Chapter 54 Time

ighboring table beside their private room, causing everyone’s brows to furrow.This was a large private dining room; due to construction reasons back then, it couldn't be divided properly, so a screen...Chapter 54 Time

Sitting at his desk, Jian Yiyang couldn't help but carefully observe the changed Tao Wu sitting in front of him. She was still as cold and distant as before, but there were subtle changes that he noticed, making it hard for him to deny that she wasn't exactly the same anymore.

Specifically what had changed, he couldn't say, not daring to hastily conclude that Tao Wu was now in love. But every time he saw her in the past, a coldness seemed to emanate from her heart; today, however, when he saw her on the bus, it felt more like sunlight on a winter day—cold, but with warmth.

Xue Yiyang couldn't help but turn to Su Chen and ask him, "Is there something between you and Tao Wu" His expression was full of doubt as he observed every small change in Su Chen's demeanor and actions.

Su Chen gently shook his head. "Nothing happened."

"Impossible! There must be something happening, right Let me think... Yesterday when Liu Rui and I went to find your mom, she said you had gone out to see Tao Wu! Did you go on a date with her Did you hold her hand" As he spoke, Xue Yiyang gently tapped his forehead. "You didn't wait for me today—did you go to see her early in the morning"

Su Chen inwardly sighed; if Xue Yiyang guessed that he hadn’t returned home last night and had stayed with Tao Wu, given how talkative Xue was, once this information got out, the consequences could be extremely dire. Even though Teacher Xiao Rihua knew about their ambiguous relationship, because of their excellent grades, they were becoming more prominent every day, so she couldn't say anything. But in an environment like No. 1 High School where rumors could spread quickly, revealing that Su Chen and Tao Wu had spent the night together would have disastrous consequences—even if nothing happened between them, who would believe it

Though Tao Wu didn't care about such matters, when this private matter erupted at school...

The public opinion would be utterly destructive.

Su Chen was just about to cover Xue Yiyang's mouth and stop him from speculating further—like a neighborhood loudspeaker spreading rumors—when he said,

"So you knew her home address early on You left early in the morning, got into a car, went to wait at a bus stop near her house so she could join you for school! Wow, that’s too romantic! Where does she live! Not telling me is not being a good friend!"

In high school, nothing was more exciting than finding out where a girl lived or seeing your grades suddenly skyrocket. For Xue Yiyang, knowing Tao Wu's home address was far more satisfying to his curiosity about mysterious things.

"I only know the general area where her house is; I don't know exactly which location."

Su Chen shook his head, unperturbed.

"So you left early in the morning and went to a bus stop near her home to wait for her! And she really did go out with you!" Xue Yiyang exclaimed as if he had been startled. He didn't realize that the truth had already passed him by, exclaiming, "What kind of world is this"

Both of them were called out by their homeroom teacher due to the commotion, and in class, people faintly heard Xue Yiyang's words about "Tang Wu having an appointment," which caused laughter among the crowd but also envy. It was mischievous, suspicious, and various other kinds of reactions.

Tang Wu glanced over their way, while Xue Yiyang simply lowered his head innocently. Su Can noticed Chen Lingshan's gaze; she turned her head away with a somewhat dejected look.

In the next class, Xue Yiyang, now completely thick-skinned and unafraid of pain like a seasoned vegetable, continued to grin at Su Can and said, "I really can't wait to see what Yang Zijiang will do when he finds out that Tang Wu has accepted your date. He always keeps up his perfect image. According to psychology, the more restrained someone is in expressing their emotions, the more intense they become after an emotional explosion."

Su Can smiled and said, "Then it's clear you must be a dark-souled guy."

Xue Yiyang made a grim expression. "It seems like this isn’t your first time knowing me.

Back then when Xue Yiyang accompanied Su Can in the battle with bricks on the slope of No. 1 High School, they instantly gained fame from that fight. Before that, Wang Haoran, Chen Chong, and Yang Zijiang were generally considered the most formidable figures in Grade Two, their legends being updated every quarter. However, when it came to Su Can's page, they ended up suffering a significant loss as Su Can and Xue Yiyang beat them with bricks.

Although the actual outcome was that both of them suffered greatly, for those who were paying attention, even if they had seven people blocking their way, two people still managed to escape, which was already surprising. Moreover, these two actually hit them with bricks before they could react.

After that incident, Xue Yiyang initially lived in fear but since he didn't encounter any retaliation from Wang Haoran's group, he gradually forgot about the pain and walked around even more arrogantly.

Today, when some of the football teammates deliberately ignored him on the bus due to a conflict on the field, Xue Yiyang relied on his courage to shout back. In front of someone who dared to confront Wang Haoran directly like Xue Yiyang, everyone naturally lost their momentum. Xue Yiyang didn't consider that others avoided him out of fear, thinking it was just a minor conflict on the field. Afterward, he continued to grin at them but they did not respond favorably, leaving him feeling frustrated and resentful. Thus, Xue Yiyang ended up with his overtures falling flat when waiting for Su Can on the bus today; however, this situation changed after Su Can and Tang Wu appeared.

Before doing something, people often fear the consequences, but once they take that step, they usually find a whole new world of possibilities.

The term 'crisis' inherently means both danger and opportunity.

After openly challenging Wang Haoran's authority, Xue Yiyang naturally no longer had to be overly cautious in school; his personality gradually became more resilient.

Following the strong forces of Zhang Xi and Li Ai, Su Can and Xue Yiyang, who were not co-opted by them, also emerged as a new power. Their cohesion was even stronger, with female students like Chen Lingshan, Li Jumei, Du Ting, and Tang Wu gravitating towards them, along with male students led by Ma Xiaoshi's basketball team gathering around them. As such, Su Can had already leaped from his initial position as a figure alongside Zhang Xi and Ma Xiaoshi to becoming the dominant character in class opinion.

Of course, Su Can himself was unaware of these changes in perception among those around him.

In the afternoon, after school, Xue Yiyang insisted on waiting for Su Can. As expected, he met Tang Wu, who had also been waiting for Su Can to finish school.

He felt not the slightest bit awkward about being a third wheel and even noticed the glances around him,

Avoiding Yang’s Xue Yiyang glared at Su Can with eyes full of hatred, the look that made him feel like kicking him out. As soon as he left, the atmosphere became quite tense; Yue Zijiang, Wang Haoran, and even those from the second-year circle were all outside. This time, Yue Zijiang didn’t ride his speeding motorcycle, realizing that no matter how many motorcycles he rode at once, Tang Wu wouldn’t think him "cool" because of it.

Although Chen Chong was missing, Wang Haoran’s group had slightly weakened in terms of basic combat strength and aura. However, they didn't look exhausted or old; Yue Zijiang still had dark circles under his eyes and held a cigarette, looking somewhat decadent. It seemed like he hadn’t had a good night's sleep for quite some time.

Seeing the despondent looks on the faces of those friends by his side, it was clear that they were dragged out drinking during his very bad mood nights, with several being grounded directly by their parents. Their situation was rather pitiful.

Xue Yiyang did indeed hesitate when he saw this group of people. If there was anyone at No. 1 High School whom he still feared, it would be Wang Haoran and his old clique.

However, Su Can ignored them and walked out with Tang Wu directly.

"Can we talk" Yue Zijiang stepped forward to block Su Can's and Tang Wu’s path. The surrounding men looked at Su Can with hostility; the flow of students passing by slowed down as well. Xue Yiyang gritted his teeth, stepping in front of Su Can and Tang Wu, adopting a posture that seemed ready to face seven or eight tall boys from Wang Haoran's side. However, when he approached, this group of second-year students involuntarily stepped back; the image of him running amok with bricks was too ingrained.

"Talk about what" Su Can didn’t dislike Yue Zijiang personally but subconsciously regarded him as someone who would harm Tang Wu in the future. Any remaining good feelings towards him had vanished.

Seeing that Su Can had stopped, Yue Zijiang let out a sigh of relief; it took some effort to persuade Wang Haoran to wait outside for Tang Wu. The name "Su Can" now sounded like an insult to them. A person who could bring down Chen Chong would naturally be somewhat intimidating.

Yue Zijiang looked at Tang Wu and asked with a sorrowful tone, “Can’t we even be friends”

Since the incident on the student council platform where he lost his dignity pursuing Tang Wu after she kissed a fellow student, Yue Zijiang had launched strong attacks but was rejected each time. It wasn't surprising that he hadn't been sleeping well recently; Su Can couldn’t help feeling a bit sympathetic towards him.

Seeing Tang Wu gently shake her head, Yue Zijiang grew anxious and said, “At least we can write letters to start with! I’m not what you see on the outside. You could truly get to know me or even become who you want!”

No matter how he was dressed, his appearance, or his aura, he was a decent young man reminiscent of Wang Leehom. Su Can genuinely didn’t hate him and felt that many girls secretly admiring him would be heartbroken at this moment.

A few girls around the perimeter shed tears as they held letters they had been writing for a long time and murmured, “What’s the point” Tang Wu's gaze fixed on Yue Zijiang, causing him to involuntarily straighten his back. Her bright eyes gave him some hope but then she said, "You might be very good, but that doesn’t belong to me."

Su Can stared at the Tang Wu beside him, feeling an urge to kiss her lips due to her words.

Tears welled up in Yue Zijiang’s eyes as he pointed at Su Can and asked, “Why Just because of him!”

Then, facing Su Can with some loss of composure, he said, "Tell me what you want. I’ll give it to you if that means you will let her be mine!

Su Cen stared intently at Ye Zijiang, who seemed to be desperately reaching for the last straw. He held Tang Wu's cold hand and said calmly in front of Ye Zijiang’s suddenly wide eyes, "You have finished what you wanted to talk about. Please let us pass; we need to go."

Su Cen led Tang Wu down the slope. At this moment, Ye Zijiang, who had been trying to catch up and grab Tang Wu, was held back tightly by Wang Haoran. He could be heard shouting, "Forget it! It's just one kilogram of a woman!"

The train arrived slowly at the platform. Xue Yiyang was still enthusiastically discussing how this incident would cause huge news effects tomorrow when the train pulled up. Tang Wu nodded and smiled at Xue Yiyang, saying, "The train is here; let's go."

"Okay." Still not fully understanding the situation, Xue Yiyang nodded his head. Then he saw Su Cen and Tang Wu stepping into this tram that was supposed to be on a route unrelated to their journey home. Through the rear window of the tram, he could see Su Cen waving at him with a bright smile on his face. Only then did Xue Yiyang blink and snap back to reality just in time for him to spit out a derogatory "damn it!" feeling rather lonely.

The two got off the tram near Tang Wu's house, then went together to a nearby supermarket as if all couples do. They held hands while buying vegetables, fruits, and meat, and under the astonished gaze of an elderly man at the city’s judicial bureau in Xia Hai City, they walked back home.

After washing the vegetables, Su Cen put on an apron and cooked with such skillful techniques that the aroma was intoxicating. Tang Wu's high nose moved gracefully as she sniffed the delicious scent; clearly, she hadn't tasted regular home-cooked meals in a long time.

Tang Wu’s fragrant rice turned out to be perfectly steamed with plump grains. When they started eating and she picked up her chopsticks for the first bite of the dish, her eyes reddened—she was not used to such care and delicious food after living alone for so long.

The red wine that had been opened yesterday was taken out again. In a dinner filled with a variety of dishes and two small bottles clinking together, it was another deep night sky outside the window.

But inside, it felt incredibly cozy.

After finishing their meal, Su Cen and Tang Wu cleared away the dishes. Then Su Cen left home with his backpack while waving goodbye to Tang Wu at the staircase entrance.

With his family’s shop being busy recently and his father often having to go out for social engagements, Su Cen said he was staying over at a classmate's house. Neither Zeng He nor Su Licheng doubted this; they gave him space but still required him to come back home every night.

However, it did allow Su Cen the opportunity to go to school and back with Tang Wu daily, prepare meals for her, and optimize their lives in a world of just the two of them. Their academic performance skyrocketed as well, making Su Cen almost on par with Tang Wu’s level—this breakthrough was unprecedented.

The days passed leisurely like this.

Neither of them talked much about or asked too many questions regarding their future; they were merely cautious in cherishing these moments.

A chapter update is here, brothers. Today's votes have risen very hearteningly!school..." The speaker was an English teacher newly hired by the school. Young and energetic, he was dedicated to his work and was quite useful under Xiao Rihua's guidance."Oh, Little Tian, haven't yo...