Chapter 4: What Are You Pretending For?

At this very moment, Xu Yin truly felt what it was like to have daggers staring at her back…

With one casual remark, Duan Sili had concentrated the “firepower” of all the girls in the school onto her.

The crowd below erupted in discussion.

Why, on what grounds!
When had Duan Sili ever properly looked at a girl?
Today, on stage, he hadn’t even given Su Wan’an… a second glance!

The first words he spoke were actually to Xu Yin!

Xu Yin endured the complex and slightly jealous gazes of the entire student body, but she wasn’t flustered.
Instead, she lifted her eyes and looked at Su Wan’an.

At this moment, Su Wan’an also turned back to look at her.

Before this, Su Wan’an hadn’t given her a proper look.
Now, upon seeing her, for some inexplicable reason, a blurry outline emerged in Su Wan’an’s mind when she saw those clear, almond-shaped eyes…

The shadow of that person, like a nightmare, always came back to her in the middle of the night…

It made her suffer, made her jealous, made her resentful!

She’s been dead for so many damn years!
But she still thought of her.
It was so annoying.

Su Wan’an quickly dispelled the foul mood in her chest, gave Xu Yin a cold smile, and used her sharp gaze to remind her that it was time to leave the stage.

Xu Yin didn’t respond, only nodding at Duan Sili without even looking at him.

With her head down, she followed Su Wan’an off the stage.

Back in her seat, Qi Youwei let out a sigh of relief and said to her, “That was really nerve-wracking just now. I can’t believe Duan Sili would actually strike up a conversation with you! So many girls have tried to talk to him before, but you can count the number of people he’s actually responded to on one hand!”

“I don’t know him.”

Seeing her calm demeanor, Qi Youwei asked curiously, “Aren’t you happy that he talked to you?”

Xu Yin looked at the young man on the stage.

The spotlight shone on him, his skin so fair it seemed to glow.

“He’s just an ordinary person, not a god.” Her dark eyes fell on Qi Youwei.
“Why should I be happy?”

“Alright then.” Qi Youwei sighed worriedly.
“Because of what he did, Su Wan’an must hate you to death now! And all the other girls are watching you like tigers eyeing their prey!”

“Qi Youwei.” Xu Yin suddenly called her name.

“Hmm?”

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”

At these words, Qi Youwei instantly became nervous.
“Ah, I… I…”

“I hope we can be friends,” Xu Yin said.
“So, you can tell me anything.”

If it weren’t for the incident in English class where she helped her out, Qi Youwei might not have had such a strong positive impression of her, but now…

She gritted her teeth and told her about how Chi Huanyi, Liu Hui, and the others had forced her to drug her.

“I’m sorry, I’m really scared of them. I didn’t dare to disobey them. I’m really sorry.” She asked cautiously, “Are you okay now? A-Are you feeling unwell?”

“No.”

“But I clearly saw that the water in your cup was gone.”

“I didn’t drink it,” Xu Yin explained calmly.
“The Golden Triangle isn’t a good place, so I developed a habit from a young age. I never touch any water, drinks, or food… that have left my sight. Because one careless mistake could cost me my life.”

Qi Youwei had seen news related to it and knew that it was a lawless region where a lot of crime flourished.

“But you’re the daughter of the big boss of Shanbang.”

Xu Yin smiled.
“It’s the same.”

A short while later, Lu Qi, having finished his basketball game, snuck in and sat in the seat Qi Youwei had saved for him.

Qi Youwei caught a whiff of his sweat and moved away from him in disgust, leaning closer to Xu Yin.

He whispered to the two girls, “I was just playing basketball in the gym. Guess who I saw? Duan Sili! He was playing too! I only left when I saw him leave.”

“So that’s why he was late,” Xu Yin said.
“Everyone was waiting for him.”

“It’s a common occurrence.” Qi Youwei turned her head to say to her, “It’s because Duan Sili dislikes complications, so the originally complex procedures, with all the speeches from leaders and department heads… have been greatly simplified. Anything that can be omitted, is.”

That was indeed the case.
Although he was late, he finished his speech in a whirlwind, ending the handover ceremony in minutes, so the students were not dissatisfied.

Xu Yin looked towards him.

He was clearly bored with such procedures, yet he maintained a perfect smile the entire time, polite and distant…

From afar, he exuded an unapproachable, lofty coldness.

The surrounding girls stared at him intently, their phones clicking away with endless photos.

“It’s only at times like these that everyone has the chance to stare at him for so long. Usually, it’s very difficult to see him. He’s not often at school.”

“The teachers don’t mind?” Xu Yin asked.

“How would the teachers dare to mind him? And there’s no need to. His grades have consistently been at the top of the year, and his grade points are also the highest. He spends most of his time preparing for various competitions. The school needs him to win trophies and achieve results! They give him the green light for everything. Look, for an inauguration ceremony like today’s, if it were any of the previous Student Union presidents, not so many school leaders would have come. Only he gets this kind of treatment.”

Xu Yin nodded.
“He is indeed very impressive.”

The handover ceremony lasted less than half an hour before it ended.

Walking out of the Central Auditorium, from within the crowd… she heard someone calling her name—

“Xu Yin! Xu Yin!”

Xu Yin turned around and saw a young man in a black T-shirt, weaving through the flowing crowd, waving at her incessantly as he walked towards her.

Qi Youwei held her breath, tugging at Xu Yin’s sleeve.
“Holy crap! I think Gao Minglang is waving at you! He’s one of Duan Sili’s people. You actually know him?”

Xu Yin recognized him.
He was the boy who had lent her money to buy reference books that night.

“Oh! It’s you.”

Gao Minglang walked up to Xu Yin and said with a smile, “Important people are indeed forgetful. I’ve been waiting for you all morning.”

“I’m sorry!” Xu Yin quickly pulled her wallet out of her bag.
“I didn’t know your class, so I didn’t have a chance to find you to pay you back.”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw the golden S-class nameplate on his chest.

Gao Minglang straightened his collar.
“I work in the Student Union, so my grade points are high. I just got into S-class this year.”

Xu Yin showed just the right amount of the emotional validation he was hoping for.
“That’s really impressive!”

Gao Minglang felt quite pleased.
Seeing her pull out five red bills from her wallet, he quickly said, “I don’t carry cash. Why don’t we add each other on ‘Green Bubble’? Don’t tell me you haven’t applied for an account yet!”

Xu Yin took out her phone, downloaded the WeChat app, and registered with her phone number right in front of him.
“I really haven’t had the chance yet. Can you wait a moment?”

“I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

Gao Minglang watched her as she looked down at her phone, her long, dense eyelashes like the tails of a butterfly.

The more he looked, the more he liked what he saw.

In the short three minutes it took for her to apply for a WeChat account, Gao Minglang’s heart was already racing at eight hundred miles per hour.

This feeling was truly overwhelming.

Xu Yin added him on WeChat and transferred the money to him.

Gao Minglang looked at her empty Moments feed.
Her WeChat name was also chosen on the spot—

butterfly
A small butterfly.

Her profile picture was half a wing of a black butterfly…

“So I guess I’m your first friend in the country?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Shouldn’t you pin me to the top then?” he asked tentatively.

Xu Yin, with great amiability, set Gao Minglang as a pinned chat.

Gao Minglang felt as if he were floating on a cloud, light-headed and unreal…

There’s a good chance!

Having added Xu Yin on WeChat, Gao Minglang seized the opportunity and said, “It’s so hot today. How about I treat you to some iced drinks?”

“Sure,” Xu Yin didn’t refuse.
“Are you only treating me?”

“Of course, everyone together!” Gao Minglang hurriedly said, “Your friends, they can all come too!”

Xu Yin turned her head to look at Qi Youwei beside her.
“Want to go?”

Qi Youwei saw that the two of them… were a bit “off,” and quickly played along, “Yeah, I’m thirsty anyway.”

Seeing that Qi Youwei was going, Lu Qi quickly said, “I want to go too.”

Gao Minglang said magnanimously, “Alright, let’s go!”

Chi Huanyi and Liu Hui, along with a few others, emerged, surrounding Su Wan’an.
From a distance, they saw Xu Yin talking to Gao Minglang.
Liu Hui cursed, “Such a flirt, seducing people as soon as she arrives, and seducing someone from S-class at that.”

“Her appetite is really not small. She even dares to touch someone from Duan Sili’s circle.”
“She probably got carried away after Duan Sili said a word to her.”

Su Wan’an initially didn’t want to pay attention to the whispers of her group of friends, but at the mention of Duan Sili, she lifted her eyes and glanced at Xu Yin in the distance.

For no reason… the more she looked at her face, the more she disliked it.
It was as if she hated this “pure little white flower” type from the bottom of her heart.

What are you pretending for.

At a cold drink shop outside the school gates, Gao Minglang placed the order and chatted with Xu Yin at the counter.

Lu Qi, on the other hand, kept a close watch on Qi Youwei, pulling her to sit by the window and staring at Xu Yin and Gao Minglang.

“She seems… a bit interested in Gao Minglang, huh?”

“Which eye did you see that with? I only feel that Gao Minglang’s heart is about to stick to Yinyin’s body,” Qi Youwei said, chewing on her straw.

“But she doesn’t refuse him, haven’t you noticed?” Lu Qi felt he was quite a highly sensitive person.
“I think she’s… the kind of person who is very nice and enthusiastic on the surface, but you can never figure out what she’s thinking. For this kind of person, being friendly in social situations is one thing, but if she’s not interested and has no intentions, adding on WeChat is already the limit of politeness. Yet she actually agreed to have milk tea together! Isn’t that an indirect agreement to start dating?”

Qi Youwei slapped Lu Qi on the head—

“A girl agreeing to a date to watch a movie means she agrees to sleep with you. That’s what you mean, right!”

“Help, I never said that. Don’t frame me!”

She turned away, ignoring him.

“But, Gao Minglang is really handsome,” Lu Qi said, clutching his head.
“Although he’s always around Duan Sili, which makes him ‘fade into the background,’ if you look at him alone, he’s definitely at the second-tier school hunk level. No wonder this young miss from Shanbang is interested.”

Qi Youwei stared at them and shook her head.
“I don’t think so.”

“Of course, in your eyes, I’m the most handsome.”

She glared at him.
“I don’t think she likes him.”

From last night until now, all of Xu Yin’s actions had left Qi Youwei unable to guess… what was going on in her head.

The only thing she could understand was that she was very smart!
One could almost say she was a sharp and perceptive person.

She didn’t think such a person would be easily attracted to a boy like Gao Minglang.

She wanted to go over and ask Xu Yin to head back together.
As she approached, she heard Gao Minglang patting his chest and promising Xu Yin—

“I’m in the Student Union. As long as it’s not a big deal, I can help you sort it out. Just come to me!”

“Okay, I’ll have to trouble you in the future then.”

Qi Youwei observed Xu Yin, even feeling that her smile was very… tolerant.

Just as they were talking, the noise in the drink shop suddenly froze for a moment, falling silent.

Everyone’s line of sight was drawn to the person who walked in through the glass door.

Duan Sili… had walked in.

Only he had this kind of aura that could make people pause for a second.

He walked past Xu Yin and Gao Minglang without a sideways glance.

Xu Yin followed his back with her gaze and saw a small red dinosaur charm hanging from his black shoulder bag.

It was somewhat at odds with his aloof, lone-wolf demeanor.

He walked to a window seat, and a boy beside him immediately went to the counter to order for him.

When Gao Minglang saw Duan Sili, he quickly waved and greeted him, “Master Si!”

Duan Sili glanced at them, his expression indifferent, and took a thick hardcover book out of his bag.

At this moment, Gao Minglang was like an enthusiastic golden retriever with its tongue hanging out, eager to show off in front of his “potential girlfriend.”
So he said to Xu Yin, “You’ve heard of Duan Sili, right? The star of today’s inauguration ceremony.”

“Mmm, the Student Union president.”

“My buddy!” Gao Minglang quickly said, “Want to meet him? I’ll introduce you.”

“Sure, but I hear he doesn’t like to talk to people.”

“That’s why you need me to introduce you!”

Gao Minglang led Xu Yin over to Duan Sili.
“Master Si, this is Xu Yin, the girl we met at the bookstore last time, a new student from Shanbang. She even presented you with the badge at the inauguration ceremony just now.”

Xu Yin extended her hand to Duan Sili, her voice soft and gentle—

“Hello, my name is Xu Yin.”

Duan Sili nonchalantly lifted his eyelids.

His deep, abyss-like black eyes swept over her…

Then, he extended his hand, and at the moment it was about to touch hers, he changed direction and took the green grape lemon blast drink handed to him by his companion.

“Leaving,” his voice was cold.
“Five-stack tonight.”

Those words were directed at Gao Minglang.

From beginning to end, he didn’t pay Xu Yin any attention.

Gao Minglang smiled at her awkwardly, then quickly followed Duan Sili, looking back as he walked—

“Sorry about that, I’ll contact you on WeChat later!”

Xu Yin nodded.

Qi Youwei walked over and sighed, “Duan Sili is just like that. You’ll get used to it.”

The surrounding gazes held a subtle sympathy, as if Xu Yin had brought the snub upon herself.

No one noticed that where he had just placed his bag, a small red dinosaur charm had been left behind, all alone.

She picked it up.

And quietly put it in her bag.