When Liang Zhiyi finished speaking, the people around them were puzzled: What’s going on?!
Some of them seemed to catch on, and with a sudden realization, one of them chuckled and quickly pulled the others along: “Alright, class monitor, we’ll be heading out first then…”
“Huh? What are those two settling?”
“You pig, why do you care so much…”
The others walked away.
Near the vending machine, only the two of them remained.
Pei Chen lowered his eyes to meet Liang Zhiyi’s clear gaze. The soft sensation from when they accidentally bumped into each other moments ago suddenly resurfaced in his mind, leaving a subtle feeling that flashed across his heart.
The boy quickly averted his gaze and spoke with a cold and hoarse voice:
“Sorry about tonight… I accidentally bumped into you.”
Liang Zhiyi: What?
After waiting for a while, was he thinking about this?
She couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s not what I was talking about.”
“What I’m talking about is—” Liang Zhiyi stepped closer to him, her voice gently brushing against his ear, “Why didn’t you accept my friend request?”
Pei Chen paused slightly. “Is there something you need from me?”
“Do I have to have a reason to add you?”
“I don’t add people I’m not familiar with.”
“Who says we’re not familiar?” She blurted out instinctively.
Pei Chen looked at her, his expression subtle. “If we’re not, then what are we?”
The girl coughed lightly out of guilt. “We’re desk mates. We’ll definitely become familiar with each other in the future.”
“…”
“I’m heading back.”
The boy turned and started walking toward the dormitory building.
This guy…
Liang Zhiyi caught up with him and tried to persuade him, “Class monitor, what if I need to contact you about class matters through WeChat in the future? And to be honest, I have a strong desire to learn. Once we’re friends, we can discuss academic topics and make progress together. Wouldn’t that be great?”
He turned to look at her. “Discuss academics with you?”
Liang Zhiyi caught the implication in his words. “I’m not bad at studying, okay?”
She thought of something and decided to provoke him, “Pei Chen, are you afraid of something? Could it be that you think I have other motives for adding you?”
The boy’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
He didn’t respond to her.
The two of them walked into the dormitory building. When they reached the second floor, the girl suddenly called out to him, “Pei Chen, wait for me here.”
The boy turned to look at her.
“I’ll be right back!”
She hurriedly ran upstairs, though it was unclear what she was up to. A minute later, she came back down, holding something in her hand.
Seeing that Pei Chen was still in the second-floor corridor, she breathed a sigh of relief. She walked up to him and handed him a small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, her smile radiant.
“Here, I bought an extra bottle. After standing for so long during the military training today, you can apply this. That way, your legs won’t hurt as much tomorrow.”
The item was placed in his hand.
Pei Chen looked at it, his dark eyes inscrutable.
She tugged at his sleeve, slightly tiptoeing as she leaned toward him, her lips curling up, “It’s just adding me on WeChat. I won’t bite.”
After she said this, she turned and walked upstairs. A few steps later, she looked back, her ponytail swinging as she flashed him a dimpled smile.
“Remember to accept my request.”
–
Pei Chen returned to his dorm room.
As soon as he opened the door, a few of the boys inside gathered around, teasing him, “Class monitor, what’s the deal? What did Liang Zhiyi want with you?”
“Class monitor, Liang Zhiyi seems pretty familiar with you! She specifically asked to sit next to you back then!”
“Could it be that she’s interested in you?”
Upon hearing this, Pei Chen’s eyelashes fluttered again. He lowered his gaze and responded coolly, “No, don’t say such things.”
“Then what did she want just now?”
“Nothing. I’m going to sleep.”
He didn’t give them a chance to gossip and went straight to bed. The others, knowing this was just Pei Chen’s personality, didn’t press any further.
They had thought something was going on between the two of them before coming upstairs, but now it seemed they were just overthinking it.
Pei Chen had never shown the slightest special interest in any girl; nothing but studying could capture his attention.
After a while, everyone went to bed.
The room was completely dark, but Pei Chen’s gaze remained fixed on that bottle of Yunnan Baiyao.
After a long moment, he picked up his phone and opened WeChat, where he saw a new friend request, finally with a name attached: Liang Zhiyi.
The image of the girl resurfaced in his mind.
He stared at the screen, his eyes growing darker. After a while, a soft voice came from the bed next to him, “Class monitor, aren’t you going to sleep?”
The boy across from him noticed that he had been staring at his phone as if there was an incredibly difficult math problem he couldn’t solve.
“Going to sleep now.”
Finally, Pei Chen looked down at his phone, and with a quick motion, his finger tapped on the “Accept” button.
He quickly put his phone down and tried to drift off to sleep.
–
The next morning.
After the alarm rang, everyone hurried to get up.
Liang Zhiyi woke up and immediately reached for her phone. When she turned it on, she saw a new notification in her list: “You have successfully added Pei Chen as a friend.”
He accepted!
Liang Zhiyi’s face lit up with a smile. Ji Fei’er, who had just gotten dressed and climbed down from her bed, noticed and asked, “Why are you grinning like that? Aren’t you getting up?”
Liang Zhiyi smugly showed her the phone screen. Ji Fei’er was surprised, “Did you threaten him last night or something?”
“No way,” Liang Zhiyi cupped her face, “It was obviously because of my overwhelming personal charm.”
“Yeah, right…”
Ji Fei’er walked off to wash up. Just as Liang Zhiyi was about to put down her phone, she noticed another friend request.
She opened it and saw it was from Chen Sihang, the guy who had sat next to her in class last night.
Since they were classmates, Liang Zhiyi didn’t think much of it and accepted the request.
After washing up, everyone headed downstairs to gather. As Liang Zhiyi joined the group, she spotted Pei Chen with his usual composed demeanor.
Pei Chen looked up and happened to catch her gaze. The girl gave him a sly smile, and Pei Chen quickly averted his eyes.
Hmph, still as cold as ever.
Liang Zhiyi turned her head and saw Chen Sihang not far away. He smiled at her, but she barely acknowledged him, not giving it much thought.
After the assembly, everyone walked to the cafeteria. As Pei Chen walked, he overheard the casual voice of Chen Sihang from the group of boys behind him, “I’ve already added Liang Zhiyi as a friend.”
“Nice one, Chen! That was quick!”
“So, when are you planning to make your move on her?”
Their chatter reached Pei Chen’s ears, but he continued to look straight ahead, his eyes deep and unreadable.
–
After breakfast, the morning activity was shooting practice.
The coach announced that there would be live ammunition training today, which especially excited the boys.
As they entered the shooting range, Class 9 gathered in front of an area where the instructor said, “Today’s shooting experience will be led by an external instructor we’ve hired. Let’s give him a warm welcome!”
Amidst the applause, a man approached them.
He stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, dressed in a camouflage short-sleeve shirt and cargo pants, with a pair of combat boots. His features were sharp and rugged under the brim of his baseball cap, exuding a rebellious and confident aura.
“Wow, he’s so handsome!”
This time, it was the girls who were excited. Ji Fei’er grabbed Liang Zhiyi’s hand, “Ahhh, don’t you think he’s really handsome?”
Liang Zhiyi turned her head and saw that even the usually quiet and sweet Zhi Mian was staring, mesmerized. She laughed, “Even Xiao Jiu is captivated; he must be really handsome.”
The girl’s face flushed red, and she quickly looked down, “I wasn’t…”
The man walked to the front of the group, his gaze sweeping over them as he spoke in a deep voice:
“Hello, I’m your external instructor, Duan Zhuo. I’ll be guiding you through the shooting experience today.”
“Today, we’ll be using a small-caliber rifle, the type used by athletes. First, let’s go over the proper way to hold the gun…”
Duan Zhuo picked up the gun from the table and demonstrated to the group.
“And like this…”
He then performed a forward roll, swiftly picking up the gun from the ground and firing a shot, hitting the bullseye dead-on.
The group burst into applause, “So cool!”
After the demonstration, everyone sat on the ground, taking turns in pairs to try it out.
When it was Zhi Mian’s turn, she walked up, trying to recall the correct posture. As she awkwardly gripped the gun, a lazy, drawling male voice sounded, “Pull your shoulder back, and adjust your legs…”
Zhi Mian turned and saw Duan Zhuo standing beside her, her heart racing. After giving his guidance, his voice dropped to a playful whisper near her ear, “Why are you so clumsy? Didn’t I teach you anything before?”
With classmates nearby, Zhi Mian suppressed her pounding heart and whispered back in defense, “I’m not clumsy…”
Duan Zhuo raised an eyebrow, “Go ahead.”
Zhi Mian steadied herself, taking a shot and hitting the eighth ring, which was quite good for a girl. Applause erupted behind her, and Duan Zhuo chuckled softly, “Not bad.”
Blushing, Zhi Mian returned to her place in line.
After Liang Zhiyi took her turn, it was Pei Chen’s.
As she saw him stand up, she called out, “Pei Chen, good luck!”
The boy glanced at her before stepping forward, coincidentally alongside Chen Sihang.
Someone in the group below shouted, “Go for it, Chen! Hit the bullseye!”
Chen Sihang, tall and muscular, looked like someone who would be naturally good at this.
Ji Fei’er turned to Liang Zhiyi and said, “I bet Pei Chen won’t do well. He’s such a bookworm; you can tell just by looking at him that he doesn’t know how to handle a gun.”
Liang Zhiyi lazily stretched her arms back, her eyes focused solely on Pei Chen with a smile. “It doesn’t matter, he looks handsome no matter what.”
“Hopeless fangirl…”
On his first attempt, Pei Chen fired and hit the eighth ring.
Chen Sihang, after watching Pei Chen’s shot, chuckled, cracked his neck, and picked up his gun, effortlessly hitting the ninth ring.
Applause followed, and Chen Sihang turned to Pei Chen with a smirk, “Class monitor, you’re not up to par.”
Next came the second round.
This time, Chen Sihang went first, hitting the ninth ring again.
He glanced over at Pei Chen, who was holding his gun, his sharp profile outlined with focus. A small tear-shaped mole near the corner of his right eye accentuated the cold intensity in his gaze.
A few seconds later, the bullet fired, striking almost directly at the bullseye.
A perfect ten, the best score in the class.
Everyone was stunned. “Pei Chen, you’re a sharpshooter!”
“Wow, that was amazing, class monitor! So cool!”
Pei Chen turned, giving a brief, cold glance at the slightly stiff-faced Chen Sihang before putting down his gun and walking back to the class.
As he rejoined the group, Liang Zhiyi couldn’t help but praise him, “Pei Chen, you were incredible…”
On the other side, Chen Sihang’s face darkened as he noticed Liang Zhiyi smiling and talking to Pei Chen.
–
After the shooting experience in the morning, the afternoon was spent practicing military boxing.
After dinner, the evening’s schedule was to watch a military-themed movie, which was a more relaxed activity.
On their way to the auditorium, Class 9 ran into another class. Liang Zhiyi was chatting with Ji Fei’er when she suddenly felt someone tap her on the head.
“Who was that?”
She turned around, annoyed, only to see her younger brother.
Liang Tongzhou stood among the other class members, dressed in his military uniform, looking carefree and rebellious.
Liang Zhiyi playfully hit him on the arm. “Getting bold, aren’t you?”
The boy chuckled and handed her something, his voice low. “Just brought you a bottle of water. Where’s your gratitude?”
Liang Zhiyi took the soda, her favorite, and huffed lightly, deciding to let it go. “Is your class watching a movie tonight too?”
“Yeah,” Liang Tongzhou’s class was already moving ahead. “Gotta go. Take care these next few days, don’t get heatstroke.”
After he left, Ji Fei’er, who had overheard the whole conversation, looked at her with a gossiping grin. “Who’s that handsome guy? Are you tired of Pei Chen and planning to switch to someone else?”
Liang Zhiyi knocked her on the head. “What nonsense are you talking about? That’s my brother.”
“Ah? That’s your brother?”
Ji Fei’er knew Liang Zhiyi had a younger brother but had never met him. Thinking about how Liang Tongzhou looked, she laughed. “Zhizhi, your family has great genes. Your brother is really handsome, I think he’s even better-looking than Pei Chen.”
Liang Zhiyi stared at Ji Fei’er in shock. “Are you blind?”
“?”
“Pei Chen’s looks totally beat his, okay?” How could her brother’s cocky attitude even be called handsome?
“Look at you, you’re so biased it’s like you’ve twisted yourself into a pretzel.”
A little while later, they arrived at the auditorium. Inside, everyone could choose their seats within their class’s area.
Liang Zhiyi noticed that the seat next to Pei Chen was empty, and her eyes lit up. Ji Fei’er, noticing her gaze, nudged her in mock disdain. “Go on, go sit with your Pei Chen.”
Liang Zhiyi grinned. “Love you.”
She walked over and sat down next to Pei Chen. He looked at her, surprised. “Oh, what a coincidence? I didn’t expect to sit next to you.”
Pei Chen: “…”
He had heard she had acted before, but how did she manage to get in front of the camera with such terrible acting skills?
Liang Zhiyi leaned closer to him and whispered, “Pei Chen, do you know what movie they’re showing tonight?”
“No idea.”
“Oh…”
A few rows behind them, Chen Sihang and his friends noticed the two of them together and were surprised. “Why is Liang Zhiyi sitting with Pei Chen?”
“Hey, did you guys know that Liang Zhiyi talked to Pei Chen alone last night?”
“Why?”
“Not sure, but I heard from some girls in our class that she even added him on WeChat.”
“Could it be that Liang Zhiyi has a thing for him?”
“Well then, Chen, you might be in trouble…”
Chen Sihang, hearing this, raised an eyebrow in disdain. “You think Liang Zhiyi would go for Pei Chen? No way.”
…
After a while, the movie started.
Halfway through, Pei Chen stood up and informed the instructor that he needed to use the restroom before leaving the hall.
Outside, the summer breeze blew gently as he walked across the sports field toward the dormitory building.
After using the restroom, he started to head back.
As he was walking, he happened to run into Chen Sihang.
With his hands in his pockets, Chen Sihang swaggered over, and the next moment, he blocked Pei Chen’s path, speaking lazily, “Hey, let me ask you something.”
Pei Chen lifted his gaze slightly to look at him.
Chen Sihang’s tone was scornful. “That new girl from our class, Liang Zhiyi, did she add you on WeChat?”
Pei Chen glanced at him but continued walking as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
Seeing this, Chen Sihang grabbed his shoulder and sneered, “I’m talking to you—”
He enunciated each word, “Did Liang Zhiyi add you?”
Chen Sihang had disliked Pei Chen since the first year of high school.
Pei Chen was outstanding and popular with the girls, but he always kept a cold expression, like he was above everyone else. It pissed him off—what was he so arrogant about?
Pei Chen turned to him, his thin lips spitting out a few words:
“And what does that have to do with you?”
“Who are you pretending to be? Think you’re all that? You’re just a scholarship student—wake up. You think Liang Zhiyi would be interested in you?”
“I’ve been sick of you for a long time. Today, I really feel like—”
Just as Chen Sihang was about to grab Pei Chen’s collar, Pei Chen swiftly caught his arm and twisted it forcefully.
Chen Sihang was forced to flip over, his whole body pinned down and unable to move. He felt the pressure and pain, grimacing, “Ah!”
Pei Chen held him down firmly, his voice cold as ice as he spoke:
“What do you want to do? Fight?”