“Boss.” Shimian Tu knelt respectfully before the tall woman in front of her.
“What have you been doing lately?”
“Reporting to you, Boss, I’ve been managing internal affairs at the Beast Hall.”
“Hmm, only internal affairs?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“As you can see, I hope this fire has nothing to do with you.”
“Of course not, Boss.”
Lou Yuxi said nothing more and turned to walk into the main hall.
The moment she stepped inside, the air turned still.
What greeted her eyes was the open hidden door. The person inside was already gone.
“Very good… very good, Luo Chenxuan.” Lou Yuxi clenched her fists tightly. “You really like playing hide and seek with me, huh? Then let’s play for real—until you never dare to hide again.”
…
Meanwhile, the car ride had been silent.
After everything they’d been through, both Luo Chenxuan and Yue Xi were completely exhausted and had fallen asleep. They were awakened by the driver, who informed them they’d arrived at Yue Xi’s home.
“Keep all of this secret. Don’t tell anyone about it,” Yue Xi reminded Luo Chenxuan before leaving.
He nodded wearily.
When he got home, there was no time to rest. He took a quick shower, changed into his uniform, and left for school.
Upon arriving, he headed to the third floor, planning to nap a bit before anyone else showed up. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw Yue Xi already lying on the desk, fast asleep.
“She beat me to it. Poor thing—didn’t even do anything last night, yet still got dragged into all of it.”
Muttering to himself, Luo Chenxuan slumped into his seat and dozed off.
He didn’t know how long he had slept.
Half-asleep, he felt something cold tracing along his body. Slowly raising his head, he sensed a warm breath brushing past his ear.
“Ah, you’re awake? Chenxuan.”
That unmistakable voice belonged to Leng Yueli.
Luo Chenxuan jolted like a startled bird.
Just as he tried to get up, Leng Yueli pushed him down firmly.
“Chenxuan? Care to explain what’s going on?” she asked while her hands continued to roam over his body.
“W-What’s going on?”
“Why did you and Yue Xi arrive so early? And you both look so tired, sleeping so peacefully.”
“It’s just a coincidence?”
Leng Yueli grabbed his face and forced him to look her in the eyes.
“Chenxuan, do you really take me for a fool? You probably don’t know this, but Yue Xi has never done something like this before.”
“Done what?”
“She sticks to a strict sleep schedule—says it’s good for health and flexibility.”
“But maybe she wanted to stay up late for once?” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Chenxuan… if you keep dodging the question like this… I won’t be polite anymore.”
She leaned closer, mouth inches from his. Just as they were about to kiss, Yue Xi stirred and let out a faint hum.
As if grabbing onto a lifeline, Luo Chenxuan shouted, “Yue Xi, are you awake? Yue Xi? Did you stay up too late last night? Why did you fall asleep here?”
Leng Yueli instantly covered his mouth, her gaze sharp as ice. Unfortunately, it was too late—Yue Xi had already been woken by his voice.
“Hmm…?”
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked toward him.
“Ah… President?”
She saw Leng Yueli standing behind Luo Chenxuan, no longer pressed against him.
“Yue Xi? Didn’t sleep well?”
“Mm… I trained too late last night.”
“You need to take better care of yourself.”
“Yes, President.”
Leng Yueli walked back to her seat, but Luo Chenxuan could still feel her aura—it screamed, this isn’t over.
After the rest of the Student Council arrived, Leng Yueli began discussing the upcoming freshman activity.
It was a special outdoor training organized by the Student Council, open only to freshmen. The six freshman classes would be split into three groups: Class 1 and 2 as one, Classes 3 and 4 as another, and Classes 5 and 6 as the third.
Each group would have its own supervising teacher and Student Council officer. Everyone would have their role. While forming relationships wasn’t restricted, conflicts were to be promptly stopped.
While Leng Yueli explained all this, both Yue Xi and Luo Chenxuan were still nodding off.
“That’s the grouping. Zhong Qing will take Classes 1 and 2, Xinyi will take 3 and 4, Yue Xi and I will handle 5 and 6. Any objections?”
As soon as she finished, Zhong Qing raised her hand.
“But there’s an extra person here.”
“Who?”
“The new guy.” Zhong Qing pointed at the half-asleep Luo Chenxuan.
“He’s my personal assistant. Of course he’ll follow me.”
Luo Chenxuan and Yue Xi blinked awake at the same time.
“Huh?”
They answered in unison.
Leng Yueli was the one calling the shots—there was no way to oppose her. All they could do was quietly accept it.
…
Back in class, Luo Chenxuan sat at his desk. Jiang Ru slowly dragged her desk closer to his.
Ever since she’d kissed him, Luo Chenxuan didn’t know how to face her.
But Jiang Ru acted like nothing had happened, inching her desk closer bit by bit.
Seeing this, Jiang Ru rested her head on his shoulder. “Hey, why are you avoiding me?”
Startled, Luo Chenxuan quickly pulled away. “I… I’m not…”
“But you won’t even look at me.”
“That’s because… because…”
“Because of that kiss?”
Luo Chenxuan was shocked that she would bring it up so casually, like it was no big deal.
“I-It’s not like I care about a kiss or anything.”
“But that was my first kiss.”
“Huh?”
Silence fell between them. The only sounds came from the other classmates around them.
Luo Chenxuan and Jiang Ru looked at each other.
“Don’t stare at me like that! I’ll get embarrassed!” Jiang Ru blushed and lowered her head. “Wanna… do it again?”
Luo Chenxuan had no idea how to respond. This felt all too familiar.
Just as Jiang Ru straightened up, preparing to kiss him again, the bell rang.
The déjà vu grew even stronger.
Hadn’t he just been interrupted the same way earlier?
Was today some sort of “no kissing” day?
Still, it was a relief—he’d narrowly avoided disaster once again.
Jiang Ru shyly moved her desk back to its original position, unaware that Wang Tianwen had been watching them the whole time.
He clenched his teeth, barely suppressing the urge to publicly humiliate Luo Chenxuan.
When the teacher arrived and started explaining the activity, the class buzzed with excitement. Since everyone was still unfamiliar with each other, they decided to draw lots to assign teams.
One by one, students went up.
When it was Jiang Ru’s turn, she silently prayed to be in the same group as Luo Chenxuan. Slowly, she opened her slip—Group E.
Then Luo Chenxuan went up. As he grabbed his slip, Jiang Ru rushed forward and took it from him, staring at it as if trying to will it to match hers. She opened it—Group D.
“Well… at least we won’t be too far apart.”
She accepted her fate. Not that there was any way to change it.
Once all the lots were drawn and the groups confirmed, a dramatic twist occurred.
Luo Chenxuan’s group seemed cursed by fate.
It consisted of Luo Chenxuan, Wang Tianwen, Li Hao, and Jiang Wan—the always-quiet girl who had ended up as class president when no one else would step up.
Seeing this lineup, Luo Chenxuan felt like trouble was looming—though at least one member was a friend.
Just as he was thinking that, Wang Tianwen, seated at his desk, revealed a faint but sinister smile.
He was going to use this chance to completely trample Luo Chenxuan.