MTLY | Chapter 15

◎Could it be that she’s actually a little seductress?◎

Han Jingjing didn’t come back to school until a week later, but Qinde’s forum had already crashed that very afternoon.

There was no other reason. Somehow, someone had dug up the truth behind Jiang Yu’s fight with the boss of No. 8 High and even paired it with a blurry, high-contrast photo. In the picture, the two sides were facing off, with Jiang Yu there, and Han Jingjing too.

As a little gossip expert, Guan Linlin caught the latest update first thing. “Oh my god, so Jiang Yu really fought for Han Jingjing.”

She shoved her phone in front of Song Tinghuan. “Look, look. The campus beauty and campus prince in the same frame, tsk tsk. Seems like someone’s really about to fulfill Qinde’s second school motto.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

The anonymous post had already climbed six or seven hundred floors. The original poster seemed to have been at the scene, insisting over and over that Jiang Yu fought with No. 8 High’s school tyrant because that guy had been pestering Han Jingjing nonstop, and that Jiang Yu had flown into a rage for the sake of a beauty.

“Ear, aren’t you living at Jiang Yu’s house? Are he and Han Jingjing really childhood sweethearts?”

Guan Linlin had recently gotten used to calling Song Tinghuan “Ear.” Song Tinghuan had told her that when she was little, her ears weren’t very good, and her hearing only became normal when she was four or five.

Back then, she even had a nickname, and it was “Ear.” Song Tinghuan had always thought that nickname was adorable, but as she grew up, the people around her gradually stopped calling her that.

“I’m not really sure.” Song Tinghuan bit her lip. Jiang Yu had never brought any girls home, and the only girl she’d ever seen at the Jiang family’s gate was Zhang Xinran.

Guan Linlin said, “But Han Jingjing really is pretty. She and Zhang Xinran are probably going to fight over the campus beauty ranking again this time.”

“Campus beauty ranking?” Song Tinghuan asked.

Guan Linlin explained that every year, Qinde held a vote for campus beauty. Last year’s campus beauty was Han Jingjing, but Zhang Xinran had only transferred to Qinde in high school, while Han Jingjing had come up from Qinde’s middle school division, so naturally she had a better popular base.

But this year, it was hard to say.

Song Tinghuan listened with complete confusion. She couldn’t understand why everyone was so enthusiastic about the title of campus beauty. “If you get chosen as campus beauty, does that mean you can eat in the cafeteria without paying?”

Guan Linlin: “…”

Guan Linlin tapped Song Tinghuan on the forehead. “You dummy, this is Qinde’s campus beauty.”

Song Tinghuan rubbed her forehead. “What’s so special about Qinde’s campus beauty? It still can’t fill your stomach.”

Guan Linlin: “?”

That did make sense. So what if she was campus beauty? She still couldn’t be eaten.

“Too bad you transferred here a bit late. Otherwise, I’d have voted for you.”

Song Tinghuan blinked.

Guan Linlin smeared a hand across her face like some little villain. “After all, my desk mate is the prettiest one.”

Just then, a girl in the class named He Yingran happened to walk past. She glanced at Song Tinghuan, her eyes full of hostility.

Guan Linlin pulled Song Tinghuan down and wrote on the paper: [It’s fine, ignore her. She’s just jealous of your English grades.]

He Yingran was the English class representative. Before Song Tinghuan transferred in, her English grades had always been first in the class. But on last week’s in-class quiz, Song Tinghuan unexpectedly took first place for the first time and beat He Yingran by two points.

That day after school, Song Tinghuan had left late and overheard He Yingran say to her deskmate, “What’s so great about having a high written score? English is a language. It’s supposed to be spoken. What use is mute English in the future?”

He Yingran hadn’t named anyone, but Song Tinghuan knew exactly who she meant. She was the textbook example of so-called “mute English.”

The next class happened to be English.

The English teacher, Susan, was a very young woman with long light-brown curls. She was pretty too.

Today’s English lesson was reading, and Susan called on Song Tinghuan first.

Song Tinghuan hugged her English book. The moment she opened her mouth, He Yingran, who was seated diagonally behind her, laughed softly.

Song Tinghuan herself knew what the problem was. Her English grades were decent, but her speaking was only average. Lingcheng was, after all, just a small city, and the teaching focus was on exams, not speaking.

But Qinde was different. Even the student with the worst English in class had very standard pronunciation. Many of them had been receiving bilingual education since kindergarten, and some even had private foreign tutors at home.

After she finished reading a passage, Song Tinghuan sat down, her cheeks still faintly red. Susan smiled at her. “Not bad. Keep it up~”

Because of that English reading class, Song Tinghuan stayed in a bad mood all the way until school let out, even though she had already eaten a peach-flavored fruit candy, her favorite.

It had drizzled a little tonight, so walking back wasn’t very convenient. Song Tinghuan and Jiang Yu went to take the bus together. At this hour there weren’t many people on the bus. Song Tinghuan shuffled all the way to the back listlessly, took off her backpack and hugged it to her chest, then sat by the window.

“Did the teacher scold you?” Jiang Yu sat down beside her, the green earbud cord hanging outside.

“No.” Song Tinghuan didn’t want to say. She thought it was a small thing, and bringing it up on purpose felt a little overly sentimental.

She looked at the earbud cord winding around the boy’s pale, slender neck. Just how many earphones did he have? Why was the color different every day, and always such bright, eye-catching colors?

“Since you’re not upset, add me on WeChat.”

Song Tinghuan: “?”

Jiang Yu had already opened his phone and pulled up a QR code. “It’ll be easier to contact each other if anything comes up later.”

Right, Song Tinghuan opened WeChat and added Jiang Yu.

His avatar was a bit unusual, a black-and-white block split six-four. On the white side, there was a black line drawn across it. His WeChat name was JY.

“What does this mean?” Song Tinghuan leaned closer and pointed at Jiang Yu’s avatar.

Jiang Yu curved his lips. “Barnett Newman’s *Black Fire I*.”

Song Tinghuan froze. The campus prince’s WeChat avatar was this classy?

Seeing her dumbfounded look, Jiang Yu added, “I copied it from a painting.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Song Tinghuan wasn’t very good at cursing, but Guan Linlin had recently been saying one line all the time, men are all dogs. At first Song Tinghuan didn’t really get it, but now she deeply understood.

Jiang Yu, you could be even more of a dog.

Jiang Yu turned his head and saw Song Tinghuan’s soft red lips pressed together. One more pout and she’d be able to hang a bottle from them. Yet her dark, soft eyes were clear, like a pool of spring water, with a gentle wash of light reflected in the bus window.

Wasn’t it kind of bastardly to tease a little girl like this?

Maybe he should coax her a bit?

That was what Jiang Yu was thinking when he pinched the earbud from the inside. The green earbud made the skin on his fingertips look even colder and paler.

Song Tinghuan only felt a chill brush past her ear, and then a low, rough male voice came through the earphones, singing a deep, smoky Cantonese melody:

“Why is it that you always refuse to speak?

Even if you say what’s upsetting you,

there may be a gap between things and hopes,

please don’t be afraid…”

The gentle tune, the gray-white palette, the grainy male voice, all at once made Song Tinghuan fall completely quiet. The switch from cold to warm lasted only a moment. Lowering her eyes, she saw the boy’s slender, pale hand on her vision, long knuckles, blue veins faintly visible beneath thin white skin.

A thin electric current traveled through the green earbud cord, half to her side, half to Jiang Yu’s. Only then did Song Tinghuan vaguely realize they were standing a little too close, so close that she didn’t dare lift her head.

She was afraid that if she lifted her head even a little, she’d brush against his jawline.

Jiang Yu also stiffened for a split second. The sweet, soft scent of the girl suddenly filled his nose. She seemed to really like peach fragrance, even her shampoo carried that sweet, tender smell of peaches.

Jiang Yu raised a hand and pushed her head away. “If you’re talking, just talk. Why are you leaning in so close?”

He looked exactly like some holy, chaste saint.

Song Tinghuan pouted and moved a little farther away. The green earbud cord straightened out, and the song in her ear had reached its climax.

Outside the window, pedestrians hurried past, and car horns pierced the rainy night one after another.

“When the trend loves novelty,

when others love labels,

I’m lucky to have you beside me,

it’s a naturally heartwarming thing.

When gossip turns sharp again,

let them have a little more jealousy,

because the truest love in this world

never bothers with conditions.”

For the rest of the long ride, Song Tinghuan listened quietly to the music. She discovered that Jiang Yu’s playlist was practically “old-school to the extreme,” with some rock songs even from the early 1990s.

It was hard to imagine that someone as flamboyant and unreliable as him would like music this classic.

On a rainy night like this, listening to music, it was easy for emotions to catch and magnify, as if the world around you was all in a hurry and you alone were wandering in confusion.

Song Tinghuan fell completely silent again, and then she thought of what happened in English class today.

Speaking was so hard. When would she ever be able to speak English that was both authentic and fluent?

Suddenly, the boy beside her let out a soft click of his tongue. In her field of vision, his slender hand came down on the top of her head the next second, holding her whole head still. By her ear was the boy’s cool, clear voice unique to youth. “Don’t move around.”

Jiang Yu really was reaching the limit of his patience. He had no idea what this little girl was spacing out about. She hadn’t said a word the whole ride, just kept her head down stupidly.

She’d even cracked the bus window open a bit. The bus stopped and started, and the thin night breeze squeezed in. Her head bobbed slightly, and the stray hairs by her ear kept brushing, one faint touch after another, against the side of his neck.

Song Tinghuan nudged her head, not understanding, her eyes full of innocence and grievance.

Jiang Yu pressed her head again. She wasn’t a ball.

“Stop rubbing my head.”

“Then stop brushing against me.” Jiang Yu repeated it once more. The itch on his neck eased a little. “There are so many people watching.”

Song Tinghuan froze instantly.

She didn’t know whether anyone had really been watching just now, but the moment Jiang Yu finished speaking, several gazes around them shot over all at once.

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Then suddenly, the bus braked hard. Inertia sent a burst of clattering through the carriage. The white lights inside flickered, and someone started cursing under their breath.

And then, the power cut out, and the entire bus plunged into darkness.

Through the glass window, the city’s neon lights flipped upside down in the rainy night.

Song Tinghuan crashed into Jiang Yu’s chest. The fabric of his hoodie was cool and soft, but her ears were burning hot. She had no idea where her earphones had ended up. Heat spread from her skin, and she heard Jiang Yu’s heartbeat, thump, thump.

Right before the view went pitch-black, Jiang Yu was still casually saying, “So many people watching.”

Song Tinghuan slowly blinked, her voice soft and steady. “It’s okay.”

Her voice was very low, hidden in the noisy bus. The gentle tone sounded like an intimate whisper by someone’s ear.

“Hm?” Jiang Yu clearly didn’t understand.

Song Tinghuan said softly, “Now, they can’t see.”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Author’s note:

Jiang Yu: I suspect she’s actually a little seductress.

Song Tinghuan: ?

This book is going V next chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who’s been following, commenting, and watering this little author. Jiujiu is sending you all red envelopes~

Dropping some upcoming picks, next up after Jiang Yu and Chen Jiaxun (the male lead from the other side’s *Gray-White Whale*~):

*Mint Rose*, a college campus romance, sweet and satisfying, with teasing and tension, standard 1v1, already written three chapters. Personally, I think it’s pretty spicy (*/ω＼*)

*Heartthrob Metaphysics*, a modern workplace novel, a gold-digging beauty x a deeply devoted big shot, everyday mind games between office worker and boss, roughly a series about “why am I even working this crappy job” and “the dragon’s self-romance” (?)

That’s all. Shamelessly begging for收藏~