"Who is he?" Jin Mo turned her head to ask her best friend Su Xiao'an.
Su Xiao'an smiled pleasingly, "Oh, he's the new transfer student, named Tang Yan, ranked second on the handsome ranks."
"Then who's the first?"
"Your deskmate Chi Ran, of course!" Su Xiao'an's eyes widened as if to say Jin Mo was wasting a golden opportunity, with the most handsome guy right by her side, yet she wasn't seizing the chance.
Jin Mo wasn't interested in boys like Chi Ran, who were gentle and refined; she preferred someone like Tang Yan, who had a wild streak, especially those cold, profound eyes that were both enchanting and dangerous.
In Jin Mo's dictionary, there was nothing she couldn't get, so that day after school, she blocked Tang Yan at the classroom door.
From that day on, everyone in Tang Yan's class could see Jin Mo coming to the class to deliver love openly, but he always responded with an indifferent face, frowning and shooing her away.
"Jin Mo!"
The call from Shen Hongyi brought Jin Mo back to her senses, a bitter smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
That unrestrained, arrogant, and unruly girl was gone, replaced by the current low-profile, restrained self.
"I understand, don't worry, he and I are impossible," Jin Mo responded lightly.
She had given up on Tang Yan.
"That's good," Shen Hongyi finally felt relieved.
He always felt like an old father, worrying over his daughter being bullied, even though he was only six years older than Jin Mo.
Inside the Shuxin Interior office.
As soon as Jin Mo and Shen Hongyi entered the office, they were met with a burst of screaming as several female colleagues focused intently on the television hanging on the wall.
The TV showed an interview scene, the man on screen resembling the Korean star Jin Fan, holding a shiny trophy, with a smiling face that drove the female fans in the audience wild.
"Chi Ran! Chi Ran!"
The female reporter suppressed her excitement, extending the microphone, "May I ask what your plans are for returning home this time?"
Chi Ran smiled gently at the camera, "To settle a major life matter."
The female reporter was momentarily stunned; Chi Ran took the microphone, looking earnestly into the camera, "I've liked a girl for many years, she was my deskmate. I wasn't qualified to pursue her before, but now I want to give it a try."
The television froze on his gentle face, as even louder screams erupted in the office.
Jin Mo coldly returned to her seat, plugged her ears with earbuds, just as she was seeking some quietness, she was caught by her friend Xu Youyou.
"Jin Mo, my dream is shattered!" Xu Youyou clutched her heart.
"If I remember correctly, this is the one hundred and fifth dream, gather a few more and you can recreate 'Water Margin'," Jin Mo joked with a tugged smile.
"This one's different!" Xu Youyou dragged a chair over, sitting in front of Jin Mo, "The trophy in his hand is the top award in global esports, plus he owns one of the top esports companies in the country, the dream lover of many female fans, so saying he has someone he likes is like an earthquake to his fans."
Jin Mo still had an indifferent face; it was just Chi Ran, whom she had known ten years ago.
She had been deskmates with him for two years, watching love letters and chocolates accumulate on his desk every day, only able to remark that this guy's charm was everywhere, yet failing to attract her.
Only then did Jin Mo remember, back in their Renhe Middle School days, they were quite the pair, a school heartthrob and a school tyrant.
Jin Mo's impression of Chi Ran was that he always smiled gently, nothing could make him angry, and also, the Chi family's nanny cooked delicious food, because she always stole Chi Ran's lunches.
Jin Mo wouldn't delude herself into thinking she was the deskmate Chi Ran was referring to, considering her odious behavior back then.