Gui Jianchou sucked at his teeth.
What kind of name was that? It sounded practically like birth control!
Not only birth control, but something utterly unspeakable!
"Forget it, forget it. Hurry back to your classroom. You're in your final year of high school now, it's time to start taking things seriously."
With that, Gui Jianchou waved a hand and turned to walk away.
Having narrowly escaped disaster, Ye Xuan didn't dare linger any longer. He parked his bicycle in the shed and dashed all the way to the entrance of Class 5, Grade 12.
After taking three deep breaths, Ye Xuan pushed the door open and walked in.
A wave of sweltering heat rushed out to meet him.
Immediately followed by thunderous applause.
For three whole seconds, Ye Xuan's mind went completely blank.
When he finally snapped out of it, he saw their head teacher, Zhang Guangming, standing on the podium, smiling and clapping as he looked right at him.
Down below the podium, fifty-three of his classmates wore the exact same expression and made the exact same gesture.
Sunlight poured in through the windows, making everyone look as though they were bathed in a layer of brilliant light.
Ye Xuan had expected to feel somewhat awkward upon seeing these people again.
Yet at this moment, as these familiar faces from his memories truly appeared before his eyes, the feelings of the past rushed back in an instant!
Those past nineteen years felt just like a dream he'd had during a lecture.
And now his classmates had used their applause to wake him up...
Recovering his senses, Ye Xuan rubbed his slightly aching nose and smiled. "Teacher Zhang, what kind of performance are you putting on here?"
Zhang Guangming, who was still clapping, froze for a second.
The classmates also stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at Ye Xuan.
The tone and demeanor Ye Xuan was using were a bit too relaxed, weren't they?
He sounded just like someone talking to an old friend he hadn't seen in years.
The problem was... this was their head teacher!
Normally, who could look at the head teacher without acting like the Monkey King facing the Buddha?
Ye Xuan knew his attitude wasn't "proper" enough.
After all, after starting his own business in his past life, every time he returned to Mingcheng, he would go visit his old teacher.
The two of them would sit together, smoking, drinking, and chatting idly, long since becoming friends despite their age gap.
Trying to feel that old school awe and nervousness in front of Teacher Zhang now was simply too difficult.
Besides, he didn't care to put on an act—he might as well just be himself!
Zhang Guangming smiled. "The school has already learned about your heroic act of righteousness. You are the pride of our class, the pride of No. 1 High School, and we are all proud of you!"
Ye Xuan feigned surprise. "Ah? The school already knows?"
Zhang Guangming nodded. "That's right. Officer Li from the Mingcheng Branch Bureau came to our school in person to tell us all about your heroic deeds."
After a brief welcome ceremony, Zhang Guangming checked the time. "Alright, everyone take a break. We'll start the mock exams in fifteen minutes."
Everyone's spirits had been running high, but the moment they heard the word "exams," the classroom instantly erupted into wails of despair.
Zhang Guangming chuckled, shook his head, and left the classroom.
As soon as the head teacher left, a figure rushed over and gave Ye Xuan a punch to the shoulder. "Not bad, Ye Xuan! Since when did you learn to play the hero saving the damsel?"
His name was Hong Letao, Ye Xuan's deskmate and ride-or-die best friend.
In his past life, Ye Xuan was the one drinking with him at roadside food stalls.
Right after that, several other classmates who were on good terms with Ye Xuan crowded around.
"You guys have no idea how dangerous the situation was back then..."
Just as Ye Xuan was gesticulating wildly and recounting the details to everyone, he suddenly felt someone tugging at his sleeve.
"Stop messing around."
Thinking someone was playing a prank on him, Ye Xuan shook his arm without looking back.
Who would have thought that person wouldn't give up and tugged at his sleeve again?
"Hey, you're really pushing it..."
Ye Xuan turned his head, and then he saw a bright, lovely face that had haunted his dreams for so many years—Xiao Nanzhi!
At that moment, memories rushed forth like a breached dam.
In the year 2001, during freshman orientation.
A single request for directions on campus, a single glance back, and she dazzled his entire summer.
In the year 2002, when students were divided into arts and sciences streams.
They ended up in the same class.
From then on, every breath of air he took seemed to carry a special sweetness.
In the year 2003, they went from ordinary classmates to close friends who shared everything.
They walked to school and home together.
Every morning, he would buy her breakfast.
Rain or shine, without fail.
Back then, he thought he would stay by her side for the rest of his life.
Until last Friday, when he mustered up the courage to confess his feelings.
Only to receive a flustered reply that she "didn't want to date before going to university."
The day after his confession, her mother tracked him down, telling him he wasn't good enough for her daughter and warning him not to ruin her future.
After that, he had been arrested and treated like the Rainy Night Fiend.
From that moment on, the two of them had never crossed paths again.
To Ye Xuan, this was a reunion separated by nineteen years!
"So, it was all just me wishing upon a star from the very beginning..."
"Xiao Nanzhi, oh Xiao Nanzhi, in this lifetime, I, Ye Xuan, will never be your simpering lapdog again!"
At this thought, Ye Xuan sniffed and smiled, "Classmate Xiao, is there something you need?"
The rest of the classmates froze.
Who in the class didn't know that Ye Xuan was head over heels for Xiao Nanzhi?
He used to call her "Nanzhi" at every turn.
Why had he suddenly turned so distant today?
Could it be... the two of them had a falling out?
This form of address also gave Xiao Nanzhi an inexplicable tightening in her chest.
"This guy is still mad about last Friday?"
"It's not like I planned on dating before college anyway..."
"Should I... ignore him for a bit and wait for him to come coax me?"
"Forget it, forget it. He just played the hero, so this young lady will let him off this once~"
Thinking this, Xiao Nanzhi gave a soft huff. "Classmate Ye, did you forget something?"
Ye Xuan frowned slightly. "What?"
Xiao Nanzhi extended her right hand. "Breakfast! I'm starving~"
Ye Xuan: "..."
He had genuinely forgotten about that part.
Besides, even if he still remembered, there was no way he was going to buy breakfast for Campus Beauty Xiao ever again.
After a brief moment of daze, he pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his wallet and handed it straight to Xiao Nanzhi.
Xiao Nanzhi's delicate brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Ye Xuan smiled. "I forgot to buy your breakfast, so stay hungry for now and eat more at lunch. Also... I won't be buying you breakfast anymore from now on. This is the meal money you gave me before, I'm returning it to you."
With that, he shoved the money right into Xiao Nanzhi's hand.
Campus Beauty Xiao's mouth hung open in utter disbelief.
The other classmates stared at Ye Xuan with equally baffled expressions.
If changing how he addressed her didn't prove much, what happened next was more than enough to show that Ye Xuan wanted to draw a clear line between himself and Campus Beauty Xiao!
Amidst the dead silence of the room, Ye Xuan turned back around and smiled. "Right, where was I?"
"Fine, you're playing for real, huh? Then I'm ignoring you too, humph!"
Nursing her grievance, Xiao Nanzhi stomped her foot, her high ponytail swinging as she marched back to her seat.
Even so, she didn't believe Ye Xuan actually intended to cut ties with her.
After all, for the past year, Ye Xuan had cared for her and fawned over her with meticulous attention.
That psychological inertia made her feel that it wouldn't be long before Ye Xuan came back to coax her.
Hong Letao whispered a warning, "Ye Xuan, Xiao Nanzhi looks like she's genuinely pissed..."
Ye Xuan gave him a look of bafflement. "So what if she's pissed? What does that have to do with me?"
Hong Letao couldn't believe his ears!
Someone who had just told him how desperately he loved Xiao Nanzhi as recently as last week suddenly stopped caring about her entirely?
Had Ye Xuan lost his damn mind?
If anyone in the class was overjoyed right at this moment, it had to be Class Monitor Chen Ming.
He was also one of Xiao Nanzhi's suitors.
Only compared to Ye Xuan, he hadn't even stood a chance to simper after her.
Now that an opportunity had presented itself, he hurriedly pulled out his own lunch, walked over to Xiao Nanzhi's side, and said, "Nanzhi, this is my lunch. You can have it."
Xiao Nanzhi gave him a strange look. "Thanks, I'm not hungry. And besides... I'm not used to people calling me Nanzhi. You should call me Classmate Xiao instead."
Chen Ming was left with a head full of question marks. "Wait... didn't you just say..."
At that moment, Xiao Nanzhi's deskmate Wang Qian pulled a bag of bread out from her desk drawer. "Nanzhi, I still have a bag of bread here. Have some to tide you over."
"Qianqian, you're the best! I was about to starve to death, love you~"
Xiao Nanzhi took the bread and gave Wang Qian a loud smack of a kiss on the cheek.
Chen Ming: "???"