"Hi. I am Lan Zhi." The boy smiled making her look at him skeptically.
Mo Xin Er nodded politely before replying, "Mo Xin Er."
"You just resumed school, right? I saw you yesterday."
"Oh, yes."
He nodded turning away from her for a moment before facing her again. "Have you seen your group partner?"
"Group partner?"
"Oh, you didn't know. Aren't you on the class forum? Anyway, give me your WeChat number, let me add you. I'm one of the admins," he said, grinning at her.
"Oh, okay "
She brought out her phone and he added her contact.
"About the group partner," Fan Liuying whispered now since the teacher had begun to lecture. "You can check yours"
At the same time, Mo Xin Er's phone suddenly rang with a ding. She looked at it and saw the notification of the forum. As she scrolled through it, she found a list showing what the project entailed and the list of group partners.
It seemed their literature instructor gave a project to research a certain historical artefact. When she finally looked downwards and saw the name she was paired with, her eyes widened.
"Lu Yichen?!" she exclaimed.
"You're paired with Lu Yichen? You're that Mo Xin Er everyone is talking about?"
Mo Xin Er turned to look at him, brows tightened into a knot. "Talking about me?"
"Yeah. They said you are very lucky. You will be in close contact with the hunk for two weeks. All the girls envy you," he explained.
"Tch.."
Lan Zhi looked at her for a few seconds before patting her shoulder lightly. "Girl, your luck is good."
His face was solemn like a wife having no choice but to leave her husband to the mistress making her lips twitch. She couldn't help but wonder how famous Lu Yichen was.
Mo Xin Er asked, "Is he so famous?"
"Hm… I don't think so. He has always been an aloof and quiet person. I don't think I've ever seen any information about him on the news except when he won the Maple Leaf None Prize in 2018. It seems someone leaked his identity in the school forum."
"Oh. I see," she mumbled unhappily. All she wanted was to spend her university days in peace but now she got caught up in fame. Most importantly, she was wary of the attention of the girls who like him. She had seen girls play underhanded tricks.
She sighed- anyways, she would deal with it one at a time. She shook the thoughts away and began to concentrate on what the instructor was saying. The class ended and she packed her things to leave.
Lan Zhi who was standing beside her suddenly asked, "Where are you going to next?"
"I want to visit someone in the sciences."
"Oh. Let's go together then. I have a cousin there," he said enthusiastically.
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you…?"
"No. I've been thinking of going anyway"
"Okay."
She slung her bag across her shoulder and walked out with him beside her. They were walking out of the hall when he suddenly tapped her pointing towards the distance.
"That's Lu Yichen."
She scrunched her nose as she nodded and quickened her pace in the direction of the young man walking in front of her with another man beside him. They seemed to be discussing something important.
"Lu Yichen," she called and he stopped abruptly for a moment, a frown making its way to his handsome face before he turned to the other person whom she assumed was his personal assistant.
"Get the others to prepare the deed. He is a bit calculating so you guys better be at alert," he ordered.
"Yes, boss."
The assistant glanced at her warily before looking at him and only left when he nodded reassuringly.
Lu Yichen turned towards her. "It's you," he said calmly as his hand swept into his trouser pockets and turned to look at her fully. He stood straight, his face blank but his expression was gentle as he looked at her.
"Yeah. You're my partner for the Lit 125. Group project."
"Am I?" he asked with a teasing smile.
Her lips curved into a frown and she replied through gritted teeth, "Yes"
"Okay. So?"
"…" So arrogant!!
"How do we go about it? Or, do you want to change partners?" she asked showing her displeasure.
He looked at her eyes which showed that she was starting to get displeased and smiled inwardly. "No. I don't want to."
It was rare for a girl not to jump on him when they saw him. Why would he change partners and sign himself up for devouring by them?
Mo Xin Er nodded. "So, could you perhaps act a little more interested and tell me how we are gonna go about it?"
"You can come to my place so we could talk," Lu Yichen replied with a shrug but when he saw the distrustful expression on her face, he suddenly realized how misleading his words could be. Due to his special identity, he couldn't be around her in public nor could he go to her place. So his place was the best meetup venue, no?
"I have to be careful. My identity-"
She cut in, "Okay. I get it."
"You can ask your roommate. I'm trustworthy," he continued, finding himself laughable. Since when did he begin to care about what someone thought…
She looked at him incredulously and didn't even know what to say.
"Heh… girl, I said it. Your luck is good," Lan Zhi suddenly butted in breaking the stalemate. She turned to look at him, giving him a stinky eye. He shut up immediately.
"Okay, then. It's a deal."
He gave her a smile. "I'll send someone to pick you up."
"Okay," she turned to Lan Zhi. "Let's go."
With that, she turned on her heels and left. Lu Yichen stood at the spot his eyes fixated on her leaving back thoughtfully.