Chapter 102: No One’s Here—Want to Hold Hands?

Page 1 of 3

Bian Yang’s eyes were as dark as black ink, motionless as he stared at the girl on the stage.
The girl noticed him too and slowly blinked her almond-shaped eyes.
She had not expected him to come—and in his school uniform, no less.
It was the first time she had seen him dressed like that, and it caught everyone’s eye.
So tall, and somehow in the front row where no one could pretend not to notice him.

Tang Yu gave him a gentle smile, a faint dimple lifting her cheek.
Bian Yang was certain it was for him.
The melancholy in his gaze disappeared at once.
As if someone had dripped honey into his chest, he smiled faintly in return.

After Tang Yu finished her speech as usual, the principal followed the agreement and called Meng Shirui onto the stage to apologize.
The moment she stepped up, the audience went silent.
She nearly bit through her teeth as she read the so-called confession, then turned slightly and looked at Tang Yu with sharp, predatory eyes.
Tang Yu faced her without changing expression, only curving her lips a little.

Meng Shirui blinked in astonishment; then anger flared in her chest.
Tang Yu was daring her.

After Meng Shirui finished, the principal announced, “Regarding the fight that occurred at school last week, after a thorough investigation we have dealt seriously with the involved students and issued a formal reprimand. From now on, please all supervise one another. If Meng Shirui continues any violent behavior toward Tang Yu, the school will proceed with expulsion.”

The room erupted in overlapping whispers: schadenfreude, disbelief, relief—
no one had expected Meng Shirui to be punished.

Meng Shirui lowered her head. She had never felt so ashamed in all her life.
Especially beneath Zhou Xunwen’s gaze, fixed on Tang Yu from beginning to end.

With her sharp nails she crushed the self-critique paper, blue veins standing at her temples, her body trembling with jealous rage. In the next moment she pushed through the crowd and rushed out, humiliated.
The principal did not stop her.

Tang Yu’s recent exam results had been impossible to ignore.
In the first mock exam, using the citywide entrance-test papers, she was first in her third-year class at Qingyuan High School and first in the whole city.
If she performed normally in the college entrance examination, she could very well remain first again.

As for Meng Shirui, her family had never expected her to achieve anything remarkable.
With average results, she would likely secure a place by purchase in a key provincial university.

The principal, already making his calculations, looked at Tang Yu kindly.
“Tang Yu, you have no objection to this decision, do you?”

She took the microphone, her tone light and steady.
“Thank you, Principal. I believe the school will take a series of improvements to prevent this from happening again: raise the wall around the track to stop outsiders from climbing in, install cameras in dead corners of the playground and corridors, add security staff, require student-card access for entering and leaving, and strengthen campus safety. Under your leadership, Qingyuan High School will become better and better.”

The smile on the principal’s lips stiffened at once.
Every reform Tang Yu listed would cost money.
“Er—” he hesitated, then, under the students’ clamor, bit back his resistance and nodded.
“Of course. The school will strengthen management so every student and parent can be without worry.”

Instantly the hall broke into cheers.

Qingyuan High had been careless about security before; complaints were not rare.
Outsiders often roamed the school grounds, and campus violence kept flaring up.
Many victims dared not speak, fearing even harsher retaliation.
Using Meng Shirui as an example this time had at least tightened security—surely enough to let everyone breathe easier before the entrance exams.

Page 2 of 3

Right after the flag-raising ceremony, as soon as Tang Yu stepped down from the stage, Zhou Xunwen came over.
“Tang Yu.”

She turned to look at him once.
His face was full of regret, and not without care.
“How is your health? I meant to visit you at the hospital, but I didn’t know which one you were in. I searched for so long and still couldn’t find you.”

“I’m fine now.” Tang Yu replied, coolly.
Then she kept moving forward.

“Tang Yu, wait.”
He hurried after her, matching her pace.

“I only found out later what Meng Shirui did. I’m sorry. Trust me, from now on I’ll keep her far away from you. You won’t get hurt again.”

Tang Yu quickened her steps; Zhou caught up.
“I heard you agreed to join the math competition. That’s great—this time we can…”

She stopped dead in her tracks and faced him.
“Do you know why Meng Shirui is targeting me?”

Meeting her calm eyes, Zhou felt an inexplicable fear, as if expecting something awful.
Tang Yu’s voice remained even. “It’s because of you. She thinks I like you, or that you like me. That’s why she keeps coming after me, again and again.”

She had probably held it in for a long time. Saying it so calmly seemed to lift a great burden off her chest.

Zhou stood as if nailed in place, his throat blocked as though with wet cotton; he could barely speak.
Tang Yu kept going.
“In short, all the hardship I have endured came because of you.
And I never honestly told you what Meng Shirui did to me. Do you know why?”

He did not want to hear it. He wanted to cover his ears, to beg her to stop.

“Because I think you and she are the same kind of person.”

Those words drove into him like blades.

He paled at once, as if struck by lightning, and froze where he stood.
Tang Yu’s face remained expressionless.
“I don’t have many friends, but I don’t want to make friends recklessly. Keep your distance from me from now on.”

Zhou’s lips trembled. As Tang Yu turned away, he summoned all his courage to speak.

“But I… I like you.”

He had the feeling that if he did not say it now, he would never have another chance.
He looked at her with frantic eyes.

Tang Yu’s steps halted.

Bian Yang had already been walking this way since she left the stage.
At their conversation, he slowed and his smile vanished at once.
Morning sunlight was not scorching like midday, yet after a while it still made one uneasy.
His face darkened, becoming heavy and ominous, and it unsettled her for no reason.

Only then she heard the girl’s words:
“But I don’t like you.”
She didn’t turn her head, her lips just parting slightly. “In fact… I hate you.”

She left without stopping.
—Hate you.
At that moment, it seemed those three words alone echoed.

Page 3 of 3

Zhou’s color drained from his face in an instant, as if lightning had struck him, and he stood rooted to the spot.
Bian Yang tapped the corner of his mouth with his tongue in a quick, satisfied gesture.
There was not a trace of annoyance left on him—he seemed positively delighted.

He strode a few steps forward and came to stand beside Tang Yu.
She had first thought it was him and remained irritable, but when she glanced back and saw Bian Yang, her expression eased noticeably.

“What are you doing here?”

He was tall, with a bold, wild face and sharp features; even in his school uniform, nothing could hide the extraordinary way he stood out.

But she also remembered last night: they had shared one bed, he had held her while they slept, her back against his burning warmth; even now, as the scent of his cool cedar seemed still lingering, that moment clung to her in the air.
Her ears reddened.
He must have been half-dizzy with fever then—he probably forgot.

“So, are you still unwell?” she asked, calm. “You were told to rest for a day. Why are you here for class already?”

Bian Yang’s hands were in his pockets; he looked relaxed, almost lazy.
Listening to her caring voice, he was in inexplicably good spirits, his lips unable to keep a straight line.

“Why, are you that worried about me?”
Tang Yu, half in exasperation, ignored him.

There was a playful tilt in his eyes as he walked beside her at an unhurried pace around the track.
“My little tutor told me to study hard. I can’t afford to slack off. Here I am, back to doing my practice papers like a model student.”

Seeing him like this, she thought: he was fully back to life.
“It would be nice if you really meant that,” she said softly.

Not even a second passed.
“Well then, since no one is around, why don’t we hold hands?”

“…”

Tang Yu gave him no answer. Bian Yang placed the back of his hand on his forehead, playing at weakness.
“I suddenly feel bad again.”

“Bian Yang!”
She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance; his acting was too terrible.
“Can’t you be serious?”

She had pitied him for so long last night, and now he was being this carefree again. It made her both sympathetic and furious, and a little helpless.

Bian Yang lowered his hand slowly, deliberately, then lifted his brow slightly.
“I’m being perfectly serious.”
“Some kind of reward system should be put into practice.”

He shot her a glance out of the corner of his eye.
“Besides, enforcing the rights of your future boyfriend seems quite reasonable.”

A future boyfriend.
He’d better try scoring six hundred first.

Tang Yu looked around carefully, worried someone might hear, then almost wanted to cover his mouth.
Frowning, she whispered, “Don’t just blurt things out.”