She did not hesitate at all; she reached out and pushed Xu Shizhou vigorously, with only the thought of destroying him in her heart.

Bu Xu Shizhou was tightly holding her shoulder and did not let go. Xia Yao lost her balance too and fell with him.

Dammit.

Xu Shizhou landed on his buttocks and smoothly caught the girl in his arms.

Xia Yao raised her eyes and realized Xu Shizhou was also staring at her. A smile was at the corner of his mouth and his deep eyes seemed to be filled with stars. They were still red but his expression was very focused.

Xia Yao was caught off guard and couldn't help but be taken aback; it didn't look like he was crazy or drunk. It was a little baffling.

"Xia Yao, don't you believe me?" The boy embraced her and held her tightly, his voice low.

"Don't believe what?" Xia Yao raised her eyebrows and began to struggle as she asked, "Xu Shizhou, let go of me. You're sitting on the ground on a cold day, is your butt made of reinforced concrete?"

She could easily use some strength to break free of his arms but she didn't dare to use too much work for fear of hurting him. Xu Shizhou was not easy to provoke, as Xia Yao kept thinking.

However, the boy's arm strengthened and he clasped Xia Yao's struggling hands tightly.

"You're sitting on me, your butt is fine. Why are you moving?"

"..."

Xia Yao: Because I'm sitting on you, I want to get up!

Xia Yao was speechless by Xu Shizhou's strange way of thinking but his lack of sanity made her come back to her senses. She looked at the underwear on the grass and thought of her torn clothes; it was the few clothes she owed besides school uniforms!

She was about to get justice for her clothes but Xu Shizhou spoke first. His voice was low and lazy and he whispered in her ear: "Xia Yao, I like you."

The girl could feel his warm breath and couldn't help but tremble. The words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat and her hands froze. She looked at the serious boy under her and suddenly panicked.

Because she didn't respond, Xu Shizhou repeated again, his voice louder than before: "Xia Yao, I like you!"

Xu Shizhou liked her??! The thought drifted through her mind back and forth.

But then why was he stomping on her clothes?

Xia Yao lowered her eyes. The two of them were too close and the atmosphere was too ambiguous: "... Will you let me go first?"

The boy was not willing to relax his grip: "I won't."

Xia Yao was thinking of escaping with pure strength but was stunned by his next question.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Afraid of him? At first, because of the novel, she had indeed been afraid of him but that hadn't been the case in a while. She kept saying Xu Shizhou was not easy to provoke but she was not afraid of him.

Xia Yao nodded and answered: "Yes, that's right, I am afraid to death. Can you let me go now and let me catch my breath? I have something to say."

"..."

Xu Shizhou was dumbfounded; no fear could be heard in her voice, it seemed that he had misunderstood.

The feeling of the fabric under his butt reminded him he was sitting on Xia Yao's trampled clothes. Those were the clothes Ji Huai had gifted her! And the white underwear on the grass also reminded him that the relationship between the two was already very close.

Xu Shizhou was being driven crazy by jealousy.

Xia Yao looked at the boy's red eyes and wondered whether he should go see a doctor. Or could it be he was aggrieved because she had yelled too loudly? The girl lowered her head with some guilty conscience.

The two were silent for a moment until Xu Shizhou said quietly: "Xia Yao... has he seen you in your underwear..."

His voice was a little hoarse. Xia Yao raised her head again in shock and her mouth opened in surprise.

"Who are you talking about?" Who had seen her in her underwear? Did he want to see her? Damn it!

"Ji Huai. Didn't Ji Huai give you the clothes?"

Her clothes... had been trampled on but also had been a gift from Ji Huai? She suddenly remembered that both Ji Huai and Xu Shizhou liked her and she immediately understood where his hostility came from.

She shouted: "Those are my clothes, I bought them myself!!"

Xu Shizhou was startled by her loud voice and instantly realized what she was saying.

Ji Huai hadn't bought her underwear.

But he had clearly seen he had given her the bag so something must have happened between the two of them. They were probably dating.

"Xia Yao, will you break up with him?" He said, his eyes erratic, "I—"

Xia Yao interrupted him directly: "No dating, I only have learning in my heart!"

Who was spreading the rumor she was going out with Ji Huai!?

Xia Yao's eyes were also full of anger and Xu Shizhou was surprised; Xia Yao and Ji Huai weren't dating?

Taking advantage of his short inattention, Xia Yao got rid of his arms. She quickly leaned back, stretched her legs, and stood up. She realized she had stepped on her clothes and jumped away.

Xu Shizhou also stood up and lowered his eyes slightly to look at her in silence. His eyes went dark as if he was thinking about something. The girl's enraged voice kept echoing in his mind: "I only have learning in my heart!"

Xia Yao rubbed her arm that had been held for a long time and glanced at Xu Shizhou. Seeing him stare at her silently and his aggrieved eyes, she felt a little guilty for shouting at him again.

"We aren't dating." Xia Yao explained, "Ji Huai helped me move today and I accidentally left my clothes with him. I was just getting them back."

Xu Shizhou listened to her and thought of his impulsive behavior and crazy confession. His face went hot but his heart was full of joy.

"You ruined my clothes." Xia Yao pointed to the scattered rags on the ground, "You—"

Xu Shizhou quickly interrupted her. His voice was no longer as angry as before and there was even some happiness: "Xia Yao, I like you."

Xia Yao's hand pointing to the ground stiffened. She thought it would be easy to reject the boy decisively, after all, she liked studying the most. But when she met his extremely serious eyes, she swallowed back her words.

"Xu Shizhou." She said slowly, "The most important thing for students is to learn. Please don't waste time talking about love and dating."

Her voice was serious as if she was a teacher giving a lesson.

"Do you really only have study in your heart?" Xu Shizhou frowned. Although he had already guessed this would be her answer, he still felt uncomfortable.

Xia Yao said righteously: "I do." Although her exterior was rather calm, her heart couldn't help but panic. She didn't know if it was her illusion, but Xu Shizhou's was low and hoarse and gave some kind of killing intent.

Yes, Xu Shizhou was not someone easy to provoke. She kept remembering that.

But then again, it wasn't like she couldn't defeat him in a fight and Xia Yao cheered herself in her heart.

Wait, hadn't he said he didn't hit girls?

Did that mean her winning rate was 100%?

After a moment of silence, the boy asked: "Do you like good students?"

Xia Yao's inside alarm rang. If she couldn't understand Xu Shizhou's meaning, she must be a big fool; he was asking her if she liked Ji Huai or not.

"No, I only care about being a good student myself."

Xu Shizhou stared at her and he no longer looked angry. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised and he said: "Yes, one good student is enough."

"..."

Xia Yao glanced at him and feeling his gaze was too hot, she turned her head: "I'm going on, I have homework to do."

She bent over and started picking up her clothes on the ground. Xu Shizhou walked to the grass and picked up the dazzling white panties and handed it to her: "I will take you to buy clothes this weekend to apologize."

Xia Yao had not been that embarrassed when her underwear had flown everywhere on the ground. But now that a boy was holding it, the delicate lace edges could clearly be seen as well as her size.

Xia Yao felt her cheeks redden and tried to conceal her shame with a snort. Xu Shizhou was a rascal, he could have picked any clothes on the ground but obviously went to the panties first.

"I'm leaving, bye!" Xia Yao waved at him.

"See you tomorrow—" Xu Shizhou stayed on the girl, watching her turn around.

***

Xia Yao returned to her new home. She turned on the lights and immediately headed upstairs to study. Her book was still open on the desk but she realized she wouldn't be able to concentrate.

Today's events were really difficult to digest for a while.

Although Ji Huai hadn't clearly told her he likes her, she had been able to hear and see all kinds of ambiguous expressions.

And then there was Xu Shizhou, who had crazily confessed to her and thrown her mind in a whirl.

Ah, sure enough, falling in love made people unwilling to learn, she really had no intention of doing so.

Xia Yao rubbed her temples, planning to go out and cool down. She opened the curtains and looked out of the window, and saw the tall teenager still standing on the road, his shadow stretched out by the light of the streetlamp.

Xu Shizhou.

A lingering spirit.

As if he had heard the sound of the curtain, the boy raised his head and looked her way. Seeing Xia Yao, he smiled and shouted: "Good night!"

Was he staying there just to wish her a good night? Xia Yao felt a little subtle and she replied: "Study hard!"

She closed the curtain back and went back to her room. She shouldn't care about those messy feelings, going to bed early was better.

Tomorrow would be another day of learning.