CH 85

The so-called “ceremony” for the start of the new term consisted of speeches from the various school leaders, followed by the student representatives. Between the speeches were some award ceremonies, and finally, after encouraging all students to study hard, the ceremony would end.

However, the series of speeches would take up more than an hour. Occasionally, one of the leaders would get carried away and deviate from their script. While it was rather motivational and fervent, the ideas that the leaders espoused were more or less the same, and after listening to so many of them, the students felt as though calluses were growing on their ears.

Many students were already getting restless. There were some whose feet were either hurting or numb, and others who felt bored listening further, hence everyone was secretly tapping their feet on the ground as their gazes ran amok.

Some of them would sneak a glance at the female students they liked, or the male students they had a crush on. However, most of the students still liked to look at the main stage. Of course, they weren’t looking at the leaders. They were looking at their god and goddess.

Namely, Chi Shuyan and Sun Qi.

Chi Shuyan was a given. His looks alone was one of the best even when compared to the entertainment industry. Yet, not only was he handsome, his results were also excellent. He was always the top student, and there were certainly many people who liked him, not only females, but also some males.

As for Sun Qi, even though she wasn’t as outstanding as Chi Shuyan, she could still be described as a goddess. Even if she wore the unsightly school uniform and her hair was braided into a high ponytail like everyone else, she still looked dazzling.

Initially, many people had confessed their love to them, but the two had politely rejected all of them. Over time, people started spreading rumours of them as a couple.

If this happened to others, the class teacher would have sat them down and spoken to them. However, he didn’t really bother about the rumours this time. Or rather, he looked upon this couple favourably.

After all, they were a good looking and talented couple. Their results and characters were outstanding, so they probably wouldn’t be affected by a simple relationship. Better still, their relationship might eventually culminate into a marriage.

Of course, Su Tang understood all these, but once the thought ran through his mind, his heart would start bubbling with jealousy. It was boiling like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Chi Shuyan clearly was his, so why should he have to hear others talking about how compatible these two people were?

Yet, much as he was unhappy, he couldn’t cover others’ mouths and declare ownership over Chi Shuyan. Otherwise, both Chi Shuyan and his parents would be called up to school the next day.

Su Tang was feeling so aggrieved.

He looked moodily at Chi Shuyan on stage, and even blinked pitifully, looking as though he wanted to be consoled and hugged, causing Chi Shuyan to feel restless on the stage, as his eyes kept trailing in Su Tang’s direction.

When Su Tang saw his reaction, he started feeling pleased with himself. The corners of his lips curled up, and he gave a sweet smile to Chi Shuyan.

Chi Shuyan was dumbstruck by Su Tang’s smile, and he didn’t recover to his senses for some time. If it wasn’t for the booming voice from the vice principal, he probably would have savoured the image longer.

Humans were strange creatures. Before he fell in love, he always felt that he didn’t require it. In fact, he felt that relationships were troublesome. However, now that he had someone he liked, his perspective completely changed.

He enjoyed spending time with the other person, liked seeing the other person smiling at him. Sometimes, his gaze would subconsciously fall onto the other person, and he would secretly peek at him. After some time, when the other party smiled at him, he would then realise that he had already stared at the other person for a long time.

It was like his heart was burnt, and he felt a sense of warmth spreading all over, as though it was being warmed by the other party’s tiny hand.

After the leaders spoke, it was finally the representative of the third year students to make their speeches. Generally, they would share studying tips, remind everyone to cherish their time, and close off with a wish for everyone to achieve their desired results. Chi Shuyan had written such speeches from a young age, so it was no mean feat for him to write such things. Usually, he wouldn’t even refer to his script, unlike others who would have to pause because they were flipping the pages of their scripts.

Moreover, his voice was pleasant, and his speech flowed smoothly, hence many students were willing to listen to him. The murmurings on the court also reduced significantly.

On the court, Su Tang was also listening to Chi Shuyan’s speech, but he didn’t remember a single bit of what he said.  He was simply staring at Chi Shuyan the whole time, and his eyes would even meet Chi Shuyan’s occasionally.

Every time this happened, Su Tang would quickly turn his eyes away. A second later, he would then unwittingly steal another look again. As expected, he was still caught by Chi Shuyan.

He felt very shy, but even more, he felt joy and happiness. After he basked in his joy, he couldn’t help but think again, was the other person feeling the same as he did?

The wind seemed to have picked up, causing the parasol trees on both sides of the streets to shake loudly. When the start of term ceremony ended, Su Tang looked up front, Because there was a tall student blocking his view, he couldn’t help but tip-toe.

However, before he could see anything, someone tapped him on the shoulder. When Su Tang turned back, he saw that Chi Shuyan had walked up to him.

“Xiao Chi, where’s your sweater?” Teacher Xing was standing at the back of the line, and he couldn’t help asking.

“Oh, I lent it to him.” Chi Shuyan didn’t know what was going on, so he replied honestly.

When he said that, Li Cheng couldn’t resist laughing, and everyone else around them followed suit. However, there were more girls than boys, so the laughter was still relatively reserved.

“Teacher, you can’t be a sore loser.” Li Cheng was full of himself, his pride almost as high as the skies. Teacher Xing looked at him sullenly and nodded.

However, Li Cheng’s wish didn’t materialise, because education didn’t only comprise of examinations. There were still lessons or spot checks.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the national day holidays had arrived. The students were extremely excited. Coincidentally, there was a new holiday resort that was built in the outskirts, so everyone discussed going there together.

Yet, they didn’t dare to tell the truth, and could only lie to their parents that they were looking for a better environment to revise with the top students in class, in preparation for the midterms. But how could parents believe them? Just as the parents were about to sign their children up for tuition classes, everyone brought Chi Shuyan in to alleviate the situation.

Under normal circumstances, Chi Shuyan wouldn’t have agreed. However, this group of people really wanted to go and play, so they came up with a perfect solution. That solution was Su Tang.

After all, across the class, Chi Shuyan and Su Tang had the best relationship. Moreover, Su Tang looked soft and moe, and was naturally well-liked. If he were to speak up, everyone certainly wouldn’t reject him.

Hence, it was an intelligent choice to use Su Tang as a breakthrough point.

Li Cheng started first. On one end, he asked Chi Shuyan out, and on the other, he called Su Tang. Su Tang was a soft person, plus Li Cheng was eloquent, so he successfully brainwashed Su Tang, and managed to ask Su Tang out also.

They agreed to meet at McDonalds. Su Tang had just walked in when the few of them promptly leapt up. Su Tang paused for a second, almost inclined to run away.

When the waiter saw this, he was also shocked as he thought they were gathering for a group fight. Su Tang had to spend so much time explaining before the other party barely believed them.

When Chi Shuyan came in, everyone stood up again, just like before. However, Chi Shuyan was psychologically stronger than Su Tang. He looked nonchalantly at them, then walked calmly over.

When the waiter saw this scene again, he couldn’t help but pay attention to them once more. However, he only watched from afar, and didn’t dare to go up and ask them about the situation.

When Su Tang saw this, he laughed till his stomach hurt. Clearly, when he came, they were mistaken for wanting to kidnap him, but when Chi Shuyan arrived, it immediately became a group of lackeys welcoming their boss. If he was in a pair of shades and a black suit, he would certainly fit the role even better.

“Why did you ask me out?” Chi Shuyan asked.

"For something important!" Li Cheng strode over and played the role of spokesperson as he emotionally described to Chi Shuyan the story of how the entire group of students wanted to go to the holiday resort but were forcefully blocked by their parents.

"No way." Chi Shuyan didn't even think about it and directly rejected them.

When Li Cheng heard this, he hastily rushed over to hug Chi Shuyan’s thigh and yelled with all his might, “Class President! Boss Chi! Male god! School hunk! Help us please, I beg of you!”

Everyone looked in their direction. In the end, Li Cheng continued his exaggerated acting, while Su Tang only felt humiliated, so he had to stand up and pull Chi Shuyan’s hand before saying, “Actually, I want to go too…”

Chi Shuyan asked, “Did they force you?”

“No. I just thought that it’ll be fun to go with you… and the other classmates.” Su Tang’s face was slightly flushed, and his voice was gentle.

“Alright then.” Chi Shuyan kicked Li Cheng away, then held Su Tang’s hand as they found a good spot to sit down. Chi Shuyan then asked, “How do you want me to help you?”

“You just have to call my mother.” Li Cheng stood up quickly, then obsequiously handed over a piece of paper. Chi Shuyan took a look and agreed.

“Hi Aunty, I am Li Cheng’s classmate Chi Shuyan…” Chi Shuyan read the entire script, then chatted a little more with Li Cheng’s mother before saying, “Yes, after all, we are already in our third year. All of us want to work harder and try to improve our results.”

They chatted for a while more, and finally, Chi Shuyan said his thanks and ended the call. Everyone leaned over, waiting for him to announce the outcome.

“Aunty says that she’s agreeable. She’s also playing mahjong with some parents now, and they have also all agreed.” When Chi Shuyan said this, everyone was so excited that tears were brimming. They wanted to thank Chi Shuyan, but because his expression was so cold, they didn’t dare to shake his hand.

“Su Tang, it’s all your hard work this time.” Everyone grabbed Su Tang’s hand, as though an old comrade was meeting with revolutionary fighters, their voices sincere and grateful, causing Su Tang to be embarrassed.

“Don’t have to thank him.” Chi Shuyan pulled Su Tang over, and saw that the back of Su Tang’s hands were red, probably because of those people holding him.

He asked, “Does it hurt?”

Su Tang raised his head up to look at him, before sheepishly replying, “It’s still alright…”

“What’s alright?” Chi Shuyan was feeling both helpless yet heartbroken, and could only hold the other party’s hand. Su Tang was somewhat shy and wanted to pull his hand back, but a glare from Chi Shuyan caused him to obediently place his hand back.

Everyone was stunned by this scene. They thought that Chi Shuyan was going to reprimand Su Tang, and wanted to help plead leniency on his behalf, but Chi Shuyan simply sat Su Tang down and gently rubbed his hand.

Then he looked up and said to Li Cheng and the others, “Why are you still stoning there? Go home and pack your bags.”

“Then the both of you…” Someone wanted to ask, but Li Cheng covered his mouth and dragged the person off. Before he left, he added, “Goodbye, Class President. Goodbye, Mrs. Class President.”