TFS | Chapter 22

Xu Linruan broke up with Qi Yue, and the young master was the one who got dumped.

The news spread quickly across the entire campus. Back when Young Master Qi had been pursuing Xu Linruan, he had been just as high-profile and flamboyant as could be, so the shock of him getting dumped was just as intense.

But after the shock wore off, everyone thought it was only natural. Someone like Qi Yue, a rich kid good for nothing but goofing off, would not have been worthy of an excellent student like Xu Linruan if it were not for his family background.

The two of them were bound to break up sooner or later.

Still, the fact that Xu Linruan had been the one to bring it up first was surprising. Everyone had thought Qi Yue would be the one to dump Xu Linruan, and no one expected the result to be the exact opposite.

After being dumped, Qi Yue went right back to his old, noisy lifestyle. Every day he ran around with a crowd of dubious friends, smoking, skipping class, fighting, hanging out at bars, and dating way too early, becoming a real, bona fide thug in everyone’s eyes.

Xu Linruan, on the other hand, worked hard and kept improving, becoming a model student in the teachers’ eyes. It was as if a mountain separated them, and the two of them drifted farther and farther apart.

…

Qi Yue leaned against the wall and smoked, an irritable feeling churning in his chest.

The girls passing by the restroom would occasionally sneak a glance at him. Outside, he could hear low whispers.

“Hey, have you heard? Xu Linruan and Qi Yue broke up.”

“Mm-hmm. Qi Yue was the one who got dumped.”

“I think that’s normal. The two of them weren’t even from the same world…”

“Shh, keep your voice down. I think he’s looking over here.”

Qi Yue swept a blank look across those girls and said nothing. Frightened, they scattered in an instant.

He let out a soft sneer, casually ground out the cigarette butt, then turned and yanked his backpack out of the classroom.

He had never liked studying in the first place. Back when he was with Xu Linruan, he had even forced himself to memorize vocabulary words. Now that they had broken up, he skipped class even more openly.

Thinking about it now, he had really been a complete idiot back then. It had just been a casual fling to someone else, and he had actually taken it seriously. He had even tried to change himself. It was so fucking ridiculous.

…

Qi Yue went to the leisure club he usually frequented. The moment he walked in, he heard Xu Zhou call his name with a smile. “Hey, Qi Yue, come sit here.”

A few unfamiliar girls were also sitting on the sofa beside him, and they chimed in with greetings too.

Qi Yue glanced at him, ignored him, then turned and found a seat to sit down.

Xu Zhou suddenly felt a little headache coming on. This guy was radiating a keep-away-from-me aura from head to toe.

He was out here to have fun, so why was he still wearing such a stinky face?

He thought his buddy’s condition was really off lately. It was only a breakup, so why was he pulling such a long face every day, acting like they had some deep-seated blood feud or something?

He had not seen the breakup drama that day, but even without seeing it, he knew enough. Someone like Xu Linruan clearly was not from the same world as them. It was actually better that the two of them had broken up early.

A girl a little simpler would suit him better.

He looked at Qi Yue and could not help asking, “Who pissed you off again? Why do you look so bad? Want me to get some people to teach them a lesson for you?”

Qi Yue answered him with a cold stare. “Are you bored or something?”

Xu Zhou did not think it was boring. He was pretty gossipy, actually. He got up, poured himself a glass of water, then raised his brows and kept going. “I’m saying, you wouldn’t still be hung up on Xu Linruan, would you? You’ve been broken up for so long, and you still haven’t gotten over her?”

Being called out so directly, Qi Yue only felt even more annoyed. His face darkened. “Fuck, are you annoying or what?”

Impatiently, he shifted to another seat. He had come here to relax in the first place, but now no matter where he went, he could hear that woman’s name.

It was not like he was desperate enough to go begging for someone who did not even like him to play with him for free.

Wasn’t she just a pretty girl?

It was hard to find a two-legged goat[[1]], but women with two legs were everywhere. If she did not like him, fine. There would still be plenty of women who did.

And yet the more he thought that way, the worse he felt.

He had always been used to being on top. From childhood to adulthood, he had wanted for nothing. This was the first time he had ever stumbled over a woman, and he had fallen so badly. He had been toyed with like a clown, spun around at someone else’s mercy, and the worst part was that he had not been able to do a single thing about that woman.

Qi Yue took a deep breath. Right now, his chest felt painfully blocked up.

Even though he spoke fiercely, threatening revenge and saying he would kill her, he did not actually have the courage to really do anything to her. Maybe he truly was just asking for it. The more he could not have something, the more he wanted it.

Xu Zhou was still laughing over there, egging Qi Yue on. “You really are thinking about her? Didn’t see that coming, Qi Yue. I didn’t expect you to be such a lovesick type.”

“But there’s a saying, right? The best way to forget an old relationship is to start a new one.”

He lifted his brows. “This sounds like breakup aftereffects. How about I introduce you to another girl? The one across from us, the girl in jeans. What do you think? Isn’t she pretty cute?”

That girl had been talking about Qi Yue’s name just now. The moment he arrived, she even kept sneaking glances at him. It was obvious she had a crush on him.

But Qi Yue did not even look over. Instead, he grabbed the backpack on the table and flung it at him. His eyes were cold.

“Get the fuck away from me and stop bothering me.”

Xu Zhou caught the backpack with one hand and leaned against the sofa, still lounging around lazily as he went on. “Seriously, can you have a little backbone? It’s just a breakup. Was it really worth being this heartbroken?”

Qi Yue gave a cold laugh. He glanced sideways at him. “Heh. Which eye of yours saw that I was heartbroken?”

“I just think losing the bet pisses me off a little, that’s all. It was just a game. It’s not like I can’t handle losing.” He forced himself to calm down, closed his eyes, and pretended not to care.

Xu Zhou only looked at him, with a bit of speechlessness in his gaze. The way he put it made it sound like the one who had come home that day and threatened everyone into keeping the bet a secret was not him.

…

Qi Yue was having a rough time, but Xu Linruan was different. She studied when she needed to study, played when it was time to play, and lived each day to the fullest. Occasionally she accepted invitations from friends, went out to buy some reference materials nearby, or watched a movie or something, and her mood was quite good.

One thing worth mentioning was that her plastic-sister-friend Jiang Yuan had recently become considerably friendlier toward her. When Jiang Yuan looked at her, there was three parts sympathy and three parts disdain in those little eyes of hers, as if she were just one step away from writing her schadenfreude all over her face.

She thought Xu Linruan and Qi Yue’s breakup had a lot to do with that bet. Xu Linruan must have found out about the bet before proposing the breakup. Even though she looked bright and beautiful on the surface, acting like she did not care at all, who knew how badly she was hurting inside?

But that was normal, really. Anyone would be sad if the boy they liked had toyed with their feelings as part of a bet. Xu Linruan was just unlucky, running into someone as hopeless as Qi Yue, whose head clearly did not work right.

Thinking of it that way made Jiang Yuan feel much better. Even the smart, pretty campus belle Xu Linruan had misjudged someone once, so what was there for her to worry about?

So when she looked at Xu Linruan again, her expression became even more complicated.

Xu Linruan could tell what that girl was thinking just by looking at her face.

She just could not be bothered to explain.

Jiang Yuan edged over to her side, thinking that plastic sisters were still sisters, after all, and smiled as she made an invitation. “Do you want to go buy reference books together after school this afternoon?”

Xu Linruan was doing problems. Her fair fingers held a black gel pen, black and white sharply defined. Her fingertips were slender, carrying a quiet, scholarly beauty. Her jet-black hair fell to one side, and when she looked up, her eyes were clear and clean, with a bright smile curving at the corners of her cheeks.

“Sure,” she said.

Even her voice was the kind Jiang Yuan liked. It felt as if something had struck her little heart with a whoosh. She could not help but size Xu Linruan up. Although she did not look bad herself, compared with the person in front of her, she still lacked a little of that breathtaking quality.

Damn it… how annoying. She hated people who were prettier than she was the most!

…

After school, the two of them went together to the nearby library. There were quite a few shops nearby that sold review materials. Xu Linruan had arrived in this body right when she was a third-year high school student, and with the college entrance exams approaching, there was still quite a lot of review material she needed to prepare.

She browsed the second-floor science and reference materials section, taking her time, when she accidentally bumped into someone. It turned out to be an acquaintance. The boy was wearing black-rimmed glasses, and his smile was clean and fresh.

“Hi, senior. I didn’t expect to run into you here.” Xu Canyang sounded pleasantly surprised. His cheeks were a little red when he greeted her.

He had not managed to get her contact information last time, and he felt a little embarrassed to keep pestering her. But since the senior had already broken up, he wondered whether he could ask her again this time.

Xu Linruan was also a little surprised, and she naturally smiled. “Mm, you came to buy review materials too?”

She still had some impression of the boy in front of her, Xu Canyang from Class Two in the second year of high school. He was pretty good at basketball, the little puppy-like junior in the novel, one grade below her, so calling her senior was not excessive.

The little puppy-like junior circled around her with great enthusiasm, offering to carry things and help with everything. “Senior, which book do you want? Do you want me to help you take it?”

Those pitch-black eyes looked at her full of anticipation.

Xu Linruan gently refused. She did not have any plans to start another relationship for the time being, and the boy’s intentions were just way too obvious.

Jiang Yuan, standing nearby, looked at the whole process and wondered if her presence was getting in the way of the two of them. She stepped aside, then silently ate an orange. Tsk… this orange was really sour!

When Qi Yue came out of the club, it was already dark. From far away, he saw Xu Linruan under a streetlight, smiling as she chatted with a boy. The two of them were walking and talking at the same time. Her features were like a painting, and she looked best when she smiled, her glossy lips curling up slightly.

She was so close to him that she almost seemed ready to press against the boy’s arm.

Qi Yue only felt a burst of heat slam straight into his head. His eyes looked almost ready to spit fire, and an emotion that had been suppressed to the very limit was on the verge of exploding.

At first he felt angry. Then it turned into grievance, then sadness, very deep sadness. He could not quite control himself and wanted to rush over and pull the two of them apart.

And he really did just that.

Without hesitation, Qi Yue seized Xu Linruan’s wrist and forcefully pulled her over. His grip was heavy, causing the girl to lose her balance and crash into his arm all at once.