Chapter 4

The Shen family had donated the two buildings beside the school. No one there dared lay a finger on him.

When I asked to change seats, my teacher agreed quickly. The school even sent me a grant.

After classes, as I packed my books, damp lips touched my neck.

“Our star student can get good grades without studying, right? Spend a little more time with me tonight?”

Beneath his coaxing tone lay a faint hint of mockery.

He spitefully bit the finger I had put in his way. His lips were full and rounded, his eyes fixed on mine.

“We’re in the classroom. There are cameras.”

I held him off, looking at Shen Zhuo as he tried with every part of himself to tempt me astray.

“So it’ll be all right at home?” He leaned closer.

A smile curved my eyes. “Depends how hard you work.”

We had been dating in secret for a month. The college entrance exam was another month away.

Love hadn’t affected my studies. Shen Zhuo took away my homework and books under every pretext imaginable. I still ranked first.

He refused to give up until my grades fell. Knowing no one else lived with me, he shamelessly followed me home.

Shen Zhuo hated studying. The moment we got home, I made him work through practice questions.

He stared at the formulas with deep reluctance. “Do I get a reward if I learn them?”

I nodded.

He attacked the questions as though taking out his frustrations on them. When he finally got the answers right, he hooked an arm around my shoulders. “Done. Tonight’s reward.”

High school boys always had so much energy.

I let myself enjoy it for a while.

But when he saw how clear my eyes remained, anger rose in his own. “Song Mian.”

“You got this one wrong.”

I marked the mistake on the last page.

His face said plainly that he couldn’t be bothered to think. He assumed his family would always be there to catch him. Why work hard himself?

He began sulking, roughly trapping my hand. “Study, study, study! Song Mian, it’s all you care about. You don’t even like me!”

I didn’t spare him another glance.

Was I supposed to coax a man out of a sulk?

He’d come to seduce me for Zhao Mingzhu. Naturally, he was the one who ought to keep me entertained.

Whatever else might be said about him, his face really was beautiful.

It never occurred to me that we were in a cold war. I let him skip breakfast, using his own body as leverage to force me to care.

I touched his arm. His pretty eyes burned with anger at being ignored. Clutching his stomach, he turned his back on me.

But he didn’t know that only someone who fell first could be hurt by another person’s indifference.

From beginning to end, I was simply a calm spectator watching his tantrums.

Another video came from the anonymous sender.

It was full of familiar faces. The little gang Zhao Mingzhu had assembled to lure me into ruin.

“That’s our Shen. Had Mianmian head over heels the minute he showed up.”

“What exactly did you do? She actually asked the teacher herself to change desk mates!”

Shen Zhuo’s voice came clearly through the screen, with a subtle trace of smug pride. “Thought she’d be hard to get. All I had to do was crook a finger.”

“Shen Zhuo, my cousin’s liked you for years. Don’t let Mingzhu down. When are you going to dump her?”

He raised an eyebrow. “After I’ve slept with her. She’s much prettier than those gaudy sluts out there.”

The sound of shattering glass came from the video.

Li Changqing had knocked over his drink.

Zhao Mingzhu’s petulant voice followed. “You haven’t fallen for her, have you? It’s been ages and her grades still haven’t dropped! Doesn’t look like she cares about you much either!”

The bar’s music was loud. I only caught Shen Zhuo’s contemptuous reply. “How could I fall in love with some penniless orphan? As if she’s good enough. Get the cancer report ready. One month before the entrance exam, I’ll show you what I can do.”

The anonymous sender asked, [After all that, do you still like Shen Zhuo?]

As usual, I didn’t answer.

It was such an interesting game. Rich boys kept coming, playing at winning me over, trying to please me. Why spoil it?

As long as I didn’t fall in love, I was the one having fun.