Chapter 3

Last row. Chen Huo woke from his nap to find his lackey, Yue Hao, sidling over for more idle gossip.
“Bro, you think those classmates who’ve been skipping are coming to Jiang Nuan’s birthday party or what?” There were still two empty desks in the classroom, not just the seat next to Yun Zhuoqing, but another one, too, though that one had some stuff piled on it.
“Yeah, they’ll come. My uncle said they’re flying back Friday, so they’ll be here by the weekend,” Chen Huo replied offhandedly.
“Bro, how come when your families all travel together, you’re not invited? Are they targeting you or something?” Yue Hao grinned mischievously. He’d known Chen Huo since they were kids, close enough to joke around. Anyone else wouldn’t dare clown around with Chen Huo, whose temper was famously explosive.
See? Even Yue Hao knew when to back off.
Yue Hao rubbed his forehead, looking pitiful. “I’m just saying! How come you’re the only one left out, then?”
“Because I didn’t want to go. What’s so great about those trips?” Chen Huo dropped his voice, “My parents and uncle went to see Aunt Qin.”
Yue Hao’s eyes lit up in sudden understanding.
“Ohhh, that makes sense! Didn’t your families have some kind of engagement with the Yun family? No wonder you bailed! Bro, you always have your reasons.”
The story of the Yun family’s youngest daughter getting kidnapped right after birth was open gossip among the rich and powerful. The nanny swapped the baby and brought in another girl as a stand-in. Luckily, Mrs. Yun remembered a birthmark. Even so, the switch wasn’t caught immediately. By the time the Yun family finally found that nanny, she’d hung herself back in her hometown, and the real Yun heiress vanished without a trace.
No one knew why the nanny took the baby, or where she’d gone. Even after the Yun family became the richest in China, their little princess never resurfaced. Seventeen years later, the “replacement” child had grown up as their beloved adopted daughter, but the true heiress was still missing. Mrs. Yun, Qin Yilan, was in worsening health, and that old “childhood engagement” joke had lost all meaning.
Besides, it wasn’t like the Yun family had only made that promise to the Chens.
Chen Huo had no interest discussing it further, and Yue Hao soon switched topics, rambling about Jiang Nuan’s birthday bash this weekend.
“Last year only Bai Jiajia brought a gift. Now there are two special-admission students… You think they’ll give a joint present? Should we bring gifts for Jiang Nuan?”
The phrase “special-admission” caught Chen Huo’s attention, and he frowned. “Yue Hao, you think all special-admission kids are broke?”
Yue Hao rolled his eyes. “C’mon, bro, compared to your family who’s rich? Still, most special admits are from normal backgrounds.”
Chen Huo’s demeanor suddenly turned serious, and Yue Hao got a bad feeling.
Sure enough, Chen Huo jerked his chin toward Bai Jiajia’s desk. “Go bring her over here.”
Relieved it wasn’t his own neck on the line, Yue Hao dutifully called Bai Jiajia.
Bai Jiajia just about had a heart attack; she thought Chen Huo was coming after her for what happened earlier. She forced herself to stand in front of him, trembling, half in tears, like a delicate, helpless little vine.
Chen Huo, oblivious to how terrified she was, asked, “Do you know any girls who have long hair, are really pretty, and can fight?”
Bai Jiajia: “…Huh?”
Bai Jiajia was completely baffled.
Chen Huo clicked his tongue in annoyance, but repeated, “You know, hair down to here, super black, great fighter, uh… Really gorgeous eyes. Anyone like that?”
His idea of “being patient” only made Bai Jiajia feel more pressured, so she nodded frantically. “Y-yeah, I know someone…”
Chen Huo, satisfied: “Good. Bring her to Jiang Nuan’s birthday party this weekend. I want to meet her.”
Bai Jiajia stumbled back to her desk on shaky legs, about to cry. She’d always been a good, rule-following student, where would she find some badass fighter girl?
Yue Hao slid over, seeing Chen Huo settling in for another nap, and asked, “Isn’t there another special-admission girl in our class? Why not ask her?”
Chen Huo glanced at Yun Zhuoqing’s back and scoffed, “Look at her, does she seem like someone with friends?”
Bai Jiajia might be timid, but after a year in Class A, she at least had a few people she could talk to. Yun Zhuoqing, on her first day, hadn’t spoken to a soul, totally in her own world. The big black glasses only made her look even more like a total nerd. Someone like that probably didn’t know any fighter girls. If anything, he’d rather count on Bai Jiajia.
“True.” Yue Hao dropped the issue, but suddenly remembered something, eyes lighting up. “Bro, those eyes you mentioned, just how pretty are they? You never told me this story! Come on, spill!”
Chen Huo just played dead, face buried in his arms.
Up front, Jiang Nuan exchanged a knowing glance with her deskmate, who immediately looked away, blushing with excitement.
She winked at her deskmate as if to say, See? I told you her eyes are amazing.
The deskmate nodded ferociously.
A week flew by. The seat next to Yun Zhuoqing remained empty. She kept her head down, sticking strictly to her strategy of being as inconspicuous as possible, and avoided chatting with classmates, always going solo.
Except for Bai Jiajia, only Jiang Nuan and her deskmate Yuan Xin had ever tried talking to her. Yun Zhuoqing always felt those two were a little weird about it, like they were staring her down or something. But when she met their gaze, they always looked away fast, and every time they came over, it was for some trivial reason that just happened to disrupt her homework.
All things considered, Yun Zhuoqing figured Jiang Nuan and Yuan Xin must have a problem with her, though she genuinely had no idea why.
Not that it mattered. Yun Zhuoqing soon shrugged it off.
Jiang Nuan and Yuan Xin, meanwhile, had no idea their actions were being wildly misunderstood. They went through their little “sneak-a-peek” routine yet again, then huddled together to gossip like a pair of plotting hamsters.
"What are you two up to?" Song Hanyue's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the two sneaky little hamsters, scaring them so much they almost dropped their sunflower seeds, well, pens, actually.
"Nothing!" Jiang Nuan replied, breezy as ever. "I was just telling Xinxin about my birthday party. Did you need something, Hanyue?" She looked innocently at Song Hanyue’s radiant, open face.
Song Hanyue was unconvinced, but since she hadn’t really caught what they were whispering about, and honestly, didn’t much care, she just huffed and turned to leave.
Jiang Nuan and Yuan Xin exchanged a glance and exhaled in relief.
Song Hanyue could be a bit spoiled, sure, but she wasn’t a bad person. They weren’t deliberately keeping her out of the loop, but Hanyue always had a low opinion of Bai Jiajia, and probably Yun Zhuoqing, too. Besides, this sort of conversation wasn't really the type for public airing. It’d only make things awkward for everyone.
Saturday night, Yun Zhuoqing left her dorm and, surprise, bumped into Yuan Xin downstairs, who just "happened" to be passing by.
Yuan Xin seemed extra nervous; she’d never talked to Yun Zhuoqing alone before. But Jiang Nuan was handling her own birthday party tonight, so it was just Yuan Xin here solo.
"Um... Yun Zhuoqing, fancy running into you! I just came to pick something up from campus. You’re headed to Nuannuan’s birthday party, right? I, uh... I’ll go with you!" She blurted it all out in one breath, nearly tripping over her own tongue.
Her palms were sweaty from nerves. Yun Zhuoqing didn’t reply right away and Yuan Xin’s mind spun, what if she said no? But they'd chatted every day this week, hadn't they? That has to count as knowing each other... right?
Yun Zhuoqing finally nodded. "Sure, thank you."
"No problem!" Yuan Xin broke into a huge dimpled grin, thrilled to bits inside.
Yun Zhuoqing and Yuan Xin had barely walked in when Bai Jiajia arrived with her so-called "friend" in tow.
Jiajia was looking nervous, tugging anxiously at the overdressed girl beside her. "Xiaoxue, don’t make a scene when we go in, okay? My classmates aren’t people we can mess with, seriously, promise me."
Xiaoxue’s long black hair caught the light with a strange glint; she rolled her eyes, clearly impatient. "Yeah, yeah, I get it! Stop freaking out. Didn’t you say Young Master Chen specifically invited me?" She perked up at just the mention of the name.
Xiaoxue hadn’t expected Chen Huo to reach out to her directly. She’d spent days bragging to her friends at vocational school, racking up crazy amounts of envy and jealousy. After all, who didn’t know Chen Huo? Not just a legendary fighter, he came from serious money. He was nothing like those broke wannabe bad boys. If she could get close, maybe even snag him as a boyfriend, billionaire housewife life could be in her future.
So of course Xiaoxue had been jumping up and down excited about tonight. She’d even borrowed this so-called "battle dress" from her bestie, her friend swore she’d seduced her own trust-fund boyfriend in it! If her friend could hook a rich kid, Xiaoxue was sure she could snag Chen Huo.
Bai Jiajia had no idea Xiaoxue was already fantasizing about marriage, bragging to her squad, it was enough to make Jiajia deeply regret ever bringing her.
Truth was, when Chen Huo made his request, Jiajia didn’t personally know any likely candidates. But she had an old classmate who hung with the vocational school crowd, and through them, found someone who fit the bill. Jiajia hadn’t realized Xiaoxue’s dark hair was actually freshly dyed, nor thought anyone would lie about their hair to get in. She just wanted to deliver what Chen Huo asked for, that’s all.
But she never imagined this Xiaoxue would be such a handful: showing up dressed like this, and stubbornly refusing to listen. Jiajia had explained a hundred times, Chen Huo didn’t specifically ask for her. But Xiaoxue acted like she was deaf, convinced Chen Huo obviously already knew about her, and Jiajia was just an uninformed bystander. Jiajia’s gut churned with anxiety, Xiaoxue was going to be trouble, she could feel it.
But she was too timid to stop Xiaoxue. Now they were at the door, and the thought of walking in together under everyone’s eyes made Jiajia regret her whole existence. She was here for Jiang Nuan’s birthday, but her face was sheet white, like she might faint at any second.
Sure enough, Xiaoxue strutted into the opulent hotel, chin high and full of herself. But her sideways glances gave away her nerves. Meanwhile, Bai Jiajia could feel all the stares pinning her in place, her regret sharper than ever.
She dreaded Jiang Nuan blaming her. Jiang Nuan was one of the few people in class who’d never looked down on her, and Jiajia really didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. She scanned the room, and finally spotted Jiang Nuan tucked away in a corner.
Jiang Nuan was chatting with Yun Zhuoqing, beaming, clearly not having noticed Jiajia or Xiaoxue come in. Relief and a little twinge of envy washed through Jiajia, with a stab of confusion besides.
Since when were Jiang Nuan and Yun Zhuoqing so close?
Suddenly, Xiaoxue snickered, covering her mouth as she pointed at Jiang Nuan. "Wow, look, someone even tackier than you showed up!"
Jiajia’s face went ghostly pale. Before she could stop her, Xiaoxue dragged her along. "Come on, let’s check out what kind of weirdo dares to show up dressed like that."