Bonfire Night

Cheng Xingzhou had clearly just come from the beach, as if he had some business at the hotel, but now he'd suddenly changed his mind and decided to help carry the fruit over.

Fu Liangxia didn't know if he thought they couldn't manage on their own or if there was some other reason—she didn't care.

After all, it was free labor that had come to them; no point in wasting it.

The beach entrance wasn't far from where Fu Haoyao and the others were grilling meat. Passing by several Saintland students picking up seashells on the sand, you could see the grill surrounded by layers of people.

More precisely, it was Su Xingshu standing next to the grill who was surrounded.

Cheng Xingzhou took large strides, reaching the grill a few steps ahead of her, which caught the attention of Xue Changgui, whose face was flushed from the heat.

Xue Changgui's eyes lit up as soon as they landed on Cheng Xingzhou. He quickly squeezed out of the crowd of girls filled with various fragrances, calling out as if he had seen a savior, "President, you're finally back! Where's the schedule? I'm like a wolf or a tiger for work, starving and thirsty..."

Heaven knows how terrified Xue Changgui had been just now. He had only gotten a little closer to Su Xingshu, and then those girls who were trying to strike up conversations with Su Xingshu surrounded him, using him as an excuse to talk to Su Xingshu in all sorts of ways.

Xue Changgui hadn't suffered such treatment before. His face was red from holding it in, but he finally managed to wait for his beloved president to arrive.

He had missed those little forms so much!

However, Cheng Xingzhou glanced at him indifferently and said, "What schedule?"

What schedule?!

Xue Changgui's small eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Cheng Xingzhou. "President, how can your mouth, which is over thirty-six degrees, utter such cold words! What schedule? The one you left me alone to go back and get!"

Cheng Xingzhou: "Oh, I forgot."

Xue Changgui didn't believe it. What kind of person was Cheng Xingzhou? He was a workaholic who almost had the school rules engraved on his palm, reciting them at all times. How could he forget the schedule?

There was something fishy going on, absolutely fishy.

His gaze darted over the few of them and finally landed on Fu Liangxia, who was standing next to Cheng Xingzhou. He muttered, "President, you couldn't be..."

"No," Cheng Xingzhou said in a deep voice.

His response was so quick that Xue Changgui didn't even have time to react.

He hadn't even asked the question yet, but the president already knew what he was going to ask?

Xue Changgui's gaze grew even more suspicious.

"You..."

"I said no, and that's final," Cheng Xingzhou said firmly. "Keep talking nonsense, and you'll go do the accumulated work of the Student Council."

A wise man knows better than to fight when outmatched. Xue Changgui immediately made a zipping motion over his lips. But in his heart, he became even more certain that the president had indeed used the excuse of picking up the schedule to escape the Su Xingshu Fan Club.

Otherwise, how could his wise president have forgotten!

Cheng Xingzhou was completely unaware of Xue Changgui's inner thoughts. His gaze swept over Fu Liangxia with a hint of nervousness, and only when he saw that the girl didn't seem to be acting abnormally did he relax and look away.

Fu Liangxia hadn't recognized anyone from a distance, but as she got closer with the fruit platter, she realized there were quite a few familiar faces here. Not to mention the F4, but standing closest to Su Xingshu were several familiar faces, including Bao En, the president of the Fan Club.

Seeing her come over, the Fan Club members all showed varying degrees of discomfort.

They had all heard from Bao En that Fu Liangxia had gotten some explosive benefit, but they didn't know the specifics yet.

But soon, they guessed, Bao En would have to step down and let someone else take over.

Fu Liangxia didn't have any particular reaction. Meeting their scrutinizing gazes, she smiled naturally.

Bao En thought for a moment, and as she approached, she whispered a few words, asking to meet behind the villa later.

Bao En had finally found a chance to talk to Fu Liangxia. The other party hadn't contacted her since she had sent that tantalizing message "Got it" a few days ago.

Instead, it was Bao En who was kept up at night by that sentence, extremely curious about the benefit Fu Liangxia had gotten.

She didn't care anymore about stepping down or not; she just wanted to see what kind of "treasure" it was.

Fu Liangxia nodded slightly, found an empty spot to stand, and placed the fruit platter on the table. Fresh and tender fruits were arranged on a beautiful plate, with small transparent forks stuck in them.

Because Fu Haoyao was "infamous," there was a vacuum of space around him, so Fu Liangxia happened to stand right next to him.

The fresh fruity fragrance drifted over. Fu Haoyao, who had been staring absently at the sizzling meat on the grill, looked up and saw a pair of delicate hands offering a piece of watermelon on a fork.

Thinking it was another classmate trying to suck up to him, Fu Haoyao frowned and said impatiently without looking up, "I said I don't..."

"You're back!"

Fu Liangxia raised an eyebrow, used another fork to pick up a piece and popped it into her mouth, then asked, "I said I don't what?"

Fu Haoyao quickly leaned in and took the watermelon from her hand in one bite, saying happily, "I said I don't like watermelon too much."

His eyes sparkled as he asked, "Did you buy this for me?"

Fu Liangxia nodded. "I thought you guys were working hard at the grill."

Fu Haoyao selectively ignored the "you guys" and took another bite. The sweet watermelon burst with juice in his mouth, the refreshingly sweet taste flooding his entire oral cavity, and his heart felt sweet as well.

Fu Liangxia bought fruit for him, which meant she gave him something. And if a person didn't have any favorable feelings, how could they give something to someone else... roughly speaking, she had him in her heart.

Taking it a step further, Fu Haoyao was already thinking about where to hold the wedding.

Fu Liangxia had no idea about the thoughts that had been running through Fu Haoyao's mind in that short time. Just then, footsteps sounded on the sand, followed by a shadow falling over her.

The newcomer was Su Xingshu. He bypassed the fruit platters that Ju Jinghuan and Cheng Xingzhou had placed over there, walked around the entire grill, and came over. His chin was slightly raised, a smile on his lips, but his eyes carried a hint of coolness.

Fu Haoyao was eating fruit one piece after another when a figure blocked the light. He looked up and met Su Xingshu's gaze directly.

Su Xingshu's gaze swept over Fu Liangxia's hand, then settled on the fruit platter beside her. She had deliberately brought it over for Fu Haoyao—had their relationship already become that close?

He reached out, but at the same moment, another equally large hand grabbed the edge of the fruit platter.

"Let go," Su Xingshu said, the smile on his lips fading.

Fu Haoyao didn't know why Su Xingshu insisted on taking his platter when there were so many others. He gave him a serious look, then glanced at Fu Liangxia, and said firmly, "No."

This was from Fu Liangxia; he had no reason to let go.

Seeing the atmosphere suddenly become tense, Fu Liangxia tried to smooth things over and said to Su Xingshu, "You like watermelon? Ju Jinghuan has two boxes over there too. Why don't you go get them from him?"

It was just a box of cut watermelon—they were all cut from the same watermelon. Could the one Fu Haoyao had really taste better?

Su Xingshu's gaze paused on the fruit platter that had two pieces taken out. He thought, it's different; only this platter was handed over by her personally.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "This platter has so much. Fu Haoyao can't finish it all by himself, can he?"

Su Xingshu thought he had already made a concession. He wasn't asking Fu Haoyao to give it to him; he was just asking to share.

However, Fu Haoyao silently increased the strength in his wrist. "I can finish it."

Su Xingshu: "..."

Su Xingshu was almost amused by his anger.

Just then, the first batch of meat was mostly grilled. Bai Yan appeared from who knows where and interrupted the silent standoff between the two.

Fu Liangxia followed him to plate the grilled meat and sprinkle sauce on the seafood. The fragrant aroma quickly attracted more students.

Watching the girl's figure, her black hair pinned up at the back of her head, revealing her snow-white, slender swan neck, a thoughtful gleam flashed in Su Xingshu's eyes.

He leaned slightly, closing in on Fu Liangxia, and said with his thin lips slightly parted, "I want some too."

Fu Liangxia paused in her action of picking up a skewer. She looked up and raised an eyebrow at him, puzzled. "Isn't there plenty here?"

Su Xingshu blinked. "But I want the one in your hand."

What Fu Haoyao had, he had to have too.

He couldn't play favorites.

Fu Liangxia didn't mind. She casually handed him the skewer. He took it and finished it in two or three bites, eating quickly but with elegant manners. The firelight from the grill surrounded him, adding a touch of worldly warmth to that face that looked like it had stepped out of a comic.

Everyone was chatting and laughing around the grill. Not far away, a bonfire had been lit, and students were dancing around it. Bai Kewei emerged from some corner and dragged Fu Liangxia into the dancing crowd. The flames flickered, their movements without any particular choreography, but they were free and joyful.

When the atmosphere was at its peak, the sound of a guitar being tuned came from the temporary stage.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. The boy at the center of attention lowered his gaze, his hair swept back, his hand resting on the guitar, and he was looking down at the microphone seriously.

There was a sense of him being in his element, fully at ease.

He slowly plucked the strings, and a light, cheerful melody flowed from his fingertips. The colorful music mixed with the sea breeze, and the crowd grew even more excited...

Fu Liangxia held Bai Kewei's hand and noticed Su Xingshu seemed to look up. Across the sea of people, their eyes met.

His lips curved slightly, and he walked off the stage with the climax of the music.

Fu Liangxia had a vague feeling that he wanted to come to her.

This speculation made her scalp tingle. Just then, someone patted her on the shoulder.

Fu Liangxia turned around and saw it was Bao En.

"Let's talk."

Fu Liangxia remembered the whisper from earlier. She had been stringing Bao En along for a few days, and it was indeed time to have that conversation.

Besides, she was also a bit afraid of becoming the center of attention, so she quietly blended into the crowd and followed Bao En away from the beach.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Bao En got straight to the point. "Now can you show me? The 'benefit' you mentioned."

"Let's get one thing straight," Bao En said, raising her hand to examine her nails. "Don't try to fob me off with some junk you can buy anywhere. After all, anything money can solve isn't a problem."

Fu Liangxia chuckled softly, which earned her a dissatisfied glare from Bao En.

She took out her phone, opened the video of Su Xingshu singing that she had gotten, and handed it over. "Take a look. Does it measure up to the position of Fan Club president?"

Bao En took it, and her originally skeptical expression changed completely the moment she saw the content.

She watched the entire video, then abruptly looked up at Fu Liangxia, a hint of lingering blush on her face. "Where did you get this?"

This was too much—way too much of a girlfriend's perspective!

Bao En didn't believe that Su Xingshu had no feelings for the person on the other side of the video.

Could it be that Fu Liangxia knew one of Su Xingshu's ex-girlfriends? But that didn't make sense either; Su Xingshu had never sung for any of his girlfriends.

This was too strange...

Bao En's probing gaze swept over her, sizing her up.

Fu Liangxia just looked at her, allowing the scrutiny, and said, "Does it matter how I got it? What matters is, is it worth it?"

Bao En cursed Fu Liangxia's cunning in her heart. She had clearly seen her reaction, yet she deliberately asked her that, forcing her to admit outright that the chip she offered was worth a Fan Club president's position.

"...It is," Bao En said through gritted teeth.

But neither of the two women, deep in conversation, noticed that the music in the distance had faded away at some point.

"We'll handle the handover procedures when we get back. I'll talk to the Fan Club, but whether they'll accept you is up to you."

"I know."

Bao En nodded, then looked at her phone with a hint of hope. "And this video...?"

Fu Liangxia said matter-of-factly, "Since it's part of the deal, of course I'll give it to you."

Joy immediately spread across Bao En's face. But the next second, she froze in place as she stared at the dark figure that emerged from the corner, having been listening for who knows how long.