This downward axe-kick was clean and sharp, without the slightest hesitation. It seemed she had some foundation in taekwondo.
Only… only this girl had probably forgotten something.
It was summer, and she was wearing a short skirt.
Without a doubt, she exposed herself, and moreover… she exposed everything completely.
The girl who had rushed over later was fair and delicate. While her face might not measure up to Qin Xin or this girl named Rongrong, she excelled in height, easily standing at one meter seventy-five. Her legs were long and fair—the absolute standard of a model.
Before Chen Zhezhe could even react, he was greeted by a pair of pale, smooth legs as the opponent flashed what was underneath.
God have mercy.
Chen Zhezhe was a small-time homebody who usually only saw heart-pounding things on computers and TVs. He had never even held a girl's hand, and his most intimate experience was last night with Qin Xin. This truly was a first.
Though his cultivation had just begun and the girl's movements were fast, he could have dodged if he wanted to. But… why would he dodge?
In her towering rage, the girl hadn't given it a second thought. She completely ignored the myriad wonders beneath her skirt, leaving all her spring scenery for Chen Zhezhe to look at to his heart's content.
White… pure white… and adorned with a hilarious Pretty Goat pattern right in the middle.
It seemed this girl was also a super fan of domestic cartoons.
And so, happy yet wretched Chen Zhezhe took his second hit of the day. He only had time to tilt his head slightly before the girl's delicate heel smashed right into his shoulder.
Smack!
Completely absorbed in aesthetic appreciation, Chen Zhezhe was driven to a crouch by the blow.
Damn it, that hurt like hell!
"Hmph! Useless trash! Bullying Shen Rongrong means bullying me, Jiang Chen!" Landing her kick, the girl let out a cold snort, turned to the girl named Rongrong, and said, "It's fine now, Rongrong. Since he dared to bully you, just leave him to me. I'll make him vanish from your sight starting today."
Shen Rongrong hurriedly went to help Chen Zhezhe up. "Are you alright?"
Seeing Chen Zhezhe's pale face, she was terrified and glared fiercely at the axe-kick girl. "Jiang Chen, you… you hit the wrong person! He wasn't the one bullying me at first—he's the one who helped me scare off Zhang Zhi, who was bullying me!"
Noticing Chen Zhezhe's odd expression, she didn't think much of it and simply said apologetically, "Thank you so much for just now. I'm Shen Rongrong, and this is my friend Jiang Chen. That guy was bullying me earlier, and I sent a text to tell her. She has a bit of a hot temper… I'm so sorry! Are… are you hurt?"
Though they were friends, these two girls—one as gentle as water, the other as fiery as wind—were truly complete opposites!
To be honest, seeing Chen Zhezhe in such agonizing, pale-faced shape, Jiang Chen looked down on him a bit. She believed even less that he could have helped Shen Rongrong scare away Zhang Zhi.
She curled her lip. "I'm telling you, Rongrong, did this guy trick you? A guy I knocked down with a single kick managed to scare away our school's notorious Zhang Zhi? That's ghosts for you!"
Chen Zhezhe waved a hand. "I didn't lose to you, I lost to Pretty Goat…"
Pre… Pretty Goat?
Jiang Chen was stunned at first. But although her temper was hasty, she wasn't an idiot. A brief moment of thought made her realize that her earlier move had exposed her. And with this punk having seen the whole thing, her initially disdainful face instantly turned bright red.
"You… you…!" Pointing at Chen Zhezhe with a face as red as a tomato, Jiang Chen was too choked up to speak.
Spreading his hands, Chen Zhezhe said helplessly, "You were the one who rushed over and kicked me. Even if I wanted not to look, I couldn't help it! I'm regretting it now. My eyes hurt so much, feels like I've got styes."
"I'm going to fight you to the death!" Just as Jiang Chen raised her leg, she remembered what had happened, hastily covered her skirt, and tried to kick Chen Zhezhe past Shen Rongrong instead.
Unwilling to entangle himself with such a woman, Chen Zhezhe backed away—only to see Qin Xin standing off to the side, covering her mouth with her hands to hide her laughter.
This woman really had no loyalty!
Fierce as Jiang Chen was, she seemed to have a genuinely good relationship with Shen Rongrong and was willing to listen to her words. In the end, she didn't charge at Chen Zhezhe again, though she was probably still unconvinced. "You scumbag! I'll teach you a lesson sooner or later!"
"You can teach me a lesson, just don't let Pretty Goat fight your battles for you next time!"
"You…" She clenched her fists. Knowing her personality inside and out, Shen Rongrong grabbed her tightly by the side.
Jiang Chen said grudgingly, "Rongrong, this guy is no good!"
"He's very nice! Thanks to him today, really!" Shen Rongrong still kindly defended Chen Zhezhe.
Some people were probably just born to rub each other the wrong way. That was exactly how Jiang Chen felt when she looked at Chen Zhezhe—she couldn't understand how someone so punchable could exist in this world. Too bad Shen Rongrong was right here; not only could she not beat him up, but she even had to say thank you to him.
He was the one who drove Zhang Zhi away. Since Shen Rongrong said so, it must be true.
Jiang Chen thought for a moment. "Since Rongrong says so, fine! Tonight, I'll treat you to a meal at Fucheng to make up for her, and also to apologize for my impulsiveness just now. Give me some face!"
One could tell at a glance that Jiang Chen was the straightforward type—bold enough to make mistakes, and bold enough to admit them, though she might well go on making them afterward.
Fucheng was a fairly well-known restaurant in Jiangcheng City. Not because it was large, but because its food was famously delicious. Every evening it was packed to capacity, and getting a reservation was very difficult. It seemed Jiang Chen's family had quite a bit of money.
Her words sounded sincere enough. Though Chen Zhezhe had been somewhat indignant, he didn't want to make a big fuss over it.
He waved his hand. "Dinner is fine, but I have things to do tonight."
"What?" Jiang Chen's eyes widened. "I'm apologizing this sincerely, aren't I? Fucheng's food is so good that ordinary people wouldn't even get this kind of courtesy from me!"
"Dinner? Oh, wonderful! I want to go too!" Qin Xin clapped and cheered happily.Chen Zhezhe rolled his eyes. When there was trouble earlier, Qin Xin was nowhere to be found, but now that it was time to eat, she popped right up.
Still, since she wanted to go, she might as well!
As Chen Zhezhe was feeling tempted, Shen Rongrong tugged at his sleeve from the side. "Don't be mad, Jiang Chen is just that kind of person. You'll definitely come today, right?"
The same invitation, coming from Shen Rongrong, was just so hard to resist.
Chen Zhezhe turned back and asked Qin Xin, "Going together?"
Qin Xin nodded repeatedly, grinning ear to ear. But then, remembering she still had to circulate her energy to heal her injuries that evening, her face instantly fell. "I can't make it tonight. Bring me back some food instead!"
Chen Zhezhe nodded. "Alright, I'll definitely be there tonight!"
"Okay, let's make it six o'clock. You have to come, alright?" Shen Rongrong nodded vigorously. When she turned back, she noticed Jiang Chen staring intently at Qin Xin's face.
Probably everyone—man or woman—had the same first thought upon seeing Qin Xin: *She's actually this pretty? Why is she so pretty?*
Jiang Chen's first thought, however, was: *She's actually even prettier than me?*
Women are prone to jealousy, especially beauties—and particularly beauties like Jiang Chen, who stood out among a hundred. Such beauties usually liked girls who were very pretty, but not prettier than themselves. Of course, being a little uglier was fine too.
Shen Rongrong was an exception. With her gentle personality and soft temperament, she carried no sharp edges. A girl like her made it hard for anyone to dislike her. Jiang Chen was very close to her, treating her well from the bottom of her heart. But Qin Xin was different; Qin Xin's appearance, much like Jiang Chen's, was of the intensely aggressive kind.
Only, Qin Xin's looks were even more earth-shattering than Jiang Chen's.
"Who is this?" Jiang Chen asked, looking at Qin Xin with a smile.
Qin Xin smiled and said, "My name is Qin Xin, I'm a friend of Chen Zhezhe."
Jiang Chen felt a secret wave of displeasure. Naturally, she felt even more displeased with Chen Zhezhe. If there was anything more annoying than a lustful man, it was a lustful man with a beauty tagging along beside him.
Originally, Jiang Chen had been toying with the idea of whether she should drive and pick up Chen Zhezhe for Fucheng during the afternoon rush hour. Now? Forget it, let that guy go on his own.
And so, the few of them settled the dinner plans.
The afternoon classes were optional, not core courses, and the professor didn't take roll. But Chen Zhezhe felt that parading Qin Xin around would be the ultimate flex, so he came to class anyway.
It was much like a pauper who suddenly struck it rich, desperately wanting to show off in front of people he used to know.
Chen Zhezhe had originally imagined that if he took Qin Xin out, he would attract countless envious gazes... Unfortunately, things turned out contrary to his wishes. Many people wore looks of pity, and whenever the two of them walked side by side, onlookers carried that painful expression of fresh flowers stuck in cow dung.
"Hey?"
Qin Xin, sitting right beside him, gave Chen Zhezhe a soft poke.
"What?" Chen Zhezhe rolled his eyes.
Qin Xin bit her rosy lips. "I think you don't look bad at all. Why didn't any girls want to be with you before?"
"It's not that I don't look bad, it's that I'm very handsome!" Chen Zhezhe earnestly corrected her. After a moment of thought, he continued, "I guess it's probably because the people who like me are too tragic to behold, and the people I like are already taken."
"Tsk—"
Qin Xin rolled her eyes in utter disdain. To Chen Zhezhe, the gesture was explosively cute. Too bad this absurdly gorgeous girl wasn't on his plate yet; otherwise...
"Listen, after this class is over, I'll take you home first. You can watch TV or surf the net at home, and wait for me to come back."
Creak!
The back door of the classroom slowly opened, and two figures quickly darted inside. Taking advantage of the teacher turning around to write on the blackboard, a man and a woman swiftly took their seats.
They sat right next to Chen Zhezhe and Qin Xin.
The guy waved at Chen Zhezhe—it was Liu Yi, Chen Zhezhe's best friend. The girl beside him had a pretty face and a slender figure; she was Xu Shanshan, a campus beauty from their class.
Seeing Xu Shanshan and Liu Yi looking rather intimate, Chen Zhezhe frowned and beckoned to Liu Yi. Liu Yi murmured something to Xu Shanshan, then walked over to sit next to Chen Zhezhe. Seeing Qin Xin, his eyes lit up, and he jokingly asked Chen Zhezhe, "Your girlfriend?"
"No, we have nothing to do with each other!" Qin Xin hurriedly defended herself. If others thought she was involved with this jerk, she'd die of embarrassment.
Chen Zhezhe glanced at Xu Shanshan sitting not far away. "You two are together?"
"Yeah!" Liu Yi's face glowed with excitement. "She finally agreed to be my girlfriend. Years of hard work have finally paid off, brother."
Chen Zhezhe sighed. "I still think she's not right for you."
He had never held a very good impression of Xu Shanshan. Unlike many pretty girls who cycled through boyfriends like a revolving door, Xu Shanshan had only dated two guys before college, but without exception, both of them were second-generation rich kids, and her usual social circle consisted of children from wealthy families.
What did that say?
Xu Shanshan, coming from a middle-class family, was simply not content with the status quo.
Liu Yi's family background was slightly better than his own, but they weren't rich by any stretch. Chen Zhezhe felt the two of them were a mismatch.
Unfortunately, Liu Yi was hopelessly infatuated, chasing after her relentlessly, never able to let go for five or six years.
Sometimes you couldn't blame people for being too gold-digging; this society was so materialistic that it forced people to be that way. Even though Chen Zhezhe understood, he still didn't like a gold-digger like Xu Shanshan!