Tang Qingrou had always excelled academically. In high school, she frequently maintained the top spot in her class, and even across the entire grade, she had never fallen out of the top five—a true top student.
Therefore, both teachers and classmates hoped she could maintain this level, bringing honor to the class and to the school.
Precisely because expectations were so high, even one slightly underwhelming performance would leave Tang Qingrou extremely troubled.
Because Tang Qingrou did not want to live as the person others expected her to be. Besides, constantly maintaining such grades made her feel exhausted.
So every day, Tang Qingrou would find time to come here, zone out, and relax for a while. Otherwise, she did not know whether she might eventually break down.
Even top students had their own troubles...
In his previous life, Fan Xiwen had assumed from what Tang Qingrou told him that she might yearn for freedom, just as he had said to Xie Min: “The world is so vast; I want to go see it.” Only now did he suddenly realize that the Tang Qingrou of the beginning had merely been troubled by being too good at her studies.
“Sometimes I keep thinking that if I had held back a little before and not done so well every time, perhaps my teachers and classmates wouldn’t have set their expectations of me so high.”
As Tang Qingrou pitied herself, the corner of Fan Xiwen’s mouth twitched. He then said with a cheerful smile, “Don’t worry. From now on, your teachers and classmates won’t do that anymore.”
“Why?”
Tang Qingrou smiled, her two eyes narrowing into beautiful arcs. She was inexplicably adorable.
“Because they’ll soon discover that no matter how hard you, Tang Qingrou, work, you can never surpass that person. Eventually, they’ll give up.”
Fan Xiwen patted Tang Qingrou on the shoulder and spoke meaningfully.
“That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Tang Qingrou clearly did not believe him. She had been in the top five of her grade for years and had even occasionally taken first place. She knew all her competitors very well, so there was no way someone could exist whom she would never be able to surpass.
“In this world, nothing is impossible.”
“Is that so? Then tell me—who is that person?”
“Fan Xiwen.”
“Who is Fan Xiwen? Why have I never heard of him?”
“Me.”
Their conversation had been very pleasant. If not for that final “me,” Tang Qingrou might truly have rekindled her fighting spirit.
However, when Fan Xiwen pointed at himself, Tang Qingrou immediately burst out laughing.
“I’m not joking with you.”
Fan Xiwen raised his head toward the sky, an invincible confidence radiating from him.
“Starting with the next monthly exam and continuing until the Gaokao ends, I, Fan Xiwen, will claim first place in the senior year of Longcheng No. 2 High School.”
Tang Qingrou was momentarily stunned. Clearly, she could not understand where this confidence came from in a classmate she had never even heard of before.
Still, he looked rather handsome when he was serious!
Tang Qingrou secretly lowered her head, a trace of blush flashing across her face before quickly fading.
“Then you’ll have to work hard. I’d also really like to see what the top student whom no one can surpass looks like.”
Tang Qingrou made a cheering gesture toward Fan Xiwen.
“You don’t believe me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then how about we make a bet?”
Seeing Tang Qingrou trying to hold back her laughter, Fan Xiwen felt a wave of gloom inside. No one believed him when he told the truth.
“What are we betting?”
Tang Qingrou said she believed him, but she still followed along with Fan Xiwen’s words.
“It’s nothing much.”
Fan Xiwen looked at Tang Qingrou. “How about this? If I become the top student of the grade, you give me a kiss.”
Tang Qingrou’s eyes immediately widened. Seeing how seriously Fan Xiwen spoke, she could only mutter helplessly, “What kind of bet is that? Besides, you definitely can’t do it.”
“If I can’t do it, then how about I give you a kiss?”
Tang Qingrou shot Fan Xiwen a sideways glare. “I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you.”
“You flatter me, you flatter me.”
Fan Xiwen remained completely unmoved and said calmly, “Well? Little girl, do you dare to bet?”
“I’ll bet. Why wouldn’t I?”
“However, if you fail, you don’t have to kiss me. You’ll cover my living expenses for the next month instead. Dare you?”
Tang Qingrou looked at Fan Xiwen indignantly. He immediately extended one hand, and after a moment of hesitation, Tang Qingrou extended her fair, delicate hand and slapped it against his to seal the bet.
“Hehe, just wait until you have to kiss me.”
The old mischievous child, whose mental age was already over three thousand years, looked rather pleased with himself, as though he had found a beloved toy.
Tang Qingrou secretly spat in annoyance and was just about to say something when a girl sprang out from behind the tree and shouted loudly, “Wow, what? Qingrou, you’re actually going to kiss him?”
The girl’s sudden appearance nearly frightened Tang Qingrou, and by the time Tang Qingrou covered her mouth as quickly as she could, it was already too late to stop that shout.
With Tang Qingrou’s hand over her mouth, the girl made two muffled sounds. Only then did Tang Qingrou say softly, “Pingping, don’t listen to his nonsense. We were just joking.”
Clearly, however, this excuse did not satisfy the girl called Pingping. Her eyes widened as she revealed an incredulous expression.
It really was rather unbelievable. Who was Tang Qingrou? She was the belle of Class 462, the top student in the eyes of teachers and students alike. Forget kissing—her even walking closely with a boy would have been major news. Moreover, Tang Qingrou never usually spent time alone with any boy in class.
But now, not only were they sitting together beneath a large tree in a poetic and picturesque scene, they were even joking about... about kissing.
This was absolutely earth-shattering news!
Suddenly, the girl called Pingping pried Tang Qingrou’s hands away from her mouth. “Qingrou, I was wondering why I couldn’t find you after the physical fitness test. So it turns out...”
Pingping drew out the final words for a long time, and a teasing glint flashed in her eyes.
Tang Qingrou was about to explain, but Fan Xiwen spoke first. “Hey, we’re not joking. We’ve already agreed to the bet. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going back on it?”
“I agreed to it, so naturally I won’t go back on my word. I only hope that you’ll keep your promise when the time comes.”
Tang Qingrou suddenly snorted. In her view, first place in the grade was absolutely not easy to obtain, and Fan Xiwen was certain to lose.
“All right, then. See you after the monthly exam.”
Fan Xiwen waved at Tang Qingrou and the girl called Pingping, then turned and left.
However, as soon as he turned around, he suddenly collided with a male student wearing a school uniform.
“Damn, are you walking with your eyes closed?”
The male student who had been hit covered his chest with one hand and glared angrily at Fan Xiwen.
Fan Xiwen, who had been grinning playfully with Tang Qingrou earlier, narrowed his eyes now. Even without using his divine sense, no disturbance anywhere in the track and field stadium could escape his ears. The girl called Pingping had been the same; Fan Xiwen had even deliberately used a little trick, which was why Tang Qingrou had not noticed her until she reached them. He had also sensed this male student long ago, but the two of them had not been on the same path at all. Their collision was clearly intentional on the male student’s part.
Deliberately looking for trouble...
Heh.
As someone over three thousand years old, Fan Xiwen had long since seen every aspect of the world. He did not need to search this male student’s sea of consciousness with his divine sense to understand what was going on.
“Get lost.”
Standing there at his leisure, he lightly uttered two words, his expression indifferent.
“You...”
The male student glared viciously at Fan Xiwen. “You hit someone and still think you’re in the right? I’ll—”
Bang!
Fan Xiwen suddenly looked at him. The latter immediately felt as though he had suffered a heavy blow, his face turning pale as sweat poured down him.
“A person as insignificant as an ant dares to speak so arrogantly?”
At that moment, Fan Xiwen radiated an overwhelming imperial presence, making the male student feel as though even breathing had become difficult.
How could an inexperienced student withstand the thunderous fury of the Chu Emperor?
His freshly prominent Adam’s apple bobbed violently. Trembling, he could not utter a single word.
“Slap yourself.”
Fan Xiwen drifted away indifferently...
However, Tang Qingrou and the girl called Pingping had watched everything from beginning to end, and they were left dumbfounded when Chen Gang, usually so arrogant and unruly in their class, suddenly raised his left hand and violently slapped himself across the face as though possessed.
Smack!
The sound was crisp and loud...
Then his right hand came down with another smack.
Smack, smack, smack!
On the empty track and field stadium, a male student in a school uniform stood there, repeatedly striking himself with alternating hands. His originally fair and rather handsome face instantly swelled into that of a pig’s head.
The words “slap yourself” continued to echo in everyone’s minds like an evil spell.
Tang Qingrou and Song Pingping exchanged glances, completely unable to understand how to interpret the scene before them.
Of course, besides the two girls, Chen Gang was there too.
Everyone in Class 462 knew that Chen Gang liked Tang Qingrou. Having someone make him slap himself with a single sentence in front of Tang Qingrou, Chen Gang felt so humiliated that he wanted to die.
However, Chen Gang wanted to stop his hands, yet he simply could not. He could not even speak.
..
Night fell over Sunshine Hotel, the most famous hotel in Dragon City.
A dense crowd stood outside the entrance. Every one of them had one obvious characteristic: large gold chains around their necks and fierce, brutish faces.
At that moment, however, they were all waiting at the hotel entrance, apparently awaiting some important person.
“Brother Hu, we’ve been waiting for nearly half an hour. From Shao City to our Dragon City by expressway, he should have arrived by now.”
A burly man dressed in a suit and looking somewhat presentable complained to the bald Boss standing at the front of the group. The bald Boss had a He Tianxia cigarette between his lips. Upon hearing his subordinate’s complaint, he spat the half-smoked cigarette directly onto the ground. “Du Er, you’d better behave yourself. Boss Mo is personally coming to Dragon City this time. The longer we stand here, the more sincerity we show. Understand?”
Boss Mo of Shao City was naturally Mo Younian, the richest man in Shao City.
As for the burly man known as Brother Hu, he was also a Boss in Dragon City. His name was Zhou Hu, and everyone in Dragon City’s underworld had to respectfully call him Brother Hu.