You're very different now

Chu Yannan refused to look up. An Qian looked anxiously toward Shen Zhiyi and spoke with some reproach and confusion.

"Miss, how could you just hit someone like that?"

After slapping him, Shen Zhiyi felt refreshed in both body and mind. Perhaps she had wanted to do it for a long time-ever since learning this was the world of a book, or perhaps since meeting Chi Ye and finding that he was nothing like the way the book described him.

Perhaps it was because Liu Muyan had been written as a vicious supporting female character, when in reality she was just a young girl who put her heart into preparing gifts for someone she liked.

Or perhaps she was simply annoyed, and the emotions she had suppressed all this time had finally found an outlet. Liu Muyan turned to look at her palm. It was red. Sure enough, she had a single crease running across it.

She had no interest in how Chu Yannan was doing. In her eyes, he deserved to be hit. A slap hardly made an ungrateful, self-righteous person like him an innocent victim.

Liu Muyan turned toward An Qian and said in displeasure,

"I don't want to make things difficult for you, because I don't think this had anything to do with you in the first place. Miss An, you can be with Chu Yannan, but only after he ends his relationship with me.

"Otherwise, if you get together with him like this, disregarding both families' dignity, you won't be innocent when people gossip about you and criticize you.

"Or is this exactly what you wanted to see, Miss An?"

Liu Muyan questioned An Qian without holding back. The way An Qian looked at Chu Yannan was hardly innocent. Liu Muyan knew better than anyone the emotions that showed in someone's eyes when they looked at the person they liked.

An Qian liked Chu Yannan, and Chu Yannan happened to have feelings for her too. Somehow, the two had actually ended up together.

Liu Muyan didn't mind them being together, but not now! Every time she thought of the two insisting on getting together without a care, indulging in this ambiguous intimacy, and then having it blow up online again,

and affecting both families' stock prices once more, she always wished she could tear Chu Yannan into eight pieces.

An Qian wanted to explain, but though her lips parted, the words wouldn't come out. She had indeed caused the misunderstanding between Yannan and Miss Liu, but she hadn't done it on purpose.

Chu Yannan lifted his head to look at the person who had hit him. He didn't know her. She was a complete stranger. Yet this person had dared to hit him. He looked Shen Zhiyi over with disdain, then said,

"Who the hell are you to hit me?"

Shen Zhiyi raised her chin. She had seen someone do this before, so she copied his gesture.

"You don't have to be anyone to hit you. Even a passing dog would want to slap you," Shen Zhiyi replied.

Chu Yannan looked at Liu Muyan in displeasure. "Mu Mu, this is your friend? She has no manners at all. If you're making friends like this, I'll definitely tell your parents that someone's leading you astray. Think how disappointed they'll be."

His words were mostly accusations and reprimands, an attempt to control her and gain the upper hand in this argument.

Who would have thought Liu Muyan would suddenly laugh, as though she had heard something hilarious? Chu Yannan was in for it. If she was only afraid of Chi Ye because of his sharp tongue,

then Chu Yannan had actually been beaten by him.

When Chu Yannan was little, he had fancied himself everyone's boss. Relying on his status as a member of the Chu Family and his young age, he had made plenty of willful demands.

Chu Yanqing was the older brother, so everyone naturally thought he ought to give in to his younger brother. Back then, Liu Muyan had wanted to argue against it, but she was young, and no one wanted to listen to her. She could only privately resent the unfairness on Yan Qing's behalf.

Once, Chu Yannan took a fancy to Yan Qing's trophy. He thought the star on it looked pretty and wanted to take it.

Chu Yanqing refused. He had won that trophy in a competition, and he liked it very much too. Chu Yannan wouldn't give up until he got it, crying and throwing tantrums until everyone was miserable.

Their parents were torn and tried to persuade Yan Qing to lend the trophy to his younger brother for a few days, saying he would return it once he got bored.

But Chu Yanqing refused. Why should he give up something that belonged to him? His parents' constant favoritism toward his younger brother only made him feel worse.

Just then, Chi Ye came to see Chu Yanqing. Seeing Chu Yannan still crying and making a scene, he walked up and punched him without a word.

Chu Yannan didn't know how to fight. He only swaggered around because he belonged to the Chu Family. Other people were willing to give in to him, but Chi Ye wasn't. Before long, Chi Ye had beaten him so badly that he didn't even dare cry aloud.

Their parents tried to intervene, but Chu Yanqing stopped them. Chu Yanqing wasn't someone who swallowed his grievances in silence. Even without Chi Ye, he would have dealt with it himself; he had merely wanted to see how his parents would handle it first.

In the end, they still disappointed him. Naturally, Chu Yanqing approved of Chi Ye taking action.

After that, whenever Chu Yannan tried to snatch something again, Chi Ye would hit him without a word. Even taking lessons in combat, taekwondo, and boxing did Chu Yannan no good.

He couldn't beat Chi Ye. He was even a little shorter than him. From then on, the sight of Chi Ye made him want to turn and run.

And today, he had insulted someone under Chi Ye's protection. Just thinking about how Chi Ye would deal with him made Liu Muyan want to laugh.

Chu Yannan looked at Liu Muyan in confusion. "What are you laughing at? Are you not taking what I said seriously? Are you happy to see her hit me?"

Liu Muyan replied as though it were only natural,

"Of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be? I wish you'd get hit a few more times. I've been sick of you for years anyway. Chu Yannan, I'm very disappointed in you."

Her tone was earnest, without a trace of pretense. This was the friend she had grown up with, someone closer than family, yet now it all seemed like a joke.

There was hurt and bewilderment in Chu Yannan's eyes, but more than anything, there was anger. He was angry that Liu Muyan thought she had the right to say that about him, to presume to define him.

He clearly wasn't the one who had changed.

Chi Ye had waited all day without receiving a message from Shen Zhiyi. Holding his phone, he checked it several times in displeasure, but still not a single message came in.

After finishing his work, he was just about to head out when Chu Yanqing called, so he brought Chu Yanqing along too.

The car couldn't enter, so they could only leave it outside the campus. The two walked inside side by side.

They were about the same height. One wore a suit and tie, with rimless gold glasses perched on his nose. The other dressed casually, with a wild edge to his features and black studs in his ears.

One had a gentle, restrained air, while the other was refined yet unrestrained. It was hard for passersby not to turn and look at them, only reluctantly looking away once they had gone far into the distance.

Chi Ye followed the same route he had taken at noon toward the art classroom. Along the way, Chu Yanqing couldn't help saying,

"Your emotions are fluctuating quite a bit. That's rare."

Chi Ye scoffed at him. "You must be seeing things. I've always had a bad temper. It's normal for my emotions to fluctuate."

Chu Yanqing shook his head. "It's different. Your emotions don't fluctuate much when you lose your temper, because you think you're stating facts rather than arguing. Besides, you just think they're stupid. You don't waste your time arguing with stupid people.

"But you're different now. You're worried, and you're restless."