Chapter 2

At the central table sat Tang Tianman’s direct superior—the current School Student Council President, Li Xiang. When Li Xiang saw Tang Tianman walk in, he paid no mind to the rowdy toasting happening at the table. He stood up and waved her over. “Tianman, sit here.”

The gesture drew everyone’s eyes. In the boisterous restaurant, all the gazes converged on Tang Tianman.

She pouted. “I don’t want to sit with you guys.”

Her words were blunt, but because she was so adorable, they came out sounding soft and fluffy.

To straight guys, it probably looked like she was coquettishly playing hard to get.

Li Xiang showed no sign of offense. He kept grinning and went along with it. “Sure thing. Sit wherever you like.”

Tang Tianman grabbed Ruan Ruan and headed to a table off to the side, where all girls were sitting—including two from their Literature Academy.

“Everyone’s mostly here,” Li Xiang said, raising his glass. “You’ve all worked hard with the recent recruitment drives across the academies. Cheers!”

Everyone echoed him and lifted their glasses.

“There are still plenty of tasks ahead that need follow-up, and Activity Month is right around the corner. I hope all the academies cooperate well with the School Student Council to serve the school and our fellow students!”

Everyone cheered again and drank.

“Finally, a warm welcome to the new members joining the N University Student Union! You are the future, the hope, the cream of the crop!”

A bunch of people banged their glasses on the table with a clatter, whooping as they downed their drinks.

Tang Tianman clutched her Sprite. After three rounds, she’d barely made a dent in it.

Someone at her table spoke up. “Senior Sister Tang, aren’t you drinking? I heard the red wine today was brought from home by the president. It’s expensive stuff.”

“I don’t drink,” Tang Tianman said with a smile, her eyes and mouth curving like a doll’s. “Expensive or cheap, I don’t touch it.”

Ruan Ruan jumped in to back her up. “Yeah, she’s allergic to alcohol.”

Tang Tianman raised her soda to the table. “Don’t push it if you can’t drink. A symbolic sip is fine. We’re on campus—no need for all that.”

A girl across from her whispered, “The president loves that kind of thing.”

Tang Tianman arched a brow. “That’s why he’s already got one foot in middle age.”

She said it jokingly, and everyone laughed.

Tang Tianman picked up her chopsticks. “Let’s eat.”

The mood at their table lightened right up. The girls chatted about celebrities and gossip, clothes and makeup. They ate plenty but barely touched the booze.

The other tables were a different story—especially the central one, packed with reps from each academy. The drinks kept flowing round after round, with all sorts of colorful toasts. Once they got buzzed, dice came out.

It was pretty disruptive.

Tang Tianman couldn’t figure out why Zheng Xiyu had ended up at that table.

She and Ruan Ruan sat back-to-back with Zheng Xiyu, separated by a wide aisle. Tang Tianman couldn’t see her, relying entirely on Ruan Ruan’s constant glances back and ear-whispered updates.

“Zheng Xiyu sits so straight while eating—like three perfect right angles, straight out of a textbook posture.”

“Zheng Xiyu’s hair is so thick, shiny, and straight. That ponytail of hers must have three times my hair volume.”

“The way Zheng Xiyu picks up food is freaking elegant. Is that what a sports student should look like? How is she giving off sophisticated vibes?”

“That jerk from the School of Economics and Management is pouring for Zheng Xiyu again.”

Tang Tianman stood up.

Ruan Ruan jumped. “What’s up?”

Tang Tianman crossed to the other side and nudged a familiar face out of a seat. “Switch spots.”

The familiar face glanced around, grinning. “Who’re you trying to get a look at, Tang Tianman?”

“Some idiot bullying people.” Tang Tianman’s expression soured.

She might look cute, but her temper was fierce.

Especially when an idiot jumped right in her face and hit her sore spot.

Like forcing drinks on girls.

At the central table, the toasts went back and forth, but most of the booze ended up funneled toward Zheng Xiyu, the newbie.

Deliberate, no doubt.

From her new vantage point overlooking the scene, Tang Tianman wanted to get the lay of the land and pinpoint the ringleader. But she was short, and the tall guys opposite blocked key sightlines.

So Tang Tianman just stood up.

Everyone at the table stared at her. With her brows furrowed and voice low, she carried real authority. “Keep eating. I just need to stand for a bit.”

The girls sensed the shift in atmosphere and kept their heads down, sneaking peeks at Tang Tianman now and then.

Her face was dead serious, eyes locked unblinkingly on the central table.

She saw it clearly now: not just the Economics guy—out of the ten people there, five were teaming up to target Zheng Xiyu.

Snippets of laughter and chatter drifted over. Tang Tianman suddenly asked Ruan Ruan, “Which academies were in the basketball game this afternoon?”

Ruan Ruan was quick on the uptake. “One from Economics, one from Computer Science, two from the Sports Institute—the rest, not sure.”

“Got it,” Tang Tianman said.

That sealed it. A freshman girl who’d just started school, well-behaved and quiet, offending this many people? The only reason had to be outshining them on the court—playing hard and dominating.

What petty sore losers, Tang Tianman thought with an inner curse.

Zheng Xiyu downed two more glasses. All Tang Tianman could see was a sliver of her profile and reddening ears.

She barely spoke. When a drink came her way with no one to block, she just took it.

Someone won at dice and yelled for Truth or Dare. With sly winks and conspiratorial grins all around, the truth question landed on Zheng Xiyu.

The guy stood up and suddenly glanced at Tang Tianman.

Ruan Ruan, who’d been craning her neck nonstop, quickly warned her. “That’s him—the one leading the charge on pouring for Zheng Xiyu.”

“Oh.” Tang Tianman met his eyes, her stare unrelenting.

But her big, bright eyes were too pretty.

He didn’t take her glare seriously and grinned back at her.

It made Tang Tianman’s stomach turn.

He alternated looks between Tang Tianman and Zheng Xiyu, then boomed his question. “Classmate Zheng, have you ever dated? How tall’s your partner? Normal folks confessing to you probably have to think twice, huh?”

He paused after each question, giving everyone time to laugh.

By the third one, half the central table was in stitches; the rest looked awkward.

Anyone with eyes could see they were ganging up on Zheng Xiyu.

If the forced drinks had still saved some face, these mocking questions were meant to shred it completely—humiliate her in front of all these upperclassmen.

Sleazy guys like him didn’t bully by beating you fair and square on the court. No, they attacked what they figured was a girl’s weak spot.

No boyfriend—because she was too tall, so obviously she’d never dated. Girls who couldn’t date were worthless.

He was dancing right on Tang Tianman’s landmine.

Amid the jeering laughter, Zheng Xiyu stayed silent. Suddenly, Tang Tianman thought her straight, slender back looked so vulnerable.

She needed protecting.

Tang Tianman kicked the chair beside her flying.

The wooden chair scraped across the floor with a deafening screech.

Everyone turned, including the boss lady carrying out dishes.

But Zheng Xiyu didn’t budge.

Tang Tianman hiked up her skirt hem, stepped onto the chair, planted her hands on her hips, and bellowed, “Who the hell hasn’t dated these days!”

Silence fell. Zheng Xiyu finally turned her head.

Tang Tianman locked eyes with the guy harassing her, each word ringing out like steel. “Guys too scared to confess are just like those too scared to beat their opponents on the court—total cowards!!”

The guy froze, eyes darting away, face flushing beet red.

Tang Tianman whirled on Li Xiang. “President Li, I think as students, this nasty habit of forcing drinks is awful! Especially in front of new underclassmen—it makes our Publicity Department slogans impossible to write!”

Li Xiang gripped his glass in surprise, looking embarrassed. Ruan Ruan was thrilled, itching to applaud.

“Finally,” Tang Tianman said, glaring at Zheng Xiyu. She met a pair of clear eyes and stumbled. “Uh…”

Zheng Xiyu gazed back, a touch puzzled.

Tang Tianman stomped her foot, cranking her volume back up. “Hey! Zheng Xiyu! I’ve been chasing you forever—give me an answer! Say yes tonight, and your girlfriend’s only five feet tall!!!”

She’d called out the ringleader, scolded the enablers, and flipped the script with real action to save Zheng Xiyu’s face.

Tang Tianman’s speech was a showstopper—especially that last line. The crowd gaped, jaws dropped, slow to recover.

The boss lady hovered with cooling dishes, unsure whether to serve.

All eyes shifted from Tang Tianman to Zheng Xiyu. Surprise flickered in her eyes, but her face stayed calm.

She furrowed her brow slightly, studying Tang Tianman’s features intently before concluding she didn’t know this girl.

So, with a hint of awkwardness, she asked, “And you are?”

Zheng Xiyu came out on top.

Rescued by the campus beauty flying to her defense like a knight in shining armor—after a supposed long pursuit and public confession—and she didn’t even know who the campus beauty was.

One had to know, this was none other than Tang Tianman, the manga-perfect campus beauty famous throughout N University—talented, gorgeous, the kind of girl who could debut as an idol the moment a camera turned her way!

The white swan in so many hearts had been put under a spell just like that.

Tang Tianman felt her face heating up, and she thought Zheng Xiyu was a bit dense.

All she needed was for Xiyu to play along and defuse the situation. Instead, she had to ask those two words so seriously.

It really made it hard for her to… get down from her chair.

Ruan Ruan suddenly shot to her feet and dashed over to Zheng Xiyu, yanking her up in one swift motion.

Once Zheng Xiyu stood up, there was basically nothing left for anyone else to do.

With her height and aura, even in a school uniform, she stood out as the brightest star in any crowd.

The kind who towered over everyone else, barely noticing the others around her.

Tang Tianman looked up at her. Thankfully, it was still okay.

Because she was standing on the chair.

Zheng Xiyu walked over to her—it was only two steps away—and raised her hand right in front of her.

Tang Tianman met her gaze for two seconds before realizing this was an offer to help her down from the chair.

“Aiya, it’s not that high. No need,” Tang Tianman said, trying to hop down to the side.

Zheng Xiyu still steadied her anyway, her palm nearly wrapping around Tang Tianman’s upper arm completely.

With that steady grip, Tang Tianman landed safely on the ground.

“Um…” Suddenly, she didn’t know what to say.

Zheng Xiyu spoke first. “Are you still eating?”

“Huh?” Tang Tianman tilted her head back to look at her. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Then let’s head out,” Zheng Xiyu said. “I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”