The three of them, despite appearing as if they were in a sweet and romantic scene in the eyes of the “melon-eating” group, were still seen by others as just having a normal brotherly bond.

Even when Ye Wangxing jumped to hug Yan Yi, no one found it strange.

—If their friends could help raise their grades by ten places, forget about hugging and screaming, they might even kneel and call them “Dad,” and no one would be surprised.

So, most of the students just gave them a friendly round of applause.

Except for Zhou Mu. Since he came back from the National Day holiday, he’d been looking so gloomy, but the others didn’t pay much attention to him. After all, they hadn’t even fully come back from the holiday before the monthly exams came, and which of those things was more important than worrying about a classmate who hardly spoke?

Now, with the added parent-teacher conference, many students were busy begging for mercy, hoping that Head Teacher Li would show some leniency. No one had time to care about Zhou Mu, not even his rumored relationship with Su Qing.

And this scene only made Zhou Mu’s mood darker.

But…

No one cared.

Not even as much as what Head Teacher Li might think.

Only Zhou Mu cared.

Since the sports day, Zhou Mu’s situation had gone downhill.

First, after the sports event, his uncle had literally kicked him out of the house. If it weren’t for his aunt stepping in to stop his uncle, Zhou Mu would have been in serious trouble, probably even a broken bone, given his uncle’s heated temper.

It was hard enough to recover from the injury and get back to school. Zhou Mu had been bracing himself for the mocking or fearful looks from his classmates.

However, aside from his few underlings, the other students seemed to have forgotten all about the spectacular scene he had caused during the sports day. Their looks toward him were the same as before.

Even when he casually mentioned the broadcast incident, they seemed to have no memory of it.

The huge psychological gap made Zhou Mu’s mood shift instantly. He couldn’t even remember to contact Su Qing.

He really wanted to ask his classmates why they didn’t remember that broadcast, but he didn’t dare approach them, fearing that the answer would be something he couldn’t handle.

He spent his days in his seat, struggling with his emotions. Just as he was about to hang out with his underlings at an internet café after the National Day holiday, he noticed a new milk tea shop opened downstairs.

The shop was remarkably similar in style to Ye Wangxing’s, with cheap pricing on both milk tea and ice cream.

At that moment, Zhou Mu didn’t care about it much. He used the little pocket money he had to treat his underlings to a round of drinks.

—but just a few days later, on opening day, he saw Ye Wangxing appear in the shop as a small boss.

It was hard to describe what Zhou Mu was feeling.

Jealousy, inferiority, envy, condescension…

These mixed emotions swirled in Zhou Mu’s heart, creating a chaotic mess.

But unlike others who would’ve brushed it off, Zhou Mu didn’t know how to process these feelings. Instead of letting it go, he let them fester inside him.

Not even the National Day holiday or the start of the monthly exams could pull him out of this emotional mess.

It wasn’t until the dismal, depressing report card—like a stock market crash—landed in his hands that he snapped out of it.

As if things couldn’t get worse, just when Zhou Mu was starting to shake off some of the negative feelings, a third blow hit.

Su Qing was breaking up with him.

Zhou Mu was the last one to know.

“Boss, you didn’t know? Before the sports day even ended, Su Qing told her friends that she was definitely going to break up with you. We were planning to tell you…”

One of his underlings awkwardly trailed off. After the National Day holiday and the monthly exams, they had completely forgotten about it.

It was only today when Zhao Xiaxia and the others brought it up that they remembered they needed to tell their boss.

Zhou Mu’s face darkened further, losing all the swagger he had when he invited Su Qing to skip class with him.

He couldn’t understand why Su Qing wanted to break up with him. Why should she break up with him? Su Qing was just the “school flower” by name.

Wasn’t it true that he hadn’t contacted her throughout the entire National Day holiday? He had even confessed to her before, so how did they end up at the point of breaking up?

Looking at the breakup message on his little smart watch, Zhou Mu felt like he was in the role of Qin Xianglian, while Su Qing was like Chen Shimei.
(Chinese Opera in which Chen Shimei betrayed Qin Xianglian by marrying another woman, and tried to kill her to cover up his past )
—Not that it was a perfect analogy, but Zhou Mu couldn’t think of a better one.

This message was sent to his account last night, but he didn’t reply. At that time, he was playing games with his friends at an internet cafe and thought the message was just Su Qing throwing a tantrum.

It wasn’t until this morning, after the monthly exam results were announced, that Su Qing didn’t even look at him once. She was chatting and laughing with others, and only then did he realize that Su Qing might be serious.

Finally, during the long break, he couldn’t care about his pride as a man anymore. He walked over and knocked on Su Qing’s desk, trying to imitate the domineering CEO image from TV and said: “Su Qing, come out. Let’s talk.”

The short-haired girl sitting at the desk looked at him with a complex expression for a moment, but ultimately still followed him out.

When they stopped walking, the first thing she said was: “Zhou Mu, I’m serious about breaking up.”

“…I once thought you were my salvation, my prince, and I was your rose. But I later realized I was wrong.”

The short-haired girl stood in the hallway and said calmly.

Zhou Mu felt as though he was seeing her for the first time, with a sense of unfamiliarity in his eyes.

She really lived up to the title of school beauty—fair skin, big eyes, and a tall nose. Just half a month ago, she had been in his arms, and now she was saying heartbreaking words that pierced Zhou Mu’s heart.

“You’re not my prince, and I’m not your rose. You’re not even a fox. You don’t know how to care for me. You just think I’d make a good accessory to flaunt on your chest like a pin.”

“When you used free cheering words for the athletes and confessed to the whole school, I finally realized this.”

The short-haired girl pursed her lips, looking at Zhou Mu with a soft yet sad gaze.

“Zhou Mu, this isn’t the person I first met.”

“I don’t know if this is your true nature being revealed or if you’ve unknowingly turned into someone I don’t recognize, but I know we’ve come to the end.”

Su Qing said softly again: “Zhou Mu, let’s break up.”

Zhou Mu didn’t respond immediately. He stayed quiet for a long while before finally squeezing out a sentence through gritted teeth.

“So, you’re really set on breaking up?”

Su Qing nodded, looking at Zhou Mu’s expression, but still softened her tone.

“It’s not because of who’s at fault, it’s just that we’re incompatible. And now, I need to focus more on my studies for the college entrance exam.”

“Once we both get into good schools, and with more exposure to people and things, maybe we’ll grow up a little. If fate allows, maybe we’ll meet again, and that might be the best arrangement.”

Su Qing finished speaking and turned to leave.

—She gave her first love the most graceful goodbye.

Zhou Mu fell silent again. His subordinates saw Su Qing leave and then hesitantly came up to him.

“Boss, is this… really the end? Is it because of that broadcast?”

His subordinates had already sensed something when the broadcast came out. They thought Su Qing might make a fuss.

Although some of the more dramatic people might like such a public confession, the key thing was Su Qing didn’t like it.

In fact, the subordinates also felt that anyone with a little self-respect wouldn’t accept that kind of confession.

However, Zhou Mu shook his head, his expression darkening as he said: “No, it’s definitely not because of that broadcast. It’s because Su Qing has found someone else!”

The subordinates immediately perked up. They wondered where exactly Zhou Mu had come to this conclusion. Zhou Mu bitterly said: “Didn’t you hear her? She mentioned prince and fox. That’s definitely a sign of her falling for someone else! Who could it be? Could it be… Ye Wangxing?”

Zhou Mu muttered in frustration, while his subordinate’s face immediately fell.

—Boss, you really need to read a bit more! She was obviously using metaphors!

Just as Zhou Mu thought Su Qing had moved on, Su Qing, who had returned to the classroom, faced another major blow.

“Yo, our rose girl is back~”

With that mocking expression from Zhao Xiaxia and the snickering Jiang Yue by her side, Su Qing slowly covered her face.

Help, her toes were about to dig into the ground!

 

 

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