Chu Ji’s gaze turned serious. He was sure Zhou Heng had tricked Su Mo. As one of Su Mo’s admirers, he had to make the goddess understand that the person she considered a friend wasn’t a good person at all.
“Su Mo-senpai, you might not know what Zhou Heng is like. He’s not a good student—no, that’s not quite it. He’s not someone you should get involved with, not by any normal standard. Fighting, skipping class, hanging around with shady people—that’s all just everyday stuff to Zhou Heng. He’s completely at odds with the rules of modern society. The more you associate with him…”
“Enough.”
Su Mo’s voice, tinged with impatience, cut Chu Ji off.
“Chu Ji, you don’t need to teach me how to choose my friends. And I don’t need you to tell me what kind of person Zhou Heng is.”
Wang Tao sneered from the side.
“Oh, oh. Still refusing to see reason, huh?”
Cheng Xu clicked his tongue, too.
“Wow, why does that sound so familiar? Oh, right. When a young lady who’s been sweet-talked by some punk has lost all sense of direction, and her parents ask about her choice of friends, this is pretty much the standard response.”
Chu Ji grew more and more irritated. As if Su Mo’s voice coming through the phone thought he wasn’t upset enough, she added fuel to the fire.
“Chu Ji, I called because I want you to leave Zhou Heng alone. Don’t give me all that other stuff. Just tell me your answer, okay?”
Chu Ji closed his eyes. Su Mo’s image flashed through his mind.
He really did like her, so he couldn’t let Su Mo keep going down this path.
“No.”
Chu Ji’s answer was firm and unequivocal.
“Why?”
Su Mo sounded confused.
“Do you want a way to save face, or do you want compensation? Just say it. Whatever can be given or paid, I’ll take care of it for Zhou Heng.”
It would’ve been better if she hadn’t made such a sweeping promise. The moment she did, the nameless anger in Chu Ji’s heart flared up several notches.
“Su Mo-senpai, what exactly is your relationship with Zhou Heng? Fine, you want to help him make peace with me—but why are you offering to compensate me on his behalf, too?”
Su Mo replied at once from the other end of the phone.
“Chu Ji, do you have any right to question my relationships?”
Chu Ji’s scalp twitched. The anger surged into his head, and he could barely keep his emotions in check. But he’d been taught better since childhood, so even though he was upset, he forced down the fury in his chest and continued in a calm voice.
“Su Mo-senpai, since you don’t want me asking about your relationships, I won’t pry any further. But you might not know what Zhou Heng did to me. He beat up two of my friends, then insulted my elders right in front of them. That’s not something I can just laugh off. If I want to keep even a shred of face in front of my friends, I have to make Zhou Heng pay.”
Chu Ji spoke with envy and resentment.
“A punishment that makes sense, at least.”
Su Mo went along with him.
“What kind of way to save face do you need?”
Chu Ji narrowed his eyes.
“Make Zhou Heng drop out.”
If he couldn’t have a say in Su Mo’s relationships, then he’d put some distance between her and this one. Chu Ji refused to believe that once Zhou Heng dropped out, Su Mo would follow him to wherever he went.
Chu Ji smiled darkly, delight practically spilling across his face.
Yes. There was no better plan than getting Zhou Heng to drop out. It would get the pest away from Su Mo and give him a chance to get closer to her.
Wang Tao blinked, pulled out his phone, and sent Cheng Xu a message.
“The young master’s really fallen for the top student, huh? The second he hears there’s a guy by her side, he gets this angry and wants to drag the guy away from Su Mo.”
Cheng Xu replied right away.
“You don’t know shit. That’s not love—it’s envy. Think about it. Su Mo’s the top student, a top-tier beauty at school, an untouchable flower on a high peak. If some handsome, well-behaved student won her over, fine. But what the hell is Zhou Heng? Forget the young master—you and I are both better than him. Why should he get Su Mo’s favor?”
Wang Tao nodded to himself, then put his phone away and studied Chu Ji as he spoke with Su Mo. Chu Ji didn’t look good at all. Disappointment, anger, envy, and all sorts of negative emotions were tangled together, casting an eerie gloom over his otherwise handsome face.
And the one making him so gloomy was still adding fuel to the fire as she spoke.
“Drop out? Why does he have to drop out? Zhou Heng hasn’t done anything that bad, has he? Didn’t you just want him to pay you a little compensation?”
A little compensation would’ve been enough before.
But things were different now.
“That was just the first step. My plan for that clueless bastard Zhou Heng was to make him pay, then keep extorting and threatening him bit by bit. Once I’d put him through enough, I’d find some excuse to kick him out of this school. But now that Su Mo-senpai’s stepped in to play peacemaker, I can’t exactly ignore her.”
Chu Ji said, pleased with himself.
“We can skip all the slow, underhanded stuff and go straight to the final outcome. As long as Zhou Heng drops out and goes to another high school, I promise I won’t go after him again.”
