Since nothing else was happening, everyone was about to leave. Just then, Li Miao suddenly exaggeratedly furrowed his brow, squinted, and pointed toward the direction where Jiang Luo was hiding. “Eh? Is there someone over there?”
Jiang Luo, who was crouching there, felt his heart skip a beat.
Lin Shi jumped in surprise, grabbed a branch, and walked over. “Who is it? Come out!”
Jiang Luo had no choice but to slowly stand up.
Li Miao’s eyes were full of malicious amusement; seeing Jiang Luo get put in his place made him happy.
The crowd gathered at the entrance of the small grove, while Jiang Luo stood inside it.
The small grove was bordered by walls on several sides, with no other entrance. Jiang Luo’s position there was quite intriguing.
Du Shengsheng’s expression also changed.
In other words, Jiang Luo had watched the entire thing without intending to help?
If Jiang Luo had shouted at the time, things would never have developed to this point.
“I… I…” Jiang Luo couldn’t think of an excuse.
It was Li Miao again! Damn Li Miao! Could he not stand to see him doing well? Jiang Luo was so wronged he could almost cry.
“What are you all doing here?” Just then, Shen Xingze appeared outside the crowd.
Li Miao rolled his eyes.
Tch, so this was the protagonist halo? Forcibly saving the scene?
Jiang Luo’s eyes lit up, as if he had seen a savior. “Brother Xingze!”
Shen Xingze glanced at Li Miao and Jiang Luo in the middle of the crowd, frowned, and said, “What are you doing now?”
That was directed at Li Miao.
“Jiang Luo is just my deskmate. Can you stop making a scene?”
Shen Xingze had already assumed that Li Miao was bullying Jiang Luo.
After all, Li Miao was so arrogant and overbearing, while his little deskmate looked so pitiful and helpless.
Shen Xingze completely failed to notice that the people around him were gradually looking at him strangely.
He looked at Li Miao with disappointment in his eyes and kept talking to himself. “It’s always like this. Do you have to drive away everyone around me? Even so, I still won’t like you.”
Li Miao had already lost the desire to communicate with Shen Xingze. He gave a helpless, speechless smile.
Finally, someone couldn’t stand it anymore and tugged at Shen Xingze’s sleeve, quietly explaining the whole story to him.
Li Miao, saving someone?
Shen Xingze looked at Li Miao in surprise. Did Li Miao think that if he became kind, Shen Xingze would fall for him?
When would Li Miao ever realize that he simply did not like him?
“That works,” Shen Xingze said perfunctorily, nodding like he was praising a child, then looked at Jiang Luo. “Let’s go.”
Everyone watched as Shen Xingze took Jiang Luo away. Li Miao couldn’t be bothered to stop them.
Since the plot had already stepped in, even if he stopped them, some Zhang Xingze or Li Xingze would probably pop out and take the person away.
After the rooftop incident was ruined by Li Miao last time, Shen Xingze’s heroic rescue of the beauty finally happened after all.
Li Miao ground his teeth. He really hated this feeling: things being out of his control.
It was as if some existence had detected a deviation in the main plot and was forcibly bending the story back.
『So I can’t change the story?』 Li Miao’s tone was sinister.
『No, or rather, not entirely,』 the system said with some pride. 『You think changing the plot is that easy?』
The system explained, 『The more important storylines are, the harder they are to change. For example, at next week’s masquerade ball, even if a meteor falls from the sky, Jiang Luo will still show up on time.』
『But something like which foot steps into the classroom is easy for you to change. If you wanted, you could even hop in like a zombie, because that wouldn’t affect the main plot.』
Li Miao narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
The crowd slowly dispersed. After hesitating for a moment, Du Shengsheng looked at Li Miao with a face full of gratitude. “Thank you.”
She really had not expected Li Miao to be such a considerate person.
Without Li Miao, she had no idea how much gossip she would have had to endure after today.
Li Miao gave a slight nod, as aloof as ever.
“Your clothes…” Du Shengsheng looked down. “Should I wash them and return them to you tomorrow?”
Li Miao was already walking away. At her words, he waved a hand without turning back. “No need, too much trouble. Just throw them away.”
The custom-made school uniform, worth tens of thousands, sounded as cheap as trash in his mouth.
In a corner no one noticed, Li Cheng snapped a bunch of photos of Du Shengsheng wearing Li Miao’s coat, then carefully wrote a note: Li Miao is in puppy love!
Du Shengsheng’s home was very close to Lin Shi’s, both in the slums. The two walked along the road, and Du Shengsheng had already taken off Li Miao’s clothes, carefully folded them twice, and hung them over her arm.
The place where the collar had split was pinned together with a hair clip.
Even though Li Miao had already said he didn’t want it, she still planned to wash it and return it to him.
No matter whether the other person wanted it or not, she needed to maintain the proper attitude.
After saying goodbye to Lin Shi, Du Shengsheng was still one building away from home.
However, just as she turned a corner, there was someone leaning against the wall.
Head lowered, one leg bent casually, bangs covering his eyes.
It was Shen Yu.
“Student Shen?” Du Shengsheng walked closer slowly.
Shen Yu looked up, and his gaze lingered for two seconds on the coat draped over Du Shengsheng’s arm.
For days now, he had been mixing perfumes, but nothing worked.
It was always just a little off.
A slight deviation could make all the difference, and it was utterly useless against his agitation.
Not only that, his agitation seemed to be getting worse and worse.
The doctor said it was because the toxin had lingered too long. Before the antidote was developed, his symptoms would only become more severe.
He was like a traveler quenching his thirst with poison, clearly knowing the bottle contained poison, but unable not to drink it.
“You… are you looking for me?” Du Shengsheng asked, confused.
Although they were both special admittees, Shen Yu had always kept to himself and had little interaction with her or Lin Shi.
“Mm,” Shen Yu said concisely. “Give me the coat.”
“Huh?” Du Shengsheng blinked in surprise.
“I’m his deskmate. I’ll take it to him.” Shen Yu held out his hand.
“Oh… okay.” Du Shengsheng nodded blankly. “I haven’t washed it yet…”
That was exactly what he wanted: unwashed.
Shen Yu shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll wash it.”
“Then… all right.” Thinking that Li Miao and Shen Yu seemed to have a good relationship, Du Shengsheng nodded and handed the coat to Shen Yu.
And so, that coat, which in Li Miao’s eyes had been thrown away, in Du Shengsheng’s eyes had been passed along by Shen Yu, and in Lin Shi’s eyes had been returned by Du Shengsheng, ended up in Shen Yu’s hands.