Xiao Xiao's Instant Infatuation

Ling Tianchen had been staring out the window in a daze. Hearing this, his first instinct was to say, "Whatever."

After all, he wasn't some school bully from an American TV show. What right did he have to stop someone from taking a seat?

But when he turned around, he paused slightly.

Standing beside him was a petite girl.

She was slender, barely over five feet tall. Her dark teal hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, and a delicate little red flower was pinned at the side of her hair.

Her large, dark green eyes were like two emerald gems as they gazed at him with great interest.

But Xiao Xiao's heart had already begun racing uncontrollably.

Thump. Thump.

They had only just met, yet the moment she saw him, an inexplicable feeling rose within her.

Some people only needed a single glance to astonish an entire youth.

Mom, I think I've met someone very special.

She suddenly understood why those girls had kept sneaking glances at him earlier.

Because he really was so handsome.

And for some reason, the Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute within her seemed to radiate a faint sense of excitement.

It felt as though it had encountered something immensely close to it, even giving her a strange impulse.

She wanted to summon the Nine-Phoenix Ceremonial Flute and play him a tune.

"You can."

Ling Tianchen had never been able to resist cute little girls.

He was just about to offer a friendly smile when he suddenly realized something, and the corners of his mouth froze midway.

This was bad.

Looking like this always reminded him of those cringeworthy little videos where someone awkwardly Photoshopped their own face onto an anime protagonist.

Besides, wouldn't being this enthusiastic toward a girl he had just met damage the cool, aloof image he had worked so hard to establish?

Yes, image management was urgent.

So, the half-formed smile was forcibly withdrawn, ultimately turning into two utterly flat words:

"Sit down."

"Huh?"

Yet in Xiao Xiao's eyes, the scene took on an entirely different meaning.

Had he just wanted to smile at her?

Though it had only lasted an instant, she definitely had not seen wrong!

And he had pulled the smile back halfway through.

Could it be that he had suddenly become shy after seeing her?

In an instant, countless scenes emerged in Xiao Xiao's little head.

The aloof young master was usually indifferent toward every girl, yet he alone would reveal a gentle smile to her.

But worried that she would become the enemy of every girl in class because of it, he could only quietly hide that special feeling in his heart and protect her in this clumsy way...

At the thought, a faint blush immediately spread across Xiao Xiao's fair little face.

Th-this seemed a little romantic...

She hurriedly shook her little head.

No, no! What was she even thinking about? They had only just met!

Even so, the corners of her lips still curved up slightly, with absolutely no intention of holding back!

Xiao Xiao carefully sat in the seat beside Ling Tianchen, her movements gentler than usual, as though afraid of making too much noise.

"Th-thank you..."

Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

After saying that, she lowered her head and obediently placed both hands on her lap. Yet the faint redness at the tips of her ears had already completely exposed the girl's current feelings.

After Xiao Xiao sat beside him, Ling Tianchen stopped humming.

After all, it was fine to indulge himself when there had been some distance between them, but now there was an actual person sitting right beside him.

What if he sang badly?

If it sounded like demonic noise to her, wouldn't his melancholy male-god persona collapse on the spot?

He had experienced this kind of thing plenty of times before.

He had always felt great about himself in karaoke, only for others to look like they wanted to say something but held back after he finished singing. In the end, they would tactfully advise him to speak less in the future.

With that lesson in mind, Ling Tianchen decisively chose to keep quiet.

Just then, the classroom door was pushed open again.

A pink-and-blue-haired boy walked in. It was Wang Dong.

However, this time, he did not cause the whole class to gasp in amazement as he originally would have.

After all, first impressions mattered. Having already seen Ling Tianchen, everyone only felt that this Wang Dong was nothing remarkable.

Noticing that the reactions around him were far less enthusiastic than expected, Wang Dong immediately frowned.

Especially when he saw the ice-blue-haired boy by the back window, calmly gazing outside, an inexplicable trace of irritation rose within him.

For some reason, after Wang Dong developed the slightest hostility toward Ling Tianchen, he felt as though he had fallen into an ice cave, and his body began trembling uncontrollably.

To everyone else, the scene seemed rather strange.

Such a handsome boy was suddenly standing at the door, trembling all over...

Confusion appeared on many faces.

If Wang Dong did not appear to be a boy, they might have suspected he had stuffed some mysterious little device into his pants.

It took Wang Dong quite a while to barely return to normal.

Only he knew that after he developed that trace of hostility, his Goddess of Light Butterfly martial soul had reacted as though it had offended some indescribable being, dragging him along with it.

The feeling had come without reason, yet it was terrifyingly real.

So, as if concealing his loss of composure, he deliberately dragged a chair heavily across the floor in a fit of pique.

Screech—

The piercing sound of friction immediately rang through the classroom.

Quite a few people could not help frowning and shooting him displeased looks.

Of course, after seeing his face clearly, most of the girls silently chose to forgive him.

A few bolder girls even took the initiative to approach and strike up a conversation.

"Classmate, what's your name?"

"Maybe we can be friends in the future..."

"Get lost."

Without even raising his head, Wang Dong spat out a single word.

The smiles on the girls' faces froze. Their eyes reddened slightly before they returned to their seats in grievance.

As a result, Wang Dong's first impression on everyone naturally took a massive hit.

What had originally been a handsome guy with some physical ailment instantly became a pretty boy who looked down on everyone and had an awful temper.

Before long, a large area around him had been cleared out, practically becoming a no-man's-land.

Huo Yuhao was the last to arrive, coming in just as the bell rang. After all, he would not give up even a minute of cultivation time. Half an hour before class, he had still planned to cultivate through another small cycle.

There were not many empty seats left in the classroom. Only the seats beside Ling Tianchen and Wang Dong remained open.

After some thought, he still chose to sit beside Wang Dong, whose complexion looked somewhat poor.

Tap, tap, tap.

The crisp sound of high heels striking the floor came from outside and spread throughout the classroom.

The freshmen, who had no connections and still had no idea what kind of hell awaited them, stared eagerly toward the door, hoping the newcomer would be a sweet, delicate big sister. That way, they might have more motivation to cultivate.

But they were disappointed. An old woman entered the classroom.

Her gray-white hair was coiled behind her head, and layer upon layer of wrinkles covered her face. Time had left deep marks upon it, though her figure was still fairly good.

The smiles on many boys' faces vanished at a visible speed.

Still, several people became excited. They could only rely on their dirty little minds to automatically replace her face.

The old woman walked onto the podium, placed both hands on the desk, and slowly swept her sharp gaze from left to right.

Every new student who met her eyes lowered their heads involuntarily.

There was no doubt that this was a show of dominance, but Ling Tianchen did not give a damn.