A Clash of Wills

The piercing beeps rang out abruptly, instantly drawing everyone's attention. Most people subtly glanced toward Cheng Xingzhou, their expressions surprised.

Bai Yan only smiled and cast him a look that said, "I knew it."

Bai Xin stared at Cheng Xingzhou, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Fu Liangxia, by contrast, was the calmest person in the room. She had no opinion on the matter, her expression remaining utterly composed the whole time. After all, whether it was true or not, it had nothing to do with her—someone who had once "failed" at a crush.

Whether Cheng Xingzhou chose a family-arranged marriage or true love, as long as she wasn't one of the options, it could be whoever for all she cared.

But that didn't stop her from kicking him while he was down.

Fu Liangxia smiled faintly, the corners of her eyes curving with a trace of amusement. "Wow, the Student Council President really is a man of his word."

"Pfft—ha!"

Fu Haoyao had no idea where the tense atmosphere between the two came from, but watching Cheng Xingzhou's face grow uglier with Fu Liangxia's remark, along with the low-pressure aura radiating off him, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It was rare to see Cheng Xingzhou at a loss. It was way too entertaining.

Cheng Xingzhou sat there, looking at them.

"What? Did she say something wrong?" Fu Haoyao demanded, righteous.

Something seemed to be brewing in Cheng Xingzhou's eyes, his gaze locking onto Fu Liangxia in a vague, unfocused way. His lips pressed tightly together, as if he was holding something back.

"No. She didn't say anything wrong."

Cheng Xingzhou said in a low voice, then smoothly changed the subject.

The wheel started spinning again, and Fu Haoyao surreptitiously leaned his head toward Fu Liangxia's side.

"Is Xingzhou in a bad mood today?" he whispered.

"Maybe. Perhaps he remembered something sad." Fu Liangxia thought for a moment, though from her memory, Cheng Xingzhou had always been in that expressionless state, never revealing any inner thoughts on his face.

She added, "But he always seems to be like this, with that sour face."

As she said it, she mimicked Cheng Xingzhou's expression, deliberately puckering her face into what she thought was a fierce look.

However, the girl just tightened her small face, pressed her lips together, and her eyes drooped slightly from the neutral expression—it was oddly endearing.

Fu Haoyao's gaze on her face darkened, his heart skipping a beat, and he couldn't help but look again.

How could the same expression look so different on different people?

He thought to himself: when Cheng Xingzhou wore that sour face all day, he only wanted to jab at him, but when Fu Liangxia puckered up like that, he just found it... a little adorable.

It must be because Cheng Xingzhou was too annoying. He pondered this for a long moment before reaching a verdict.

"You're right," he agreed. "He's probably still agonizing over whether to pick a fiancée or a girlfriend, but honestly, I'm afraid he'll scare all the girls away with that stinky face every day and end up a lifelong bachelor."

Great minds think alike. Hearing Fu Haoyao's words, a hint of laughter spilled from Fu Liangxia's eyes.

See, it wasn't just her who thought that. Cheng Xingzhou might be handsome and always dressed neatly, enough to make people want to tear off his proper exterior and see what lay beneath—but with that perpetual expressionless face, it was enough to scare off a lot of people.

Fu Liangxia even suspected that if not for the plot constraints, the original owner might never have fallen for Cheng Xingzhou in the first place.

The flower on the high peak was all well and good, but it was freezing cold.

Anyway, Fu Liangxia didn't have that kind of fiery heart to conquer an unattainable iceberg.

The two whispering to each other, occasionally trading knowing smiles, wasn't caught by the cameras—but certain sharp-eyed individuals etched it into their memory.

Bai Kewei silently tightened her grip on Fu Liangxia's arm, feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis at her somewhat intimate behavior with Fu Haoyao. No matter how harmless the F4 acted, they were ultimately different from the rest of them.

On the other side, Bai Xin looked like he couldn't care less about anything, but in reality, his ears were pricked up, not missing a word of the murmur beside him. His gaze swept over Fu Liangxia, who wore a soft smile, then to Fu Haoyao beside her, who looked like he was about to wag his tail, and his eyes paused briefly.

He quickly withdrew his gaze as if nothing had happened, only to meet his twin brother Bai Yan's eyes directly. The two exchanged a glance, and Bai Yan's smile widened as he studied his brother—an unspoken understanding spread between them.

Cheng Xingzhou silently listened to the exchange in the room, but he couldn't help glancing toward a certain corner.

Fu Haoyao's head was right next to Fu Liangxia's, his slightly curled platinum-blond hair tangling gently with a few strands of the girl's black hair.

The two were chatting about something, looking like they were having a great time.

Cheng Xingzhou's gaze dropped slightly, his expression hidden beneath his eyelids, murky and unreadable—but those around him could sense his mood had soured even further.

"Certain students in the corner, please don't whisper among yourselves. Show respect to the speaker," Cheng Xingzhou said once the current speaker finished. "If I catch it again, I'll deduct conduct points."

"When did that rule ever exist before?" Fu Haoyao protested.

"I just made it up. Xiao Xue, add this to the discipline committee regulations." After giving the order, Cheng Xingzhou slowly turned his head to look at him, smiling without warmth. "Any other questions?"

Fu Haoyao: "...No."

Hmph. As if being Student Council President was such a big deal.

Perhaps thanks to Cheng Xingzhou's intervention, the rest of the livestream went off without a hitch. Everyone finished the discussion smoothly, and after the broadcast ended, they dispersed in twos and threes.

Fu Liangxia was walking back to the main teaching building with Bai Kewei, chatting about recent difficulties, when a voice suddenly came from behind.

"Getting along well with Fu the Second?"

Fu Liangxia turned around and saw it was Cheng Xingzhou.

"Pretty well. He's quite fun." As long as Cheng Xingzhou didn't suddenly pull a cold face, Fu Liangxia was willing to show him a bit of courtesy, so she answered casually.

"Mm, I see." Cheng Xingzhou got his answer and fell silent, walking alongside them in quiet. After a moment, he suddenly said, "You like the dumb ones."

Fu Liangxia was taken aback. His tone was so utterly earnest, with no intention of insulting Fu Haoyao—he simply seemed to be stating a fact.

And yet, that very tone was what made it oddly hilarious.

"Cheng Xingzhou!" Fu Haoyao couldn't believe someone had been bad-mouthing him behind his back the moment he stepped away.

He rushed up in two strides and threw an arm around Cheng Xingzhou's neck in a chokehold, fuming. "Who's dumb?!"

Even with his neck being squeezed, Cheng Xingzhou kept that same unflappable expression, but he stubbornly stared at Fu Liangxia, wanting to know her answer. "Is it?"

Is it what? Was she being asked if she liked guys like Fu Haoyao?

Fu Liangxia didn't know from what position he was asking, nor did she understand why Cheng Xingzhou, who didn't even like her, would care about what type she liked.

"I guess so," she said after thinking it over.

Fu Haoyao really was pretty interesting sometimes.

Fu Liangxia had meant it as a casual remark, but the moment the words left her mouth, the other party stared at her for a few seconds with a complicated look, then gave a nod, his tone oddly fierce as he said, "Good."

With that, he pulled Fu Haoyao's arm off his shoulder and strode off, his back radiating anger.

And Fu Haoyao, who had been shaken off, stood frozen in place. After a few seconds, a faint blush slowly crept up to his ears.

She just said... she thought so...

...

After the seminar, first period was English class. Fu Liangxia was surprised to find that the two empty seats beside her were now both occupied.

Two heads with the same hairstyle, two nearly identical faces. Seeing her come in, they cheerfully waved at her.

Bai Yan and Bai Xin were already striking to look at individually, but sitting together like that, greeting her at the same time—it was a double dose of visual impact.

Fu Liangxia nodded in greeting, and as her gaze swept over Su Xingshu in the back row, she noticed his eyes were fixed on her lips. Seeing her look, the boy curled his lips into a smile at her.

The smile was handsome, but the predatory intent in it instinctively made one's heart race.

Fu Liangxia withdrew her gaze and took her seat, overhearing the incredulous whispers of nearby classmates.

They seemed amazed that she could sit there without angering the Bai twins.

"Huh? Isn't Bai Xin the one who hates strangers the most? He didn't even get mad."

"I was expecting a show, but turns out I overthought it. So who exactly is Fu Liangxia?"

"Have you lost your memory? She just helped Bai Yan shoot his promo photos a couple of days ago. How could their relationship be bad enough to warrant a fit?"

"True, but there's a difference between being acquainted and being close, right? Aren't we splitting into groups today? If it's just a casual relationship, won't the out-of-class assignments be awkward?"

"Maybe it'll be like before, with Su and the Bai brothers in one group?"

Their questions were answered soon enough, as the English teacher announced from the podium: "This semester's group project theme is camping. The available options are mountain climbing and sea excursions. The routes will be planned by the school, and you'll form groups of three, then pick your preferred direction—all groups choosing the same direction will move together. After the camping trip, each group will work together to complete a presentation PPT for sharing."

"Pfft, what's so fun about that? We might as well trek across Antarctica or go watch the wildebeest migration in Africa," someone immediately remarked, implying the school was underestimating them.

A mere mountain climb or ocean dive—they were things they'd grown tired of ages ago.

The English teacher seemed to have anticipated this reaction and said with a smile, "It's not about where you go, it's about who you camp with, isn't it? Besides, we've hired a top-rated travel planner to design this route, so I'm sure it won't disappoint."

Though the teacher said that, anyone in this room could afford to hire a travel planner to go out on their own. But the teacher had a point about one thing: for a school camping trip, it wasn't so much about the destination as it was about who you were with.

Fu Liangxia noticed that the moment the English teacher finished speaking, many gazes—both overt and covert—drifted toward Bai Xin and Bai Yan beside her, and Su Xingshu behind her.

That wasn't surprising in itself. What was surprising was that she also received quite a few invitations, and surprisingly, most of them were from boys.

A clean-featured, tall boy walked up to her desk. Fu Liangxia had a faint impression of him—his name was Ju Jinghuan, and he seemed to be the head of the student external relations department. Ju Jinghuan came from a good family, running the country's largest chain of supermarkets, and he was only slightly less handsome than the F4, with considerable popularity of his own.

Ju Jinghuan looked down at her, his gaze a little shy, and said in a warm voice, "Fu, would you like to be in my group?"

Fu Liangxia paused, sensing that as soon as the words fell, two gazes shifted over from beside her.

"Huh? Don't we usually just form groups with the people at our own desk?" Bai Yan tilted his head.

Ju Jinghuan smiled. "The teacher said it's up to us."