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Le Ya watched Chen Yang smile, unsure of what he found amusing.

She loosened her grip on her clothes, only then realizing she had been sweating a little, and her palms were starting to feel warm.

Seeing that he was still smiling, she whispered softly, “Stop laughing.”

His laughter made her uneasy.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang stopped. He crouched halfway on the ground, tilting his head up to look at her, and said, “You like… Chen Yang, huh?”

The way he said the name sounded incredibly enticing.

The blush that had just faded from Le Ya’s cheeks flared back up, making her appear even paler by contrast. She glared at him twice and muttered, “What does it matter to you?”

Chen Yang lazily replied, “If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to know if you’re serious or lying—or whatever else?”

He propped up one side of his face, wearing an expression that clearly said, “Go ahead and talk.”

Le Ya glanced at the items beside him, took a small step back, and said with her hands behind her back, “I won’t say it.”

Who would admit their secret crush to someone else—especially when she had just blurted it out randomly?

After a long standoff, Chen Yang finally stood up.

Fine, if she didn’t want to say, then so be it.

Anyway, he’d already heard what he needed to hear.

Thinking about her earlier outburst, Chen Yang couldn’t help but chuckle softly—and indeed, he did.

Instead of getting angry, he felt oddly pleased when she glared at him.

Le Ya remained silent, her beautiful eyes darting between him and the delivery boxes, clearly wanting to take them away.

Chen Yang’s phone vibrated.

Liang Qian: The security guard is coming back.

Liang Qian: Brother Yang, hurry up and finish this.

The security guard had been sent off earlier to check something, and now it was time for him to return since class was about to start.

Chen Yang composed himself, twirled his phone in his hand, stood up, turned around, and grabbed the delivery boxes with smooth, quick movements.

Seeing this, Le Ya let out a small cry.

Her delicate face was right beside him, her clean, clear eyes fixed intently on him.

Chen Yang almost felt like he was doing something wicked.

Teasing her like this really did seem a bit mischievous.

He licked his lips, turned back, and pulled something out of his pocket, placing it between them.

It was a student ID card.

Every student at First High School basically had one, as they were required for many things, such as verifying identity during exams.

The one in his hand looked brand new, as if it had never been used.

Chen Yang held the dark red student ID card between his fingers, smirking faintly, and asked, “Do you want to take a look?”

Le Ya shook her head.

Why would she bother looking at someone else’s student ID?

Chen Yang spoke meaningfully, “You don’t want to see the ID of the person you like?”

At his teasing words, Le Ya wanted to retort, but after hesitating for a few seconds, she reluctantly took the student ID from him.

To be honest, she didn’t know what she expected to see inside.

Chen Yang raised his hand slightly, gesturing for her to open it.

Le Ya glanced at him and slowly flipped it open.

In an instant, she froze. She had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life—it was like a devastating blow.

It was as if everything she had said before was a lie.

She couldn’t help but gasp.

On the student ID was a clear blue-background photo, and below it were the two characters: “Chen Yang.”

The person in the photo was standing right in front of her.

Unbelieving, Le Ya opened it again to double-check.

Chen Yang simply watched her actions, letting out a low laugh. Why was this so funny? And yet, somehow endearing.

Le Ya checked it three times in total before finally giving up any lingering doubts.

Chen Yang was indeed the person standing in front of her.

Recalling what she had said earlier, according to Xie Qingyu’s frequent reminders, it felt like every word she had spoken was slapping herself in the face.

She didn’t even recognize Chen Yang.

Forget about all the previous incidents where she had embarrassed herself repeatedly in front of him. Now, her confession of having a crush on him and liking him…

Le Ya wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the ground and disappear forever.

From afar, Xie Qingyu called out, “Le Ya, are you done yet?”

Le Ya quickly stole a glance at Chen Yang.

Just then, their eyes met—his deep and pitch-black.

Chen Yang saw the girl’s face instantly turn bright red, her lips slightly parted, but unable to utter a single word after what felt like an eternity.

He hummed softly, “What do you want to say?”

At this point, Le Ya’s ears were crimson, almost bleeding, and heat radiated off her entire body. Finally, she fled in panic.

Chen Yang: “….”

She hadn’t returned his student ID.

After a while, Chen Yang leaned back against the doorframe, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. He said nothing, his expression unreadable.

If she thought he wasn’t Chen Yang, then who did she think he was?

________________________________________

Liang Qian remarked, “Hey, why’d she run off?”

They had just returned to witness this scene. Looking at the girl’s expression, it was as if she had endured some inhumane treatment.

Chen Yang must have done something again.

In such a short amount of time, Le Ya’s figure had already disappeared into the teaching building, leaving no trace that she had been at the security office moments ago.

Zhao Mingri approached, asking, “Brother Yang, what should we do now?”

Chen Yang glanced over there before turning his gaze back, speaking in a calm tone, “Take the packages.”

Liang Qian responded, “Got it.”

Honestly, these delivery boxes weren’t heavy—they were just large and took up a lot of space, stacked neatly.

Liang Qian called a few people over, each carrying one box back to the classroom. They happened to have a corner where they could place them perfectly.

Their procession into the classroom caught the attention of the students who were already there, who curiously looked over.

Wu Yami had eaten lunch in the cafeteria and arrived at the classroom early. She asked, “What did you bring back?”

Liang Qian teased, “Guess.”

Wu Yami scolded, “Guess your head!”

Liang Qian shrugged, not planning to respond to her. He placed the delivery boxes on the floor, arranging them by size, and stretched lazily.

Chen Yang was the last to return, walking back nonchalantly.

Once everyone settled back into their seats, Liang Qian enthusiastically said, “Let me think about what we’ve got here.”

Zhao Mingri hadn’t paid attention to the contents earlier, so he went to the back to check, comparing each item against the information on the labels.

A nearby boy curiously leaned over and asked, “What did you guys buy so much stuff for? Are you treating the whole class?”

Liang Qian replied, “You must be dreaming.”

He smirked. Using Brother Yang’s packages to treat the entire class would be signing his own death warrant.

The boy continued, “Then what’s inside?”

The boxes were quite large, and there were several of them—it was impossible not to feel curious.

Hearing the commotion, Wu Yami also sneakily glanced over.

Liang Qian thought for a moment. He had seen the labels when checking things at the security office earlier. “Student formula milk powder.”

The boy was stunned. “What? Milk powder?”

Liang Qian nodded. “Yeah, why? Are you telling me you’ve never had milk since you were a kid?”

The boy awkwardly laughed. “I’ve had it, I’ve had it—I just didn’t expect it to be this.”

Zhao Mingri chimed in, “Breakfast milk!”

Liang Qian added, “Oatmeal.”

This was the last box. Zhao Mingri squatted down to inspect it and chuckled after a while. “Vitamin tablets.”

None of these items seemed like something a girl with a crush would send—they were more like things a concerned parent would give to supplement their child’s health.

Liang Qian burst out laughing. “Brother Yang, when are you going to finish all these? Are you going to drink formula milk every day from now on?”

The thought of it made him laugh uncontrollably.

How could Le Ya’s mind work like this? At least she could have sent some candy or snacks—what was with the student formula milk and vitamin tablets?

Chen Yang shot him a glance, coldly saying, “Get lost.”

Seeing this, Liang Qian quickly backed off.

Class 1, Senior Three.

Half of the students in the classroom had already arrived. Some were taking naps, some were working on test papers, and the rest were chatting.

“And then it ended up being this awkward?”

Xie Qingyu listened with her mouth agape, utterly shocked by the outcome. No matter how much she had imagined, she never expected this result.

Le Ya silently nodded.

Xie Qingyu remained silent for a long while before finally speaking. “So what now? This is so awkward.”

Claiming to have a secret crush, only to not even recognize who he was.

What kind of person in love would find themselves in such an embarrassing situation—getting the name of their crush wrong? It was so unbelievable that no one would believe it if they heard about it.

Le Ya covered her face. “I don’t know.”

“Sigh.” Xie Qingyu thought the whole thing was absurd and coincidental. “It’s my fault—I shouldn’t have let you write that.”

But honestly, she really wanted to laugh hysterically…

Xie Qingyu had never imagined that her usually quiet and well-behaved friend, who rarely interacted privately with boys, would confess her feelings to someone.

Though it had been intentional, it backfired spectacularly.

Xie Qingyu twirled her pen. “Why not just tell the truth?”

Le Ya sat at her desk, resting her head on Xie Qingyu’s table. “I can’t say it—it’ll cause trouble.”

She had agreed to write that she secretly liked him precisely because it wouldn’t expose her identity as the benefactor’s daughter, avoiding any sense of charity or hurting his pride.

Who could have guessed it would turn out like this?

“This Chen Yang isn’t the same as the one we know,” Xie Qingyu said, pulling a candy from her pocket and handing it to Le Ya. “What happened to the good student we imagined?”

Le Ya replied, “His grades are excellent.”

They had simply fallen into a fixed mindset.

She peeled the candy, popped it into her mouth, and sighed again, her mind a jumbled mess. She had no idea what to do.

Xie Qingyu cupped her face with both hands. “Yueya, do you think he might be interested in you? Maybe he intentionally hid this from you—or maybe he’s trying to flirt with you?”

Le Ya quickly shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

The more Xie Qingyu thought about it, the more plausible her theory seemed. She speculated, “If it’s not that, then it’s very likely he’s deliberately getting close to you—or maybe he already knows you’re Uncle Le’s daughter.”

Le Ya interrupted. “These are all just guesses.”

Although her impression of Chen Yang wasn’t great, these far-fetched ideas still felt unlikely to her.

“Forget it, forget it,” Xie Qingyu huffed. “Every time I bring something up, you deny it and defend him.”

Before Le Ya could protest, Xie Qingyu covered her mouth.

Then the bell rang for class. This period was English.

The English teacher was very gentle, having studied abroad before returning to combine her teaching methods with domestic practices. The main subject teachers at First High School typically taught two classes—for instance, the English teacher handled Class One and Class Two.

After every major exam, Class One’s average English scores consistently ranked first in the grade, with Class Two following closely behind.

The English teacher assigned a few questions for them to work on.

Le Ya opened her textbook, her eyes weary.

Today’s events had hit her hard. When she finally snapped out of her daze, she realized the English teacher was standing beside her.

The teacher bent down and asked, “Why haven’t you finished this question yet? Do you not understand?”

She explained the knowledge points involved.

Le Ya knew them all, but fortunately, the question she’d paused on while daydreaming was difficult enough that it didn’t reveal much.

“The key points are here,” the teacher said, reaching over to flip open her textbook. “You can take a look.”

As the book shifted, the student ID underneath slipped onto the floor.

The teacher picked it up without suspicion, glanced at the photo inside, and remarked, “Isn’t this yours?”

She vaguely remembered seeing this student before.

Le Ya looked over and instinctively gasped.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “… I found this on the road.”

The teacher didn’t doubt her explanation and gently advised, “You should return it soon. It’ll be needed for the upcoming midterm exams. I remember he’s a student from Class Seventeen.”

Le Ya softly hummed in agreement. “I understand.”

The teacher placed the student ID back on her desk and moved away.

Half an hour later, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

As soon as the English teacher left the classroom, the students began to relax.

Le Ya lowered her head, resting her cheek on her hand, staring at the half-completed questions in her textbook. She sighed deeply.

What should she do if she ran into him again?

After sitting there for a minute, Le Ya mustered her resolve, placed the student ID in her pocket, and prepared to return it to Class Seventeen.

And then never think about Chen Yang again.

If she was lucky, Chen Yang wouldn’t be in the classroom, and she could simply hand it over to a classmate to pass along—that would be perfect.

Her plan sounded good, but reality often differed.

Le Ya hadn’t expected to bump into Chen Yang in the hallway.

In the midst of a noisy crowd, Chen Yang leaned casually against the railing, absentmindedly gazing down at the square courtyard below.

Le Ya slowly shuffled over.

As soon as she reached the edge, Chen Yang turned his head, giving her a once-over, his gaze traveling from her face to the student ID in her hand.

He raised an eyebrow. “Not keeping it as a souvenir?”

Le Ya held her breath and extended the student ID toward him.

Liang Qian and Zhao Mingri, who were secretly watching nearby, exchanged glances, stifling their laughter.

Never would they have imagined that the student ID had ended up in her possession. At this rate, how far off could their relationship be?

Chen Yang still had a band-aid on his face, though it wasn’t the one Le Ya had applied last time—it was another one she had given him.

The two were the same style but different colors.

As Le Ya stole a glance at him, she thought to herself: If only she hadn’t given it to him.

After a long while, when the student ID still hadn’t been taken, she finally couldn’t bear it anymore. “Here, take it back.”

Chen Yang reached out to take it.

Whether intentional or not, their fingertips brushed. Le Ya’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

Lowering her head, she hesitated for a moment before softly saying, “Everything I said at noon today was a lie—you shouldn’t take it seriously.”

Chen Yang feigned confusion. “What?”

Le Ya bit her lip. “What I said at noon wasn’t true.”

Chen Yang stepped closer, looming over her with a slight tilt of his head. His eyes narrowed as he asked, “So you don’t like Chen Yang?”

Le Ya flushed red. What was wrong with this guy?

Deciding to go along with the topic, she blurted out, “I’ve fallen for someone else.”

Chen Yang froze for a moment before breaking into a laugh, teasing her. “So quick to transfer your affections… impressive speed.”

She had confessed her feelings for him in the afternoon and already claimed to like someone else by evening.

He had never seen anyone move so fast.

Frustrated, Le Ya retorted, “Yes, I’ve transferred my affections. Are you going to stop me?”

Chen Yang leaned down, bringing his face close to hers, and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

Just as Le Ya was about to call him a pervert, he opened his eyes, his gaze cold and sharp. In a low voice, he murmured, “No, I won’t allow it.”