5 – The Knife of Forbearance
As soon as the words fell, students began standing up one after another.
They thought Zhou Yuchuan’s “get to know each other” was meant literally.
Little did they know that what the Zhou big shot had in mind was “settle the score.”
He wanted to see which brainless fools were being bossed around by an English teacher.
“Why didn’t you collect Xin Jushang’s homework?” Zhou Yuchuan demanded.
One of the girls mumbled, “The English teacher wouldn’t let us.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yuchuan laughed freely, then quickly wiped the smile off his face, his voice icy and devoid of warmth. “Is the English teacher your homeroom teacher? She only teaches English—she has no business interfering with other subjects, does she?”
Tsk, this nun really thinks she’s a big shot, putting on such airs.
Intimidated by Zhou Yuchuan’s powerful presence, none of the class representatives dared to talk back.
“You, come here for a moment.” Zhou Yuchuan beckoned to the class representatives. “Collect my deskmate’s homework.”
The class representatives hesitated for a moment. Xue Yingying, the English class representative, took the lead, and the others followed suit.
“Math.”
Zhou Yuchuan lifted his eyelids, and the math class representative obediently took Xin Jushang’s math homework from his hands.
“Chinese.”
“Physics.”
“Chemistry.”
“Biology.” Xin Jushang’s homework for each subject was finally handed over to the respective class representatives.
Zhou Yuchuan clutched the only remaining English homework in his hand and was about to step down from the platform when Xue Yingying, who had been waiting for a while, couldn’t hold back and softly asked, “Does English not need to be handed in?”
When speaking to him, Xue Yingying’s face flushed slightly from shyness and nervousness.
Seeing Zhou Yuchuan up close for the first time, Xue Yingying realized that the boy before her looked as if he had stepped right out of a manga.
Not only were his features exceptional, but his jawline was as sharp as if carved by a knife.
Hearing her, Zhou Yuchuan lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Xue Yingying indifferently.
That one glance froze the blood in Xue Yingying’s veins.
The boy’s peach blossom eyes were incredibly captivating, especially the brown tear mole under his right eye—it was downright lethal.
His overall lazy demeanor made him the perfect embodiment of a manga boy.
“If you’re not afraid of getting scolded by that woman, sure.”
As he spoke, Zhou Yuchuan handed Xin Jushang’s English homework to the girl in front of him. “Thanks.”
His deep, seductive voice exploded in Xue Yingying’s heart.
Boom—countless flowers bloomed in full glory.
Zhou Yuchuan returned to his seat as if nothing had just happened, lost in admiration of his own ridiculously handsome face in the mirror on the desk.
Xin Jushang couldn’t hold back and spoke to him for the first time.
“Thank you for helping me just now,” she said softly.
She didn’t seem to dislike this narcissist as much anymore. After all, the way he had defended her in front of the whole class…
was actually kind of cute.
Zhou Yuchuan put down the mirror and tilted his head, deliberately asking her, “What did you just say? Your voice was too soft—I didn’t catch it.”
He had heard it clearer than anyone, but he just wanted to tease his little deskmate.
“If you didn’t hear it, forget it.”
Zhou Yuchuan hadn’t expected such a cold response from Xin Jushang. His little deskmate really had quite the temper.
“I heard that just now.” He deliberately lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of ambiguity. “You said you like me even more now.”
Xin Jushang: …
Patience is a virtue, but sometimes it feels like a knife hanging over your head.
“Yes, exactly as you thought.” She turned her head and met Zhou Yuchuan’s gaze expressionlessly. “So try not to talk to me from now on. I’m afraid I might faint from being overwhelmed by your charm.”
She was talking nonsense with a straight face.
For a narcissist like Zhou Yuchuan who loved to jump to conclusions, the best strategy Xin Jushang could think of was simply to go along with his assumptions and leave him speechless.
“Deskmate, don’t worry.” Zhou Yuchuan straightened up, looking serious and earnest. “From now on, Brother Chuan will have your back. As long as I’m in this class, I won’t let anyone bully you.”
After all, he couldn’t let down a girl who liked him so sincerely—especially one who felt too inferior because of her looks and grades to even lift her head.
At this moment, Zhou Yuchuan had no idea just how wildly off-base his misunderstanding of Xin Jushang truly was.
P.E. class.
Zhou Yuchuan was playing basketball with some of the boys from the class. His skills had always been excellent; he was even a key player on the school basketball team back at No. 1 High School.
With him on the court, the others barely got a chance to touch the ball.
Thump.
Another perfect three-pointer swished through the net.
A crowd of girls had gathered around, all there for Zhou Yuchuan.
During a break, he glanced around at the girls but didn’t see Xin Jushang.
Tsk, his little deskmate was really playing hard to get.
She liked him so much, yet she didn’t come to watch him play basketball? How could she resist?
Just as Zhou Yuchuan was about to go grab some water, Xue Yingying, who had been standing nearby for a while, finally seized the perfect opportunity.
She immediately stepped forward, blushing shyly as she handed him the towel and water she had prepared in advance.
Her intentions couldn’t have been clearer.
Xue Yingying looked at Zhou Yuchuan expectantly, waiting for him to take the towel and water from her hands.
But to her disappointment, Zhou Yuchuan politely declined: “Sorry, I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I don’t use other people’s things.”
Xue Yingying withdrew her hand in disappointment, faintly hearing some girls nearby whispering about her earlier actions, which made her feel somewhat embarrassed.
Being publicly rejected like that was deeply upsetting.
Xue Yingying thought to herself that Zhou Yuchuan probably hadn’t fully gotten over Zhao Jianing yet.
After all, they had been childhood friends for over a decade, so their bond must have been incredibly deep.
So, she was willing to wait—until the day Zhou Yuchuan opened his heart again.
Meanwhile.
Xin Jushang sat quietly alone in a corner of the playground, focused on memorizing vocabulary for the TEM-4 exam.
Xu Zhiyan and some other girls were playing badminton. She had asked Xin Jushang earlier if she wanted to join, but Xin Jushang politely declined.
Compared to being around a lot of people, Xin Jushang preferred being alone. She found it much more comfortable.
Suddenly, a shadow fell beside her, blocking the sun overhead.
Xin Jushang looked up and met Zhou Yuchuan’s eyes.
The boy leaned down slightly, looking down at Xin Jushang as he casually raised the lemon water in his hand—
“Someone gave it to me. I don’t want to drink it.”
Actually, he had just run to the school store to buy it himself, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of Xin Jushang.
After all, his little deskmate already liked him so much. What if she found out this bottle of water was personally bought and given to her by him? Wouldn’t she love him even more?
On one hand, he didn’t want her to like him more; on the other hand, he didn’t want to hurt his insecure and affection-starved little deskmate.
Zhou Yuchuan was practically torn apart by the dilemma.