Shangguan Mingyu froze upon hearing He Ying’s words, feeling a momentary surge of tension.
Although he often shouted at He Ying, “If you have any issues, come at me!” this was based on his knowledge that He Ying wouldn’t truly trouble him. After all, they had grown up together, and he was well aware of how much He Ying liked him.
But what did He Ying mean now?
Was she trying to force him to submit by using harsh methods because she saw him protecting Xia Shuyue?
After pondering for a moment, Shangguan Mingyu came to a realization.
He glanced sideways at He Ying, his expression arrogant and disdainful, and said, “He Ying, whatever you do to me won’t work.”
He Ying didn’t understand why someone who ranked second-to-last in entrance exam scores and harassed female classmates daily could be so arrogant. If it weren’t for his face mitigating some of his awkward behavior, he would be the biggest greaseball.
He Ying strode directly toward the cafeteria. After a couple of steps, she remembered something and turned back to Shangguan Mingyu, saying, “Shangguan Mingyu, starting today, you’ll have lunch with me.”
This was the first time Shangguan Mingyu had heard He Ying speak to him in a commanding tone. For some reason, he suddenly felt irritated: “Why should I…”
“If you don’t come, I’ll have people continue tormenting Xia Shuyue. If you come, I’ll stop them.”
This threat was clearly effective. Shangguan Mingyu’s face was filled with humiliated resentment, momentarily giving He Ying the illusion that she was forcibly seizing a civilian man.
In He Ying’s mind, she seemed to hear Shangguan Mingyu’s words: to protect his beloved Xia Shuyue, he would endure humiliation himself!
The noble campus bully rubbed his hair irritably, clicked his tongue softly, and lowered his voice: “He Ying, you’re ruthless.”
He Ying successfully took Shangguan Mingyu away.
After seeing Shangguan Mingyu follow He Ying and leave, Xia Shuyue finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn’t understand why He Ying was taking the blame upon herself, He Ying taking Shangguan Mingyu away was enough for her to feel grateful.
For Xia Shuyue, eating with Shangguan Mingyu was stressful.
Her family circumstances were poor. Although her excellent grades exempted her from tuition and textbook fees, and the school deposited a monthly sum into her meal card, this amount only covered her daily expenses, leaving no room for extravagance.
To maximize the use of the scholarship funds on her meal card, Xia Shuyue had strict plans for what she ate each day. Following her plan, this scholarship money was sufficient to maintain a balanced diet until she successfully applied for the next scholarship.
But Shangguan Mingyu forcefully disrupted her life, buying her expensive foods that weren’t filling and that she didn’t need at all.
Shangguan Mingyu always said she didn’t need to repay him, but she couldn’t accept others’ kindness with peace of mind. Moreover, Shangguan Mingyu’s intentions beneath his kindness were so obvious that she couldn’t accept it calmly.
Furthermore, Shangguan Mingyu’s entanglement drew too much attention to her, even affecting her studies.
She truly hoped these young masters would quickly lose interest in her and end this game.
She had to secure the next scholarship.
Thinking of this, Xia Shuyue moved faster. She needed to finish eating quickly and return to study.
On her way to the cafeteria, He Ying ran into Chi Jingsheng. Judging by his trajectory, she knew he was once again heading to have lunch with Xia Shuyue.
Perfect—she could nab both at once.
Under Shangguan Mingyu’s stunned gaze, He Ying said the same thing to Chi Jingsheng.
“Chi Jingsheng, come have lunch with me in the cafeteria. If you don’t, I’ll bully Xia Shuyue.”
Chi Jingsheng looked at the girl before him—someone he was quite familiar with—as she stated these terrifying words in an almost indifferent tone, and felt a headache coming on.
After a moment’s thought, Chi Jingsheng put on a professional smile. “You don’t need to say that. I would have accompanied you to the cafeteria anyway.”
In truth, he wouldn’t have. He really did have something to discuss with Xia Shuyue today.
On the way to the cafeteria, ignoring Shangguan Mingyu’s sulky expression as he trailed behind them, Chi Jingsheng casually brought up, “Yesterday, some people came to talk to me about you.”
He Ying knew he was referring to the incident last night when his clothes were cut. She didn’t play dumb and replied directly, “Whatever those people did to you yesterday was entirely their own doing. If you can give me their names, I’ll make sure they pay for their actions.”
After saying this, He Ying couldn’t help but reflect on how much she sounded like a domineering CEO.
Chi Jingsheng simply smiled again, not revealing the names, but naturally shifted to another topic. “They told me not to seduce you and suggested we keep our distance.”
He Ying nodded without much emotional fluctuation. “We’re already keeping plenty of distance.”
Chi Jingsheng: …
Shangguan Mingyu had been sulking silently beside them the whole time. In the past, He Ying would have rushed over to sweet-talk and coax him, but now she not only ignored him but also chatted with Chi Jingsheng as if he weren’t there.
What, was that smiling tiger better than him?
Shangguan Mingyu was angry, though he didn’t quite understand why. In the end, he vented his frustration on He Ying as he always had. “He Ying, are you pretending I don’t exist?”
He Ying replied frankly, “Yes.”
“Then why did you make me have lunch with you?”
“Shangguan Mingyu,” He Ying deliberately slowed her speech, enunciating each word clearly. “I didn’t ask you to have lunch with me to please you. Just remember that.”
Shangguan Mingyu pointed at her. “You…”
“Xia Shuyue…” He Ying spoke again, her tone still calm.
Once more, Shangguan Mingyu “endured the humiliation.”
“You’d better keep your word.”
Unlike Shangguan Mingyu’s mindless confrontations, Chi Jingsheng had some sense. While helping He Ying buy her meal, he asked as if offhandedly, “Why bring up Xia Shuyue today? Did she offend you?”
“Hmm, last night you promised to accompany me to change clothes, but you broke that promise because of her. Isn’t it reasonable for me to take it out on her?”
Only then did Chi Jingsheng remember what he had done during dinner the previous night.
If He Ying was determined to make things difficult for Xia Shuyue, he might not be able to stop her alone. For now, he had to placate He Ying.
“I was wrong yesterday. I’ll make it up to you.”
He Ying smiled brightly. “Sure.”
And so, during lunch that day, He Ying gained her left and right guardians.
After finishing lunch and leaving the cafeteria, He Ying ran into Nangong Xiao, the third member of F4, who would become the student council president in the future but was still just an ordinary member for now.
I don’t know if this is some special attraction of F4, but if you find one, you’re bound to gather the other three.
Nangong Xiao looked at Shangguan Mingyu and Chi Jingsheng beside He Ying and slightly frowned.
As he passed by them, his slender fingers lightly pushed up his glasses as he coldly reminded, “He Ying, this is a school, not your family’s backyard.”
That one sentence awakened He Ying’s long-dormant childhood memories.
Her father, the head of the He family, had a unique hobby—selecting a son-in-law for his daughter.
This selection process started from childhood.
Because her father firmly believed that childhood sweethearts produced pure love, just like him and his wife.
When He Ying was very young, the He family would hold an annual banquet, inviting families with children of similar age to come and play, then observing which boy their daughter liked the most.
Before He Ying had any memories, she was primarily drawn to looks, so strictly speaking, all of F4 could be considered her childhood sweethearts.
Of course, hosting banquets was a minor matter. The important part was that as the little boys who attended these banquets grew up, they would more or less learn from their parents that they had once attended the He family’s little princess’s banquet. Over time, everyone gradually understood the nature of these banquets—and F4 knew it too.
Because of this, at this age of gradually awakening self-awareness, Nangong Xiao looked at He Ying with no more regard than he would give to trash.
In his eyes, He Ying was just a bad woman who relied on her family’s status to casually bully decent young men from other families.
“Maintaining campus order is part of the student council’s duties. He Ying, I’ll be watching you.”