TFS | Chapter 2

“Xu Linruan, why didn’t you go meet Qi Yue in the little woods yesterday? Did something happen between you two?”

Jiang Yuan, who was in the same class, craned her neck to look at Xu Linruan, full of curiosity. She had finally found a chance and was determined not to let Xu Linruan off, asking question after question.

“Xu Linruan, Xu big genius, just tell me already…”

“I promise I won’t go around spreading it. Seriously, did you break up?”

The girl in front of her was quite pretty, with an oval face, almond-shaped eyes, and very fair skin. The only flaw was that she was a little short, but overall, she still looked quite attractive.

Her name was Jiang Yuan. They were in the same class, had been classmates since childhood, and were on decent terms.

In the original novel, Xu Linruan was described as a cold, hypocritical girl. Girls like that usually attracted members of the opposite sex, but didn’t have many female friends. The girl in front of her counted as one, though she was also one of those fake besties who would tear each other down and slap each other in the face the second anything happened.

Xu Linruan tilted her head slightly, catching the other girl’s secret gleam of schadenfreude in her eyes.

Thinking of how this fake bestie had eventually gone under the knife for her boyfriend and ended up ruining her face, Xu Linruan rested her chin on her hand and smiled. “Jiang Yuan, the way you look now is actually pretty nice.”

The girl’s expression stiffened. She thought, Why is this woman not playing by the script?

She had already heard from other people that the relationship between Xu Linruan and Qi Yue was just a bet. Everyone in Qi Yue’s circle knew about it, and Qi Yue had already grown tired of it. It was only a matter of time before he dumped her.

But what did she mean by saying that?

What did she mean, she looked pretty?

Was that a compliment… or an insult?

The girl suppressed her irritation and forced out a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. As soon as she turned away, she couldn’t help rolling her eyes. In just a few days, Xu Linruan had already learned how to do high-level sarcasm.

Didn’t she know she was pretty?

If it weren’t for Xu Linruan, she would absolutely have been the hottest girl at this school. Sure, her legs were a little short, but still, a flaw didn’t ruin the whole thing.

After getting interrupted like that, Jiang Yuan felt too embarrassed to keep asking. She quickly returned to her seat, pulled out a small mirror, and secretly checked herself, then picked up a little comb and combed her perpetually stubborn see-through bangs.

Xu Linruan lowered her head and gave a soft laugh. Her eyes rippled with light, beautiful enough to make anyone pause. When the young master standing at the door saw her smile, he suddenly felt a little choked up.

Thinking about how he had been dumped yesterday afternoon, Qi Yue only felt a tight, stifled frustration in his chest. Especially at the very end, he had actually thrown out a harsh line and then run off. That kind of cowardly retreat was absolutely a disgrace he had never suffered in his romantic history.

After getting home, the young master had thought and thought about it. He even ate half a bowl less at dinner. After much deliberation, he still felt he couldn’t let her off that easily. After all, he had stooped so low as to favor her. She should have been grateful beyond words. Instead, she had the nerve to dump him first and break up with him!

That was way too humiliating. If that bunch of fox-brained, good-for-nothing friends found out, wouldn’t they laugh him to death?

Thinking of this, the young master solemnly made a plan. He intended to win her back within a week, then, after making sure she had fallen for him, dump her himself. He would definitely make her taste what it felt like to be the one left behind. Hmph!

With that thought in mind, Qi Yue shoved the displeasure in his heart down and then carried a bottle of yogurt and two vegetable buns over to Xu Linruan’s seat, preparing to carry out the perfect strategy of “a boyfriend carefully preparing breakfast for his girlfriend.”

This was even something the young master had specially copied from the internet. Women all had a competitive, showy streak. With such a handsome and arrogant boyfriend personally bringing her breakfast…

You wretched woman, shouldn’t you be moved to tears?

Qi Yue had one hand in his pocket as he strode over to Xu Linruan’s desk, then tossed the two vegetable buns onto her table with a very pleased look on his face. “For you.”

The classmate beside them showed an ambiguous smile. She had originally thought the school tyrant and Xu Linruan had already broken up, but unexpectedly, the little couple was still going strong. Just look at what the school tyrant was doing, actually bringing breakfast over himself. Tsk, tsk, tsk…

Xu Linruan tilted her face slightly upward. There was a hint of amusement in her eyes, and her gaze swept over him lazily. After pausing for a moment, she said, “Qi Yue, actually, you don’t have to do this. Besides, we already…”

Before she could finish, the young master immediately interrupted, “I don’t care. Anyway, I’m not agreeing to what you said yesterday.”

After saying that, Qi Yue felt his tone was too stiff.

He endured the frustration and forced out a smile that didn’t quite look like a smile. “Um, I heard you haven’t had breakfast yet. I specially bought this from the cafeteria for you.”

Happy? Moved?

Shouldn’t you hurry over and give me a loving hug?

Seeing the subtle expression on the girl across from him, Qi Yue curved his lips in satisfaction.

But when he came to his senses, the expected hug still hadn’t happened.

The girl in front of him tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear with one hand, then used the other to hand the breakfast on the desk back to him. Her cool fingertips accidentally brushed his palm. The young master reflexively drew his hand back. “What are you doing?”

Trying to take advantage of this young master?

Xu Linruan didn’t even look at him. She gave him a clearly we’re not close expression. “Eat it yourself.”

Qi Yue frowned almost immediately, looking rather disgusted. “I don’t even like these. I bought them for you.”

Xu Linruan was speechless for a few seconds. Thanks a lot, truly. You don’t even like the things yourself, and you still had the nerve to buy them for someone else?

She looked at him for a while. The young master felt increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze. Just as he was about to lose his temper, Xu Linruan looked away and said flatly, “I don’t like these either.”

“Then what do you want to eat? I’ll have someone… cough, I mean I’ll buy it for you next time?”

The words came out very naturally.

Because he really wanted to win her back again, the young master was surprisingly patient for once.

The boy coughed lightly, then slowly forced out a stiff smile. Since he rarely tried to please anyone, even the smile carried a touch of impatience.

Xu Linruan raised a subtle brow, thinking, Well, you came looking for me on your own. I’m not some naive, kindhearted little girl, and I won’t be fooled by a few sweet words from you. Since you want to walk straight into the muzzle of a gun, then don’t blame me.

Why be a former girlfriend?

If you’re going to do it, be the white moonlight in his heart instead.

She was most experienced when it came to handling little wolf-dog younger brothers like him. You absolutely couldn’t spoil them too much. You had to do it the opposite way, give a slap and then a sweet date, loosen them up, then tighten them again, like training a puppy…

She turned her head to look at Qi Yue beside her.

The boy raised his chin with quite a bit of smugness, one hand in his pocket, his face showing a bizarrely proud little expression, as if to say he was the handsomest man under heaven?

Very impressive, oh?

Xu Linruan clicked her tongue inwardly, unfolded the textbook along its creases, and used her long, fair fingers to gently separate the folded pages. Then she smiled faintly at him. “Class is about to start. You should go back first. If there’s anything, we can talk about it next time, okay?”

“Mm?” She dragged out the syllable, and the dappled sunlight fell across the corners of her eyes, making her features look even more vividly beautiful.

Qi Yue froze a little.

…Damn, this woman really was pretty when she smiled.

But since she had said so, he wasn’t the kind of person who would cling and refuse to leave. The internet said that when chasing a girl, you had to balance pressure and release, and pestering her to death wouldn’t work.

So the young master adjusted his collar, pretending to be rather casual, and while walking out, said to her, “All right. I’ll come find you at noon.”