Sometimes, when luck turned against you, even drinking cold water could make you choke. Su Yuan had been born in New China and raised under the red flag, but she wasn't a hundred percent atheist. In her eyes, human civilization was far too insignificant compared to the vastness of the universe—so insignificant that our understanding of it barely counted.
Then again, mythical figures who looked like idols undoubtedly didn't exist. But who could guarantee that advanced life-forms didn't exist in some other form?
Everything was fated. This notion of fate might not be popular in the real world, but it was all too fitting here and now. What did it mean to go from joy to sorrow, or to have joy turn to grief? This world was about to show Su Yuan that its nature was beautiful, yet cruel.
"What reinforcements? What are you talking about?"
Yang Xiaowei happened to be walking over. Hearing the three of them talking, he wore an expression full of curiosity.
"Xiaowei, perfect timing. We were just talking about Su Yuan. Look at how smug she is. Does she think that Ye Hao has her back, so everything's going to be fine? She's twisting the truth! Haha, today we'll show her what it means to be strong on your own!"
Gao Jun thought Yang Xiaowei had shown up at exactly the right moment. As long as he took their side, what did he have to fear from Su Yuan and Ji Yehao twisting the truth?
"I wonder who's the one twisting the truth." Seeing Yang Xiaowei, the unexpected interloper, Su Yuan thought, This is bad. In her eyes, Yang Xiaowei was exactly the kind of troublemaker who might join forces with Gao Jun just to stir things up. Sure enough, once Gao Jun explained what had happened, Yang Xiaowei immediately sided with him. In his words, it was disgraceful for Su Yuan and Ji Yehao to "bully" Gao Jun two against one.
With reinforcements on his side, Gao Jun immediately grew bolder. "There really is kindness in this world! Xiaowei, you've restored my faith in this beautiful yet cruel world."
Yang Xiaowei nodded. "I think Gao Jun is right. Peng Jie needs to be taught a painful lesson! Do you know what other nickname Peng Jie has at the School of Economics? 'Piano Prince'! He's young, rich, and talented. So many naive girls have fallen into his trap because they couldn't control themselves. It breaks my heart just thinking about it!"
"They brought it on themselves. They'll only learn their lesson after they've been hurt!" Su Yuan might not care for Peng Jie, but she wasn't foolish enough to "pretend to be a girl" and save other girls. She had no intention of getting herself beaten up for helping someone who wouldn't even know they'd been sold.
"How can you be so heartless?" Gao Jun's sense of justice burned fiercely. "As the Buddhists say, 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' A responsible person must be willing to make sacrifices. If I were in a position to do it, do you think a task like saving people from suffering would be left to you, Su Yuan?"
"You're just looking for trouble because you have nothing better to do!"
"Wrong! The Buddhists also say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda! Grass is green for the virtuous, flowers are red for the kindhearted. The kindhearted are invincible!"
Yang Xiaowei clapped enthusiastically. "Well said!"
"...So the kindhearted shouldn't sweat the small stuff. As the saying goes, 'If you won't risk the cub, you won't catch the wolf; if you won't give up your virginity, you can't become a mother!'"
"Get lost. I don't have time to argue with you. If you want to be a mother, do it yourself." Su Yuan had no patience to keep bickering over this. It was obvious that Gao Jun was just itching to argue with her.
"First I'd need a child and my virginity to lose!" Gao Jun called after her.
Clutching her textbooks, Su Yuan walked briskly ahead, ignoring everything Gao Jun had said. Ji Yehao and Yang Xiaowei exchanged a knowing smile, then followed.
School of Economics, Classroom of Economics Class Three.
"Brother Peng, I checked it out. That Su Yuan really is a boy. I've already asked several of her classmates, and they can all confirm it." The boy nicknamed Little Fatty walked over to Peng Jie and told him what he'd found out.
"Are you sure she's a boy?"
"Absolutely."
Peng Jie withdrew his distant gaze from the horizon and rubbed his chin, wearing a thoughtful expression. "Interesting. Unconventional, free-spirited, and unlike anyone else. Girls like that are rare, and she feels so fresh."
Little Fatty froze for a moment. He hadn't expected his boss to be this stubborn even with conclusive evidence. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. "Brother Peng, you have to think this through. Su Yuan is a boy!"
"You can stay quiet without anyone thinking you're mute. You say she's a boy, but have you ever seen a 'boy' this pretty?"
If anyone from Dorm 330 had been there, they would have laughed. There really were boys that pretty. Su Yuan before her transformation, just a few days ago, was a living example.
"She just looks a little feminine," Little Fatty muttered.
Peng Jie shot his lackey an unhappy look. For the first time, he felt that even he and his trusted sidekick weren't always on the same wavelength. A flame of irritation kept flaring in his chest because people repeatedly insisted that the woman he'd set his sights on was a boy. He still didn't know why she was pretending to be a "boy," and her "quirk" did reduce the number of rivals he had to compete with. But this kind of willful blindness, calling a deer a horse, still infuriated him.
His voice turned cold. "My affairs aren't yours to meddle in."
Little Fatty immediately fell silent. Since Brother Peng refused to stop until he hit a wall, what else could he say? He just hoped Peng Jie wouldn't blame him later for failing to give him fair warning.
But the thought that the culprit behind Peng Jie's distrust was some androgynous "freak" made him feel as if he'd swallowed a mouthful of rust.
Taking a deep breath, Little Fatty knew this was no time to get angry. His father still had to rely on Peng Jie's father, and he couldn't let his relationship with Peng Jie fall apart. After thinking it over, he said, "Since you've made up your mind to pursue that 'girl' surnamed Su, Brother Peng, I think we'll need a strategy."
"Go on," Peng Jie said, his eyes half-lidded.
"First, there's the matter of how to pursue her. You've been around the block and have plenty of experience, so I'm sure you'll manage that. The other issue is how to stop other people from pursuing her. Since everyone thinks she's a 'boy,' why don't we just let her keep being a 'boy'?"
Peng Jie looked at his lackey and trusted adviser with some surprise. He mostly agreed with what he'd said, but one thing still troubled him. "Su Yuan is too unusual. The tricks I used on other women don't seem to work on her."
"Uh, this is beyond me too, Brother Peng."
"Well, there's always a way. I refuse to believe any girl has no weaknesses."
Peng Jie's confidence returned, and a faint smile spread across his handsome face. His usual tactics had clearly failed with Su Yuan, so he was ready to try something different: gentleness, thoughtfulness, understanding, kindness, and good character. One of them was bound to work.
The only fly in the ointment was his notorious reputation. If only he hadn't been such a flirt back then! He'd dated more than a dozen girls, which had earned him plenty of renown, but now it left him in a bind. Was he supposed to switch without warning to a dark, scheming, domineering, relentless pursuit?
"Brother Peng, from what I've observed, the biggest threat to you is the other three boys in Dorm 330. They live together year-round. Who knows when sparks might fly? You can't let your guard down."
"Right!" Peng Jie suddenly went blank.
"Little Fatty, I have a task for you. Find out who Su Yuan is close to. Do whatever it takes to break them up!"
"Heh heh heh, don't worry. I'll get it done!" Little Fatty grinned smugly. The Peng Jie who stopped at nothing was the Brother Peng he knew. He was only pursuing a girl for fun anyway. Why fuss over the methods?
Of course, helping Brother Peng pursue a "man" felt a little strange.
Time was like a speeding truck, leaving a trail of exhaust as it rolled calmly out of sight.
It was a physical education class. The seventy students from two classes were divided into boys and girls, with a teacher for each group.
"What? We're supposed to run three laps around the field to warm up?" When the burly PE teacher announced it, all the boys groaned.
It was a standard four-hundred-meter track. Three laps meant twelve hundred meters. A warm-up? For them, with their lack of exercise, that distance was enough to leave them sprawled on the ground.
"What are you complaining about? If anyone doesn't want to run, step forward. I'll let you off the hook!" The PE teacher was a huge man in a tracksuit, holding a pointer and a class roster. Hearing the boys groan, his face darkened.
An air of solemnity settled over the field. Seeing the teacher everyone called the "Scourge of Students" fly into a rage, the boys muttered under their breath but stopped groaning. Everyone knew that anyone who dared to challenge him now would face serious consequences. They remembered another time when they'd had to run. This teacher had been just as "pleasant" when he told them that anyone who didn't want to run could step forward and that he'd make an exception.
One student had actually stepped forward. The result had been miserable: he still had to run, then got the "honor" of cleaning the school gym and several sports fields. After that, no one dared defy him.
The thirty-odd boys lined up in two rows and set off at a sluggish pace.
Su Yuan secretly found it amusing. University students were bound to lack exercise, and it was only natural to complain a little. But pleading with the teacher like a newlywed wife would be ridiculous. Did they expect him to give in? They might as well stop dreaming.
Over the past few days, Su Yuan had started going on morning runs with Ji Yehao, Gao Jun, and the others. One or two laps were no problem, but running three laps just as a warm-up was still a bit ambitious. Knowing there was no point complaining, she hadn't said a word from the start.
"You, wait a moment." The teacher pointed at Su Yuan and told her to stop.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
The PE teacher nodded. "You don't have to run."
At those words, not only did Su Yuan's eyes widen, but the boys running beside her also looked surprised. A few students on good terms with the PE teacher immediately spoke up. "Coach Gao, that's not fair. Why are you giving her special treatment?"
"Mind your own run!" He glared at them, then turned to Su Yuan, his expression calm. "Go take class with Teacher Liu."
Teacher Liu was the PE teacher for the girls.
Su Yuan was still wondering what was going on when Teacher Liu walked over in a white tracksuit, a whistle around her neck. She looked Su Yuan over and nodded. "Come with me."
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