Liu Ziyue asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”
The pride of First High, the school’s ultimate heartthrob…was he actually engaging in puppy love?
Liu Ziyue felt his head spin, so dizzy he thought he might pass out right then and there. “Bai Yuenian! You’re not actually breaking school rules to date early, are you?”
Bai Yuenian glanced at Tang Yu, then casually decided to dodge the question: “The headteacher assigned Tang Yu and me to clean our designated duty area. I figured we might as well get it done during PE class so we don’t have to stay after school.”
Tang Yu, who had been keeping his head low, shifted slightly and glanced over at Bai Yuenian.
Bai Yuenian remained totally expressionless, looking completely unbothered…just like the last time they were in Liu Ziyue’s office.
This excuse was utterly seamless. Tang Yu was genuinely impressed!
Designated duty area?
Liu Ziyue slapped his forehead and burst into a smile!
Well, wasn’t that the truth? This area was Class 1’s assigned cleaning zone!
He knew it! How could a boy like Bai Yuenian break school rules for early romance?
Turning back to Tang Yu, however, his smile evaporated instantly. Knitting his brows, he demanded, “Then why did you run the moment you saw me?”
Tang Yu replied, “I heard you shout ‘Freeze!’, so I ran.”
Liu Ziyue snapped, “Just have to do the exact opposite of what I say, huh? If I told you not to study, would you go study your heart out?!”
Tang Yu: “…”
Finally, Liu Ziyue turned to He Cheng, who was standing further back: “And what were you running after them for?”
He had originally thought he was chasing two people, but his eyes weren’t what they used to be, and he hadn’t noticed a third trailing behind.
He Cheng said, “I wanted to explain to Tang Yu that what happened at the sports meet was those guys acting on their own. It had nothing to do with me.?
Liu Ziyue caught the key detail: “Why are you explaining to him? Shouldn’t you be explaining to Teacher Zhou?”
“I…” He Cheng choked on his words.
“He’s just scared I’ll beat him up, so he came to explain to clear his name,” Tang Yu interjected nonchalantly.
Unexpectedly, out of the corner of his eye, Tang Yu saw Bai Yue’nian turn his head away, his shoulders quivering slightly. He was clearly laughing.
Even the surrounding students and Liu Ziyue turned to stare at Bai Yuenian in shock. Bai Yuenian was usually as cold as an ice block…leave alone emotions, you barely ever saw a facial expression on him.
Yet right now, the young man was like a dusting of late-winter snow suddenly melting under the sun, impossibly tender.
Tang Yu even caught a girl nearby whispering softly, “I had no idea Yueshen looked this good when he smiles!”
The boy beside her pouted, aggrieved: “I’m jealous!”
The girl retorted, “What are you jealous for? I’m just admiring him purely from afar. Besides, Yueshen only belongs to Tang Yu.”
Tang Yu: “…”
What on earth? I don’t want him!
And what was this blockhead Bai Yuenian laughing at anyway?!
After Liu Ziyue lectured them on how classmates should get along in harmony and finally left, Tang Yu yanked Bai Yuenian straight into the small garden, his ears burning hot as he blurted out the question.
“What are you laughing at?!”
Honestly, Bai Yue’nian’s sense of humor was quite simple. He had suddenly realized that in Tang Yu’s world, everything was remarkably straightforward.
Take this situation, for example. He Cheng’s motives were practically glowing in neon lights, yet Tang Yu couldn’t fathom that He Cheng liked him…and only wanted to explain because he didn’t want the incident to ruin his image in Tang Yu’s eyes.
Besides, the reason Tang Yu came up with was downright adorable.
“He’s scared I’ll beat him up.”
Then again, in this story’s world, He Cheng himself probably hadn’t even realized he liked Tang Yu yet.
Did that mean he could be a bit bolder? Show even more of his feelings?
At the thought, Bai Yue’nian’s eyes crinkled, a genuine warmth bubbling up from deep within his chest.
The blush on Tang Yu’s earlobes began spreading across his face. “Stop freaking laughing!”
Bai Yuenian instantly reined in his smile. “Okay.”
Just then, He Cheng suddenly chimed in, “Tang Yu, should I go apologize to Teacher Zhou now?”
Instantly, Tang Yu and Bai Yue’nian turned on him, snapping in unison: “Why haven’t you left yet?!”
He Cheng: “…”
So… I’m interrupting you two, huh?
From a distance, the class monitor, Liu Shantong, came running frantically down the stairs toward them. “Tang Yu, something terrible happened!”
It turned out that during PE class, a thread had popped up on the school forum, quickly gaining a bright red stickied tag.
The title read: Deep Dive into How First High’s School Bully Gangs Up with Outsiders to Bully Classmates.
The main post featured a photo. It was dark and dimly lit, likely taken on a cloudy day or at dusk.
You had to tap the image to zoom in before you could make out a boy standing on the far left, a First High autumn uniform tied around his waist.
On the right side of the photo, three guys were surrounding a girl. Her backpack had been dumped to the side, and the water spilled from her flask was mixed into a puddle with the rainwater.
Judging by the scene alone, it was incredibly easy for people to jump to the wrong conclusion.
Add the label “School Bully” to the mix, and people’s imaginations naturally ran wild.
It was a secret snapshot!
The moment Tang Yu saw it, he knew. That day in the alley, besides him, the three delinquents, and the girl, there had been a sixth person!
That sixth person had secretly taken a photo and, holding a grudge against him, posted it online.
The forum was already in utter chaos.
2L (Grinding to Death at First High): “Whoa! The legendary First High Bully? Isn’t this talking about Tang Yu?”
3L: “Look at that cold expression… calling in outsiders to bully someone from our own school?”
4L (Unimportant Passerby): “Wait, you can’t even see a face! It’s just a back profile, how can you be sure it’s Tang Yu?”
5L: “Are you kidding? That back profile is unmistakable!”
6L: “Say no more! That poor girl… this looks severe enough to be a criminal offense, right? Tang Yu is genuinely going to end up in jail.”
7L: “But Tang Yu isn’t that kind of person! He doesn’t pick on people inside school. Honestly, if you think about it, he’s never picked on outsiders either! I still don’t even know how he got the ‘School Bully’ reputation…I thought he just liked skipping class, and people started calling him that.”
8L: “Poster above, you’re way too naive! You can know a person’s face, but not their heart!”
10L: “Exactly! Who’s to say Tang Yu doesn’t just get along really well with off-campus hoodlums?”
In reality, the one who had never bullied anyone outside of school was the original “Tang Yu” from the novel’s storyline.
In real life, back when Tang Yu was a freshman, there was a stretch of time when the police issued a public notice about an escaped convict, complete with a high-stakes wanted poster.
Under those conditions, the escapee couldn’t find a foothold in society. Wanted posters were everywhere; he couldn’t flee, and he had no income.
Half a month later, backed into a corner and desperate, the fugitive took a gamble and tried to mug a student who looked like an easy target for cash.
As luck would have it, Tang Yu was that student. He became an overnight legend at First High by bare-handedly disarming a blade.
That was how his reputation as a “school bully” had actually started.
So despite carrying that intimidating title, plenty of girls still handed him love letters.
After all, who wouldn’t adore a guy who looked cute with a touch of charm when he smiled, and who gave off an overwhelming sense of security?
Even the guys in school respected him.
It was only at this moment that Tang Yu realized the biggest difference between himself and the character in the book.
The Tang Yu in the novel was more like an empty shell of a trope. He could be a school bully, or he could share a few of Tang Yu’s actual habits and daily routines…
…but he lacked the real-life experiences that Tang Yu had actually lived through.
If this were his original world, Tang Yu could guarantee that no one at First High would ever suspect him of bullying a classmate based on a single blurry, covert photo.
Looking at the forum thread rapidly approaching a hundred replies, Tang Yu flipped his phone face down on the desk.
The messages pouring in were all variations of the same thing: “So he’s actually that kind of person,” or “I didn’t realize campus bullying was so close to home.”
Boring. He’d rather read a math textbook!
Tang Yu picked up a compulsory math book and flipped irritably through it from cover to cover, only to realize he hadn’t absorbed a single word.
Beside him, Xie Tianyi patted his shoulder to comfort him. “Don’t worry, man. I’ll curse out this OP for you! How dare they mess with my brother?”
Tang Yu slapped his hand away. “Get lost.”
Truth was, Tang Yu wasn’t mad at the poster, nor was he curious about who it was.
He was just a little down. Aside from Xie Tianyi, was there really no one else who believed him?
Was the main character’s network really this bad?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Xie Tianyi exclaim in surprise, “Whoa! Bro, look! Someone’s defending you on the forum!”
Someone defending me? Who?
Tang Yu picked up his phone again.
102L: “Doesn’t the conscience of the people above hurt at all? Everyone here is a high school student, right? Are you guys seriously doing picture-reading exercises like primary schoolers?”
Tang Yu: “…”
Okay, that comeback lacked any real technical skill!
Sure enough, the commenter was instantly shut down.
103L: “Hahaha, where did this kindergarten kid above come from? Can’t even read a picture? Isn’t the context plain as day?”
105L: “Your granddaddy here doesn’t hide his name…it’s He Cheng!”
Tang Yu: “…”
What a absolute idiot.
Tang Yu exited the forum, locked his screen, and tossed the phone into his desk drawer. Whatever!
Seeing him pretend not to care when he was clearly feeling down, Xie Tianyi tried to brainstorm a solution: “Bro! Who’s that girl in the photo? Just find her and have her clarify things. Won’t that clear your name?”
Find her? Impossible. She had already transferred to another school back in her hometown.
In fact, Tang Yu felt a bit relieved. It was a good thing she had already transferred; otherwise, if people actually dug her identity out because of this mess, what then? A girl pinned down by hoodlums for a photo…what about her reputation?
Fortunately, her face wasn’t visible in the photo, so no one should link it to her now.
As for him… once a few days passed and new gossip covered it up, the storm would blow over.
Having made up his mind, Tang Yu stacked a few books on his desk, intending to catch a nap. But just then, shouting broke out near the sports field.
Wu Jianqi and Old Feng were fighting guys from another class! Hearing the news, Tang Yu sprinted downstairs.
Old Feng had undergone heart surgery! He could barely handle a basketball game earlier…he couldn’t afford to get into a fight over Tang Yu’s messy drama!
At the sports field, Tang Yu quickly separated the two clashing groups. Wu Jianqi took the chance to wrap his arms around Old Feng’s waist, holding him back.
Yet Old Feng refused to settle down, flailing his arms and kicking toward the opposing group, roaring at the top of his lungs: “You guys have no idea how good Tang Yu actually is! Stop spreading f***ing rumors, damn it!”
This was the very first time Tang Yu had ever heard a top student swear!
Tsk… actually sounded pretty cool!
By the time they brought Old Feng back to the classroom, a heavy silence hung over the room.
The bell for class had already rung. It was a self-study period, but the group of top students…who usually hated wasting even a single minute of break time…didn’t start studying.
No one knew who spoke up first, but a quiet voice broke the silence: “Tang Yu, I believe you.”
Immediately after…
“I believe you too.”
“I believe you with both hands and feet.”
“Count me in.”
“Me too.”
“And me.”
Tang Yu’s gaze swept across the faces in front of him…some familiar, some recognizable, some he hadn’t even had the chance to get to know yet. Finally, his eyes rested on the bruise at the corner of Old Feng’s lip, and he suddenly burst into a smile.
Yeah. This was more than enough.