Wang Cheng happened to be sitting facing the cafeteria entrance. Hearing the noise, he instinctively glanced over and saw a male student walking toward them with two other boys following behind.
“Damn it. Why is it that annoying guy?” Qian Baobao was sitting beside him. The moment she saw the student, obvious disgust appeared on her face, and deep exasperation filled her voice, as though he were extremely difficult to deal with.
“Who is he?” Wang Cheng asked.
Qian Baobao said, “His name is Wei Wei. He’s pursuing Ziyu. None of us likes him. He thinks very highly of himself and he’s incredibly persistent. Brother Cheng, you’ll understand how annoying he is in a minute.”
They had barely finished those two sentences when the other party reached their table. The students around them stopped eating as well, switching from covert glances to openly watching. Wang Ziyu was one of Jing University’s four campus beauties and was extremely popular. Now a man had suddenly appeared and was eating with her. Everyone was curious.
“Wang Ziyu, who is this man? When I pursued you, you said you wanted to concentrate on your studies and didn’t want to date for the time being, so I decided to give you some time. Now you’re openly bringing another man around with you. Were you treating me like a monkey?” Wei Wei looked furious, one hand pointing at Wang Cheng. His attitude was so self-righteous it was as though he were Wang Ziyu’s official boyfriend and Wang Cheng was the man she had cheated with behind his back.
Wang Ziyu’s delicate brows drew together. She had indeed said that, but only because Wei Wei had pestered her until she was thoroughly fed up. In truth, she was not opposed to dating during university. She simply did not like Wei Wei.
“Wei Wei, can you stop being unreasonable? Who I spend time with has nothing to do with you. Yes, I did say I didn’t want to date for the time being, but I never said I would never date. And even if I did want a boyfriend, why would I have to accept you?”
There were plenty of men more outstanding than Wei Wei. Wang Ziyu was not some naïve little girl. She had figured out what kind of person he was a long time ago. Someone like him was absolutely unsuitable as a boyfriend. No matter how grandly Wei Wei confessed to her in public, she would never agree.
Wei Wei had not expected Wang Ziyu to say these things, much less in front of so many people. It felt like a slap across his face. Humiliated and furious, he could not lash out at Wang Ziyu, so he immediately redirected his anger toward Wang Cheng.
“I don’t care who you are. Stay away from Wang Ziyu from now on. I don’t want to see you having any contact with her again, or else…”
“Or else what?” Wang Cheng set down his chopsticks and raised his head, calmly looking at Wei Wei, who was glaring at him and issuing threats.
Wei Wei’s brows twitched. For an instant he actually felt intimidated by the other man’s presence. He also had the strange feeling that he had seen Wang Cheng somewhere before. He quickly dismissed the ridiculous thought and blustered, “Or I’ll make you regret it so badly your guts turn green. Go ask around and find out who I, Wei Wei, am. If you know what’s good for you, get lost on your own.”
Wang Cheng accepted a tissue Mi Li handed him, wiped his mouth, and only then said, “Sorry, but I genuinely have no idea who Wei Wei is. Would you mind telling me?” Anyone could hear that he was mocking Wei Wei rather than sincerely asking. No one found it surprising. Wei Wei was not famous enough for people outside Jing University to have heard of him.
Wei Wei clearly understood too. He glared so fiercely he looked ready to explode.
“What’s going on here?”
A female voice suddenly came from beyond the surrounding crowd. Everyone looked over and saw a very attractive young woman walking toward them.
“It’s campus beauty Tang Xin.”
Someone called out her name. Wang Cheng thought she looked familiar. She seemed to be the pretty student he had encountered at the gate the last time he accompanied his sister to Jing University. At the time, she had even offered to help them, though he declined.
Tang Xin was a third-year student as well. She had placed third in the campus-beauty vote. The previous year she had ranked second, but after Wang Ziyu arrived she was pushed down to third. No matter what other people said, Tang Xin did not seem to care about the flattering title.
“Tang Xin, mind your own business.” Wei Wei frowned when he saw her.
Tang Xin did not yet know what had happened. The moment she saw Wang Cheng, an almost imperceptible change crossed her expression. She clearly had not expected one of the people at the center of the incident to be the man she had met once before. Someone nearby quickly explained what had happened.
“Wei Wei, I don’t particularly want to interfere either. But since this is happening in the cafeteria, I have no choice. I think you understand that.” Tang Xin was head of the student union’s Discipline Department. Maintaining order in public areas was part of her responsibility. With so many people watching, if she allowed Wei Wei to keep causing trouble, there would be no point in her holding the position.
Wei Wei relied on his background and behaved rather freely at Jing University, but there were still many rules he did not dare violate casually. Even so, he was unwilling to simply let Wang Cheng go. He had clearly forgotten that his pursuit of Wang Ziyu had always been entirely one-sided. He was far too confident in himself and had convinced himself Wang Ziyu would accept him sooner or later, which was why he had pursued her so publicly.
Wei Wei’s greatest mistake was overestimating himself and underestimating Wang Ziyu. His family background really was quite good, but Wang Ziyu was not a vain woman. Wei Wei interpreted her rejection as playing hard to get and had always treated her as though she were already his. Now Tang Xin was interfering too. If he simply left with his tail between his legs, where would his pride go?
Most people could more or less tell what he was thinking. Wang Cheng did not know Wei Wei at all, yet he could see through him immediately. He gave a cold laugh and stood.
The movement was abrupt. The attention that had been focused on Tang Xin and Wei Wei shifted immediately toward Wang Cheng. As one of the people at the center of the incident, everyone was still very curious about him. As far as they knew, campus beauty Wang Ziyu had not been close to any man since arriving at the university. Now a devastatingly handsome boyfriend had suddenly appeared without warning. Could they have known each other before she entered college?
Wang Cheng’s assessing gaze landed on Wei Wei. Without a smile, his face carried a few traces of cold dignity. “Wei Wei, right? I hope you can stay farther away from Little Rain in the future. She has already told you clearly that she doesn’t like you, so a person ought to have at least a little self-awareness. Also, only an idiot constantly uses his family background to throw his weight around.”
“Who the hell are you? You’re just an outsider. Get out.” Wei Wei glared at him furiously, though his words came out dry and weak.
Wang Cheng smiled. “Jing University doesn’t seem to have a rule forbidding outsiders from entering. You don’t have the authority to tell me to get out.”
Wei Wei’s face twisted with anger.
Wang Cheng glanced at his clenched fist and continued in the same light, leisurely tone. “What? You want to hit someone? I hear Jing University is an elite institution that develops students morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and through labor, with a reputation known far and wide. You wouldn’t want to be the rat dropping that spoils the whole pot of porridge, would you? Ruining your own reputation is one thing, but what if you drag everyone else down with you?”
Wang Ziyu burst out laughing. Those words sounded strangely familiar.
Wei Wei’s expression had already been ugly. Her laughter was like pouring oil onto a fire. Someone cried out as Wei Wei suddenly threw a punch at Wang Cheng without warning. They were standing close enough that no one had time to react. Then a heavy crash sounded. When everyone looked again, Wei Wei, the one who had attacked first, had already fallen into the seat where Wang Cheng had been sitting. Starting the fight and still losing that badly was almost painful to watch.
Tang Xin knew she could not simply ignore it. Seeing Wei Wei climb up as though he intended to attack Wang Cheng again, she immediately snapped, “Wei Wei, if you make another move, I’ll report exactly what happened according to the rules.”
The student union at Jing University was unlike those at other universities and had considerable authority, which was why so many students desperately tried to join it. This fight had happened right in front of her. If she allowed Wei Wei to continue making a scene, she would definitely be the one singled out for criticism at the next meeting. Tang Xin could not help becoming angry.
Still… She cast a subtle glance at Wang Ziyu. There was something Tang Xin had always found strange. Tang Xin, Fan Qingqing, and Ma Miao had been the first to assume Wang Cheng was Wang Ziyu’s boyfriend. Yet when Wei Wei pursued her, Wang Ziyu never said she already had a boyfriend. She only told him that she did not want to date for the time being.
Tang Xin looked at Wang Ziyu and smiled. “Junior Ziyu, although this wasn’t your boyfriend’s fault, next time you should probably explain things more clearly to your pursuers. Wei Wei only acted like this because he thought you didn’t have a boyfriend. If he knew you did, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
“That’s right. This is all Wang Ziyu’s fault for not explaining beforehand. That’s why I always thought she didn’t have a boyfriend. If she’d told me she did, why would I keep pursuing her? It’s not as if I, Wei Wei, absolutely have to have her.” Wei Wei immediately seized the excuse Tang Xin had handed him. At last he managed to recover a little face and now wore a disdainful expression, as though he had not been the one publicly confessing to Wang Ziyu before.
Wang Cheng looked at Tang Xin in surprise.
Seeing the topic turn toward her, Wang Ziyu stepped forward to explain. “Senior Tang Xin, I think you misunderstood. I really don’t have a boyfriend.” At those words, not only Tang Xin and Wei Wei but the entire crowd froze. Why did the story suddenly feel as though it had taken an impossible turn? This unbelievably handsome man was not her boyfriend?
“You’re joking, aren’t you, Junior? If you don’t have a boyfriend, then who is this handsome guy?” The smile on Tang Xin’s face nearly slipped.
Wang Ziyu affectionately wrapped both arms around Wang Cheng’s arm. She had not understood the deeper implication behind Tang Xin’s earlier words at all and smiled sweetly. “He’s my second brother. He came to Jing University especially to see me.”
The truth was finally revealed.
Campus beauty Wang Ziyu did not have a boyfriend at all. Everyone’s imaginations had simply run away with them. They had all made the same assumption because Wang Ziyu was beautiful and any man who appeared close to her was automatically taken for a boyfriend. This misunderstanding had grown spectacularly large.
Everyone immediately turned sympathetic looks toward the stunned Wei Wei. After all that, the rival he had imagined was actually Wang Ziyu’s older brother. Now he had even less hope than before.
“Little Rain, when you date in the future, you absolutely cannot choose someone this uncultured. I won’t approve either. Let’s go.” Before leaving, Wang Cheng deliberately glanced at Tang Xin. She happened to look over at the same moment, and when their gazes met, her expression stiffened.
The farce finally came to an end. Unexpectedly, afterward very few people discussed Wei Wei, who had humiliated himself from beginning to end. Far more of the girls were talking about Wang Cheng. A high-quality handsome man had always been the object of fantasy, especially one who stood out even among handsome men.