Chapter 4: Don’t Be a Simp
Ever since graduating high school, Chen Cheng had never once returned to her old school or attended any class reunions.
She had always been a bit of a loner. Reserved, distant, and not the type to actively keep in touch with people. Because of this, no matter how close she had been to her friends from elementary school to university, all those friendships had eventually faded away.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to reach out. She just worried, worried about being rejected, about being annoying, about a million little things...
Luckily, An Yuan had been her friend since childhood. No matter how busy he got, he always made time to check in with her, sending messages now and then to keep their friendship alive.
As she walked down the school hallway and approached her old classroom, a wave of drowsiness hit her. She yawned repeatedly, struggling to stay awake.
Following behind An Yuan, she stopped at the familiar classroom door and peeked inside. Desks were stacked with textbooks and test papers. Half the students were messing around on their phones before morning study started, while the other half buried their heads in their books, cramming for the day.
Chen Cheng wasn’t even sure where she was supposed to sit or if she was even in the right class. She just stood there, frozen.
“Chen Cheng! Morning!”
A boy greeted her with a slightly flushed face.
She hesitated for a moment, feeling a little nervous, then walked over. She picked up the test papers stacked on the desk and glanced at them before finally relaxing and sitting down next to the boy.
Phew, this is my seat!
First group, fourth row… She had never sat this close to the front before.
“You haven’t put your phone away yet.”
“I’ll do it when the bell rings.”
Her seatmate seemed pretty friendly, which helped ease her nerves. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, he looked familiar.
What was his name again? Pan… Pan…
Pan Jie!
A dark-skinned, skinny guy. She vaguely remembered he was full of energy and had won the school’s sprinting competition. He had even competed in the city sports meet.
Since he was a boarding student, they hadn’t interacted much in her past life. But now that they were seatmates, it was probably because they were the same height.
Chen Cheng stuffed her backpack into the desk, yawned, and turned to look at An Yuan, who was sitting in the second-to-last row.
His seatmate was still Li Wanyi. The tall, beautiful class flower and his fiancée, who had cheated on him.
Chen Cheng narrowed her eyes.
These two had probably been close ever since high school. Later, they ended up in the same city for college and officially got together in their sophomore year. Their relationship seemed solid. An Yuan rarely ever spoke badly about her. But in her past life, during An Yuan’s toughest times, Li Wanyi had betrayed him.
To be honest, Chen Cheng had never liked that woman.
After An Yuan bought a house and got caught up in financial struggles just to marry her, he barely had time to play games with Chen Cheng anymore. Even when they did get on a call, she could always hear Li Wanyi scolding him in the background for being unmotivated.
It’s just a game with a friend! Chill!
Watching An Yuan chat and laugh with Li Wanyi now made Chen Cheng furious.
Seriously?! She just cheated on you! How are you so chill about it?!
She rolled her eyes as the morning study bell rang and got up to put her phone into the wall-mounted storage pocket.
Senior year, here we go again…
First, a nap!
She stacked her textbooks and papers to block the teacher’s view, adjusted her posture, bent forward, and buried her face in her arms.
Man, these school desks are way too comfortable for sleeping~
The moment she laid her head down, exhaustion from pulling an all-nighter hit her like a wave.
“Chen Cheng, Chen Cheng…”
“Hmm?”
Chen Cheng, half-asleep, groggily lifted her head. The first thing she saw was Pan Jie’s anxious face beside her. Then, she sensed something terrifying behind her, so terrifying that the entire class had fallen silent. Hesitantly, she turned to look.
The homeroom teacher was standing over her, staring down expressionlessly.
“!!!”
Chen Cheng thought she had long since built up immunity to this teacher’s presence, but seeing them again still made her heart skip a beat.
“Didn’t sleep well last night?”
“Uh… yeah…”
Noticing that the whole class was watching like it was some kind of show, her face quickly turned red. She lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers like a guilty child.
Great… now I’m going to get sent to stand in the hallway. How embarrassing…
But to her surprise, the homeroom teacher didn’t scold her. They simply walked past her and headed to the podium, using the morning study period to give a lesson.
“I tried waking you up earlier, but you wouldn’t budge,” Pan Jie whispered.
“Thanks.”
She replied casually, but the moment she did, Pan Jie’s face turned bright red. He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. “No problem, no problem.”
What’s with the blushing?
Chen Cheng knew she was good-looking now, but come on, it was just a simple “thank you.” No way that was enough to make someone blush, right?
She crossed her legs, rested her chin on one hand, and started absentmindedly spinning her pen while listening to the lecture, or rather, letting the words go in one ear and out the other. With a long sigh, she sank deeper into her seat.
Pan Jie couldn’t help but sneak glances at his unusual seatmate.
His previous seatmate had been quiet and reserved, always keeping a polite distance from guys. He had never seen her make such casual, almost playful expressions before.
Now, though, she was sitting there completely at ease, lazy, yawning, totally unbothered. And yet, from her hair down to her fingertips, there was something strangely… captivating about her.
Wait… could she like him?
Just then, Chen Cheng casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at Pan Jie with a puzzled expression, blinking at him.
Pan Jie, startled, immediately lowered his head and pretended to take notes.
What’s with this guy? Acting all weird…
…………………………………
Two classes passed in a blur, and then it was time for morning exercises.
The once-quiet classroom instantly turned into a noisy marketplace. Chen Cheng quickly stood up and turned to look for An Yuan.
“An Yuan…”
In just those two classes, a few old classmates had already gathered around An Yuan, chatting and joking with him like they were back in high school. He was completely absorbed in their conversation and didn’t even hear her call his name.
Even in this parallel world, An Yuan’s social skills hadn’t changed. He fit right in and adapted quickly, fully enjoying this second chance at youth and senior year.
Seeing this, Chen Cheng felt annoyed.
So you’re having the time of your life, huh? Meanwhile, she got dragged into this mess, turned into a girl, and didn’t even have a single friend…
“Something wrong?”
“Come here for a sec.”
She grabbed An Yuan’s arm and pulled him into a quiet corner. With her hands gripping his collar, she glared up at him, fuming like an angry little kitten.
“What’s up?”
An Yuan leaned back slightly, looking uncomfortable. Her chest was almost pressing against him, so he quickly raised his hands in surrender and whispered, “Everyone’s watching. Can we talk in private?”
His clueless expression made Chen Cheng pause. He really had no idea why she was mad.
She blinked, suddenly realizing how childish she was acting. She looked like a jealous girlfriend throwing a fit.
Feeling embarrassed, she took a step back, crossed her arms, and huffed to cover up her awkwardness. Her cheeks were slightly red.
“It’s nothing…”
She quickly searched for an excuse, her eyes scanning the area until they landed on a target.
“I just saw you chatting with Li Wanyi all happily. You sure you wanna risk getting cheated on again?”
She had always disliked Li Wanyi. Now, she finally had the perfect excuse to badmouth her openly.
“Well…” An Yuan rubbed his nose, looking troubled.
Wait, don’t tell me you still have feelings for her?!
“As your brother, I gotta warn you, stay away from bad women, or you'll get cheated on!”
Chen Cheng smugly patted his shoulder, standing on her tiptoes to do so.
“Don’t be a simp~”
That woman doesn’t deserve you! You never did anything wrong to her!