I stopped liking you a long time ago

Evening study ended, and the teaching building filled with students and a deafening clamor.

Jiang Nian had packed up early. With his backpack slung over one shoulder, he was about to head out and find Xu Qianqian so they could walk home together as usual when someone stopped him.

Jiang Nian glanced at Zhou Yuting standing in front of him. "What is it?"

"Um." She was a full head shorter than Jiang Nian and looked up at him. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about in private. Could you wait a little while?"

Whenever Zhou Yuting lacked confidence, her eyes grew watery, as though she had suffered some terrible injustice. One look at them would soften a boy's heart, no matter how annoyed he was.

Playing the helpless victim was one of her usual tricks.

"It's about moving up a class, right? We can talk over the phone." Jiang Nian didn't want to waste time on her. He started to walk past her. "Assuming you haven't deleted me on QQ."

Guilt immediately washed over Zhou Yuting. In a flash, she caught hold of his white T-shirt.

"Wait."

"What are you doing?" Jiang Nian looked irritated, his tone unfriendly. "We're in the classroom, and everyone's watching. If you have something to say, class representative, say it. Don't grab at me."

The tables have turned, you little bitch.

Don't you love laughing? Now that you've lost your spot in the higher class, where's that smile?

"Just a moment. I won't take up much of your time." Tears brimmed in Zhou Yuting's eyes. She had already deleted him on QQ, and besides, she couldn't leave a record of what she wanted to say.

Jiang Nian scoffed, removed her hand, and walked away.

Without morals, there could be no moral blackmail.

When he reached the classroom diagonally opposite his, Xu Qianqian was already waiting at the door. She had her backpack on and wore a light blue top with dark track pants.

"What took you so long?" she asked with a frown.

"Nothing. Let's go."

They had barely walked any distance from the school gates when someone blocked their path. Zhou Yuting had actually chased after them.

"Jiang Nian, can we talk?"

This stretch of road was quiet, running outside the parking lot behind a shopping mall. Beneath the streetlights, within view of three surveillance cameras, Jiang Nian used a shortcut to start recording on the phone in his pocket.

"Sure. Say it here. I'm going home once you're done."

"Here..." Zhou Yuting glanced at Xu Qianqian, looking hesitant. "Could you give us some privacy? Just five minutes."

Before Jiang Nian could speak, Xu Qianqian stepped back a few meters and watched them with her arms folded.

"Go ahead."

Jiang Nian: "..."

Zhou Yuting had an innocent face and a tall, slender figure, but she looked rather bedraggled beneath the streetlight. Her lips parted, and before she even spoke, her eyes turned red.

"Our homeroom teacher talked to me about moving up a class. My score just meets the cutoff. But only one person from our class can move up. I know you've had some misunderstandings about me."

"But I really need this chance to move up. Jiang Nian, I'm begging you."

"Even if you don't move up, you can still easily get into a key university through the college entrance exam. I can't. I really want to go to Luda University. I really, really do. This is my only chance."

Jiang Nian watched her expressionlessly. The streetlight stretched his shadow across the ground, his eyes slightly lowered.

"You stopped me just to tell me this?"

"Yes. Jiang Nian, you're the only one who can help me." Zhou Yuting was crying now, a tear trailing down her pale face. She looked pitiful.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"What?"

"I said, what does that have to do with me?" Jiang Nian raised his head and looked at her without expression, watching surprise gradually emerge on her pitiful face.

"Your dream is your dream. What does it have to do with me moving up a class? If we were friends, there might be room to discuss it. Unfortunately..."

"We're still friends! I just want to focus on studying right now. I don't want to date yet," Zhou Yuting said urgently. "We can be good friends first."

"Jiang Nian, you used to like me, right?"

"After the college entrance exam, I'll consider being your girlfriend. Okay?"

"Please help me, okay? I'm begging you." Zhou Yuting started shedding tears again, sobbing beneath the streetlight. "Jiang Nian, I really don't know..."

"Boo-hoo... I really don't know what to do!"

As she spoke, Zhou Yuting tried to take Jiang Nian's hand, but he discreetly dodged her. She stared at her empty hand and stood there, momentarily stunned, while the night breeze tousled her long hair.

"Jiang Nian... I'm begging you."

A short distance away, Xu Qianqian couldn't hear them clearly, but she could see Zhou Yuting crying and reaching for him beneath the streetlight. For some reason, a jumble of emotions suddenly filled her heart.

Under the streetlight, Jiang Nian put some distance between himself and Zhou Yuting, his expression calm.

"Class representative, please have some self-respect."

The five minutes were nearly up, and he didn't want to drag this out.

What kind of bullshit is this? She'll be my girlfriend after the college entrance exam? Does she think I'm an idiot? Fawn over her for a year, then watch her spend a month hooking up with someone in hotels after the exam?

How much did she drink to have the nerve to spout this crap?

Check her IP address. Is she in Dunhuang, with all those fucking murals?

How shameless does someone have to be to ask me to give up my spot? Who asked about her dream university? Whether she goes to Luda University or some diploma mill is none of my fucking business.

And she'll "consider" being my girlfriend? What is this, ranking her first-choice university?

Is that something a decent human being would say?

"I mean every word, Jiang Nian. I really need this chance." Zhou Yuting looked ready to spill more precious little tears. "If you don't believe me, we can start dating in secret."

"Absolutely ducking not, class representative," Jiang Nian said seriously. "Once bitten, twice shy. I'm not going to be friends with you again. Getting away from you is exactly why I chose to move up a class."

"You can ask our homeroom teacher to force through your transfer. There's no need to beg me. As for your dream, class representative, all I have to say is, why didn't you mention it at the birthday party?"

"I stopped liking you a long time ago. It's been two months. You should've noticed by now. I don't feel anything for you. I just want to go to university and find a prettier girl in a higher year."

"You really don't appeal to me at all, so stop bringing up dating. Isn't your little clique getting along just fine? Go play house with them."

With that, Jiang Nian turned and left without looking back even once.

Beneath the streetlight, the tears on Zhou Yuting's face had yet to dry. She stood as though struck by lightning. Jiang Nian's words echoed through her mind over and over, and the more she thought about them, the more wronged she felt.

How could he do this? She was the one who had swallowed her pride first!

She had even said she could consider being with him after the college entrance exam. She had put aside her reputation as a girl and hadn't held his poverty against him. What gave him the right?

What gave him the right to say he didn't like her?

Wasn't love about sacrificing for your partner? Wasn't it supposed to be tested?

If Jiang Nian, who had already walked far away with Xu Qianqian, had heard that, he would surely have coughed up blood.

Test my fucking ass! Dumb bitch!

As they walked, Xu Qianqian kept her head down, gripping her backpack straps.

"What were you two... talking about?"

"Oh, nothing." Jiang Nian glanced at the girl beside him. "She cried and said she wanted to be my girlfriend. Said she wanted us to date in secret."

(End of chapter)