Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 65 - 64: If You Don’t Know the Tricks, What Kind of Girl Are You Chasing?
Wang Jierong’s beautiful eyes were wide open, as if they were about to spit fire. Her voice trembled violently, and anyone could feel her anger, dissatisfaction, and resentment.
But Li Yuan couldn’t be bothered with her. He remained by Xia Zhijin’s side, his gaze fixed on this hidden gem of a girl who was trembling from nervousness. He spoke gently, "Xia Zhijin, are you listening? Would you do me a favor?"
Xia Zhijin’s mind, which had frozen, finally rebooted. She sheepishly lifted her head to peek at Li Yuan. Meeting his gentle gaze, her heart began to beat erratically. She stammered, "Li-Li Yuan, wh-what do you need my help with?"
Hearing her voice, as crisp and pleasant as pearls falling onto a jade plate, and seeing her pure, shy, and youthful face, Li Yuan’s focus wavered for a moment.
He took a silver Zippo lighter from his pocket, preparing to hand it to her. He tried to use a relaxed tone to lower her guard.
"Xia Zhijin, after meeting you, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and quit smoking. Could you keep this lighter for me?"
Having said that, he held the lighter out to Xia Zhijin, awaiting her reply.
Xia Zhijin’s head was still in a daze. Kindhearted as she was, she couldn’t help but sneak another glance at Li Yuan. Her fair, slender hands clutched her sleeves tightly, unsure whether she should accept it.
Seeing this, Li Yuan felt more confident and continued, "Xia Zhijin, you wouldn’t want to see a promising young man fall deeper down the path of becoming a smoker, would you?"
Xia Zhijin subconsciously nodded and softly murmured, "Mhm." Her hands continued to fidget with the hem of her clothes, and she didn’t dare to meet his eyes.
Li Yuan’s heart pounded as he made a bold move. He shot his right hand out and, with lightning speed, grabbed Xia Zhijin’s small hand. He stuffed the lighter into her palm and reminded her, "Xia, please take good care of it for me. Whether or not I can quit smoking successfully is all up to you..."
Xia Zhijin was stunned by Li Yuan’s audacity. Her gorgeous face flushed a vibrant, tender red, inspiring a strong urge to protect her. She buried her head even lower.
She stood there frozen, clutching the lighter Li Yuan had given her, completely bewildered. The sight made Li Yuan grin from ear to ear.
"Xia, take good care of it for me, okay?"
"Mhm!"
Li Yuan nodded, satisfied. This is my favorite type of girl—obedient, sensible, and drop-dead gorgeous. A true hidden gem.
He turned back to look at Wang Jierong, who was practically exploding with rage, and apologized, "Wang Jierong, I think there’s been a real misunderstanding..."
Wang Jierong, her anger still simmering, glared at Li Yuan. "Li Yuan, are you trying to get my attention with a stunt like this? It’s really unmanly."
Li Yuan glanced at Wang Jierong, speechless. There’s never a shortage of arrogant, self-important people, no matter the situation...
The classroom buzzed with laughter and discussion as the students devoured this juicy gossip.
"Oh my god, Li Yuan really gave the gift to Xia Zhijin! That excuse is so creative."
"Saying he wants to quit smoking and asking her to hold his lighter... I’m so shocked my jaw hit the floor that he could even think of that."
"I’ve been playing basketball with Li Yuan these past few days, and I think he does smoke. I’ve seen him use that silver lighter. It’s a Zippo, worth several hundred bucks."
"Is Li Yuan for real? If he wants to chase a girl, he should go for the class beauties like Wang Jierong or Xiang Tan Yanqiu. Why is he chasing Xia Zhijin?"
"Maybe we’ve all been subconsciously overlooking Xia Zhijin? She’s quite tall, and her hair is very black and shiny. She dresses plainly and always keeps her head down, though, so it’s hard to see her face. Maybe she’s actually really beautiful?"
Qi Siyu stood at the podium, very close to Xia Zhijin in the front row. The few times Xia Zhijin had looked up, her immaculately pure face had taken her by surprise, leaving her stunned for a moment.
She couldn’t help but steal a few more glances at Xia Zhijin, then looked at Li Yuan, who was using such a ridiculous excuse to get close to her. She muttered to herself, This Li Yuan really has a good eye, finding the most beautiful girl among so many. He’s a smooth talker, and with his looks and build, this innocent little girl probably won’t be able to escape his grasp...
Li Yuan heard all the chatter from his classmates but paid it no mind.
Seeing that Xia Zhijin had already sat down, staring blankly into space, he smiled and returned to the podium. He glanced at the dumbfounded Liu Jia and suddenly lost all interest in continuing their act.
His goal for this freshman orientation had been achieved. He had established an initial connection with Xia Zhijin, his treasured moonlight girl. What could be better than that?
Li Yuan spoke directly, "Liu Jia, you can continue your one-man show. I’m not playing along anymore."
Liu Jia looked stunned. Li Yuan had won the second round, and he was just going to let him off the hook so easily?
"Li Yuan, are you sure you’re done? It’s your turn to set the challenge."
Li Yuan nodded. His gaze swept over the class as he said with a smile, "Sorry for taking up everyone’s time. Let’s give the stage back to Mrs. Qi."
With that, he walked straight off the podium and returned to his seat.
Seeing Li Yuan leave, Liu Jia scratched his head awkwardly. Flustered, he handed the microphone back to Qi Siyu and scurried back to his seat as well.
With Li Yuan and Liu Jia’s performance ending so anticlimactically, only the last part of the formulaic self-introductions for the freshman orientation meeting remained.
"Alright everyone, now that you’ve introduced yourselves and gotten to know each other, let’s vote for a temporary class president by a show of hands."
The morning’s class meeting ended quickly. Zhou Tianyu didn’t get his wish; the position of temporary class president was narrowly won by the lovely Xiang Tan Yanqiu.
The voting results were also quite interesting. Zhou Tianyu received more votes from the girls, while Xiang Tan Yanqiu secured the majority of the boys’ votes.
Li Yuan could only think one thing. Men and women, they’re all suckers for a pretty face.
"Li Yuan, Xia Zhijin is about to leave. Are you going to follow her?" Liu Jia still hadn’t figured out why Li Yuan would ignore the sexy and beautiful Wang Jierong to choose an ordinary girl like Xia Zhijin.
Li Yuan shot him a glare, too lazy to respond. If it hadn’t been for his terrible idea, he wouldn’t have had to commit social suicide today. Now, not only had he made a fool of himself in front of his classmates, but he had also offended that narcissist, Wang Jierong.
"You guys go on ahead. I still have something to do."
A knowing look appeared on Liu Jia’s face. He patted Li Yuan’s shoulder. "Good luck. We’ll be waiting for good news."
Wu Hao also looked curious. "Li Yuan, is Xia Zhijin really that beautiful? More beautiful than Zhong Tingyue and that girl in the hanfu the other day?"
Li Yuan replied nonchalantly, "Cut the nonsense. You’ll find out eventually."
Xia Zhijin was putting her books into her backpack, the blush on her face still not entirely faded.
Her roommate, Shen Xiyu, asked, "Zhijin, are you coming to the cafeteria with us today?"
Xia Zhijin instinctively shook her head. "You guys go ahead. I’m not that hungry yet."
Shen Xiyu was already used to being turned down. In the few days she had known Xia Zhijin, she had always been like this—never joining her roommates for meals or outings, always coming and going alone. You never knew what she was up to all day.
Just as Shen Xiyu was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of Li Yuan walking over out of the corner of her eye. A sly smile crept onto her face as she looked at her stunningly beautiful roommate.
"Zhijin, so you were waiting for a handsome guy! I won’t get in your way then. Bye-bye!"
