Xiao Yao felt that the Male Lead should not be able to recognize her.
She tugged at the mask over her nose and lowered her voice.
“I came to the wrong classroom.”
After saying that, she tried to walk around him and leave.
Unexpectedly, the Male Lead did not let her go.
He shifted slightly and blocked her path.
Curiously, he asked,
“Which class are you supposed to be attending?”
There was no way Xiao Yao could answer that.
She raised her head and glared at him.
Ming Jing froze for a moment.
A faint trace of amusement flickered through his eyes.
Then he softened his tone.
“I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just worried you’ll get lost again.”
His tone sounded sincere.
Yet Xiao Yao somehow felt he was mocking her.
She wanted to make up a random classroom number, but she was not a student here. The only reason she even knew where the Humanities Building was located was because of the cheating boyfriend.
She remained silent.
Under her mask, her pink lips pressed tightly together.
Seeing that she could not answer, Ming Jing put away his smile.
When he straightened his face, he looked unexpectedly intimidating.
“Go back and attend class properly.”
Although Xiao Yao had a cold and aloof face, she was actually the type who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
If someone was gentle, she would immediately push her luck and practically climb onto their head.
But if someone became serious or stern, she instantly backed down.
Now that the Male Lead had stopped smiling, Xiao Yao was successfully intimidated.
Inwardly, she still tried to save face.
She told herself she was only staying because she had suddenly lost her appetite.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the Male Lead.
After returning to her seat, the class bell rang.
The person who had just scolded her entered through the front door.
The classroom instantly erupted.
After a burst of excitement, some students eagerly raised their phones to take photos, while others boldly called out his name.
“Senior Ming is so handsome!”
Ming Jing paused slightly before smiling politely.
“Thank you.”
His gaze swept across the classroom.
When it reached the last row, Xiao Yao happened to be rolling her eyes without the slightest regard for her image.
As a result, the students in the front rows saw Ming Jing suddenly raise a fist and lightly cover his lips.
This was a theoretical course with rather abstract concepts.
Although the credits were not low, the classroom had never been this full before.
After briefly introducing himself, Ming Jing explained that the professor responsible for the course had gone abroad for academic research.
As the department’s senior student representative, he would be teaching the class in the professor’s place.
His voice was pleasant.
Neither too fast nor too slow.
Even when discussing dry and tedious theoretical concepts, he somehow managed to keep everyone’s attention fixed on him.
Unfortunately, Xiao Yao still found herself getting sleepy.
She had gotten up early that morning and was already sleep-deprived.
More importantly, she had never properly attended university before.
She could not understand a single word.
The sentences flowing from the Male Lead’s lips sounded like an incomprehensible heavenly scripture to her ears.
She forced herself to listen for a while.
Eventually, she could not endure it any longer.
She collapsed onto the desk and buried her face in her folded arms.
Originally, she only intended to take a short nap and restore some energy.
Unexpectedly, she slept exceptionally well.
When she finally woke up, class had already ended quite some time ago.
The classroom was empty.
All the students had left.
Even the cheating boyfriend had disappeared.
Xiao Yao sat up.
The mask on her face had shifted while she slept, exposing one side of her face.
Just as she was about to fix it, a familiar gentle voice sounded beside her.
“Is my class really that sleep-inducing?”
Xiao Yao jumped in fright.
Her drowsiness instantly vanished.
She looked up instinctively.
At some point, someone had taken the seat beside her.
The man had black hair, fair skin, and handsome features.
At the moment, he was supporting his temple with one hand while leisurely watching her.
Seeing her eyes widen in surprise, making her resemble a startled kitten even more, the smile at Ming Jing’s lips deepened.
“Long time no see.”
His gaze settled on her fair and delicate face.
Perhaps because she had only just awakened, her usually cold and beautiful features appeared unusually soft and innocent.
A trace of panic flashed through Xiao Yao’s eyes.
She absolutely could not admit it.
In her mind, she immediately added another dramatic scene to her character setting.
She was a misguided young woman who had accidentally gone down the wrong path.
She had a boyfriend whom she loved deeply.
Because of her beauty, she had been chosen by an important guest while working.
Part of her felt she should not betray her boyfriend.
Another part was too afraid to offend the guest.
Thus, she had reluctantly and humiliatedly submitted.
She had assumed no one would ever discover what happened that night.
Only to enter a classroom and discover that the guest from that evening was now her teacher…
An absolutely delicious setup.
She was merely a pitiful girl who did not want her boyfriend to discover where she worked.
What had she done wrong?
Lowering her head, Xiao Yao deliberately softened her voice into something timid and fragile.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
From Ming Jing’s perspective, her pale face was lowered.
Perhaps due to nervousness, her pearly teeth unconsciously bit her lower lip.
The soft flesh of her lips sank slightly beneath the pressure, leaving behind a moist flush of red.
Like ripe fruit waiting to be picked and tasted.
Yet she remained completely unaware of the temptation she presented.
Ming Jing did not speak.
Instead, he raised his hand.
Xiao Yao thought she was about to be hit.
By pure reflex, she squeezed her eyes shut.
The system immediately gloated.
“See? I told you the Male Lead isn’t the kind of person who gets dazzled by beauty. He absolutely would never fall for a Cannon Fodder who already has a boyfriend. Stop wasting your time trying to seduce—”
Before it could finish speaking, its voice abruptly cut off like a machine suffering a malfunction.
The Male Lead’s long fingers gently brushed across the Cannon Fodder’s lips.
…
On the journey home, the system remained as silent as a corpse.
It did not come back online until that evening.
After thinking about it for hours, it still could not understand.
What exactly was the Male Lead thinking?
She was only a foolish, malicious, gloomy little Cannon Fodder.
Wasn’t she just a bit prettier than average?
How could the Male Lead be so shallow?
Could a Cannon Fodder really be more worthy of affection than the pure and virtuous Female Lead?
Xiao Yao’s mood was terrible as well.
Especially when she recalled what had happened earlier.
Her expression darkened even further.
After touching her lips, Ming Jing had frozen momentarily before calmly withdrawing his hand as though nothing had happened.
Then he had actually asked for her contact information.
Forced by her carefully constructed “character setting,” Xiao Yao had unwillingly given it to him.
However, when she pulled out her phone to scan his QR code, the device was not only several years out of date, but its screen was also cracked.
It lagged badly during operation.
She noticed Ming Jing’s gaze linger on it briefly.
It was not that Xiao Yao could not afford a replacement.
Her logic was simply strange.
A phone was for personal use.
If it was broken, then so be it.
Since nobody else saw it, she had always been too lazy to repair it.
But now…
One more person had seen it.
The Male Lead.
Although his expression remained unchanged when he looked away, Xiao Yao was convinced he had mocked her in his heart.
Her inferiority complex flared up.
She felt both embarrassed and jealous.
Humiliating herself in front of the Male Lead felt practically fatal.
Her cheeks burned.
The moment she accepted the friend request, she immediately fled.
…
Ding-dong.
Before bed, Xiao Yao’s phone chimed.
Ming Jing: Sorry. I was too presumptuous today.
It was a WeChat message from the Male Lead.
His profile picture was a casually taken landscape photograph.
His username was simply his real name.
Staring at the message, Xiao Yao found him even more hypocritical and irritating.
Fake.
Completely fake.
He must have realized she could not afford a decent phone.
That was why he had deliberately asked for her WeChat—to laugh at her.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Her fingers jabbed furiously at the screen.
First, she changed his contact name to Hypocrite.
Then she opened the chat window and typed every vicious, harsh insult she could think of.
It was as though she were standing in front of him, pointing at his face and cursing him directly.
Lying on her bed and kicking her slender pale legs in the air, she thoroughly vented her frustration.
After finishing, her mood improved considerably.
Then she deleted every word.
One character at a time.
Finally, she generously replied:
It’s okay.
When Ming Jing received the message, his expression gradually softened.
His gaze settled on Xiao Yao’s hand-drawn little mouse profile picture.
The longer he looked, the cuter it seemed.
He imagined her obediently holding her phone and replying to him.
She had said it was okay.
So…
She was not bothered by it?
For the first time, Ming Jing realized how frighteningly low his moral standards had become.
He knew she had a boyfriend.
Yet he still could not stop wanting to get closer to her.
Closing his eyes, he felt he might truly have gone mad.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the bright moon hung high in the sky.
Night flowed like water.
This was the most prosperous district of A City.
From here, he could overlook the entire city.
Yet no one outside could glimpse even a fragment of what lay within.
Ming Jing withdrew his gaze.
His long fingers tapped across the screen.
Typing.
Deleting.
Typing again.
Deleting again.
In the end, he sent only a single sentence.
Hypocrite: Get some rest early.
Apparently, Ming Jing had not investigated her identity.
He probably believed she was an A University student.
Xiao Yao had no intention of correcting him.
Her third secret photograph still required the right opportunity.
Until then, approaching the Male Lead under this identity would be far more convenient.
Pressing her lips together, she awkwardly replied:
Mm.
After sending the message, Xiao Yao poked the system, which had remained silent all afternoon.
“Hey.”
She called several times before it finally responded.
Unlike usual, however, it did not mock her.
Its tone sounded dispirited and defeated.
“The Male Lead added you himself and even sent you messages. You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself right now. Heh. Go ahead and laugh if you want…”
Xiao Yao suddenly interrupted.
“I won’t be with him.”
She was Xiao Yao.
A Cannon Fodder who desperately envied the favored child of heaven.
Her heart was dark.
She was withdrawn and isolated.
Faced with kindness from someone like the Male Lead, she would only assume he was playing with her feelings.
That he wanted to embarrass her on purpose.
How could a Cannon Fodder with such twisted thoughts ever calmly accept love from someone as dazzling as the favored son of heaven?