A Slow Motion with the Left Hand and Right Hand

"You tell me!" Horikita Suzune's breathing became a little hurried.

As long as she could have a normal conversation with her brother, she was willing to do anything.

Shi Cheng raised a hand. Why was she getting so worked up?

What if something unexpected happened? Wouldn't that make it look like he was trying to scam her?

"Let's make this clear first—don't get angry later." Shi Cheng emphasized this deliberately.

After all, she changed her face faster than flipping a page. He had to be careful.

Fortunately, Horikita Suzune was someone who kept her promises. As long as she agreed, there would be no problem.

Horikita Suzune calmed down as well. "Go on."

"Simply put, I need to make you hate me. If you can still communicate with me normally under those circumstances, then it'll work."

At first glance, it sounded quite simple.

But making her suddenly hate Shi Cheng would probably take a long time.

After all, ever since she was little—

she had never truly hated anyone, let alone loathed them.

Knowing Horikita Suzune's concern,

Shi Cheng immediately gave her a hard slap.

Smack!

Horikita Suzune's head snapped to the side. Her smooth black hair fell over half of her flushed cheek.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Feeling the chill radiating from her,

Shi Cheng remained perfectly calm. "Didn't we agree you wouldn't get angry?"

"Phew!" Horikita Suzune struggled to take a deep breath.

Her eyes were red with fury. "This is your so-called method?"

She now had every reason to seriously suspect

that Shi Cheng was taking revenge for her grabbing him by the waist earlier.

"Of course." Shi Cheng's face did not redden, nor did his heart skip a beat. This was indeed one method.

She stared at his face for a long time, but found no flaw. Horikita Suzune said coldly, "Pick another one!"

She had not gone mad enough to endure being beaten for no reason.

"Fine." Shi Cheng got up and sat down beside her soft, fragrant body.

"What are you coming over here for?"

Horikita Suzune looked utterly confused.

It couldn't be that getting closer would make it easier to hit her, right?

"Stop!"

Very soon, she found out why.

"This won't do, that won't do. You're avoiding treatment out of fear of illness. How am I supposed to handle this?"

Shi Cheng spread his hands, looking utterly helpless, as though his sincere intentions had truly been betrayed.

Horikita Suzune panted as she recovered, straightened her clothes, and asked with a face burning red, "Is there another method?"

Shi Cheng rolled his eyes. Where in the world was there such a good deal?

Besides, serious conditions required strong medicine. Otherwise, how could they be cured?

"You're already terminally ill, and you still want mild treatment?"

"I'm not!" Horikita Suzune refused to admit it.

"Fine." Meeting her watery eyes, Shi Cheng did not disappoint her expectations.

"The door's over there. Take care, I won't see you out."

Horikita Suzune's little face fell.

But since she had already come, she naturally would not go back just like that.

"If this doesn't work, you're dead!" Flames seemed to blaze in Horikita Suzune's eyes.

Faced with the classic choice between two options, she could only choose one.

After weighing the pros and cons,

Horikita Suzune decisively closed her eyes. Only her long eyelashes continued to tremble lightly, revealing that her heart was far from calm.

"Come on. I choose the first one!"

Seeing her expression as though she were marching to her death,

Shi Cheng was overjoyed. He had been right about her after all.

Horikita Suzune really had enormous potential hidden within her.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Shi Cheng kept alternating between backhand and forehand.

He beat Horikita Suzune until she was miserable beyond words.

If not for the image of that man still lingering in her mind,

she would have been unable to endure any longer.

"Is... is it over?"

After waiting for a while and seeing that the next slap had not come, she murmured softly through slurred speech.

Looking at Horikita Suzune like this, Shi Cheng knew

that her mind was no longer clear at the moment.

Whether she hated him or not—wouldn't she know that herself?

Shi Cheng raised a hand, pinched her smooth chin, and shouted, "Look at me!"

Hearing the enormous sound explode beside her ear, the dizzy Horikita Suzune tried hard to focus her vision.

Unfortunately, she could not do it.

But she confirmed one thing.

The desired effect had not been achieved yet.

Shi Cheng gently stroked her numb, crimson cheek, which might no longer have been able to feel pain. "How about we call it a day and try again another time?"

"No, I'm fine!" Horikita Suzune stubbornly struggled, trying to sit upright.

"But I feel bad for you." Whether she heard him or not, Shi Cheng did not care.

He decisively switched to another method.

Since she insisted on continuing, this was the only way.

In the end,

Shi Cheng did not know whether the effect had been achieved.

But seeing Horikita Suzune wipe the corner of her mouth and leave with an icy gaze,

it was probably effective.

After Horikita Suzune left,

Shi Cheng lay flat on the floor with a relaxed expression.

That was why people could not go around doing good deeds casually. Otherwise, some people would think you were easy to talk to and come straight to your door.

For example, right now.

After school had just ended, Shi Cheng was walking toward the Library.

Once again, he ran into Ichinose Honami, who had intercepted him halfway there.

"Ichinose, this is the second time, isn't it?"

Shi Cheng teased the somewhat fidgety Ichinose Honami before him.

"Ahaha." Ichinose Honami gave an awkward laugh, and the smile on her pretty face was a little forced.

"You said I could come to you if I needed help, but I haven't even done anything on my end yet, and here I am shamelessly asking you for help, Shi Cheng. I'm really sorry."

Ichinose Honami bowed.

"But I really have no other choice. Please help me, Shi Cheng!"

"Fine, tell me about it." She had already swallowed her pride, so it would be unreasonable not to at least hear her out.

Ichinose Honami clasped her hands together, her face full of gratitude. "I knew Shi Cheng was the most reliable."

There was not the slightest ripple in Shi Cheng's eyes.

He really did not know where she got that idea.

Besides, he had not agreed yet.

Was she already flattering him?

"Well, it's like this." Ichinose Honami took an envelope covered in elegant handwriting from her pocket.

It was addressed to Ichinose Honami.

Noticing signs that the seal had been opened, Shi Cheng knew that she had already read it.

That was not really important, but the red heart stamped on the flap caught his attention.

"A love letter?"

"Mm." Ichinose Honami nodded lightly, too embarrassed to say it aloud.

"Can't you just reject her? Even if you've never dated before, Ichinose, surely you haven't lacked experience rejecting people."

Shi Cheng could not really understand why she needed his help with something like this.

Shi Cheng's words seemed to touch upon her dark past once again.

After all, she had spent most of her middle school years at home.

She had no experience at all!

Ichinose Honami fell silent for a moment, then changed the subject.

"I'm afraid a direct rejection would hurt her feelings, so I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

"Huh?" Shi Cheng was stunned. Pretending was not the way to go.

But what shocked him even more was the issue with that noun.

"Lesbian?!"

Ichinose Honami fell silent.

Perhaps because they were close, she eventually spoke with difficulty and tried to put in a good word for the other girl.

"She's just overly attached to me. After some time, she'll definitely understand these feelings."

You really were too nice for your own good.

No wonder the crowd gathered around her was several times larger than Kushida Kikyo's.