Ji Bei Province.

Inside the Academy.

Someone pushed open the door of the Communications Class dormitory and peered in:

“Eh, where did Jiang Yan go? Didn’t we agree to play ball today?”

Yesterday’s match between male and female students was interrupted when a window was broken, and the game couldn’t continue. Several female players were quite unhappy about it.

They had agreed to have another match today, but Jiang Yan, a key player for the women’s team, wasn’t in the dormitory. Where could she have gone so early in the morning?

“She’s not in the cafeteria either.”

“Could she have gone to the court already? Let’s go find her.”

They went to the playground with their ball, but Jiang Yan was nowhere to be seen.

So where exactly was Jiang Yan?

She was following Zhou Cheng!

After finishing morning exercises, Zhou Cheng hurriedly showered and changed, intending to get his leave slip stamped. But when he came downstairs after changing, Jiang Yan was waiting there.

Zhou Cheng tried to walk past her, but unlike Xia Xiaolan, Jiang Yan grabbed his arm.

“Zhou Cheng, you can’t keep pretending not to know me. I didn’t even need to come to this Communications Class. I only worked hard to get an advanced training spot because I heard you were here. We need to talk!”

Jiang Yan spoke through gritted teeth.

She wasn’t the type of woman to act gentle and delicate – playing the victim wasn’t her style.

Since Pan San’s discharge from the army, Zhou Cheng hadn’t spoken a single word to her.

Once fighting side by side, now they were like strangers.

Their friendship had vanished with the wind, and Jiang Yan felt terrible about it.

If someone had to take the first step toward reconciliation, Jiang Yan didn’t think being a woman meant others should yield to her. She was willing to take that first step, but since coming to the Military Academy, no matter how much commotion she caused, Zhou Cheng could completely ignore her.

Jiang Yan was pushed to her limits, which was why she went to find Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend yesterday.

But Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend wasn’t easy to deal with either – she was too slippery, leaving Jiang Yan at a loss for words.

Jiang Yan said quite a lot, but Zhou Cheng completely ignored her.

Still, she wasn’t discouraged.

She followed Zhou Cheng from the dormitory to the office, waiting outside while he got his leave slip, and then got one herself. As she followed him to the main gate, they passed many students who whispered among themselves.

Zhou Cheng already attracted plenty of attention, and female students were especially rare, with Jiang Yan’s fame even surpassing Zhou Cheng’s.

Early in the morning, why was Jiang Yan following Zhou Cheng?

“Is Jiang Yan… towards Zhou Cheng…”

“Shh, be quiet! Zhou Cheng has a girlfriend – she came to the academy yesterday!”

These two hadn’t interacted before, and there was no sign that Jiang Yan had feelings for Zhou Cheng. Besides, what kind of person was Jiang Yan? In everyone’s mind, she was more straightforward than most men.

Being a homewrecker was not something Jiang Yan would do.

Zhou Cheng could hear the murmuring around them.

At the gate, he finally looked at her, “I’m going to see my wife now. You’re not going to be shameless enough to follow me there too, are you?”

It had been so long since Pan San’s discharge, and this was the first time Zhou Cheng had acknowledged her.

All because of that coquettish and slick girlfriend of his. Jiang Yan frowned but quickly relaxed: regardless of the reason, this was a good start.

“Why not? I met her yesterday. Congratulations, she’s very beautiful!”

Zhou Cheng turned around, “Jiang Yan, I don’t care what you’re planning. Coming to the academy for advanced training is your freedom, but if you try to drag Xiaolan into this, don’t blame me for being ruthless… Then you might understand that being a stranger to me is a hundred times better than being my enemy!”

When Jiang Yan tried to stop Zhou Cheng again, this time he exchanged moves with her without mercy, treating her exactly as he said – like an enemy.

Jiang Yan stumbled back two steps, hitting the iron gate. The guard on duty ran over:

“What’s going on? Fighting isn’t allowed in the academy!”

What kind of hero would a male student be, laying hands on a female student!

The guard looked at Zhou Cheng strangely, but Jiang Yan shook her head: “We weren’t fighting. We’re old friends, just sparring.”

Zhou Cheng couldn’t be bothered to explain and had already left the gate.

Jiang Yan stood there for a moment. Zhou Cheng’s move had been truly merciless, but Jiang Yan didn’t feel the pain. He really was ruthless when turning against someone.

But she’d rather be treated as Zhou Cheng’s enemy than have him keep ignoring her.

Jiang Yan didn’t think she was wrong.

Jiang Wu was her cousin, and in that situation, the Jiang family wouldn’t have let Pan San off.

Jiang Yan felt Pan San wasn’t wrong, but she was a member of the Jiang family, enjoying everything the family provided. At the crucial moment, how could she betray them by turning Jiang Wu in?

That was simply impossible.

After thinking for a moment, she still took her leave slip and followed him out.

The guard reminded her: “If there’s any conflict, let the school handle it.”

The guard was worried about Jiang Yan getting hurt.

Jiang Yan smiled and raised her fist, “If I fought him seriously, who knows who would win? We’re all comrades, academy classmates. No matter how big the conflict, one fight and it’s over!”

When Jiang Yan smiled, the guard’s face reddened.

Her words were particularly convincing.

The guard felt he had misunderstood – Jiang Yan and Zhou Cheng might really just be playing around. The guard had never envied Zhou Cheng as much as now; being handsome really had its advantages.

Having a beautiful, coquettish girlfriend and still being able to play around with goddess Jiang Yan – was truly enviable.

They had a whole morning to be alone, unlike yesterday in the academy dormitory where they had to keep the door open when in the same room.

When Xia Xiaolan talked about the Shi family yesterday, she didn’t mention Wei Juanhong’s strange awkwardness.

She had wanted to discuss with Zhou Cheng whether there should be a “bottom line” to their guilty compensation to the Shi family. But their time together was too short, and with the interruption of the broken window incident, Xia Xiaolan had swallowed her words.

At this time, she and Zhou Cheng should present a united front, not create internal conflicts.

Seeing Zhou Cheng, she didn’t hide anything:

“Jiang Yan came to see me yesterday. She talked about wanting to restore friendship with you and asked me to help mediate, but I refused.”

Zhou Cheng kissed her: “Good that you refused. My wife won’t fall for her tricks.”

Xia Xiaolan pushed him away hard, holding him back with her hand on his chest:

“Don’t try to sweet-talk me first. Comrade Jiang Yan seems determined. Don’t call me petty, but following you all the way here just to be friends again. Zhou Cheng, before we got together, I asked if you had any engaged fiancées or unrequited loves, and you said no to both!”

Zhou Cheng raised his hand, “I swear by the Leader’s name, I don’t! You’re my unrequited love, my first girlfriend, my future wife—”

Xia Xiaolan interrupted him:

“Stop! I haven’t finished speaking. Back then, I didn’t know enough about your past and forgot to ask – did you have any female confidante who fought alongside you, sharing life and death… Zhou Cheng, answer me honestly, is Jiang Yan that kind of person?”