"But..."
Su Lin shook his head. "No buts, Xiao Wan. You're the one making a choice now. The other students will be here soon. Hurry up and decide."
"I..."
"Fine. If you don't want to help, I'll take it home."
Lin Xiaowan grabbed Su Lin's large hand. "I'll help. I'll help, okay?"
Feeling the soft little hand on the back of his, Su Lin smiled. "That's more like it. I, Su Lin, have been wise my whole life. I'm about to graduate—how could I let rumors spread at a time like this?"
"Hmph, I really don't understand what goes on in that head of yours."
Lin Xiaowan's confusion and indignation!
Lin Xiaowan put the money into her backpack, zipped it up, then looked around. Only after confirming that no one had seen did she pat her chest in relief.
Meanwhile, Su Lin had already returned to his seat and started reading seriously.
They said serious men were the most charming, and Su Lin was exactly like that right now.
For the first time, Lin Xiaowan felt that Su Lin looked rather handsome when he was seriously reading.
She shook her head, driving the thought from her mind.
"What kind of person is Su Lin, exactly? Could his usual arrogance, contempt, and disdain for everyone be an act? But what would he gain from that?"
"Doesn't he like me? But what I hate most are arrogant, conceited men. Isn't he deliberately making me dislike him? Could it be that he doesn't like me at all, and actually likes Xia Shiyu?"
"But a person's eyes can't lie. Just now, Su Lin truly seemed determined not to donate if I refused to help. How was that supposed to be explained?"
"If he genuinely just wanted to donate money, then why did he treat the poor students in class that way?"
The more Lin Xiaowan thought about it, the more her head hurt. Even when the morning self-study bell rang, she was still deep in thought.
Yet Lin Xiaowan never would have imagined that Su Lin had done it on purpose.
With Lin Xiaowan's personality, there was probably a storm of thoughts raging in her mind right now.
As someone from Earth, Su Lin's emotional intelligence might not have been particularly high, but he was no naïve fool either.
When dealing with a school belle like Lin Xiaowan, he knew ordinary methods were useless. A bad impression was better than no impression at all.
Not long after the bell rang, Wang Yi entered carrying a simple donation box.
The students in the classroom immediately stopped reading and looked up at him.
Wang Yi cleared his throat, then said, "The donation box is here. I'm personally organizing this donation drive. We'll start from the first row. Wang Yue, you lead the way."
Wang Yue, seated first in the front row, said nothing and rose to walk toward the podium.
"The rest of you should prepare whatever money you intend to donate as well. This donation is anonymous, and the amounts won't be recorded. Just put it directly into the box."
As he spoke, Wang Yi stepped aside. Wang Yue took out a one-hundred-yuan bill and placed it into the donation box in front of the whole class.
After Wang Yue finished donating, Wang Yi nodded and signaled for the next person to continue.
One by one, the students went up to donate. Everything proceeded in an orderly and harmonious manner.
When it was Su Lin's turn, he took out two hundred yuan and walked to the podium.
Whispers immediately rose from below.
"Tsk... Su Lin is even the Vice Class Monitor. He always acts all high and mighty, looking down on this person and that person, yet he only donated two hundred when it came time to give."
"Exactly. Feng Yifei's family only runs a restaurant, yet he donated three thousand. I heard Su Lin's father owns Su's Construction Group, but he only gave two hundred."
"Isn't he just good at studying, handsome, and from a somewhat wealthy family? What's he got to be so smug about?"
Such conversations filled nearly every corner of the classroom. Su Lin could vaguely hear some of them, but he did not care. He still carried himself with an imposing air.
Seeing his attitude, everyone became even more irritated. Their discussions gradually grew louder, with no concern for whether Su Lin could hear them.
"What are you all doing? Is this school a marketplace? I already said the amount was entirely voluntary. Why are you all joining in the heckling?"
Under Wang Yi's deterrence, the classroom quieted considerably.
Only a few people in the entire classroom did not discuss Su Lin.
One was Xia Shiyu in the front, while the others were Chen Yang in the back row and Lin Xiaowan beside Su Lin's aisle.
"Xiao Wan, Su Lin is seriously disgusting. His family is so rich, yet he only donated two hundred. I used to think you two were pretty suitable, but now it seems lucky that you didn't fall for him. Otherwise, you'd have suffered."
Hearing her deskmate Yang Yan's mockery, Lin Xiaowan felt a wave of discomfort. In the entire class, only she knew that Su Lin had donated not two hundred, but a full two hundred thousand. Yet she had promised Su Lin not to say anything, so she could only keep it bottled up inside. The feeling was unbearable.
Lin Xiaowan frowned. "Xiao Yan, the teacher said the amount was voluntary."
"Of course I know it's voluntary, but look at Su Lin's attitude. It's infuriating."
Lin Xiaowan followed Yang Yan's gaze toward Su Lin. He looked like he was saying, "Poor people, stay away from me." Suddenly, she found this version of Su Lin rather adorable and smiled faintly.
"That guy Su Lin...!"
"Xiao Wan, you think Su Lin is disgusting like this too, right?"
Lin Xiaowan shook her head without speaking. By then, Su Lin had already walked down from the podium amid a chorus of scoffs.
When it was Lin Xiaowan's turn, the classroom became lively again.
The two stacks of cash in Lin Xiaowan's hands were simply too eye-catching.
When Wang Yi saw the money in Lin Xiaowan's hands, even the corner of his mouth twitched. He reminded her, "Student Lin Xiaowan, are you donating all this money to Xia Shiyu?"
Lin Xiaowan subconsciously glanced at Su Lin, only to find that he was reading and not looking at her at all. That made her feel somewhat aggrieved.
I should never have agreed to help Su Lin.
But if she had not agreed to help him, he truly would not have donated this money.
"Teacher Wang, yes."
Wang Yi nodded and did not ask further.
He knew Lin Xiaowan's family circumstances better than anyone. Her father was the mayor, and her mother ran a trading company. Her family was much wealthier than Su Lin's, so donating two hundred thousand was indeed not a problem for her.
Moreover, Lin Xiaowan had always been someone who enjoyed helping others.
Yet only Su Lin knew that while Lin Xiaowan seemed kind to everyone, she did not have any true friends in the real sense. She merely wanted her student years to be simple, without too many interests and schemes mixed in.
"Damn, those two stacks must be two hundred thousand, right? She donated another twenty thousand, making two hundred and twenty thousand altogether. She's way too rich."
"Hiss! No wonder the School Belle doesn't fancy anyone. With that kind of financial power, aside from Su Lin, no one in class can compare, right?"
"Forget it. Try taking away Lin Xiaowan's money. Our class only donated a few thousand in total."
"That's true. Most people gave ten or twenty. Only a few gave over a hundred."
"..."
Only Su Lin knew that this donation drive would not raise that much money. Although there were quite a few wealthy families at school, that did not mean they would donate generously.
Some parents were unwilling to pay, while others gave their children money only for them to donate a tenth of it and pocket the rest.
As soon as the class bell rang, Xia Shiyu called Lin Xiaowan out of the classroom.
Lin Xiaowan had generously donated so much money, so Xia Shiyu naturally had to thank her properly. But she did not know how she should thank her.
As the two beauties of Jiangning No. 1 High School, they were often compared to each other.
Xia Shiyu was gentle as water, while Lin Xiaowan was cold and ethereal as an immortal.
The two of them drew countless gazes as they walked together, but Su Lin was not among those people.
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