Не inехplicаblу ехudеd a roguish chаrm.
Нe scrаtched his hеаd, glаnсеd bаck at his sеveral "underlings" behind him, and prеssеd his lips tоgethеr withоut sреaking.
Su Zаi Zаi sесrеtly imаgined in her mind: Thеrе must be sоme lines herе, but Zhang Lu Rang сouldn't bring himself tо sау thеm.
Аt thе sаme time, thе bоys simultаnеоusly рulled оut рapеr knivеs from thеir pockеts and shouted in unisоn, "Rоbbеry!"
Su Zаi Zai: "..."
She had imаginеd sо much, fаntаsizеd fоr sо lоng in her mind аbоut Zhang Lu Rаng being rоbbed of his virtuе.
She nеvеr thоught he wоuld асtuаlly be... the оne doing the robbing.
And nоt just that—he was thе leadеr, eхuding а boss-likе aura.
Just then, a narrator's voice suddenly sounded in her ears, a woman's voice pleasant and melodious, clear and crisp.
"When you are being robbed, you must not blindly run away."
The movements of the people on stage simultaneously froze, as if time had stopped.
"If you do that, this will be the outcome."
The boy holding the large cardboard began to move, lifting the sign and running.
Several boys chased after him, dragging him before Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang looked at him expressionlessly, raised his long leg, and gave him a light, pretend kick.
The boy immediately rolled on the ground, howling in pain.
The movements froze again.
"You should use your wits to deal with the robber while ensuring your own safety. Never anger him."
The boy lying on the ground pretending to be dead immediately sat up, holding a microphone and saying, "I'll give you whatever you want, just please don't hurt me."
Zhang Lu Rang chuckled softly, "What do you think?"
The boy obediently handed the large cardboard to Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang took it and casually tossed it behind him.
The boy began to take off his clothes, handing his jacket to Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang repeated the same motion as before.
Seeing that none of this could attract his attention, the boy cupped his face with both hands and gave Zhang Lu Rang a flirtatious glance.
Su Zai Zai: "..."
This guy is insane! Getting robbed and still flirting!
Jiang Jia said beside her, "I heard Zhang Lu Rang was originally supposed to be the one getting robbed. Oh my god, I really want to see him give a flirtatious glance, hahahaha."
A flirtatious glance...
Su Zai Zai wanted to see it too.
On stage, Zhang Lu Rang fell silent for a moment, then picked up the microphone and said softly, "Can't you tell?"
His voice, rich and smooth, amplified by the speakers, carried a magnetic quality deeper and more captivating than usual.
Su Zai Zai's heart trembled, tingling all over as if countless ants were nibbling at her.
Zhang Lu Rang crouched down, meeting the boy at eye level.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile as he said softly, "I'm here to rob you of your virtue."
Instantly, waves of suppressed screams erupted around her.
From afar, she could even hear a girl shouting, "Come rob me!"
Followed by an explosion of laughter.
Jiang Jia was also laughing hysterically beside her, "Holy crap! Hahahaha, what kind of twist is this? So cheesy!"
Su Zai Zai's mind felt as if something had exploded, making her want to scream.
But her throat seemed choked, leaving her excitement with nowhere to vent.
So, so charming, wuwuwu.
Su Zai Zai couldn't hold back anymore. Taking advantage of the crowd.
She raised her voice and shouted, "Great beauty, I want to ravish you!"
Then she immediately chickened out, shrinking behind the back of the front-row seat.
The classmates around her bent over laughing, and Jiang Jia couldn't help but give her a thumbs-up.
Su Zai Zai covered her face and thought.
Her voice had cracked when she shouted just now. The great beauty probably wouldn't recognize it was her, right...Su Zai Zai was lost in her own world.
She didn’t notice the sudden pause in Zhang Lu Rang’s delivery of his lines.
After the Campus Night ended.
Students poured out from every exit of the auditorium.
A dense crowd of dark-haired heads squeezed together, looking particularly stifling.
Zhang Lu Rang sat in his seat for a while, waiting for the crowd to thin before getting up to leave.
He returned to the classroom.
The seat that had been empty for two weeks finally had someone in it.
Zhang Lu Rang walked over, picked up his water bottle, and took a few sips.
Zhou Xuyin was organizing the test papers in his desk drawer.
A few minutes later, he turned to look at Zhang Lu Rang and asked softly, “Do you know why I took leave?”
That day, Zhang Lu Rang had walked Zhou Xuyin to the school gate.
But on his way back, he ran into Su Zai Zai.
And so began the days of being pestered, still without knowing the reason.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Zhang Lu Rang noticed the furrow between his brows finally relaxing.
Judging by his reaction that day, he was probably sick with something.
As for what illness it was, Zhang Lu Rang had no interest in finding out.
Because he knew that everyone had things they didn’t want others to know.
Back in the dormitory.
Zhang Lu Rang went to the balcony to wash up first, then walked over to his locker and opened the door.
He checked his phone.
Looking at the missed call, Zhang Lu Rang hesitated for a moment before dialing back.
After a few rings, the other end finally picked up.
“A Rang.”
“Hmm.”
“I heard from your uncle that you have midterm exams next week, right?”
Zhang Lu Rang walked to the balcony, closed the sliding glass door, and responded softly.
“Why didn’t you call Mom?”
“…”
“What was your ranking in the last monthly exam?”
Zhang Lu Rang paused for a moment before replying quietly, “Thirty-second.”
A sigh came from the other end.
His heart tightened at the sound, suffocating him.
After a while.
The woman’s gentle voice came again.
“Is it still because of English? Why are you just like A Li… I’ll call your uncle later and ask him to find a tutoring class for you, okay?”
“No need,” Zhang Lu Rang immediately refused.
Silence fell on the other end.
Zhang Lu Rang looked up, gazing at the distant sky.
As if resigned to his fate, he said, “I can’t learn it well.”
“You…”
Zhang Lu Rang interrupted her, repeating, “I can’t learn it well. Don’t waste the money.”
He hung up the phone, pursed his lips, and ran his fingers through his hair.
Zhou Xuyin had things he didn’t want others to know because he was too proud.
But Zhang Lu Rang was different.
His inferiority ran deep into his bones.
He had struggled.
But in the end, he had simply accepted his fate.
Chapter Fifteen
I hope he can be a little happier.
—From “Su Zai Zai’s Little Fairy Diary”
The second day of the school sports meet.
Su Zai Zai sat under her class’s tent, secretly watching Zhang Lu Rang from about thirty meters away.
The tents were set up along the track in class order, so Class One’s position was exactly at the ten o’clock direction from Class Nine.
From a distance.
Zhang Lu Rang sat among a group of boys, all of whom were chatting and laughing.
Only he kept his head down, holding a book in his hands.
From this angle, only his dark, tousled hair and slightly pursed lips were visible.
He had already changed back into his blue-and-white striped school uniform, looking fresh and bright.
An hour later, Zhang Lu Rang finally moved.He stood up, put the book into his backpack, and headed toward the restroom.
Su Zai Zai quickly got to her feet, smoothing her hair as she ran.
She soon caught up beside him.
Su Zai Zai jumped in front of him with a playful grin. "Hey!"
Zhang Lu Rang glanced at her but didn’t respond.
She walked alongside him for a while.
Standing next to him, Su Zai Zai’s mind went completely blank.
All the words she had prepared earlier suddenly vanished from her memory.
It was so quiet…
Better to say something random first.
"I think it’s really great how you are."
"What?"
"It’s a good habit—not needing someone to go to the restroom with you."
"..."
That seemed even more awkward.
Su Zai Zai decided to just wing it. "Zhang Lu Rang, have you ever told a lie?"
"Hmm." Zhang Lu Rang answered casually.
Su Zai Zai pressed on. "Have you ever scored thirty points in English?"
"...Hmm."
Hearing his slight hesitation before answering, Su Zai Zai’s heart sank.
Seems like I hit a sore spot for the beauty…
She licked her lips, flustered, and added, "Actually, scoring low isn’t a big deal. Let me tell you, my physics and chemistry scores combined have never exceeded a hundred."
"..."
"I’ve been trying to memorize the periodic table since middle school and still can’t get it right."
"..."
"I really don’t know what the unit for acceleration is."
Zhang Lu Rang’s brow twitched slightly as he asked, puzzled, "What are you trying to say?"
"You can’t tell?" Su Zai Zai felt a bit frustrated.
"No."
Su Zai Zai scratched her head, almost jumping in agitation.
"To praise you and make you stand out, I even made myself sound like an idiot, and you still can’t tell?"
"..."
"Do you really believe I don’t understand such simple things? That’s absurd!"
Zhang Lu Rang couldn’t hold back any longer and said sternly, "That’s just how you are."
It wasn’t something she made up just to praise him.
That was the reality.
Su Zai Zai: "..."
Silence fell between them again.
Su Zai Zai didn’t feel embarrassed even after being exposed.
She hadn’t forgotten her purpose for coming and continued asking.
"Have you ever lied to me?"
"Yes."
Su Zai Zai: "..."
Do you have to be so honest!
How can I ever make him lie!
And besides.
Su Zai Zai put on a disapproving look. "Zhang Lu Rang, you can’t keep doing this."
"..."
"You always just reply with a ‘yes’ or ‘hmm.’ It’s too dismissive."
"..."
"Be more enthusiastic. If you don’t want to say much, you can just add one word."
"..."
"For example, ‘yes, ah.’"
"..."
After saying it, Su Zai Zai suddenly felt something was off.
She quickly covered her cheeks and mumbled, "...Suddenly feeling so embarrassed."
Zhang Lu Rang’s expression darkened as he said coldly, "What are you thinking about all day long?"
He gets prickly as soon as he’s teased.
A great beauty disguising himself with coldness.
Su Zai Zai pretended not to hear.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to be straightforward.
She took a deep breath and asked yesterday’s question again. "Do you think I’m pretty?"
Zhang Lu Rang was still a bit displeased from what had just happened.
Hearing this, he answered almost without hesitation. "No."
Hearing his answer, Su Zai Zai was delighted.—
OpenNovel