As the saying goes, "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated." I knew I needed to first figure out what abilities Liu Feisheng now had only then could I eventually take everything that belonged to him.
I was still planning how to deal with Liu Feisheng when the crisp click of high heels echoed outside the classroom. I immediately knew it must be the English teacher. He Fei quickly turned back around, and I sat up straight, pretending to pay attention.
Soon, a stunning woman walked in. If I hadn't been in her class for over half a year, I would never have believed this beauty was a university teacher.
At the start of my second semester as a freshman, everyone thought a new beauty on par with An Zhishui and Zhao Qingshi had transferred to our class. Later, when she introduced herself as Xia Qiyao, our new English teacher, almost no one believed her.
This English teacher looked far too "young." While Qingming College had many beautiful teachers, most were mature women due to their age.
Xia Qiyao was only a few years older than us, around 1.6 meters tall shorter than the two beauties in our class. Her fair skin exuded a girlish softness, her thin lips were as delicate as rose petals, and her figure carried a cute, dainty charm.
It was a pity that even though we'd gotten a beautiful teacher with such a strong girlish vibe, Xia Qiyao always dressed in mature styles. Seeing her slender body wrapped in stiff, professional OL clothes felt like a waste.
If I could get the magical artifact from Liu Feisheng, I could make this beautiful teacher fall completely in love with me. With a little training, I could turn her into my personal pet at home. Every day, she'd dress in cute Lolita outfits and greet me with a sweet "Master, welcome home" when I walked in.
Just thinking about that scene made my nose tingle, like it might start bleeding.
My mind was wandering, and I was almost drooling when I suddenly heard Xia Qiyao call out, "Chen Xiao, please translate this text."
Her voice was as clear and sweet as an oriole's song—but to me, it sounded as terrifying as thunder.
I had no choice but to stand up, staring at Xia Qiyao's delicate, pure face. I panicked inwardly: What text? Does anyone know which page we're on now?
Xia Qiyao had only started teaching at Qingming College this semester, and she'd crossed paths with me is a terrible English student. I was the only one in the class who'd failed English two semesters in a row as a freshman. I had no idea how Luo Suohun passed, but Bai Yishan, thanks to his family's education, had surprisingly good English despite being a poor student overall.
Naturally, I became Xia Qiyao's "problem student." She'd call on me to answer questions for no reason. In the past, I could rely on classmates around me to help, but this time, Bai Yishan next to me was fast asleep, and He Fei in front was too timid to give me any hints.
I stood there in silence for a long time, and Xia Qiyao's bright eyes slowly filled with anger. "What are you staring at me for?" she said sternly. "Are there words on my face? Look at your textbook."
"Oh," I mumbled, quickly grabbing my book and flipping to a random page. I stared at the text, pretending to think hard. I knew every single word, but when they were strung together, their meaning flew right over my head.
The classroom stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. I was breaking into a sweat when Xia Qiyao finally said, "Li Luyou, you answer this question."
Li Luyou, sitting next to An Zhishui in the front row, stood up. He didn't even pick up his book before answering fluently: "The universe is extremely mysterious and fascinating. Every star in the vast starry sky is a huge, inflatable hot air balloon. The sun is a medium-sized yellow star, and it is 93,026,724 miles away from our Earth…"
He translated the English text into Chinese, reciting it as easily as breathing.
The anger in Xia Qiyao's eyes faded. She looked at Li Luyou with admiration. "Excellent, Li Luyou. That's correct. You may sit down."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief and started to sit down too.
"Who said you could sit?" the beautiful English teacher snapped. "You're the only one in your freshman class who failed both semesters. You're a sophomore now, and you still won't study hard? You'll stand for the rest of the class."
The classroom erupted in laughter especially Lin Luoyan, who'd clashed with me earlier. Even An Zhishui giggled softly, though her eyes were on Li Luyou, filled with love for him.
Sigh. Boys like Li Luyou had it all: good looks, a wealthy family, a hardworking attitude, good grades, and a kind personality. Unlike Bai Yishan, he wasn't fickle. He was basically born to make ordinary guys like me look bad.
My face burned with embarrassment. I had no choice but to stand up dejectedly. Luckily, the bell for the end of class rang soon after.
Once Xia Qiyao left, everyone started packing up. Li Luyou and An Zhishui, those two lovebirds had left together. Bai Yishan bolted out of the classroom in a flash; I wondered if he was off to meet one of his girlfriends.
Normally, I'd head straight back to the dorm after morning classes, but today… I glanced at Liu Feisheng. He was still sitting in his seat, not moving.
I waited a while until most of the students had left. Now, only Liu Feisheng and I remained. Even Ma Li, who'd been sitting next to him, was gone. I couldn't figure out why Liu Feisheng was still glued to his chair.
I walked over to him. "Liu Feisheng, why aren't you leaving yet?"
Liu Feisheng looked a little surprised. Before his falling-out with Bai Yishan, we'd gotten along fairly well. But after Bai Yishan humiliated him in public, we'd stopped talking entirely.
"What do you want?" he asked coldly, his tone unfriendly.
I stopped in front of him. "I have something to tell you about Bai Yishan."
At the mention of Bai Yishan, a dark look flashed across Liu Feisheng's eyes. "I have nothing to do with him anymore," he replied calmly.
His tone was so indifferent, like the past had truly vanished without a trace. If I hadn't seen him grinding his teeth in hatred last night, I might have believed he didn't care about Bai Yishan's humiliation at all.
But I was certain now: Liu Feisheng, this spineless wimp, might have no choice but to hide his hatred for Bai Yishan. But now that he had that mysterious artifact, he'd never give up on revenge.
"We have a common enemy," I said.
"A common enemy?" Liu Feisheng looked up at me. "Who are you talking about?"
"Bai Yishan," I said, gritting my teeth as if I held an unforgivable grudge against him.
But inwardly, I thought: Bai Yishan, I'm sorry. I just thanked you in class, and now I'm calling you my enemy. But I'm doing this to help you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend so I need to gain Liu Feisheng's trust. Only then can I save all your girlfriends from falling into his hands and meeting an irreversible fate.
Liu Feisheng sneered. "Bai Yishan just helped you, and now you're calling him your enemy? I think this is just a trick the two of you cooked up."
"Yes, he helped me just now but that's just his fake, nice side," I said. "Deep down, he's arrogant. He doesn't see us as friends at all."
I knew the only way to win Liu Feisheng's trust was to badmouth Bai Yishan, painting him as the arrogant person Liu Feisheng believed him to be.
Sure enough, when I said Bai Yishan didn't see us as friends, Liu Feisheng's eyebrows twitched clearly, it had struck a nerve.
But Liu Feisheng wasn't easy to fool. He stood up, staring at me with undisguised disgust. "Who do you think you are? No matter what kind of person Bai Yishan is, he's never done anything to let you down, has he?"
Something was wrong. Why did badmouthing Bai Yishan make Liu Feisheng resent me instead of winning him over?
Could it be that Liu Feisheng was gay and had always liked Bai Yishan?
The thought popped into my head, and for a moment, I felt like a genius. Looking back on his past behavior, I became more and more convinced this was true.
When he was a freshman, he was tall, rich, and handsome but instead of chasing girls, he'd hang out with Bai Yishan in our dorm every day. He'd always ruin Bai Yishan and Zhang Yiyu's dates. Last night, he'd even said he'd give his life for Bai Yishan.
Plus, last night, Liu Feisheng had stayed calm around two stunning women yet after talking about his hatred for Bai Yishan, a bulge had formed in his crotch.
All of this proved that Liu Feisheng's feelings for Bai Yishan weren't just friendship they were some twisted, abnormal form of love.
So after being humiliated by Bai Yishan, he'd turned love into hatred, harboring deep resentment. But at the same time, he couldn't stand anyone else hating Bai Yishan. This strange, twisted emotion made him loathe both those who liked Bai Yishan and those who hated him.
Realizing this, I quickly changed my strategy. "No! Bai Yishan wronged me. He stole the girl I love… Zhang Yiyu."
Liu Feisheng suddenly burst into laughter, like a madman. He'd been sitting on a stool, but he laughed so hard he had to bend over, even coughing a few times.
After a while, he finally calmed down and stood up.
We were about the same height, but in the lecture hall's sloped seating, he looked down at me. "What a coincidence!" he said. "I was just looking for a helper, and you're perfect. But if you double-cross me, I'll make you regret it. Now, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself."
He paused, then added, "Go and Seduce Zhang Yiyu."