The Woman at the Top of the Food Chain

"Pretend to be your girlfriend?"

Chen Yanxi frowned, instinctively resistant.

Seeing that she had not refused outright, Wang Ge immediately put on a miserable expression. "Sigh, I can't help it. The last time I went out with them, they all brought their girlfriends and kept mocking me. I got annoyed and bragged that next time, I'd bring a girlfriend too..."

"There are still a few days until the weekend. With your qualifications, finding a girlfriend in that time would not be difficult," Chen Yanxi said.

"I don't like them." Wang Ge shook his head.

This guy... Chen Yanxi frowned and thought for a moment. Remembering how Wang Ge had gone to the library every evening these past few months to pursue her without asking for anything in return, her heart softened. She sighed softly. "Fine. I'll agree."

Before Wang Ge could rejoice, she calmly added, "Let me make this clear beforehand. I only don't want to owe you anything. Don't think agreeing to this request means you have a chance."

As heartless as ever...

Wang Ge did not think Chen Yanxi was putting on a tsundere act or anything. He had long grown used to her attitude and personality over this period. He waved it off casually. "I understand what you mean. It's fine. Didn't I say it before? I'm pursuing you because I don't want to leave regrets in my youth. I've already made the effort. As for how it ends, that isn't as important by comparison."

Those were Wang Ge's sincere thoughts. Across both lives, he had lived for forty or fifty years in total. He had seen through many things, and his feelings were not that intense.

The system's mission rewards were nice, but they were not indispensable to him. He was handsome, got good grades, and had ability, experience, and worldly knowledge. On top of that, he had been born into a good family in this life. The system was merely icing on the cake for him, not a lifeline in the snow.

Besides, he had no grand ambitions, so it did not matter if he gave up that extra bit of icing.

And this was only one mission from the system.

The reason he did all this was, on one hand, because he truly liked Chen Yanxi and was willing to make an effort for her, and because he did not want to leave regrets in the youth of his second life. On the other hand... he was simply too bored.

High school life was too dull. He had to find something entertaining for himself, or he would not be able to get through the days.

After hearing Wang Ge's words, Chen Yanxi nodded lightly and said nothing more, returning her gaze to her book.

She had always liked being alone, enjoying solitude and quiet by herself. That was why, throughout her final year of high school, she came to the library alone every night to read in peace.

This was her own little world.

She had ranked first in her grade for three consecutive years. Even if she skipped evening self-study, the teachers would not say anything. That was the privilege of an outstanding student.

One night two months ago, Wang Ge had abruptly barged into the library. Faced with her puzzled gaze, the tall boy had not bothered to explain. He simply pulled a book from the shelf and sat across from her.

From then on, she was no longer alone in the quiet library at night.

At first, she had strongly resisted. She knew exactly what Wang Ge was after. Many people liked her, and she did not care about that. What she resented was having her peace disturbed.

Since the library was no longer quiet, she could simply leave.

But Wang Ge seemed to see through her thoughts and sincerely stated his intentions.

He said he had come so as not to leave regrets behind, and that the final outcome did not matter.

Not caring about the outcome, only wanting no regrets—could there really be a high school boy like that?

Chen Yanxi had not believed him at first. She thought it was merely a line he was using to keep her from leaving.

But the boy's eyes were filled with sincerity, without the slightest trace of a lie. So she hesitated.

She changed her mind.

Though Chen Yanxi was young, she had read many books and had already formed a fairly complete worldview.

But she had never met someone like Wang Ge. People like him should only exist in books. How could anyone be so sincere in real life?

Moreover, Wang Ge's behavior was perfectly measured. He never crossed the line, nor did he disturb her reading too much.

He may not be a sincere person, but at least he is sincere right now... This sincerity deserves the most basic respect.

So Chen Yanxi accepted Wang Ge coming to the library to see her every night. Slowly, she stopped resisting him and even became accustomed to his presence.

Perhaps that saying was right: sincerity was the ultimate trump card.

At least, that was true for Chen Yanxi.

But whenever Wang Ge occasionally gave her ambiguous hints, she rejected them cleanly and directly, saying that she did not intend to form an intimate relationship with anyone.

"Any intimate relationship is a shackle. Carrying it only adds to your burden."

That was what she said.

"Ring, ring, ring~"

As the bell signaling the end of evening self-study rang, Wang Ge put away his speech draft and said, "I'm heading home first. Bye, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Chen Yanxi nodded slightly.

I wonder whether agreeing to him this time was a good thing or a bad thing. Watching Wang Ge's departing back, Chen Yanxi sighed softly in her heart. I hope it does not give him any useless hopes.

Pretending to be his girlfriend—her first instinct had been to refuse. But then she thought about how coldly she had treated Wang Ge over the past two months, and she could not bring herself to do it...

Besides, she really needed money. Double pay was somewhat important to her.

As she thought about it, Chen Yanxi suddenly froze.

Had he already become capable of influencing her decisions?

Even though she had always been rejecting him, the shackles had still been placed around her without her realizing it.

...Though that was partly because she was a little softhearted.

That was how relationships between people worked. Once you formed a bond with someone, that person would influence you. The deeper the bond, the deeper the influence. No matter what decision you made, you had to consider that person, losing the freedom to choose.

That was the shackle brought by intimate relationships, and the reason Chen Yanxi rejected them.

Still, although Wang Ge had already put shackles on her, Chen Yanxi did not mind too much.

Wang Ge was a day student. He had rented a place near the school instead of living in the dormitory.

He felt more comfortable renting a place and living by himself.

At that moment, he was leisurely pushing his bicycle toward the school gates.

Since school had just ended and everyone was hurrying back to the dorms, there were many students on the road. Riding was actually slower than pushing.

He was in a good mood. Chen Yanxi had agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend. Looking at it positively, if she could agree to be his fake girlfriend today, perhaps she could agree to become his real girlfriend tomorrow.

Looking at it negatively, even if Chen Yanxi did not mean that, he had at least managed to ask her out.

With Chen Yanxi's stubborn, unmoved personality, being able to get her out at all was already a huge improvement.

Humming a little tune, Wang Ge quickly left the school gates. Just as he was about to get on his bike, he noticed that something seemed to be happening ahead. A crowd had gathered in a circle.

He thought something serious had happened and curiously moved closer, only to discover that someone was confessing.

The one confessing was a man dressed in flashy clothes. He held a bouquet of flowers, knelt on one knee, and wore an expression of deep affection. He was probably some working adult. Most high school students were shy and reserved; when they confessed, they wrote love letters or bought snacks and stuffed them into desk drawers. Who used such trendy methods of confession?

The girl being confessed to was wearing a school uniform. The streetlamp beside her illuminated her delicate face.

Even with a frown, she was stunningly beautiful.

She had a typical oval face, refined and pleasing features, and large peach blossom eyes brimming with emotion, lending her an extra hint of seductive charm.

With looks like that, in ancient times, people would probably have called her a seductress.

But the girl's personality clearly had nothing to do with that sort of woman. The moment Wang Ge approached, he heard her impatient voice.

"Get lost. Stop bothering me."

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