A dozen or so classmates stood under the eaves of the teaching building.
They were completely stunned, staring wide-eyed at the retreating figures of He Jin and Shen Yutang.
The black sports car roared to life once more, its tires rolling over the puddles and splashing water as it gradually disappeared into the hazy, cold curtain of rain.
After a full three seconds of silence, exclamations erupted instantly:
“Oh my god, it’s He Jin! He Jin is so handsome, he’s totally like a male lead from a novel!”
“Damn, no wonder he’s the school heartthrob,” one boy lamented with frustration. “If only I were a girl, I’d want to ride in his passenger seat too!”
“Ugh, my girlish heart is pounding uncontrollably. I can’t help but feel there’s something going on between them.”
“Me too, me too. He Jin and Shen Yutang are childhood sweethearts, after all—I’m shipping them even harder now, more than Fu Hansheng earlier!”
“If I were Shen Yutang, I’d chase He Jin instead of Fu Hansheng. Fu Hansheng is still too aloof.”
As the words fell.
At that very moment, the temperature around a certain someone dropped even further.
Fu Hansheng stood at the edge of the crowd, his slender fingers gripping the umbrella in his hand so tightly that his knuckles turned pale. A crack appeared in his usually aloof and indifferent expression.
His deep, dark eyes fixed on the corner where the luxury car had vanished, his entire body radiating an unapproachable chill.
Su Ruanruan stood beside him, silently clenching her fists so hard that her nails nearly dug into her palms. Her chest heaved violently, and she was so angry she felt smoke was about to rise from her head.
How could this happen?
Why does Shen Yutang always have to seduce men like this? Even someone as lofty as He Jin was willing to come pick her up in person.
Su Ruanruan recalled three days ago—
She had been working part-time as a waitress at Lan Palace, trying to get close to He Jin, only to be scorned by him and even lose her job there because of it!
Who knows what underhanded tricks Shen Yutang might have used?!
Su Ruanruan took several deep breaths, forcing herself to maintain a pitiful expression, her voice soft as water:
“Hansheng, aren’t we leaving yet?”
Fu Hansheng pursed his lips. Only after hearing her voice did he expressionlessly open the umbrella, sheltering both himself and Su Ruanruan beneath it.
Qi Lin, who had also borrowed an umbrella, jogged up to them and asked, “Hansheng, are you really letting Shen Yutang leave the student council?”
Su Ruanruan’s tone was incredulous as she exaggeratedly opened her mouth wide. “What? She quit the student council?”
Qi Lin nodded. “Yeah, just now.”
Fu Hansheng held the umbrella, his footsteps steady on the wet ground without pause, his tone casual:
“Good. It saves her from bothering me. Besides, I find it repulsive.”
Qi Lin was taken aback. “Huh? What’s repulsive?”
Fu Hansheng’s voice carried a strong note of disdain:
“Repulsed by her trying to attract my attention with such extreme methods. It’s quite pointless. I don’t care about her at all.”
By the roadside.
The black Bugatti was parked steadily beneath the lush green camphor tree.
The rain was gradually easing. Whether it was an illusion or not, the ink-black clouds were slowly dispersing, their edges glowing with light. A warm, orange ray of sunlight happened to pierce through the gaps in the branches and leaves, scattering like shattered gold inside the car.
Shen Yutang sat in the passenger seat, puzzled as she asked, “He Jin, why were you near the comprehensive building too? Isn’t that just too much of a coincidence?”
In the driver’s seat, the man didn’t speak. He merely lifted his eyes slightly, his slender fingertips tapping idly on the steering wheel, his demeanor nonchalant.
A moment later, a low, lazy voice escaped his throat.
“Not a coincidence.”
He Jin’s deep eyes gazed at her with a hint of amusement.
“I came specifically to pick you up, little princess.”
Shen Yutang: “Pick me up? Where to?”
He Jin’s tone was casual and unrestrained, as if joking, “Your mom called you home for dinner.”
Just as Shen Yutang was about to say something, her nose suddenly tingled.
“Achoo!”
She shivered from the cold, hugging her arms.
He Jin’s gaze fell on her, pausing for a moment.
The girl’s body was mostly soaked by the rain, her clothes clinging wetly to her, outlining the graceful curves of her figure, even faintly revealing the outline of her shoulder straps.
He Jin’s eyes darkened, his brows furrowing as he spoke in a low voice, “Come here.”
“Huh?”
Shen Yutang leaned slightly closer.
The next second, she saw He Jin pull off his own windbreaker with one hand, drape it over her shoulders from behind.
A wave of warmth enveloped her from behind.
The jacket was large, covering her like a cloak, wrapping her entire body inside. It still carried the lingering warmth of the man’s body heat and a faint, pleasant scent of cool mint—fresh and clean.
He Jin reached out to turn up the car’s air conditioning temperature, grabbed a few tissues to wipe Shen Yutang’s damp hair, and coldly mocked:
“Stupid.”
“???”
Shen Yutang widened her eyes, “He Jin, are you calling me stupid?!”
After wiping her hair, He Jin’s gaze involuntarily drifted downward an inch.
Shen Yutang was wearing a white dress today, which, now soaked, clung to her skin, faintly revealing the full, rounded…
He Jin frowned irritably, reached out to zip up the jacket in front of her, pulling it all the way to the top, his tone cold and stern:
“In such a heavy downpour, you just charged right in without a second thought. If you’re not stupid, then who is?”
It was just like when she was little—catching a cold in a heavy rain, burning up to 39 degrees, clinging to his hand and crying, saying she felt awful and hated the rain.
He Jin: “Couldn’t you have called me? Is your phone just a model prop?”
Wrapped in the jacket, Shen Yutang’s voice was muffled as she retorted, “If I called, would you really have come running?”
He Jin let out a frustrated laugh, the corner of his mouth twitching, “You didn’t even try. How do you know I wouldn’t?”
Shen Yutang: “Are you really that kind?”
That sentence seemed to hit a switch.
He Jin’s smile froze at the corner of his mouth, his eyes darkening.
He suddenly leaned in, pressing closer, one hand braced against the back of her seat, the other resting on the center console, his body crossing the car’s interior, enveloping her in his shadow.
The distance closed abruptly, so close that Shen Yutang could see the faint glints of light in his eyes and feel the warmth of his breath brushing against her forehead.
“Who was it that always protected you when we were kids, huh?”
He Jin lowered his gaze, looking down at her from above, enunciating each word slowly:
“When you were punished to write a 5,000-word self-criticism, it was me who copied your handwriting and wrote it until three in the morning.”
“When you were criticized and made to clean the classroom, it was me who came and did it all, letting you sit aside eating ice cream while I mopped the floor.”
“When you messed up and the homeroom teacher called your parents, it was me who pretended to be your cousin and took the scolding.”
“When you sneaked out to go to a concert without telling your family, it was me who covered for you.”
The more he spoke, the closer he leaned, his voice growing lower and more intense.
Those dark, deep peach blossom eyes fixed tightly on her, the corners slightly reddened, as if trying to bore a hole through her.
The man’s scorching gaze slid from her eyes to the tip of her nose, then from the tip of her nose to her lips, finally lingering there, unmoving.
Shen Yutang grew increasingly uneasy.
Once uneasy, she began to break out in cold sweat, her eyes darting around, her heart pounding, and her body involuntarily leaning backward.
He Jin watched her like this, a low, cold laugh rumbling in his throat:
“Whether I’m this kind-hearted or not, I don’t know, but—”
“Young Miss, you truly have no conscience at all.”