Chapter 2

The goons, of course, weren’t having it.
“Hey, who the hell are you?” The ringleader had to pause mid-swing, turning toward Zhuoqing.
Discovering it was just one girl, and a girl at that, the boss actually burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha…Sorry, what’d you say? ‘Count you in?’” He could barely catch his breath from laughing so hard.
“What, you here to play hero, or did you just want my attention?” He pulled a sleazy grin, thinking he looked like a ladykiller, in reality just greasy and gross.
Meanwhile, everyone had totally forgotten about Chen Huo, who was quietly struggling back to his feet, his vision swimming. Through the blur, he could just barely make out someone with a cascade of long black hair.
No one noticed he’d gotten up, and Zhuoqing had no intention of wasting words.
“What, scared?” she said, the act in her tone as thick as possible, deliberately baiting them. Predictably, the punks took the bait.
The boss signaled. Two goons immediately flanked Zhuoqing. The ringleader still tried to warn her off: “Listen, sweetheart, drop it before you get yourself hurt. Don’t know who I am? I’ll cut you some slack and let you walk right now, just call me big bro and back out. Otherwise, you’ll learn what it means to suffer.”
Zhuoqing didn’t even give him the chance for a third line of trash talk.
Once again the alley rang with the sound of fists and bodies hitting the ground, except, this time, there were screams.
Chen Huo, still dizzy, watched the punks drop one after another. Even when they all rushed her at once, Zhuoqing dropped them with a single swing. Their animal wails echoed off the walls.
With everyone down, Zhuoqing flicked the stick aside, it landed right between the boss’s legs.
The guy’s defeated howl made even Chen Huo shudder.
Free at last to look up at his savior, Chen Huo hesitated, ducking his head to hide his battered face.
Zhuoqing didn’t pay him any mind, saw he could stand, then turned and walked away without another word.
As she left, Chen Huo forgot all about acting tough, he scrambled to look after her, just in time to catch the sight of Zhuoqing’s ruthless back disappearing at the end of the alley.
He felt a wave of disappointment, he hadn’t even gotten a good look at her face.
But that hair. He remembered that. Next time they met, he’d know her by her hair.
Elsewhere, Zhuoqing walked into a salon, greeted the stylist, and said, “Hi, I’d like to cut my hair short.”
For days, Chen Huo didn’t show up at school. He made sure those thugs wouldn’t get away with it, once the powerful Chen family stepped in, those goons and their families vanished from City A overnight. Chen Huo refused to show his face until his injuries healed. By the time he showed up at Yuying Elite again, Zhuoqing had already joined Grade 11 Class A as the newest transfer.
His lackey, Yue Hao, hadn’t seen him in days, so of course he came up to check in: “Bro, what happened? Why haven’t you been at school? Weren’t your parents on your case?”
Mention of his folks brought back the memory of being beaten down in the dirt. His expression darkened instantly. Yue Hao, seeing this, hastily changed the subject: “Oh right, we got a new transfer student this week. Heard it’s that girl who was with the disciplinary director the other day.”
“Disciplinary director?” Chen Huo had no clue, just brushed it off.
Yue Hao started to remind him how they’d bumped into the director and a plainly dressed girl in the hallway, but Chen Huo interrupted, faltering awkwardly.
“Yue Hao.” Chen Huo hesitated for ages, finally mustering the nerve to ask.
He really had no experience with this sort of thing.
“So, uh... Do you know how to find...a girl you met once?”
Yue Hao was instantly struck dumb.
Chen Huo frowned, impatient: “Well? Say something.”
“Bro,” Yue Hao ventured carefully, “are you saying… you’ve got a crush on a girl?”
“A crush?” Chen Huo frowned, then let it go.
“I dunno. Maybe.” Even he wasn’t sure; so he brushed it off and got back to the point.
But Yue Hao was still shaken.
Bro, with a crush? On a girl, for real?
He thought of all the poor girls who’d tried to confess to Chen Huo, only to be shut down cold, and for a moment, he felt deep sympathy for whoever Chen Huo had set his sights on.
Getting picked by bro...must be exhausting.
Chen Huo snapped him out of it: “Hey, I asked you a question. Do you know how to find someone?”
“Huh? How should I know, bro? I’ve never fallen for anyone at first sight.” Yue Hao shrugged, but for his buddy’s lifelong happiness, he wracked his brains for ideas.
“Where did you meet her? We could go ask around the area?”
Mentioning that alley, Chen Huo’s memory stung, he shot down the suggestion immediately.
“No way. She was just passing through. We’ll never find her by hanging out there.”
Now even Yue Hao was stuck.
That weekend after evening study, the class rep stood up to invite everyone to her birthday party.
“No need to bring me anything! My parents just want a chill get-together, nothing big.” Jiang Nuan, their always-gentle class rep, was well-liked and smiled at them all. “I hope everyone can make it!”
After everyone agreed, Jiang Nuan went over to Bai Jiajia and said, “Jiajia, you just come, okay? Don’t worry about bringing a gift.”
She’d said the same thing last year, but Jiajia still brought a present. Jiajia just blushed. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly come empty-handed…”
Seeing she hadn’t agreed, Jiang Nuan didn’t push. She just smiled. “Well, thank you in advance, then.”
Then Jiang Nuan walked over to the newly transferred girl and still kept that warm tone: “Yun Zhuoqing, can I call you Qingqing? Would you come to my party this weekend? You just joined, but everyone here’s really nice, they won’t pick on you. Hang out with them a bit and you’ll see.”
Jiang Nuan thought she’d have to put in some effort to convince Yun Zhuoqing, but to her surprise, Yun Zhuoqing barely hesitated.
“Okay, I got it.” She paused, seeming a bit uncertain, but in the end she added softly, “Alright.”
Jiang Nuan blinked, then realized Yun Zhuoqing was answering her first question.
She couldn’t help but break into a smile. “Great, Qingqing. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Jiang Nuan got up, and Bai Jiajia quickly looked away.
Ever since Yun Zhuoqing had started at school, things had gone exactly as she hoped, she’d faded into total background-existence, just another face in the crowd.
She’d chopped her long hair to shoulder-length, let her bangs fall long across her brow, and hid behind thick black-framed glasses. With her stiff posture and bland look, she radiated “boring” from every angle. No one would be interested in someone like that.
Yun Zhuoqing was perfectly satisfied with this.
“Um… Yun Zhuoqing?” A timid voice broke through her thoughts out of nowhere.
She looked up. Bai Jiajia was right in front of her, stumbling over herself: “Do you want to go to the cafeteria with me? I think you have lunch alone, right? I could join you…”
Yun Zhuoqing was caught off guard, but politely declined. “No thanks, I’m used to eating by myself.”
Bai Jiajia hadn’t expected that. She bit her lip, forcing a fragile smile. “Oh…okay then.”
Disappointment tugged at her heart. She remembered how terrified she’d been her first days at this school, she was scared of everything, especially eating alone in the cafeteria. Why was Yun Zhuoqing, who’d arrived under the same “special-admission” circumstances, so chill about it?
Didn’t she find it scary to suddenly land in a place this grand?
And she seemed to talk to Jiang Nuan like it was nothing. Bai Jiajia distinctly remembered when Jiang Nuan first spoke to her, her palms had been sweating with nerves, terrified she’d make a bad impression.
Bai Jiajia wandered off, clutching her water bottle, a little lost in thought.
Right after she left the classroom, Yun Zhuoqing noticed her own bottle was empty too. She got up, grabbed it, and headed out.
As soon as Yun Zhuoqing stepped into the hall, she spotted Chen Huo and Yue Hao lingering at the end of the corridor.
Chen Huo was deep in whatever conversation he was having with Yue Hao, not paying attention to his surroundings. If Yun Zhuoqing wanted to refill her water, she’d have to walk right past them.
Unflinching, Yun Zhuoqing walked forward, eyes straight ahead. Chen Huo glanced away, distracted.
As the distance between them closed, Chen Huo felt something bump his arm. He turned, startled, and was met with Bai Jiajia’s panicked face, she’d zoned out and wasn’t watching where she was going.
Meanwhile, Yun Zhuoqing quietly slipped past without even brushing their clothes.
Bai Jiajia’s eyes almost filled with tears. Chen Huo’s reputation was no joke, she would never, ever dare mess with him. She was so afraid she could hardly speak to him, and now she’d accidentally collided with him. What if he held a grudge? Her mind went blank with fear.
Chen Huo looked annoyed, but didn’t make a big deal of it. He just snapped, “Watch where you’re going next time,” and didn’t spare her another glance.
Bai Jiajia froze. That was… polite. Since when did Chen Huo have such a good temper?
At that moment, Yun Zhuoqing, already finished at the water dispenser, glanced over her shoulder as she saw Chen Huo walk toward the entrance of Grade 11 Class A, then turned away again.
Tsk, who is that guy? Has the class always had this many people?
She couldn’t quite place the bruised face from the other day, that same face, now healed, and only wondered about it for a second.