Pei Chen laughed, “I scored higher than you. Aren’t you upset?”
“I was just teasing you before. My boyfriend is the provincial top scorer—I’m so proud!”
Pei Chen smiled.
He was also very pleased that he had become increasingly excellent. On one hand, he was now a source of pride for his father, and on the other, he felt even more confident standing by Liang Zhiyi’s side.
With the college entrance exam results out, not only did the two of them do well, but Liang Tongzhou also achieved a good score after a year and a half of hard work. Ji Fei’er, Zhi Mian, Fan Gao, and Xuan Xia all performed steadily as well.
The news of the good exam results from the Liang siblings quickly spread through the family. However, the usually boastful Zhang mother was unusually silent this time. Liang Zhiyi heard from her parents that Zhang Xinxin had not performed well, scoring only average marks, which left Zhang mother embarrassed and furious.
The girl didn’t pay much attention to this and didn’t take it to heart.
In fact, from the beginning, she never wanted to compare herself with the Zhang family.
With the results out, Class Nine decided to hold a thank-you banquet for their teachers.
Since some of the teachers had conflicting schedules, Pei Chen, representing Class Nine, coordinated with Class Ten to hold a joint banquet, as both classes shared the same homeroom teachers and had a good relationship with each other.
In the class group chat, everyone discussed the details of the banquet. When it came to the list of students attending, someone asked:
[Is Liang Zhiyi coming?]
Someone else responded:
[We should invite Zhiyi, right? After all, she was once our classmate.]
[Haha, wouldn’t the class monitor know best?]
Many people in the group began to tease, calling out Pei Chen:
[@Pei Chen, Class Monitor, is Zhiyi coming or not?]
After a while, Pei Chen replied:
[She will be there.]
Xuan Xia mischievously added:
[Even if she doesn’t come as a former classmate of Class Nine, she’ll still attend as Pei Chen’s “family member,” right?]
[Family member?! Whoa, whoa, whoa?!]
[Ahhh, Class Monitor, are you and Zhiyi together now?!]
[Is this for real? Congratulations!]
[Class Monitor, did you really manage to win over “Cang Hai” (boundless sea)? Haha!]
The group chat exploded with excitement, and finally, Pei Chen said:
[At the banquet, you can ask me in person.]
Hearing this indirect confirmation, everyone excitedly sent their congratulations.
On the other side, Liang Zhiyi, seeing the group messages, felt a bit embarrassed. She figured that during the banquet, she and Pei Chen would definitely be teased a lot.
Pei Chen, along with a few class committee members from both Class Nine and Class Ten, was busy organizing the banquet. That afternoon, they arrived early at the restaurant.
During the preparations, Liang Zhiyi called Pei Chen, her voice filled with a cheerful tone, “Pei Chen, I’m hanging out at the mall nearby with Fei’er and the others. We’ll head over when it’s almost time.”
Pei Chen responded gently, “Alright, take your time. I’ll be here taking care of things.”
“Okay.”
Pei Chen and the others continued preparing for the banquet. By evening, the students began to arrive one after another.
They had booked a large banquet hall, and many of the early arrivals, instead of taking their seats at the tables, sat on the sofas nearby, chatting with each other.
Everyone was chatting and laughing when Pei Chen, having finished his tasks for the moment, was pulled over by the group to sit on the sofa.
“Class Monitor, you’ve worked hard today…”
“Class Monitor, I heard that the Chinese teacher isn’t coming today? I’ll really miss him.”
Pei Chen replied, “The Chinese teacher is coming, but he’ll be a bit late.”
“Alright then, that’s good to hear.”
Since there were still students from Class Ten around, no one brought up the topic of him and Liang Zhiyi just yet. They continued chatting when suddenly, a pair—one male and one female—entered, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
The girl was Wen Songyue.
She was wearing a vintage-style red dress with exquisite makeup, looking elegant and radiant. At that moment, she was holding hands with a boy.
The boy was a classmate from Class Ten named Yang Lang, who came from a well-off family and had decent looks.
The students from both Class Nine and Class Ten mostly knew each other, and seeing the two of them together, everyone was particularly surprised. “Whoa, what’s going on here?!”
Yang Lang led Wen Songyue over to them, shyly scratching his head and smiling, “Let me introduce you, this is Songyue, my girlfriend.”
“You two are together?!”
Yang Lang smiled, “We got together after graduation.”
Everyone was taken aback that the two of them had ended up together and quickly invited them to sit on the sofa.
Wen Songyue’s presence subtly changed the atmosphere, which had been filled with laughter just moments before. After all, she had openly pursued Pei Chen before, only to be publicly rejected—a story that everyone knew. No one expected Wen Songyue to show up tonight, let alone with a boyfriend from the neighboring class.
The story was almost too unbelievable.
At this point, a few girls from Class Nine who were friendly with Wen Songyue came over to ease the tension and greeted her:
“Songyue, we’ve missed you…”
Wen Songyue greeted them back with a smile, her lips curling up. “Even though I only stayed in Class Nine for a short time, I was once a part of it, right? How come no one invited me to the banquet? You wouldn’t mind me being here, would you?”
Since the previous incident had been so awkward, no one had invited her. But hearing her words, someone quickly tried to smooth things over. “Of course not, Songyue! You’re also one of our classmates. Whoever was in charge of notifying people really dropped the ball this time!”
Wen Songyue’s gaze fell on Pei Chen, who was sitting on the sofa across from her, and a faintly disdainful smile appeared in her eyes as she leisurely said:
“It’s okay. Yang Lang was going to bring me along tonight anyway.”
Someone started teasing the two of them, “Yang Lang, you sneaky guy! You didn’t say a word, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a girlfriend! I remember you had a crush on Songyue ever since she transferred to the neighboring class, right?”
“Hey, Songyue, did Yang Lang chase after you for a long time?”
Wen Songyue lazily smiled, raising her eyebrows slightly, “He chased me for almost a year.”
“A whole year?!”
Yang Lang, holding her hand, shyly smiled and said, “Yeah, there were just too many competitors, but in the end, Songyue finally agreed to be with me.”
“Congrats, man, your revolution finally succeeded! Haha…”
Wen Songyue smiled but silently withdrew her hand from Yang Lang’s grasp.
After some teasing, the conversation shifted to other topics. Just then, a server brought out some fruit, and Yang Lang picked up a slice of watermelon and offered it to Wen Songyue:
“Songyue, have a slice of watermelon?”
She frowned slightly, “What if it drips on my dress and stains it?”
Yang Lang quickly grabbed a few napkins, but she still refused, “I don’t want to get my hands dirty. You eat it.”
“How about some dragon fruit?”
“I want some, but I think the seeds are too many. You should pick them out for me.”
Yang Lang was momentarily stunned, “Uh, really? You want me to pick out the seeds?”
She shot him a cold look, “What do you think?”
“Alright…”
Wen Songyue treated Yang Lang with the same dismissiveness as one would a servant, and the boy obediently complied. The surrounding classmates watched this scene with expressions of disdain, though none of them bothered to speak up.
Pei Chen, sitting across from them, paid no attention to Wen Songyue at all. After a while, someone called him, and he got up to leave. Wen Songyue noticed him and her gaze darkened. She then turned to see that Yang Lang was indeed picking out the dragon fruit seeds. Annoyed, she slapped his hand away:
“You really did it just because I told you to? Do you have no brain?”
Yang Lang responded meekly, “I… I’m sorry…”
Feeling irritated, Wen Songyue got up and left the banquet hall.
In the corridor, she received a call from a close friend, and they started chatting.
“Why are you with Yang Lang if you don’t even like him? Especially when there’s someone like Pei Chen around. You’re just making things harder for yourself.”
“I just want to show Pei Chen that he’s not as great as he thinks he is. He had the audacity to reject me in front of everyone. Does he even realize how many guys are lining up to be with me?”
Wen Songyue looked out the window and let out a scoff, “Yang Lang’s family background is a hundred times better than his. He acts like a lapdog around me. What does Pei Chen even amount to in front of me?”
Just thinking about how Pei Chen had disregarded her before made her seethe with anger. Today, she was determined to humiliate him in front of everyone, to make him realize that not being with her was his biggest loss.
Wen Songyue cursed under her breath and ended the call, but suddenly she felt the presence of someone nearby.
She turned her head and saw a girl standing there, though she hadn’t noticed when she arrived.
The girl was wearing a smoke-purple strapless dress that accentuated her slender figure. The hem of the dress revealed a pair of long, straight legs, and the butterfly bow on her shoulder rested delicately on her beautiful collarbone, adding a touch of seductive charm.
Her skin was fairer than snow, her long black hair was as smooth as seaweed, and her features were exquisite—almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose, and a radiant, captivating presence.
Wen Songyue was initially startled by her sudden appearance. As her eyes scanned the girl’s face, she couldn’t deny that the girl’s beauty was indeed strikingly attention-grabbing.
Seeing the girl staring at her without speaking, Wen Songyue frowned slightly. “What do you want?”
Liang Zhiyi looked at her, recognizing who she was, and then smiled. “It’s nothing. I overheard you mentioning Pei Chen. Do you know him?”
“So what if I do?”
The girl’s face showed a hint of shyness as she softly said, “I’ve had a crush on Pei Chen for a long time. When I heard his class was holding a banquet here today, I came to find him.”
“And why are you looking for him?”
“To confess to him, of course.”
Wen Songyue laughed when she heard this. “And how successful do you think you’ll be?”
Liang Zhiyi blinked, thinking for a moment. “Ninety percent, I guess.”
Wen Songyue: ?
“After all, with the way I look, he probably won’t reject me.”
Wen Songyue couldn’t help but laugh, finding the girl’s confidence almost absurd. “Listen, with so many people here today, I suggest you avoid embarrassing yourself. Don’t come crying when you get humiliated.”
“And why not?”
Wen Songyue turned her head and saw Pei Chen standing at the end of the corridor by the emergency exit, talking to his classmates. She smiled, then turned back to Liang Zhiyi and pointed towards him.
“Pei Chen is right over there. Why don’t you go talk to him? Who knows, maybe he’ll respond to you.”
“Really?”
“Of course, you should give it a try,” Wen Songyue encouraged her, a sly smile playing on her lips. “I think your chances of success are very high.”
As she spoke, there was a hidden mockery in Wen Songyue’s eyes.
She had once been rejected by Pei Chen in such a humiliating way, and now she wanted to see someone else experience that same rejection. Especially this girl, who seemed so overly confident—Wen Songyue was eager to watch her get her confidence shattered.
Liang Zhiyi’s eyes sparkled as she smiled, her red lips curving upward. She nodded, “Alright, I’ll go give it a try.”
She walked towards Pei Chen, and Wen Songyue watched her, a smirk on her face, eagerly anticipating the impending embarrassment.
On the other end, Pei Chen had just finished handling some matters with his classmates when he heard a familiar voice from ahead, “Pei Chen—”
He looked up to see Liang Zhiyi running towards him. She threw herself into his arms, and he instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist.
Liang Zhiyi hooked her arms around Pei Chen’s neck, looking up at him with a bright smile. “Classmate Pei, did you miss me?”
Pei Chen’s gaze fell on the strapless dress she was wearing, which revealed a significant amount of her fair skin. His throat tightened, and his mind went blank for a moment. His voice was low and husky as he replied, “Yes, I missed you a lot.”
The girl stood on her tiptoes, her breath warm against his ear as she whispered, “Pei Chen, I want to kiss you.”
Hearing this, Pei Chen’s eyes darkened.
From about ten meters away, Wen Songyue watched in shock as Liang Zhiyi threw herself into Pei Chen’s arms, and Pei Chen didn’t push her away. Her face was instantly filled with disbelief.
What is happening???
Before she could fully process what she was seeing, she watched as Pei Chen took hold of Liang Zhiyi’s hand and led her into the emergency exit.
Then, Pei Chen’s cold and indifferent gaze swept across the corridor, briefly landing on Wen Songyue before he raised his hand and shut the door to the emergency exit, completely blocking her view.
Wen Songyue: ?????????!!