Of course, the words above were just relayed to me by my roommates, I didn't actually hear them myself. Perhaps they were just making up lies to flatter me, and while I did feel a bit pleased upon hearing them, I didn't take them too seriously. Once, while eating in the cafeteria, a girl suddenly approached me and said, "You're Wang Hao, right? Since Xia Xue won't be your girlfriend, I'll be!"

With a mouthful of food still in my mouth, I looked at this audacious girl in surprise. Honestly, if she hadn't looked so terrifying, I might have agreed on the spot. It was the first time in my life that someone had confessed to me!

I made up some excuses, saying that my heart belongs to Xia Xue, so I apologized, etc. The girl then turned to her companions and said, "This Wang Hao is truly a hopeless romantic, I didn't misjudge him. I'll continue pursuing him!" I quickly made my escape with my companions.

With these repeated experiences, I was convinced that I had become quite popular at Chenggao High School. To make Xia Xue realize that she actually loved me and not some popular idol like Su Xiaobai, I needed to execute my plan quickly. These days, I've been diligently searching for a target. One day, while eating in the cafeteria with my companions, we just settled into our seats when I noticed a girl sitting opposite us. My heart skipped a beat—it was as if she had Xia Xue's appearance, but even more charming. After all the things that had happened, my confidence had grown considerably, and my courage had increased as well. I directly asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The girl awkwardly replied, "No."

"Hmm," I nodded, not saying anything else, and lowered my head to eat.

After finishing her meal, the girl hurriedly left, and I immediately instructed my companions, "Find out who she is for me."

"Is Wang Hao interested in her again?" Liu Zihong chuckled, "Don't worry, leave this to me."

Liu Zihong was indeed efficient, and by the afternoon, he had gathered information for me. The girl's name was Taozi, also a freshman. Considering her outstanding appearance, she shouldn't be unknown, but according to Liu Zihong, Taozi kept a low profile and didn't interact much with others. Most of the time, she just stayed in the classroom. Although there were initially many boys in their class pursuing her, Taozi was always cold towards them, showing a dismissive and icy demeanor, so eventually, no one bothered her anymore. I was delighted to hear this and thought that this girl called Taozi was indeed not bad.

Since I didn't have much time left, I needed to act quickly. That afternoon, I ordered a bouquet of roses and handwrote a love letter. Not to boast, but given my literary prowess, even if she didn't fall in love with me, she would surely be deeply impressed by this love letter.

In front of the entire class (including Xia Xue), I handed the roses and love letter to Liu Zihong. "Bro, make sure everything goes smoothly for me."

"No problem, Wang Hao," Liu Zihong said as he quickly rushed out.

The class immediately buzzed with excitement, and many people crowded around. "Who is Wang Hao interested in from another class?" "Wang Hao takes action, one to two!" "Wang Hao is truly amazing, I couldn't match his courage!" "I've seen her, met her at lunchtime, Wang Hao moves fast!"

I joked around with everyone and then glanced at Zou Yang behind me. Zou Yang had been downcast these past few days, unable to muster any spirit, and even the class teacher had asked him if he wanted to continue being the class monitor. But I didn't want to see him anymore and quickly shifted my gaze to Xia Xue. After class, Xia Xue sat next to me and complained, "Just a few days ago, you said you liked me, and now you're onto someone else? Why are you boys so fickle?"

I chuckled inwardly, seeing the initial success of my plan, so I pretended to be indifferent and said, "You already have a boyfriend, so it's not like I can keep pestering you. I saw a girl at lunch today, and she's really beautiful. My heart started pounding right away."

"Is that so?" Xia Xue said sourly, "Is she prettier than me?"

"You two are equally charming," I laughed.

"Alright, I wish you success in your pursuit," Xia Xue said with a hint of resignation.

I ignored her and lowered my head to continue writing a love letter to Taozi, filled with cheesy phrases, but actually intended for Xia Xue to see. Xia Xue indeed glanced at it sneakily with her eyes and occasionally remarked, "I can't stand it, I can't stand it. How can there be someone as cheesy as you in the world?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"This is romance," I said earnestly, "Last time, confessing to you in front of the teaching building was enough to prove my romantic side. It was a risk of getting expelled, and escaping the clutches of Slap King wasn't easy." Since that incident at the school office, Slap King hadn't bothered me again, and the school hadn't taken any action, so I nervously went through the next few days.

"Alright, alright, you're the most romantic," Xia Xue's tone was still sour, "But really, any girl who has you as a boyfriend must have accumulated good karma from her past lives. Unfortunately, I love Su Xiaobai, otherwise, I could be with you."

Hmph. I thought to myself, these days I'll make you realize that you actually love me. I didn't say anything and lowered my head to write my own love letter. My goal was clear—to make Xia Xue jealous and let her know how much she actually loved me.

After class, Liu Zihong excitedly ran up to me, saying, "Bro, Taozi asked you to go see her!"

Beside me, Xia Xue sneered, "Oh, things are progressing quickly. Nowadays, girls really have no sense of restraint!"

Although it was intended to provoke Xia Xue, I was still quite happy to hear the news, after all, Taozi was also a pretty girl, and not that easy to approach. I stood up, bid Xia Xue farewell, and then rushed out of the classroom towards Taozi's class. There weren't many students left in the classroom, and they all looked surprised to see me. Ignoring them, I went straight to sit next to Taozi and said cheerfully, "Hey beauty, be my girlfriend?"

I didn't actually like Taozi, so I didn't choose my words carefully. I just said whatever came to mind, portraying a completely romantic image.

Taozi's face immediately turned red. "Why do you speak like that?"

"Huh?" I said, "I wrote you a love letter, gave you roses. If you're not interested, then don't tease me. I really want to be with you. So, what do you say, give me a chance?" I found myself quite talented at lying.

"Can you not be so quick?" Taozi's face was still flushed like a ripe peach.

"Okay, as you say, let's take it slow," I reached out to hold Taozi's hand, "Let's just hold hands tonight, nothing more."

As soon as my hand touched Taozi's, she immediately pulled away as if shocked, exclaimed "Oh my!" and stood up, "You're such a hooligan!"

A hooligan? Heh heh, although I've never accepted that label, my words and actions did seem to match those of a hooligan. I propped up my chin with one hand, with a suggestive expression, "Hmm, so what do you want? Why did you call me over?"

Taozi sat back down and said seriously, "Well, I noticed that you quoted a lot of Shakespeare's love poems in your love letter. Do you have a study of Shakespeare? How many of his books have you read?"

I looked at Taozi in surprise. Indeed, my love letters did quote many of Shakespeare's love poems. I found Shakespeare's lines beautiful, so I casually included them in the letters, almost as if plagiarizing. But I thought in this day and age, who still reads Shakespeare's works? I assumed Taozi would be impressed by my literary prowess. Little did I know she was an expert herself, immediately recognizing the poems as Shakespeare's!

"Don't look at me like that," Taozi said somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm interested in Shakespeare's works, but for some reason, I can never get into them. Some of his works are long and boring, and I can't see the beauty in them. So, I'm quite anxious and wanted to find an expert to ask about it. Seeing you casually incorporating Shakespeare's love poems into your love letter shows that you must have a deep understanding of his works!"

During the three years of being ostracized in middle school, books were my only companions. Taozi asking about this couldn't have been more perfect. I immediately said proudly, "Of course, Shakespeare's four great tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and his four great comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, I can recite them backwards. But honestly, I feel Shakespeare's tragedies are more touching. But none of those compare to his 154 sonnets!"

I had quite the authority to speak on these matters, as without those books, I don't know how I would have endured those difficult days.

"Can you tell me more about them?" Taozi's expression was eager, and there was even a hint of admiration in her eyes as she looked at me.

"Of course!" I was naturally very happy. Finally, I met someone who also liked Shakespeare's love poems. This was a great opportunity to show off the insights I've gained. These topics were never discussed with Xia Xue. Although she was smart and excelled in her studies, she didn't enjoy reading extracurricular books.

"Well, that's great!" Taozi said as she took out her notebook, seemingly ready to take notes. She smiled and said, "I didn't expect a little hooligan like you to be so cultured. You really surprised me."

"Why can't a little hooligan be cultured?" I suddenly remembered my identity. I was a mischievous little hooligan who didn't spend his days buried in books. So, I immediately put on a mischievous smile and said, "If you want me to tell you, that can be arranged. But the condition is you have to be my girlfriend." I tapped the table lightly and looked at her with a smile.

I think I must have looked like a true little hooligan now.

Taozi's face turned red again, and she lowered her head without saying a word.

"Think about it," I said as I stood up. "When you've made up your mind, come find me, and I'll spill all my secrets for you. I've been studying Shakespeare for over ten years, so how can I just casually share it with an outsider?" Later, I realized that was just bragging. In reality, I hadn't read all of Shakespeare's works, just some of his more famous ones. And I had only glanced through some of the 154 sonnets. But I naturally had an interest in these things, so I remembered them easily and could quote them at will.

With that said, I stood up to leave.