Lu Chuan glanced at the envelope in Liu Ru Yan's hand. "I don't want it. Just handle it for me."
His tone was always cold, only showing any emotion when speaking to Liu Ru Yan.
"How can I handle something that someone else gave you?" Liu Ru Yan tossed the love letter onto his desk and returned to her seat.
"Pfft~" It was rare to see the school's heartthrob, Lu Chuan, in a difficult spot, so Ye Zi Ming couldn't help but laugh.
Lu Chuan clenched his fist tightly, making it crackle, moved his neck a few times, and then turned to look at him coldly.
Feeling the murderous intent in Lu Chuan's eyes, Ye Zi Ming immediately put on a forced smile and backed down.
"Keep it if you like it," Lu Chuan said as he shoved the love letter into Ye Zi Ming's hand.
Ye Zi Ming waved the letter around. "Aren't you curious about what's written inside?"
Lu Chuan: …
"So does this mean I can dispose of it as I wish?" Ye Zi Ming asked with a mischievous grin.
Lu Chuan ignored him, looked up at the class schedule on the blackboard, then put away the physics book from the previous lesson and took out a Chinese language book.
"Ahem~" Ye Zi Ming opened one of the envelopes, unfolded the letter, which had a Hello Kitty pattern on it, and began to read loudly, "Hello Lu Chuan, I'm from Class 4 of the first year…"
"Shut up. Why are you so annoying?"
Before Ye Zi Ming could finish reading the name, Lu Chuan snatched the letter back, scowling, and stuffed it into his backpack.
"Upset?" Ye Zi Ming was momentarily stunned, then asked, propping his chin on his hand.
"Get lost!"
When Lu Chuan was angry, he was indeed terse.
In fact, he rarely used harsh words; usually, he would just ignore the person, using coldness to freeze them out. The only people in the school who dared to provoke him, apart from Liu Ru Yan, were Ye Zi Ming, who was simply clueless.
"No, I was just joking with you. Are you really mad?" Ye Zi Ming was puzzled. He had joked with Lu Chuan before, and the aloof Lu Chuan would just give a cold look and dismiss him with a "boring" and nothing more. He had never seen him react so strongly.
He pulled his chair closer to Lu Chuan and leaned in, staring at Lu Chuan's face as if examining a new species.
Lu Chuan did not want to entertain this idiot and casually pulled out a math worksheet to work on.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry. I won't make jokes with your love letters anymore."
Calling Ye Zi Ming an idiot was not an exaggeration. Lu Chuan had never cared about how many admirers were waiting at the class door, nor about how many love letters he received, and he never worried about anyone seeing and getting angry.
But now everything was different. Liu Ru Yan was sitting right in front of him. She could see every girl who came to the classroom for him, and she would know if they brought gifts or love letters.
All day, Lu Chuan's mind replayed Lu Yu Hang's words: "Liu Ru Yan is annoyed because there are too many girls in the school who like him."
So he tried to avoid, to refuse receiving anything.
But Ye Zi Ming, this idiot, had read the letter aloud in public. Lu Chuan immediately imagined Liu Ru Yan's pouty face when she was upset and began to worry that she would block him and lock him in a metaphorical dark room.
If he didn't want to increase his presence and make Liu Ru Yan even angrier, Lu Chuan would have liked to slap Ye Zi Ming right then and there.
"Don't make jokes like this in the future."
Lu Chuan said coldly, his eyes fixed on the ends of Liu Ru Yan's hair.
Over the years, Lu Chuan had learned that when Liu Ru Yan was happy, the ends of her hair would curl upwards; when she was unhappy, they would curl downwards.
At this moment, it was clear that Liu Ru Yan was not very happy.
Ye Zi Ming still wanted to argue, but the class bell rang. Ms. Yang walked in with a bright smile. Today, she was wearing a retro Hong Kong-style shirt paired with flared jeans, and the hairpins on either side of her bangs sparkled in the sunlight.
All their class teachers were middle-aged men, but the English teacher was a young and beautiful woman who changed outfits almost daily.
Liu Ru Yan and An Ran looked forward to seeing Ms. Yang's latest fashion every day and had even secretly discussed why she didn't become a fashion blogger instead of spending her time with them, a bunch of unruly kids.
After teaching the vocabulary, Ms. Yang divided them into small groups to read the text. An Ran originally wanted to join a group with the front row, but since group discussions had always been Lu Chuan, Ye Zi Ming, Liu Ru Yan, and An Ran, as soon as the teacher announced the start, the front row of Liu Ru Yan quickly formed a group with their front row as usual.
"Class representative, what are you doing? Turn around and read the text," Ye Zi Ming called from behind.
Liu Ru Yan was currently angry with him but reluctantly turned around. When she did, she wasn't her usual lively self but rather remained silent with a foul expression on her face.
"What's wrong, Yan Jie? Why do you look so unhappy? Did someone upset you?"
Ye Zi Ming still didn't realize that he was the cause of Liu Ru Yan's unhappiness and naively wanted to make things right for her.
"Who said I'm unhappy!"
Although Liu Ru Yan denied it, her tone clearly indicated otherwise.
Ye Zi Ming kept silent, looking at Lu Chuan, thinking he was only being implicated by him.
At this moment, Lu Chuan's face also showed no signs of cheerfulness, and the atmosphere became awkward.
"Well, let's read the text quickly. According to the order, I'll read A, Ru Yan will read B, Lu Chuan will read C, and Ye Zi Ming, you'll read D," An Ran said, sensing everyone's low spirits and trying to change the topic.
The four of them, disinterested and stumbling, finished reading the text. Fortunately, the teacher did not ask their group to stand up and read in front of the class.
After class, Ms. Yang asked Liu Ru Yan to go to her office to retrieve and distribute the homework collected yesterday. Liu Ru Yan agreed and walked towards the office building.
Shortly after Liu Ru Yan left, Lu Chuan also followed out.
"Hey, An Ran, don't leave yet."
Ye Zi Ming stood up and leaned forward, catching An Ran who was heading to the bathroom.
"What's up?"
"I know what's up with Lu Chuan, but what's wrong with Liu Ru Yan? Is she angry with Lu Chuan? Could she be that petty? Besides, someone sent a love letter; it's not Lu Chuan's fault."
It was unclear whether Ye Zi Ming was talking to himself or asking An Ran.
An Ran turned and gave him a look. "Ye Zi Ming, are you stupid? I don't know if Ru Yan is angry with Lu Chuan, but I do know she's definitely angry with you. How could you read Lu Chuan's love letter in front of the whole class?! There's nothing funny about that. Can't you just be quiet?"
"Ah?" Ye Zi Ming scratched his head in confusion. "So it's all my fault?"