In early September, Yancheng was still as hot as a giant oven.
At Yancheng No. 1 High School, a boy over 1.7 meters tall carried a pile of brand-new books as he weaved through the lush, tree-lined paths. Perhaps from walking for a while, large beads of sweat slid down his pale skin, lingering for a few seconds on his small, rounded chin before dropping to the ground.
Xie Wenxing had just finished his transfer procedures and collected his books from the library, and now he was hurrying back to class.
He wasn’t very familiar with Yancheng No. 1, and had walked a bit out of the way before finally finding the correct path. From here, he just needed to go along a stretch of cherry blossom road to reach his destination.
It was unbearably hot.
Sweat kept pouring down, some clinging to his eyelashes and threatening to run into his eyes. Holding the books made it difficult to wipe, and no amount of blinking could clear it, so Xie Wenxing had to tilt his head and dab the sweat off on his shoulder.
Looking up again, not far ahead, under the cherry blossom trees, a boy and a girl stood facing each other.
Could this scene be a classic confession straight out of a novel?
Startled, Xie Wenxing, for some reason, suddenly slipped behind a nearby tree, peeking out slowly.
The girl had a soft, oval-shaped face, long flowing hair, willow-like brows, and almond-shaped eyes. She was beautiful, with an excellent figure. While the school uniform looked like a sack on most people, on her it radiated pure youthful charm.
The boy also wore the blue-and-white uniform, his back to Xie Wenxing, so his face was unclear, but that height made Xie Wenxing’s eyes widen in envy.
He must be at least 1.8 meters tall, and his legs were long, and perfectly straight.
Tall on its own would be enough, but his proportions were outrageously ideal!
On top of that, his broad back already showed the outline of an adult man.
All of it made Xie Wenxing feel a twinge of envy.
Slowly, two pink blushes appeared on the girl’s face. She glanced up at the boy, then lowered her eyes, then looked up again, lowered them again, shy and flustered beyond words.
After several tries, she bit her lip and finally mustered the courage to meet his gaze, simultaneously extending both hands to give him a pink letter.
The wind scattered the blossoms, and amidst the pink floral rain, a voice as sweet as a yellow warbler reached his ears: “Xu Huai’an, I… I like you.”
It was exactly like a fresh, innocent confession scene straight out of a campus romance drama.
Yet beneath the outwardly pure and sincere confession, her inner thoughts were something else entirely.
“Ahhhh, System, I’ve spent three months raising his favor, this time I’m getting him! I will get him!!”
【Host, please do not be overconfident. Forty-nine predecessors have attempted to win over this male lead and failed. Prepare yourself mentally for a possible mission failure.】
“Ah, is it that I’m not beautiful enough, or that my figure isn’t perfect? Do you know the line of people chasing me at school could circle all the way around Yancheng! I’m this perfect, how could anyone possibly say no to me?”
“Just wait and see, I’m going to win!”
Luo Yinyin was brimming with confidence. For the past three months, she had appeared in front of Xu Huai’an almost every day, sometimes speaking words of concern and charm, sometimes giving gifts, water, or towels, flooding him with affection. Failure was impossible!
Luo Yinyin lifted her chin and batted her big, watery eyes, presenting her best angle to Xu Huai’an, her gaze full of expectation.
So the handsome guy’s name was Xu Huai’an.
The name sounded quite nice, only just slightly inferior to her own.
Even though the outcome had nothing to do with Xie Wenxing, for some reason he found himself holding his breath slightly, straining his ears, curious to see what answer the beautiful girl would get.
He figured he’d probably say yes.
The girl was so pretty, had such a great figure, and seemed to have a sweet, good-natured personality.
It didn’t take long before the boy’s slightly hoarse voice rang out: “Mm, I understand.”
The hoarseness didn’t diminish its magnetism; the moment it reached Xie Wenxing’s ears, he froze.
The voice was like a hook, firmly gripping Xie Wenxing’s very soul.
His ears tingled, as if a shiver of goosebumps ran up his scalp and then down his spine, disappearing at the small of his back.
Xie Wenxing froze for a moment, then muttered silently, “[1]“Cao” (操) is a Chinese slang expletive. It’s roughly equivalent to saying “damn,” “shit,” or “fuck,” depending on tone and context. It’s often used as a spontaneous reaction to … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1999481_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1999481_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Cao.”
His shock was obvious, he seriously wondered if something was wrong with him.
Then he looked up again.
“Xu Huai’an! I like you, what about you?”
Luo Yinyin’s slightly high-pitched voice was urgent, carrying a faintly pressuring tone. She asked again, unwilling to give up: “Do you like me?”
Xu Huai’an lowered his eyes, his expression listless. A flash of annoyance passed quickly through his gaze. He seemed to be looking at her, but there was not the slightest recognition of her existence in his eyes: “No. Please move aside. Class is about to start, I don’t want to be late.”
The rejection was crisp, decisive, and merciless.
Xie Wenxing’s eyes had been fixed on Xu Huai’an the whole time, his ears perked up high.
He had thought his earlier reaction was just an accident, a trick of his imagination.
But now, the shivering skin told him that it was real, he really did have a physical reaction to a boy’s voice.
Stunned and dumbfounded for a long while, Xie Wenxing asked himself quietly: Am I… a pervert?
A sharp sting ran through his fingertips. Xie Wenxing looked down and realized that, earlier, he had unconsciously scratched at the tree bark, and his fingernail had gotten pricked.
When he looked up again, the girl had lowered her head and covered her face, running a short distance away, while Xu Huai’an was still standing in place.
Xie Wenxing found it strange, why wasn’t he leaving?
Perhaps Xu Huai’an didn’t expect anyone to stare back at him. Xie Wenxing, completely unprepared, met his gaze, and the world around him seemed to vanish; the sounds of the surroundings suddenly faded away.
Xu Huai’an truly deserved the attention of having just been confessed to by a beautiful girl, he had an exceptionally striking appearance.
A high nose and deep-set eyes, features sharply defined with no excess flesh, long and dense eyelashes, narrow eyes that looked especially profound under the shade of the trees.
But what drew the eye even more was his listless expression. The corners of his eyes drooped, giving him an almost world-weary air, as if nothing in the world could capture even the slightest bit of his attention.
Xie Wenxing had been tense from some unnamed feeling, but now his elevated mood suddenly plummeted to the depths.
He blinked.
Xu Huai’an said nothing. It seemed he had merely glanced back unintentionally, noticed Xie Wenxing looking at him, and then turned to leave.
After a moment, Xie Wenxing exhaled, feeling a little awkward.
Then he reasoned with himself: this is fine, it must have been an accident. There’s absolutely no way I could have such a strong reaction to a man’s voice.
It must be that the sun today is too harsh, making me dizzy and giving me illusions.
Yes, I’m definitely suffering from heatstroke!
Xie Wenxing looked up at the sky.
It’s all the sun’s fault! It’s the sun’s fault!!
A bit of time was lost on the way, and Xie Wenxing stepped into the door of Class 1, Grade 11, with the sound of his shoes ringing. But in that instant, all the self-reassurances he had given himself on the way completely collapsed.
The class bell had just rung, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and the classroom was noisy, filled with chatter and laughter.
Perhaps it was Xu Huai’an’s unique aura, but when Xie Wenxing glanced unconsciously in his direction, he didn’t need to try, the moment felt like his eyes had a compass guiding them straight to him.
He was sitting by the window, leaning against the chair, his long legs stretching out slightly, looking restless.
His deskmate seemed to be talking to him, but Xu Huai’an’s eyelids drooped slightly, giving off a detached, world-weary air completely untouched by ordinary life.
No matter how animated or exaggerated his deskmate’s words were, or how hard they laughed, Xu Huai’an’s expression remained unchanged.
Noticing Xie Wenxing’s gaze, Xu Huai’an lazily lifted his eyes and met his stare.
Xie Wenxing’s heart skipped a beat. He gripped his textbook tightly, tensed every muscle in his face, and pretended to be completely calm.
A second later, Xu Huai’an was the first to look away, staring out the window. Xie Wenxing felt a tightness in his chest and only then realized that he had unconsciously held his breath, nearly suffocating himself.
He breathed rapidly, his ears filled with the pounding of his own heart.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart felt like a drum, his sternum aching slightly with each beat.
“Class has started, what are you doing standing there?”
A man’s voice suddenly came from behind.
Unprepared, Xie Wenxing’s shoulders jerked. He turned his head and saw the homeroom teacher.
“Teacher Chen!” Xie Wenxing called out.
Chen Yan looked at this delicate, pale face, like that of a white rabbit, and paused for a few seconds. “Oh, it’s you. Just perfect, you go ahead and introduce yourself first.”
Chen Yan walked in. Xie Wenxing stepped aside in advance, keeping nearly a meter’s distance from him.
Introduce myself?
Standing at the podium, Xie Wenxing felt the gaze of forty or fifty classmates on him. He gripped his books tightly, forcing himself to stare straight ahead at the blackboard rather than looking toward the window.
After a brief silence, Xie Wenxing took an almost imperceptible deep breath. “Mm, my name is Xie Wenxing—‘Xie’ as in the ‘Xie’ from ‘the swallows before the Wang and Xie halls of old,’ ‘Wen’ as in ‘civilization,’ and ‘Xing’ as in the stars in the sky.”
He was good-looking, with slightly chubby cheeks that gave him a baby-like softness, pale and tender like a little rabbit. And because of what had just happened with Xu Huai’an, his cheeks were flushed, making him look especially easy to tease.
After a brief silence, the classroom gradually became noisy.
Xie Wenxing fiddled with his hands again and glanced at the homeroom teacher, Chen Yan.
Chen Yan stepped forward. Xie Wenxing immediately hugged his books and took a few steps back, giving up the spot for him.
Chen Yan paused for a moment, as if he sensed something, but didn’t think too much of it. Pointing to a seat, he said, “You can sit there for now.”
The seat he indicated was perfectly placed, right in front of Xu Huai’an’s desk, beside him. Xie Wenxing kept his expression steady, so no one noticed the flustered turmoil in his heart.
He walked straight to the seat, ignoring everyone’s gaze, and sat down without looking at Xu Huai’an even once, a deliberate act of “there’s nothing here to see.”
“Xingxing!” someone whispered, but Xie Wenxing didn’t hear it. Only when his deskmate tugged on his sleeve did he snap out of it. Facing a familiar face, he realized his deskmate was actually his friend Song Yuan.
Song Yuan was thrilled to see his friend, chattering nonstop like a sparrow.
“What were you thinking just now? Why didn’t you respond when I called you? And why is your face so red? Isn’t this book new? How did it get folded like this? The corner is practically ruined.”
Xie Wenxing: “……”
He felt a light, lingering gaze from behind him. His ears burned hot, and he gritted his teeth in a low voice: “Shut up!”
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