Faced with this sudden confession, Song Fengwan was a little dumbfounded.

"Erm…" The young man was nervous, and his palms were sweaty. "I know it's a little sudden. Why don't you go back to the classroom first? I'll…" He gestured nonsensically, obviously not knowing what to do.

No one wanted to be rejected straight in the face by the person they liked.

He had rushed over out of impulse just now and hadn't thought about what to do if he was rejected.

Song Fengwan said, "We're not familiar with each other. Moreover, we're seniors in high school now, and I'm not in the mood for that kind of thing, so…"

"I know. I just want to get to know you and become friends with you," the young boy said anxiously. "If you feel awkward, it's fine too."

His smile was uglier than if he had cried.

"We know each other now." Song Fengwan saw that he was so nervous that his forehead was covered in sweat, so she changed to a more euphemistic method. "Then, I'll go back to my classroom first."

"Okay." The young boy gritted his teeth in grievance. I clearly thought of an excuse. Why was I suddenly scatterbrained?

The two classrooms were in the same building, so the two of them were walking with one in front and the other behind with a distance of one meter between them. When Song Fengwan went up the stairs, she unintentionally glanced at him. The young boy was still so nervous that his face was all red.

***

The school was only so big, so even the slightest gossip spread around very quickly.

Qian Jiang reported everything in detail. When this matter reached Fu Chen's ears, a certain someone's face instantly darkened.

"Pfft, haha!" A certain someone was laughing so hard that he was swaying back and forth. "Third Fu, you've only been away for a few days, and someone already wants to steal your girlfriend?"

"It means that she's outstanding."

"That's why there are people laying their eyes on her. How is it? Do you feel threatened?"

"Threatened?" Fu Chen sneered. "Wanwan has been with me all this time, looking at me all day long. Her taste has already been raised to be picky, so how can she still fancy others?"

A certain someone was stunned.

Is this fellow indirectly praising himself for being outstanding?

He's so f*cking shameless.

"You can't say that. She's still a student. That guy definitely can't compare to you, but…" A certain someone raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Huh?" Fu Chen raised his eyelid.

"He's younger than you, haha!" A certain someone laughed presumptuously. "You're already losing at the starting line."

Fu Chen sneered. This fellow has really taken too little medicine and is tired of living.

Shi Fang stood at the side. He had followed Fu Chen for so long and knew that he was in a bad mood. This master still came to stir up a hornet's nest at this time. He must have a screw loose in his head.

Third Master is devious and vengeful. If Third Master isn't flaring up now, this master will still have to pay for this sooner or later.

***

Inside Beijing Hospital…

Cheng Tianyi was lying in bed with both of his hands in casts. A few male students in Beijing Second High School's school uniform were sitting around him.

The few of them chatted casually.

"… The biggest gossip in school recently is that Xu Jingcheng from Class 1 is chasing Song Fengwan…" someone blurted out and was immediately glared at by his companions.

Everyone knew how Cheng Tianyi was hospitalized. He had never suffered a big loss in his life, yet he had suffered a setback on Song Fengwan. How could he not bear a grudge?

"Oh right, my dad said that he would buy me a car when I turn eighteen…" This person resentfully changed the topic.

"Did you do it on purpose?!" The veins on Cheng Tianyi's forehead were jumping.

Xu Jingcheng was handsome and had good grades. Although his family background was average, he was very popular with the girls in school. Cheng Tianyi, on the other hand, was a real prodigal. Although the two of them had never interacted with each other, they looked down on each other from the bottom of their hearts.

Boys in their adolescence were hot-tempered and impulsive. Cheng Tianyi found such top students to be all pretentious and displeasing to his eyes.

Now that Xu Jingcheng was chasing Song Fengwan, Cheng Tianyi felt that it was just as though Xu Jingcheng was provoking him.

If he managed to win her heart, Cheng Tianyi would be so embarrassed in the future.

Actually, no one knew the exact reason for his accident, let alone Xu Jingcheng had no ability to inquire about it. The reason the Cheng family gave was that he was preparing to leave the country, so he took a leave of absence.

It was just that he was thinking too much.

"Brother Tian, forget it. Uncle Cheng already told you to recuperate from your injuries well."

"Yeah, let's wait for things to blow over."

"The police are still keeping an eye on you, so you shouldn't cause any trouble…" the few of them advised.

Cheng Tianyi sneered. "I've never liked him. Get a few people to stop him at the school gates tonight. The police told me not to do anything to Song Fengwan, but can't I do something about this kid? If you're my bros, go vent this anger for me."

He was completely finding fault with someone for no reason and just using this person to vent his anger.

The few of them looked at each other. They had bullied their classmates quite a lot in the past, and they had never needed a reason to beat someone up. If they couldn't stand the person, they would just beat them up.

After some hesitation, they finally nodded.

***

That day, after Xu Jingcheng finished his evening self-study session and just left the school gates, he saw eight students from Beijing Second High School leaning against their motorcycles, looking exactly like gangsters.

He subconsciously took a detour and left. The group of people exchanged glances and surrounded him silently.

Only then did Xu Jingcheng realize that these people came for him. "Who are you guys?"

Just as he finished speaking, a student with a cigarette in his mouth threw the cigarette butt away, rushed over, and punched him in the face. A few others swarmed over, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

The security guards had been paying attention to this side for a long time, but they couldn't drive this group of students away. When they saw that the situation wasn't good, they immediately ran over to stop the fight.

Having a group fight in front of the school gates was an extremely nasty thing.

***

When Song Fengwan came out of the atelier after class, Qiao Aiyun had already been waiting at the door for a long time and bought her a cup of lotus root starch1.

She held it in her hands, warming her hands, and took a sip.

"When I came over just now, I heard that there were students fighting outside your school. Even the police came."

"Fighting?" Song Fengwan was surprised.

"Apparently it's for a girl. Boys these days…" Qiao Aiyun shook her head helplessly.

"Really?" Song Fengwan was usually very busy and didn't have time to gossip about the stuff in school. She even looked surprised.

"This girl is already being fought over by boys at such a young age. What will happen when she grows up?"

Song Fengwan nodded in agreement.

She totally didn't know that the femme fatale her mother was referring to…

… was actually herself.

A food that looks like a thick, viscous liquid and can be topped with various toppings like wolfberry and osmanthus. It has always been the royal cuisine enjoyed in ancient China and is currently one of China's intangible cultural heritage.