“Ah, sorry, Song Rui. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
As soon as Wang Yuqiong finished speaking, she hurried to soothe Song Rui’s feelings. “Senior Sister just told me to keep an eye on him.”
“With your gentle personality, he’d walk all over you. Leave the bad cop role to me.”
“Right?”
She beamed at Song Rui, as if genuinely seeking her opinion.
Meanwhile, Li Li and Zhang Tong off to the side couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim at the sheer audacity.
Wang Yuqiong had pulled out the big gun of Chen Nannan, and it stood on solid ground legally speaking.
Besides, she hadn’t exaggerated anything—she’d simply stated the facts.
Song Rui really couldn’t handle Shen An. From that morning’s first period all the way to the end of fourth period, she hadn’t dared interrupt his nap even once.
“Wait, I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
Shen An raised his hand.
He had no intention of returning to Wang Yuqiong’s side, so naturally, he had to object strongly.
Wang Yuqiong shot him a glare. “You don’t get a say!”
“As Class President, I’m revoking your right to choose!”
Shen An’s mouth twitched. “Pulling a power play, huh?”
“Not at all. I’m doing this for your own good.” Wang Yuqiong said it with a straight face. “I know self-control isn’t easy, so sometimes you need a little… force.”
“Don’t blame me for it, okay?”
“Heh, ‘for my own good’—the ultimate excuse.”
“Isn’t it true, though?” Wang Yuqiong narrowed her eyes. “How long have you been sleeping? You didn’t listen to a single word of this morning’s lessons!”
“Does that mean Class President didn’t pay attention to class either? She spent the whole time watching me instead?”
Shen An spotted the loophole and turned the tables on her.
But Wang Yuqiong had been waiting for exactly that. Her lips curved up smugly. “So how about you do us both a favor and stop distracting us from class, okay?”
“If you sit with me, I won’t have to waste all this effort.”
Of course it wouldn’t be a waste of effort.
She could just reach out and grab him.
Shen An had no real comeback for Wang Yuqiong’s logic. She always had that “for your own good” line ready to deploy.
But he didn’t mind much either way. Where he sat wasn’t the point—the important thing was to keep a sense of ambiguous distance.
Balance trumped every trick in the book.
He hadn’t moved to Song Rui’s side just to nap during class. If that was all he wanted, he could’ve gone straight to the back row.
Wang Yuqiong’s so-called Class President authority was like a piece of paper. If you bought into it, it held weight.
If you ignored it completely, it was worthless.
Thus, Wang Yuqiong seemed to come out on top. With her perfectly reasonable, irrefutable argument, she forced Shen An back to “her side” and shattered his nap dreams.
But from the moment she’d stood up and revealed her intentions, she’d already fallen into a subtle disadvantage in her contest with Shen An.
He might never get to nap in class again. He’d have to actually pay attention from now on.
But that wasn’t the point. In the game of romance between men and women, Wang Yuqiong had already positioned herself as the pursuer.
Or put another way: she’d won in asserting her claim, but lost in her overall battle with Shen An.
In the war of emotions, the one who fell first often ended up in this awkward spot—torn between their own prideful restraint and the burning desire to get closer.
For the first to feel the spark, it always came down to choosing between self and the other.
“So? Made up your mind yet?”
Wang Yuqiong hated that smug little smirk tugging at his lips, as if he’d seen right through her. It made her feel like the haughty one had become the loser.
“Uh… I…”
Shen An was about to say he didn’t care either way, but Song Rui spoke up first. “I… I can actually handle that responsibility.”
Wang Yuqiong: ???
Li Li and Zhang Tong exchanged another glance and sucked in a breath.
The two of them quickly sat up straight, heads down, desperately trying to minimize their presence.
Shen An was a bit surprised too. He turned to Song Rui with an amused, appraising look.
“Song Rui… you…”
Wang Yuqiong hadn’t expected Song Rui to challenge her like this.
Meeting Wang Yuqiong’s shocked and sharp gaze, Song Rui’s first instinct was pure timidity.
School had only been in session for a short while, but Wang Yuqiong had already cemented her position.
Among the girls in Class 1, she was the undisputed core figure.
And with so few boys in the class, even fair votes couldn’t sway the balance. In a way, Wang Yuqiong was the central figure of Class 1, period.
Such influential people always ended up with an aura, whether intentionally bestowed or not.
And for Song Rui, who was Wang Yuqiong’s roommate, it was a mix of admiration, trust, and outright awe.
Defying an “authority” figure was hard enough. Defying one you idolized? That took real guts—and the fear was immense.
But Song Rui was done playing the insignificant background character.
She was sick of it, utterly fed up.
If she wanted real change, it had to start now.
From this moment on, she’d speak her mind, voice her opinions, and stand by her views!
After that brief wave of cowardice, Song Rui took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She slowly raised her head and met Wang Yuqiong’s eyes directly.
“I… I’m the Study Committee Member. This… this should be my job, right?”
“Of course. I… I’m not saying you’re overstepping, Yuqiong… I just think…”
Her words came out haltingly at first.
But her tone grew steadier: “I should do my duty. I can keep an eye on him.”
“If… if he tries to nap in class again… I… I’ll take responsibility!”
Hmm~
She might be timid day-to-day, but her head was sharp when it counted.
Shen An gave her silent props in his mind.
Song Rui hadn’t outright opposed Wang Yuqiong. Instead, she’d used the exact same official-duty logic.
It cleverly shifted the personal clash into a jurisdictional dispute.
I’ve got no beef with you personally—I’m just the one whose job it is.
If anyone’s supervising, it should be me first.
Using her own spear to pierce her shield.
If Song Rui had just flat-out rejected her, it would’ve turned into a personal showdown.
More like, “I just don’t like you.”
This approach left Wang Yuqiong without an easy counter.
What could she say?
Oh, you’re too soft for it—let me handle it.
That would be a subjective judgment, risking offense to Song Rui—not to mention undermining the whole Study Committee Member role.
If even the Class President didn’t respect that position, what did it say about her own?
Besides, Wang Yuqiong wasn’t that petty.
She actually appreciated seeing Song Rui step up and assert herself instead of just going along with the crowd.
But…
She didn’t like Song Rui asserting herself on his account.
So the sharpness in her eyes didn’t fade. It clashed directly with Song Rui’s timid yet resolute gaze!
Wang Yuqiong couldn’t tell if Song Rui was doing this purely out of duty…
Or because of him.
In moments like this, Wang Yuqiong fell into her usual thought pattern.
Because she had her own selfish motives.
She wouldn’t be this invested if it were anyone else. She’d barely lift a finger.
It was precisely because it was Shen An that Wang Yuqiong kept nagging him over and over.
Nagging? More like trying to loop a leash around him, always tugging him back to her side, never letting him stray too far.
So her reasons weren’t entirely selfless.
She felt a twinge of guilt.
Guilty or not, Wang Yuqiong had no intention of backing down.
That just wasn’t her style.
And so, sparks flew between the two girls’ staring contest, invisible war fires igniting in the air.
Fight! Fight!!!
Shen An had zero interest in stopping it.
He loved watching the drama unfold—especially catfights revolving around him!
After a long staring match, Wang Yuqiong realized Song Rui wasn’t backing down easily.
Well then…
Her gaze shifted slightly to Shen An.
Shen An raised an eyebrow. Trying to drag me into the crossfire?
He jumped in quick. “Don’t look at me. I have no say in this—you said so yourself.”
Wang Yuqiong cursed him silently in her heart.
That jerk… after I bought him two meals!!!
Seeing things teetering on the edge of chaos, Li Li and Zhang Tong couldn’t stay invisible any longer.
“Um… actually…”
Li Li timidly raised her hand. “Why not just let him sit between you two?”
Huh…
Wang Yuqiong and Song Rui both froze. Right, why hadn’t they thought of that?
Shen An’s vision went dark as he slapped a hand to his forehead.
Damn it.
Zhang Tong silently gave her teammate a thumbs-up and nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Shen An sits right in the middle, and Li Li and I can find somewhere else to sit.”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
Li Li was all in.
Not only did it solve the problem, but it got them out of the battlefield too.
Caught in the middle, she and Zhang Tong had been squirming the whole time.
Wang Yuqiong arched a brow. “What do you think?”
Song Rui wouldn’t budge on this issue. Compromise was their only option.
She nodded slightly. “Mm.”
“Um… I think…” Shen An raised his hand to speak.
Wang Yuqiong’s lips curved into a sly, fox-like smile. Beaming at him, she said, “You don’t get a choice in this, you know~”
Shen An: …..
