Chapter Thirty-Two: The Incident Spreads

Since the campus belle Liu had already run off, Zhou Xuan couldn’t be bothered to take the tricycle back. He strolled alone along the riverside, reached the South Gate, then crossed through the county town and returned to school.

Back in the classroom, it was around half past two in the afternoon. Zhou Xuan hurriedly took out his notebook and began writing the essay assigned by Teacher Chen.

While Zhou Xuan was pondering his composition, word had already spread about Liu Yixue going to have lunch on a fishing boat by the river with someone. The story grew more exaggerated with each retelling.

In the girls’ dormitory, inside Liu Yixue’s room, a rare Sunday break had the girls chatting together.

“Did you hear? Our Yixue went to have lunch with someone.”

“What? No way—she’s always been cold as a stone.”

“Really? Who was it?”

“Who could possibly be that charming?”

“Just think who’s been in the spotlight lately.”

“Oh wow! Zhou Xuan, of course. They went to Teacher Chen’s for essay coaching this morning. No wonder Yixue didn’t come back for lunch—she went to eat with the handsome guy.”

“You know, I’ve noticed Zhou Xuan has been getting more charismatic lately. Do you think Yixue’s making the first move?”

“Haha! You hopeless romantic, you could compete with Yixue for him.”

“There’s going to be trouble for Zhou Xuan. I wonder if Yixue’s admirers could line up all the way to the school gate.”

“Right! And some of them are children of officials and rich families. Zhou Xuan’s just a country boy—will he get bullied?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Remember how fiercely he fought Xu Shaoyun last time? Zhou Xuan’s not to be trifled with.”

“You’d never guess. Zhou Xuan was so quiet in seventh and eighth grade, and now in ninth grade he’s suddenly blossomed.”

“Well, all I know is, there’s going to be drama…”

“Absolutely…”

In the boys’ dormitory, Zhou Xuan’s room—

Bang! The door flew open and a head poked in. “Big news! Big news!”

A pillow flew at the intruder. “Li Fei, what are you screaming about? I was having a great nap!”

Li Fei dodged nimbly and retorted, “Zhou Lin, if you keep that up, you’ll miss out on the scoop.”

Zhou Lin opened his bleary eyes, scowling, “Fine! But if you don’t deliver something truly shocking, don’t even think about leaving this room today. Guys, you with me?”

“Definitely.”

“No doubt about it.”

“We’ll just beat him up first.”

Everyone in the dorm, now wide awake, chimed in together.

“Do you know what I saw at lunch today?” Li Fei said, his tone mysterious.

“Hurry up and spill it! Stop dragging it out,” Zhou Lin grumbled.

“I saw Zhou Xuan and campus belle Liu Yixue riding a tricycle to the riverside together.”

Li Fei finally revealed the bombshell.

“Damn, Brother Xuan, impressive!” Zhou Lin couldn’t help but swear.

“No way! Liu Yixue has never been close to any boy in junior high, let alone taken a ride to the riverside with one.”

“Li Fei, don’t joke. So many guys are after Liu Yixue—have you ever seen her share a meal with any boy?”

“If I’m lying, I’m a son of a tortoise.” Seeing their disbelief, Li Fei was nearly swearing an oath.

It was true—since the start of seventh grade, Liu Yixue hadn’t given any boy even a second glance. She’d never even been seen talking alone with one, let alone spending time together outside.

Today’s events completely shattered the image everyone had of Liu Yixue, leaving jaws on the floor.

By tomorrow, Zhou Xuan would surely become the target of envy, jealousy, and resentment among the boys—a public enemy for sure.

“Brother Xuan went to the teacher’s essay coaching and isn’t back yet. Maybe he really did go on a date with the campus belle?” Even Zhou Lin began to doubt, seeing how certain Li Fei was.

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll find out during evening study.”

“Yeah, there’s drama ahead.”

“I bet Wei Xinyu’s reaction to this news will be priceless.”

“No doubt about that.”

“Evening study’s going to be interesting.”

“Absolutely!”

“Let’s go, let’s go—let’s play some ball and catch the show tonight!”

On Changjiang Avenue, the so-called “Fallen Street” of the county town—

The street stretched nearly two hundred meters, lined with several computer game arcades offering a variety of single-player games. There was a teahouse, two billiard halls, several hotpot and skewer shops, and food stalls.

Because there was so much to do and eat, the street was always bustling in the evenings and on weekends—business was booming.

Inside one of the billiard halls, a few teenagers were playing, among them Wei Xinyu and Jiang Xiaopang from Class Six.

Bang! Wei Xinyu missed a shot and angrily slammed his cue on the table.

“I’m done!”

“Why quit now, Brother Wei? We’ve barely played two games.”

“Not in the mood.”

“Still brooding over the midterm results? You’re a top student—one slip isn’t a big deal.”

“Yeah, we’re always at the bottom anyway, every test’s the same for us.”

Wei Xinyu glanced at his friends and shook his head gloomily.

“It’s not about my grades—it’s that bastard Zhou Xuan. He beat me out of a hundred bucks and I haven’t had a chance for payback. Now he’s gone and topped the grade in the midterm—he’s getting more and more attention. The better he does, the more I regret ever betting with him. The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.”

He didn’t mention something else: how he’d tried to get Vice Principal Li to give Zhou Xuan a hard time. In the end, Zhou Xuan came out unscathed and even drew the principal’s attention, while Director Tian and Vice Principal Li ended up in trouble themselves.

Now that Zhou Xuan had taken first place in the grade, the principal valued him even more. Was he supposed to just stand by and watch Zhou Xuan rise, while he himself was left behind?

There was also the matter of his father attending the parent meeting today, seeing Zhou Xuan’s meteoric improvement while Wei himself had dropped more than ten places. His father had cursed him angrily, leaving Wei Xinyu in a foul mood.

“Brother Wei, why not get someone to rough him up—give him a warning?”

“Yeah, we know plenty of people in town.”

“Remember that guy who got close to Liu Yixue? We took care of him and now he’s as meek as a mouse.”

“He’s in the principal’s good graces now. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t want to go that far.”

“Hey, why aren’t you guys playing?” A student approached.

“Li Chao, there you are! We’ve been waiting for you,” someone called. This was Li Chao from Class One, who was acquainted with both Wei Xinyu and Hai Chen.

“Brother Wei’s upset about Zhou Xuan and doesn’t feel like playing.”

“Yeah, we can’t just play and leave Brother Wei bored.”

“How about we try a few rounds of Red Alert next door?” someone suggested.

Seeing how fixated Wei Xinyu was on Zhou Xuan, Li Chao’s eyes lit up. “Wei Xinyu, guess who I just saw?”