Liked Him

"I liked him."

Those few words, tossed off by Fu Liangxia with the same casual indifference as a passing greeting, left Su Xingshu rooted to the spot.

He couldn't quite name the feeling—a strange mix of dawning realization and a subtle, grating irritation. It wasn't so much about caring for Fu Liangxia as it was a masculine rivalry—

You liked my friend, yet you can say blunt, hurtful things to me? Am I really that inferior?

Something like that.

There was also a hint of thrill at meeting his match.

Su Xingshu was certain Fu Liangxia had caught his signal, yet she had tossed it back so lightly, using a tactic no one had ever used against him.

Admitting to his face that she had liked his friend.

Su Xingshu: [I see. Then he must have done something awful to make you stop liking him.]

Su Xingshu hadn't been in all those relationships for nothing—at least he had some skill in probing, deflecting, and veiled verbal jabs.

Fu Liangxia read his message and lowered her eyes: [I don't like chasing after something with no end in sight.]

Su Xingshu heard the way the girl said "no end" without a hint of hesitation, and from her flat tone, he seemed to glimpse the hardship and exhaustion hidden beneath—being hurt again and again, until it all condensed into that one forced, brave "I liked him."

It felt like something in his chest was being squeezed, a sour, swelling ache. He couldn't say whether it was pity for Fu Liangxia.

But one thing he was sure of: he was a little jealous of Cheng Xingzhou.

Cheng Xingzhou didn't know how many drinks he'd had, only that every time he closed his eyes, he saw Fu Liangxia standing there this morning, looking disheveled, pale, so thin she might be blown over by the wind.

She stood there, alone and helpless, like an island abandoned by the whole world.

His heart softened.

He had thought he would stop paying attention to her. They were destined to belong to different worlds, so why start a relationship that would only end in mutual destruction? Better not to start at all.

Cheng Xingzhou had thought it through clearly, but when she stood before him like that, he found he couldn't do it.

This wasn't right.

When he was a child, he loved building model kits. But when his mother smashed them, saying it couldn't be his hobby, it took him six months to reach the point where he could look at his once-favorite limited edition model without a flicker of emotion.

After that, all his hobbies were 'smashed' like that model. It had taken him half a year to give up the models, but as his self-control grew, the time it took to lose passion for subsequent hobbies became shorter and shorter.

Because if he wanted to go into politics in the future, he had to learn restraint, to never reveal his preferences. Once exploited by those with ulterior motives, it could spell utter ruin.

So he didn't need his mother to remind him; he realized he should 'give up' on Fu Liangxia too.

Cheng Xingzhou knew that the deeper the affection, the harder it was to sever, just like his model.

So before he fell completely, he chose to walk away.

Cheng Xingzhou thought he wouldn't regret it, and he prided himself on his self-control.

Yet all of that crumbled in an instant with Fu Liangxia's careless "I liked him."

Cheng Xingzhou wasn't drunk enough to lose his senses. He heard Su Xingshu sending a voice message to someone, his voice gentle, using his usual tactics for hunting prey.

Cheng Xingzhou paid no attention at first, drinking in silence, until he heard a familiar voice nearby.

The girl he'd been thinking about was sending a voice message to his friend.

And her tone was damnably soft.

Cheng Xingzhou frowned and closed his eyes.

Of course, he knew she liked him, but that "liked"—past tense—somehow grated on his ears.

Then he heard Su Xingshu's instigating remark.

"..."

Cheng Xingzhou: "Hey."

Su Xingshu finally looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise: "You're still conscious? After one, two... five, six Long Island Iced Teas, you're still clear-headed?"

Cheng Xingzhou's gaze fixed on his face: "Don't change the subject."

Su Xingshu's smile faded: "Did I say something wrong?"

Just then, whether deliberately or not, Su Xingshu's finger pressed on the voice message Fu Liangxia had just sent.

The girl's clear voice rang out in the quiet air. When she said, "I don't like chasing after something with no end," Cheng Xingzhou's expression turned ugly in an instant.

He stood up abruptly, grabbed his jacket, and left the room.

Not receiving a reply from Su Xingshu, Fu Liangxia remembered that she'd taken a photo of the match results page while playing games at the Fu residence that evening.

So she opened her BoBo—the social media app favored by modern youth, including Saintland students.

This account was created after she had transmigrated; it had only one photo, a picture with Xu Yuan taken at the sanatorium.

She had few followers, mostly zombie accounts bought for the username, and her following list only included Xu Yuan and the official Fu Corporation Weibo.

But after arriving at Saintland, her account was registered in the school information system upon enrollment. Once she posted, it would automatically be tagged with Saintland Academy and pushed to other Saintland students.

No Saintland student could avoid this—it was also to prevent them from posting things online that might smear the school before the higher-ups could handle it.

Of course, this was mainly aimed at special admissions students who were vulnerable to bullying.

After all, using public opinion to turn the tide was the best option for a special admission student with nothing.

She posted her second BoBo post since creating the account. On the results page, she had 17 kills, while Fu Haoyao's account below showed 13.

Actually, she could have won the bet even without eliminating him, but Fu Liangxia didn't want to do that, because it wouldn't have left a lasting impression.

Thinking of the disbelief on Fu Haoyao's face at that moment, she was in such a good mood she almost laughed out loud.

In the photo, Fu Liangxia flashed a peace sign in front of the screen. Her fingers were pale and slender, with faint blue veins visible beneath the skin—beautiful hands, yet not giving off a fragile impression. Instead, paired with the kill count behind her, there was a striking contrast.

Due to the angle, a small portion of Fu Haoyao's screen next to her was also captured.

But he wasn't in the shot, so Fu Liangxia typed a line and posted: [Trying something new; feels pretty good.]

It wasn't that Fu Liangxia particularly liked this survival game. She simply enjoyed winning, especially when the person she beat was Fu Haoyao, who usually looked down his nose at everyone.

Fu Liangxia casually scrolled further. Since BoBo automatically pushed content from Saintland students to her, she came across a post that looked very artistic.

In a simple, minimalist gallery, a tall male figure stood with his back to the camera, examining an artwork on the wall. He had a pink wolf-cut hairstyle, broad shoulders, long legs, and fair skin. A gray suit with a strong design sense made him look like a model on a runway.

Even just a back view, without seeing his face, one could tell he was handsome.

Seeing that iconic hair color, Fu Liangxia suddenly realized something. She glanced at the poster's name on the left and understood—it was him: Bai Yan.

One of the twins who hadn't appeared in the original book yet, and also a member of F4, Bai Yan.

The post had been up for only a short while tonight, but it had already broken a hundred thousand likes. The comments were a stream of "so handsome" and "hubby, come here," but he didn't respond to any of them, until a comment appeared: "Young Master Bai, when are you coming back from Europe? Saintland can't do without you all."

Unexpectedly, Bai Yan replied to him: [Soon.]

Seeing this, Fu Liangxia frowned slightly. In the original book, did they come back this early too?

WeChat popped up with a new message. She tapped in.

It was a two-second voice message.

Su Xingshu: [Lucky.]

Fu Liangxia: [?]

Fu Liangxia: [Who?]

Following the usual pattern, Su Xingshu should have said Cheng Xingzhou. That would send a signal to her while subtly praising her.

But Su Xingshu didn't. He said: [Me.]

Lucky, to meet you when you no longer like him.

Fu Liangxia understood his unspoken words. His methods were more sophisticated than she had imagined. It seemed that when Su Xingshu wanted to win someone over, he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. The way he'd treated her before was simply because he hadn't considered her a target.

But she didn't care.

After listening to the voice message, her expression remained unchanged. She replied flatly: [Not necessarily.]

Even if she didn't like him anymore, you might not have a chance.

The girl's soft voice came from the phone, but its content was utterly merciless.

Su Xingshu paused for a moment at the words, then burst out laughing.

Interesting. She was really interesting.

[Su Xingshu Affinity Points +5, current Affinity Points: 35.]

However, the "interesting" Fu Liangxia ignored him afterward. She had experienced too much today, exhausted both physically and mentally. She put down her phone and fell deeply asleep in no time.

The next morning, Fu Liangxia was woken by Fu Liedong's loud exclamations.

She opened the door, and he charged in like an excited golden retriever, hands on her shoulders, eyes wide with shock.

Fu Liangxia nearly stumbled back from the force. Steadying herself, she frowned: "What's wrong with you so early in the morning?"

Fu Liedong then realized he might have been a bit rough, quickly withdrew his hands, scratched his head sheepishly, and said, "Sorry."

Fu Liangxia had no idea what he was so worked up about, so she went into the bathroom to wash up. Fu Liedong followed behind her like a little tail, standing behind her with eyes burning with the fire of gossip, practically singeing her.

He asked, "You played games with Fu Haoyao yesterday?"

Fu Liangxia wiped the water droplets from her face and looked up at him through the mirror, as if asking how he knew.

Fu Liedong: "Didn't you post on BoBo last night? You didn't even follow me back..."

Fu Liangxia: "Get to the point."

"It's the post you put up. It has Fu Haoyao's ID 'yao' on it. He uses that name for all his accounts, so as soon as you posted, someone recognized it." He paused, then thought of something: "You should check your comment section—it's exploded. Thanks to that post, you're completely famous now."

"Especially in Fu Haoyao's fan club."