Fang Chuning was a bit slow to react, “You… you’re not afraid?”

Xu Muzhou’s almond eyes glanced at her, “Would you rather it keep biting you?”

Fang Chuning shook her head vigorously, “Of course not!” But she hadn’t expected him to be so brave. If it were other boys, they probably would have been scared and kept their distance.

“Thank you!”

Xu Muzhou kept his eyes lowered, not responding to her. After he finished, he walked back silently. Fang Chuning hurriedly followed with her muddy shoes, “How did you know I was here? Did Gao Qiong tell you?”

The young man turned his face away, “If you can come, why can’t I?”

“Ah, that’s true. Forget I asked.”

He seemed to have thorns all over him, rejecting anyone who tried to get close.

After returning to the homestay, the first thing Fang Chuning did was take a hot shower and change into a new set of clothes. There were two small puncture wounds where her calf had been bitten, with a tiny bit of stinging sensation. She casually put on two band-aids and went out.

By the afternoon, the students and teachers who had gone out to explore gradually returned to the homestay. Dinner was delivered from a nearby restaurant. Each portion was separately packed in high-end lunch boxes, with a variety of fresh dishes. Each portion cost over a thousand, yet there were still people complaining about the taste.

Qin Shaoqing stirred the sea urchin in his lunch box into a mush, as if in a fit of pique, “How can you eat something so fishy!”

A male classmate tasted the sea urchin, “Is it fishy? I think it’s fine.”

Qin Shaoqing snorted disdainfully, “Of course you think it’s fine if you’ve never had anything good.”

The male classmate’s face instantly turned red. His family background was indeed not as good as Qin Shaoqing’s, but he was still a bit unwilling to accept it, “What’s so great about that? I can afford what you can afford. Why are you putting on airs…”

“Ha,” Qin Shaoqing laughed as if he had heard a joke, “Your family’s pathetic company could collapse with a strong gust of wind. If you ask me, you’d better eat as much good food as you can now. Who knows, you might only be able to drink northwest wind someday.”

“You! How can you be so vicious? I didn’t offend you, why are you saying such things!” The male classmate’s eyes reddened as he was scolded.

“Daring to talk back to me, and you say you didn’t offend me.” If there weren’t necessarily female bullies in Class 1, Qin Shaoqing was definitely the male bully.

The male classmate didn’t dare to speak despite his anger.

Sitting at the back of the dining table, Jiang Luoyu ate quietly, pretending not to hear their argument.

“Classmate Jiang.”

A gentle, soft voice forced Jiang Luoyu to look up. That beautiful young man had somehow sat down across from him, resting his chin on one hand, smiling at him.

Under the cold light, there wasn’t a trace of smile in the young man’s eyes, which were as cold as if they had been dipped in poison.

Jiang Luoyu was stunned.

“What’s wrong, Classmate Jiang?”

Jiang Luoyu snapped back to reality in a daze, seeing the person in front of him had resumed his harmless appearance. A chill crept up from the bottom of his heart, “I’m fine.”

Just as he finished speaking, he saw the young man push his own lunch box in front of him, “I don’t have much appetite. If Classmate Jiang isn’t full, you can eat my portion too. I haven’t touched it yet, don’t let it go to waste.”

Jiang Luoyu lowered his eyes, slowly tightening his grip on the chopsticks, “No need, I’m already full.”

“Is that so? What a pity, Classmate Jiang seemed to enjoy eating so much.”

Jiang Luoyu didn’t speak. The number of people in the dining hall was decreasing, but he could still feel the cold, snake-like gaze from across the table.

Until finally, only the two of them were left in the dining hall.

“Classmate Jiang,” it sounded like a soft sigh.

Jiang Luoyu looked up to meet his gaze. Xu Muzhou was looking at him expressionlessly, the gentle and harmless appearance completely gone from his face.

“Why does Classmate Jiang insist on opposing me?”

Jiang Luoyu pursed his lips: “I’m not…”

The young man tilted his head slightly, “If not, then stay away from her.”

Jiang Luoyu bit his lip, a thin layer of moisture spreading in his eyes, “Can Classmate Xu like the class president but I can’t?”

Xu Muzhou’s lips curled in a mocking smile, “What right do you have to compare yourself to me? You’re just a nouveau riche. What is love? For people like you, isn’t love just a vain hope of becoming a phoenix perched on a high branch?”

At this moment, Jiang Luoyu finally realized that the young man before him, born with an angel’s face, had a heart as ugly as a demon. The laughable thing was that everyone was deceived by his pure and kind exterior, surrounding him as if he were a real angel.

In the lobby, Gao Qiong and a group of girls were playing Truth or Dare, along with a few boys. They had only played two rounds when they saw their vice president and Classmate Jiang come in from outside. She didn’t notice that Jiang Luoyu’s face was a bit pale, and just enthusiastically invited them to join.

“Vice President Xu, Classmate Jiang, come play with us!”

“Muzhou, come sit next to me quickly!” Qin Shaoqing was clearly excited about the game, all his complaints from the dining hall completely gone.

The young man pressed his lips into a shy smile, his voice soft and gentle: “But I don’t really know how to play.”

“It’s okay, it’s very simple. I’ll explain the rules to you and you’ll get it.”

Xu Muzhou nodded good-naturedly, then turned to ask the person beside him, “Does Classmate Jiang want to play too?”

“No…” Jiang Luoyu was about to refuse, but then he saw Fang Chuning looking at him, smiling as she said: “It’s so early, you probably wouldn’t be able to sleep if you went up now. Playing for a while might help you sleep better.”

No boy could resist an invitation from the girl he liked. Jiang Luoyu, who had just been warned, couldn’t control the desire in his heart and nodded in agreement: “Okay…”

As the game was being prepared, Gao Qiong explained the rules: “It’s very simple. There are only three roles here: Queen, Guard, and Commoner. The person who draws the Queen card can order the Guard to do a truth or dare.”

From the start of the game, Fang Chuning had only drawn Commoner cards, making her essentially a spectator throughout the entire game.

Most of the people who drew the Queen card were girls, and most of those who drew the Guard card were also girls. The girls showed no mercy in pranking each other, providing plenty of laughs.

After an unknown number of rounds, Gao Qiong, who finally drew the Queen card, was extremely excited, “Who has the Guard card! Quickly, quickly!”

After a round of revealing cards, Jiang Luoyu nervously flipped over his Guard card.

Gao Qiong revealed a mischievous smile: “Classmate Jiang, you’re really lucky~”

Jiang Luoyu was afraid she would make him do something outrageous, after all, the girls who had drawn the Guard card before were either asked to sing or dance, and one even had to meow like a cat.

“Classmate Jiang, your challenge is a dare—” Gao Qiong’s gaze swept around the room, “You have to kiss one of the girls here!”

Jiang Luoyu was stunned, and in the next second, his entire face turned red.

Everyone started to cheer. They all knew who Jiang Luoyu liked, and all eyes turned to the person sitting like a boss on the sofa.

Fang Chuning, who was playing with her phone: ???

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

The girls were cheering.

Jiang Luoyu’s mind was in a heated mess. He instinctively looked towards Xu Muzhou, only to find that he was also looking at him, quietly, with no indication of whether he was happy or unhappy.

“The Guard can’t refuse, Classmate Jiang—” Gao Qiong urged mischievously.

Jiang Luoyu felt his heart beating so fast he didn’t know what to do. He struggled for a good while, then slowly stood up and shuffled towards the young girl.

Fang Chuning widened her eyes, watching as the boy got closer and closer to her, then sat down beside her, lowering his head and speaking in a very soft voice: “Class… Class President…”

Everyone’s attention was on the two of them, including Xu Muzhou. He stared intently at the young girl’s face, his pupils slightly reddened, his face pale to an abnormal degree.

Just as the boy was about to kiss her cheek, a crisp sound of breaking glass pierced everyone’s ears, interrupting the lively atmosphere.

“Muzhou!” Qin Shaoqing exclaimed.

Everyone looked over to see that the beautiful young man had now collapsed on the sofa, gasping for breath with his mouth open, his face frighteningly pale, and constantly breaking out in cold sweat. It was clear something was wrong.

Fang Chuning was startled by him and hurriedly went over to prop him up from the sofa, “Everyone move back a bit! Quickly go call a teacher!”

Everyone was a bit dazed by this turn of events, but upon hearing her words, they hurriedly scattered to find a teacher.

“Where’s your medicine? Do you have it with you?”

Fang Chuning knew he had asthma, but it had been a very, very long time since he had an attack in front of her. That was when they were still in elementary school.

The young man didn’t answer her question. His delicate fingers tightly gripped her clothes, like a drowning person grasping at the last piece of driftwood. Tears kept falling from his frail face, as if he had endless grievances to express.