Chapter 17: The Cold School Beauty’s Fierce Love
Unbeknownst to the two involved parties, the scene that Nangong Yunfei perceived as a tense confrontation had, through the school grapevine, transformed into a failed confession.
“Who did this? Who the hell did this?!” Nangong Yunfei roared. “I want all the information on this writer!”
Xiao Xuan hurriedly tried to calm him down: “We found out, we found out. Chen Yisi, who was it again?”
Chen Yisi, his face grim, uttered a name, causing Xiao Xuan’s expression to darken as well. He said, “Kang, from the Kang family…?”
“Kang Wenze, the most favored young master of the Kang family.” What Chen Yisi wanted to say even more was that not only was he untouchable, but the Kang and Nangong families were sworn enemies.
Crack! A phone was thrown to the ground, the screen spiderwebbed with cracks.
The cracks didn’t obscure the forum post on the screen, its title glaring: Nangong Yunfei’s Confession to the Tao Heiress Rejected, Resorts to Threats.
The title was explosive, and it had been posted right before the last class. There were many gossipmongers during lunch break, and the post already had hundreds of comments.
Most expressed shock, while his fangirls refused to believe it.
Some commented that Nangong Yunfei indeed needed to improve his status through marriage, otherwise, as long as his mother wasn’t married to his father, his position would remain unstable.
Others refuted the legitimacy argument, saying that even if they married, they could still divorce, but the marriage alliance part was plausible.
The implication was that Nangong Yunfei was inadequate and needed a powerful fiancée to support him. These words echoed what Lu Weiyu had told him, which was the true source of his anger.
A few seconds later, Xiao Xuan noticed the post was gone. Refreshing Kang Wenze’s profile, he found a new post.
After a conversation with the supposedly very approachable Miss Tao, I realized this post was controversial and have deleted it.
Xiao Xuan excitedly said, “Brother Fei, Brother Fei, the post is deleted!”
Nangong Yunfei reluctantly glanced at it, the anger on his face dissipating somewhat. He subconsciously refreshed the page.
Immediately, another post titled Nangong Yunfei’s Threats Backfire as He Flees, Not a Case of Unrequited Love (Emphasis) appeared.
Crack! History repeated itself, and Xiao Xuan’s phone was also smashed.
“Ah…” Xiao Xuan looked at his phone with heartache. It was a new model he had pre-ordered and only received three days ago, and now it was broken.
Thanks to this post, Nangong Yunfei felt surrounded by strange looks wherever he went, uncomfortable all day, and skipped class in the afternoon.
Back home, he found Lu Weiyu there. Her expression was serious: “Your Uncle Jian said the patriarch mentioned someone’s name last night, with the intention of officially recognizing him. I checked his information, his grades are excellent. You must get first place in the next exam, otherwise, you’ll leave an impression of incompetence on the patriarch.”
Lu Weiyu didn’t consider the Nangong patriarch her husband, often referring to him as “Patriarch.”
Nangong Yunfei, who had been first in the school before transferring and now ranked around thirtieth, felt his world darken.
Lu Weiyu continued, “I’ve already hired a new tutor for you. The previous one was useless, making you fall behind. You must get first place in the exam before National Day, do you hear me?”
After a class, Xu Qiuyi was called to the office. Not long after, she emerged, carrying a stack of exercise books, and returned to her classroom.
Her slender figure walked down the corridor, passing by groups of students. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she walked a bit slower. Those who saw her couldn’t help but recall the scene they had witnessed this morning.
Xu Qiuyi never knew she had such a strong sense of curiosity.
The sound of laughter came from the open window next door. A girl’s surprised voice said, “You’re saying Nangong confessed to Tao Ning this morning? No way!”
Xu Qiuyi stopped in her tracks.
The girl she was with also laughed: “Why not? Didn’t she give Nangong water before? You saw it too. And his position in the Nangong family isn’t that stable.”
The bell rang, and the students lingering in the corridor slowly returned to their classrooms, not noticing the figure passing by with a frown.
In the afternoon, it was another PE class where Tao Ning declined all invitations to play, this time badminton.
The two found a shady spot on the lawn, sat down, and started memorizing vocabulary.
“Did I get them all right?” Tao Ning rested her chin on her hand, looked at Xu Qiuyi, and poked her shoulder. “Top student? Study god? School beauty? Class representative?”
Xu Qiuyi finally reacted, sighing, “Where did you get all these nicknames?”
Tao Ning wagged her finger: “They’re not nicknames, they’re compliments, every word true.”
Xu Qiuyi lowered her head to look at the vocabulary book on her lap, densely packed with words, not a single letter registering in her mind.
Tao Ning was a mystery. She felt that thinking too deeply about her would lead to unpredictable consequences. In fact, Xu Qiuyi couldn’t even name this feeling.
A nudge on her shoulder brought Xu Qiuyi back to reality. She said, “You got them right.”
Tao Ning looked puzzled: “Right about what? I didn’t memorize anything. I was asking if you want to eat mangosteens tonight. My mom sent me a few boxes, I can’t finish them all by myself.”
“Mangosteens?” Xu Qiuyi had seen this fruit before. It was quite expensive, and she had tried one while working part-time. Her most vivid memory was that it was difficult to peel and very sweet.
Seeing Xu Qiuyi distracted all day, Tao Ning grew suspicious and reviewed the plot in her mind.
Her sister’s asthma wouldn’t act up so soon, the bruise on her hand had faded, exams were just a scholarship-earning activity for her, she wasn’t short of money for the time being… what was it then?
Could it be that her gambling-addicted father, who had been away from home, had returned to demand money?
No, that shouldn’t be it. Xu Qiuyi wouldn’t have this expression if she had simply lost some money.
While pondering these things, Tao Ning, capable of multitasking, took out her phone and checked the forum: “Did Kang Wenze post the clarification…”
It was Lü Xinxi, the internet enthusiast, who had told Tao Ning about this. Upon seeing the post, Tao Ning immediately went into action and rushed to Class C to find Kang Wenze and tell him to stop writing nonsense.
Upon seeing Tao Ning, Kang Wenze immediately surrendered, patting his chest and promising to handle the matter properly.
Xu Qiuyi, however, was very sharp and asked, “What clarification post?”
Seeing her curiosity, Tao Ning handed her the phone: “Just some nonsense, people are too bored.” She then explained the whole story to Xu Qiuyi.
Putting down her vocabulary book, Xu Qiuyi took the phone, scrolling through the posts with slightly unfamiliar movements. After reading, she chuckled: “So that’s what happened.”
Someone coming to her for favors and then slandering Tao Ning in front of her? Xu Qiuyi looked at Tao Ning as if she was a naive young miss about to be deceived by a scumbag.
Xu Qiuyi returned the phone to Tao Ning, her eyes smiling: “Tonight, I’m going to buy a phone.”
Tao Ning was confused: “???” Was there a connection between these two things?
The next day, Xu Qiuyi indeed had a new phone.
She had previously thought it unnecessary, believing a simple phone for calls was enough. Now, she realized it was needed.
The first thing she did was download some apps, copying Tao Ning’s phone, then add contacts. She didn’t understand the games.
After dinner, during their study session, the four gathered in Tao Ning’s lounge, continuing to fiddle with the new phone.
Lü Xinxi had never heard of this brand, finding the slow, low-memory second-hand phone strange, thinking it was a knock-off. She quickly lost interest and went to play her handheld game console.
Jin Yue, on the other hand, was sleepy, resting her chin on her hands and watching the two of them operate the “knock-off” phone.
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