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“I won’t allow it.”

Chen Yang’s voice was low, almost audible only to her.

Le Ya felt slightly uncomfortable. She blinked gently and slowed her breathing, afraid of brushing against him.

That single sentence left her breathless.

Though his tone was simple, it gave Le Ya the impression that if she truly went against his wishes, the consequences would be dire.

She wrinkled her nose slightly, about to speak, but he stepped back, resuming his calm demeanor.

Several onlookers behind him craned their necks to watch, their eyes brimming with interest, some even preparing to tease.

Liang Qian crossed his arms and said, “Brother Yang just loves bullying this little girl all day long. Look at her red eyes—oh my.”

Zhao Mingri nudged him. “Don’t be so gleeful. Be careful, or you’ll be the one with red eyes soon.”

At that point, no one would feel sorry for him.

Hearing this, Liang Qian shrugged and didn’t continue speaking.

The group had originally gathered here to watch people play downstairs because the railing on the corridor of Class Seventeen was short, and the adjacent area belonged to Class Eighteen. It wasn’t as comfortable or spacious as this spot.

Chen Yang slid one hand into his pocket. The zipper of his uniform was partially undone, revealing a black shirt at the collar. His skin had an almost sickly pallor.

Just by standing there, most of the girls coming to fetch water slowed their pace, stealing glances at him.

Liang Qian and the others whistled.

In her entire life, Le Ya had never encountered someone like Chen Yang—someone with such peculiar and unreasonable thinking.

If only she hadn’t bought anything. She had thought he was malnourished, but now, looking at him, he seemed lively and energetic. There was no sign of malnutrition.

Chen Yang kept his gaze steady. “Why aren’t you speaking?”

When reminded of what happened at noon, Le Ya blushed again, facing his unpredictable expression.

Le Ya turned her face away. “It’s definitely not you.”

Chen Yang straightened up slightly, smirking as he slowly said, “At the very least, I was your former crush, right?”

He didn’t lower his voice, and immediately, the crowd erupted in cheers.

Liang Qian recalled the note on the delivery boxes and burst out laughing. “Former crush? Hahahaha!”

Zhao Mingri leaned on his shoulder, laughing uncontrollably. “So quick to become a former crush, Brother Yang is truly pitiful, really pitiful.”

They never expected this turn of events.

Suppressing her swirling thoughts, Le Ya hastily slapped the student ID onto him. “Here, take it.”

As she slapped it over, she accidentally brushed against him.

The student ID nearly fell, but Chen Yang caught it deftly, slightly bending his body. “Ouch, that hurts.”

Le Ya: “… “

She was truly infuriated.

She hadn’t used much force—how could she possibly hurt him? Clearly, he was pretending, yet he made it seem so real.

Le Ya pursed her lips and turned to leave.

Even after returning to the door of her classroom, she could still hear the voices of the blond and redhead calling out “Brother Yang.”

Unconsciously, she glanced sideways, meeting Chen Yang’s amused gaze.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the classroom.

Xie Qingyu sat up from the desk, asking, “What’s wrong? Returning a student ID shouldn’t make you this upset. Did something else happen?”

Le Ya shook her head. “Nothing.”

Seeing she didn’t want to talk about it, Xie Qingyu didn’t press further. “Class is starting soon; the next period is physics.”

Le Ya hummed softly.

As soon as she finished speaking, the bell rang.

Once the class bell sounded, everyone outside quickened their pace, heading back to their classrooms, except for some delinquents.

“What are you looking at?”

Li Youyou patted Wu Yami’s shoulder.

Not hearing a response, she followed Wu Yami’s line of sight. “Oh, it’s Chen Yang over there. Even from this distance, you can tell he’s handsome.”

To be honest, Class Seventeen took pride in having Chen Yang.

Other classes envied them endlessly. He consistently ranked first in exams, beloved by teachers, yet privately maintained a different persona. Every day, dozens of girls pretended to pass by Class Seventeen casually.

Li Youyou felt no romantic feelings toward Chen Yang—only admiration. She often watched the scene unfold. “Class is starting soon. Why are you still standing here? I’m ready; let’s go. Don’t be late.”

Wu Yami snapped out of it. “Oh, okay.”

She stood opposite the water room corridor. This side housed the male and female restrooms. She had come with her desk mate, exited first, and waited outside.

Who would have thought she’d witness such a scene?

Wu Yami was pulled back into the classroom by her desk mate. Sitting back at her seat, she clearly remembered what she saw.

Carefully, she took out her phone.

The screen displayed a distant shot, capturing the moment when Chen Yang bent down close to Le Ya’s face—an intimate gesture.

Wu Yami stared at it for a long time, taking a deep breath.

She tapped the screen, and a rarely used new account popped up. The contact list contained only a few people.

Her homeroom teacher happened to be among them.

Gritting her teeth, Wu Yami sent the photo, then turned off her phone. As she looked up, she met her desk mate’s curious gaze.

Her desk mate was a bespectacled boy with an ordinary appearance. She had wondered more than once why she hadn’t been seated in the last row.

Wu Yami snapped, “What are you looking at?”

Her desk mate adjusted his glasses. “You look guilty.”

Just then, the teacher arrived at the front door. Wu Yami glared at him, stuffed her phone into her pocket, and opened her textbook.

Her heart raced with excitement—it felt incredibly thrilling.

Initially, she wanted to send it to Lin Xinqiao but held back, deciding to wait a while longer to let Lin Xinqiao suffer a bit.

Being beautiful didn’t mean anything if someone else got there first.

Thinking of the person behind her, though hidden by tall books, she still wanted to turn around but ultimately restrained herself.

How nice it would be to sit behind him.

But then again, every time Chen Yang looked up, he’d see her, which was also good. Wu Yami couldn’t help but smile.

The math teacher had just stepped onto the podium when he noticed the towering stack of delivery boxes at the back. He asked, “Whose stuff is this, piled up so high?”

Everyone’s gaze followed suit.

After some murmurs, Liang Qian raised his hand and called out, “Teacher, it’s Chen Yang’s. He bought them to nourish his body.”

Upon hearing this, scattered laughter echoed through the classroom.

“Nourishing his body?” What nonsense.

No one dared to laugh too loudly. After all, teachers considered him a good student, but they were well aware of Chen Yang’s ruthlessness.

No one dared to offend him.

Upon hearing this, the math teacher nodded. “Hmm, he does need nourishment… Alright, everyone, take out last night’s test paper. Let’s start with the big questions at the end…”

The topic on the podium shifted.

In the back row, Liang Qian and Zhao Mingri laughed uproariously, imagining Chen Yang drinking so many things in the future.

Liang Qian even planned everything out for Chen Yang. “Brother Yang, like this: breakfast milk on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; oatmeal on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and formula milk on Sundays. Perfectly balanced, hahaha.”

This weekly schedule was packed, ensuring no letdown of Le Ya’s expectations, feeding Brother Yang until he gained weight.

Zhao Mingri lightly tapped the desk, covering his mouth to suppress his laughter—it was tough to hold it in.

Chen Yang glanced at him. “Are you so idle?”

A chill ran down Liang Qian’s spine. He quickly turned around and sat upright. “Busy, busy, I’m very busy. I need to focus on the lesson.”

He didn’t want to listen to the lesson—he only wanted to gossip.

By Thursday afternoon, after the final class ended.

Before leaving, the teacher assigned a separate problem. Le Ya had solved half of it and planned to finish eating before continuing.

Xie Qingyu waited behind, playing with her phone.

She couldn’t solve it anyway, so she planned to check Le Ya’s answer before evening study and have her explain it.

People passed by outside the window, and soon it became quiet.

Outside, it had grown dark. The lights in each classroom were still on.

Le Ya lowered her head, solving the final step. She circled the correct steps on the draft paper, planning to copy them neatly after eating.

Her ponytail slid to one side, with fine strands neatly pinned back with hair clips, exposing her fair neck, inviting touch.

The window was suddenly pushed open, and a cold breeze rushed in.

Le Ya instinctively shrank back, turning her head to look. She saw Chen Yang with his hand resting on the windowsill, leaning casually as he watched her.

She froze for a moment, then tried to close the window, but his hand was still there. Not wanting to speak or accidentally hurt him, she simply turned her head and ignored him.

But with this interruption, she couldn’t focus anymore.

After a long while, she had only written a few numbers.

Chen Yang raised an eyebrow and snatched her draft paper.

Le Ya stood up, reaching out to grab it back, but before she could, he skimmed through it quickly and pointed out, “Step five is wrong.”

Her face instantly flushed red.

Not only had she made a mistake, but he had also pointed it out.

Le Ya snatched the draft paper back, shoved it into her book, and closed it. “You don’t even know the problem—how do you know I’m wrong?”

Chen Yang calmly recited a string of words.

It was exactly what the teacher had said before leaving.

Clearly, he knew the problem—he must have solved it before. Le Ya pursed her lips, heat rushing to her face yet again. Every time she encountered him, it felt like this.

Chen Yang chuckled softly. “Any other questions?”

Le Ya couldn’t handle being teased. Pretending to be calm, she sniffed lightly, glanced at him, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Chen Yang leaned against the windowsill, tapping the tiles with his fingers, producing a crisp sound.

He said nonchalantly, “I want milk tea.”

Le Ya paused, recalling their previous agreement.

True, he had said that he’d let her know when he wanted some, and she had agreed at the time. But who could have predicted all these events happening recently?

Today, Le Ya really didn’t want to see him at all.

As the atmosphere grew awkward, Xie Qingyu, who had been silent until now, blinked. “Le Ya, let’s go eat dinner.”

Then, Chen Yang glanced at her. “Tonight, she’s mine.”

That statement carried a lot of ambiguity.

Le Ya glared at him. “Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Xie Qingyu felt a chill run down her spine after being looked at.

Le Ya sighed and quietly explained, “I owe him a drink from before. You’ve waited so long tonight…”

Xie Qingyu whispered, “If you think it’s fine, I’ll go eat dinner first. Call me if anything happens.”

Le Ya nodded.

After Xie Qingyu’s figure disappeared from the classroom, Class One was left with only Le Ya inside. Half of the lights were already off.

Chen Yang stared at her without blinking. “Don’t feel like treating me?”

Le Ya said, “No… Just wait for me to pack my things.”

The corridor outside was quiet, with only one or two people passing by occasionally, each glancing over.

Le Ya turned to tidy up the items on her desk.

Chen Yang narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze shifting from her body to her profile. Her small face was tense, clearly unhappy.

Her uniform was a bit too big, hanging loosely on her delicate frame, making her look both beautiful and frail. Her pale neck was exposed, seemingly fragile enough to snap with a slight touch.

Chen Yang’s throat moved. He knew well that her family likely showered her with luxuries.

It took her a while to finish packing.

Chen Yang wasn’t in a rush, watching her fumble with interest.

Le Ya could feel his gaze never leaving her, her back stiff with tension. Once everything was packed, she steeled herself and said, “I’m ready.”

The two walked out of the school, one in front of the other.

Le Ya was pouting, unwilling to talk, silently following behind Chen Yang, muttering under her breath about how much of a jerk he was.

Though she dared not say it to his face.

Just as she was thinking, the person in front suddenly stopped. She bumped right into him, hard, her forehead throbbing painfully.

A voice came from above. “You don’t even watch where you’re walking.”

Le Ya was utterly mortified, feeling like she had embarrassed herself countless times in front of him. She urged, “Hurry up and walk.”

Chen Yang looked down at her forehead.

Such a light bump had already caused it to redden.

He frowned, thinking, How delicate.

Seeing that he hadn’t moved, Le Ya rubbed her forehead and said, “If we don’t hurry, we won’t have much time. We can’t be late for evening study.”

Chen Yang hummed softly, turned around, and slowed his pace.

There were quite a few milk tea shops outside the school. This was the new campus area, with three or four shops lining both sides of the street, competing fiercely.

However, regular customers knew which ones were good.

Chen Yang led Le Ya across the street to a milk tea shop. The interior was decorated in light green, giving off a fresh and pretty vibe.

Most of the staff making the drinks were young. The owner of this shop was a recently graduated girl who looked very gentle.

Not long after school had ended, there were other students inside the shop.

Le Ya didn’t recognize anyone, but the moment Chen Yang entered, everyone’s eyes were glued to them—especially on her.

She felt uneasy.

The shop girl had just finished making a cup and glanced at Chen Yang. “You rarely come here for milk tea—it’s rare to see you.”

Chen Yang hummed in response.

He turned his head slightly and bent down to ask Le Ya, “What do you want?”

Le Ya let out a soft “Ah,” her voice barely audible. “It’s your choice—you pick, and I’ll pay.”

She stole a glance around the shop, noticing the girls staring at them.

At the nearby table, two girls whispered while stealing glances. “Am I seeing this right? Chen Yang brought a girl here—who is she?”

“I haven’t seen her before—I don’t know.”

“Is she a freshman? She looks so young. Is Chen Yang really that perverted, going after high school freshmen?”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t mind being ‘targeted’ either…”

Their whispers reached Le Ya’s ears clearly through her newly replaced hearing aid.

Though her face remained calm, her earlobes turned red.

Why did people always jump to such conclusions? They weren’t even in a relationship, and high school was no place for romance.

People really were attracted to good looks, she thought bitterly. How many girls had Chen Yang’s face ensnared?

Chen Yang, not receiving an answer, asked again, “What do you want to drink, hmm?”

The last syllable was barely audible over the music playing in the shop.

Le Ya snapped back to reality and mumbled, “I’m not drinking.”

The two stood frozen for a few seconds.

The shop girl sized them up, smiling. “You can share—one shop promotion is buy one, get the second half off.”

She added, “It’s specially prepared for couples.”