Quarrel

Fu Liangxia fainted again.

As a result, she missed the standoff between the two boys that followed, Bai Kewei's anxious fussing, and the terrified guilt of the two culprits.

What exactly was this girl's relationship with the student council president? The president, who never showed his emotions, had actually held her in his arms?

Kang Jin and Li Yuanfan were uneasy.

Fu Liangxia, of course, knew nothing of this. Perhaps it was the lingering scent of juniper berries from before she passed out that stirred up distant memories.

She dreamed of Cheng Xingzhou from years ago.

The young boy had cold, indifferent eyes. Every day he sat quietly in the ward of the sanatorium, neither making noise nor causing trouble. They said he had been abandoned.

When she passed by his room, she felt nothing but boundless oppression and loneliness, as if what was locked behind that door wasn't air, but a deep, heavy sea, dark and salty...

Fu Liangxia woke from her dream with furrowed brows. The scene in her dream left her dazed, but once her consciousness cleared, she realized that this daze came not only from her mind, but from her body as well.

She was being held in Cheng Xingzhou's arms.

His hold wasn't exactly gentle—it was actually rather clumsy. His chest was firm against her shoulder, and she could feel the faint swell of muscle.

Because he walked quickly, jostling her with every step, her head spun even more.

Pulling the coat tighter around herself, Fu Liangxia struggled to move her head away from Cheng Xingzhou's chest and opened her eyes, groggy and heavy.

"Xiaxia, how are you?" Bai Kewei, who had been keeping pace beside her, quickened her steps to catch up. "How do you feel? Dizzy? Cold?"

Fu Liangxia forced a faint smile. "I'm fine, don't worry."

In truth, the opposite was true. The reason she'd woken up wasn't that her symptoms had naturally subsided—it was sheer force of will... no, that wasn't it at all. It was simply because Cheng Xingzhou didn't know how to carry someone!

The jostling was making her miserable!

And they were drawing way too much attention.

The bell for second period had rung long ago. Strictly speaking, there shouldn't have been any students on campus.

But unfortunately, the path from the office building to the infirmary passed by a semi-open swimming pool and a riding arena. She could already see many students from swimming and equestrian classes drifting closer.

Almost all eyes were fixed on them.

As if he couldn't sense it—or was simply used to it—Cheng Xingzhou continued forward with steady, unhurried steps, his composure unshaken.

His cold demeanor didn't scare off the enthusiastic onlookers. Horses in the arena stopped by the fence, their riders pressed close together, craning their necks to gawk. The swimming students, undeterred by the chill, threw towels over their shoulders and rushed outside to watch. A few went so far as to raise their phones and snap surreptitious photos.

This was a rare spectacle.

Who had ever seen the lofty, self-possessed student council president carrying a girl in his arms? And not just any girl—today's hottest topic on the forum, the transfer student who had angered Su Xingshu!

And trailing right behind them was none other than another figure of intrigue, the other party in the controversy: Su Xingshu himself!

It was a scene packed with drama.

Their excited chatter reached even Fu Liangxia, who was barely in a state to register anything.

"Holy crap, what's going on?"

"Why is the president carrying her? What's their relationship?"

"The key thing is Su Xingshu following behind—look at his face, it's awful. Is he angry?"

"Why would he be angry? Did the transfer student tick him off again? Or is it because the president and she..."

As the speculations grew increasingly outrageous, Fu Liangxia shifted uneasily. "How about you put..."

Before she could finish, a cold, hard voice rang out from above her. "Don't move."

She looked up, and her gaze collided with Cheng Xingzhou's, who happened to glance down at that very moment.

He faltered for a heartbeat, then silently averted his eyes.

Too light.

Cheng Xingzhou couldn't help noting inwardly.

The person in his arms felt as weightless as if she had no mass at all. Her fair, tender legs rested across his right arm, and the dark gold pleats of her uniform skirt had slipped slightly, revealing a stretch of lustrous skin.

Cheng Xingzhou dared not look again, but even after he turned his gaze away, that alluring flash of white lingered in his mind, refusing to disperse, stirring a restless irritation.

Xue Changgui trotted along behind them, feeling that everything happening today was too surreal for his brain to process.

He was genuinely baffled by Cheng Xingzhou's sudden change in behavior.

Being student council president might look glamorous on the surface, but Xue Changgui knew better than anyone how grueling it really was.

Because the Student Council was a symbol of student power, standing on the side of the majority, the president who wielded that power needed above all else to be fair. He had to treat all students equally, showing no particular favoritism toward any group or individual.

Though that standard sounded harsh, almost inhuman, and though the previous student council presidents had never truly lived up to it—before meeting this Fu Liangxia, that is. Yes, he had just remembered to check his phone and confirmed that the girl in front of him was indeed the transfer student who had caused such a stir—Cheng Xingzhou had always done well on that front.

He excelled academically, conducted himself with integrity, was well-liked by both teachers and students, and treated everyone with equal fairness. He was as upright as a ruler, never stepping out of line.

Yet today, not only had he skipped class after glancing at a message on his phone, but he'd also handled things in a way completely unlike his usual self—even going so far as to carry a girl.

Not that Cheng Xingzhou was afraid of women or never interacted with the opposite sex, it was just...

Xue Changgui couldn't quite put his finger on it. Perhaps it was simply that he'd never treated any other girl with such a good attitude.

Even among the boys, the only ones close to the president were the other four members of the F4.

Xue Changgui felt emotionally drained. He quietly sidled over to Su Xingshu, who was considered the most easygoing of the F4, and asked, "Su Xingshu, do you know what's going on with the president? Did he know Fu Liangxia from before?"

Su Xingshu cast him a cold glance, his mood just as sour.

He knew what Xue Changgui was asking. Cheng Xingzhou's behavior today was indeed out of character—he'd even beaten him to sweeping the fainting Fu Liangxia into his arms.

"It's nothing. Don't read too much into it," Su Xingshu replied.

Yet he told Xue Changgui not to pay it any mind, while stewing over it himself.

His gaze was glued to the tall figure ahead, and to the pale, slender calf that the girl's skirt had failed to cover, a tickle of irritation rising in his throat.

Fu Liangxia wasn't short, but perhaps because she was so thin, she looked like only a small bundle in Cheng Xingzhou's arms. The marked difference in their sizes lent the scene a subtle, almost suggestive undertone.

It was...

Extremely irritating.

Just then, Fu Liangxia turned her head slightly and happened to meet his gaze.

His eyes plunged straight into her misty black pupils. Su Xingshu froze for a moment, a strange, unnameable feeling washing over him.

Just as he had inexplicably followed behind Cheng Xingzhou, before his mind could register it, Su Xingshu's body moved ahead of his thoughts. He walked to the other side of Cheng Xingzhou and looked down at her. "You... what happened?"

Fu Liangxia, held in an uncomfortable position, her skin burning on the outside while a chill gnawed at her from within, stared back at Su Xingshu with clear displeasure.

Why had she ended up like this? Shouldn't he be the one who knew best?

"You're asking me?"

Her temper flared, her breathing hitched suddenly, and she burst into violent coughing.

Her body trembled lightly with each cough, her black hair falling in disarray, a faint flush rising to her pale cheeks. Uncontrollably, she rubbed against the arms that held her.

Feeling the soft, fleeting contact, Cheng Xingzhou's brow twitched heavily. Through clenched teeth, he warned, "Keep squirming, and I'll leave you right here."

He knew Fu Liangxia didn't want to make a scene, so he deliberately threatened her.

Fu Liangxia shut her mouth obediently and stopped moving.

But at that moment, Su Xingshu, who still hadn't fully processed her words, seemed to want to add fuel to the fire. "I can carry her the rest of the way."

Go ahead and put her down—that's just what he wanted.

At Su Xingshu's words, Cheng Xingzhou seemed to notice him for the first time. His cold, piercing gaze cut through his non-prescription lenses and fixed on him. "Why are you still here?"

Cheng Xingzhou and Su Xingshu had always gotten along well. Although one was a paragon of elitism and the other a carefree playboy, they were family friends who had grown up together, sharing many common interests. Their bond was something others couldn't compare to.

But some things were exceptions.

His tone was calm, yet beneath it ran an undercurrent of something dangerous.

Su Xingshu, as if sensing nothing amiss, kept a lazy smile at the corner of his lips, but his tone was far from as carefree as his expression. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

He met Cheng Xingzhou's gaze.