Chapter 52: The Bully Scholar
You Lexuan's face turned pale then flushed, making her crimson lips appear glaringly out of place.
"You... you, where do you get such confidence?" She finally regained some composure between ragged breaths. "I dislike you? Why would I dislike you?"
"You know the answer."
"Pfft, you're ridiculous. Someone like you isn’t even worth a glance from me!"
"Good. Keep it that way."
With that, Ruan Yu turned and walked away.
"Hey! Ruan Yu!" You Lexuan raised her voice, like a provoked beast, the scarlet on her lips now burning in her eyes.
Ruan Yu glanced back.
"Don’t think you’re so special. What do you have besides good grades?" You Lexuan sneered. "I heard you haven’t even paid this semester’s tuition in full. What’s the matter? Trying to bully your way through school?"
"That’s none of your concern."
"Concern? Of course I wouldn’t waste concern on you. A penniless nobody like you—father dead, mother gone—isn’t even worth my notice!"
The boundless sunlight suddenly turned into a bone-chilling cold, wrapping tightly around Ruan Yu.
She clenched her fists but still managed to flash You Lexuan a confident smile as she turned.
"That’s right, I have nothing. But at least I have ability—enough to make you jealous, isn’t it?"
"You—"
"Hey! Teng Yi!"
A greeting from the hallway startled both girls mid-confrontation.
Ruan Yu reacted first. She turned her head, and the moment her eyes met Teng Yi’s, the last thread of willpower holding her together snapped. She knew—he must have heard everything.
How was this any different from the time Teng Hao had drenched her with a bucket of water?
Her pride and dignity were like an onion, peeled layer by layer in front of Teng Yi, until nothing remained but tears.
Ruan Yu sniffled, her nose stinging, desperate to leave. In her haste, her shoulder brushed against a cluster of osmanthus blossoms, sending tiny golden petals fluttering to the ground. The warm, sweet fragrance trailed after her, now unbearably suffocating.
Teng Yi caught up and blocked her path with his body.
She sidestepped left; he mirrored her. She moved right; he followed.
"Move!" She glared up at him.
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
But perhaps knowing everything was already a mistake.
"I came looking for you," Teng Yi said, smiling.
Ruan Yu realized this guy really loved to smile. Every time his eyes curved, his pupils turned into stars, and his handsome face became a soothing remedy.
"What for?"
"I heard you fainted."
"I faked it."
Tsk. Teng Yi shook his head. "I’ve seen people fake fainting before a 3,000-meter race, and even halfway through. But someone who finishes the whole race before pretending? Now that’s a rare and extraordinary constitution."
She could tell he was calling her foolish in a roundabout way.
Wait—if that was the case, then he had watched her run the entire race. So her stubborn laps around the track hadn’t been entirely meaningless.
You Lexuan was now approaching them.
Ruan Yu tried to leave but was blocked again by Teng Yi.
"Teng Yi, what do you want?" Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She didn’t want him to see, nor did she dare linger—lest they spill over.Grievances tend to magnify in front of someone you like, and so does humiliation.
"I'd like to invite you to dinner."
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