Chapter 254: Chapter 145: Wait, What Right Does He Have to Look Down on Me?

"..." Zheng Yi.

It was true. Of the five people hiking, everyone was exhausted. It seemed like only Xu Yun was having an easy time.

"Xu Yun, do you work out often?"

Gao Wenwen said curiously, "Your stamina seems much better than ours."

"I have been working out recently, yes."

"No wonder. That explains why your endurance is so good."

Gao Wenwen asked, "Are you on TikTok?"

"I scroll through it occasionally."

"What kind of videos do you usually watch?"

"A bit of everything."

Xu Yun replied, "I don’t know why, but TikTok always pushes videos of girls dancing onto my feed, so I see a lot of those."

"Don’t play dumb. The algorithm doesn’t lie."

Gao Wenwen said, "If you like watching them, just admit it. I’m not going to judge you. After all, I like watching handsome guys on TikTok too."

"..." Xu Yun.

"Actually, I think you should try getting into social media. You could be a hiking streamer on TikTok."

Gao Wenwen suggested, "You have good endurance and you’re good-looking. If you make some decent video content, you might just go viral."

"Hmm, that does seem to make sense."

Xu Yun said perfunctorily, "I’ll think about it when I get back."

Gao Wenwen could tell Xu Yun wasn’t really interested, so she dropped the subject.

She suddenly ran a few steps ahead, then turned around with a smile, struck a pose, and said, "Can you take a picture for me? I want to post it on my Moments later."

"Okay."

Xu Yun took out his phone and snapped a photo of her.

Looking at the photo on his phone’s screen, Xu Yun suddenly felt that Gao Wenwen was much prettier now than she used to be.

’Most importantly, she has a nice personality—so straightforward.’

Gao Wenwen asked, "Are you done?"

"All done."

"Quick, let me see."

Gao Wenwen ran over, took the phone from Xu Yun’s hand, and took a look.

"Your photography skills aren’t bad at all." Gao Wenwen was very pleased with the photo Xu Yun had taken.

Xu Yun explained, "My skills are terrible. It’s mainly because this phone’s camera is good and has an auto-tuning feature."

"Oh? What kind of phone is this?"

Only then did Gao Wenwen notice the phone Xu Yun was using. She looked at it and asked, puzzled, "Which Huawei model is this? I’ve never seen it before."

"It’s a Huawei Extraordinary Master."

"Never heard of it."

Gao Wenwen didn’t dwell on it. She handed the phone back to him and said, "Let’s add each other on WeChat when we get back. You can send me the photo then."

"Okay."

"Alright, we should get going, or we’ll fall behind."

Gao Wenwen smiled and asked, "Do you want to give me back some of the things from my bag? I’m feeling much better now. I can carry it."

"Sure."

"Uh, I was just being polite. You’re actually taking me up on it?"

"Why not?"

Xu Yun chuckled. "I’m a simple man. I believe what people tell me."

A moment later, the two of them caught up with the other three, who were resting on the plank road ahead.

Lin Xi looked at Gao Wenwen approaching and asked, "What were you and Xu Yun up to back there?"

"Teacher Gao, you don’t have a crush on Xu Yun, do you?"

Zheng Yi teased, "Is that why you were hiding in the back, secretly confessing your feelings to him?"

"You’re the one confessing! I just had him take a few pictures of me."

Gao Wenwen replied with a smile, "But I have to say, Xu Yun’s phone takes really nice pictures."

"Really?"

Lin Xi turned her head and smiled. "Xu Yun, can you take a few for me later, too?"

"Sure, no problem."

Hearing this, Zhu Jingheng immediately felt a pang of annoyance.

He deliberately asked with a smile, "Xu Yun, what kind of phone are you using? The camera is that good?

I always feel like my brand-new iPhone 15 Pro takes ugly pictures."

"Just a regular Huawei phone."

Xu Yun knew this prick was about to start something. He said flatly, "It’s not as amazing as Gao Wenwen makes it sound. It can’t compare to your iPhone."

He really didn’t want to show off with a phone in front of his classmates. It felt so cheap.

But a "kind soul" spoke up for him.

"He’s using an Extraordinary Master."

Gao Wenwen chimed in, then asked, puzzled, "Do you guys know this model? I feel like I’ve never heard of it."

"What? An Extraordinary Master?"

Hearing this, Zheng Yi looked at Xu Yun in surprise and said, "You’ve got some hidden depths, man. To think you’re using one of these."

"Uh."

Xu Yun was speechless. "It’s just a phone. Can you not be so dramatic? It’s a little embarrassing."

"Zheng Yi, what’s going on?" Gao Wenwen was a bit bewildered.

Zheng Yi was a die-hard Huawei fan and knew their phones inside and out.

So he immediately started explaining, "The Extraordinary Master is actually one of Huawei’s high-end business phones.

Although the specs are similar to the latest Mate 60 Pro+, its target audience is positioned a tier higher.

So the design and materials are more premium to differentiate it from the Mate 60 Pro+.

The top-spec model usually sells for around 15,000 yuan, which is way more expensive than an iPhone 15 Pro."

"Xu Yun, I never would have guessed. You’re full of surprises."

After hearing this, Gao Wenwen said, "For an unemployed guy, you’re using a better phone than any of us."

"I wasn’t hiding anything."

Xu Yun said, "It’s just a phone. If you really wanted one, any of you could afford it. I guess I was just more willing to splurge."

"That’s easy to say, but if you don’t have money in your pocket, who’d be willing to spend over 10,000 on a phone that you’ll have to replace in a year or two?"

Gao Wenwen lamented, "We’re not rich kids, after all."

"Exactly."

Zheng Yi agreed. "With the same specs, I was only willing to spring for the ’Yaoyao Lingxian.’"

Zhu Jingheng was incredibly frustrated at this point.

’I wanted to see Xu Yun make a fool of himself, but I ended up being the clown!’

’He’s so obviously poor, yet he’s using such an expensive phone. I never would have expected it.’

’No, I have to get my dignity back!’

Xu Yun saw Zhu Jingheng’s awkward expression and felt helpless.

’Class President, I’ve already been holding back a lot to avoid stealing your thunder!’

’It’s really not my fault. I honestly didn’t mean to one-up you.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After a short rest, the group set off again.

Before they left, Lin Xi suddenly turned around and bent into a half-squat, resting her hands on her knees. In the process, she inadvertently revealed a hint of her cleavage.

She said to Xu Yun, "Take a picture of me like this."

"Okay."

Xu Yun’s gaze merely swept past her chest as he took out his phone and snapped a photo.

’Among the women I know, her chest would rank in the lower-middle tier.’

’Just average.’

"Done."

After taking the picture, Xu Yun showed it to her briefly and said, "I’ll send it to Gao Wenwen with the others later. You can get it from her."

Lin Xi froze for a second. She had thought Xu Yun would use sending the photo as an excuse to add her on WeChat.

But he didn’t even mention it.

"Why don’t we... just add each other on WeChat?"

Lin Xi suggested proactively, "It’d be more convenient if you sent it to me directly."

"No need. It’s not necessary to add each other just for a photo."

Xu Yun put his phone away and rejected her. "Let’s go. We still have a long way to go."

They were only halfway there; another half remained.

The last half of the trail was the hardest.

"..." Lin Xi.

’Did he just reject me?’

’No, what right does he have to reject me?!’

’Zhu Jingheng’s circumstances are so much better than yours, and even he wouldn’t dare treat me like this!’

Lin Xi suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of grievance.

This is how women are. The better you treat them, the less they take you seriously.

But if you act indifferent, they become incredibly concerned with you.

That was Lin Xi right now.

Zheng Yi watched Xu Yun walk over to his side and asked with a smile, "What did you do to upset Miss Lin just now? She looks a little unhappy."

"She wanted to add me as a friend, and I said no."

"Why not?"

Zheng Yi asked, puzzled, "Even if you don’t like her anymore, we were all classmates. You can at least be friends."

"We were already WeChat friends back in college."

Xu Yun shot him a look and said, "It’s just that after I added her, we never spoke a single word, so she just forgot about me."

"..." Zheng Yi.

’Those words are a bit heartbreaking.’

Although Xu Yun had been acting indifferent toward Lin Xi in front of everyone since they met, he understood. Xu Yun probably knew that with his circumstances, a relationship with her was unlikely, so he had simply given up on the fantasy.

He was deliberately keeping his distance.

’He’s pretending not to like her precisely because he still does!’

’He understood that bitterness.’

’After all, he’d been there before!’

He patted Xu Yun on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don’t be sad. Liking someone doesn’t mean you have to be together.

That’s just how society is these days. Women are more pragmatic. Just let it go. Maybe the next one will be better."

"???" Xu Yun.

’What is he talking about?’

...