Dazzling

Qing Ye glanced at Xing Wu, who was still looking down at his phone, while Meng Ruihang turned to her and handed her the menu: "Come see what you want to eat? I've already ordered a few dishes."

After only a brief pause, Qing Ye walked straight over and sat directly beside Xing Wu. She nudged him with her elbow, signaling him to move inward. Xing Wu glanced sideways at her and shifted over slightly.

Only then did Qing Ye say to Meng Ruihang, "You order. I'm fine with anything."

Though it was just a small gesture, the natural ease between her and Xing Wu left Meng Ruihang somewhat surprised.

While waiting for the food, Meng Ruihang picked up his teacup and said to Xing Wu, "Qing Ye has been troubling your family lately. Thank you for taking care of her."

Xing Wu glanced down at the raised teacup, took a sip of his own tea with one hand, and replied, "It's no trouble."

After setting down his cup, Meng Ruihang said to Xing Wu, "When she's stressed, she tends to crave cold drinks. With exams coming up more frequently, we'll have to trouble you to keep an eye on her."

Qing Ye frowned in confusion, while Xing Wu, with half-lowered eyes, stated, "I have a bad temper. I don't indulge Overlords."

With that, he directly poured the cold tea from Qing Ye's cup into his own, replacing it with a hot one. Meng Ruihang stared in astonishment, then looked at Qing Ye—was she actually holding the cup and smiling?

Meng Ruihang shifted his gaze back to Xing Wu's face with some unease: "Qing Ye won't be troubling you for too long."

Leaning back against the sofa, Xing Wu said nonchalantly, "How long is 'not too long'? A week? Or a month before you can take her away?"

Qing Ye lowered her head, silently tapping her fingers on the rim of her cup.

Meng Ruihang opened his mouth to speak, but Xing Wu cut him off: "If you can't, then her affairs are none of your concern. She's staying at my place—I'll take responsibility for her, for better or worse."

Meng Ruihang suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of pressure. Though Xing Wu's posture was relaxed and his tone casual, his dark, sharp eyes pierced right through a person when he looked at them.

Even though Xing Wu had brought them to what was arguably the finest restaurant in the county, neither Qing Ye nor Meng Ruihang had much appetite. Only Xing Wu appeared completely at ease.

When they were nearly finished, Meng Ruihang stood up to pay, but the server pointed at Xing Wu and said, "Your friend already paid."

Qing Ye turned to look at Xing Wu: "When did you pay?"

Xing Wu picked up his jacket and calmly glanced at the QR code by the table.

As they walked out, Qing Ye tugged at him and asked, "How much was it? I'll pay you back."

Xing Wu frowned and stared down at her. Qing Ye fell silent, knowing that if she insisted, he would get annoyed again.

When Qing Ye turned around, Meng Ruihang was walking behind them, watching them with a thoughtful expression.

The long-distance bus station was in the county town, not far to walk. Meng Ruihang's bus at 2 p.m. would arrive in the city by evening, allowing him to catch his flight. Throughout the journey, Meng Ruihang remained unusually quiet.

After seeing him to the entrance of the bus station lobby, Meng Ruihang looked up at Qing Ye, seeming to hesitate. Xing Wu tactfully turned away and walked off to light a cigarette.

Meng Ruihang glanced at Xing Wu, then couldn't resist asking, "Qing Ye, just what is he to you?"

...Xing Wu took two drags from his cigarette before turning to look at them. He couldn't hear what they were discussing, and it was quite a while before Meng Ruihang finally pulled his suitcase inside.

Qing Ye turned and walked toward him. Xing Wu stubbed out his cigarette, and the two started heading back. It hadn't felt awkward before, but now that they were alone, Qing Ye inexplicably remembered last night's kiss. Though she didn't know if Xing Wu felt the same way, the atmosphere between them had inevitably turned somewhat strange.

They reached the roadside, where Xing Wu lowered his head to book a ride on his phone while Qing Ye kicked at the pebbles near her feet. Still scrolling through his phone, Xing Wu asked, "What took you so long to talk?"

Qing Ye, with her hands tucked into her overalls pockets and her head bowed, replied, "He asked if you're really my relative."

After finishing the booking, Xing Wu flipped his phone over and clasped it in his palm, glancing sideways at her. "What did you say?"

Qing Ye smiled without answering. When the car pulled up in front of them, she casually dropped the line, "I told him you're my man."

With that, she opened the passenger door and got in front. Xing Wu stared at her in shock, only snapping out of it when the driver honked twice, then he opened the back door and climbed in.

Neither spoke during the ride. Xing Wu suddenly lost interest in his phone and instead watched Qing Ye in the rearview mirror, while she kept her head down, scrolling through her phone.

The car stopped right at the entrance of Dazzle Island. As soon as Qing Ye stepped into the shop, Li Lanfang, bent over in front of the refrigerator, spotted them and pulled out a bag. "Qing Ye, your childhood friend brought this over yesterday. Don't forget to eat it before it goes bad."

She took the bag, glanced at Xing Wu, then smiled and handed the cake back to Li Lanfang. "You have it."

Li Lanfang looked puzzled. "Why aren't you eating it?"

"Suddenly don't like it anymore," Qing Ye said before turning and heading upstairs.

Li Lanfang, holding the cake bag, asked Xing Wu in confusion, "Is Qing Ye not feeling well?"

Xing Wu curled his lips into a slight smile. "Just eat it."

By evening, Huang Mao and Pang Hu had come by the shop to hang out. Li Lanfang was in high spirits and decided to make dumplings. Huang Mao helped knead the dough at the table, and Qing Ye leaned over to watch, giving him a thumbs-up. "You're pretty good at this, huh?"

Huang Mao grinned cheekily. "I've trained these arms—see the muscles?"

He even pulled open his jacket to show off in front of Qing Ye, who tilted her head and laughed at his bun-sized biceps.

Huang Mao laughed along with her. Qing Ye's bangs had grown out a bit, and she'd tied a little lopsided ponytail to the side of her head earlier while studying because they were in the way. When she laughed, she looked fresh and adorable.

Huang Mao couldn't help saying, "Qing Ye, you look like a little girl like this—kinda cute."

Qing Ye replied proudly, "I am a girl. How old did you think I was?"

Huang Mao quickly explained, "No, I mean, you look even younger this way."

Qing Ye peeked toward the kitchen, where Xing Wu and Pang Hu were both busy, then dragged her stool closer to Huang Mao and lowered her voice to ask, "Do you have someone you like?"

Huang Mao's heart skipped a beat, and he widened his eyes, staring at her nervously. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

Qing Ye waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing much. Just wanted to ask what it feels like when you like someone?"Huang Mao suddenly felt short of breath, his mouth dry, his heart racing, as he stared dazedly at Qing Ye: "It's just... I can't help but always stare at her, can't get enough of looking, the more I look the prettier she gets. When I can't see her, I keep thinking about her. When I see her with other guys, I feel upset, want to get angry, but feel too embarrassed to tell her."

Qing Ye rested her chin in her hand, listening quietly with a thoughtful expression, looking somewhat troubled. Huang Mao fidgeted nervously and asked: "What about you?"

Qing Ye turned her head, big eyes sparkling as she looked at him: "I think I feel pretty much the same as you."

Huang Mao suddenly felt like he was about to faint. He had originally planned to wait until after Qing Ye's college entrance exams to tell her, never expecting happiness to arrive so suddenly.

His face scrunched up with tension: "Then what should we do?"

"I need to think it over carefully." Then Qing Ye stood up and went inside.

Huang Mao immediately started breathing heavily on the spot. After recovering for a while, he turned and rushed into the kitchen, shouting: "Qing Ye confessed to me!"

Upon hearing that Qing Ye had confessed to Huang Mao, Pang Hu's first reaction was: "Did, did Qing Ye hit, hit her head today?"

Meanwhile, Xing Wu, who was chopping cabbage nearby, held up the kitchen knife and coldly turned his head with a frown: "Confessed?"

Huang Mao ran in with flour-covered hands: "Really, she said she feels the same way about me now, that I'm getting more handsome the more she looks at me, that she misses me when she can't see me, and she even said she needs to think carefully about our relationship. Oh my god, do I need to go back home?"

Pang Hu scratched his head in confusion: "Why, why would you go home?"

"To tell my mom! If my mom finds out Qing Ye likes me, she'll definitely think the Hao family ancestors' graves are smoking with good fortune."

"???" Pang Hu was completely bewildered.

Xing Wu put down the kitchen knife, washed his hands and said: "Are you sure she was confessing to you?"

Huang Mao said with great confidence: "Well, she must have been too embarrassed to say it directly, so she deliberately asked me in a roundabout way if I had someone I liked and what it feels like to like someone. Isn't that what she meant? I'm smart enough to understand this kind of thing immediately."

After washing his hands, Xing Wu patted him and dried his hands on Huang Mao's shoulder: "Bro, I think you're overthinking it."

But Huang Mao remained in a highly excited state all evening. However, Qing Ye didn't stay downstairs - having wasted the day, she needed to make up for the lost time. Huang Mao thought Qing Ye wasn't coming down because she was avoiding him, that she was shy and too embarrassed.

The next day at school, the results of the second monthly exam were released. Qing Ye scored 685, with perfect scores in math and English. Among high scores, it's usually very difficult to improve by even 10 points, but Qing Ye's score this time was thirty points higher than the previous exam. This progress shocked everyone, and the entire An High School was buzzing. The vice principal even announced this good news by name during the morning assembly, even using the solemn phrase "recorded in the annals of history."

Qing Ye thought it was a bit too exaggerated. Previously, at the beginning of the semester, there were lots of troubles, plus she might not have adjusted well and underperformed. This monthly exam was just her returning to her normal level, and what she needed was exceptional performance to hopefully make her future path smoother. Therefore, she knew there was still a long way to go to reach her goal.

The vice principal specifically invited Qing Ye to come on stage during the morning assembly to briefly say a few words, either to encourage everyone or share her study methods.Since she hadn't been told in advance that she would be speaking on stage, Qing Ye was completely unprepared. Lao Yang hurried over and said to her, "Don't be nervous, just say a few words."

Lao Yang knew very well that with her score of 685, the vice principal just wanted Qing Ye to make an appearance and motivate the second and third-year students. What she actually said wasn't important—just a few polite remarks would suffice.

But Qing Ye wasn't nervous at all. She had hosted galas with thousands of people—how could a few words on stage intimidate her?

So she calmly walked up to the podium, took the microphone from the vice principal, and stepped to the center. The vice principal, a woman, smiled and took a few steps back to watch her.

Qing Ye glanced at the sea of An High students below and suddenly felt a sense of relief noticing that many students now sported fashionable permed hairstyles. Her first fleeting thought was… should she find time to change her hairstyle again?

Then she raised the microphone and said her first sentence: "No study method will work for you."

"???" A row of imaginary crows flew over the playground. The massive soccer field fell into complete silence—not a single sound could be heard. Everyone stared ahead in confusion, while the vice principal standing behind her felt her smile gradually stiffen.

Only Qing Ye remained composed as she continued: "Anyone willing to study shouldn't score below 450. The key issue isn't the study method—it's whether you're willing to give it your all. There's still a full six months until the college entrance exam. If you start now, everyone has a chance. Why surrender this unique opportunity in life to someone else? Look at the people around you. Is there someone who really annoys you? Use practical actions to make them unworthy of reaching your level. If you don't even have that determination, you don't have the right to complain about hardship when you're moving bricks later in life."

Huang Mao had already moved from Class Four to the back of Class Two. Wiping his face, he said to Xing Wu, "Brother Wu, why do I feel so fired up listening to this? How can someone like me who can't even pass one subject feel this excited?"

Meanwhile, Pang Hu on the other side was already brimming with fighting spirit: "I must get into a vocational college." His tone, his gaze, his ambition—it was as if he were aiming for Peking University.

Qing Ye's speech was indeed brief, but her innate charisma seemed to instantly inspire everyone. When she turned around, Xing Wu felt her gaze sweep in his direction. Despite the distance and the crowd of students, he could still sense her eyes—so intense and radiant, like a dazzling sun.

After the morning assembly ended and they returned to class, Shi Min seemed to have something on her mind all morning, unusually quiet and occasionally staring blankly at Qing Ye. At noon, Qing Ye finally couldn't resist asking her, "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

Shi Min adjusted her thick round glasses and said dejectedly, "Qing Ye, you said this morning that anyone willing to study shouldn't score below 450, but I've always been willing to study—why can't I reach that score?"

"..." Qing Ye really wanted to tell her, "You're a special case, okay, sweetie?" But she couldn't bear to hurt her feelings, crush her confidence, or negate her efforts.

So she quickly tore a page from her notebook, filled it with problems from various subjects, and slapped it onto Shi Min's desk: "Finish this and give it to me tomorrow."As it turned out, Shi Min spent the entire afternoon diligently working on the problems Qing Ye had assigned her.

Xing Wu received a phone call at noon and seemed to have some business to attend to, so Qing Ye didn’t see him all afternoon. However, on her way home from school, she spotted a yellow Porsche sports car parked at the entrance of Dazzle Island.

To be honest, seeing a Porsche in Zhazha Pavilion was as rare as the sun rising from the west. Sure enough, all the neighbors around Dazzle Island were grinning and taking photos of the sports car from their doorways, windows, or second-floor balconies.

As Qing Ye approached, she noticed two men standing in front of the Porsche, dressed head to toe in trendy brands—clearly not locals. Confirming her suspicion, she glanced at the license plate: it was from Shanghai. Even more strangely, Xing Wu was standing with them, engaged in conversation.

He stood tall with a cigarette dangling from his lips, his gaze indifferent. Then, as if catching sight of Qing Ye out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head and stared at her. The two men quickly noticed Qing Ye as well and stopped talking. One of them, wearing a CLOT Black Thorn hoodie, suddenly laughed and said, “You actually have beauties around here?”

He tilted his chin toward Qing Ye, but she ignored him and looked at Xing Wu instead. Xing Wu directly tossed his jacket to her and said, “Take this home for me.”