"Look, the group's blowing up!"
The girls in Class 7 erupted as soon as the morning classes ended.
Yao Tao kept glancing at He Zhen.
[Holy moly!]
[Baby, you might only be the second male lead.]
[But surely the third male lead shouldn't be sitting on your neck and beating you up.]
[Boohoo, my poor baby.]
[It's okay. In terms of your starting position, you're still ahead of Guan Xingchen.]
[Oh, baby, staying silent and bottling everything up causes half your illnesses!]
[Wait, no, more than half of them come from bottling things up!]
[My poor baby, you can come play with me.]
[Hehehe.]
[We could cheer ourselves up with some grown-up games.]
He Zhen wanted to ask why he should be upset.
But the more he heard, the less he dared to turn around.
What the hell did Yao Tao spend all day looking at?
Wasn't the stuff crammed into her head a little too indecent to put into words?
"Class rep, do you really not like Fu Xin?" One of the girls gathered around He Zhen couldn't resist asking.
He Zhen opened his mouth, then smiled faintly. "We're just childhood friends. That's all."
There was nothing more, and there never would be, He Zhen added inwardly.
He had repeated the very lines Fu Xin used to brush off their relationship, yet he didn't feel much relief.
Because...
Yao Tao's filthy thoughts were practically throwing a dance party inside his skull.
[What exactly did it taste like that night?!-]
[Should I book an appointment with a therapist?]
[I'm begging you, my seven-second memory!]
The girls around He Zhen watched his face turn pale, then green, then pale again before the tips of his ears finally reddened. None of them had the heart to say anything else.
"Break it up, break it up!" He Xin clapped his hands. "Ladies, stop worrying so much about our class rep's private life. How about worrying about attendance and homework instead?"
Even the boys groaned, never mind the girls.
"They all said college would be easy. Damn attendance, damn homework! I hate it!-"
[I'm dying. Who told you college was easy?]
[Nine years of compulsory education, all to fool you idiots! Hahahaha!-]
[Still, there are way more activities than in high school!]
[You should be grateful. There's even a campus open day every semester.]
[And arts performances.]
[You can even date!]
[Could you do that in high school?!]
[Of course not!]
[College is where it all begins!]
[Oh man, what's the group saying? Hahahaha.]
Yao Tao's attention was soon captured by the Gossip Group Zeng Rou had added her to.
"Oh my god, a full-on romantic battlefield. Absolutely epic."
"Photo.JPG"
"Photo.JPG"
"I'm here in person. Hahaha, I kind of want to laugh."
"I'm stunned!"
"When the teacher told Tan Nianzhi to find a seat, she straight-up bought one with cash. What a move!"
"Damn, is your Class 5 always this exciting?"
"I want to watch too!"
"Hahaha, you guys didn't see how pale Fu Xin went."
"I don't know whether Fu Xin went pale, but Qin Zhen's face was definitely thunderous!"
The group had people from all sorts of classes and years, making for quite a mixed crowd, but they all shared one thing: a love of gossip!
Specifically, gossip about Qin Zhen and Fu Xin!
[Damn, that's savage!]
[Do the people in Class 5 always get fed this well?!]
[Hahaha, I want to watch too!]
"But the guy who transferred in with Tan Nianzhi is so handsome."
"What good is handsome? He's He Zhen 2.0."
"Hahaha, girl, 'He Zhen 2.0' is perfect."
"Girl, you really know how to put it!"
"Hahahahaha, are you trying to kill me? He Zhen 2.0, hahaha!"
"Does He Zhen know he has a successor?"
[Hahahahaha, my baby 2.0!]
[Definitely Tan Nianzhi's simp!]
He Zhen: ... He finally turned to look at Yao Tao.
Yao Tao held her phone, snickering nonstop. The way she secretly covered her mouth made her look just like a little hamster sneaking a snack.
Yao Tao was indeed sneaking a snack.
Only she wasn't munching on food, but gossip!
Someone dropped a photo into the group.
Yao Tao recognized Zeng Rou's WeChat account and sent a "Holy shit."
[Damn, does Lady Zeng know him?!]
[This handsome guy really is quite a looker.]
[I need to ask her.]
Yao Tao was opening her WeChat chat with Zeng Rou. Every handsome guy at her university had to go on her records!
She couldn't let a single one slip through!
[But who's this? I never heard Tan Nianzhi had a simp!]
[Damn it, they're all so good-looking. Stop simping for other people and simp for me! Thank you!!!]
A hand settled over Yao Tao's phone screen.
Yao Tao: ???
[Which idi-]
Yao Tao looked up in annoyance, only to find He Zhen's face-the face that ticked every one of her boxes.
Except his expression was a little strange, a little bizarre. He looked embarrassed and slightly shy, with perhaps a hint of anger?
[What's wrong with my baby?]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Fallen in love with me?]
[Hah, men. Sure enough, he can't forget that night!]
He Zhen: ...
He Zhen suspected he'd lost his mind, but he had no proof.
"Want to eat together?" He Zhen knew he was just grasping for something to say.
[My baby invited me to dinner!]
[Oh my god, what exactly happened that night to make my baby start simping for me instead?!!!]
He Zhen: Was his image as a simp really that deeply ingrained???
No... couldn't he just be a person?
"He Zhen, you're blocking my phone," Yao Tao said.
[Still, I don't get it. Why did he suddenly do something so intimate?!]
[So it really must be!]
[That. Night!]
He Zhen reflexively pulled his hand back. "Let's eat together?"
He Zhen sounded awkward.
Some people in Class 7 were numb, some were stunned, some had no idea what was going on, and some honestly didn't care what He Zhen was doing.
It was quite a novelty!
Before Yao Tao could give it much thought, she looked down and saw that Zeng Rou had sent a photo, along with a long, angry rant.
The wall of exclamation marks certainly looked furious.
Zeng Rou: Oh my god, I never knew I had this many simps around me!
Zeng Rou: I never noticed that Ning He was also a brain-dead simp!
Zeng Rou: Are he and He Zhen long-lost brothers or something?!
Zeng Rou: "Photo.JPG"
Zeng Rou: Look at him playing the piano! Doesn't he look like a prince?!
Zeng Rou: Looks human, acts like a dog!
Zeng Rou: What a waste of that face!
Zeng Rou: Going along with Tan Nianzhi's nonsense!
Zeng Rou: I can't even!
Zeng Rou rattled on, filling Yao Tao in. Apparently, her resentment ran deep.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk, poor girl. But it's okay. At least Cheng-Lu is real!]
[She can still ship Cheng-Lu!]
[Hahaha!]
[Wait!]
After admiring the photo for a while, Yao Tao suddenly looked up.
[He Zhen asked me to eat with him!]
[He asked me to eat with him!!!]
[He! Asked! Me! To! Eat! With! Him!]
He Zhen was nearly deafened by her shouting, though he knew he couldn't actually go deaf.
The deafness was only an illusion.
[Oh my god, quick, check a mirror! Is this my face or Fu Xin's?!]
Without even replying to Zeng Rou, Yao Tao turned off her screen. Her small, palm-sized face appeared in the phone's reflection.
Yep, it was Yao Tao's face, not Fu Xin's!
[Looks like I blew He Zhen's mind that night.]
[Hah! Men!]
[One taste, and he can't forget me!]
He Zhen felt as though his face might burn up, yet Yao Tao still looked utterly innocent.
She didn't even blush.
Before you continue