Jiang Li couldn’t wait to pull out the chair across from Yun Xiang, sit down, lean forward, and stare at her with sparkling eyes.
Like he was looking at some rare and curious creature.
Though, to be fair, she really was quite something.
The girl’s long hair was simply tied back with a rubber band, her face free of any makeup, yet her features were as delicate as if they’d been painted. Her clear doe-like eyes were round and large, and there seemed to be a tiny mole on the tip of her dainty nose—captivating as could be.
Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Che really had good taste.
Jiang Li thought this girl was even prettier than the school belle. He just couldn’t figure out why he’d never seen her before.
Could she be a new transfer? That didn’t seem right either.
It was that familiar gaze again.
Yun Xiang shrank her shoulders, nearly burying herself in her food.
Pei Xingche’s peripheral vision landed on her deeply bowed head. He pressed his thin lips together, his cool gaze sweeping over Jiang Li sitting across from him.
[Seriously, why does this kid Jiang Li keep staring at my wife? He’s scaring my baby! (baring teeth)]
Pei Xingche’s brows furrowed. His long legs, bent under the table, straightened and precisely kicked the stool beneath Jiang Li.
“Switch seats.”
His voice sounded cold.
Jiang Li was still confused. “Hey, what are you doing?”
He was about to say more when Zhou Chuanting quickly nudged his left arm, tilting his chin toward Yun Xiang.
Right.
The little fairy had been scared into a mushroom by him.
Jiang Li finally caught on, awkwardly rubbing his nose as he picked up his tray and moved one seat over.
Still muttering under his breath, “Am I really that scary?”
[You have no self-awareness at all.]
[If you had even a tenth of Brother’s handsomeness, you wouldn’t be scaring people on the street.]
[Little snail must have stared at Brother for so long that her eyes can no longer tolerate other ugly people (brimming with confidence). Ah, it’s all Brother’s fault for being so charming and naturally gifted that I can’t help myself.]
Yun Xiang: …I want to sue you for defamation.
But the distraction did help her relax a bit. Her hunched back slowly straightened.
Even after switching seats, Jiang Li’s curiosity still itched. His gaze kept drifting toward Yun Xiang, and he couldn’t help asking, “Brother Che, who’s this little sister? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
[Brother’s wife, got it?]
“My new deskmate. Her name is Yun Xiang.”
“Taken from the first two characters of ‘Clouds yearn for her garments, flowers for her face.'”
The boy’s brows were sharp and handsome, his dark eyes dotted with faint starlight. His aura was clean, his voice low and magnetic, with a soft breath at the end of his words.
Yun Xiang froze, pausing mid-motion, unable to resist stealing a glance at him from the corner of her eye.
She hadn’t expected Pei Xingche to recite that poem.
Actually, her name wasn’t from “Qing Ping Diao” at all—it was nowhere near as beautiful or elegant as Pei Xingche made it sound.
As for Jiang Li, hearing Pei Xingche’s voice startled him so much that his chopsticks slipped sideways in his mouth, nearly jabbing his teeth.
Wait.
The way Brother Che was talking…
That was so damn smooth…
He exchanged another glance with Zhou Chuanting, raising an eyebrow: Oh no, this guy’s fallen head over heels.
“Yun Xiang, what a nice name.”
“I’m Zhou Chuanting,” the boy said, pointing to the person beside him. “And he’s Jiang Li.”
Yun Xiang looked up briefly, mentally noting both their faces and names, then replied softly, “Mm.”
She thought to herself: the thinner one with glasses is Zhou Chuanting, and the sturdy one with messy hair is Jiang Li.
“We’re all from Class Nine—Brother Che’s good brothers. So little sister, no need to be shy with us.” Jiang Li added with a squinty-eyed smile, thinking he looked “kind and friendly.”
In reality, he looked anything but approachable.
[Who’s your brother, and who’s your sister? Stop claiming family you don’t have.]
Pei Xingche kicked Jiang Li’s stool again, his voice flat and cold as he reminded him, “She has a name.”
[Honestly, good thing Brother has long legs.]
The boy quietly withdrew his long legs. Yun Xiang’s gaze drifted downward and happened to catch sight of those straight, slender legs.
Objectively speaking, they really were quite long.
“Alright, alright, Yun Xiang little sister.” Jiang Li winked shamelessly, unafraid of death.
“Just eat your food,” Zhou Chuanting pretended to scold, though he was equally eager to stir trouble. “Don’t bother the little sister.”
Pei Xingche: “…”
The whole meal, even though the three boys occasionally joked and teased, Yun Xiang didn’t feel uncomfortable.
This feeling was completely different from eating with Shen Zhe and Jiang Yangze before.
But Yun Xiang couldn’t quite put her finger on why.
After finishing their meal, they parted ways with Jiang Li and the others at the stairwell. It was only then that Yun Xiang learned Class Nine was upstairs.
Though even if they were on the same floor, even if she’d seen them before, Yun Xiang wouldn’t have remembered them anyway.
[Finally, those two lightbulbs are gone.]
[I don’t want to bring them next time. Damn, I want to dine alone with my baby.]
[So annoying. And then there’s Shen Zhe—I owe him a meal.]
Wait, isn’t it me who owes it?
Yun Xiang thought blankly as she walked to the classroom door, just as she bumped into Old Wang, their homeroom teacher, hurrying over from the office.
Old Wang’s gaze landed on the two of them, and for some inexplicable reason, Yun Xiang had a bad feeling about this.
In fact, Old Wang’s expression wasn’t particularly stern or menacing. He simply looked at Pei Xingche and spoke with rare solemnity: “Come to my office.”
His attitude toward Pei Xingche was distinctly different.
Something must have happened.
Yun Xiang nervously twisted the cuff of her sleeve, but Pei Xingche remained as nonchalant as ever, tilting his head to speak softly to the girl: “Go back to your seat first.”
Hearing this, Old Wang’s invisible brows furrowed again.
The young man’s calm, composed, tall and slender figure made Old Wang beside him look especially short and stout. The two walked down the corridor together, the contrast so stark that it immediately drew plenty of attention.
“Pei, the school heartthrob, is being called to the office again?”
“His character may be questionable, but he’s really handsome—even his back view is that good-looking.”
“What’s wrong with his character?”
“You don’t know? It’s been confirmed that he cheated. I heard someone wrote a complaint letter to the principal, and they even pulled up the surveillance footage from their exam room.”
“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”
Yun Xiang turned to look at the group gossiping, pressing her pale pink lips tightly together. At that moment, she felt inexplicably dizzy.
She didn’t understand why people could take such delight in things that weren’t even true.
Those rumors, those casually spoken words—why could they subject the victim to unimaginable malice and harm?
The girl’s fingertips dug into her palms. If you looked closely, you could even see her trembling slightly.
But she still tried to restrain herself, making her voice not so shaky, and not so quiet either:
“Pei Xingche did not cheat.”
Clear. Firm. Gentle. Loud enough.
Loud enough for everyone to hear.
The noise in the classroom fell silent. A flurry of curious, surprised, and contemptuous gazes landed on Yun Xiang’s innocent, beautiful face.
This usually quiet girl had almost never spoken this loudly before.
And never—
had she spoken so firmly in defense of someone else.