chapter 2
In our first year of college, I started dating my nemesis, Jiang Xing.
His friends couldn’t understand why he would fall for a tigress like me.
My friends couldn’t understand why he openly doted on Zhao Fei’er, crossed one boundary after another for her sake, and somehow got away with it every time.
Jiang Xing and I understood it even less.
Why the hell had that Couples System bound the two of us together?
Our feud had begun on our very first day of high school.
We had just arrived on an unfamiliar campus, and everyone in the class was still trapped in that awkward stage of being strangers.
To keep us disciplined during military training, our homeroom teacher encouraged volunteers to serve as temporary class officers.
Jiang Xing confidently announced that he could be class monitor.
To be fair, he was good at it. Everyone fell in line, and he established his authority within days.
The reason I clashed with him was simple: the boy was unbearably full of himself.
One afternoon, after lunch, we had an hour to rest before training resumed.
Everyone returned to the classroom, chatting and laughing with their new friends.
Amid all the noise, no one noticed Jiang Xing dragging a chair onto the podium with one hand.
When nobody paid attention to him, he slammed the blackboard eraser against the teacher’s desk.
Under dozens of startled stares, he dusted the chalk from his hands, dropped onto the chair, and crossed one leg over the other.
“What’s all this noise? Don’t you know it’s nap time?”
We looked at one another, confused by his sudden anger.
“The vice monitor has been telling you to quiet down. Are your ears only there to let out air?”
“You’re high school students, not toddlers. Do we need to drag you around by the ears and teach you how to behave?”
“When it’s nap time, shut your mouths. Stop shrieking.”
A student timidly raised his hand.
“Class Monitor, it’s only twelve forty-three. Nap time starts at one.”
“I told you the day before yesterday: the moment you enter this classroom, you settle down. If none of you want to rest, we can go back outside and train.”
Jiang Xing swept his gaze across the room. When nobody argued, he smiled in satisfaction and continued.
“My rule is simple: orders are obeyed. We’re in military training, so we hold ourselves to military standards. No fooling around like a pack of undisciplined rabble.”
“If anyone has a problem with that, come challenge me. I used to run things, you know. Smoking, drinking, fighting—I’ve done it all.”
I snorted.
That last line broke me.
My desk mate covered her mouth and turned away, digging her fingers into my thigh to warn me not to laugh.
Jiang Xing’s eyes snapped toward me. He stood with both hands in his pockets.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
My face was red from holding back laughter. I bit my lower lip and shook my head.
“No. I think you’re incredible. Truly admirable.”
Ding. First encounter between male and female leads activated.
The mechanical voice flashed through my mind and vanished so quickly that I wondered if military training had made me hallucinate.
Jiang Xing froze too, but only for an instant. Then he looked at me again, his mouth twisting into an infuriating smirk.
“Then what are you laughing at? You think I’m wrong?”
I swallowed my smile and stood. More than thirty pairs of eyes turned toward me.
My desk mate frantically tugged at my uniform. I pretended not to notice.
“Everything you said is right, Class Monitor. Orders must be obeyed. Silence the moment we enter the room. Excellent rules.” I drew out the words. “There’s only one thing I don’t understand.”
“You know, all that stuff about how you used to be a boss and smoked, drank, and fought?”
“Should I put that into your official campaign speech?”
“Or should I report to our teacher right now that we’ve got a real gangster in class?”
The room exploded. Sharp breaths sounded from every direction.
Jiang Xing’s expression stiffened visibly, and his ears slowly turned red.
Ding. Congratulations to Host Shen Yuze for completing First Confrontation. Reward: Affection +5. Current main-plot progress: 1%.
Me: “…”
What the hell was this?
Jiang Xing clenched and unclenched his fists before forcing out a question.
“What’s your name?”
“Shen Yuze.” I held out my hand with an open smile. “I look forward to learning from you, Boss Monitor.”
He didn’t shake it. He turned and walked away.
But during formation practice that afternoon, I could swear someone kept staring at the back of my head hard enough to burn a hole through it.