Chapter 2

I came downstairs the next morning feeling wonderfully refreshed.

Dark circles ringed Si Bonian’s eyes, as though he hadn’t slept all night.

I hid a smile behind my lips. He must have spent the whole night reliving our kiss!

Since we attended the same school, his father asked the driver to take us there together.

Si Bonian refused on instinct.

“No! I’ll ride my bike.”

I bounced over and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Come with me, Big Brother! It’s freezing outside. What if you catch cold on your bike?”

He tried to shake me off, so I breathed into his ear. “Don’t make me kiss you in front of your father.”

“You!” He ground his teeth. Apparently he couldn’t understand how anyone could be so shameless. His eyes held the stubborn restraint of someone unwilling to submit.

But he still got into the car with me and sat as far away as possible.

This was his first time riding to school with me. He had to be shy.

That was all right. When you liked someone, you shouldn’t embarrass him.

I would make the first move!

As the driver rounded a corner, I pretended to slip across the seat and slid right up beside him.

Si Bonian reacted as if facing a mortal enemy. “What are you doing?”

I loved how easily startled he was. So adorable!

I sat upright and soothed him. “Relax. I just slipped.”

Then, the moment he let out a small breath of relief, I put a hand on his thigh and slipped it beneath the hem of his shirt.

Hidden beneath his school jacket, my hand ran wild where no one could see.

His body went rigid, every muscle pulled taut, and his pale face flushed scarlet.

“Pei Youyou! Are you insane?”

“What are you trying to—stop!”

I glanced at the driver in front, then gently caught Si Bonian’s earlobe between my lips.

“Keep your voice down. If Uncle Wang finds out, we won’t be able to hide our relationship anymore.”

Si Bonian looked ready to break down. He clamped both hands around mine to keep it still.

“We don’t have a relationship!”

“You’re embarrassed. I understand.”

“Time for school. I’ll give you a proper reward at home tonight!”

The Si family was the most powerful clan in Yuncheng. Overnight, I had gone from a pitiful commoner to the eldest young lady of the Si household, and everyone had an opinion.

“Did you hear that Young Master Si’s father married Pei Youyou’s mother? Impressive. A woman her age still managed to marry into money. She must have some tricks up her sleeve!”

“Like mother, like daughter. Just look at that slutty Pei Youyou. She’s probably a little vixen who seduces men, too!”

“Poor Young Master Si. His mother hasn’t even been dead ten years, and his father has already married someone else. Who knows how much he’s suffering? Now he has to attend the same school as the home-wrecker’s daughter.”

“…”

I almost laughed. Then I opened fire.

“That’s right! My mother is in her forties and can still marry into a wealthy family, while you can only gossip behind her back. Sour grapes because you couldn’t do it?”

“How would you know whether I’m slutty? Did I seduce you? Hurry, show us the evidence. Let the whole school see exactly how I threw myself at you!”

“Absolutely. How shameless of my mother to seduce Uncle Si when his wife had only been dead for ten years! She should have died too so they could bury the women together and marry them off as ghost brides!”

Si Bonian had been walking behind me. My indiscriminate barrage scared him witless.

He clearly wanted nothing to do with it.

But how could I let him slip away so easily?

Did he think I hadn’t noticed that the loudest gossips were all his followers and childhood friends?

I called out at once. “Bonian, don’t you agree?”

My smile looked perfectly innocent, but my gaze pressed down like a threat.

Under my coercion, Si Bonian had no choice but to stop. After a long pause, he turned to the crowd and raised his voice.

“Enough!”

“Pei Youyou is my sister. You are not allowed to speak about her that way!”

“If I ever hear you gossiping about the Si family’s private affairs again, you’ll answer to me!”

Then, under my approving gaze, he ran off.

Oh, he loved me so much!

He had defended me in public. I was honestly moved to tears!

As I watched Si Bonian’s retreating back with a grateful expression, a voice sounded beside my ear.

“Si Bonian actually stood up for you. What kind of love potion did you feed him?”

That voice… What a treat for the ears.

I turned and saw the school heartthrob, Jian Li, standing beside me. His delicate, handsome face was full of venomous contempt.

How could lips that warm say something so cold?

I asked, “Are you jealous?”