Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 34

Xia Shiyu straightened her posture.

The sensation from gently caressing his chest still lingered on her fingertips.

Interesting. He hadn’t disappointed her.

But before she could properly savor Lin Hui’s expression-embarrassed and angry yet stubbornly trying to appear composed-

a shrill voice abruptly shattered the carefully crafted atmosphere of ambiguous tension.

“Oh, Shiyu, you sure change your taste fast. Found yourself a new one already?”

Her gaze passed over the boy and landed on the newcomer.

What was his name again… Oh, Zhou Ziang.

He wore a look of self-assured arrogance, as if convinced of his own earth-shattering handsomeness.

His collar was open, deliberately flaunting that so-called “bad boy charm.”

A clichéd entrance, utterly unoriginal.

Internally, she gave a blunt assessment, though the smile on Xia Shiyu’s lips remained unchanged.

Compared to a “peacock” constantly fanning his feathers to assert his presence, Lin Hui’s reaction was far more interesting to her.

The boy maintained an air of indifference.

But his fingers tightened around his backpack strap, faint red marks visible on his palm.

Hmm? He’s showing some emotion now.

“So, Miss Xia, after dumping me, you went for a scrawny beanpole like this?”

On the other side, Zhou Ziang’s mocking voice grew louder on purpose.

“What, got tired of gourmet delicacies and now want to try some plain porridge and pickles?”

His gaze locked onto Lin Hui.

His expression was full of disdain, as if inspecting some item salvaged from a trash heap.

“Hey, kid, which class are you from?”

The prey didn’t respond.

He just stood there, his back-usually hunched under the weight of his turtle-shell backpack-now straight and tall.

His eyes met Zhou Ziang’s without flinching.

Of course, this calm exterior was just a façade.

Xia Shiyu noticed the boy’s hand at his side unconsciously twisting the loose thread on his uniform trousers again and again.

A little gesture to hide his inner tension.

Quite cute.

The curve of her lips deepened ever so slightly, unnoticed by anyone else.

This sudden farce was truly a timely catalyst.

As for Zhou Ziang, the tool on the other side-

He was her ex-boyfriend of less than two weeks.

The reason for their breakup was simple:

He was just too boring.

His pursuit, his attentiveness, the little surprises he prepared to move himself from time to time…

All of it added up to a clichéd novel where you could guess the ending from the very first page.

Xia Shiyu had thought he’d be like the other men she’d dumped-after a period of fruitless pestering, he’d sensibly disappear.

She hadn’t expected him to stoop to such a low-level public confrontation.

Trying to salvage that pitiful shred of masculine dignity, was he?

As expected… so dull.

“Hey, kid, don’t just play dead and stay silent. I’ll give you two minutes to consider my proposal.”

Zhou Ziang continued to provoke, “While it’s still light out, hurry home and do your homework. Shiyu isn’t someone your kind should even dream about.”

He deliberately emphasized the words “your kind.”

The contempt in his tone was obvious even to passing students.

Lin Hui remained silent.

He seemed intent on simply ignoring this unwelcome intruder.

But-

In the end, he couldn’t keep his composure, this clever little thing.

Xia Shiyu watched with interest from the corner of her eye.

The soft lines of the boy’s jaw had tightened, revealing a hint of masculine sharpness.

He was suppressing himself.

Tsk, tsk.

So, beneath this “just want to study in peace” slacker shell, there was still an ordinary boy’s pride and anger at being provoked.

Three, two, one-

The timing was just right.

It was time to feed this struggling prey a bit of bait-enough to give him a taste of “hope.”

“Zhou Ziang.”

Xia Shiyu wore that flawless, sweet smile. “We’ve already broken up. Who I’m with now doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you, does it?”

Her coquettish voice was so sweet it could melt.

“And,” she continued, her tone soft yet carrying an unmistakable sense of boundaries, “Lin Hui is my friend. Please show a little respect when you speak.”
The effect of these words was, naturally, immediate.

The gaze behind her, always vigilant and distant, underwent a subtle change after she spoke.

There was now a hint of surprise within it, and… a trace of warmth, something even the boy himself had yet to realize.

‘Ha, hooked.’

Anyone, when faced with sudden protection, will inevitably feel the illusion of “being protected.”

As her prey wavered, he would slowly sink deeper and deeper onto the path she had laid out.

Still, the feeling of “being needed” was unexpectedly pleasant.

Even more… gratifying than she had imagined.

“Friend? Xia Shiyu, don’t disgust me!”

But in Zhou Ziang’s eyes, this move was undoubtedly pouring oil on the fire.

“Quit pretending to be some pure, innocent girl. Who at Nanhua No.1 High School doesn’t know what kind of person you are?”

He gave a cold laugh, emotions spiraling out of control. “Smiling at everyone in public, but God knows how many men you’ve fooled around with in private!”

Filthy words poured out, hard to listen to.

“When you went to a hotel with me, why didn’t you say you were his friend? When your legs were wrapped around my waist…”

The same old script, again.

Xia Shiyu was bored enough to want to yawn.

It seemed all these men she had cast aside shared a strange consensus.

They liked to invent imaginary scenarios, using filthy words and their own impoverished imagination.

But the truth was, no man had ever truly had her.

Sleeping with them? That would only dirty her own sheets.

She simply enjoyed toying with the feelings of others in the palm of her hand.

She delighted in watching them progress from full confidence, to infatuation, and finally to utter despair and humiliation upon being discarded.

Especially typical ones like Zhou Ziang.

Born into privilege, good looks, thinking his background entitled him to possess her.

Looking back on the two weeks they dated, every time he tried to get handsy, she had deftly rejected him with various excuses.

Sometimes she claimed her period had arrived.

Sometimes she pretended to be afraid of being seen.

Sometimes she simply said she wasn’t ready.

Watching him try to act up but forced to hold back, squeezing out a flattering smile despite his frustration-it was truly amusing.

Well, dull as it was, it hardly mattered.

Although Zhou Ziang’s father had amassed some power in Nanhua City thanks to the real estate boom,

to dare to slander her so brazenly and shamelessly in public…

Very well. She would find time to wipe his so-called family business off the map of Nanhua City.

Xia Shiyu, calm inside, quietly passed a death sentence on him and his family behind it all.

Yet her face showed the exact opposite emotion at just the right moment.

Her eyes turned red almost instantly.

A thin mist of tears veiled her eyes, as if she was bearing a great injustice but stubbornly refused to defend herself.

“I… I didn’t…”

Her voice, choked with tears, weakly protested.

She neither outright denied nor argued fiercely.

“Zhou Ziang, how… how could you say that about me?”

Her ambiguous response sounded, to bystanders, just like a feeble defense after having her sordid past exposed.

Seeing this, Zhou Ziang grew even more arrogant.

“Heh! Why not? Dare to swear to this kid you never fooled around with anyone else?”

A look both smug and twisted appeared on his face. “Want me to remind you again today just how sensitive you are under that school uniform?”

With that, he strode forward, a reckless madness flashing in his eyes.

His right hand, adorned with an expensive watch, was about to reach out.

“Pa!”

A sharp, muffled sound of flesh and bone colliding.

His wrist was caught in a firm grip from the side.

It was Lin Hui.

He had finally moved.

No unnecessary words, no flashy moves.

He looked at Zhou Ziang expressionlessly.

In a gentle, mild tone, he uttered a very brief sentence.

“Her clothes will get dirty.”