Qin Qing tidied herself up and headed to the class reunion.
She had no idea what everyone was thinking. Instead of properly preparing for the competition right now, they actually wanted to throw some sort of "pre-battle rest party."
When she arrived at the private room, everyone was chatting happily, and the atmosphere was very lively.
"Qin Qing is here!"
"Qin Qing, you're not playing fair. How could you take so long to get here? The rest of us have been here ages."
Her classmates knew Qin Qing well and bantered with her quite naturally.
Faced with the teasing, Qin Qing just gave a faint smile.
"Sorry, the traffic was heavy."
"Hahaha, no worries, you're not late."
"Did Qin Qing drive here? Doesn't that mean you won't be able to drink?"
Someone who had spotted Qin Qing's car in the garage joked.
"I bet you guys are just craving a drink yourselves and using her as an excuse."
The other classmates didn't hesitate to expose their true colors. Having been classmates for this long, everyone knew what everyone else was like.
"Hey, can you guys at least leave me some face? After all, I've been serving you classmates for this long."
When monitor Fan Heng saw that this bunch of classmates wouldn't give him an ounce of respect, he instantly grew anxious. As he said this, his gaze drifted silently toward Qin Qing, who was sitting in the adjacent seat.
The classmates burst into laughter. How could any of them miss his subtle intentions? They simply saw through it without exposing it.
Qin Qing didn't get involved in their banter. She walked over and sat down beside Fang Zhirou. Thinking she should order something to eat—it was getting late, and she really was a little hungry.
Fang Zhirou glanced around at the expressions of the boys in the room and gave Qin Qing a gentle nudge.
"Look at you. The moment you walk in, you completely mesmerize these guys."
Qin Qing looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Mesmerize who?
Fang Zhirou's expression was even more astonished than hers. "You seriously didn't know that a bunch of guys in our department have a crush on you?"
Qin Qing's expression remained entirely ordinary, as if she wasn't surprised in the least.
Counting on her fingers, Fang Zhirou listed them off for her: how someone would bring her water during P.E. class, and how whenever they went out for competitions, someone would insist on carrying her luggage—and in doing so, end up carrying all the female students' luggage along with it...
Hearing all this, Qin Qing found it quite speechless. They didn't dare confess their feelings, yet they did things that seemed so moving, when in reality it was all just wishful thinking. Not to mention buying her water—she had treated the entire class to coffee plenty of times herself.
This kind of affection was far too cheap.
At that moment, a female student walked over to their table and asked quietly, "Qin Qing, I want to ask, do you have any feelings for Su Li?"
Qin Qing was baffled, her face a picture of pure blankness.
"Who is Su Li?"
Silence and awkwardness hovered over their little corner.
"Oh, it's nothing. I got the wrong person."
Dropping those words, the girl walked away, a smile still lingering on her face.
Noticing that it was just the two of them left, Fang Zhirou wore a rather strange expression.
"You genuinely don't know who Su Li is?"
Prompted by them like this, Qin Qing grew a bit curious. She rummaged through her memories, only to find the name completely nonexistent.
"Who? Is he in our class?"
If he really was a classmate of theirs, her previous response had been a bit presumptuous.
"No, Su Li is actually quite popular in the academy. There were rumors before that he liked you. Dai Ying probably wanted to chase Su Li, so she came over to ask how you felt about him."
Qin Qing truly couldn't understand this kind of behavior. If you like someone, just chase them directly. As long as the other person is single, that's all that matters—running over to ask her what was that even supposed to mean?
"I don't know him. Never heard of him."
When the food Qin Qing ordered was served at the table, Fang Zhirou fell silent.
Thinking of the classmates in her class who liked Qin Qing, she shook her head. They and Qin Qing were simply not people from the same world. In the past, she might have gone with the flow and shipped them as a couple, but now she was acutely aware of one thing: they were not a good match for Qin Qing.
At that thought, she grew a bit curious about what kind of man could possibly make Qin Qing's heart flutter.
Suddenly, she thought of H. Yiran and shook her head with a self-amused smile.
"Qingqing, is there someone you like?"
Recalling certain details, a faint thought took shape in her mind.
Qin Qing turned to look at her, her expression surprised.
"Didn't I tell you?"
Fang Zhirou looked blank. "Tell me what?"
Qin Qing blinked. She didn't offer an explanation, merely saying that there was someone she liked, and had for a long time.
*Gasp!* Fang Zhirou instantly felt like she had struck a massive news story. Still, she knew better than to press further.
After finishing her food in the corner, Qin Qing watched the others playing and suddenly found this kind of gathering extremely boring. But since it had only just begun, it wouldn't look good to leave.
Noticing that Qin Qing kept staring over their way, someone asked, "Care to play a couple of rounds?"
Qin Qing smiled and waved her hand. "No, you guys go ahead. I don't know how to play this."
Whether out of nervousness or some other reason, Fan Heng suddenly started stuttering when he spoke.
"C-come sit on m-my side. This is really simple, I'll teach you."
The surrounding classmates looked at them with teasing expressions. A couple of boys even opened their mouths to say something, but other girls immediately stopped them.
"No thanks, I really don't know how."
Qin Qing smiled and refused, her expression exceptionally distant. She gave people the illusion of closeness, while in reality keeping them far away.
Fan Heng's expression turned awkward. His mouth moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing at all.
The atmosphere instantly plunged into awkwardness, though Qin Qing didn't care what they thought.
"You guys go on playing, I have some things to do, so I'll head out first."
With that, she greeted everyone and left.
The remaining people exchanged awkward glances.
Fang Zhirou said nothing; she simply placed the waiter's food bill on the table.
"Before you set your sights on someone, you should first check whether your own life is a match for theirs."
Hearing those words, many of the people present turned pale.
Recently, everyone had begun to realize that Qin Qing's family background seemed to be very good. In the past, Qin Qing had always kept a low profile, but ever since Fang Zhirou had once assumed she was poor, she stopped hiding it.
It was also from that moment on that people in the class discovered just how wealthy she was.
A single meal costing tens of thousands of yuan? They genuinely weren't a match for that.
"Wait, we couldn't tell Qin Qing was this extravagant before."
"Forget it, she was just keeping a low profile back then."
"I'd heard the dessert slices at Meiwei Pavilion were good, but nobody told me they were *this* expensive."
"Tsk, I actually thought the monitor and the others stood a chance earlier, and even thought about playing matchmaker. Looks like there's really no hope now."
Fang Zhirou let out a scoff. "Toads lusting after swan meat."
Scanning the people gathered around the room, she said nothing more.
"Whatever, this is pointless. Staring at this here is a waste of time—I'd rather go back and properly work on my piece, and fight for a promotion."
Were these guys really unaware of Qin Qing's family background? Not necessarily. They just wanted to take the easy way out and live off a woman.