As soon as Su Xiaobai uttered these words, not only were Ye Zhan and his brothers stunned, but so were the dozens of students gathered in front of the notice board.

I felt that some people were looking at me, while others were looking at Ye Zhan.

"Hahaha..." Ye Zhan laughed, "Xiaobai, are you joking? Maizi was stabbed by Wang Hao, so naturally, the boss should be him!" He didn't seem to realize Su Xiaobai's malicious intent and continued laughing heartily.

"Really?" Su Xiaobai said doubtfully, "From what I know, since Wang Hao came to this school, it's been Ye Zhan who's been protecting him, right? And the last time they attacked Maizi, it was Ye Zhan who put in the most effort. Otherwise, with just the few people around Wang Hao, even dealing with Hong Li would have been difficult. Now, just because he happened to stab Maizi by chance, his status suddenly surpasses Ye Zhan to become the new top dog of Cheng Gao? I'm not picking a fight; I have a good relationship with Wang Hao too. I'm just wondering, isn't it a bit too easy to become the boss? Wang Hao, don't you think so?"

"That makes sense," a female voice chimed in. It was Ye Qianqian, "Wang Hao has been in this school for less than two months, right? If he can become the boss so easily, he'd be even more legendary than Yu Chengfei from the vocational school next door!"

The crowd suddenly erupted in a commotion, with various voices joining in. "Yeah, Wang Hao's qualifications are a bit shallow." "And he's an out-of-town student too." "Ye Zhan has been around for so many years. If anyone should be the boss, it should be him..."

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath. It wasn't loud, but enough for Su Xiaobai to hear.

Su Xiaobai's face suddenly changed, and he stopped smiling, looking shocked. "What did you say?"

The crowd fell silent. "Idiot," I repeated, "Who said we have a good relationship? Can you stop claiming false connections? Whether Ye Zhan or I become the boss, do we need you to worry about it? Not to mention, we don't even plan to establish ourselves here right now. Even if we did want to rise up in Cheng Gao in the future, Ye Zhan and I are good friends and brothers. There's no issue of who is above or below. Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. You're not a gangster. Just focus on managing the 'common rabble' around you. Oh, and 'common rabble' is your term, right? You said it to me last time at the girls' dormitory."

Not only did Su Xiaobai's face change, but even Ye Qianqian's expression altered.

Ye Zhan looked at me in surprise, not understanding why I was speaking to Su Xiaobai in such a tone. In his view, Su Xiaobai was just making a casual remark. He had no idea what Su Xiaobai was really up to.

Only I knew that since I had punched him and kicked him in the mouth, we had become "enemies seeing each other with particular animosity" and "sworn enemies who wouldn't rest until the other was destroyed."

"Mind your own business," I spat on the ground, "If you have time, why not go trick a few more girls? That's what you're best at."

In the entire school, probably only I dared to mock Su Xiaobai so openly. Since the enmity was already there, I didn't mind tearing off the facade. After saying that, I couldn't be bothered with him anymore and turned to walk towards the teaching building. Liu Zihong and the others followed closely behind, but Ye Zhan and his group didn't move.

My heart ached a little.

Back in the classroom, I tried to act relaxed. "Quick, bring down the teacher's desk. I've been looking forward to it!"

Of course, I hadn't forgotten the bet with Ge Chen. Gong Ning and the others struggled to bring down the teacher's desk. Liu Zihong and I once again sprawled arrogantly and ostentatiously on the desk, sitting on overturned desks to reach the high teacher's desk. "Hehehe..." I played with the chalk, erasers, and pointer on the desk, deliberately acting very happy and occasionally bursting into laughter. No one knew how much I was hurting inside.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Would Ye Zhan fall out with me over this? Would Ye Zhan side with Su Xiaobai against me?

The class bell rang, and the teacher came in, quickly noticing the unusual scene. He looked at me, "Wang Hao, what are you doing?!"

"Ask Ge Chen!" I replied dismissively.

The teacher turned and left, seemingly to consult the class teacher. The class burst into laughter, and many students cheered. "Hao Ge, you're amazing." "Hao Ge, you're my idol." "Hao Ge, this time the class teacher is in for it!"

But I wasn't so happy. I propped my chin with one hand, my cheek aching from the forced smiles earlier.

"Hao Ge..." Liu Zihong called softly.

"What?" I asked.

"What if Ye Zhan really competes with you for the boss position? I think a lot of people would support him..."

"Stop talking to me about this crap!" My voice was filled with anger, and it was loud enough to silence the entire class. No one understood why I suddenly lost my temper. Liu Zihong lowered his head in shame, not daring to say another word.

After a while, the teacher returned. He looked at me helplessly, took some chalk, an eraser, and a pointer, and started teaching. It seemed Ge Chen had explained everything to him, so the lesson proceeded without the teacher's desk. The classroom atmosphere was strange, probably because of my earlier outburst.

After class, the teacher placed the chalk, eraser, and pointer back on the desk in front of me and left without saying a word.

I was in an extremely bad mood, and sitting up so high couldn't lift my spirits even a bit.

The classmates were running around, chasing, playing, and chatting. It was the first time in days that I saw Xia Xue. She didn't look very happy either. Some boys tried to talk to her, but she dismissed them impatiently and lay down on her desk, doing nothing.

Xia Xue glanced at me several times, and finally, she couldn't hold back and came over. "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

"Isn't it your first love, Su Xiaobai!" I was full of anger. "He's trying to stir up trouble between Ye Zhan and me!"

"He was just a crush from when I was young and naive, okay? How many times are you going to bring it up?" Xia Xue said helplessly. "What did he do to you this time? And come on, can he really drive a wedge between you and Ye Zhan? Honestly, Wang Hao, you should try to get along with Su Xiaobai. Even though he's a bit of a playboy, he's a good guy, warm-hearted, and likes to help others..."

Even Xia Xue said this, even Xia Xue!

I was about to explode. I slammed the desk and said, "What if I just want to fall out with Su Xiaobai? What if I don't plan to get along with him? If he has the guts to rally all the gangsters in the school against me, I'll still be Wang Hao if I even frown! Let's see who can laugh last!"

Xia Xue stared at me, and tears suddenly streamed down her face. "Why are you yelling at me..."

I realized I had spoken too harshly and hurriedly tried to wipe the tears from her face. "Alright, alright, don't cry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you. There's a lot you don't know, and I don't want to talk about it..."

"What can't you tell me?" Xia Xue was still crying. "Even if I'm not your girlfriend anymore, can't you still talk to me?"

"No," I was flustered, and asked a nearby girl for tissues to wipe Xia Xue's tears. Seeing her cry made my heart ache. "There are many things that aren't convenient to tell girls..." The conflict with Su Xiaobai was because of Taozi. I couldn't mention Taozi in front of Xia Xue. That much, I knew at least.

"But you can't yell at me." Xia Xue was still crying. "Do you know how scary you are when you yell..."

"I only yelled at you once, and now I'm coaxing you with so many words." I realized I needed to control my temper.

"Why don't you yell at Taozi then?" Xia Xue cried. "You think she's so gentle that you can't bear to yell at her, right?"

"That's not true." I said, "I don't yell at either of you. I don't yell at anyone. I'm not a lion, why would I keep yelling?"

Actually, I did yell at Taozi once, that time in the small garden when Su Xiaobai, Xia Xue, and I were supposed to meet. Taozi didn't let me hold her hand, and I yelled, "What's wrong with holding your hand? Aren't you my girlfriend?" That scared Taozi so much that she didn't dare say a word. But every time I yelled, I regretted it. Getting angry at girls was immature. I needed to learn from this.

"Yeah, right." Xia Xue sniffled, "When you get mad, it's really scary. Only I can handle you. Any other girl would just walk away and not give you a chance to apologize."

I laughed and said casually, "Yeah, yeah, you're the best."

Xia Xue smiled through her tears. "I'm the best, so why don't you pursue me? Like that time, you dragged me out of class and to the artificial lake to confess your feelings. Was that your only romantic moment?"

Thinking about that time, I felt quite proud. The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, and the lake waves were rippling. I held Xia Xue's hand and confessed to her. It should have been a beautiful story, but the ending wasn't great. She rejected me there, saying she didn't regret being one of Su Xiaobai's many girlfriends. Thinking about it still made me angry.

But when Xia Xue mentioned it now, it felt different. Memories are always beautiful. We could forget the unhappy ending and remember only the good times when we held hands and left the campus, the sun was beautiful, the air was fragrant, and even the old doorman smiled at us.

I'm a sentimental person, and those beautiful memories stirred my emotions. I suddenly grabbed Xia Xue's hand and said, "Let's go, let's go to the lake again, and let me confess to you once more!"