Who would believe his excuses? I chuckled again, "Xiaobai, my girlfriend is low-key. She doesn't know many people. We won't ask for your help in the future, and you won't be able to help her either. Just let her go." With that, I tried to pull Taozi away.

But Su Xiaobai blocked our path, still wearing a smile, "Hey, Wang Hao, Taozi isn't your private property. She has the right to make friends, doesn't she?" He then glanced at Taozi, trying to attract her with his charm.

Su Xiaobai's words were reasonable, and I didn't have a reason to forcibly drag Taozi away. I looked at Taozi with frustration, feeling deeply annoyed. I had intended to provoke Xia Xue intentionally, but unexpectedly, Su Xiaobai had set his sights on Taozi.

Su Xiaobai continued to gaze softly at Taozi, asking each word slowly, "Can we be friends?"

Perhaps no girl could refuse such a statement.

I felt a sense of despair creeping in, desperately resisting the urge to punch him.

But Taozi leaned towards me, reluctantly saying, "Sorry, I'm not very fond of making friends."

I looked at Taozi in astonishment, feeling even more ecstatic inside, while Su Xiaobai also looked surprised. This might be the first time he had been turned down like this.

"Wang Hao, let's go," Taozi pulled me, pointing to a distant place, "Let's go over there for a stroll."

"Okay," I smiled, holding Taozi's hand tighter. I smirked at Su Xiaobai, "Let's go, Xiaobai!" Seeing his expression, I felt so satisfied. Meanwhile, Xia Xue still looked unhappy, turning her face away, seemingly embarrassed.

As I walked away with Taozi, my affection for this girl grew even stronger. I felt a sense of relief and walked much lighter.

"Hehe, feeling better now?" Taozi said as we walked.

"Yeah," I happily replied, "You're probably the first one to turn down Su Xiaobai."

"I wouldn't even spare a glance at a guy who's all talk and no substance like him!" Taozi giggled.

As we walked hand in hand, suddenly, I heard a voice behind me, "Wang Hao!" It was Xia Xue.

I turned around to see Xia Xue standing alone behind us, and Su Xiaobai was nowhere to be seen.

Xia Xue's face was filled with sadness, showing signs of exhaustion.

"What's wrong, Xia Xue?" A pang of pain shot through my heart, and I involuntarily let go of Taozi's hand.

"Wang Hao," Xia Xue's tears started to fall, "I know I was wrong. I love you, and I want to be with you."

A thunderous roar echoed in my mind, as if I couldn't hear or see anything else. Memories flooded back, of how Xia Xue encouraged me to stand up to Zou Yang, how she passionately defended me, her every gesture and expression. How could I forget all of this? Without her, perhaps I would still be a nobody bullied by Zou Yang?

Xia Xue had left a deep mark in my heart long ago, how could I easily forget, how could I easily let go!

"Wang Hao," Xia Xue's voice echoed again, "Come back, I love you."

Upon hearing these words, I stumbled towards her in a daze, completely forgetting Taozi standing beside me.

I reached Xia Xue's side and gently wiped the tears from her face.

"Don't cry, sweetheart," I whispered softly, with only Xia Xue in my world now.

Xia Xue threw herself into my arms, crying, "Wang Hao, you're right. I don't love Su Xiaobai at all. I just enjoy the feeling of being envied by other girls when I'm with him. When I saw you holding hands with Taozi, it felt like my heart was being torn apart. I don't know when I fell in love with you. It's so good that you're back, please don't leave again, I won't do this anymore."

"Okay, okay," I replied, kissing Xia Xue's hair.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

We held each other, as if time had frozen.

After a while, our emotions gradually calmed down. I suddenly remembered Taozi, and when I looked back, I realized she had already left at some point. I felt guilty, thinking I would explain to her later. She was a reasonable girl, and she would surely understand my sadness. Besides, she was only with me to deepen her understanding of Shakespeare. Even if we were no longer together, I could still continue to teach her.

I tightened my embrace around Xia Xue, feeling reassured. "Then what about Su Xiaobai? Are you no longer his girlfriend?"

"No, I'm not. With so many girlfriends of his, one less won't make a difference!" Xia Xue declared. "I want to find someone who truly loves me, to be together for a lifetime."

I was overjoyed to hear Xia Xue's words, responding with continuous affirmations of "yes" and "yeah." My heart was filled with excitement; the plan had indeed succeeded.

Thinking back, I felt quite impressive today. Making Su Xiaobai lose face twice, first with Taozi rejecting his friend request, then with Xia Xue returning to my side. I pondered that Su Xiaobai must resent me now. Yu Chengfei had advised me to improve my relationship with him, mentioning that he might need his help in the future. But now, it seemed like things between Su Xiaobai and me were done. Whoever he loves, let it be. I was ready to leave the school.

Embracing Xia Xue, I felt that I could leave without regrets.

We spent some time together in the small garden, happily holding hands as we walked back. Xia Xue seemed to be more enthusiastic about it than Taozi, who always seemed shy... Damn, why did I keep thinking about Taozi? I quickly pushed the thought of Taozi aside and happily ran back to the classroom with Xia Xue.

When we returned to the classroom, our classmates were dumbfounded. They had seen me walking with Taozi, but now seeing me with Xia Xue, they were probably confused. I led Xia Xue to the front of the classroom and cleared my throat, saying, "Starting today, Xia Xue and I are together!"

Although the classmates didn't understand, they all applauded and cheered, some even asking me to buy wedding candies.

I went to the nearby shop to buy wedding candies and distributed them, except to Li Jie and Zou Yang. Li Jie and his group were fine, as they had their own circle. But Zou Yang was in a more pitiful situation; Li Jie and the others seemed to have distanced themselves from him. Zou Yang was now alone everywhere he went, often sleeping at the back of the classroom. As the class monitor, he sometimes had to make announcements, but the classmates rarely paid attention to him and treated him as if he didn't matter.

I handed out candies without paying attention to Zou Yang. He was still sleeping at the back, apparently giving up on himself.

Liu Zihong asked me for several pieces of candy, saying that Xia Xue and I being together couldn't have happened without his support and help. I laughed and thought that he was right, giving him a few extra pieces of candy as a reward. Liu Zihong ate one piece and put the rest in his pocket, proudly saying, "I'll keep these safe. They're from Brother Hao."

I kicked Liu Zihong lightly. "Hurry up and give your seat to Xia Xue!"

It wasn't the homeroom class next, so Xia Xue could sit next to me again. Liu Zihong agreed and swapped seats with Xia Xue.

Xia Xue and I had just gotten together, and the excitement was still fresh. We passed notes to each other during class, holding hands tightly under the desk. I had waited for this day for so long, and the excitement was difficult to contain. After chatting for a while, Xia Xue wrote on a piece of paper, "What about Taozi? You should comfort her; she seems like a nice girl."

I replied, "Don't worry. I only brought her to deliberately provoke you. I'll go explain things to her afterwards."

Xia Xue wrote again, "Okay, after class, go and talk to her. She seems quite fond of you."

I promised and continued chatting with Xia Xue about other things. Eventually, I couldn't resist telling her about my plan to transfer schools. I wrote, "Before transferring, I wanted to confess to you, which is why there was that crazy scene under the teaching building that day."

Xia Xue looked surprised after reading, but then she wrote, "You don't need to transfer. I'll talk to Su Xiaobai and Mai Zi for you. We can compensate Hong Li for his medical expenses, it's not that difficult. Don't worry about money, I have enough here."

I wrote back, "It's not that simple. Otherwise, Yu Chengfei wouldn't be pressuring me like this. Even if we temporarily solve the problem with money, I won't be able to stay at Chenggao High School. Mai Zi and the others will keep causing trouble for me. Yu Chengfei hopes I can go to the vocational school and be with them."

After reading this, Xia Xue remained silent for a long time before turning her head away and not writing anything else.

I knew she was upset; we had just started dating, and now we were facing separation between schools. Even though the vocational school and Chenggao High School were just separated by a wall, it still meant being in different schools. It was normal to feel uncomfortable about it. So I wrote, "It's okay, I promise to come and see you every day."

Xia Xue still ignored me. This girl wore her heart on her sleeve, showing her emotions openly without any pretense. This was one of the reasons why I liked her. But since she wasn't responding, I had nothing else to do. I started thinking about Taozi again, wondering how to apologize to her. Then I had a good idea—I would write down all my insights on Shakespeare's works and give them to her as a gift. I was sure she would be delighted.

Without further ado, I took out my notebook and started writing. I began with the first book of Shakespeare's that I had read, writing down my thoughts on the plots, character analyses, and praising Shakespeare's use of language. I wrote continuously until the end of class, by which time I had written quite a lot. Xia Xue finally turned her head and asked, "What are you writing?"

I said, "I'm writing notes on Shakespeare's works for Taozi. She needs these."

Xia Xue didn't seem too pleased. "I'm feeling so upset, and you're still thinking about Taozi?!"