Chapter 9: Striking Hard!

"Eep!"

Jiang Xin covered her cheeks, letting out a blush-inducing sound, but she immediately snapped back to reality.

She hurriedly lowered her hands and placed the restored envelope back in its original spot. Standing up, she walked over to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes. She would definitely have to go downstairs to deliver that love letter to Chen Ye later; she couldn't just wear her pajamas.

But... Jiang Xin remembered that Chen Ye didn't have a phone capable of logging into QQ. How was he supposed to contact her?

She had to give him her phone number.

With that thought, Jiang Xin carried the dress she had just taken out back to the computer desk. However, she paused when she saw two new messages pop up in the chat window.

[Is this your number?]

[131********]

The latter was indeed her number, but how did Chen Ye know it?! A trace of confusion flashed through Jiang Xin's eyes.

She hadn't exchanged numbers with many people. After all, she couldn't speak, so adding them on QQ was enough for communication. Could Chen Ye have asked around and found out so much about her without her knowing?

But who did he ask?

Jiang Xin didn't think she was obtuse. If someone was really paying attention to her, it was impossible for her not to notice.

Unless... Chen Ye had been pursuing Su Siyun all along, and Su Siyun just so happened to be her sister! But in reality, Chen Ye's target had always been...

Jiang Xin's heart trembled. A surge of warmth rushed from her heart to her limbs, making her feel a bit flushed.

"The AC isn't on! It must be because the weather is getting hotter!" she reasoned.

She quickly found an excuse for herself, then immediately closed Chen Ye's chat window, hoping her wildly racing heart would slow down soon. But young girls were prone to longing for love. Who hadn't fantasized about an unforgettable romance that was both sweet and heart-wrenching? Even a girl like her, who had become somewhat insecure and sensitive because of her muteness.

Moreover, Chen Ye was one of the few classmates who never looked at her differently. He also had the most tragic family background in the class, studied incredibly hard, and his grades were only slightly worse than hers. Most importantly, he wasn't bad-looking, even if he was a little tanned.

It wasn't like she hadn't ever...

"Ah!"

Jiang Xin cried out in her heart. Shaking her head repeatedly, she let out a long breath, dispelling the wild fantasies in her mind.

"I can't think about this anymore. I need to change my clothes now and wait for Chen Ye to come over and pick up his things!" she thought.

Meanwhile, at the internet cafe.

Chen Ye stopped at the entrance, looking expressionlessly at Tian Kun, who was half a head shorter than him. The two exchanged a glance. A faint smile appeared on Chen Ye's face as he stepped aside to make room.

Even if a normal person saw a dog, they wouldn't kick it for no reason. Ignoring it after a glance was the most common approach, let alone a pack of dogs. But Tian Kun didn't seem willing to back down. He was the first to bare his fangs.

"Don't you never come to places like this? Why are you suddenly at an internet cafe today? Good students play games too?"

With one hand in his pocket, Tian Kun pretentiously pulled out a pack of First-Class Huangshan cigarettes. He affectedly tapped a few out, handing one to each of the two classmates behind him. Finally, he flicked his lighter open and shut, lighting his own cigarette.

This was a show-off trick he had learned from Hong Kong movies. If he hadn't failed to master Dehua's moves, he would have loved to imitate the iconic scene from *Don't Fool Me*. But in Chen Ye's eyes, Tian Kun's behavior was as comical as a simp trying his absolute best to perform in front of his goddess for praise.

So, despite his disgust for Tian Kun, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

To Tian Kun, the mockery in this laugh cut even deeper than when Chen Ye had made him look like a fool in front of Jiang Xin earlier. He looked up, glaring at Chen Ye, and said loudly, "What the hell are you laughing at? Didn't your parents teach you to be polite when you're out?"

As soon as he said this, the two people behind him let out mocking sneers. One of them draped his arm over Tian Kun's shoulder and laughed playfully, "Why bring that up? Don't you know he doesn't have any!"

The other person chimed in as well.

Chen Ye's expression gradually grew cold, but it was soon replaced by an unreadable smile. A textbook corporate smile. Along with it, he stretched his right hand and cracked his knuckles.

He'd need to use them soon.

Seeing the change in Chen Ye's expression, Tian Kun felt an immense sense of satisfaction. After being chased away, he had asked his classmates for specifics about Chen Ye. Knowing that Chen Ye only had a pair of grandparents farming in the rural villages of Ludong, he was completely fearless.

He had been intimidated by a couple of Chen Ye's threats back then, but thinking about it later, there was no evidence for such a thing. If Chen Ye dared to spout nonsense outside, Tian Kun would simply accuse him of slander. Besides, his dad was the political instructor at the Xiaoyaojin Police Station in Luzhou City. Why would he be afraid of an orphaned high school student?

But in the next second, the smile on Tian Kun's face vanished instantly. In his line of sight, Chen Ye's fist grew larger and larger until it connected with his face.

BANG!

His head was knocked sideways by the punch, slamming into the iron doorframe with a crisp sound. The cigarette dangling from his lips fell to the floor. Before he could even let out a howl of pain, Tian Kun felt his collar being grabbed. A sharp pain immediately followed in his abdomen, nearly making him throw up the graduation dinner he had just eaten.

By the time Chen Ye let go, Tian Kun's face was flushed red. Hunched over and clutching his stomach like a cooked shrimp, he began to retch and wail continuously.

The two people behind him were frightened by Chen Ye's sudden outburst. They were visibly stunned, but one of them reacted quickly, pointing at Chen Ye and yelling, "Why did you hit him?! Do you know who his dad is?!"

This shout attracted the attention of most people surfing the internet in the cafe. Most of the people present were students, specifically boys from the senior section of Luzhou Sixth Middle School. Quite a few recognized the guys standing at the entrance.

Weng Jilin naturally saw it too. The moment he saw Chen Ye, he hurriedly threw off his headphones and ran over.

"What's going on?!"

"Nothing much. My hands were itchy, and his head was itchy, so I just helped him scratch it," Chen Ye replied with a smile.

After accumulating over a decade of pent-up frustration prior to his rebirth, his mood had improved a bit now that he was on the verge of making his first pot of gold. But since this disgusting piece of trash insisted on running his filthy mouth, Chen Ye couldn't be bothered to endure it anymore and delivered a heavy blow directly!

"Are you okay?" Weng Jilin asked quickly.

Chen Ye shook his head.

"That's good." Weng Jilin sighed in relief. He then looked at Tian Kun, who had just raised his head. After looking him up and down, Weng Jilin tilted his head and asked, "You again? What's the meaning of this? Our Jiang Xin rejected you, so you're here trying to cause trouble for my brother? Did you ask me first?!"

He didn't know what was going on between Chen Ye and Jiang Xin. He only knew that Chen Ye hadn't confessed to Su Siyun but had given his gift to Jiang Xin instead. That meant Jiang Xin was his brother's designated future wife. Not to mention, his good brother had just led him to make thousands of yuan!

His words completely intimidated the two students from the neighboring class behind Tian Kun, leaving them stammering and afraid to speak. After all, they were the ones who had started the insults.

Tian Kun had just recovered a bit and was about to burst into angry curses. But at that moment, the landlord's daughter, who was watching the shop downstairs, heard the commotion and hurried up.

"What's all this racket? Whoever's causing trouble, get the hell out!"

She smacked the iron gate—CLANG CLANG CLANG—and shouted into the internet cafe. Following everyone's gaze, she looked at Chen Ye, who was facing her.

"Are you the one causing trouble? If you want to fight, take it outside. Don't fight in my place, understand?"

Weng Jilin came here often, so he knew her well. Just as he was about to explain, Chen Ye spoke first.

"Miss, I really wasn't trying to cause trouble. He blocked my way first and insulted my parents. I couldn't help but teach him a small lesson."

Chen Ye deliberately spoke with a rather innocent tone and expression. The way he called her "Miss" was incredibly sweet. Addressed so sweetly by such a handsome high schooler, the landlord's daughter's furrowed brows relaxed.

"Even if he cursed your parents, you can't just get physical. What if someone gets hurt?" she reminded him with a slight frown, though her tone had noticeably softened.

Chen Ye smiled faintly.

"My parents passed away a long time ago. I'm an orphan."