Extremely High Rank

"Is that so?"

Gu Yue responded blandly and did not press the matter further.

She picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of braised fish, and put it into her mouth, chewing slowly with an unchanged expression.

Lin Xun remained impassive on the surface, but secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Good thing he had enough experience. Back in his prime, handling several relationships at once had been no problem. He had excuses for everything, flawless and airtight.

He could even keep the details consistent.

The two ate quietly, occasionally chatting about matters at the academy. Lin Xun took the opportunity to briefly explain Leng Yaozhu's situation. Gu Yue merely nodded after hearing it, indicating that she understood.

In a booth in the corner not far away, Mu Xi stared fixedly at the table by the window. She had waited for ages, yet never saw the "irrefutable proof" she had imagined.

The two of them spent the entire time eating, talking, eating, talking.

There were no flirtatious glances or deliberate physical contact. They did not even serve each other food once.

The atmosphere was natural, even carrying a somewhat businesslike air.

"This isn't right..." Mu Xi muttered under her breath, frowning.

What she had expected was Lin Xun fawning over Gu Yue, while Gu Yue played hard to get. The two would exchange meaningful glances and sneak around behind everyone's backs. Yet what she saw was completely different.

It was like two acquaintances getting together for a casual meal, without a single spark between them.

Ouyang Zixin sat beside her, quietly eating the mango pudding she had brought out from the milk tea shop. Her expression had not changed from beginning to end.

"See? I told you, you don't understand him."

Mu Xi's mouth twitched. Unwilling to give up, she glanced once more at the table by the window.

Lin Xun was lowering his head and gnawing on a grilled beast rib, eating casually without the slightest concern for his image. Gu Yue held her teacup and took small sips, her gaze resting on the darkening street outside the window. The two did their own things, separated by the width of a table, looking exactly like strangers sharing a table.

"They really are just ordinary classmates?" Mu Xi asked skeptically.

"Mm." Ouyang Zixin nodded as if it were only natural. "Gu Yue is his teammate now, his partner for the Promotion Tournament. It's perfectly normal for them to have a meal together."

"Let's keep watching. I don't believe it!"

Mu Xi continued staring intently.

"When the time comes, someone from my family will also come to discuss the specifics," Gu Yue said.

Gu Yue's family?

Di Tian, or someone else...

The only people Lin Xun could think of were those ferocious beasts, but he did not pay much attention to it. Since they were carrying out the plan, they would certainly be fully prepared.

"Are you really a scumbag?" Gu Yue suddenly asked without warning.

The atmosphere instantly became strangely quiet.

Lin Xun was gnawing on the beast rib when his movements abruptly froze. He nearly choked on a mouthful of meat.

He quickly raised his eyes and met Gu Yue's clear, pitch-black gaze.

The girl's eyes were calm as she looked at him plainly.

Yet that very gaze made Lin Xun's heart, which had just settled, leap back into his throat.

Good heavens!

Why had she suddenly hit him with such a soul-searching question?

He believed he had handled things flawlessly just now. His tone and expression had been perfectly controlled, and he had acted exactly like a model good classmate.

Why was Gu Yue so fixated on this point?

Lin Xun calmly swallowed the meat in his mouth, set down his utensils, and put on a helpless smile again. "Why ask that all of a sudden? Do I really look like one?"

He looked steady as a rock, but inwardly he was frantically reviewing everything.

He had not said anything inappropriate, nor had he made any flirtatious moves. He had eaten honestly and behaved himself throughout—the textbook answer for how to interact with the opposite sex.

Gu Yue lowered her eyes and did not answer right away, remaining silent for two or three seconds.

At the quiet dining table, only scattered noise from the distance remained.

In the booth not far away, Mu Xi instantly perked up. She leaned forward slightly, held her breath, widened her eyes, and stared fixedly at the two by the window.

Here it comes, here it comes!

There was finally something suspicious in the atmosphere!

She knew there had to be something going on between those two. Ordinary classmates? Partners having a meal? It was all an act!

Beside her, Ouyang Zixin's hand holding the pudding spoon paused, though she continued to look across at them with a calm expression.

At the dining table, Gu Yue finally looked up.

She gazed directly at the composed Lin Xun. Her voice was soft, carrying a trace of distant melancholy as she slowly spoke:

"I used to know someone."

"He never said he was a scumbag either. He was gentle with others, thorough in his dealings, polite to everyone, and always looked open and harmless."

"But he was a complete scumbag."

The smile on Lin Xun's face stiffened slightly, and his heart inexplicably tightened.

He could clearly sense that Gu Yue was not speaking metaphorically offhand. It felt more like a deliberate test.

Lin Xun put away the faint hope in his heart. No longer joking around, he looked at her seriously. "Really? Then he was quite good at pretending."

Gu Yue nodded lightly, her gaze returning to the window.

"He never gave anyone a clear promise, nor did he directly reject anyone. Always gentle, always distant—impossible to hold onto, yet impossible to let go."

"Everyone thought he was refined and considerate. Only those who had truly gotten close to him knew that he had never genuinely favored anyone in his heart. Anyone could be an exception, yet no one truly was."

"And... no scumbag in the world would ever admit he was a scumbag."

Just a few simple sentences, yet terrifyingly precise.

They perfectly summed up Lin Xun's life as a playboy.

So precise that his heart jolted, and he inexplicably felt as though she had struck his weak spot.

Wasn't that exactly how he had always conducted himself?

Impeccable, gentle, and faultless.

Never taking the initiative, never refusing, never making promises.

He wandered through a garden of flowers without a single petal clinging to him.

He gave a dry cough, suppressing the subtle guilt in his heart. "Then all that means is that you really can't judge people by appearances."

At that, Gu Yue turned her eyes back to him. Her dark eyes were clear and bright.

"Yes. That's why I'm looking very carefully now."

At that, she gave a self-mocking smile.

"Tell me, why are some people so foolish? They know the other person is a scumbag, yet they still want to be with him."

Lin Xun thought for a moment, then slowly raised his eyes, his voice low. "Then let me ask you this: if you know he doesn't love you, why do you still want to see him?"

Gu Yue fell silent.

About half an hour later.

Gu Yue set down her teacup, wiped the corner of her mouth, and stood up. Lin Xun rose after her, called over a waiter to settle the bill, and the two walked out of the fish restaurant one after the other, soon disappearing at the end of the street as dusk deepened.

From beginning to end, they had not even touched hands.

Mu Xi finally gave up.

Leaning back against her chair, she let out a long sigh. "Fine, I was overthinking it."

Ouyang Zixin smiled faintly without saying much. She simply finished the last bite of pudding, stood up, and said softly, "Let's go. Time to head back."

"What a waste of time..." Mu Xi muttered, raising a hand to rub her sore eyes.

She admitted defeat.

This time, she truly admitted defeat.

"I told you long ago," Ouyang Zixin said gently, "you were thinking too much."

"Fine, fine, I concede." Mu Xi waved her hand and pushed herself up from the table. "Let's go, let's go home. Oh, right, I'll go pay the bill."

She raised her hand and called over a server.

This fish restaurant was not cheap, but they had only ordered two desserts, so it would not cost much.

The server hurried over, smiling attentively. "Hello, ladies. Would you like to settle the bill?"

"Yes, this table. Please ring us up."

The server glanced at the table number and smiled as she shook her head. "There's no need. Your bill has already been paid."

Mu Xi froze.

"Paid? That's impossible. We haven't paid anything."

She had not scanned a code or called a server over to pay at any point.

"There's no mistake," the server explained with a smile, her tone certain. "The gentleman who was sitting at the window table just now paid for your table as well before he left."

The air suddenly fell silent.

Mu Xi's hand, which had been reaching out to take out money, froze in midair. Her whole body went still, as if someone had struck an acupoint.

The gentleman at the window table.

Who else could it have been?

There had only been one person sitting by the window from start to finish.

"Lin Xun?"

The name slipped from her lips, her voice changing pitch.

Lin Xun.

Lin Xun paid the bill.

Lin Xun paid for their table.

Mu Xi's mind began frantically replaying every scene from that night.

She and Ouyang Zixin had snuck into the fish restaurant hunched over, convinced they had discreetly picked the booth in the farthest corner. They kept their voices low the entire time, even lowering them to a whisper when ordering, terrified the window-side table would hear them.

She had even thought this operation was flawlessly covert, that she was practically a born scout.

But what was the truth?

They had known she was there from beginning to end.

She had spent an hour staring wide-eyed at them, thinking she was hidden in the shadows, when in fact she had been fully exposed the whole time.

They simply couldn't be bothered to call her out.

"Pfft."

Mu Xi spun around sharply.

Ouyang Zixin was still sitting in her chair, propping up her cheek with one hand, the corners of her lips lifted high. Her gentle almond eyes had curved into crescents, glittering within.

When she saw Mu Xi turn and glare at her, she hurriedly pressed her lips together and lowered her hand. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress that smile. The more she pursed her lips, the more obvious it became.

"What are you laughing at?!" Mu Xi exploded.

"Nothing, nothing. I wasn't laughing." Ouyang Zixin shook her head solemnly.

That was what she said, but the second the words left her mouth, her lips curled up again.

"You're obviously laughing!"

"I really wasn't..."

Ouyang Zixin took a deep breath, rose from her chair, walked over, and looped her arm through Mu Xi's.

Mu Xi went completely numb.

Lin Xun was not someone she could judge by appearances. In front of Gu Yue, he was open and forthright, keeping just the right distance so she wouldn't feel even the slightest discomfort. Yet the moment he turned around, he quietly paid for their table too.

He hadn't even come over to say hello.

It wasn't that he didn't understand social etiquette. He understood it too well. His gentleness was hidden deep away, and his thoughtfulness was as silent as rain nourishing the earth.

He took care of you without putting any pressure on you. He had even been considerate enough not to expose the fact that they had followed him, leaving them plenty of dignity.

At this level, Mu Xi felt that even if she trained for another ten years, she still wouldn't catch up.

Tonight's self-righteous reconnaissance mission, this carefully planned cheating-catching drama of hers...

She had lost completely and utterly.

She hadn't lost to Lin Xun's womanizing.

She had lost to the man's scheming.

This scumbag Lin Xun was just too high-level!

At that thought, Mu Xi seemed to have the last breath sucked out of her. Her shoulders slumped as she threw back her head and let out a long howl.

"So there's really nothing I can do? I just have to stand by and watch that scumbag wrap you completely around his finger?"

Ouyang Zixin gently held her arm, her voice still soft and gentle as ever, but Mu Xi somehow felt there was a faint trace of amusement hidden within it.

"I won't be completely wrapped around his finger."

"You already are." Mu Xi's face was expressionless.

"Not yet."

"How far off are you?"

Ouyang Zixin tilted her head and thought about it, then smiled with curved eyes.

"Probably just until he starts mailing me his dirty laundry."

Mu Xi's expression twisted instantly. She flung Ouyang Zixin's arm away and strode forward, tossing back a sentence without looking back.

"We're done! Friendship over as of tonight!"