Chapter 296: Er Zhong Produced a Fierce Man
School.
The thrilling scene on the sports field that afternoon quickly spread through Class 3-1. Although the teachers had issued a gag order in advance, they couldn’t stop the students from discussing it in private. They called Er Zhong’s a fierce man, who demonstrated what “empty-handed catch the dagger” meant to everyone present. It was said that even the attacker was stunned, frozen in place for a good four to five seconds.
Furthermore, it was rumored that the weapon was still stuck in the fierce man’s hand when the security guards pinned the attacker to the ground. It was bloody, like watching a horror movie.
Someone with sharp eyes, who had also witnessed the small incident at noon, realized that this fierce man was likely the one who had confessed his love to Lin Jingq at the classroom doorway that noon. As soon as he spoke, he was strongly supported by others who were also “eating melon” at the scene.
“Don’t you think he doesn’t look that strong? How did he dare…”
“What do you know? He’s a warrior charging for love!”
“But didn’t you say before that the confession had nothing to do with him? It was Gao Qingyang pretending to be embarrassed.”
Gao Qingyang was a minor celebrity at Er Zhong. Relying on his decent looks and good connections with some of the school’s ruffians, he had wooed countless young girls. Therefore, even if they weren’t in the same class, everyone in Class 1 had some impression of him and had heard his name.
“Who knows? I thought so too, but did you see the scene in the afternoon? I don’t believe that fierce man has no feelings for Lin Da Xiaohua.”
“Alas, love!”
“Found him, found him! The fierce man is Chen An from Class 2!”
“Chen An? That name sounds strange, I don’t have any impression of him…”
In short, the topic of Chen An became more and more exaggerated and twisted.
By the next morning, as soon as Chen An stepped into the classroom, curious glances were cast his way. After fermenting overnight, the rumors grew more intense, with everyone having their own explanation and version. Some said Chen An was risking everything for love, while others claimed Chen An was actually the school beauty’s personal protector, who usually kept a low profile and only acted in critical moments… And remarkably, they all sounded very convincing.
However, these discussions came and went quickly, mostly lasting for a mere three minutes. It was estimated that no one would care about them in a couple of days.
Chen An walked to the back window seat and sat down. As soon as he was seated, his deskmate Liang Bufan leaned over. With a trendy buzz cut, he looked quite stylish. He nudged Chen An with his elbow, his eyes darting around. “Chen An, what’s going on? Didn’t I hear that you were paralyzed after protecting Lin Da Xiaohua? How come you look like nothing happened?”
Liang Bufan and Chen An were not only deskmates but also roommates. They usually had conversations. His question immediately made many students around them perk up their ears. They had little interaction with Chen An daily, so they could only wait for Liang Bufan to take the lead.
Chen An smirked. He had underestimated the spread of rumors. In such a short time, it had already escalated to him being paralyzed…
“If I had shown up any later, would you have been preparing my funeral?”
Liang Bufan chuckled and scratched his head. “You didn’t return to the dorm last night, so I thought the rumors were true.”
“As you said, rumors are just rumors. It’s not as exaggerated as you think.” Chen An perfunctorily replied and picked up his book to read. The school had treated him well, so he naturally wouldn’t let the school down. Getting good grades… How good is good? Chen An thought about it and felt that full marks would be about right. However, with subjective grading subjects like Chinese, full marks were unlikely.
Beside him, Liang Bufan clicked his tongue. He spotted the white bandage wrapped around Chen An’s right hand and his eyes lit up. “It’s not that exaggerated… So, you really caught the dagger empty-handed yesterday?”
Seeing Chen An nod, Liang Bufan leaned back as if he had witnessed something incredible. Shock and admiration flashed in his eyes before he gave a thumbs up. “Awesome, Chen An, Brother An, I unilaterally declare that from now on, you are the toughest person in Er Zhong!”
The two didn’t deliberately lower their voices, so the surrounding students naturally heard everything clearly. Their gazes towards Chen An were no different from Liang Bufan’s, filled with shock and admiration. They never expected the usually quiet Chen An to be so brave when facing such a dangerous and critical situation. That was literally blocking a knife with his body! This was much more impressive than those sports students who always talked about “settling down.”
Only Gao Qingyang, sitting in the corner of the classroom, looked confused and bewildered. He wondered if he had mistakenly stumbled upon someone who liked Lin Jingq yesterday? But then he considered that the probability was indeed high. After all, for a school beauty like Lin Jingq, if you grabbed ten people at random in the school, you’d probably get eleven people who liked her. So, it wasn’t surprising that Chen An liked Lin Jingq.
Thinking this, a hint of mockery flickered across Gao Qingyang’s lips. Chen An was in the same class, so he had some impression of him and knew his situation. Besides his good academic performance, he was a pure bookworm, and a typical otaku. He probably had trouble speaking properly in front of a top beauty like Lin Jingq. As he thought about it, Gao Qingyang almost laughed. The thought of Chen An standing nervously in front of Lin Jingq, stammering for a long time without being able to say a word, made him want to laugh. Even he, a social butterfly, was ruthlessly rejected when pursuing Lin Jingq, so wouldn’t a shut-in like Chen An be a complete clown? He had no self-awareness at all! Calling himself a warrior charging for love, he’s just a humble sycophant wagging his tail! What an idiot! And catching a dagger empty-handed, do you think that will make her like you?
Thinking this, Gao Qingyang felt much better. After all, in the past half-day, rumors about Chen An and Lin Jingq had been endless, and coupled with his own public confession failure yesterday afternoon, he had been quite annoyed.
Just then, his deskmate turned to him, “Gao Qingyang, what do you think, does Chen An really have something going on with Lin Da Xiaohua?”
Gao Qingyang sneered and said, “You guys really lack discernment. With Chen An’s usual poor boy demeanor, why would Lin Da Xiaohua fancy him?” Even though he, Gao Qingyang, had failed his confession, it didn’t mean Chen An had a chance!
“Maybe as soon as he opened his mouth, he froze on the spot, his face red as a monkey’s backside,” his deskmate grumbled, wanting to retort but feeling that Gao Qingyang’s words had some truth to them.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion at the doorway, which immediately quieted down. Gao Qingyang looked up, thinking it was the homeroom teacher, but instead saw a slender and tall figure. She wore Er Zhong’s blue and white uniform, with a graceful posture and long hair tied high in a ponytail. She stood at the classroom doorway, looked around for a moment, then her eyes brightened as if she had seen something, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards. The girl waved and called out crisply.
“Chen An!”
(End of this chapter)
