Chapter 90

Without turning her head, Xia Xi knew the person who said that was Zhou Xiaoyu, but she still twisted her neck, and indeed saw Zhou Xiaoyu's face still bearing a sneer that hadn't had time to fade.

In front of everyone, Xia Xi directly asked her: "What did you say? Say it again."

Zhou Xiaoyu was momentarily stunned, not expecting Xia Xi to react this way.

For an ordinary girl, hearing those words would already have made her feel both ashamed and angry, but Xia Xi acted as if nothing had happened, as if the words weren't about her—she really has a thick skin!

Since Xia Xi insists on bringing shame upon herself, Zhou Xiaoyu thought, there's no blame in not giving her face. Xu Yanfeng had already clearly rejected Xia Xi, showing he felt nothing for her, even found her actions annoying; making Xia Xi lose face might even earn Xu Yanfeng's thanks.

I said, "A toad wants to eat swan meat." Zhou Xiaoyu met Xia Xi's gaze and repeated what she had just said.

After saying that, Zhou Xiaoyu tilted her head, her eyes provocative, waiting to see Xia Xi make a fool of herself.

Xia Xi suddenly laughed.

Zhou Xiaoyu's expression stiffened, then she slightly furrowed her brows, showing a puzzled look.

She couldn't understand how Xia Xi could laugh—did she not hear that the sentence was insulting her? Xia Xi's next move exceeded everyone's expectations: she turned her head toward Xu Yanfeng, grabbed his sleeve with her fingers and gave it a light shake; her voice was neither soft nor loud, but enough for everyone in the meeting room to hear: "She said you're a toad that wants to eat my swan's meat."

Xu Yanfeng: "......?"

Zhou Xiaoyu's eyes were about to pop out from staring—how could this woman keep reversing right and wrong! Her face flushed purple as she looked at Xu Yanfeng, anxiously explaining: "I wasn't saying..."

"Enough." Xu Yanfeng frowned slightly, speaking displeasedly, putting an end to the farce: "If you have questions, ask quickly; otherwise, disperse."

Zhou Xiaoyu's words were cut off halfway; she dared to be angry but not to speak, almost choking herself.

She gave Xia Xi a fierce glare, but the latter remained calm and unbothered, making her even angrier.

After announcing the meeting's end, Xu Yanfeng grabbed his things and left; Xia Xi glanced at him, then frantically snatched the notebook and pen from the table, shoved them haphazardly into her bag, and chased after him.

"Xu Yanfeng, can't you really take me off the blacklist?" Xia Xi said while walking, "You saw it—our department head is targeting me, so I won't be able to communicate normally from now on; I might as well deal directly with you. Tell me what you need, and I'll make sure it's done. Can't we just talk business, not personal matters?"

Of course it's impossible to talk only about business and not personal matters! Right now she needs to tell a little lie to steady him, first coax him into adding her back on WeChat, then figure out the rest later.

Xu Yanfeng's long legs gave him the advantage here—he walked fast. Xia Xi had to run to barely keep up; since they were going downstairs, she also had to watch her step carefully, lest she misstep and fall, and Xu Yanfeng certainly wouldn't be kind enough to catch her.

"Xu Yanfeng, have you actually heard my words?" Xia Xi chattered on, "If not, give me a condition—tell me what I need to do for you to agree to take me off the blacklist. As long as you say it, I'll definitely do it. Don't stay silent. Am I some flood and ferocious beast? You won't even glance at me."

Xu Yanfeng found it noisy and suddenly stopped walking.

Xia Xi, caught off guard, couldn't stop in time and bumped with a "thud" into the guy's solid back, like hitting a wall. She covered her sore nose and stepped back a step, tears nearly welling up.

She blinked, glanced at the lipstick stain on his shirt, and lowered her eyes guiltily.

Xu Yanfeng suppressed his anger, turned to look at her, and said: "I told you I have no interest in you."

Xia Xi lowered her hand from her nose, her nostrils red and exposed to Xu Yanfeng's gaze: "Then I also said, if you don't try me I won't give up. Besides, you don't have a girlfriend, let's give it a try—you have nothing to lose."

Xu Yanfeng's temples twitched faintly as he doubted she understood Chinese: "Are you that free?"

Every answer Xia Xi gave was beyond Xu Yanfeng's expectation: "I'm not free—I'm busy chasing you right now."

At the end of her speech she pursed her lips, looking aggrieved, with a red nose tip and eyes glistening with a bright light, giving off a pitiful, delicate vibe.

Xu Yanfeng knew this girl was putting on an act; she could shut Zhou Xiaoyu up with just a few words, so she could never be associated with those four words "pitiful and delicate." He also knew that no matter what he said, she could always find her own way to deflect, basically being unreasonable and tangled, so he simply stopped talking to her.

Ignoring her was the most effective way to reject her.

Xu Yanfeng left, walking into the early autumn night.

Xia Xi didn't chase after him; she crossed her arms, kicked a leaf that had blown from somewhere at her feet, and swore that one day she would make Xu Yanfeng regret today's coldness.

Xu Yanfeng returned to the dorm, tossed the documents onto the desk, wearily pinched his brow, and said that speaking two sentences to Xia Xi was more exhausting than drawing ten diagrams.

"Young Master Xu, where have you been fooling around?" Chen Mian found it strange, circling Xu Yanfeng twice with a grin stretched to its widest.

The other two roommates, Fang Huaiyuan and Yu Tingbo, hearing that, came in from the balcony; they only caught the words "fooling around" and asked puzzledly, "Who's fooling around?"

Chen Mian lifted his chin, pointing at Xu Yanfeng, just laughing without exposing it.

Fang Huaiyuan and Yu Tingbo both thought it impossible—how could Xu Yanfeng be fooling around?

Chen Mian spoke in a mysterious tone, giving a hint: "Take another careful look."

The two examined Xu Yanfeng up and down, finally noticing something odd, and both laughed out loud.

Yu Tingbo asked Xu Yanfeng: "Hey, weren't you supposed to be at a meeting?"

Fang Huaiyuan: "I think it's a date, not a meeting."

Hahahaha.

They all burst into another round of laughter.

Xu Yanfeng rarely found himself in such a baffling situation; facing several people who only laughed without explaining what they were laughing at, he grew a bit annoyed, his voice dropping: "What are you talking about?"

Chen Mian, holding back his laughter, revealed the answer: "Don't you want to take a look at your back?"

Xu Yanfeng took a T-shirt from the closet to the bathroom, took off his shirt, turned to look at his back, and saw a red lipstick mark, especially noticeable on the light blue fabric.

His temples twitched as he recalled the teaching building, where he had suddenly stopped and Xia Xi had slammed into him from behind—surely that was when the mark got there. Xia Xi must have seen it then but said nothing, letting him walk across half the campus with the lipstick print before returning to the dorm.

Chen Mian shouted at the closed bathroom door: "Did you see it? Whose girl left this trace?"

If we're talking about a girl recently involved with Xu Yanfeng, Chen Mian first thought of Xia Xi, and then shouted: "Couldn't it be our Architecture Department's underclassman, the new campus belle of Nan Da, Xia Xi?"

No one in the bathroom answered him.

Chen Mian shook his leg with laughter, feeling a hunch from somewhere, thinking that this girl Xia Xi had a chance to win Xu Yanfeng over—perhaps because the courage she displayed was something he hadn't seen in other girls.

He opened the forum; the post Xia Xi had previously made about a "heavy reward" had already become popular, with thousands of replies underneath.

As for knowing Xu Yanfeng, naturally his roommates of several years understood him best; Chen Mian clicked on Xia Xi's avatar and sent her a private message.

cmbay11: "I have some super-private info on Xu Yanfeng here, underclassman, want—"

A nameless helper's assist arrives~(End of chapter)