Then would her feelings become a burden to him too?

Wen Ce watched Zhou Chi walk away muttering to himself. After a second's thought, he took out his phone and found Zhou Chi's friend requests. He hadn't had time to reject the latest one yet.

It contained Zhou Chi's angry griping: [Are you out of your mind?! Accept my request.]

Seeing him look down at his phone without even looking at him, Wang Meng's eyes flashed with resentment. "Wen Ce, let's talk."

He repeated himself.

Quite a few people had witnessed what happened on the basketball court back then. Now that Wang Meng had stopped Wen Ce in the classroom, plenty of those who had been about to leave were secretly watching.

At heart, humans all loved watching a spectacle and gossiping.

Luo Lianqing also noticed that Wen Ce had been stopped and looked over with some concern.

A female student up ahead whispered, "What's Wang Meng's problem...?"

"Poor Wen Ce..."

Luo Lianqing was a little worried and was just about to go over and check.

Then she saw Qin Yanran standing in front of Wen Ce. Whatever she said made Wang Meng's expression turn even uglier.

"Wang Meng, why are you dragging other people into your business with Wenwen?!" Wen Ce glanced down at Qin Yanran, who stood blocking his way, frowning as she spoke to Wang Meng.

Honestly, he hadn't wanted to bother with Wang Meng at first.

But with Qin Yanran stepping in like this, ignoring him would make Wen Ce seem like a coward hiding behind a girl.

He didn't particularly care about that, but...

He turned his head for a glance and, sure enough, met Luo Lianqing's gaze.

In the end, Wen Ce sighed. "Let's talk outside."

Only then did Wang Meng's ugly expression ease a little, and he turned to head out.

Qin Yanran froze, then anxiously reached out and caught Wen Ce's wrist. "Don't go..."

Wen Ce swiftly pulled his hand free and frowned at Qin Yanran. "This is my business. Don't trouble yourself."

Then he followed Wang Meng out, ignoring her hurt, unhappy expression.

"What the hell! He doesn't appreciate a good heart," the roommate beside Qin Yanran couldn't help saying.

Lin Fan and Liu Shumu glanced at them from the side.

"If Yanran hadn't blocked Little Wen's way, he wouldn't have needed to go out," Lin Fan couldn't help saying.

"Exactly. With her stepping in like that, he'd look like a coward if he didn't go out now," Liu Shumu said with a sigh.

The female student looked at them along with Qin Yanran. "So you're saying Wen Ce went out because of Yanran? He didn't want Yanran to think he was a coward?"

Lin Fan and Liu Shumu: ...Are you girls really this good at making things up in your heads? Is that even the same thing?

Qin Yanran clearly thought so too. Her expression eased a little, and she looked toward the doorway with worried eyes before finally saying, "I have to go check."

Meanwhile, Luo Lianqing received a message on her phone. [Do you have class later? Want to buy ingredients together and have lunch at home?]

She lowered her eyes to glance at it, a touch of tenderness appearing in her expression, then looked up at the girls. "If there's nothing else, I'll head back to my office. Come find me if there's anything else you don't understand."

The girls kept glancing back too, their attention clearly drawn by the argument at the back of the classroom.

Hearing Luo Lianqing, they hurriedly nodded. "Goodbye, Professor."

Luo Lianqing left the classroom. Her steps faltered for a moment, but she still headed in the direction Wen Ce and the others had gone.

Wen Ce went up one floor with Wang Meng. Seeing that he seemed to be heading for the rooftop, he stopped. "Where are you going?"

His phone screen was still lit, the message he had just sent Luo Lianqing still visible.

Wang Meng glanced at him, seemingly in provocation. "Scared to come up? We're going to the rooftop. Afraid I'll push you off?"

Wen Ce looked at him as though he were an idiot. "Trying to goad me won't work. Either say what you have to say here or forget it." As he spoke, he glanced at his phone again. Luo Lianqing hadn't replied. He wondered whether she could go to the supermarket with him later. He would check whether the ingredients he'd bought last time were still usable when he got back. He could make Zhao Li a meal...

Wang Meng grew angry at the sight of his utterly indifferent manner. What he longed for but couldn't have, Wen Ce treated with disdain. Why?

"Wen Ce!"

Wang Meng walked toward Wen Ce, step by step. He was a little taller than Wen Ce and liked working out, with well-developed arm muscles. To others, the way he stared straight at Wen Ce looked frightening.

When Qin Yanran, Lin Fan, and the others ran over, they saw Wang Meng standing aggressively in front of Wen Ce, looking ready to strike at any moment.

Only Wen Ce merely raised his eyes and glanced at him, seemingly puzzled. "Wang Meng, we're college students already. You're not going to do something stupid like hurting someone for love, are you?"

Wen Ce had never been in a relationship himself and truly didn't understand this sort of feeling, but he respected and understood everyone's feelings-provided, of course, that they didn't drag him into it.

"There really is nothing between me and your ex-girlfriend. Haven't you known that all along? If there had been anything, you wouldn't have been able to win her over back then..."

Before he could finish, Wang Meng raised his hand. The movement made Qin Yanran turn pale behind them, and she hurried over. "Wang Meng, calm down!"

Unfortunately, she was wearing high heels. As she ran, a crack came from her ankle, accompanied by her pained groan.

She had twisted her ankle.

Both Wang Meng and Wen Ce looked over.

"No, are you out of your mind?! What did I do...? I just wanted to talk to Wen Ce. What's with all of you...?" Wang Meng lowered the hand he had just raised.

As the others behind them went to help Qin Yanran up, her roommate even looked up at Wen Ce. "Come help Yanran to the campus clinic!"

Her tone carried anger and dissatisfaction too.

Wen Ce: ...What does this have to do with me?

Qin Yanran's eyes were rimmed red. She was probably in serious pain too. Her little face was deathly pale as she looked at Wen Ce with a wounded, sorrowful expression.

Wen Ce met her eyes for a moment, then turned to Wang Meng. "Do you think I'm innocent in this? Why should I take her to the campus clinic?"

Everyone froze at his words.

Wang Meng nodded blankly. This really had nothing to do with Wen Ce.

"What happened with your ex-girlfriend was pretty much the same as this. It was purely a case of staging an accident to pin the blame on me. I'm innocent." Wen Ce pushed up his glasses, his tone cold. "So could you stop treating me as your imaginary rival every single day? I'm pretty busy."

His words instantly drained all color from Qin Yanran's face. So Wen Ce was saying she was staging an accident to pin the blame on him?

So when someone didn't like you, they could speak this cruelly.

The others were a little embarrassed. They all understood what Wen Ce meant.

Only Qin Yanran's roommate immediately protested, "Wen Ce, what do you mean by that? Yanran ran out because she was worried about you. That's why she twisted her ankle!"

Wang Meng looked in bewilderment at Qin Yanran, who had already lowered her head and begun shedding tears, then glanced at the expressionless Wen Ce.

Was Wen Ce's heart made of iron? How could he be so stonehearted?

At the very least, this was a beauty in tears!

Luo Lianqing had just rounded the corner when she heard Wen Ce's even voice. "Feelings that only move yourself just become a burden to other people. You move yourself, but all you do is annoy the other person."

Luo Lianqing stood rooted to the spot, staring dazedly at Wen Ce amid the group. This was the second time she had seen him reject someone.

Her formerly cheerful heart suddenly, slowly quieted. If he really didn't like her...

Then would her feelings become a burden to him too?