Qing Ye stared at Ye Jingjian in shock, completely baffled as to how their conversation had made this guy cry before they’d even started dancing.

She awkwardly walked over to him and patted his shoulder in comfort. “Why are you crying? Just work harder for the next test. You’re something else.”

Xing Wu turned his head and saw Ye Jingjian covering his face while Qing Ye wore a motherly smile and was reaching out to him. His narrow eyes instantly darkened.

At that moment, Qing Ye suddenly felt a very unfriendly gaze from her left. She instinctively turned to look and met the eyes of the short-haired girl who had repeatedly picked on her during the day.

While earlier Qing Ye couldn’t understand why this girl she didn’t know kept targeting her without any apparent reason, seeing her expression now made everything clear. It seemed the girl had only started targeting her after Ye Jingjian had approached her at noon to talk. After a moment’s thought, Qing Ye figured it out – this girl had feelings for Ye Jingjian.

Qing Ye withdrew her gaze with amusement and tilted her head to tell Ye Jingjian, “Someone’s watching you. Aren’t you embarrassed? Smile at us.”

Ye Jingjian also realized that as a heaven-blessed talent, he shouldn’t appear so cowardly. He cleared his throat solemnly and forced a smile as if nothing had happened.

Qing Ye glanced from the corner of her eye and, sure enough, the short-haired girl was visibly upset seeing Ye Jingjian smile at Qing Ye. Her face turned green, confirming Qing Ye’s suspicions.

The music started playing, and partners had to join hands and switch positions while turning in circles. The steps were simple repetitive movements, and by the second partner switch, everyone had mastered them. Qing Ye expressionlessly looked at the boy who had just become her new partner, noting he was from her school, and casually asked, “Which class are you in?”

The boy replied eagerly, “Don’t you remember me? I’m Li Jintao from the class next door. We see each other every day.”

“…” Qing Ye began to deeply question herself. Did they see each other daily? Why didn’t she have any impression of him? Had she become so focused on Xing Wu that she automatically ignored everyone else?

She gave a dry laugh and said something that couldn’t possibly go wrong: “Oh… it’s you.”

Seeing that Qing Ye remembered him, Li Jintao suddenly broke into a grin. When it was time to join hands, he was too shy to touch Qing Ye’s hand, thinking he’d gather his courage in the next round – but there was no next round because it was time to switch partners again.

This group dance was truly a test of appearances. Basically, when it came to pretty girls, the other boys would eagerly watch, hoping it would quickly be their turn.

The third partner was Panghu. He grinned foolishly at Qing Ye: “I-I never thought I’d get to dance with you. When I tell Huangmao about this, he’ll be so jealous.”

Qing Ye raised her hand to touch Panghu’s chubby palm and said in surprise: “Damn, one of your fingers is as thick as two of mine. How did you manage to get even your fingers this fat?”

“…”

Panghu withdrew his hand and compared with her again, and so what should have been dancing turned into the two of them comparing hand sizes.

Qing Ye remembered his singing and suddenly said to him: “You sang well earlier. I never expected you to know songs like ‘Tonight I Can’t Sleep.’ Have you studied singing?”

Panghu replied sheepishly: “N-no, I haven’t studied. I just saw someone sing it on a foreign talent show in Bilibili, so I learned it myself. I don’t even know what the lyrics mean.”

“…”

“Fan Tong, your voice is suited for opera.”

It was time to switch partners again. Though Panghu wanted to continue discussing opera with Qing Ye, he had to step to the side.

After four more rotations, Xing Wu finally moved to Qing Ye’s right. They exchanged silent glances, their eyes concealing a passion only they could understand.

It was then that Qing Ye realized what terrible luck any girl had dancing with Xing Wu. This dance required partners to touch palms, yet this gentleman kept his hands in his pockets the entire time. When it was time to switch positions, he just strolled to the opposite side like he was taking a casual walk, completely lacking any sense of rhythm. It made all the girls who danced with him very uncomfortable. Qing Ye held back her laughter, though she matched well with this Jin Zhong student.

Finally, it was time to switch again, and Xing Wu lazily shuffled to face her. Qing Ye had wanted to tease him about whether he enjoyed dancing with the school beauty, but when he stood before her, his familiar smile and raised brows made her want to laugh instead.

As the new round began, Xing Wu finally decided to remove his precious hands from his pockets. In this dance, partners weren’t supposed to touch when walking toward each other, merely brushing shoulders and touching palms while changing positions. However, when Qing Ye raised her hand to touch his palm, he suddenly grabbed her hand and said in a low voice: “Enjoying yourself chatting and laughing with others?”

Qing Ye suppressed her smile: “Weren’t you enjoying yourself? With the school beauty.”

As they exchanged positions, Qing Ye had just tried to break free from his hand to return to her spot when Xing Wu suddenly pulled her in front of him, looking down at her: “Enjoy what? Just spinning in circles like idiots.”

The second set of movements began, and everyone else started circling again, while they just stood there. Qing Ye glanced sideways at the surprised looks from others, then looked back at him: “It’s time to switch partners.”

Xing Wu’s lips curved into a smile as he pulled Qing Ye out of the crowd. Behind them, a new round of switching began as his voice turned low and seductive: “Switch? You won’t get that chance anymore.”

The firelight danced on his face, making his features alternately bright and dark. Countless stars seemed to have fallen into his eyes, breaking into scattered light that kept sinking deeper, mesmerizing her. Qing Ye’s heart seemed to stop beating for a moment – in all of heaven and earth, there were only the two of them.

She smiled at him: “Then what do you want to do?”

“You lost,” he stared straight at her.

Qing Ye avoided his burning gaze, lowering her head with a smile: “And then?”

Xing Wu pulled her away with large strides. Behind them were the flames, the noisy atmosphere, and the passionate music. They quietly slipped away unnoticed. They started walking quickly, but unconsciously began to run, as if eager to escape from that silly circle-dancing, running faster and faster.

Jin Zhong was huge, like an unknown maze in the night. This was Qing Ye’s first time here, and following behind Xing Wu, she became disoriented after just a short run. Just as they rounded the teaching building, they suddenly encountered a security guard. Xing Wu quickly pulled Qing Ye into a dark corridor, and they ran like mad, though they didn’t know why they were running. There was just an inexplicable thrill to it.

Passing through the corridor and out the other end of the teaching building brought them to the small woods in the southeast corner. They both instinctively dove in, running deep into the woods until they were bent over, facing each other and panting heavily. Seeing each other’s disheveled state, they realized their behavior wasn’t any better than the “idiotic circle-dancing,” and they suddenly burst out laughing as if someone had pressed their laugh buttons.

Qing Ye punched him lightly: “Why were you running?”

Xing Wu stood with his hands on his hips, laughing: “I don’t know.”

They looked at each other and laughed for a while longer, but then the jingling of keys made them freeze. The security guard had come through the teaching building corridor with his flashlight, heading to lock the back door of the reception room.

Xing Wu made a shushing gesture to Qing Ye and pulled her quietly behind the largest tree at the back of the woods. Though they had nothing to be guilty of, being questioned by security in the middle of the night would still be troublesome.

The tree was surrounded by wild vegetation that perfectly concealed them. To be safe, Qing Ye pressed herself against the trunk for cover, but Xing Wu was still peering out. She pulled him back, and he responded by raising his hand to trap her against the tree.

The dappled moonlight fell through the dead leaves into Qing Ye’s pupils, creating an enchanting gleam. She looked at him, her sweet breath tickling his nose. He bent down to kiss her lips lightly, looking at her with smiling eyes.

Their bodies were very close, so close they could feel each other’s heartbeats. In the hazy moonlight, his handsome features and slightly roguish expression suddenly made Qing Ye feel nervous and unsettled.

She lowered her gaze, her eyelashes trembling anxiously as she asked softly: “What… did you bring me here for?”

Xing Wu’s smile deepened as he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. His lips curved up as he stared at her intently, his meaning ambiguous: “You said you’d accept the consequences if you lost. You’re not going to back out now, are you?”

Qing Ye suddenly felt her heart rate skyrocket. Behind her, the jingling keys kept getting closer, and in front of her was Xing Wu’s inescapable gaze. She stared at him with trembling eyes, falling into endless confusion for the first time in her life, completely at a loss. Finally, she asked with a shaking voice: “Now? Here?”

Her long eyelashes seemed covered in mist, beautiful and clear, yet fragile as if she might faint from fright at any moment. When Xing Wu pressed closer to her, she shuddered violently. His lips fell on her ear, trailing hot kisses from her outer ear to her earlobe as he asked in an impossibly sexy voice: “Do you want to?”

Qing Ye felt this was beyond the question of wanting or not – this environment was completely beyond her acceptance range. She looked like she might cry at any moment. Under the combination of the jingling keys behind her and Xing Wu’s bewitching presence, she had to admit her legs had gone weak. Her mind went blank, and for several seconds she felt like she was floating, everything seeming unreal.

As the sound of keys gradually faded into the distance, Xing Wu slowly straightened up. Qing Ye’s face was red from her ears to her neck, and the air was filled with ambiguous tension. She raised her eyes to glance flusteredly at Xing Wu, only to find him smiling, looking completely innocent.

Qing Ye suddenly realized he had deliberately scared her. She raised her leg to kick him, but Xing Wu caught her leg and hooked it around his waist, pinning her against the tree trunk again as he said casually: “Still acting up? Aren’t you afraid I’ll do it for real?”

This position made Qing Ye’s brain short-circuit. She instantly turned into a curly-haired little lamb, lowering her head and not daring to move.

Seeing her looking so alluring, Xing Wu released her and stopped teasing. He quickly changed the subject, speaking to her in a low voice: “Remember when you said you suspected Jin Zhong of leaking questions for the David Cup?”

Qing Ye was still dazed by his sudden topic change and simply nodded.

“I hacked into Jin Zhong’s server a few days ago and changed their question bank.”

“What?” Qing Ye quickly covered her mouth after speaking and looked around before staring at him in disbelief: “Really? How did you hack in?”

Xing Wu stepped back, took out a cigarette, and lit it, leaning against the wall behind him as he said nonchalantly: “I hacked it once the year before last. When I checked a few days ago, they hadn’t upgraded their system. The vulnerability was still there, so I hacked it again.”

“Wait, how old were you the year before last? First year of high school? Why would you hack Jin Zhong’s server?”

Xing Wu glanced at her, taking a drag from his cigarette: “Some kid at Jin Zhong was spreading rumors that my nose was fake.”

“???” Qing Ye looked at his high, straight nose and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“So you hacked their school server because of that? I thought you would have beaten him up.”

Xing Wu raised his eyebrows, his expression casual, and told Qing Ye that he had originally planned to beat the guy up. He and his friends had gone out, but the sand was getting in their eyes, so they went back. That night, Xing Wu was bored and started tinkering around. He found the kid’s ID and password for the school forum and used his account to post an article titled “The Principal in My Eyes.” The next day, the kid was called in by the principal for a talk. He heard they even called in his parents. To this day, that person still doesn’t know how that post happened.

Qing Ye smiled at Xing Wu, never imagining he could do something so devious. Then she thought of something: “So you brought your laptop because…?”

In the clear moonlight, Qing Ye saw an inscrutable smile cross Xing Wu’s lips as he said casually: “It’ll be useful.”

Qing Ye didn’t pursue that line of questioning, instead thinking of something else: “If there is question leaking, they wouldn’t leak it to many people. I think they’d only ensure one person wins. Others couldn’t possibly know about it.”

Xing Wu held his cigarette and asked offhandedly: “Could it be the landlord’s foolish son?”

Qing Ye thought for a moment: “Probably not him. Though Ye Jingjian is eccentric, he has strong self-esteem. He even declared war on me earlier today.”

“Oh?” Xing Wu stared at her meaningfully.

But Qing Ye suddenly asked: “Did you make big changes to the questions?”

“Not big ones. Changed a few conditions and numbers. If someone memorized the answers by rote, they’d notice something was off.”

“So, you’ve seen all the questions for tomorrow’s competition?”

Xing Wu exhaled smoke leisurely with a half-smile: “What good does knowing the question types do me? I can’t solve them anyway. Want to take a look?”

But Qing Ye firmly refused: “No, if I look at them, how am I any different from those who got leaked questions? I want to compete with my ability.”

Xing Wu raised his eyebrows, his eyes showing traces of amusement. Just then, another set of footsteps approached the woods. Xing Wu alertly stamped out his cigarette and swiftly pressed against Qing Ye.