Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 36

Night had fallen.

Nanhua City was adorned with countless neon lights, shimmering in a dazzling display.

On the top floor of the “MUSE” club in the west of the city,

Xia Shiyu sat on a velvet sofa,

a glass of nearly flat champagne in her hand.

She had deliberately chosen a low-key yet exquisite black evening dress.

Her hair was loosely pinned up, a few curls falling beside her ears.

Blessed with naturally striking features-her face bold and sculpted-
she needed little makeup to be utterly captivating.

The makeup artist had simply drawn an upward eyeliner for her, and used a vintage crimson to make her lips stand out even more.

Paired with her dress, it was enough to present the innate aggression and allure in her bones in a way that was even more striking to others.

A few socialites sat around a glass coffee table,
their eyes occasionally drifting toward the other side of the hall.

Over there, several men in suits were sneaking glances this way under the pretense of lighting cigarettes or chatting.

“Shiyu, look over there.”

Her best friend sitting beside her gestured toward the bar with her eyes. “That ‘promising young man’ in the gray suit hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we sat down. He’s practically drooling-so sleazy.”

Another friend covered her mouth and giggled.

“It’s not just him. Look at the one in the corner pretending to check his phone-he’s holding it upside down.”

“Men, honestly, every single one of them thinks they’re being so discreet.”

Xia Shiyu didn’t say anything. She raised her gently swirling champagne to her lips and took a sip.

The drink was cold, with a faintly tart hint of lime sliding down her throat.

“You can’t say that.”

She set down her glass, her tone innocent and naive, as if defending those peeping men. “They’re just curious. Who can blame them, when we’re all so beautiful tonight?”

“Pfft-”

Her friends burst into laughter, their bodies shaking with mirth.

“My dear lady, you really are ‘kind.'”

The friend with big, wavy curls was laughing so hard she was nearly in tears.

“Good thing they didn’t hear you, or your die-hard fan club would have a few more greasy middle-aged uncles tonight.”

“Exactly! That mouth of yours is too good at fooling people. No wonder all those men are so bewitched by you.”

Xia Shiyu just smiled and didn’t respond, lazily resting her chin on one hand.

The golden liquid in her glass faintly reflected that flawless, stunning face.

The topic of their idle chatter soon shifted to the unavoidable “target” within their little circle.

“By the way, did you hear? Shen Ruanruan won the ‘Best Delegate’ award again at this year’s city-level Model United Nations conference.”

One friend pursed her lips, unable to hide the sourness in her tone. “I just don’t get it. With that pure, unworldly white lotus act, how does she have so many people eating out of her hand?”

“I saw her at the art exhibition the other day, too. Wearing a white dress like she was going to a funeral, surrounded by a swarm of flies, all praising her like she was some fairy descended to earth. Disgusting.”

“Exactly. She seems gentle and kind on the surface, but who knows what she’s really like behind the scenes?”

Other girls chimed in, “Last time, a guy pursued her a bit too eagerly, and the next day his family received a ‘lawyer’s warning letter’ from the Shen Group. Tsk, what a show of power.”

Usually, when she heard this kind of gossip and backbiting, Xia Shiyu would laugh and cut them off,

saying a few harmless words and subtly steering the conversation elsewhere.

It had nothing to do with any fake schoolgirl camaraderie.

It was simply that attacking a rival of equal strength so casually was a tasteless, low-class move.

But tonight, she didn’t do that.

When the name “Shen Ruanruan” entered her ears, a face with black-rimmed glasses inexplicably surfaced in her mind.

Lin Hui… had joined the math team that Shen Ruanruan was in.

This thought was like a tiny thorn pricking her chest.

It didn’t hurt, but it stuck in her heart.

So, Xia Shiyu silently listened as her friends used all sorts of cutting words to attack the other half of “Nanhua’s Two Beauties,” the one always mentioned alongside herself.

“Shiyu, what do you think?”

Someone quickly tossed the topic to her. “You’re at the same school as her, you should know best, right?”

Pulling herself out of that restless mood, Xia Shiyu looked up, her face still wearing that sweet, syrupy smile.

“Shen Ruanruan?”

Her tone was calm, as if she were evaluating an insignificant commodity.

“Just a pretty package with nothing inside.”

Her friends immediately burst into laughter, their faces lighting up with excitement at the approval of their leader.

“Exactly! Shiyu, you see right through her!”

“That’s right! No matter how good her act is, she can’t fool Shiyu’s eyes!”

“…”

The conversation soon drifted back toward the topic of men.
This is the eternal, unchanging core topic at these gatherings.

“I just hooked up with a little puppy (a young, doting guy / boy toy) last week-his stamina is amazing. Last night we…” My smokey-eyed bestie began to describe the scene in vivid detail.

“That’s nothing,” the big wavy-haired one shot back, unwilling to be outdone. “My boyfriend is a coach, and every time he leaves me feeling…”

They shared their intimate experiences with their boyfriends without reservation, talking about everything from kissing techniques to bedroom performance.

It was as if they were boasting about their conquests, competing over who had the better ‘trophy.’

Xia Shiyu’s expression didn’t change; she occasionally chimed in with a comment or two during their excited exchanges.

“Little puppies are passionate, but their technique is usually a bit raw. You need patience to train them.”

“As for coaches, their muscles are too hard. Sometimes that actually affects the experience.”

“The ideal is someone who looks slim in clothes but has muscle underneath, low body fat, and strong core strength.”

Her words were professional, skillfully playing the role of a seasoned veteran, someone experienced and well-versed in these matters.

Every sentence hit her friends’ excitement perfectly, pushing the atmosphere of this private conversation to new heights.

“Wow, Shiyu, you really know a lot!”

“No wonder it’s you! Such a sharp summary-come on, teach us your ways!”

“It’s nothing,” Xia Shiyu accepted their compliments with modesty on the surface.

But only she knew the truth.

It was all just talk.

Her wealth of theoretical knowledge came entirely from drunken confessions by men at various parties, and from reading psychology and relationship books out of boredom.

To this day… she still kept her virginity.

The body coveted by countless men, imagined by her friends as “battle-hardened,” hadn’t even experienced its first kiss.

The reason was simple.

She had a cleanliness obsession.

She only felt disgust at the kind of physical collision that relied purely on hormones and primal impulses.

After all, all that sweat and heavy breathing…

Just imagining the wet, sticky scene of lips and tongues entwined made her physically uncomfortable.

Too dirty.

Listening to her friends recount those explicit details,

She wanted to change the subject, but for some reason… the scene from earlier this evening flashed before her eyes again.

“You don’t need to prove your ‘purity’ to me, or to anyone else.”

“Xia Shiyu, you’ve always been a very, very good person.”

A few words echoed in her ears, looping endlessly like a program set to repeat.

I’m… good?

Such a simple, straightforward, and yet… unfamiliar evaluation.

The fruit candy with its pretty spiral pattern was still in her purse.

Just looking at the cheap packaging showed how low-quality it was, yet to make room for it, she had inexplicably taken out some expensive cosmetics.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

Her fingertip unconsciously traced the rim of her champagne glass, Xia Shiyu lost in thought.

“Hey, Shiyu, what are you daydreaming about?”

The smokey-eyed friend suddenly leaned in, her tone teasing. “Are you thinking about some handsome guy? Tell us, where on a man feels best to touch?”

“Of course it’s there! Hehe.”

“The inner thigh is nice too.”

“I like touching the butt-firm and bouncy.”

The others chimed in with all sorts of lewd answers.

In this kind of setting, she was supposed to go along and say something risqué to match the mood.

But, inexplicably… Xia Shiyu gave an answer that even surprised herself.

“It should be… the chest.”

“The chest?”

Her friends were stunned, confusion on their faces. “That hard place, what’s so good about touching it?”

Xia Shiyu didn’t explain further.

Her mind uncontrollably replayed the ‘accidental’ moment from earlier that evening.

She had pretended to trip and fallen into Lin Hui’s arms.

Her hand had landed right on his chest.

Even through the sun-scented cotton school uniform, she could feel the firmness beneath the fabric.

Not the thin, bony feel you’d expect from a teenage boy,

Nor the exaggerated bulk built up in the gym.

It was the kind of lean strength, full of vitality.

Her fingertips could even sense his heart beating steadily and powerfully beneath.

Warm vibrations transmitted through the cloth.

Thump, thump, thump.

Again and again.

Each beat was a testament to life.

Clean, warm, solid.

Xia Shiyu took another sip of champagne, as if trying to use the cool liquid to suppress the inexplicable heat rising inside her.

Watching the dazzling liquid swirl in her glass, a thought popped up in her mind.

‘The feeling really is quite nice…’