Chapter 4

The moment the campus belle stepped forward and made her stance clear, the gossiping students who had been secretly watching from the sidelines immediately erupted.

But Qiao Shiyu had no energy to care about everyone's opinions. She turned to Lu Chi and said in a restrained yet slightly boastful tone, "Well? Even if you didn't tell me, I still found you, didn't I? Don't worry, I'll protect you. I won't let Yue Bin give you trouble—I haven't even thanked you for helping me yet!"

It had actually been a life-saving favor, but in front of the entire school, the proud campus belle clearly wasn't about to expose her own weakness.

Lu Chi gave Qiao Shiyu an expressionless glance and calmly asked, "Wasn't the one giving me trouble you?"

The campus belle, who had been imagining, The poor young hero saved the damsel in distress, only to be misunderstood and suppressed. I must do everything I can to protect my benefactor, instantly froze. As if struck by lightning, she slowly turned her head and stared blankly at Lu Chi. "Huh?"

Yue Bin, who had been clutching a basketball and firing a Death Gaze at the two of them, also noticed Lu Chi's coldness and Qiao Shiyu's overly enthusiastic boasting. Equally baffled, he looked over. "..."

What exactly was going on?

Chapter 4

A few minutes later, the three of them, having skipped the exercise break, hid in a stone pavilion beside the artificial lake.

The early summer sunlight was just right, and the breeze was gentle, yet Yue Bin somehow sensed an autumnal desolation from Qiao Shiyu's cheerful figure constantly sticking close to Lu Chi.

The melody of Moon Reflected in the Second Spring seemed to linger in his ears. Yue Bin looked at Qiao Shiyu with grief and indignation, accusing her in utter despair, "Qiao Shiyu! You've had a change of heart! You have, haven't you?"

Qiao Shiyu: "..."

After staring up at the sky for a while, Qiao Shiyu took a deep breath and explained for the one hundred and eighth time, "How many times have I told you? What happened between Liu Yang and me was nothing like what you think. We never seriously dated at all. It was just playing house when we were kids!"

Yue Bin gave a cold, humorless laugh, his indignation deepening. "All lovey-dovey when you were together, then once you got tired of each other, you call it playing around! Scumbag!"

Hearing that, Qiao Shiyu nearly lost her temper again. "Can't you understand human language? If I added up all the times I've explained this to you, I could gather all one hundred and eight heroes of Water Margin. How are you still unable to get it through your head? Tell me, how am I a scumbag? Huh? Exactly how am I a scumbag? When we were five or six, everyone played house together, and I played his bandit chief's wife a few times. Then in middle school, he was being pursued by boys and dragged me along as a shield! The whole school ended up knowing I was his girlfriend! I was the campus belle of Yanda Affiliated High School's middle school division, yet because of him, I didn't receive more than a few love letters throughout middle school. All I could do was watch Ren Yifei show off in front of me every day with stacks and stacks of love letters! Then as soon as middle school ended, that brat ran off to study abroad in Country M without even saying a word... And you call me a scumbag? If we really had been dating, would he have been treating me right by doing that?"

With every sentence Qiao Shiyu spoke, Yue Bin seemed to shrink a little. By the time she finished, he was so cowed that he had squatted down on the ground, hugging his basketball. He could only weakly retort, "...But before Liu Yang left, he told me to take good care of you! Didn't you also say you'd wait for him to come back?"

"I was young and ignorant back then! Besides, saying one sentence cost him nothing. Did I need him to make such an unnecessary fuss?" Qiao Shiyu sneered and continued berating him. "Only an idiot like you would take his words seriously."

Yue Bin mumbled incoherently, then could only point at Lu Chi, who was standing to one side and watching coldly. "Then what's with him—"

Before he could finish, Yue Bin saw Lu Chi leaning against a pavilion pillar, cracking sunflower seeds.

Yue Bin and Qiao Shiyu, who had been arguing with great enthusiasm, fell silent at the same time. After a long while, Qiao Shiyu asked weakly, "What are you doing?"

"I'm eating sunflower seeds!" Lu Chi replied expressionlessly. He casually stuffed the unfinished seeds into his pocket, then turned and threw the shells in his hand into a trash can—demonstrating through his actions that he had no intention of sharing food with his companions.

Yue Bin: "..."

Qiao Shiyu: "..."

The two exchanged utterly speechless looks. Of course they knew he was eating sunflower seeds, but why was he eating sunflower seeds in a situation like this?!

Yue Bin coughed awkwardly and turned to Qiao Shiyu, trying to drag both the conversation and the mood back on track. "You still haven't said what exactly your relationship with him is. Why did you do something like that on the school bulletin board?"

Of course, Qiao Shiyu didn't want to admit in front of Yue Bin that she had nearly been molested. She casually replied, "Because I fell in love with him at first sight. So I used that method to find my Prince Charming in the vast sea of people. Is that not allowed?"

Yue Bin: "..."

Still squatting on the ground with the basketball in his arms, Yue Bin looked up at Lu Chi expressionlessly. His dark eyes held a thousand unspoken words.

Lu Chi calmly gave an "Oh" and casually said, "No. I refuse."

"Refusal denied!" The campus belle huffed, tilting her head cutely. "I like you. That has nothing to do with you, so you have no right to reject my feelings either."

"But your feelings have already caused me trouble." Lu Chi frowned. Thinking of the string of problems from that morning until now, he considered for a moment before making a practical suggestion. "If you truly believe liking someone is your own business and has nothing to do with anyone else, then please like me silently. Don't let me know, and there's no need to let anyone else know either."

"Most importantly, you must make sure your feelings won't interfere with my normal studies and life. If you can do that, then I truly have no right to interfere with you liking me."

Yue Bin: "..."

Qiao Shiyu: "..."

They had probably never seen anyone with such thick skin and such an unconventional way of thinking. Yue Bin and Qiao Shiyu were so stunned that they could only stare at each other speechlessly, their expressions indescribable.

But Lu Chi couldn't be bothered with their thoughts. Looking at Qiao Shiyu, he raised a brow and asked directly, "Anything else?"

Qiao Shiyu opened her mouth, but no words came out.