“Chen Dao! Why are you ignoring me?”

Bai Qiaoqiao threw out both arms and demanded it with a dark look on her face.

Beside her was the useless four-person side-character squad. Ah, no, that wasn’t quite right. Zhao Lexuan had at least contributed a piece of candy.

Anyway, under the banner of not wanting Chen Dao to bully anyone, Li Fang, Li Zhiqiang, and Zhou Yu had been sticking by Bai Qiaoqiao’s side the whole time.

Chen Dao ignored the five people behind him. He went from the third floor down to the first, only to get blocked at the stairwell in the end.

After eating the candy, Bai Qiaoqiao had gradually recovered her usual energy. Quite a few girls had even fed her snacks, and she’d made a whole scene out of it.

But in Chen Dao’s eyes, this was childishness mourning over childishness—childish to death.

Still, he couldn’t get away now.

He even found himself hoping Xia Jiuli would call at this exact moment and bail him out.

Damn it, why is Xia Jiuli all I can think about?!

“Wasn’t it you who said yesterday that you didn’t want to talk to me?”

Chen Dao answered impatiently.

That sarcastic reply made Li Fang’s body tremble at once. She tried to rush over and argue, but Zhao Lexuan managed to hold her back.

The six of them standing around in the corridor by the stairwell was seriously eye-catching.

Bai Qiaoqiao was, after all, a well-known figure at No. 4 High. She was pretty, and she’d even been interviewed for the school magazine. Though that time, Gu Lian had taken up most of the spotlight.

“That was just something I said in anger!”

Bai Qiaoqiao puffed out her cheeks. Her small, cute face carried a few more traces of annoyance. Still not satisfied, she added,

“So if I say it, you just listen? Why are you that obedient?!”

“Aren’t I talking to you right now? Happy?”

Chen Dao had no intention of getting tangled up with her. But Bai Qiaoqiao suddenly stepped forward and moved a little closer.

Chen Dao instinctively stepped back. His back hit the wall covered in little blue, white, and red tiles.

“Not happy! But Lexuan told me you helped me this morning—”

She seemed to be working herself up to something.

“Thank you. And I forgive you…”

Her gaze shifted left, toward the four people waiting on her, then quickly returned to Chen Dao.

“But since this was all your fault, and that’s why I fainted, I still haven’t forgiven you for that!”

“What did I even do to you now?”

Chen Dao rubbed the bridge of his nose. He’d just gotten blamed out of nowhere.

“Wasn’t it because you didn’t buy me breakfast? I was practically starving! So! Dinner! You’re paying!”

Her finger pointed straight at Chen Dao’s nose.

Even though she was a head shorter than him, the gesture looked weirdly imposing. The kind that made people want to punch her in the stomach on reflex.

“Can you stop being unreasonable?”

Chen Dao slapped away the hand pointing at his nose, not giving her any face at all.

He’d lived two lives. Added together, he’d spent over seven years being a sucker. There was no way one sentence like that would shake him now.

Besides, there was no reason for Chen Dao to please Bai Qiaoqiao in the first place.

Bai Qiaoqiao’s expression froze for a moment. Even the corner of her mouth twitched a little.

He said I’m being unreasonable?

Didn’t he used to like this spoiled little princess side of me the most?

He even said it was cute?!

“You not eating breakfast is your problem. Why should I buy you food? Do you really think you’re some princess?”

Chen Dao still kept nearly two meters away from her. He had no intention of wasting more time on Bai Qiaoqiao, and he started to leave. But the one who jumped out and shouted this time was Li Zhiqiang.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Chen Dao. You can’t even afford one meal, and you still had the nerve to say you wanted to chase Qiaoqiao? Isn’t that a little too stingy?”

Li Zhiqiang swaggered over and threw an arm around Chen Dao’s shoulder. His face clearly said, so you’ve got your day too, huh? He looked smug all over.

Chen Dao didn’t really bear any hostility toward this former fellow simp on the same path. It was just that now that he’d escaped the sea of suffering, he naturally felt a bit sorry for Li Zhiqiang.

But that was none of his business.

“If you want to pay, then go ahead. This humble daoist won’t be joining you. I’m waiting for someone.”

Chen Dao didn’t care about his provocation at all. He shoved Li Zhiqiang’s hand off and started heading toward Class One.

He decided he’d just go straight to the office, chat with Old Zhu, his homeroom teacher, for an hour, and deal with the homework he didn’t understand while he was at it.

Because today’s classes had all given him a headache.

“Oh, come on, Chen Dao. That excuse is way too lame, isn’t it?”

Li Fang raised her voice. Her left hand broke free from Zhao Lexuan’s grip, and she strode around to block Chen Dao’s path.

“Everyone knows that just to chase Qiaoqiao, you even threw away your social life. Who would you even be waiting for? If you’re scared, then just admit it! Let it go already! Stop obsessing over our Qiaoqiao!”

Of course, she wanted Chen Dao to stop getting close to Bai Qiaoqiao. She was just dissatisfied with, and mocking, this laughable excuse of his for leaving.

The moment Bai Qiaoqiao heard that, she realized one of her best friends, Li Fang, was actually trying to drive Chen Dao away for her. She panicked at once. If Chen Dao was gone, who else would treat me that well? No way, that won’t do!

So she hurriedly said, “Wait, that’s not what I meant!”

But those words never reached Chen Dao’s ears, because a graceful figure suddenly darted out in front of everyone—

It was Gu Lian.

Her eyes widened as her gaze swept across the six of them one by one. The fist clenched at her chest suddenly tightened. She turned halfway, wanting to hide back in the classroom, but then she saw Chen Dao standing right there in front of her, so she turned back again.

She looked completely dazed, a little blank.

But after hesitating for a while, Gu Lian finally clenched her fist a little, as if she’d made up her mind.

Tap tap tap, she hurried over to Chen Dao. Then she reached out, pinched his sleeve with her fingers, and tugged him off to one side, pulling him away from the other five.

Right under everyone’s eyes, the number one beauty of No. 4 High grabbed Chen Dao and hid with him behind a pillar.

“I… huff…”

She had only just managed to squeeze out a single word before she started taking deep breaths again.

Since she didn’t have any sticky notes with her, she couldn’t write, so she could only force herself to speak:

“M-my, my, my family sent someone… they’re waiting for you in the office…”