Chapter 16: Fake Innocent Girl!
"Can you switch seats with me for morning reading?"
Gao Dong, lost in thought as he gazed out the window, suddenly heard a soft, delicate voice, as if on the verge of tears.
He turned his head and saw the class beauty standing by his desk, clutching her books with her head lowered. Her eyes were red, her nose was twitching. She looked like she had just suffered a huge injustice.
To be honest, no guy could say no to that face.
Gao Dong glanced jealously at his new deskmate. An Yuan really had it good. The prettiest girl in the class stuck to him all the time, and the second prettiest used to be his deskmate. Their relationship was ambiguous at best…
"Sure, I’ll take your seat." Gao Dong got up without hesitation, giving up his spot.
"Thanks..."
Chen Cheng happily took her new seat next to An Yuan. She pursed her lips, her teary eyes locking onto her brother-from-another-mother like a lost puppy.
"Why do you look so miserable? And why are you looking at me like that?"
An Yuan was completely confused. He had been focused on solving math problems the whole time and had no idea what had happened.
"Are you okay?"
"Li Wanyi bullied me! She called me all kinds of nasty things..."
Chen Cheng let out a pitiful "Wuuu", burying her face in her arms. Her voice was barely above a whisper to avoid attracting attention, but her side-eye kept darting toward Li Wanyi.
"Wait... you got bullied by a girl?"
"What would you do if some crazy woman suddenly cornered you in the restroom and started yelling at you? I was too shocked to react!"
An Yuan didn't know how to respond. Thinking about it, yeah… given how fiery Li Wanyi could be… even he would struggle in an argument with her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so mad a few days ago. Even when he had been in the right, she still pissed him off enough to drive off in the middle of the night to find Chen Cheng for a drink… which ultimately led to them both time-traveling together.
The ugly image of his ex-fiancée’s furious face popped up in his mind again.
"That woman..."
An Yuan frowned in disgust, clenching his fist. But instead of dwelling on his own frustration, he focused on comforting his devastated bro. He reached out and patted Chen Cheng’s shoulder, his voice deep and soothing.
"It’s okay now, don’t worry."
But something felt… off.
An Yuan knew Chen Cheng well. She was the type to swallow her grievances and never complain. They had known each other for years, and this was the first time she had ever cried and begged for comfort. The worst she had done before was rant and curse after a few drinks.
Did changing genders mess with her personality too?
"An Yuan~ Wuuu~"
"Want me to go beat her up for you?"
"Would you really hit a girl?"
"Uh..."
Chen Cheng dramatically added fuel to the fire. "Forget it… it’s not like she did anything that bad… she just used some really nasty words…"
That only made An Yuan even angrier. He shot a sharp glare at Li Wanyi across the room.
He already felt guilty toward Chen Cheng, and now she was getting bullied because of him? He must have been blind in his past life to even consider marrying Li Wanyi.
Li Wanyi had been keeping an eye on their conversation. When she suddenly got glared at by An Yuan, she was completely baffled.
Wait, what?!
All she did was say one sentence, what the hell did she do to deserve that look?!
"Forget it, it’s not a big deal..."
Chen Cheng switched to comforting An Yuan, but her eyes gleamed smugly as she stole another glance at Li Wanyi.
Before, An Yuan just had a bad impression of his ex-fiancée. But now?
Now he probably won’t even want to be friends with her.
Forget dating and repeating past mistakes. After this, they can't even be friends.
That’s what you get for cursing at me!
Just then, the homeroom teacher entered for morning reading class.
Chen Cheng immediately picked up her pen, pretending to be a hardworking student as she buried her head in her workbook.
A moment ago, Chen Cheng had been whimpering and acting all pitiful, but now? Not a single tear in sight. In fact, she was barely holding back a smile, looking so pleased with herself that even her period felt smoother.
An Yuan gave her a weird look. Yeah, he had a feeling she was faking it. Rolling his eyes, he sighed internally.
He knew something felt off earlier, this just wasn’t something Chen Cheng would normally do.
"My mom’s going on a trip in a few days." Chen Cheng scribbled in her notebook as she spoke softly. "I think your mom is going too. I overheard it the other day."
"So? It’s just a trip."
"Just come stay at my place!"
Back in their previous life, whenever one of their parents went on a long trip, they’d crash at each other’s place for a few days. Their parents didn’t mind, and the atmosphere was pretty chill.
But in this life, she’s a girl now!
An Yuan racked his brain for an excuse to refuse. It wasn’t that he doubted his self-control, he just didn’t trust his, uh… other brain.
Before he could respond, the homeroom teacher casually wandered over. Chen Cheng immediately shut up and lowered her head, looking all serious.
Knock! The teacher tapped on their desk. "Why are you two sitting together?"
Chen Cheng instantly tensed up, but luckily, An Yuan answered smoothly. "She had a question about a problem."
"Did she get it?"
"I think so?"
"Then why are you still here?"
Without hesitation, Chen Cheng grabbed her books and bolted back to her seat.
The teacher watched her scurry away and then sighed, "You’re in your final year. Leave romance for later, studying is what matters most."
"We’re just friends," An Yuan said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. How did even the homeroom teacher get the wrong idea?
"High school is tough, but once you’re in college, you can date as much as you want."
That might work on other students, but An Yuan wasn’t buying it.
In college, he had to fight for seats in the library, rush between exams, and grind for competitions, he was so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
Meanwhile, Chen Cheng’s college life was a dream. Skipping class whenever, no evening study sessions, spending her free time gaming, writing novels, and napping.
"Got it," An Yuan replied, but deep down, he swore he’d make sure this life was way easier. No more stress, no hair loss, no overwork-induced weight gain...
The teacher, satisfied, walked away. An Yuan had always been a top student, never caused trouble, and was one of her favorites.
Morning study session was relatively relaxed. For once, the teacher didn’t turn it into an extra literature class, just monitored the class to keep things from getting too noisy.
By the time self-study ended, An Yuan had already finished all of yesterday’s homework.
He stretched, loosened up his muscles, and was about to ask Chen Cheng to buy him a milk tea when he noticed Li Wanyi hesitatingly walking toward him.
Without a word, An Yuan shot her a cold glance, got up, and walked off without looking back.
Sure, he knew Chen Cheng had exaggerated her act, but that didn’t change the fact that Li Wanyi really did bully her.
Chen Cheng had always been the quiet, introverted type, so it was no surprise that she didn’t fight back when scolded. An Yuan had hoped high school Li Wanyi would be different, maybe a little more mature.
Nope. Still the same loud, sharp-tongued, fake-nice act.
All her usual gentle and elegant behavior? A total facade.
"Chen Cheng, wanna hit up the store? I barely ate breakfast."
"Coming!"
"Did the P.E. teacher call in sick again? What’s replacing the class?"
"No idea~ We barely ever have P.E. in high school anyway."
As An Yuan and Chen Cheng chatted and laughed on their way out, Li Wanyi finally realized…
She had completely lost.
That fake, manipulative act!