Chapter 53: Fang Yifan

Fang Yifan was so angry he barely ate lunch.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He was already furious that He Chen was getting close to his goddess.

Now He Chen was even trying to ruin his intimate bond with his childhood best bro, Qiao Yingzi.

What enmity!

What grievance!

It was just a joke and a gift—same gift, Li Tie didn’t react nearly as badly as He Chen did.

Can’t even make a joke among classmates anymore?

Worse still, not only could He Chen not take a joke, now it was spreading like an infection—even Miao Yidi, who always passively accepted his humor, was suddenly unable to take it.

He Chen was out to destroy his entire environment!

So vicious!

Fang Yifan couldn’t stop picturing Qiao Yingzi rejecting him with disdain—the more he imagined it, the harder it was to accept.

It hurt more than He Chen sending his father to jail!

It hurt more than He Chen getting close to his goddess!

Clearly, bro love matters more than romance!

After defining himself this way, Fang Yifan felt as righteous as Guan Yun Chang, itching to praise himself: “My second brother is unmatched under heaven!”

For He Chen, who had shattered his bro loyalty, he had to strike back hard—otherwise his mind would never find peace!

After quickly eating lunch, he began plotting. He spent the entire afternoon thinking, and by the time school ended, he finally came up with a plan—he grabbed a basketball and ran to the court, dribbling under the hoop while scanning students exiting the classroom building.

When he saw most students heading to the cafeteria or wandering the court freely, but only He Chen and a few others heading out the gate, he and his basketball partner started playing—his mind and body operating at peak intensity.

He Chen was walking side by side with Deng Xiaoqi.

Neither had evening self-study.

Though Deng Xiaoqi was still heartbroken over her mother’s situation and felt unworthy of He Chen, that didn’t stop her from seizing this rare chance to get closer to him.

Even just walking out of campus together, then parting ways to go home, would be enough.

“He Chen, you’ve truly opened my eyes,” Deng Xiaoqi said, savoring the walk, her mind racing for topics.

“I used to wonder why you asked ‘eight times seven’ instead of ‘seven times eight’—even for the multiplication table. I thought maybe in a time-pressured emergency, a mental slip wasn’t unreasonable.

But after I found those variety shows and interviews, I realized you were right!

You weren’t mocking me with stupid questions.

You’d already asked the high-difficulty questions from those celebrity variety shows.

The real idiots are the ones who ask ‘seven times eight’ first, then ‘eight times seven.’

And both answers were wrong.

Seven times eight is forty-two… my god!

They probably didn’t even finish elementary school, let alone nine-year compulsory education?”

“You’re wrong!” He Chen corrected with a smile: “Elementary school has six grades—your statement is too vague, imprecise, and way too generous to them!

The multiplication table is taught in second grade, so the accurate version is: the genius prodigies in the entertainment industry can’t even graduate from second grade!”

“What are we going to do?” Deng Xiaoqi frowned, feigning worry about her own future alienation, but her eyes flicked to He Chen, waiting for his comfort.

“Don’t worry!” He Chen noticed, but didn’t mind teasing her while they walked: “The point of a circle is to keep outsiders out—to create a self-contained world. These bizarre phenomena seem absurd, but they’re deliberately displayed like porcupine quills.

Outsiders see them and either can’t accept them and back off,

or choose to change themselves to fit in.

Some genuinely don’t know these simple math problems even a first or second grader would solve.

But others pretend not to know, to build a persona and blend into the circle.

Some even pretend to be dumber than they really are!

As Guo Furong mocked Li Dazui in ‘The Outsiders’: ‘Dazui, if you’re uneducated, don’t pretend to know. Look at me—I know, but I don’t even want you to know I know!’

That’s the real Dazui!

You’ve just exposed the truth behind the entertainment industry!

The entertainment industry is like this, and so are all other filthier, more disgusting circles.

Only by excluding most people can those inside, no matter how awful or repulsive, keep making piles of money!”

“You understand so well!” Deng Xiaoqi clasped her hands to her chest, gazing at He Chen with pure admiration, letting her worship pour out freely.

“There’s nothing new under the sun!” He Chen laughed: “Besides, I watch ‘Mind Doctor’—it’s not strange that I know this.”

“Mind Doctor?” Deng Xiaoqi’s gaze turned strange, then tender.

She remembered: this boy had lost both parents. No matter how confident and flamboyant he seemed on the outside, his heart must be deeply lonely—he even needed a therapist.

She wanted to give him a loving hug so badly—what should she do?

“Yes! A very conservative grand seer!” He Chen sighed: “He helps you confront emotional struggles and relieves life’s burdens. He’s the one who truly understands!”

“He must be so handsome…” Deng Xiaoqi instantly warmed to this conservative Mind Doctor. Her mind conjured a handsome white-coated figure—next moment, his face unconsciously shifted into He Chen’s.

Now it wasn’t a question anymore—it was a certainty!

If the Mind Doctor had He Chen’s face, she felt her emotional troubles would vanish and her life’s burdens would lift!

“Handsome!” He Chen nodded instinctively, but seeing Deng Xiaoqi’s dreamy, Hu Yifei-style fantasy gaze, he burst out laughing.

His idea of “handsome” referred to overall aura—more about professional skill, philosophical depth, and actions, especially that machine-gun mouth spouting well-reasoned, insightful, prophetic words—truly stunning, not just narrow facial looks.

Compared to him, He Chen was just an elementary student—he still had to study hard.

But Deng Xiaoqi clearly misunderstood.

Though to He Chen, the Mind Doctor was handsome.

But if she ever met the real Mind Doctor—with his double chin—she’d be as disappointed as Hu Yifei was when she saw Zeng Xiaoxian’s pudgy, go-to therapist.

Still, the Mind Doctor probably wouldn’t be disappointed—he adored long-legged girls who could sing and dance, knew every obscure resource beloved by otakus, and casually dropped three or four sentences that made it crystal clear: he really, truly understood.

Deng Xiaoqi was exactly that kind of long-legged girl who could sing and dance.

He Chen was just thinking of something funny when suddenly he reached out and snatched a flying basketball, then turned to see Fang Yifan, stunned at the basketball court.

“Holy shit!”

Fang Yifan stared at He Chen, who’d caught the ball with one hand—his mind screamed that phrase, but he didn’t say it aloud.

But while he held back, his basketball partner—who’d witnessed the whole thing—had no such restraint and shouted it out loud.