Chapter 53: Fang Yifan's Counterattack, He Chen's Idol!

Fang Yifan was so angry that he barely touched his lunch.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

It was already infuriating enough that He Chen had been getting close to his goddess.

And now, He Chen was even trying to ruin the intimate bond between him and his childhood sweetheart and best buddy, Qiao Yingzi.

What kind of grudge was this!

What kind of enmity was this!

All he did was crack a joke and give a gift. When Li Tiegun received the same gift, he didn't react nearly as strongly as He Chen.

Are classmates not even allowed to joke around with each other anymore?

What was even more exasperating was that not only could He Chen not take a joke, but this trait had now become contagious. Even Wang Yidi—that catfish spirit who usually passively accepted his witty humor—had also started losing her tolerance for jokes.

He Chen was clearly bent on destroying his entire social environment!

How vicious!

In Fang Yifan's mind, the image of his childhood buddy Qiao Yingzi rejecting him with disdain kept popping up unbidden, and the more he thought about it, the harder it was to accept.

It felt even more agonizing than when He Chen had sent his father away!

It felt even more agonizing than when He Chen got close to his goddess!

As it turned out, the bond between brothers was indeed more important than romance!

After defining his stance, Fang Yifan felt his loyalty was as staunch as Guan Yunchang's, and he desperately wanted to praise himself: "My second brother is truly invincible in this world!"

As for He Chen, who had sabotaged this brotherly bond, he had to strike back hard and exact his revenge, otherwise, his mind would remain blocked and unsettled!

After a hurried lunch, he began pondering this matter, continuing to mull it over all afternoon. By the time school let out, he had actually devised a plan. Clutching a basketball, he bolted to the playground, started dribbling beneath the hoop, and kept his eyes peeled on the students emerging from the teaching building.

Seeing that most people were either heading to the cafeteria or mingling freely on the playground, with only a few individuals like He Chen walking toward the school gates, he teamed up with a basketball buddy who had already joined him on the court. His brain and body began operating at an unprecedented level of intensity.

He Chen was walking side by side with Deng Xiaoqi toward the exit.

Neither of them attended the evening self-study sessions.

Although Deng Xiaoqi still felt deeply saddened by the recent incident involving her mother and felt unworthy of He Chen, it didn't stop her from seizing this rare opportunity to get close to him.

Even if it meant just walking side by side out of the campus before parting ways to go home, it was already good enough.

"He Chen, you really opened my eyes," Deng Xiaoqi said, thoroughly enjoying this side-by-side walk as she endlessly searched for topics of conversation.

"At first, I wondered why, even when asking about the multiplication table, you asked what eight times seven is instead of seven times eight. I thought that perhaps under the pressure of a time limit, a temporary brain freeze and a mistake were understandable.

"But after I looked up those variety shows and interview videos, I realized you were right!

"You weren't underestimating me by asking me some idiotic question at all.

"You were actually asking the kind of high-difficulty questions they pose to celebrities on variety shows.

"The truly idiotic ones are those who ask seven times eight first, and then ask eight times seven.

"And the result is that they get both answers wrong.

"Seven times eight is forty-two... Oh my god!

"Forget nine years of compulsory education, I doubt they even graduated from elementary school!"

"You're wrong!" He Chen corrected with a smile. "Elementary school has a full six grades. Your statement is too vague, imprecise, and gives them far too much credit!

"Multiplication tables are taught in the second grade of elementary school, so the accurate way to put it is that the genius honor students of the entertainment industry can't even graduate from the second grade of elementary school!"

"Whatever shall we do?" Deng Xiaoqi asked with a worried expression, acting as if she were troubled by her future out-of-place status, while secretly glancing at He Chen from the corner of her eye, waiting for him to comfort her.

"Don't worry!" He Chen noticed, but didn't mind seizing the opportunity during their walk to tease her a little. "The function of a circle is to keep outsiders out and create an enclosed space for self-amusement! These bizarre phenomena might seem baffling, but aren't they just the hedgehog's quills deliberately displayed to the outside world?

"When outsiders see them, they either find it unacceptable and back off,

"or they choose to change themselves and proactively assimilate.

"Among those simple math problems that even second-graders—or even first-graders—can solve, some genuinely don't know the answers.

"But others pretend not to know on purpose, just to build a persona and fit into the circle.

"Some even act even more foolish than being genuinely stupid!

"To borrow Guo Furong's mocking words to Li Dazui from *My Own Swordsman*: 'Dazui, if you lack culture, don't pretend to understand when you don't. Look at me—even when I understand, I don't want people to know I understand!'

"Now that is the true big mouth!

"Hitting the nail right on the head regarding the inner workings of the entertainment industry!

"It's the same in the entertainment industry, and it's the same in other even more stinking and disgusting circles.

"As long as most people are excluded, the insiders can rake in piles of money no matter how rotten and disgusting they are!"

"You understand everything!" Deng Xiaoqi clasped her hands in front of her chest, gazing at He Chen with eyes full of admiration as she unreservedly poured out her adoration for him.

"There is nothing new under the sun!" He Chen smiled. "Besides, I watch the Mind Doctor, so it's not strange that I know these things."

"The Mind Doctor?" Deng Xiaoqi's expression turned a mix of curiosity and sympathy.

She suddenly remembered that the boy beside her had lost both parents. No matter how confident and outgoing he appeared on the outside, his inner world must be very bitter and distressed if he needed to see a psychological counselor.

She desperately wanted to give him a loving hug; what should she do?

"Right! A very conservative-talking grand prophet!" He Chen sighed. "He accompanies you to face your emotional troubles and helps you resolve the distress in your life! He's the one who truly understands!"

"He must be very handsome..." Hearing He Chen describe him this way, Deng Xiaoqi instantly developed a favorable impression of this conservative-speaking Mind Doctor. Her mind even conjured up the image of a handsome man in a white lab coat, and the next moment, the face in the white lab coat uncontrollably morphed into He Chen's face.

In that instant, she stopped phrasing it as a question and turned it into a definitive statement!

If the Mind Doctor possessed He Chen's face, she felt she would have no more emotional troubles and no more distress in her life!

"Handsome!" He Chen nodded instinctively, but seeing Deng Xiaoqi's dazed expression—resembling Hu Yifei from *iPartment* fantasizing about her extraordinarily handsome psychological counselor—he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

When he thought of handsome, he actually meant overall temperament, leaning more toward professional skill, ideological realm, and actions—especially that Gatling-gun-like mouth of his that could rapidly spew out well-reasoned, distinct, and profound prophecies. That was what made him breathtakingly cool, rather than a narrow focus on facial features.

Compared to that person, He Chen was merely an elementary school student who still needed to study hard.

Deng Xiaoqi, however, clearly misunderstood.

Although the Mind Doctor was handsome in He Chen's view,

if she were to actually meet the double-chinned Mind Doctor, she would likely be just as disappointed as Hu Yifei was upon seeing Zeng Xiaoxian's pot-bellied dedicated psychological counselor.

Yet, there was a high probability that the Mind Doctor wouldn't be disappointed at all, because he loved paying attention to long-legged young ladies who could sing and dance, and he knew all the favorite resources of otaku like the back of his hand. Just a few casual remarks would make it abundantly clear to everyone that he truly understood.

And Deng Xiaoqi happened to be precisely such a long-legged young lady who could sing and dance.

Just as He Chen thought of something amusing, he suddenly reached out and snatched a flying basketball out of mid-air. Only then did he look toward the basketball court and see a stunned Fang Yifan.

"Holy crap!"

Watching He Chen catch the ball with one hand, Fang Yifan had those exact words echoing in his mind, though he didn't blurt out the profanity.

Even if he held back his curses, his basketball buddy—who had been playing with him and witnessed the entire scene firsthand—had no such reservations and shrieked out loud.