Chapter 4 Home Ground: This is the most arrogant young lady in our class.

Qin Man remained sullen until school ended.

Pei Shiyu packed her schoolbag early, and while holding up her phone to send a message to her classmate in the next class, she slowly walked over to Qin Man's side.

"Let's go, I've arranged for a really handsome singer to sing for us tonight." Pei Shiyu put her hand on Qin Man's slender shoulder, smelling the pleasant fragrance of her hair, and asked, "What brand of shampoo are you using now? It smells so good."

Qin Man didn't answer, but lowered her eyes and said, "Let's go."

She went to the next class and called up a few more of her girlfriends, and together they walked to the bar street.

At night, rows of luxury cars are always parked in front of Fusheng, making the place extremely crowded.

The bar street boasts an excellent location, right next to the private Xilai Middle School, with an upscale villa area not far away, and a bustling commercial street just across the river. The street is lined with tastefully decorated bars and restaurants, their lights reflecting off the glass, creating a slightly dizzying effect.

Pei Shiyu had booked a private room at Fusheng Bar. The owner of Fusheng Bar was a senior alumnus of Xilai University. Through acquaintances, it gradually became the norm for students to gather here.

Qin Man followed them to the door, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the gift boxes in the hands of Pei Shiyu's friends.

The shiny and luxurious pearlescent paper paired with the delicate ribbon suddenly became very dazzling in Qin Man's eyes. In the past, she would never have cared about such a small thing, but now, even an expensive-looking wrapping paper made her feel pressured.

As for her, she didn't bring any gifts, her hands were empty, and to avoid appearing guilty, she crossed her arms, tilted her head back, and walked at the front.

But this intense feeling of being outdone made her head feel suffocated the whole way.

After passing through the most bustling dance hall of the bar, we arrived at a private room. The room had already been decorated, with inflatable balloons in the shape of "Happy Birthday" hanging on the walls, white and pink roses all around, and even the cake was Valiet's white swan design.

Qin Man glanced at it and frowned.

This setup is so similar to her birthday party style last year, even the cake design is very similar.

The other girls noticed it too, exchanging glances with a hint of disdain and mockery in their eyes.

Pei Shiyu likes to learn from Qin Man's taste and imitates Qin Man in everything she does. She loves to buy the latest seasonal items following Qin Man's lead. Although she doesn't buy the exact same ones, the sense of déjà vu is always very strong.

Pei Shiyu, however, was quite composed: "Manman, come sit here quickly, let me take a picture and post it on my WeChat Moments first."

So Qin Man sat down, and Pei Shiyu raised her phone to take a photo with her first.

Qin Man gave a faint smile. She was always proud, so in other people's eyes, her faint smile was already integrated with her inherent arrogance. Anyone who saw her smile would feel inferior.

Pei Shiyu always knew that Qin Man's arrogance came from her extremely noble family background, something that ordinary people couldn't fake.

Therefore, she always liked to learn from Qin Man's style, wanting to integrate that kind of elegance into her very being.

Pei Shiyu despised the behavior of the poor. Knowing that she had come from a poor background, she was ashamed of it and thus became even more fond of imitating Qin Man. However, she was unaware of how much of this imitation was showing.

After taking the photos, Pei Shiyu posted them on her WeChat Moments, receiving a string of likes and comments. Many classmates and friends praised her for the beautiful and tasteful arrangement.

Pei Shiyu was overjoyed, and then invited her girlfriends to celebrate her birthday and cut the cake.

Qin Man had no appetite. The air in the private room was stuffy and filled with the scent of incense. Pei Shiyu hadn't used real fresh flowers; they were all artificial, yet she had sprayed a lot of perfume, the smell of which was overpowering.

She made an excuse to go to the restroom, but actually headed out of the bar.

As soon as Qin Man stepped out of the private room, Pei Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief and then complained to her girlfriends, "Is Qin Man in a bad mood today? Did I do something to upset her?"

The girlfriends all knew perfectly well that Pei Shiyu had even copied Qin Man's style in decorating her birthday party, which naturally annoyed Qin Man. But they didn't expose her; instead, they laughed and moved on from the topic.

Qin Man stood at the entrance of Fusheng, the evening breeze ruffling her hair, and she kept reaching up to tuck her long hair behind her ears.

"Qin Man!" Someone called her from behind. She turned around and saw Xi Yue waving at her.

Xi Yue was followed by a group of male classmates, and walking beside Xi Yue was Jiang Xuchi.

"Oh, what a coincidence! We're just about to welcome our new classmate. Shall we join in?" Xi Yue stepped forward and naturally put his arm around Qin Man's shoulder.

Qin Man turned to the side and shook off his hand, frowning. She had always resisted his unruly actions in this way, and Xi Yue was already used to her attitude.

He smiled and said, "What, you don't want to host a welcome party for the new classmate?"

Qin Man then met Jiang Xuchi's gaze; he was staring at her calmly, without any expression.

"I'm not going to my friend's birthday party today," Qin Man said, showing no respect.

Xi Yue smiled faintly, glanced at Jiang Xuchi, his eyes filled with helplessness, as if to say, "Look, this is the most arrogant young lady in our class."

After Xi Yue and the others went inside, Qin Man stayed for a while longer. Suddenly, she felt a gaze behind her and instinctively turned around to look.

Jiang Xuchi walked out of the bar with a lighter and a cigarette in his hand. When he saw Qin Man, he stopped and stood in front of her.

He squinted at her and put a cigarette in his mouth.

Qin Man met his beautiful eyes again.

"Qin Man, are you just going to leave your good friends hanging?" Jiang Xuchi lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and slowly let the smoke dissipate into the air. "Aren't Pei Shiyu and the others your good sisters? Or are you afraid to hang out with them now?"

"..."

Qin Man glared at Jiang Xuchi.

Jiang Xuchi: "Did I expose your secret?"

"Is this funny?" Qin Man lowered her eyelids in annoyance and deliberately lectured him in a serious tone, "How old are you? Minors can't drink alcohol. Be careful you don't get a hangover and miss class."

"Qin Man, I used to be a year ahead of you."

Qin Man looked sympathetic and said, "Then it's glorious that you repeated a year."

Jiang Xuchi looked at her with a half-smile, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "If I didn't repeat a grade, how could I transfer back to see you again?"

Qin Man turned her head and retorted slowly, "You always wear a hat, is it to cover the scar on your forehead that my brother beat you up?"

Jiang Xu didn't move.

Qin Man turned to leave, but her ponytail was suddenly grabbed, forcing her to stop.

Jiang Xuchi released his hand, lifted his eyelids, and said lazily, "Go in and sit down. We're all classmates."

Then he added, "Or are you afraid to go in?"

Fusheng used to be her and Qin Chen's territory.

There's no reason why she wouldn't dare.

Although Qin Man knew he was deliberately provoking her, she had no choice but to walk into the bar with a blank expression.

Jiang Xuchi followed behind her and gestured to the waiter at the door.

The waiter led them to their seats.

All the way, the drumbeats of heavy metal rock music blasted through my eardrums. The music taste here is still so tacky. The DJ on stage was having a blast. It was only a few o'clock, but it was already like a ghostly procession at two or three in the morning.

In the central booth of the bar sat Xi Yue and his gang, while Pei Shiyu and her girlfriends sat on the other half. When Qin Man sat down, some cheered and others raised their glasses to her.

Qin Man knew that this group of people were mostly after Young Master Jiang behind her, so she ignored them.

As soon as she sat down, Pei Shiyu put her arm around her shoulder, but smiled coquettishly at Jiang Xuchi across from her and said, "We have more than half a cake that we can't finish, so you can share it."

Qin Man took a sip of wine and looked at Jiang Xuchi.

As soon as Jiang Xuchi sat down, he was surrounded by a group of people. He stubbed out his cigarette, raised his glass, and clinked it with theirs.

Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, his silhouette was blurred in the dim light of the bar.

He was no longer the Jiang Xuchi who was looked down upon and the youngest son of the Jiang family who was played with by Qin Chen, but the most beloved grandson of Jiang Shuhai and the heir of the Jiang family.

Everyone's topic of conversation revolved around him. Even Xi Yue, the most sociable and outgoing classmate, was practically serving Jiang Xuchi tea, water, cigarettes, and alcohol.

It appears to be a welcome party, but it's actually an attempt to curry favor and flatter.

At this moment, Qin Man finally realized that from the day he transferred here, she had completely lost her home-field advantage.

A note from the author:

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