Wang Yuchen pursed her lips. She used to have a good impression of Li Yuan and thought that he and Bai Weixi would end up together. But now, she only had one word to describe Li Yuan: "scumbag."
Li Yuan chuckled at her fuming expression. "Scumbag? When was I a scumbag to you? I don't seem to recall."
Wang Yuchen glared at him with wide eyes. "You know exactly what you did."
Li Yuan glanced at Wang Yuchen's curvaceous figure. Looks aside, her body is still top-notch.
"The way you say that makes it sound like I've committed some unforgivable sin. Why don't you tell me, what exactly did I do?"
Just as Wang Yuchen was about to continue, Bai Weixi's voice drifted over faintly. "Yuchen, stop it."
Bai Weixi's beautiful eyes were fixed on Li Yuan, shimmering with anticipation. But Li Yuan didn't even glance at her, instead walking straight over to Wang Shuai. "Handsome guy, give me your seat."
Wang Shuai obediently stood up. "Yuan, where should I sit then?"
Li Yuan glanced toward the seat beside Bai Weixi. "Isn't it obvious? We're swapping. Naturally, you'll sit in my seat."
Wang Shuai suddenly shuddered, feeling a murderous glare stabbing him in the back. "Yuan, please, spare me. I'm afraid someone's gaze is going to kill me."
Li Yuan was speechless. "You're a grown man, and you're afraid of a little girl?"
Wang Shuai chuckled and retorted, "Yuan, that was your seat to begin with. Why aren't you taking it instead of trying to occupy mine?"
Li Yuan spread his hands. "You know I've recently developed an allergy to green tea."
Wang Shuai was puzzled. "But didn't you used to love drinking green tea?"
Li Yuan couldn't be bothered to explain that the two "green teas" were completely different in taste and composition.
"This 'green tea' isn't that green tea. Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway. Just tell me, are you switching or not?"
Wang Shuai looked troubled. "Yuan, you know I'm allergic to beautiful women."
"I call bull," Li Yuan retorted. Every guy in our group knows that Wang Shuai's favorite pastime is secretly checking out pretty girls. "A pack of Yuxi cigarettes. Deal?"
"Yuan, my mistake. What I meant to say is that I love looking at beautiful women." Upon hearing the offer, Wang Shuai began nodding his head like a bobblehead. "I'll go, I have to go! Your business is my business."
With that, looking like a martyr marching to his execution, he headed toward the seat next to Bai Weixi.
Bai Weixi hadn't expected her own deskmate, Li Yuan, to be so unwilling to even sit beside her. The initial disappointment gave way to overwhelming shame and anger. She was the universally acknowledged school beauty. The line of boys wanting to sit next to her could stretch from Class 1 to Class 30. Yet, for two years, she had always chosen to sit with Li Yuan. Now that someone else was beside her, it felt deeply unsettling.
Li Yuan, how could he treat me like this? How could he embarrass me so badly?
The more Bai Weixi thought about it, the angrier she became. Recalling the events of the past half-month, she could no longer hold back her tears, and large droplets began to fall.
Wang Shuai watched the scene unfold, frozen and unsure of what to do. He finally tiptoed back to Li Yuan and sighed, "Yuan, I can't handle this. You'd better deal with it yourself."
Bai Weixi's quiet sobs started to attract the attention of other classmates, sparking discussion.
"Hey, are Li Yuan and Bai Weixi fighting?"
"I heard that Li Yuan officially confessed to Bai Weixi after the college entrance exams, but she rejected him."
"No way. Even a guy with his credentials got rejected? Bai Weixi's standards must be impossibly high."
"Who knows? Didn't you see her crying at her desk? Li Yuan is a real jerk, making our school beauty cry like that..."
"Something else must have happened between them..."
"Actually, I think Li Yuan is a great catch. He's tall, handsome, rich, gets good grades, and can play basketball. He's totally my type."
"Then you should go for it. Since Bai Weixi rejected him, you might have a chance to swoop in..."
Everyone in the class was well aware of the situation between Li Yuan and Bai Weixi; otherwise, they wouldn't have been deskmates for over a year.
Li Yuan felt the weight of everyone's stares, each one loaded with a different meaning. He frowned deeply. Under the entire class's scrutiny, he was being made out to be a heartless scoundrel who'd loved her and left her. It was an impossible situation to explain. Bai Weixi was a girl—a crying school beauty at that—which naturally garnered her sympathy.
Damn it. Her 'green tea' act is next-level. I have to hand it to her. Li Yuan cursed inwardly.
He stood up and walked directly to his seat.
The high school classroom was cramped. As Li Yuan sat down, his body inadvertently brushed against Bai Weixi's. It was now early summer, and everyone was dressed in light clothing. Bai Weixi wore a simple T-shirt, and her fair arms, as white as lotus root, were particularly striking. She seemed to be wearing light makeup today and gave off a faint, pleasant perfume.
Feeling the "touch" of Li Yuan's arm, the slide of skin against skin, sent a jolt like an electric current through her.
Bai Weixi's sobs subsided significantly. She quietly lifted her head, her sparkling, beautiful eyes still glistening with tears.
"Li Yuan, do you hate me that much?"
Meeting Bai Weixi's hopeful gaze, Li Yuan calmly spoke, shattering her illusion. "Yes."
Bai Weixi hadn't expected Li Yuan to be so heartless. The tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her flawless cheeks like a brook.
"You're lying, aren't you? Everything you did for me in the past... was it all fake?"
Li Yuan answered without a flicker of hesitation, destroying her fantasy and her pretense. "That's right. It was all fake."
In his past life, Li Yuan's spirit had shattered the moment he learned that Bai Weixi had been seeing other boyfriends behind his back and that he was just one of many fish in her pond. He had grown silent and withdrawn, refusing to interact with others. His personality became introverted, and he began to spiral into self-abandonment. His feelings for Bai Weixi had transformed from deep love to intense hatred. Even now, more than a decade after graduating from college and being reborn, that resentment had not faded. In his previous life, he had been just a poor kid. And due to a bizarre accident, his disguise as a 'rich second-generation heir' was exposed.
Bai Weixi stared blankly at Li Yuan. His tone, his expression, his gaze... she felt as if something inside her had suddenly shattered.
Just as she was about to try and explain, the homeroom teacher walked in.
The classroom fell instantly silent.
The homeroom teacher, Wang Hongguang, was a man in his forties. His receding, Mediterranean-style hairline, potbelly, and oily skin were all trademarks of a man in his middle age.
"Alright class, the college entrance exam results came out yesterday, and I trust you've all checked your scores. Our Class 22 did quite well this time. We have three students with scores above 600, fifteen above 550, and forty-two above 500, which is about half the class. Of course, some of you may not have performed as well as you'd hoped. For those with unsatisfactory results, you can consider repeating the year to aim for a bachelor's degree.
"I'll now announce the top scores. First place: Bai Weixi, 642. Second place: Ding Ying, 618. Third place: Li Yuan, 603... and in fifteenth place: Xu Zhi, 565."
As the teacher read out the top fifteen scores, the eighty-seven students of Class 22 showed a mix of emotions—some were overjoyed, others dejected.
"Although the scores are out," Wang Hongguang continued, "the most important thing now is choosing the right university and major when you fill out your applications. Next, I'll go over how to fill in your college applications..."