Chapter Thirty-One: Turmoil at the Academy

“There, he’s my boyfriend!”

With that sweet declaration, every eye in the cafeteria followed the direction of Xia Ruli’s finger.

“Wait… wait… this beautiful girl is also Nangong’s girlfriend?” Le Han, holding his lunch tray, had just come up and froze in place, mouth agape, mind in chaos. Wasn’t the class president supposed to be Nangong’s girlfriend? How could there suddenly be another girlfriend? Had the class president been abandoned?

“He really does have a boyfriend!” The students in the cafeteria looked disappointed. They’d expected the drama to continue, but instead, things had taken a theatrical turn.

Some students voiced their discontent: “If your boyfriend was here, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“And that guy really is a coward! His girlfriend has been blocked several times, and he just sits there with his head down, calm as ever? Just watching the show!”

With these thoughts, their gazes quickly turned scornful. No one could believe a man could sit idly in such a situation.

But Xia Ruli paid no mind to their stares. She swept away her earlier grievances, smiling brightly as she carried her lunch over.

“Ruli? Are you sure that kind of guy is your boyfriend?” Tuoba Feng couldn’t help himself. A guy who wouldn’t even lift his head—how could he possibly be worthy?

“Yes!” Xia Ruli nodded, sitting directly across from Nangong Yuchen. Then she said cheerily, “Hey, Nangong, let’s eat together!”

Her voice was sweet, and with her deliberate coquettish tone, Nangong Yuchen had no choice but to raise his head.

“Hm… Ruli, you shouldn’t—”

“Bang!” Before he could finish, she interrupted him, kicking him under the table. Her clear, beautiful eyes widened, full of warning.

He felt like dying. What was with today? He’d been inexplicably beaten by Cheng Shiyu in the morning, branded a school-wide delinquent; now, even eating lunch brought trouble!

At that moment, Tuoba Feng’s face darkened completely. Watching the girl he fancied act coy with a stranger, he felt his lungs about to burst and stormed forward, pointing at Nangong Yuchen’s back and cursing, “Coward, I’ll give you three seconds to get away from Ruli, or I swear I’ll cripple you!”

“Tuoba Feng, what are you doing!”

“Coward?” Nangong Yuchen’s brows knitted tightly. He was already in a foul mood, and now this idiot dared insult him to his face. He felt the urge to hit someone.

“Are you stupid? Can’t you see I’m eating with my girlfriend? You have three seconds to disappear from my sight, or you won’t be walking out of here!” Nangong Yuchen wasn’t one to take threats lying down. If it weren’t for all the students watching, he would have slapped him already instead of wasting words.

Tuoba Feng was stunned. He never expected the so-called coward to insult him in front of so many students.

After two seconds, his face turned livid. “You’re asking for it!”

“You, get him! Cripple that coward!” Tuoba Feng barked to his underlings.

Nangong Yuchen stood up, ready to retaliate, but suddenly the surrounding students recognized him.

“Wait, why does he look so familiar?”

“Yes, that’s right… Isn’t he that Delinquent Chen?”

“That’s him! The jerk from the video with Cheng Shiyu!”

“Hurry, go tell Xiao Quan and the others—Delinquent Chen is in the freshman cafeteria!”

The crowd’s attention had been on Xia Ruli, but as Nangong Yuchen prepared to fight Tuoba Feng, the students quickly recognized him. The cafeteria erupted in chaos, with everyone discussing Nangong Yuchen, the earlier drama forgotten.

“Wait, Nangong, did you really do that this morning?” Xia Ruli listened to the chatter nearby and pieced together what had happened.

“I…” Nangong Yuchen was speechless. So she really didn’t know about the video? If you didn’t know, why did you come over here? Are we even close?

Now, murderous stares surrounded him, ready to descend at any moment. If hundreds of people ganged up on him… he felt a surge of resentment.

Just then, Tuoba Feng’s lackeys had finished explaining. Tuoba Feng laughed derisively, “Hah… I never realized you were such a reckless fool. I’ll give you one chance: kneel and apologize, and maybe, for Ruli’s sake, I’ll let you go.”

“Kneel and apologize? To hell with you!” Nangong Yuchen, needing an outlet, saw an idiot posturing in front of him and grabbed a plate from the table, slamming it onto Tuoba Feng’s face.

Then, with a flying kick, he struck Tuoba Feng’s stomach, sending him crashing into a row of tables and chairs, skidding five or six meters away.

“Bang!”

Tuoba Feng curled up, writhing in pain on the ground. He hadn’t expected such a sudden assault. Through the agony, he howled, “Ah… all of you, get him! Kill him!”

His lackeys rushed in, but in less than five seconds, Nangong Yuchen sent each of them flying with punches and kicks. They all landed on top of Tuoba Feng, knocking him out cold.

The surrounding students, who had been ready to join in, saw Nangong Yuchen’s strength and quickly stepped back, afraid they’d be next.

“What are you waiting for? Run!” Nangong Yuchen grabbed Xia Ruli and the still-dazed Le Han, dashing out of the cafeteria. He didn’t dare linger a second longer—who knew when Cheng Shiyu’s admirers would arrive? He might really not make it out then.

His physical ability was strong compared to other freshmen, but if the older students from sophomore or junior year showed up, he’d surely be beaten.

“Tuoba Feng’s father is a lieutenant! Nangong Yuchen is bold—this morning he insulted Cheng Shiyu, and now he’s beaten up Tuoba Feng!”

“Just wait, he’ll be ambushed at his classroom door soon!”

As Nangong Yuchen exited, he heard the murmurs behind him and nearly stumbled, almost falling to the ground.

…

“Whew!” Ten minutes later, the three of them finally stopped behind the teaching building, bent over and gasping for breath, exhausted.

After a brief rest, Xia Ruli realized Nangong Yuchen was still holding her hand. She pulled away in embarrassment, quickly apologizing, “Nangong Yuchen, I’m sorry… I really didn’t know I’d bring you so much trouble! And thank you for pretending to be my… my… boyfriend…”

The last words were stuttered, barely audible.

“Forget it!” Nangong Yuchen waved her off, not in the mood to dwell. Things had gone too far already—what good would it do to complain now?

“I’ll head back to my classroom!” Xia Ruli, cheeks flushed, stole a glance at Nangong Yuchen before scampering away.

She didn’t know why her heart was racing so fast. It was the first time a boy had held her hand, and pretending to be his girlfriend made her both shy and nervous—she found an excuse to leave quickly.

Once her figure disappeared, Wei Jie, clutching his flat stomach, asked jealously, “Nangong, be honest—when did you start flirting with her?”

“What do you mean flirting? She’s Kexin’s classmate!” Nangong Yuchen replied irritably as he headed toward Class One (12).

He hadn’t eaten lunch and had offended a lieutenant. He just wanted to stay as far away as possible from trouble—never again! Otherwise, he’d be surrounded by every boy in the school.

Le Han, trailing behind, didn’t understand what Nangong Yuchen was thinking. He just followed, grumbling, “Sigh, you fickle guy have such luck with girls—why don’t I, handsome and honest as I am, have any? It’s just not fair…”