Yu Zhi instinctively looked up toward the doorway.
More precisely, everyone in the classroom turned their attention in the same direction.
There, she saw a girl wearing glasses, and beside her, the widely renowned campus goddess, whose skin was so pale it seemed to glow.
Cheng Queyi!
The entire classroom suddenly fell silent.
Everyone craned their necks, trying to keep an eye on everything and an ear out for anything.
Yu Zhi felt a little dizzy, thoroughly confused. What was she doing here? Mechanism Art wasn't taught in another building? Besides, with her skill, did she really need to attend a basic theory class like this?
If Cheng Queyi's appearance was a mysterious piece of gossip,
then what she did next was like explosive news.
Cheng Queyi seemed a little bashful and embarrassed. She pressed her lips together, lowered her head slightly toward someone in the classroom, clasped her hands with her fingertips against her chin in a pleading gesture, and gave a little bow.
The boys in the classroom seemed to hear the sound of something shattering in their ears.
The goddess was bowing!
Who was she bowing to?
Find him!
I'll make that guy say goodbye to this world!
Only Yu Zhi vaguely remembered the shout she'd just heard.
The person she was looking for seemed to be...
Wang Wen!
She spun around, eyes wide, and stared at the person she had sworn never to look at again.
Wang Wen murmured a few words to the skinny boy beside him, then rose from his seat and headed straight for the door.
He waved as he passed the doorway without stopping, then kept walking.
The two girls followed obediently behind him like a pair of little kids.
Inside the classroom,
six chairs were broken.
One desk was cracked.
Thirteen notebooks were torn apart.
Forty-four pens were snapped.
Wang Wen had no idea what had happened in the classroom. He led the two girls to the spacious corridor, turned around, leaned against the railing, and looked at Cheng Queyi. "You've been inside the Tower?"
Cheng Queyi nodded obediently and played with her fingers, her body seeming to coil with nervous energy.
The girl with glasses looked from Cheng Queyi to Wang Wen, then stepped aside, leaving them what seemed like a private space, though she was still close enough to hear their conversation.
Wang Wen's gaze swept casually over where the girl with glasses was standing. He continued to ask Cheng Queyi without showing anything. "Did something go wrong?"
At last, Cheng Queyi gathered her courage, bowed deeply to Wang Wen, and said sincerely, "I'm sorry!"
Wang Wen was startled.
He'd been leaning against the railing,
with his elbows braced behind him.
He was practically thrusting his crotch forward.
The little girl had suddenly bowed at a ninety-degree angle without a clue, nearly causing a catastrophe!
He silently shifted two steps to the side to avoid her head, then breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you're okay."
Cheng Queyi straightened up. Tears glimmered in her round eyes as she earnestly thanked him. "Thanks to your warning, I was lucky enough to escape disaster. My dad said you did me a huge favor, and I should remember it for the rest of my life!"
Wang Wen pointed at the number above the classroom door. "Who taught you to call me that? We're in the same year."
"Then what should I call you?" Cheng Queyi blinked her big eyes, suddenly turning into a curious little kid. "You knew I was a first-year student? How do you know so much about Yi Yi? You must know the World Tower really well, right? Sorry to ask, but what floor are you on now?"
Wang Wen's face was expressionless. "Floor zero. I've never been inside the World Tower."
"Oh!" Cheng Queyi suddenly understood. "So that's why you know so much. As expected of an expert!"
"No, wait. What did you figure out? What did I say?" Wang Wen was stunned by the way she'd ignored his answer and responded to her own questions.
As a matter of fact,
Cheng Queyi hadn't listened to him at all.
She blinked, smiled through her tears, and playfully grabbed Wang Wen's sleeve. "Senior, I'm hosting a banquet at my house this weekend to thank you for saving my life. Will you come?"
"I'll see. I've been pretty busy lately." Wang Wen glanced at her hand on his sleeve, then at the fire in the eyes of all the classmates pretending to pass by around them. Calmly, he said, "It was just a passing remark. It wasn't that big a deal, so you don't have to go to all this trouble."
Cheng Queyi's eyes curved with happiness. "That's great! Then it's settled. I'll come pick you up this weekend. Thank you, senior!"
Watching Cheng Queyi leave happily with her companion, Wang Wen stood frozen like a statue.
What was going on?
She hadn't been like this in his previous life!
Where was the quiet, gentle, well-mannered Xiao Yi, who liked to daydream and always saw reason?
Why was this one such a ditz?
Had a zombie eaten her brain?
Wang Wen leaned against the railing and pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
He didn't return to the classroom until it was time for class. Under a barrage of scorching laser-like stares, he sat back in his seat as if no one else were there.
And kept thinking.
Once the lecturer began the lesson, the skinny boy beside him quietly gave him a thumbs-up. Leaning toward Wang Wen, he spoke in an exaggerated whisper. "Not bad! You're invincible! Yesterday, you drove the Academy Beauty away and confessed to the Department Beauty. Today, you drove the Department Beauty away and got confessed to by the Academy Beauty. Old Wang, you're invincible! You're either not a flirt at all, or you make one hell of an impression! Ten years of being limp and unknown, then one day you make a name for yourself and become famous for eating your way across the world!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Wang Wen rubbed his temples and patiently explained, "There was no confession. My relationship with Cheng Queyi isn't what you think. We could never be a couple. She only came today to thank me for warning her the other day."
"A warning? The other day?" The skinny boy fell into thought too.
Time passed quickly.
After class ended, it was time for a break.
Yu Zhi led a group of close friends over to surround Wang Wen. Remembering her vow not to speak, she let her friends launch the attack. "Wang Wen, what's wrong with you? You're still chasing Yu Zhi while getting involved with Cheng Queyi too. Are you trying to play both sides?"
"Ugh! Scumbags like you deserve to die!"
"Boom!"
Wang Wen shot up from his seat.
His chair slammed onto the floor with a loud crash.
The girls surrounding him jumped in fright and scrambled back several steps.
Wang Wen reached out, grabbed Yu Zhi before she could dodge, and hauled her in front of him by the collar. Looking down at her, he asked, "Are you done yet?"
Yu Zhi was completely stunned. She didn't even notice that her collar had been pulled out of shape, exposing her in several places. She simply stared blankly up at Wang Wen's face, now inches away.
Wang Wen noticed too.
His gaze swept down.
His face made his disgust toward an underdeveloped little girl perfectly clear.
He curled his lip, shoved her aside, and said impatiently, "One last time. Get lost."
The girls who had backed off finally snapped out of it. Embarrassed by their own cowardice and furious at what Wang Wen had done, they rushed forward and swarmed him, shouting, "You hit a girl? You shameless pervert! Assaulting someone in broad daylight! Beat that filthy pervert to death!"
The skinny boy stood up, clutching his schoolbag and yelling as he tried to shield Wang Wen from their attacks.
In fact, this only got in Wang Wen's way.
How much damage could a bunch of first-year Academy girls do? Their movements were predictable, they were far too slow, and their blows were as light as feathers. It wasn't just that they couldn't hurt him—they could barely touch Wang Wen as he dodged with ease.
But once the skinny boy stood up, most of the girls' attacks landed on him instead.
As they yanked out locks of his hair, Wang Wen had to protect him instead. In the chaos, he inevitably took a few hits, and soon several cuts appeared on his face.
Just as the two sides were locked in a fierce struggle,
another shout came from the classroom doorway. "Wang Wen? Is Wang Wen here? Come out for a moment. I need to talk to you."
Before you continue