She had a head of striking, half-tied blonde hair that complimented her fair skin.
She possessed a delicate oval face, and her old-fashioned black-framed glasses couldn’t hide the cold light shimmering in her eyes. Beneath the high bridge of her nose, her lips were small and dainty, while the corners of her eyes and brows carried a hint of inadvertent charm.
As for her outfit, she wore a loose, long black coat, yet even that failed to hide her graceful figure. Below, her black short boots extended upward, accentuating a pair of slender legs wrapped in black silk stockings. Her overall black-toned ensemble was simple and exuded a lazy, atmospheric vibe.
However, the detail that left the deepest impression on Ye Zhou at first glance was a rice-grain-sized black mole near the corner of her mouth. It wasn’t conspicuous, but it added a touch of playfulness, giving her a very high level of distinctiveness.
According to folklore, this kind of mole near the mouth was called a ‘Food Mole,’ though it was also known as a ‘Beauty Mark.’
Ye Zhou leaned more toward the latter.
Her appearance was not inferior to President Jiang and the others from the Drama and Film Club. It wasn’t a matter of putting one down to praise the other; it was more like a garden where a hundred flowers bloomed together.
“Sorry, beautiful. I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?”
Ye Zhou stepped forward, bending over to offer a hand to help the blonde girl up.
“No, I’m sorry, handsome. My cycling skills are just poor. Are you alright?”
The blonde girl stood up in pain, her hands gently patting her dust-covered backside that had almost split into two.
She subconsciously looked up and caught a glimpse of the tall boy standing close by, his handsome face naturally radiating a gentle smile under the sunlight.
It was actually somewhat dazzling—
She abruptly turned her head away, forgetting to hide her suddenly reddened earlobes.
Then, as if realizing something, she hurriedly pulled out her phone and found a portrait of a man that Jiang Yingxue had just sent.
She zoomed in, once, twice, three times, while constantly comparing it to Ye Zhou.
Ye Zhou couldn’t help but take a step back, a hint of confusion flashing across his brow. “Beautiful, what are you doing? Uh, do you know me?”
Shen Yuzhen slowly put away her phone and gently pushed her black-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose. A cold sneer curled onto her lips.
“What a coincidence, Ye Zhou. Didn’t you say you were feeling unwell today and needed to rest at home? But looking at you now, not only does your body seem to lack any issues, but on the contrary, you seem quite energetic.”
“And you are?”
Ye Zhou frowned slightly and took another step back.
He gradually began to understand, and his lips twitched violently.
“Ah, haha… Vice President Shen, what a coincidence indeed.”
“We’ve never met before, and this is the first time I’ve seen you, but I’ve heard so much about you. You truly are stunning, a real beauty who could topple kingdoms…”
Shen Yuzhen looked impatient. She crossed one arm over her chest and waved the other dismissively. “Stop using that flattery routine of Chen Yuhe’s on me. I don’t buy it.”
‘It’s too bad. As expected, even a method as strong as Senior Chen’s won’t work when facing the impartial Vice President.’
Ye Zhou scratched his head and spoke honestly.
“But then again, I did message you in the end. Didn’t you see it?”
“Is that so?” Shen Yuzhen’s tone was indifferent. “I didn’t bother checking.”
As she spoke, Shen Yuzhen reached out her delicate hand to pick up the bicycle from the ground, but Ye Zhou’s large hand beat her to it, straightening the bike first.
Shen Yuzhen merely glanced at the gently smiling Ye Zhou, pausing for a brief moment. She looked down, took the bicycle—which luckily hadn’t been damaged—and straddled it with one long, silk-clad leg.
“I’m going first. You follow me.”
“Yes, Vice President! I promise to complete the mission!”
Ye Zhou immediately stood tall and gave a salute.
However…
Looking at the back of Shen Yuzhen as she cycled, she wobbled from side to side, her feet clashing as if they were fighting each other. It looked like she was going to fall over at any moment.
Ye Zhou couldn’t help but palm his forehead. He walked over in a few steps and grabbed her handlebars.
“Vice President, do you even know how to ride a bike?”
“I don’t. Are you going to teach me?”
***
“Right, right, just like that. Grip the handlebars with both hands, push off with your left foot to glide half a step, then lift your leg to straddle the seat. Pedal slowly with both feet, and look ahead—don’t look down…”
“Wait, are you actually teaching me?”
Shen Yuzhen sat sideways on the back seat of the bike, one hand lightly pulling the back of Ye Zhou’s coat to keep her balance, while the other covered her embarrassed face.
***
The two of them, one in front and one behind, quickly arrived at Jianghai University’s bicycle parking area.
“I didn’t expect the sun to be so strong today. It’s quite hot.”
The first thing Shen Yuzhen did after getting off the bike was take off her long black coat, revealing her full figure. She then folded it several times and shoved it into the arms of the bewildered Ye Zhou.
“Su Zhihan has been waiting in the Rehearsal Room for a long time. I need to get there quickly.”
“Remember to leave my coat at the club. Also, get ready; remember to check the message I’ll send later and come over.”
Ye Zhou originally wanted to ask what he needed to prepare, but in the blink of an eye, she had disappeared. He could only complain to himself.
‘She’s wearing a black sweater underneath, all bundled up. No wonder she’s hot.’
***
In the Drama and Film Club, as the Vice President, Shen Yuzhen naturally had her own office, which was right next door to President Jiang’s.
However, this office had been locked before. Clearly, Shen Yuzhen had unlocked it after her return and restored it to normal use.
Ye Zhou thought about it and decided it was better to leave Shen Yuzhen’s coat in her personal office. He could also take a look around while he was at it—after all, he had never stepped foot in this place before.
The door wasn’t locked; he could open it just by turning the handle.
Ye Zhou looked around and whispered to himself, “It doesn’t look much different from President Jiang’s office. The layout is mostly the same, except for the bookshelves. There are so many books here, covering all sorts of genres.”
Just as Ye Zhou was placing Shen Yuzhen’s coat on the desk, his peripheral vision accidentally caught something in the corner.
Stacked there were several empty cardboard boxes, with a baseball bat leaning against the side.
The abrupt presence of the bat caused Ye Zhou’s eyes to widen. He couldn’t help but begin to hallucinate a scene where the Vice President was swinging a baseball bat in a fit of rage.
‘I-It… It probably won’t happen, right? I-I’m definitely just scaring myself…’
Despite what he said, Ye Zhou’s body was very honest.
The good mood he had felt while wanting to tour the office was ruined, and he hurried out of the Vice President’s office.
The first thing he did upon leaving was fill a cup of warm water from the water dispenser. After drinking it in one gulp, he tried to calm his nervous heart before doing anything else.
He subconsciously looked at the activity bulletin board standing directly across from him.
“Huh? Has the board finally been updated to the next version?”
In the center of the bulletin board, there was a single sentence written in medium-sized font:
[Shen Yuzhen: Including myself, everyone in the club must follow the club’s rules while they are here. If any of you dare to cause trouble, you won’t see tomorrow’s sun!]
“Heavens! This Vice President is too terrifying. Even President Jiang never made such dangerous statements!”
Ye Zhou wiped his forehead. He admitted he was wet—he meant his forehead was wet with sweat.
Right then, Shen Yuzhen tagged Ye Zhou in the group chat:
[Su Zhihan passed the Ability Assessment perfectly. Now it’s your turn, Ye Zhou. Location: Rehearsal Room. Come over now. 🙂]
The message ended with a meaningful smiley face emoji.
He murmured to himself.
‘Oh no. This trek through fire and water… why did it come faster than I imagined?’