On the way back, Si Qing was praising Lin Ran for being handsome again, while Su Shijie shamelessly asked if he’d been handsome just now too.

“You? Handsome my ass! You’re nowhere near as handsome as Brother Ran. That presence of his—tch, he’s insanely cool!” Si Qing said excitedly. She was starting to envy Lin Ruixue again. Lin Ran might have a twisted personality and a terrible temper, but the way he protected Lin Ruixue was seriously cool!

“Hey, kid, watch how you talk! I was handsome just now too, okay?” Su Shijie said, displeased.

“Yeah, right!” Si Qing scoffed. With Su Shijie acting like a carefree slacker all day, there was no way anyone could call him cool. He was only good-looking.

“But seriously, I didn’t expect that guy to be so reasonable. I thought we were gonna end up fighting today!” Su Shijie said with a laugh.

It wasn’t just Su Shijie—even Lin Ran hadn’t expected that guy named Yuchi Chen to be so reasonable. He wasn’t blindly taking his sister’s side, either. He must’ve had a good upbringing and been taught some manners. It was just his sister who had a bit of a foul mouth.

“I think that Yuchi Chen guy’s probably a college student. Is it really appropriate to call him ‘that guy’?” Lin Ran said with a chuckle.

“What, should I call him ‘big brother’ instead? No way. It’s his good fortune that Young Master Su even calls him ‘that guy’!” Su Shijie said with a cheeky grin.

“You, Young Master Su? Give me a break!” Si Qing shot back without holding back.

“Y-you could try being more like Xiaoxue! Keep your mouth shut!” Su Shijie was fuming. Why was this kid always picking a fight with him?

“Why don’t you shut up first? You say stuff that makes people want to roast you!” Si Qing fired back.

“Whatever. I’m not gonna argue with a little kid. I’m heading home! Bye!” Su Shijie turned off down another road.

After walking a little farther, it was time for Si Qing to head back too. But she wasn’t going home—she was going with Lin Ruixue. She’d be staying at her place this week.

Lin Ran had a headache.

It was Friday, and there was no school tomorrow. Lin Ran hadn’t done his homework either. Honestly, Class S had way too much homework, and he really didn’t want to do it tonight. After washing up, he went back to his room, turned on his computer, and started a game. But just as he opened the login screen, Si Qing brought Lin Ruixue over to knock on his door.

“Brother Ran, open up! Can I borrow your computer to look up some study materials?” Si Qing’s loud voice rang out along with her knocking.

In the end, Lin Ran swallowed his irritation and opened the door.

“Brother Ran...” Lin Ruixue said awkwardly.

“Hehe, we’re just borrowing your computer for a bit. We’re definitely looking up study materials!” Si Qing said, raising her hand to swear it.

“...Fine.” Lin Ran held back for a long moment, then nodded. His head was killing him.

“Told you your brother would lend it to us. Look how worried you were,” Si Qing whispered to Lin Ruixue.

Lin Ruixue thanked Lin Ran.

Lin Ran lay down on the bed and played on his phone, his head aching. He’d play his game after they finished looking things up.

Lin Ran wasn’t much of a phone person. He didn’t play mobile games or watch shows; at most, he’d shoot the breeze with the friends in his gaming group.

Just as Lin Ran was having a great time chatting with the big shots in the group, Su Shijie sent him a link, followed by a few messages.

Su Shijie: You have to see what I found!

Su Shijie: Click this and listen to this girl sing!

Su Shijie: Hurry, hurry, hurry! I know you’re gaming, but hurry!

Curious, Lin Ran clicked the link. It didn’t look like a Chinese site. The page was incredibly slow to load, and the whole interface was in English. After a while, a video player appeared on the screen. The thumbnail showed a girl from just below the mouth down to her chest, and next to it was what seemed to be her ID: Night 17.

Lin Ran was speechless. Su Shijie was always watching girls sing and dance on all kinds of websites, then trying to flirt with them. Old habits really died hard. Lin Ran had no interest in watching girls pose and show off.

Su Shijie started pestering him.

Su Shijie: Hurry up and click it! Listen to it! This is so damn exciting!

Su Shijie: Did you open it? Have you listened yet?

Su Shijie: Listen, I’m not messing with you. You’d never guess. You’re gonna be shocked when you hear it!

Su Shijie was annoying Lin Ran so much that he reluctantly clicked the link to see what it was all about.

The video started loading. Damn, it was slow!

It took ages before the video finally started playing. First came the intro to a song. The girl put on her headphones, then flashed a peace sign at the camera. And then it started loading again.

After the video had finally loaded a little more, the girl began to sing. It sounded like she was reading the lyrics and singing along with the music. After listening for a while, Lin Ran could only say that her voice sounded a little familiar. He couldn’t hear anything special about it.

Lin Ran: What’s up with this video? You on your period?

Su Shijie: Are you serious?

Su Shijie: You didn’t recognize her?

Lin Ran: Recognize what? Her singing’s just okay.

Su Shijie: What the hell, are you messing with me? “Just okay”? She’s got over two hundred thousand views and more than a hundred thousand followers, and you’re telling me her singing’s just okay? Is your English that bad, or are my ears broken?

Lin Ran: What the hell’s wrong with you? Stop trying to drool over every girl you see, okay?

Su Shijie: Fuck, you really didn’t recognize her?

Lin Ran: Other than thinking her voice sounded a little familiar, I didn’t notice anything else.

Su Shijie: Oh my god. You... I’m trying to decide whether I should even tell you.

Lin Ran: Don’t bother.

Su Shijie: I’m asking one more time. You seriously can’t tell that she’s Night Qingqian?

Lin Ran: ...

Lin Ran frowned. Now that Su Shijie mentioned it, the voice did sound a lot like Ye Qingqian’s. But so what?

Lin Ran: So what?

Su Shijie: ...I can’t talk to you. Go do whatever you were doing. Get lost, get lost, get lost.

Lin Ran: What’s your problem? So what if she’s Ye Qingqian? What’s that got to do with you or me?

Su Shijie: Go fuck yourself!

Lin Ran: Fuck you!

Su Shijie: I shouldn’t have told you. The way you handled that just blinded me!

Lin Ran: I really don’t get it. Even if she is Ye Qingqian, what’s that got to do with you? What’s it got to do with me?

Su Shijie: Just pretend I’m dead.

Lin Ran: Where are your ashes buried? I’ll burn you some paper offerings one of these days.

Su Shijie: Anywhere at a crossroads will do. You’re the one who angered me to death. Now I’m a lonely wandering ghost.

Lin Ran: Sure. I’ll burn a couple of paper effigies for you too.

Su Shijie: Get lost, get lost, get lost!

Lin Ran smiled and glanced at Lin Ruixue and Si Qing to see if they’d finished looking things up. But Si Qing was looking right at him.

“What is it?” Lin Ran asked.

“Were you just listening to Senior Sister Ye sing?” Si Qing asked, looking surprised.

Lin Ran froze. “Huh?”

“That song you were just playing—I thought it sounded like Senior Sister Ye singing. I mean Senior Sister Ye Qingqian, the Student Council president, that pretty girl you’re really close with!” Si Qing explained again, thinking Lin Ran hadn’t understood.

“What do you mean, ‘really close with me’?” Lin Ran grimaced.

“Aren’t you?” Si Qing asked, puzzled.

“Not even a little.” Lin Ran was speechless.

“Oh, okay. I really thought that song you were playing sounded like her,” Si Qing said, nodding.

“Are you done looking things up?” Lin Ran asked, no longer bothering to be polite.

“Not yet. What’s the rush? Wait!” Si Qing waved him off and turned back to the computer.

Lin Ran wanted to smack her. Watching those two girls peck at the keyboard one letter at a time, he thought, Oh my god, someone save me!