Chapter 16, Number 16 (including announcement of VIP access): Seducing her...

Fu Xi's light and casual remark seemed to Xu Wu no different from a thunderclap in the spring rain, so powerful that it could cause confusion in her thoughts. The wild grass swayed as the rain fell, as if it wanted to burrow back into the soil.

"..." Xu Wu opened her mouth, then looked down at the spoon in her hand, finding it tasteless. "Don't talk nonsense."

That was just a dream.

Xu Wu silently refuted in his mind, constantly trying to convince himself.

If one had to pinpoint a reason, it would all be Jieying's fault for behaving so abnormally, disturbing her mind and even invading her dreams.

This feeling is actually not good. It's as if, without knowing when, she and everything around her, including herself, have been tightly bound together with Jieying using super glue.

When she opens her eyes, it is his gloomy figure; when she closes her eyes, it is his face that smiles so hard to look at. In her dreams, it is him kneeling down, silently opening his mouth to her, his tender tongue faintly revealed.

It is seduction.

He was tempting her to make a mistake.

......

Xu Wu silently gripped the spoon tightly.

"If you keep squeezing it, you'll break it. The cafeteria lady will come and make you pay for it later." After finishing the last bite, Fu Xi skillfully took out two pieces of paper from his pocket, handing one to Xu Wu and using the other to wipe his mouth.

Upon hearing this, Xu Wu snapped out of her daze and loosened her grip. She put the spoon back on the plate, took the paper from Fu Xi, and wiped her mouth with it, just like Fu Xi did.

"What are you thinking about so intently that you haven't even finished the last two bites?" Fu Xi crumpled the paper into a ball and placed it beside him, then rested his chin on his hand, looking at her leisurely, and teased, "Is it because of what I just said?"

"No." Xu Wu immediately retorted without even thinking.

"Heh heh." Fu Xi raised an eyebrow and commented, "Trying to cover it up only makes it more obvious."

"...In short, it's not what you think."

What do you mean?

"......"

Seeing that Xu Wu was speechless after what she had said, she cast a resentful look at him.

Fu Xi grinned; she realized that teasing Xu Wu could be quite fun sometimes.

She's not in a hurry, nor is she a sore loser. At most, she'll just let out a soft hum and then awkwardly turn her head away. She might even pout occasionally. She's quite an interesting person.

After Fu Xi finished laughing, she steered the conversation back on track, asking, "So, who did you dream about?"

"Nobody." Xu Wu turned her head away, avoiding Fu Xi's bright and scrutinizing gaze.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Fu Xi didn't point it out, afraid that she would really get angry with her if she did. As he picked up his tray and got up, he didn't forget to remind her, "We have to rehearse for the dance this Wednesday, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Xu Wu replied.

The ball scene has almost no dialogue; it's a masquerade ball with pure classical music, and the main scene is the prince inviting the princess to dance.

Fu Xi had originally discussed with Chu Lian whether to postpone this performance and rehearse another performance first, since she couldn't easily explain Xu Wu's condition to outsiders. However, Chu Lian thought that rehearsing the dance first would increase their interaction and allow them to get to know each other quickly, so that was the final decision.

In the afternoon, there was a political education class followed by a physical education class. The sun was blazing outside, and the playground felt like a giant steamer. Even the shadows cast by the trees on the ground reflected the unpredictable weather typical of coastal cities.

The classroom had central air conditioning, so naturally no one would bother going down to sunbathe. When the bell rang, they stayed in their seats chatting, and some even put on their coats and lay down to sleep.

The classroom door was pushed open from the outside, and the noisy room fell silent for a moment. Even Xu Wu, who was looking down at her phone, looked up, turned off her phone, and put it back in her drawer. They all breathed a sigh of relief and started chatting again after seeing that it was the class monitor.

"How is it? Has the teacher arrived yet?" Xia Ni asked loudly.

"If you're not here, stay in the classroom for this class," the class monitor said as he sat down.

After the four boys in the back row cheered a few times, they started calling for people to get on the bus. In the end, they cobbled together a boy who was usually very talkative in front of the teacher.

"Liu Tan, are you going to fight or not?"

"Fight, fight, fight! I'm here now, what's the rush?"

The noise was quite loud; they didn't even hear the class monitor reminding them to turn their phones down.

Xu Wu glanced at Liu Tan, showing no trace of the anger and frustration he felt after being splashed with water that day. He usually acted like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"You spend so much money on in-game purchases," Liu Tan snatched the phone from the person next to him and exclaimed, "Oh my god, can I use this skin too?"

Xu Wu frowned in disgust. She really couldn't understand how a person could be so oblivious. Even the most ignorant creatures were better at reading people's expressions. It was as if they were just sticking a megaphone on their foreheads and broadcasting it anytime, anywhere: "Liu Tan is here! Liu Tan is here!"

He clicked his tongue, neither too loud nor too soft.

She was sitting right next to these boys, so naturally Liu Tan heard the noise. He glanced at Xu Wu during the respawn time, then nudged the boy next to him. Seeing his confused expression, he deliberately said loudly, "My sister Wu thinks you guys are too noisy. You have to be quiet when playing games."

As soon as he finished speaking, many people around looked over, but only for a few seconds before turning their heads back after seeing that it was Liu Tan who was speaking.

The boy who was pushed out by Liu Tan raised his hand somewhat embarrassedly to Xu Wu, indicating that he would pay attention.

Xu Wu shook his head at him, then fixed his gaze on Liu Tan, a hint of sarcasm flashing in his eyes: "Why are you pushing others forward? I'm talking about you."

Upon hearing this, the surroundings seemed to gradually quiet down, and even the boys who were playing games together looked up, somewhat surprised.

Her voice wasn't loud, but she had a keen eye for gossip.

Liu Tan's smile froze: "...What did you say?"

Xu Wu was already annoyed by the lack of any activity on her phone today, and she belatedly realized that Jie Ying was avoiding her. This was also thanks to Liu Tan's previous embellishments, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to find any reason to vent her anger.

So he slammed his phone onto the table with a loud bang, startling the student in front of him so much that he shrank back.

"Don't you understand?" Xu Wu's face was icy. She glanced at Liu Tan from head to toe, her annoyance undisguised. She tapped the table with her index finger and said in a cold voice, "Is there a megaphone in your mouth? You bark louder than a dog outside."

"Furthermore," Xu Wu raised his chin, a mocking smile playing on his lips, "doesn't it feel good to talk about people behind their backs? Does that kind of pleasure give you a mental orgasm?"

The classroom fell silent instantly, and Xia Ni looked over in shock.

Xu Wu is usually known for her good temper, so it's unusual for her to explode like this today. It's so abnormal that people wonder if she's been possessed.

Xia Ni glanced at Liu Tan, whose face was pale, and hesitated before speaking up to try and smooth things over: "Well, he's not..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Wu gave her a cold look and she shut her mouth.

Liu Tan opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something in rebuttal, but Xu Wu clearly didn't want to pay him any attention. She rolled her eyes at him, quickly packed her things, grabbed her bag, and left.

"So Xu Wu can swear too..."

After she left, someone muttered something under their breath.

Upon hearing this, Liu Tan's expression changed even more dramatically.

The PE class was scheduled as the last period, and only ten minutes into the class, Xu Wu figured the PE teacher wouldn't be coming, since her class did this quite often. So she simply packed up her things and went home, not wanting to stay there any longer.

The key point is...

She stopped and frowned as she opened Jie Ying's WeChat Moments.

Not a single one.

Whether it's a message on WeChat or a text message.

Almost the entire day has passed, and there has been no news.

Are you kidding me?

Xu Wu's face was grim. He was the one who had been clinging to her like a mad dog, and now he had disappeared without a word. Was he playing with her?

This feeling and thought only lasted for a short thirty seconds. After realizing what had happened, Xu Wu fell silent for a moment and suddenly felt that he was sick, so sick that his emotions started to scatter randomly.

He might be in a bad mood, or he might not be feeling well, so he might not have the energy or the desire to use his phone—all these reasons are understandable.

Wait until Wednesday.

Xu Wu gripped her phone tightly, thinking that he wouldn't miss Wednesday.

However, when Wednesday actually arrived, she realized that she had taken it too lightly; Jieying had still taken sick leave.

During evening self-study, Xu Wu sat absentmindedly to the side, staring blankly at the words on the script.

They really didn't come.

She unconsciously moved her left hand, which was resting on her lap.

"Fog," Fu Xi called out as he walked over to her, standing in front of her with one hand on his hip. Seeing her like this, he asked in confusion, "What's wrong? How long have you been sitting here?"

Xu Wu snapped out of her daze: "It's okay, I don't know where I am in line."

"The positions are all set, except for the knights' positions." Fu Xi flipped through the script, looking somewhat troubled.

Logically, the knight shouldn't need to appear in this ball scene, but this script focuses on the gimmick of the second male lead rising to power.

As the princess and prince danced, the knight, acting as their guardian, stood silently to the side, observing the princess's smile at the prince out of the corner of his eye. His eyes gradually darkened, and those buried thoughts seemed to be quietly growing from the soil.

Fu Xi thought, "This is really exciting!"

She said that this role was tailor-made for Xie Ying.

"Didn't the knight not come?" Xu Wu asked her.

“He didn’t come, but I can just find something to substitute and make a reservation.” Fu Xi said with a half-smile. “But Wu, aren’t you being a little too concerned?”

Xu Wu froze, her thumb unconsciously groping for the edge of the script, avoiding her gaze: "I didn't notice."

Facing Fu Xi's suspicious gaze, Xu Wu held her breath and added, "Why would I care about that kind of person?"

Before Fu Xi could even reply, she noticed the figure standing at the back door of the club, having already passed Fu Xi.

She still had bangs that covered her eyebrows and eyes, the only difference being that she was wearing a white mask, revealing deep and unfathomable eyes, which were less dark after being covered by her hair.

Xu Wu was stunned. How long had he been listening there?

How much did you hear?

Fu Xi followed her gaze and noticed the newcomer, looking surprised.

Then she turned to look at Xu Wu, but the words she was about to say were cut off the moment Xu Wu stood up.

The corridor away from the club was empty except for their club's rehearsal, so there was no one else on this floor during evening self-study, so they weren't worried about anyone suddenly appearing.

He still looked sickly.

Xu Wu pursed her lips and asked, "How much did you hear?"

“The last two sentences.” Jie Ying lowered his head, concealing the sadness in his eyes. His voice, coming from behind his mask, was very nasal: “Wu said it… very well.”

“Is that right?” Xu Wu stared at him intently, repeating his words.

"You, how could you care... care about someone like me?" he replied dejectedly.

Xu Wu suddenly fell silent. After a long while, she chuckled softly, but her eyes were icy cold, as if to confirm Jie Ying's statement: "Yes, why would I care about someone like you?"

Don't be ridiculous, why should she care about someone like that?

It was awful and disgusting, and I still had some unrealistic fantasy about her all the time.

Suddenly, Xu Wu remembered his eyes.

When I looked at her, I was clumsy yet full of courage.

If eyes could speak, perhaps they would be saying—

Let me serve you, please, no matter what.

"Jie Ying," Xu Wu said slowly.

Jie Ying tilted his head back, and under the light, the small patch of skin on his face appeared even paler and sickly.

The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted—

Because Xu Wu raised her hand and reached out to him.

Jie Ying's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, a crimson burning sensation raging through his body, while wisps of freesia fragrance wafted towards him and nestled into his arms.

Then-

Xu Wu gently tugged at the hem of his clothes.

A note from the author:

I'm going to be a paid content creator tomorrow! I'll be giving out red envelopes (cash gifts) occasionally during paid chapters. Thank you so much everyone! [cheering emojis]

Try to combine three into one

I might update a little later tomorrow, as it will be quite long.

Check out the pre-orders ↓ Arigato~ [cat emoji]