Chapter 9: Prince – The Young Man’s Eyes Curved: “Jiang Classmate, What Do You Think About This…”

Fang Chuning didn’t know where this rumor started, so she asked Gao Qiong.

“Isn’t it because he passed you water and wiped your sweat for you a while ago, and you didn’t refuse at all, so everyone thinks you two are dating?”

“Wiped my sweat?” Fang Chuning looked completely confused, “When did he wipe my sweat for me?”

“Did you lose your memory? You were so absent-minded a while ago, losing every game we played. Don’t you remember?”

Fang Chuning frowned in thought, but couldn’t remember what she had done during those days. She turned her head to look at the boy sitting behind her, and he happened to look up and meet her gaze. The next second, he averted his eyes.

His earlobes were as red as if they were about to drip blood.

Fang Chuning couldn’t imagine him being so shy, making her too embarrassed to ask.

After class, the monitor, Xu Muzhou, and she gathered in the president’s room to discuss the school’s art performance event, but Fang Chuning felt like she couldn’t get a word in.

Monitor: “I think our class can perform a well-known fairy tale, with some slight modifications to make it feel fresh.”

Fang Chuning: “Hmm, I…”

“Then what does the monitor think we should perform?”

The young man’s gentle voice interrupted her words before she could finish.

Monitor: “I’ve already thought about it. How about Sleeping Beauty? What do you think, President?”

Fang Chuning: “I think…”

“The monitor’s suggestion is great. Why don’t we decide on that then?”

“……”

Fang Chuning turned her head to look at him, not understanding where she had offended him again.

Xu Muzhou didn’t give her even a spare glance, smiling and talking happily with the monitor.

Although the monitor sensed the atmosphere was off, seeing the handsome young man give her a gentle smile made her feel intoxicated. “Ah, um, then… then let’s do that…”

Fang Chuning felt very out of place at this moment.

On the way back to the classroom, the two walked in front, chatting and laughing. Whenever the monitor spoke, the young man would slightly turn his face to listen attentively. The light fell on his face, illuminating his beautiful features that one couldn’t take their eyes off.

Fang Chuning suddenly felt a bit stuffy in her heart. She lightly coughed to interrupt their harmonious conversation, “By the way, when we get back to the classroom, let’s ask them who’s suitable for which role, select them, and start rehearsing early.”

The monitor agreed with a smile. Fang Chuning glanced at the young man, only to see his attention already on the materials in his hand. He responded with a noncommittal “Okay” and said nothing more.

The slight displeasure in her heart intensified. Fang Chuning shifted her gaze away, her expression cooling. She strode ahead with her long legs, “Then let’s move quickly, don’t waste time.”

When Fang Chuning’s face turned cold, her demeanor somewhat resembled Fang Hong, calm and imposing, making people unconsciously want to lower their heads.

The monitor hurriedly responded, trying to quicken her pace to catch up, but found that the person beside her had suddenly stopped. She turned back and saw the young man biting his pink lips, his fair, delicate fingers tightly gripping the paper materials as if he wanted to crush them.

The reflection on his glasses prevented her from seeing his eyes clearly, making his sudden change even more puzzling. “Xu classmate, what’s wrong?”

Xu Muzhou stared intently at the person walking away, lightly parting his lips: “Nothing, let’s go.”

The young man’s voice was still soft, but it lacked that deliberately injected emotion.

The idea of performing Sleeping Beauty interested all the classmates, especially the male students. The two main characters in the performance, one being the sleeping prince and the other the princess who saves the prince, were determined by class votes.

The female students voted for the prince, while the male students voted for the princess. As a result, Fang Chuning was unanimously selected, while Xu Muzhou was unanimously chosen as the prince.

The two of them standing together looked like a perfect match, so compatible that it was hard to be jealous.

Originally, Fang Chuning thought Xu Muzhou would be averse and decline, given how much he disliked her. But unexpectedly, he tacitly agreed and even cooperated well during rehearsals.

Besides the two of them, there were other roles in the performance decided by drawing lots among classmates. The original antagonist in the story was male, but Gao Qiong strongly advocated to play this “male witch”. Since the performance was meant to have a fresh feel, no one objected to this gender-swapped role.

To get into character for rehearsals, Fang Chuning had everyone change into costumes early. She wore a crisp, cool red and white princess outfit, while Gao Qiong’s was much simpler, just a pitch-black cloak.

“Dressed like this is too plain, I should wear a mask and carry a magic wand, that would give me more presence!” Gao Qiong swished the cloak in front of the mirror.

Fang Chuning leisurely fastened the buttons at her neck, “You’re not performing in a kindergarten class, no need to be so fancy.”

“Then give me a little sprite, strong characters always have followers!”

“You’re just someone sneaking around doing bad things, you don’t need followers.”

“Then my entrance should be shocking, the kind that dazzles the audience!”

Fang Chuning raised her eyes to look at her in the mirror, just about to make a sarcastic comment when she caught sight of the young man already changed and walking into the rehearsal room. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned her head to look at him in amazement.

The white, form-fitting prince costume perfectly displayed his slender, well-proportioned figure. His legs were long and straight, with gold accents on the outfit. The collar was buttoned up to the top, encasing his graceful swan-like neck, making him look ascetic yet delicate. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and the wispy hair on his forehead was brushed up, revealing a smooth forehead beneath slightly upturned almond eyes that seemed naturally moist, rippling with charm.

He looked like he had stepped out of a manga, everyone’s gaze uncontrollably stuck to him.

Gao Qiong swallowed and whispered to the person beside her who was staring blankly, “Hey, what do you think my chances would be if I pursued the vice president?”

Fang Chuning finally came to her senses and looked away, but didn’t respond to her. She clapped her hands to signal them to prepare for rehearsal.

The rehearsal process went fairly smoothly, except for Gao Qiong’s exaggerated performance, everything else was fine. When the rehearsal ended, some classmates who weren’t participating also came over, including Jiang Luoyu.

“Are you hungry? This is the milk pudding I made, want to try some?”

At some point, the relationship between the two had become a bit ambiguous. The boy didn’t seem to mind at all the rumors circulating in school about him and her, and he was even more eager to bring her food than before.

This seemed to be a kind of hint.

Fang Chuning discreetly sized him up. The boy gave off a gentle and refined impression. His features weren’t as delicate and beautiful as Xu Muzhou’s, but his clean and refreshing aura was pleasant to look at.

Finding such a considerate and gentle boyfriend didn’t seem bad.

Fang Chuning, who had never considered this aspect before, suddenly had some unusual thoughts.

She didn’t reject the boy’s kindness, took the pudding and ate it. The sweet aroma of caramel and the smooth texture made her appetite grow. Seeing the boy’s expectant gaze, Fang Chuning praised generously, “It’s very delicious.”

Jiang Luoyu’s face lit up with a shy smile, “Then I’ll make some for you again tomorrow.”

“No need, it’s too much trouble. If I want to eat it, I can buy it myself.”

“It’s not trouble at all. As long as you like it, it’s not troublesome at all.”

The boy said softly.

This blatant confession made Fang Chuning fall silent, not knowing how to react. Just as she was feeling a bit awkward, a pair of white boots stopped in front of them. They both looked up to see the young man’s face with a light, charming smile.

“Fang classmate, it seems the monitor is looking for you.”

It was rare for Xu Muzhou to smile at her, and Fang Chuning was taken aback. “Looking for me? Did she say what for?”

The young man shook his head slightly.

Fang Chuning returned the food container to Jiang Luoyu and got up to find the monitor.

The rehearsal room was large and didn’t feel crowded even with many people. Jiang Luoyu wanted to wait here for Fang Chuning to return, but the young man in front of him gave him a very uncomfortable feeling, making him not want to stay a moment longer.

“Jiang classmate seems unwilling to see me?”

Ever since the cake incident, Jiang Luoyu had changed his opinion of this seemingly gentle and shy young man. He lowered his eyes and shook his head in denial as he covered the food container.

Xu Muzhou seemed to believe him and immediately broke into a light smile, “That’s good, I thought Jiang classmate was still upset with me about last time.”

“Jiang classmate,” he suddenly raised his arm, like an ordinary young boy happy about beautiful clothes: “What do you think of this outfit?”

Jiang Luoyu looked at him. The gorgeous costume seemed tailor-made for the young man, making him truly look like those princes from fairy tales, noble and elegant. It was the first time Jiang Luoyu had seen him without glasses, like a peacock sensing danger, frantically displaying its feathers to attract a potential mate.

“It looks very good,” he said honestly.

Xu Muzhou smiled.

The next day, when they were preparing to continue rehearsing, something suddenly went wrong.

Fang Chuning frowned as she looked at the rehearsal costume before her, cut to shreds and unrecognizable from its original form. “Who did this?”

Many people were standing in the rehearsal room, all looking at each other, but no one spoke.

“I know who it was!”

Amidst the silence, the boy’s voice was particularly clear. Fang Chuning’s gaze fell on the boy beside Xu Muzhou, “Who?”

Just as Qin Shaoqing was about to speak, his sleeve was lightly tugged. Xu Muzhou had a faint sadness between his brows, his tone weak: “Qin, you shouldn’t say such things carelessly.”

“What do you mean carelessly? I saw him staring at your clothes yesterday, looking like he wanted to take your place. He must be jealous of you.”

Once he said this, others immediately chimed in.

“Yes, I saw it too yesterday!”

“Not just that, I saw Jiang Luoyu walking this way after school yesterday. Looking at it now, it must have been him.” The boy spoke as if he had witnessed the clothes being cut to pieces himself.

This kind of talk, once the first person speaks up, only gets more exaggerated and seemingly more true as it spreads. They don’t care about the truth of the matter, they just follow the crowd and join in the excitement, completely disregarding the harm these rumors might cause to the person involved.

“I think… Jiang classmate shouldn’t be that kind of person.”

The young man’s gentle and pure expression made hearts flutter. Fang Chuning couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.

Qin Shaoqing was a bit angry, “It’s because you’re too nice that people like that have the guts to do this. He must have guessed that even if you knew, you wouldn’t pursue it. Muzhou, you can’t be so kind. Don’t you feel upset letting someone like that get away with it?”

“Enough,” Fang Chuning interrupted him, “Don’t jump to conclusions here without evidence.”

This protective attitude made Xu Muzhou lower his eyes.

Qin Shaoqing huffed discontentedly but didn’t say anything more.