"I refuse, Senior Zhou Xiaomo!"

Faced with the lively and cheering scene before him, Lin Jicheng's eyes were devoid of warmth. He stared directly at Zhou Xiaomo without fear and made a calm judgment.

A clear, crisp voice rang out in the small square, abruptly halting the chorus of "Say yes!" in the background. Everyone froze, and the entire lively, cheering scene instantly fell into an unbelievable silence—

Zhou Xiaomo was also stunned. His face showed a momentary stiffness and an attempt to hide his panic. His "perfect senior" image seemed to have cracked for the first time in front of everyone!

All of this... seems to be completely beyond my expectations!

Zhou Xiaomo's hands, holding the bright red roses, froze awkwardly in mid-air. Lin Jicheng neither took them nor showed any of the shyness or emotion he had expected; only a calm scrutiny...

Zhou Xiaomo only froze for a few seconds, but he quickly recovered:

“Ji Cheng, my junior classmate…”

"I understand, you might think my confession was too sudden, and I also understand that your family background is far beyond my reach..."

Zhou Xiaomo persisted, gazing intently at Lin Jicheng, and said in a low voice:

"But what I need isn't to be able to stand by your side right away. I just need an opportunity to pursue you, so you can see how good I am..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Lin Jicheng decisively interrupted the other person:

"Zhou Xiaomo, I think my stance is very clear. If you understand what I mean, please stop bothering me. Thank you!"

Lin Jicheng firmly refused and was about to leave, her words so decisive that they left no room for ambiguity. However, even this couldn't stop Zhou Xiaomo—

"Ji Cheng, please give me another chance—"

Zhou Xiaomo remained kneeling on one knee, his pleading voice echoing throughout the square, causing the onlookers to uniformly show expressions of pity.

Seeing Lin Jicheng's cold and ruthless rejection, while Zhou Xiaomo repeatedly tried to appeal to her emotions, it was a stark contrast!

"What's going on? Wasn't Zhou Xiaomo always the aloof, academic genius type? Why is he suddenly acting like this, all lovey-dovey...?"

"It's truly rare to see Zhou, the academic star, lose his composure like this..."

The female students, having finished their day's classes and preparing to return to their dorms, were engrossed in eating melons, while a few boys, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, angrily retorted:

"Hmph, I think it's Lin Jicheng who doesn't know what's good for him!"

"Zhou Xiaomo is such an outstanding person pursuing her, she should feel lucky! He's already begged on his knees, and she still coldly rejects him, it's really immoral!"

The whispers around him seemed to give Zhou Xiaomo unwavering courage. Seeing Lin Jicheng turn to leave, he even grabbed her arm tightly, preventing her from leaving. It seemed he wasn't planning to let the matter rest today.

"Ji Cheng, I just want you to see my true feelings—"

"Enough!"

Just as Zhou Xiaomo grabbed Lin Jicheng's hand, Lin Jicheng seized the opportunity and forcefully flung Zhou Xiaomo away!

"...!"

The immense force that usually surged through his arm stunned Zhou Xiaomo! He looked up, only to meet Lin Jicheng's icy, emotionless eyes—

"Zhou Xiaomo—"

Lin Jicheng spoke, his voice as cold as ice water striking jade, clearly echoing throughout the small square:

"Your confession was brilliant, but unfortunately full of flaws, so I don't intend to accept it!"

Zhou Xiaomo stared in shock at everything before him. Lin Jicheng seemed to have suddenly become a different person. She had been a beautiful young girl just moments before, but in an instant, she seemed to possess an imposing aura that stunned Zhou Xiaomo, who considered himself a senior, leaving him speechless.

Ignoring the other person's shocked expression, Lin Jicheng continued:

"First, you keep saying you like my diligence and focus, and that you like my character and morals, not my family background..."

"Now think back to it in front of everyone. Every time you deliberately planned to bump into me, it seems like you never mentioned any outstanding moral qualities I had."

"On the contrary, you've gone to great lengths to probe my family's businesses and how I acquired my wealth. Doesn't that seem a bit out of place with your supposedly pure sincerity?"

Zhou Xiaomo's expression froze completely. He seemed never to have realized that Lin Jicheng would so decisively expose his true colors. Lin Jicheng, however, remained calm and continued speaking:

"Secondly, your act of confessing your feelings at this moment completely contradicts your own statement that you 'don't seek companionship but only an opportunity to pursue someone'!"

Lin Jicheng looked around, observing the faces of every bystander:

"You had countless opportunities to express your feelings to me privately, but you chose a place with the highest foot traffic to confess your love in such a public way. Is this really to express your love, or—"

"Are you trying to use public opinion to morally blackmail someone?!"

With a "buzz," the crowd erupted in uproar!

If the first accusation seemed somewhat abstract and the surrounding onlookers didn't quite understand it, then the second accusation was a very direct and specific issue!

"No, no..."

Zhou Xiaomo's face instantly turned pale, and he felt a pang of guilt, as if he had been caught out. He was about to explain himself, but Lin Jicheng didn't give him the chance. She precisely pointed out several boys hiding in the crowd—

"That guy in the black hoodie over there, the one next to him in the yellow shirt, and a group of five or six other guys around him..."

"Are all these people your roommates or close friends? The boys' dormitory is very far from here. Why do you think they would be here? They just happen to be the ones leading the commotion every time, and some of them even have professional cameras and are recording the whole thing?"

"Did someone make arrangements in advance?"

"Wow--!"

Lin Jicheng pinpointed the problem accurately, causing another uproar in the crowd! The faces of the boys she and he pointed out instantly turned ugly, revealing a guilty conscience that had been exposed!

"And a third—"

Zhou Xiaomo was steadily losing ground, but Lin Jicheng didn't care about his embarrassment. She was about to continue speaking when she suddenly saw something, paused, and stopped talking—

On the other side of the small square, Qiao Lingyuan and Xu Qingning stood dumbfounded, supporting An Xinmeng, whose face was changing color, on either side of her. They stood there blankly downstairs in front of the girls' dormitory, looking utterly shocked. It was unclear how much they had overheard...