12
Because she had tended to Si Xiuyuan’s wound, Wu Jiao was two minutes late.
When she arrived, over a dozen people still hadn’t shown up, yet Luo Yihuan specifically recorded only her name and the name of another frail-looking boy.
Not only did he record them, but Luo Yihuan also insisted on punishing them by making them run—ten laps.
By the end of class, the two of them had just barely finished running, their clothes completely soaked through with sweat.
The boy’s face was pale, his breathing rapid, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.
Luo Yihuan walked over, fresh and clean, and said, “You two didn’t keep up with today’s lesson. Add five more laps.”
“And you,” he said, jabbing his finger hard into the frail boy’s chest, “all sissy-like. Add ten more laps. You run slower than a girl. You might as well just become a girl.”
Wu Jiao let out a laugh of disbelief.
Xiao E: Calm down! Host! Whatever you do, don’t offend him! What if he makes things difficult for you later?
What if? I’ll deal with it however it needs to be dealt with!
Wu Jiao stepped forward, positioning herself in front of the boy, and raised her chin defiantly. “On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that I’m the vice president.”
Luo Yihuan looked at her with disgust. “Don’t try to hit on me this way, Wu Jiao. Please have some self-awareness. There’s no way I could ever like you.”
“Who likes you?”
“Then what about all those chocolates and cakes you gave me? Rest assured, I said I don’t like you, and I don’t like you. I threw them all away.”
He finished speaking nonchalantly and stood there leisurely, waiting to see Wu Jiao break down.
“I gave them to a dog. What else could it mean?”
She crossed her arms and gave him a once-over from head to toe, her eyes dripping with undisguised sarcasm.
“You’re pretty afraid of dying, aren’t you? Good thing you knew not to eat the chocolate. What a shame, though. Scum really do value their lives.”
“Wu Jiao, are you cursing me out?!”
“I’m cursing a dog. Why are you responding? You’re worse than a dog. Don’t insult dogs.”
“Pfft hahahahaha—”
“You—”
A laugh came from nearby. Luo Yihuan looked over, his face turning dark, but he didn’t dare say anything.
Wu Jiao couldn’t be bothered to waste more words on him. “We’ve already completed the punishment for being late. If you want us to run more, then have the president come tell us personally.”
With that, she grabbed the boy and strode off.
When they reached a shady spot, Wu Jiao immediately let go of him. “Sorry about that. I just grabbed you and dragged you off. I got you dragged into this. If the president actually shows up later and asks about what happened, just tell him the truth.”
Her tone was sincere, her eyes fixed on the boy without blinking.
The boy, whose face had been pale just moments ago, was now bright red, the flush reaching the tips of his ears.
He stammered, “Th-thank you! Thank you for just now! You’re really kind.”
“You’re welcome.”
“No, no!” The boy waved his hands shyly.
The two exchanged names and classes, and Wu Jiao said goodbye to him.
“What are you looking at, bro?”
The outdoor swimming pool and the Sanda club were both near the main sports field. Pei Jiamu had just finished showering and changing clothes. He came out carrying his bag and happened to catch sight of Wu Jiao and the boy finishing their run.
He also didn’t miss a single word of the confrontation between Wu Jiao and Luo Yihuan.
He had never seen this aggressive side of Wu Jiao before.
It seemed like if the other guy dared to throw a punch, she would dare to fight him to the death.
No contrast, no harm. It seemed that, normally, she was actually quite gentle with him.
When he heard Wu Jiao call that person a dog, his body inexplicably felt a surge of satisfaction, and he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
But when Wu Jiao grabbed the boy and walked away, Pei Jiamu didn’t find it funny anymore.
If she was going to leave, fine, but why did she have to hold his hand? Was she always like this?
“Isn’t that Wu Jiao? What’s she saying to that guy? Hey, she’s leaving.”
Just as Ge Cheng’an came over, Pei Jiamu took a long stride, pushed past him, and headed in Wu Jiao’s direction.
Wu Jiao knew exactly who that hearty laugh belonged to, but she couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge it.
But now, on her way back to the classroom, there was only one path, and Pei Jiamu was blocking it.
The boy in front of her was much taller than her, so she had to tilt her head back to look at him.
He was carrying his gym bag diagonally across his body. The ends of his chestnut-colored curly hair were still a little damp, casually pushed back from his forehead, revealing a smooth brow. He looked a bit more… sexy than usual?
Normally, Wu Jiao thought of him as a three-year-old child at heart, but now she had to admit—this guy was already a grown man.
[No wonder the female lead likes him. With his hair wet, he really does look like trouble, a little vixen.]
Pei Jiamu raised an eyebrow: ?
Was that a compliment?
Wu Jiao gave him a look, didn’t say anything, and treated him like a lamppost in her way, walking around him.
But Pei Jiamu wouldn’t let her. Wherever she tried to go, he blocked her path.
If she had something to say, she should just say it to his face! Thinking it to herself didn’t count!
The two faced off for a while, like a game of “eagle catching chicks.”
[Immature, immature, immature, immature.]
Wu Jiao was tired and hungry. Soon, she lost interest in playing along.
Instead of dodging, she walked straight ahead, intending to bump into him and push past.
At that exact moment, Pei Jiamu also couldn’t hold back anymore and stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
“Who bullied you?”
They both spoke at the same time and moved at the same time, crashing into each other.
Wu Jiao lost her balance. Pei Jiamu’s eyes were quick, and he caught her around the waist.
Once he saw she was steady, he let go, but his words were mocking:
“After just a few days, you’ve forgotten how to walk?”
After running ten laps, Wu Jiao’s legs were already weak. The collision sent her stumbling backward. In her panic, her hand instinctively grabbed the collar of Pei Jiamu’s shirt.
Pei Jiamu’s school uniform shirt always had only one button fastened at the collar; the other two were left open.
With that grab, the scenery beneath his clothes was laid bare.
Wu Jiao swore she didn’t even blink. Those two points on his chest and the lines of his abdominal muscles just appeared on their own.
[Wow, nice body. It’s quite big, and it’s even pink.]
“You pervert!”
Remembering that Wu Jiao had just called him a little vixen, Pei Jiamu’s ears felt hot and quickly let go of her.
He fastened the buttons at the speed of light, then glanced down at himself.
Confirming his pants were still on.
What Wu Jiao had just said… wasn’t about there.
“I didn’t see anything,” Wu Jiao played innocent. “Besides, you’re the one who dressed like that and threw yourself at me. You can’t blame anyone else.”
She shrugged and walked away.
After club activities ended, it was free time in the evening. Students could eat, exercise, or chat—whatever they wanted.
After dinner, Wu Jiao was still hungry, so she decided to go to the convenience store to buy something else to eat.
The convenience store was crowded, with two lines for checkout. Wu Jiao was memorizing vocabulary while waiting when she accidentally spotted a familiar face.
…Pei Jiamu was like a ghost she just couldn’t shake.
The two happened to be standing in the same line. Pei Jiamu had a bag in one hand and was scrolling on his phone with the other, wearing earphones. From head to toe, he screamed “I’m from the international class,” standing out like a sore thumb among the crowd of students who didn’t have their phones out.
He was looking at something on his phone, completely absorbed, and hadn’t even noticed that Wu Jiao was standing right next to him.
Pei Jiamu was looking at matters the student council needed to handle.
The student council had too many responsibilities, from managing various activities and clubs at the top level, down to collecting student feedback letters—even the stray cats that wandered in from outside the school fell under their jurisdiction.
[He’s not looking at that kind of stuff again, is he? In front of all these people? He’s got guts. If I had that kind of courage, I’d go punch Luo Yihuan.]
Pei Jiamu: ?
Me again?
What kind of stuff am I looking at now?
He looked up just as Wu Jiao averted her gaze, pretending she hadn’t seen him.
She continued memorizing vocabulary, but Pei Jiamu had already spotted her.
He patted the arm of the person in front of her, called him “bro,” said something, and that person switched places with him.
Now Pei Jiamu was standing in front of her.
Wu Jiao: “…”
She thought he was going to do something childish again, but instead, he stood sideways, playing on his phone, not talking to her.
Wu Jiao had never been able to figure out this guy’s thought process. She guessed he was just feeling competitive and wanted to check out faster than she did.
Wu Jiao flipped a page in her vocabulary notebook.
[Desire, d-e-s-i-r-e, desire.]
She happened to be memorizing that word and thought it was fitting, so she made a sentence in her mind:
[Men with strong desires are like this. Understandable.]
Pei Jiamu, standing in front of her, suddenly fumbled his hand and nearly dropped his phone.
Pei Jiamu looked aggrieved. No, seriously. Would she just take one look at his phone screen?
His phone almost fell, and Wu Jiao happened to glance at the screen—it was No. 1 High School’s student council group chat, with several files filling the screen.
Pei Jiamu saw that she had seen it and breathed a small sigh of relief.
Now his innocence was finally proven, right?
[Pretty fast with the hand. Pretty smooth with switching screens. No wonder nobody’s ever caught him.]
Pei Jiamu was dumbfounded.
What kind of image did she have of him in her mind?!
“What are you thinking?!”
Pei Jiamu leaned close to her and ground out the words through clenched teeth.
He pressed the bottle of ice water in his hand against Wu Jiao’s face. The cold made her neck shrink back.
From Wu Jiao’s perspective, Pei Jiamu had suddenly, out of nowhere, barked something at her.
He was asking for a hit.
Wu Jiao wasn’t going to back down either. She reached out and gave him a hard pinch on the waist, making Pei Jiamu suck in a sharp breath.
People around them looked over, but Wu Jiao acted completely innocent: “Classmate, move forward. It’s your turn to pay.”
The two checked out one after the other and walked out. Pei Jiamu called out to Wu Jiao.
“Hey—stop right there.”
“What, want revenge?”
Wu Jiao had eaten and drunk her fill, so she wasn’t as tired anymore. She had the energy to deal with him.
Pei Jiamu let out a “Hmph.” “With your weak little strength? It’s like a tickle. Can’t be bothered to stoop to your level.”
The two walked side by side toward the teaching building. Quite a few people turned to look at them.
Wu Jiao kept forgetting that he, too, was one of the male leads. So, she quickened her pace to shake him off.
But Pei Jiamu kept right on her heels.
“Stop following me. You go that way.”
“Who’s following you? Did your family build this road?”
“Don’t you hate me? Then why are you walking so close to me?”
Wu Jiao stopped and looked at him.
“I—”
Pei Jiamu was suddenly at a loss for words.
Wu Jiao had been trying to provoke him, but after waiting a long while, Pei Jiamu hadn’t managed to say a single word.
If this had been before, Wu Jiao could have perfectly mimicked his response without even thinking.
He would have said something like, “At least you’re self-aware. Don’t flatter yourself. I’ll just take another path.”
But now, for the first time ever, Pei Jiamu’s face showed—uncertainty? Embarrassment?
And a hint of apology.
Had his brain broken?
“I’m leaving.”
Wu Jiao turned to leave, but her hand was grabbed by a large one.
“Wu Jiao, we can’t go on like this. Let’s just clear the air!”
Wu Jiao’s face was full of question marks.
What exactly was going on between her and him?
Hey! He made it sound like they were having a secret affair!
**
Now:
Pei Jiamu: “You’re a nice person, but I don’t like you.” [Please]
Later:
Pei Jiamu: “Please, please like me back!” [Crying hysterically]