut ties quickly by exposing the scumbag, but now it seemed like she would have to slowly gather evidence. That meant more girls would get hurt in the meantime.

Yu Qian couldn’t let go of this matter. She kept recalling her previous life, how Wang Jiajia had cried countless times because of that man. Because of him, they had fought multiple times. Wang Jiajia had become sensitive and fragile, turning into a hopeless romantic. Their once close-knit group of four had grown distant because of him……

As she thought about it, somehow, her mind drifted to Jiang Zheng. Even though he had been a bit rough tonight, she had accidentally touched his back and it was…… firm. He felt quite reliable.

────ρя


Meanwhile, Jiang Zheng returned to his dorm, fuming. He sat in silence for a long time before realizing he hadn’t eaten dinner yet. His stomach was starting to ache. He called his roommates and asked them to bring him some food.

Then, he sat at his desk, lost in thought. Even though Yu Qian had sworn an oath, he still felt suspicious. The more he thought about that guy, the more irritated he became. Jiang Zheng picked up his phone. He was going to dig up every bit of dirt on that guy.

When his roommates returned, they found Jiang Zheng staring gloomily at his phone while taking selfies.

Seeing them enter, Jiang Zheng didn’t stop. Instead, he sighed and asked, “Do you guys think I’m handsome?”

His roommates: “……”

Wu Qi: “Brother Jiang, you’re the most handsome guy in our finance department. Of course you’re good-looking.”

Feeling reassured, Jiang Zheng’s confidence grew. That’s right! Compared to Zhang Yifan, he was obviously more attractive. Unless Yu Qian was blind, she would definitely choose him.

But then he thought about Baibai and Heihei that Yu Qian had adopted— so ugly, yet she found them adorable. His confidence wavered. Maybe, Yu Qian really did have questionable taste.

Frowning, Jiang Zheng suddenly recalled what Yu Qian had said about him being ‘too young.’

She had grown up in a single-parent home, without a father.

People said that girls who lacked fatherly love tended to look for older boyfriends.

Jiang Zheng’s face darkened. He turned to his roommates again. “Do I look old?”

His roommates: “……” Is Brother Jiang’s brain broken tonight?