Huai Yin froze on the spot, taking a long moment to process what she had just heard.
So the female lead just wanted to be her friend? Huai Yin had thought it was something serious. She let out a delayed “Ah?” in confusion.
Still, something felt completely off. No matter how she looked at it, it made zero sense. She had gone out of her way to pick on Su Yi before, yet Su Yi actually wanted to be friends with her? That was far too unexpected.
Just moments ago, Su Yi had threatened to punish her, only to drop a line like that right after. It was utterly bewildering.
Besides, she had just accidentally shattered Su Yi’s entry for the competition—was Su Yi really not angry at all?
Su Yi looked down at her. The young heiress blinked her almond eyes blankly, her clear, watery gaze wide and round. Huai Yin was clearly bewildered, her glossy red lips slightly parted, her thick, long eyelashes trembling with her shallow breaths.
She looked like a little cat that had done something wrong—guilty, but only a tiny bit, and fully intending to do it again next time.
Su Yi had raised a cat when she was young. It was mischievous, looking silly and incapable of understanding human speech, but in truth, it was incredibly clever. She had even gone to the library back then specifically to look up information about them.
The book stated that cats were highly idiosyncratic creatures—hard to tame, with strong minds of their own. On the surface, they appeared cold and distant, treating everyone with aloof indifference, but in reality, they were deeply clingy.
To attract human attention, they would even engage in domineering, outrageous antics.
For instance, pushing a water cup off the desk onto the floor, or suddenly nipping at your leg as you passed by.
Wasn’t that the exact definition of the young heiress?
The moment Su Yi had walked into the classroom earlier and caught Huai Yin in the act of preparing to do something bad, she was instantly reminded of her old cat.
Just as the book described, the girl didn’t even know how to hide her bad deeds—there was a security camera right in the classroom, yet she had waltzed right in without a care. If that wasn’t a desperate attempt to seek attention, what else could it be?
So cute. The thought popped unbidden into Su Yi’s mind. After all, who could ever find it in their heart to blame a little cat?
Whatever the kid wanted to do, let her do it—spoil her, that was all. It wasn’t a big deal anyway.
At that thought, Su Yi unconsciously tightened her arms, feeling the young heiress’s body tremble slightly against her chest.
She was holding her so tightly! Huai Yin was practically running out of air. Breathing felt difficult, and whether out of embarrassment or suffocation, her face turned as red as a tomato.
With her body pinned flat against the desk by Su Yi and both hands tightly held, Huai Yin was completely immobilized.
Did good friends really act like this with each other? Huai Yin wondered uncertainly.
“Are you unwilling?” Su Yi narrowed her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the young heiress’s flushed face as she pressed stubbornly, “You don’t want to be my friend?”
Was she really that terrible?
Huai Yin’s eyes sparkled bright, looking visibly tempted—looking every bit like a gullible target who would lower her guard for a single piece of candy.
Yet, remembering her system tasks, Huai Yin quickly averted her gaze, forcing herself to stop looking at her.
No, no, no! A vicious female side character and the female lead could never be friends! At least, definitely not right now!
Having no choice, Huai Yin harbored her unspoken grievances and delivered her refusal.
“Why should I be friends with you?” Huai Yin raised her chin, her expression impossibly arrogant. She seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that she was currently pinned underneath someone, speaking as though she were the one in absolute control.
“I have plenty of friends—I don’t need another one like you.” Huai Yin pressed her lips together, clearing her throat awkwardly. “Besides, I dislike you.”
Hearing those words, Su Yi’s body froze instantly. Her breathing turned shallow and rapid, a fleeting, almost imperceptible trace of loneliness crossing her usually cold face.
The young heiress possessed such a sweet, soft voice, yet her words cut sharply like thorns—and yet, Su Yi found herself willingly savoring the sting.
“I did what I did, and I’m brave enough to own up to it! Even if you go around telling everyone, I’m not afraid!”
Besides, Huai Yin was practically dying for Xu Shiyan to find out about this anyway.
Su Yi stared at her without blinking. Her sharp, direct gaze felt almost penetrating enough to see right through Huai Yin.
How could she ever tell anyone? Huai Yin had no idea that Su Yi would never do such a thing.
Because Su Yi simply didn’t want Huai Yin to hate her.
“Let go of me!” Huai Yin grumbled angrily. She was being pressed so hard it hurt—the sharp corner of the desk was digging into her back, making her feel as though her skin were about to be scraped raw. “It really hurts!”
Su Yi’s brow twitched. Looking down instinctively, she saw that the young heiress’s wrists were indeed squeezed red by her grip. Huai Yin’s voice sounded tight, her nose sniffling softly with a face full of aggrieved distress—she truly had been hurt.
Her fingertips grazed the inside of Huai Yin’s wrist, feeling the smooth, delicate texture of her skin. Su Yi stroked it a few times with the pad of her thumb before finally releasing her grip once her urges were satisfied.
Huai Yin rubbed her wrist, which now bore a distinct, red mark. Because her skin was so pale, the mark looked alarmingly vivid, looking almost as if she had been tied up with ropes.
The young heiress glared at her resentfully with those glistening, tear-filled eyes. It felt less like a threat and more like being lightly scratched by a kitten’s paw, sending a playful itch straight to Su Yi’s heart.
Unwilling to say anything more, Huai Yin lowered her head, only to catch sight of the ceramic shards scattered across the floor. She froze, filled with self-reproach.
Bending down, she instinctively extended her hand to pick them up. Noticing her movement, Su Yi gasped in surprise and immediately reached out to stop her.
“Don’t pick them up—you’ll cut your hands!”
Su Yi’s tone was laced with anxiety and helplessness. The young heiress was truly silly. If it was broken, it was broken—why bother picking up the pieces when they couldn’t be pieced back together anyway?
Huai Yin bit her lip, straightened her posture, and took a few unsteady steps backward. “I-I obviously know that!”
A vicious villainess never apologizes!
Huai Yin let out a soft hmph. “It’s not my fault anyway! If you hadn’t insisted on pinning me down, it wouldn’t have been knocked over in the first place!”
Su Yi grabbed a broom and carefully swept the shards into the dustpan. “I’m not blaming you.”
Huai Yin’s face flushed red. Too embarrassed to stay any longer, she lowered her head and dashed out of the classroom, nearly tripping over her own feet in her panic.
Su Yi watched her retreating figure and let out a gentle sigh.
Huai Yin’s heart pounded wildly against her ribs as she sprinted frantically out of the ceramics classroom, as if fleeing from a terrifying monster. Moving far too quickly without watching her path, she collided head-on into someone’s chest right at the hallway corner.
“Ah!”
Huai Yin gasped, clutching her aching nose. The collision forced her to stagger back several steps. As her ankle twisted and she lost her balance, an arm reached out and caught her firmly.
“Thank you.”
Huai Yin raised her head, only to realize the person in front of her was none other than Xu Shiyan.
Xu Shiyan held Huai Yin close against his chest, one hand resting on her waist. He lowered his eyes, looking down at her with an amused expression. “Why aren’t you in class?”
He had specifically stepped out to look for her. More than ten minutes had passed since class started, yet Huai Yin was nowhere to be seen. Fearing something might have happened to her, he had rushed over to search for her.
Huai Yin looked rather strange right now—her eyes were flushed red as if she had just cried, her face glistened with either sweat or tears, and several stray strands of hair stuck messily across her cheeks, a few even caught in her mouth.
Xu Shiyan raised his hand to gently brush the hair away from her face. Seeing her disheveled state, he furrowed his brows and asked, “What were you doing?”
She looked as though she had been bullied.
Leaning down to her ear, he took a gentle sniff. The girl radiated a rich, sweet fragrance—like the scent of fully ripened fruit.
Xu Shiyan swallowed hard. Keeping his sharp face taut, his tone turned stern: “What did you do behind my back?”
Recalling what had just transpired, Huai Yin’s face instantly exploded in a crimson blush. Feigning composure, she snapped back testily, “Just looking for something, that’s all!”
His gaze locked tightly onto her. Xu Shiyan wasn’t so easily dismissed; he didn’t buy her excuse for a second. Looking for something could leave someone looking this thoroughly disheveled? She looked far more like she had just been kissing someone.
Xu Shiyan’s eyes drifted slowly downward, finally settling on her wrist. His expression turned instantly darker. “What happened to your wrist?”
Just as he leaned down to examine it closely, Huai Yin hastily hid her hand behind her back. Xu Shiyan narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her every expression with deliberate patience.
Had he not privately tasked someone with keeping tabs on Shen Xiaozhou’s whereabouts, Xu Shiyan would genuinely suspect that something had happened between the two of them.
If it wasn’t Shen Xiaozhou, then who else could it be? Was there really someone else?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew, his fists cracking loudly as he clenched them. He looked ready to punch someone at any moment, causing Huai Yin to shrink her neck back in fear.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Xu Shiyan asked darkly. Being quite tall, he leaned down to meet her gaze, the defined lines of his shoulders beneath his white-gold uniform tensing as if ready to strike. “Was it something important?”
Huai Yin bit her lip and gave a small nod.
The youth’s scorching breath fluttered against her face. Xu Shiyan suddenly let out a low laugh, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “What is it? Let your hubby take a look.”
Hearing those words, Huai Yin nearly bit her tongue off. Her eyes widened in shock as she stammered, “W-What hubby?”
Xu Shiyan raised an eyebrow with a half-smile. “Why are you so shy? Won’t I be your hubby once we get married in the future?”
With that, he took another step forward, cornering Huai Yin completely. Xu Shiyan leaned over the girl, his tall frame shielding her so thoroughly that anyone passing by wouldn’t even notice her presence.
“Call me ‘hubby’—let me hear it,” Xu Shiyan murmured in a low, husky voice, coaxing her with endless patience. “I’ve never heard you call me that before.”
A fiery blush rushed to Huai Yin’s ears, and she awkwardly averted her gaze. There was no way she could ever bring herself to say a title like that out loud. Deciding her best option was to play dumb, she muttered, “I think it’s time for class.”
Xu Shiyan clicked his tongue softly, a trace of displeasure flickering across his eyes. An unsettling feeling crept over him—a faint illusion that she didn’t actually like him at all.
She always said all the right things—claiming she loved him, adored him, and couldn’t live without him. Yet when it came to calling him “hubby,” she hesitated and dragged her feet.
He had called her his fiancée countless times already. Meanwhile, her timid, reluctant act made it seem as though he were the desperate one chasing after her.
No, that’s impossible. She’s been in love with me for years—she’s just being overly shy.
“It’s fine,” Xu Shiyan softened his sharp, menacing brow considerably. “Everyone’s in class right now. No one’s going to hear you.”
Huai Yin bit her lip tightly, agonizing over it for a long moment, but she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“I really need to go to class now.”
Xu Shiyan’s expression darkened instantly. Slender, firm fingers reached out to catch her chin, a flicker of dark, volatile edge surfacing between his handsome brows.
“Call me hubby, or give me a kiss. Pick one,” Xu Shiyan drawled out, dragging out his words menacingly. “Otherwise, I’m not letting you go to class.”