At the zoo, males courting females usually had to show off their strength, letting the females know who was the strongest.
Right now, Yao Tao felt she had come to a zoo rather than a landscaped park.
[I'm dying. He doesn't even have abs, and he's lifting his shirt.]
[Oh my god, that guy barely managed a few strokes with his shovel, and he still has the nerve to sidle up to our goddess!]
[Aaaaaah, what is that girl doing?!]
[You can't break up my ship!]
[Cheng Yu and Qinglu may end in tragedy, but their love is real, aaaaaah!--]
[Please, they only have this little bit of sweetness left!!!]
He Zhen: ...
Yao Tao's attention was entirely on Han Qinglu and Cheng Yu.
They were planting trees in pairs. A man and a woman working together made the work less tiring.
It helped relationships between men and women develop in a positive direction.
Earlier, when they heard Yao Tao had been paired with He Zhen, quite a few girls had been unable to resist making a few snide remarks.
But now?
Most of the girls had run off to look at Cheng Yu, while most of the boys had flocked to Han Qinglu and Zeng Rou!
Forget men and women working together. They're all peacocks fanning their tails!
He Zhen was moving the tree, while Yao Tao watched the crowd without missing a single beat of her inner commentary.
He Zhen had Yao Tao hold the tree steady for the moment, and she kept holding it as her inner commentary continued.
He Zhen dug the hole, while Yao Tao inwardly wallowed in misery.
You have so many beauties flocking around you!
Why can't you make room for me too!!!
Yao Tao was utterly indignant.
"Do you really want to talk to Han Qinglu?" He Zhen couldn't take it anymore. He had never imagined Yao Tao could ignore him so completely.
Even He Zhen himself had begun to doubt his own appeal.
"Not at all," Yao Tao replied demurely, adding a little lilt.
I shouldn't have added that lilt.
It makes me sound a little too playful.
But without it, I'd sound so stiff!
Whatever. He Zhen isn't exactly normal himself!
Who cares!
He Zhen: ... Was he not even her precious baby anymore?
He thought he was beginning to understand what it meant to get tired of seeing someone every day.
Just like this girl, whose attention was entirely on Cheng Yu and the others.
Cheng Yu is definitely good-looking, but after looking long enough, she isn't really drop-dead gorgeous. It's mostly her aura.
She and Han Qinglu are such a perfect match!
Damn it, if only Fu Xin hadn't gotten some ridiculous wrong idea and ruined Han Qinglu's life!
He Zhen's ears pricked up. This involved Fu Xin too???
That measly bit of money earned off Qin Zhen isn't even enough to make it up to our Qinglu!
Damn it!
Just how blind does He Zhen have to be to like Fu Xin so much!
Boohoo, Qinglu even begged him!
Damn it, maybe I should just let him get that stomach disease and have half his stomach removed!
He Zhen: ???
Boohoo, I can't bear it!
It's all Fu Xin and Qin Zhen's fault!
So what if they're the main characters!
If only I were Fu Xin. I'd get together with my precious baby right this instant!
He Zhen felt as though his temperature had risen even further.
I'd just pretend what happened back then never happened!
He Zhen: ???
He felt as though he was about to glimpse some incredible secret, but that secret abruptly cut off.
"Class rep, why are your ears red?" someone asked as he walked past.
"..." He Zhen instinctively touched the tip of his ear.
The next second, Yao Tao's horrified inner voice reached him.
Impossible!
There's no way planting a few trees could leave you with weak kidneys!!!
You're only a sophomore!!!
He Zhen: ...
His rising temperature abruptly dropped.
"Are you tired?" Yao Tao hurriedly took things out of her bag, including, of course, durian pastries. "Take a break. I'll do it."
Boohoo, my poor baby. So your weakness started this early!
He Zhen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm fine. Let me do it. You hold the tree, and we'll plant it together in a minute."
"I didn't expect you to be so dependable, Yao Tao." The boy hadn't left. "The girl paired with me was desperate to squeeze through the crowd to see Cheng Yu."
Of course. Cheng Yu is a rare specimen. If you don't look now, she'll graduate!
You're different, though. Ah, comparisons really are infuriating.
Keep trying, young man!
Just for not squeezing into the crowd around Han Qinglu, I salute you as a real man!
"Pair up with someone else for now." He Zhen wore a smile. "Once they disperse, we can rearrange the pairs. We can help the others too."
Although this was a team-building outing, it was also a volunteer activity. As class representative, He Zhen hadn't stopped them from admiring people, but the work still had to be done.
"Our class rep really is the best!" the boy praised him.
Of course he is!
Yao Tao preened beside him.
This class would fall apart without He Zhen!
He Zhen couldn't help the corners of his mouth lifting. It was a smile he had never shown when he was with Fu Xin.
The boy looked at He Zhen, then at Yao Tao, and silently gave her a thumbs-up.
Impressive. Heaven knew how shocking it had been, not just for the girls but for the boys too, to learn that He Zhen was actually willing to pair up with a girl.
What's he doing?
Is his hand cramping?
Yao Tao didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked.
So young, and his hand's already done for!
Poor thing.
On the surface, Yao Tao was a quiet, shy girl, but He Zhen knew it was an act.
For some reason, knowing he was the only one who knew this side of Yao Tao no longer provoked his initial rejection and disgust. He had begun to find her interesting.
He wanted to know why Yao Tao disliked Fu Xin so much, and he had also finally realized that perhaps he didn't seem all that normal to other people either.
After a few more words, the boy paired up with another girl who had been left on her own and went off to plant a tree.
The sooner they finished planting, the sooner they could eat!
"Are you thirsty?" Yao Tao felt a little guilty.
I wasn't planning to work that hard, but I wasn't planning to slack off this much either. Really!
You have to believe me!
It's just, well, before I knew it, you'd done almost everything by yourself!
When I said your kidneys were weak, that was just a child's innocent babbling!
You didn't hear it anyway!
He Zhen: ...
When he faced Yao Tao, his native language automatically switched to speechlessness.
It wasn't that he had nothing to say. He simply had no response.
She'd already said everything herself!
"Just lower the tree slowly," He Zhen called to her.
"Okay." Holding the sapling steady, Yao Tao slowly lowered it.
He Zhen steadied the sapling with her.
Hah! Men!
If you want to hold my little hand, just say so!
Oh, stop it!
Startled, He Zhen let go.
*!!!*
What are you doing!~
"Sorry." He Zhen gave a dry cough. "Take a break. I'll level out the soil, and then we'll be done transplanting our sapling."
"Okay," Yao Tao agreed.
Aww, our little sapling!
Yooooo, we still have to put up a sign later!
Tsk, tsk, tsk. This looks just like love!
Too bad it isn't mine!--
Boohoohoo!
Baby, Mommy will always love you!
He Zhen: ...?!?
Even though he could hear Yao Tao's thoughts, he still couldn't understand her.
Before you continue