“Chen Yuhe, haha, you’ve grown some wings, haven’t you? Is this how you talk to me after I let you run wild for a while?”
Jiang Yingxue stood with her arms crossed, a smile plastered on her face.
But in Chen Yuhe’s eyes, Jiang Yingxue looked like a giant who had suddenly risen ten thousand feet into the air—imposing and terrifyingly overbearing!
“I-I’m sorry! Junior, I’m just a useless Senior Student. You’re on your own. Good luck!”
Chen Yuhe flailed her arms, bypassed Jiang Yingxue, and bolted toward the door.
“Hey! Senior Student, didn’t we agree that from now on, we’d share all our burdens and blessings together?” Ye Zhou shouted, reaching out his right hand in despair.
“But Club Leader Jiang said she’s here to bring you a ‘blessing.’ As your senior, it’s only right that I let you have it.”
As Chen Yuhe made her excuse, she reached the doorway, only to be bounced back by a pair of objects as soft as jelly.
“Waaa… It’s one thing for Club Leader Jiang to be mean to me, but I didn’t expect you to be so ‘mean’ as well, Vice President! I’m not going to be friends with any of you anymore!”
Shen Yuzhen pushed up her black-framed glasses. She stole a few glances at Ye Zhou, who was wiping sweat from his forehead with a tissue nearby, then quickly looked away.
“What’s all the commotion? I could hear your noise from the end of the hallway. Regardless, before you leave, make sure you’ve cleaned up, put the seats back in place, turned off the lights, and locked the door.”
Ye Zhou froze for a moment and tossed the tissue into a small trash can beside him.
He felt someone watching him and instinctively looked up at Shen Yuzhen, who had suddenly appeared at the door. ‘Is it the Vice President? Just an illusion, then—’
“Oh! That really hurt! You guys are too mean!”
Shen Yuzhen pursed her lips and looked at the complaining Chen Yuhe, showing the standard concern a leader has for a club member. “Chen Yuhe, are you okay?”
“Hehe… I knew it! The Vice President is way nicer than Club Leader Jiang. I’ve actually known it for a long time!” Chen Yuhe’s face changed in a split second.
Ye Zhou coughed from the side and signaled secretly with his hand. ‘Stop talking, Senior Student! Can’t you see Club Leader Jiang’s face behind you is turning pitch black? It’s terrifying!’
Utterly oblivious, Chen Yuhe continued her flattery.
“Oh! My beautiful, sweet-voiced Vice President, let’s go grab dinner together tonight, okay?”
Shen Yuzhen’s tone remained flat. “No one visits the temple without a reason. Why the sudden invitation?”
“Ah-hee ~ Can’t I just ask you out for no reason?” Su Zhihan tapped her own head and stuck out her tongue.
“No. I always go home to eat in the evenings,” Shen Yuzhen refused without hesitation.
Chen Yuhe’s eyes instantly welled up. She flailed her arms again and ran out past Shen Yuzhen.
“Fine, whatever! I don’t care about any of you anymore! None of you are good people!”
“I hate you guys! I’m running away from home tonight!”
“And you, Vice President! I’m going to spread rumors about you to everyone I know!”
“Do you think I don’t know? Sometimes you hide in the office for a whole day without coming out just so you can secretly look up pictures of handsome guys online—the kind without clothes on!”
“You’re not some good little girl at all! You’re a total visual-oriented person through and through!”
Despite appearing steady and composed throughout the major events of the past two days, Shen Yuzhen actually broke her poise to chase after Chen Yuhe at those words.
“Hey, hey, hey! Chen Yuhe, why were you spying on my privacy?”
“And I was looking at male models, okay?”
“Fine, fine! I’m sorry, Chen Yuhe. I’m a good person!”
“Don’t you love that Tomato Stewed Beef Brisket place near the school entrance? I’ll go with you this time, and we’ll order the extra-large portion!”
Watching this scene unfold, Ye Zhou was left dumbfounded.
He never imagined that the straight-laced Vice President would have such an inner side. It was truly a surprise!
Being a “visual person” was more of a reflection of complex psychological and social phenomena than simple biological desire—to put it simply, it was just human nature.
Seeing that everything was tidied up, Ye Zhou quietly set down his broom and headed for the exit. Unexpectedly, a hand was placed gently on his shoulder at an inopportune moment.
He stiffly turned his neck to see Jiang Yingxue tilting her head with a smile, her tone rising.
“Zhouzhou ~ Where are you going? Didn’t I say it already? Let me repeat myself. Right now, leave, and follow me to my office immediately.”
“T-That’s right! I was just thinking of getting one step ahead of you so I could brew you a rich, mellow cup of coffee. Even in this cold weather, of course, I wouldn’t expect a tip.”
***
The two walked in silence until they reached the Drama and Film Club.
Jiang Yingxue gently pushed Ye Zhou into her office.
Her red lips curved into a mischievous smirk. Holding her keys, she closed the door and locked it multiple times.
“Have a seat.”
“Okay…”
Ye Zhou didn’t stand on ceremony. He plopped down into Jiang Yingxue’s office chair and looked up at the ceiling, spinning around once on the wheels. The cushion was soft and comfortable, but it was cold and lacked warmth.
He wanted to crack a joke to ease the volatile atmosphere, but as he started to stand up, he was pushed back down by Jiang Yingxue’s soft hands. He looked up, seeing only the shadow of a rounded silhouette, unable to see the expression on her face.
“It’s nothing. Just sit there. If you find my chair uncomfortable, you could always sit on the desk instead. Or should I clear the desk off so it’s more comfortable for you to sleep on?”
As soon as Jiang Yingxue finished speaking, Ye Zhou realized she was being sarcastic. In times like these, one had to do the opposite!
He scrambled to his feet, moved another office chair over, and sat obediently across from her.
But Jiang Yingxue was relentless. One step, two steps, three steps… her Black Matte Doc Martin Boots clicked against the floor as she walked right up to him. She arched an eyebrow slightly and slowly leaned down toward him.
“Zhouzhou, you mentioned that Chen Yuhe was testing your acting again tonight. I was thinking… hasn’t it been several days since I last continued your Desensitization Training?”
Hearing this, Ye Zhou shook his head vigorously.
“There’s no need. I’m completely desensitized now.”
“Truly? Look, I even bought some special props for your training ~ I prepared two whole boxes ~ You should be jumping for joy ~”
As she spoke, a twinkle of irrepressible amusement appeared in her beautiful eyes. Like a magician, she pulled two colorful, rectangular little boxes from behind her back.
“Mm-hmm ~ Oh, how embarrassing. It looks like I grabbed the wrong thing ~ I grabbed chewing gum instead ~”
She let out a giggle and quickly tucked the two boxes into her Beige LV Women’s Small Leather Bag.
While she was at it, she pulled two more boxes out—one black and one white; one chocolate-flavored and one milk-flavored Pocky.
“See, Zhouzhou? I finally got the right ones this time, didn’t I?”
“I-Is that so?”
Ye Zhou instinctively swallowed. Even though it had only been two or three seconds, if he hadn’t seen it wrong… uh, those two boxes of chewing gum were the Ultra-thin 0.01 type, weren’t they?