She Asked Him to Stay—and He Knew He Was Already in Trouble

“Chen Xintian, don’t you leave after school.”
Lu Jing figured it was about time.
Dragging it out any longer wouldn’t do her any good, so she threw down a final threat and prepared to return to her own class.

“Yapping and yapping, it’s so annoying.”
Chen Xinmei curled her lip; she wasn’t scared of Lu Jing either.
She didn’t have her sister’s good upbringing and character, that disdaining-this, scorning-that attitude.
If something rubbed Chen Xinmei the wrong way, she would fire right back.
Unlike Chen Xintian’s alluring style, Chen Xinmei’s personality and style were much more girlish and youthful.
Today, she had tied her hair into a pretty low ponytail with a blue hairband.
She hadn’t put on heavy makeup, just a bit of something to brighten her complexion.
Paired with her frequently furrowed brows and pouting mouth, she gave off a spoiled, yet cute feeling.

“You!”
Lu Jing was so provoked by these two sisters she was on the verge of losing her composure.
On the surface, she couldn’t ruin her own image and couldn’t bring herself to utter anything truly vulgar, but in her heart, she had already cursed Chen Xintian and Chen Xinmei to the depths, calling them worse than pigs and dogs.
The older sister was a seductress, the younger one was uncouth—she really didn’t know why so many people liked these two!

“Forget it, forget it.”
“Class is about to start.”
The girls who had followed her tugged at Lu Jing, signaling they should hurry back to their class before a teacher showed up.
Lu Jing shot one last venomous glare at the two sisters and stomped out indignantly.
On her way out, she even straightened the desks she had knocked askew earlier.
As her anger subsided, reason told Lu Jing that even if she continued to make a scene, not only would there be no result, it would also strain her friendships.
She had to consider the girls who had “charged into battle” with her to some extent; she couldn’t put them in a risky position.
Otherwise, no one would be willing to follow her in the future.

The drama ended hastily.
Pei Du, feeling it was unfinished, could only give it a three-star rating, on a scale where ten was the full score.
The actors hadn’t been very dedicated, lacking both physical clashes and verbal sparring.
The audience wasn’t fully satisfied.
They needed to do better.

Would there be an encore performance after school in the evening?
Pei Du thought probably not.
He had some understanding of Chen Xintian’s behavioral logic; she likely wouldn’t dignify such a boring “invitation” with a response.

Most of the classmates pretended nothing had happened, going back to sleeping, chatting, or studying as usual.
Those who were curious about the incident and were on decent terms with the sisters quietly went over to ask what had really happened.
At this moment, Pei Du wished he sat closer to Chen Xintian.
Then he could “unintentionally” overhear what was going on.
He could even maintain an appearance of not being particularly gossipy.

Regrets truly permeated every little detail of life.
Missing out on one piece of gossip today, another tomorrow—how much entertainment would he miss in a month?
“System, can you help me detect what’s happening?”
“Host, the system is unable to assist and advises the host not to concern themselves with members of the opposite s*x other than the First Perfect Life Partner. According to the system’s research, humans in their teens are an age prone to jealousy and insecurity…”
“Alright, you can shut down now. I need to do my homework.”

He spent an utterly ordinary afternoon doing practice tests, and just like that, it was time for dinner.
When he was focused on solving problems with his head down, time seemed to fly; before he could finish a couple of questions, a class period was nearly over.
When he was daydreaming and spinning his pen, a class felt agonizingly slow; even after dropping his pen several times, only a quarter of the period had passed.

Because she was going to the snack street with Hu Zhuyue, He Chengxi sent a message ahead of time asking Pei Du if he wanted to join.
Pei Du wasn’t particularly interested in eating out for the time being, so he declined, planning to go to the cafeteria with Zhao Yu and test their speed against others in the rush for food.
Most importantly, he felt somewhat awkward going out with girls, especially when that girl was He Chengxi.
Classmates around them were already spreading rumors about them.
If they were seen together, not only would there be gossip, but they’d also be stared at from all sides, gawked at like monkeys in a zoo.
That would make eating and walking around thoroughly uncomfortable.
At an age curious about social dynamics, students loved to chew over minor events.
Pei Du chose to avoid the spotlight; it would be more relaxing that way.

After successfully grabbing a signature spicy diced chicken rice with Zhao Yu and sitting down in the cafeteria to scroll through his phone, Pei Du received a new message.
“Pei Du, can you leave a bit later tonight?”
“?”
“Xinmei and I are a little afraid Lu Jing and her friends might cause trouble for us. We were hoping you could wait for us and walk together. Is that okay?”

Are you kidding me?
Pei Du suspected Chen Xintian’s phone had been picked up by someone else.
Who was this?
Given his deliberate efforts to keep distance, his relationship with Chen Xintian was quite ordinary.
If she needed help, she shouldn’t be turning to him.
Besides, she could just wave her hand and have plenty of people willing to help.
Furthermore, in Pei Du’s eyes, Chen Xintian was among the top tier of the high school social hierarchy; there was no way she couldn’t handle this sort of thing.
It was better to just refuse.

Pei Du tactfully typed out a few words, wanting to say he wasn’t very free after school, but hesitated before sending them.
Why was he hesitating again?
“Host, according to data research, when males encounter a beautiful female who has pursued them facing trouble, they find it difficult to stand idly by. Based on system analysis, this stems from…”
“Why haven’t you shut down yet?”

Of course Pei Du knew what he was thinking.
He was simply too embarrassed to confront his own true feelings.
Let’s be honest, what guy could resist a pretty girl asking him for help?
Especially when she had always been orbiting around him, often chatted with him, was considered a friend, and was both beautiful in face and curvaceous in figure.
Only asexual or homosexual male leads in anime and novels could pretend not to care!
Even with firm convictions, that wasn’t a test a teenager in his teens should be expected to withstand—at least, Pei Du couldn’t do it.
If he didn’t know his own nature, how quickly he could fall, he wouldn’t have deliberately distanced himself from the girls who approached him.
His energetic body was a powder keg ready to explode at a spark.
Only by staying away could he focus on getting through the college entrance exam.
This was already his limit.
To remain utterly indifferent? He’d need to be a reincarnated monk.
Pei Du was just an ordinary high school boy; he didn’t have that level of self-control.

After much hesitation, Pei Du only replied with four words.
“I got it.”
He’d just see how things played out.
When the time came, he would just be watching the show, not necessarily planning to do anything.
That’s right, he was just going to grab a front-row seat with a viewing ticket to join in the excitement, not going for Chen Xintian’s sake.

Distracted by this matter, he lost interest in scrolling through his phone.
He finished his meal quickly, wanting to hurry back to the classroom to wait for the after-school drama.

“Young Master, if I’m not back later, please ask for leave from the teacher for me.”
“What?”
“My divination tells me I might need to camp out in the bathroom right before class starts.”
“……”
Pei Du didn’t know what was wrong with Zhao Yu, needing to camp in the bathroom right before class.
Did he have some kind of class phobia?

Since Zhao Yu planned to linger in the cafeteria a while longer, Pei Du returned to the classroom alone, intending to work on some problems to prepare for the evening’s practice tests.

After sitting down, Pei Du inexplicably felt a sticky, damp gaze clinging to his back.
Was it his imagination?
Pei Du chalked it up to reading too many novels and starting to hallucinate.
He quickly adjusted his mood, spread out the off-white test paper, and began solving problems with neat penmanship.

Chen Xintian withdrew her gaze, absentmindedly tapping her exquisitely crafted manicured nails against her phone screen.
Before she could share a bed with Pei Du, it wasn’t wise to casually reveal her true nature.
Based on her observations so far, Pei Du was most likely the abstinent, restrained type.
Launching too fierce an assault too soon might backfire.
It was still better to stick to the initial plan: proceed gradually and steadily, reveal her true nature only after she had quietly devoured him—that would be safer.

Chen Xintian would never have imagined that if she had launched a more aggressive offensive earlier, Pei Du would have long since succumbed to her charms.
Although their sexual preferences weren’t a perfect match, at least Chen Xintian was a beautiful girl with all the right curves in all the right places.
And Pei Du’s current state could be described as that of a male ape ready to go into heat at any moment—thanks to the increase in his physical stats, his daily workouts, and his choice not to use the auto-mode, allowing everything to accumulate.