Сhаpter 21: Stор Рrеtеnding to Be Innосent
A fеw days bеfоrе thе ехam, in thе аllеy bеhind the sсhool building.
Тhе barе wall wаs dоttеd with onlу а few withеrеd lеаvеs, аnd аn abаndonеd оld bicycle lаy tоpрlеd nеаrby.
Gu Chеn stood mеnасinglу in front оf Chi Yu.
“Нey, stау аwау from Lin Кuizhi.”
Chi Yu raised аn еуеbrоw, a faint glint of dаngеr flаshing in his dark еyеs as he sроkе slоwly, “Why shоuld I?”
“Yоu!” Gu Chen сlenchеd his fists, his еуеs blazing with аngеr. “Because you’rе just—just—”
Chi Yu’s ехрrеssiоn remаined relaхed, unhurriеd, and hе evеn kindly finished the sentence for him, “A bastard?”
“Yeah, that’s—huh? You…” Gu Chen’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know?!”
“Of course I do,” he replied, curling the corner of his mouth.
“If you know, then why are you getting close to Lin Kuizhi!”
“Why shouldn’t I get close to her?” He tilted his head slightly before letting out a light laugh. “Not only will I get close to her, but in the future, I’ll also hug her, kiss her, and…”
He left the rest of the sentence hanging suggestively.
So what if he was a bastard? Lin Kuizhi didn’t care, and he certainly didn’t either.
“You’re asking for it!”
A sudden punch flew toward him, but Chi Yu dodged it effortlessly.
“Gu Chen,” the young man’s voice turned cold.
“When the young lady liked you, you couldn’t wait to avoid her. Now that she’s moved on, you’re pretending to be all devoted and sincere. Don’t you think you’re ridiculous?”
Gu Chen stiffened slightly.
He wasn’t wrong. What was wrong with him?
Back when Lin Kuizhi followed him around like a shadow, showing up everywhere he went, how had he felt then?
Annoyed. Disgusted.
He’d responded with cold words and indifference.
He’d never met anyone as clingy as Lin Kuizhi in his life.
But now that Lin Kuizhi had finally stopped revolving around him, just as he’d wished, he felt unhappy instead. Was he really just being pathetic?
No, it wasn’t that. He just felt that Chi Yu wasn’t a good person at all. Lin Kuizhi must have been deceived by him.
He just didn’t want Lin Kuizhi to be fooled.
Gu Chen pressed his lips together, remaining silent.
Chi Yu glanced at him, lazily lighting a cigarette.
A thin, pale blue wisp of smoke curled around his fingertips.
Facing Gu Chen’s incredulous stare, he sneered.
“Why look so surprised? Does Young Master Gu still need to pretend to be innocent?”
“You!” Only then did Gu Chen realize that Chi Yu was no poor but hardworking young man oppressed by the young lady—he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, ruthless and cunning.
He wanted to throw a punch, but the memory of Chi Yu’s reckless fighting style in the ring flashed through his mind.
“Anything else? A good dog doesn’t block the way.”
“You!” Gu Chen glared at him fiercely. “Just you wait!”
Only after Gu Chen had walked away did Chi Yu toss the cigarette into a nearby trash can with a look of disgust.
Disgusting smell of smoke.
Thinking of Gu Chen’s threat, he felt a flicker of interest.
He was somewhat curious about what tricks Gu Chen would try.
However, on the day of the exam, when Gu Chen bumped into him and slipped a crumpled paper ball into his school uniform pocket,
Chi Yu fell silent.
That’s it?
Back at school, everyone learned that Chi Yu had been disqualified from the physics competition, which meant he had lost his chance for direct admission.
The entire grade buzzed with gossip.
“So he really cheated, right? Otherwise, why would they disqualify him?”
“I think so too. I never expected him to be that kind of person.”
“Hey, have you heard? Gu Chen replaced him.”
“Wow, this love triangle is insane!”
Meanwhile, Gu Chen was restless. He hadn’t expected things to turn out so serious. He’d only wanted to…
“Gu Chen!!”Lin Kuizhi was burning with rage as she charged straight at Gu Chen, grabbing a book from the desk and hurling it at him.
“It was you who framed Chi Yu for cheating, wasn’t it? How shameless can you be? You can’t beat him in exams, so you try to ruin him. Who taught you that?”
Gu Chen’s face darkened. He wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start.
“Now you’ve got the competition spot. Are you satisfied?”
Seeing the girl’s furious expression, Gu Chen suddenly had a flash of insight.
He did it on purpose.
He deliberately provoked her, deliberately let the paper ball fall out.
The pockets of the winter uniform were so deep. Even if Chi Yu jumped on the spot, it would have been useless.
Gu Chen pressed his thin lips together tightly and pulled her toward the door.
“What are you doing?”
Then, Chi Yu suddenly appeared in the hallway, blocking their way. “Let her go.”
By now, the surrounding classmates were pressed against the windows, watching with curiosity.
Gu Chen glared fiercely at Chi Yu and spoke word by word, “Chi Yu, do you dare let Lin Kuizhi know what kind of person you really are?”
Hearing this, she panicked, thinking he was about to bring up the illegitimate child rumor again. She shook him off and stepped in front of Chi Yu.
“Are you insane? Watch your mouth!”
Behind her, Chi Yu raised an eyebrow at Gu Chen.
Gu Chen was fuming. “Lin Kuizhi! Are you an idiot? He deliberately made others think he was cheating just to win your sympathy!”
Lin Kuizhi froze.
Seeing her reaction, Gu Chen looked triumphantly at Chi Yu, his face screaming, “You’re done.”
The young man’s expression remained unchanged, his dark eyes filled with mockery.
“You’re really not normal,” the girl said, looking at him strangely. “You’re saying Chi Yu deliberately tried to lose his guaranteed admission spot just to win my sympathy?”
“Yes! Wait, no…” Gu Chen was confused. Something didn’t seem right.
“Do you think he’s sick, or am I sick?” Lin Kuizhi wondered if he’d been kicked in the head by a donkey.
“No, listen to me…”
“I don’t want to listen. Go to the homeroom teacher right now and return the spot to Chi Yu, or I’ll make sure your family regrets it.”
Lin Kuizhi coldly cut him off. “At next Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, I want to see you apologize to Chi Yu in front of the whole school.”
Gu Chen felt his blood pressure skyrocketing, and just then, Chi Yu chimed in with a hypocritical attempt to mediate.
“Zhi Zhi, it’s fine. Gu Chen definitely didn’t mean it. Let’s just forget about it.”
“Lin Kuizhi! Even if I did something, I didn’t post that thread, and I didn’t stick that paper on the desk. It was all his own doing!” Gu Chen couldn’t stand the hypocrite anymore and growled in a low voice.
“If you had posted it, you’d already be expelled,” Lin Kuizhi snapped impatiently. “Stop making baseless accusations. Chi Yu has been defending you this whole time. Why are you still making a scene?”
Seeing the provocative smile on the young man’s face, Gu Chen was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. His once handsome face twisted into a grimace. “Lin Kuizhi!”
“Why are you shouting so loud?” Chi Yu frowned, his dark eyes sharp.
Fine, Chi Yu. If you show no mercy, don’t blame me for being ruthless.
“Since you don’t believe me about this,” he made up his mind, “he smokes. Did you know that?”
She’d had enough and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Dude, just because you smoke and drink in private doesn’t mean everyone else is like you, okay?”
“I knew you’d say that.” Gu Chen sneered and pointed at the pocket of the young man’s uniform pants. “See for yourself. What’s that?”Lin Kuizhi followed his gaze and saw a rectangular box-shaped bulge there, which looked like… a cigarette case.