Chapter 9: Bad Woman!
"Did you cry this morning?"
"No! I haven’t cried in years."
"Then why did I hear you sobbing like crazy over the phone?"
"I told you, I didn’t!"
From the hallway, Li Wanyi heard the girl’s voice crack with frustration. She looked up and saw Chen Cheng and An Yuan walking into class together, arguing and laughing as usual.
Chen Cheng used to be quiet and rarely interacted with male classmates. So when did she suddenly get so close to An Yuan?
Li Wanyi frowned slightly, feeling a bit annoyed. But the moment An Yuan stepped into the classroom, she immediately straightened her posture, put on a sweet smile, and gracefully tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Yet, An Yuan didn’t even glance at her. Instead, he stuck to Chen Cheng like a lost puppy.
"Wanyi, Wanyi! Do you think those two are dating?"
The girl in front of her turned around, gossiping excitedly. "They came and left together yesterday too, right? Someone even saw them eating fried skewers together!"
"How would I know?"
Li Wanyi’s face darkened. She lowered her head and continued working on her assignments.
A moment later, a shadow loomed over her desk. She looked up with a bright smile, meeting An Yuan’s eyes.
"Morning~"
"Morning."
An Yuan sat down next to her, feeling oddly conflicted. He pulled out his workbook, hoping to distract himself with some problems.
Like Chen Cheng, he had returned most of his school knowledge to the teachers after graduating college. But his brain was still sharp, doing a few exercises would help him recall most of what he had learned.
Still, he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering back to Li Wanyi.
"Are you and Chen Cheng really close?"
Her sudden question made An Yuan unconsciously happy. He grinned. "We’ve been in the same class since kindergarten. We used to walk to school together all the time."
"Oh~ So you're like siblings?"
"More like brothers than siblings, honestly."
"Brothers? Pfft!"
Li Wanyi covered her mouth, laughing. Her eyes curved into crescents, and the golden morning sunlight streaming through the window cast a soft, glowing halo over her dark hair.
For a moment, An Yuan was stunned.
Seven or eight years of friendship. If he counted his high school crush, his feelings for her had lasted nearly ten years.
But this was a parallel world. Technically, they were two completely different people.
The future that happened in his original world wasn’t set in stone here. There was no reason to let the past affect his feelings for the Li Wanyi in front of him.
Then, reality snapped back into place.
The memories of his cheating fiancée, her smug, shameless face, crept into his mind like a bad dream. The sheer disgust twisted in his stomach.
He suddenly felt restless. Uncomfortable. Unsure how to face Li Wanyi. After a long moment of hesitation, he grabbed his workbook and got up.
"Pan Jie, can we swap seats for morning reading?"
Pan Jie blinked, caught off guard. "Huh? I don’t think the teacher allows that…"
Chen Cheng, still busy copying yesterday’s homework, didn’t even look up before responding, "Just let him. The teacher won’t care during morning reading."
"Fine…" Pan Jie reluctantly stood up.
A few gossip-loving classmates took notice and started whispering. But An Yuan didn’t care. Even if rumors started spreading, he would only find them amusing.
An Yuan and Chen Cheng had a solid, pure brotherly bond, the kind of friendship where they'd stick together through thick and thin, even life and death. Unlike some people, whose minds were always stuck on romance.
"Copy my math homework for me." As soon as An Yuan sat down, Chen Cheng shoved her workbook over without hesitation. "Make it messy so it doesn’t look obvious."
"You should really do it yourself."
That’s what he said, but he still picked up his pen and started copying. While writing, he asked, "Still in pain?"
"A little better now. This morning, I thought I was gonna die. It hurt so bad I almost passed out..." Chen Cheng muttered stubbornly. "But I didn’t cry. That was just... a little flu."
"Yeah, yeah, of course."
After a few casual exchanges, An Yuan’s mind, which had been a mess because of Li Wanyi, finally settled down.
He sighed, rubbing his nose with a bitter smile. "Chengzi, do you think there’s something wrong with me?"
"I already feel like crap, don’t dump your problems on me."
Chen Cheng lifted her hips slightly, resisting the urge to scratch, and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She frowned. "It’s so hot, and I have this stupid pad stuck to me. So uncomfortable..."
She felt like she was going to get a heat rash from it.
"Yeah, periods can be annoying, but it'll pass in a few days." An Yuan knew way more about this stuff than she did. "You should try tampons sometime. Wanyi prefers those."
"Wow, listen to you, just casually bringing up Wanyi."
Chen Cheng could pretty much guess what was bothering An Yuan. She had known him for years. He was someone who cared deeply about relationships, even to the point of being too soft-hearted.
If no one interfered, he would probably end up convincing himself to stay with Li Wanyi again, just like in his last life.
But Chen Cheng couldn’t stand that woman! She refused to watch her best friend get played by some two-faced girl again.
"You really are an idiot. Why are you so hung up on one tree?" she snapped, full of righteous anger.
"You make so much money every month, yet you hesitate to spend 200 or 300 on a game. What are you even saving for? So she can cheat on you again?"
"It’s just a girl. We’re in high school! Everyone’s shallow and just looking at appearances. And let’s be real, you’re good-looking, tall, and fit. There’s no shortage of pretty girls for you! Any other isekai traveler would have taken revenge already. The fact that you haven’t gone after Li Wanyi is already proof that you’re way too nice!"
An Yuan continued copying his English homework, pretending not to hear. He didn’t say a word.
Hopeless.
Chen Cheng rolled her eyes. She was already irritated from her period, and seeing An Yuan act like a spineless loser only made her angrier.
Caring about relationships was fine, but this was just too much.
Clearly, she couldn’t rely on An Yuan to make the right call.
Narrowing her eyes, she pushed up her glasses with her index finger. Some slightly nasty ideas started creeping into her mind.
Maybe she should just threaten Li Wanyi to stay away from her best friend? For the sake of her brother, it didn’t matter if people thought she was jealous.
Or maybe she could dig up dirt on Li Wanyi and make An Yuan completely give up on her? There was no way a woman just suddenly turned bad after ten years. She was probably already showing signs now.
"I think I’ll ask the teacher to change my seat," An Yuan finally made a decision. "At least I won’t have to sit near her."
"Now you’re talking~"
Chen Cheng’s mood instantly improved. Maybe her friend wasn’t completely hopeless after all.
The morning reading bell rang. Without another thought, Chen Cheng quickly buried herself back in her homework.
Most of their assignments were from workbooks and practice tests. They didn’t have to turn them in, since the teachers usually just went over the answers in class. But there were still a few assignments that had to be submitted and skipping those could get parents involved.
Today’s morning reading teacher was their English teacher, a woman with wavy curls, looking just over thirty, full of mature charm. Even without trying, she exuded a natural allure that made a room full of hormonal high school boys secretly glance her way.
Chen Cheng looked up at her and pursed her lips in frustration.
Logically, a beautiful, mature woman like that should have been irresistible to a guy with zero dating experience.
But she only admired her objectively. She felt absolutely no desire.
Not being attracted to girls was one thing...
But what if one day she started liking boys instead...?