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Chapter 416: Chapter 293: The Invisible Hand
Guo Kunnan hastily snatched back his phone, and without even bothering to look for Xu Yan, he began explaining to a female classmate:
"Sorry, my cousin just took my phone."
As a result, the girl clung to it, bringing up the love confession from before and declaring she would post it on Moments.
Guo Kunnan was threatened.
...
Dong Qingfeng entered the classroom through the front door, carrying several food containers.
From the moment he stepped onto the school grounds, he had attracted the attention of the surrounding students.
However, Dong Qingfeng didn’t care; he walked confidently back to the classroom, his head held high and chest puffed out.
What he was carrying wasn’t just food, but a collection of adorable girls’ lovingly prepared dinners.
"Dinner’s here!"
Dong Qingfeng carefully distributed the meals among the students: Jiang Yanan’s was an egg and vegetable fried rice; Shen Qing’e’s was chicken noodle soup; Yu Wen had ordered more, spicy hot pot and two bubble teas.
Of course, there was also Dong Qingfeng’s own dinner.
Jiang Yanan took her meal and her gaze softened considerably as she looked at Dong Qingfeng.
She still remembered, last semester when she made a bet with Yang Sheng, she was forced to take out the trash late at night.
At that time, she felt particularly helpless and lost, the night so dark, she so scared—how she had wished for someone to come out and protect her.
And then, Dong Qingfeng stepped forward to take out the trash for her.
How could such a helpful boy not be popular?
Besides, Dong Qingfeng was good-looking, academically successful, and decent in sports—the type of guy that girls tend to like.
’It’s just... a pity,’ Jiang Yanan sighed inwardly.
Yu Wen took the bubble tea: "Dong Qingfeng, you’re really such a warm guy!"
’Eh! She’s calling me a warm guy?’ Dong Qingfeng was excited; he had learned online that junior high school girls liked bad boys, while high school girls preferred warm guys.
A warm guy is meticulous and considerate, a mature man who takes care of girls.
Dong Qingfeng felt pleased with himself—was he already so outstanding?
He remained composed: "It’s okay, I just did what I had to do."
Yu Wen took one of the bubble teas and placed it on her desk, buying two because one was for herself and the other for the class president.
Where you fall, there you must get up!
Despite being a woman, when it came to willpower, Yu Wen was no less strong than a man, even stronger.
Even if shattered to pieces, she stood up time and again, a girl fighting for love, fearing no trials and tribulations!
This was who she, Yu Wen, was!
Shen Qing’e received her chicken noodle soup, thanked him, and prepared to eat.
But when she opened the container and looked at the noodles inside, her expression became distant for a moment.
In middle school, there was a similar noodle shop in town that never made chicken noodles as tasty as the ones sold outside Fourth Middle School now.
One afternoon after school, hungry and without any money, and with rain outside, she asked Jiang Ning to buy chicken noodles for her.
Without a word, Jiang Ning grabbed an umbrella and went out.
By the time he returned, he was soaking wet but still smiling as he handed her the food.
Unlike now, even though she only asked for chicken noodles, Jiang Ning had also brought her a bubble tea.
That was just his way.
Shen Qing’e would only ask him to bring food, but Jiang Ning always bought something extra—bubble tea, desserts, fried skewers or snacks.
Back then, if it was something tasty, she was happy; if not, she’d get angry at Jiang Ning.
She hadn’t noticed before, but now, seeing this bowl of chicken noodles brought all those memories rushing back.
Shen Qing’e looked toward Jiang Ning’s usual seat to find it still empty.
After noticing Shen Qing’e’s actions, Jiang Yanan glanced out the window and said, "Qing E, it’s still raining outside."
The sound brought Shen Qing’e’s thoughts back to the present. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her features a classic oval face with willow-shaped eyebrows:
"Yes, it’s still raining."
After coming to the city, none of her classmates knew about her close past with Jiang Ning; even when she looked toward his seat, no one noticed.
Wasn’t this what she wanted?
But then why was her heart feeling so heavy?
Her heart suddenly weighed down, making it hard to breathe, filled with inexplicable sadness.
It was as if she could no longer see the light.
Shen Qing’e pulled out her chopsticks and stirred the chicken noodles.
She picked up a few strands and put them in her mouth.
At first, she chewed quickly, but gradually she slowed down, as moving her face made the corners of her eyes burn hot. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Fighting back tears and preventing them from falling, her heart was filled with bitterness:
"These noodles aren’t tasty at all."
...
Class president Huang Zhongfei hadn’t returned yet, as Yu Wen looked around the classroom and stood up to step onto the podium.
She turned on the multimedia computer, and the projector hanging from the ceiling whirred to life, casting the image onto the side screen of the blackboard.
Yu Wen entered a video website and played a dance video.
She returned to her seat and said to Jiang Yanan, "This is EXO’s latest MV, check it out quickly!"
Usually during lunch break, some students used multimedia to play videos, so this action wasn’t considered excessive.
When Ma Shicheng looked up, he saw on the screen in front of the classroom several fancy-dressed men dancing extravagantly on a colorful stage.
At the same time, the sound of music processed through autotune filled the room.
Ma Shicheng thought for a moment, then decided not to pay attention anymore; the issue with Guo Kunnan hadn’t been settled yet.
Yu Wen’s eyes sparkled: "So handsome! He’s so hard-working!"
She shared with Jiang Yanan, "I really want to go to an EXO concert, I’ve decided, I must go to an EXO concert once in my lifetime."
"I like every member so much!" Yu Wen said.
Jiang Yanan dreamily said, "I want to visit their country and become part of their fan support group."
Yu Wen said, "I joined a group chat, and there are so many people in it who love EXO."
"It’s like finding a big family."
"There are so many girls in the group who are going crazy trying to lose weight just to meet EXO."
Jiang Yanan added, "Some people became exchange students just to see them, I’m really envious."
The two had a friendly discussion over their favorite EXO stars.
However, Korean group stars can easily annoy people, especially the hot-blooded male students, who couldn’t stand the sight of those stars.
Cui Yu jumped in, pointing at the video of dancing figures on the screen, and purposely asked,
"Are they transvestites?"
His voice was loud; Yu Wen heard her idols being insulted and immediately exploded, blurting out,
"You’re the transvestite, your whole family are transvestites!"
Cui Yu, whose family was brought into it, immediately lost his temper, even forgetting about his crush Jiang Yanan as he retorted,
"I really can’t tell if they’re male or female; don’t they just look like sissies to you, all with earrings, hilarious!"
Yu Wen’s face soured, "They are manlier than you."
Cui Yu continued to jab at Yu Wen, "Hey, I just think they’re women."
Yu Wen sneered sarcastically, "Do you even know how talented they are? They are one hundred times better than you."
Cui Yu’s expression turned exaggerated as he clapped his hands, "I’ve heard, they work really hard, they dance 48 hours every day even with a high fever of 90° and a body full of fractures!"
"I really can’t do that, respect, respect!"
Yu Wen caught his mocking tone, but as a fan girl and loyal fan, she was not to be underestimated in a fight.
"They are more successful than you, they make millions from just one MV, what about you, what do you have to compare with them?"
"The most infuriating thing is, they are not only more talented than you but also more gifted."
Yu Wen added, "Have you ever seen the sun at four in the morning in Han City?"
Wu Xiaoqi, who had been asleep at the back, immediately looked up, speaking earnestly,
"I’ve seen the sun at four in the morning in Yuzhou."
Yu Wen gestured at the dance MV being played and said, "They can pull off a dance you couldn’t manage in your lifetime!"
Cui Yu quipped, "What nonsense, broken dance, I wouldn’t watch it even if you paid me."
Yu Wen laughed even more proudly, "You may not like it, but there are plenty who do."
Not waiting for Cui Yu to respond, she added,
"You’re free to keep disliking the things you don’t like, but please allow for their existence."
At these words, Cui Yu was stunned, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to retort.
The playthrough of the EXO MV concluded, and Yu Wen glanced contemptuously at Cui Yu, triumphantly going to play another EXO dance, wanting more people to like her idol.
That’s when Ma Shicheng looked forward.
Yu Wen was feisty, her voice loud enough to reverberate through the entire classroom, naturally, he heard it.
Ma Shicheng didn’t like EXO and didn’t want this stuff to appear.
What kind of nonsense about not liking something but still allowing its existence? He didn’t like murderers either, did that mean he should allow them to exist?
Yu Wen stood at the podium, moving the mouse around, getting ready to click and play a new Korean group dance video.
Ma Shicheng quietly pulled out his phone – his personal wifi was plugged into the back of the computer.
He opened the long-unused wifi killer app. Despite the name suggesting it only killed wifi, anyone who had used it knew it could disable a computer connected via Ethernet as well.
Ma Shicheng fired up the app, blocking the internet connection.
The next moment, as Yu Wen eagerly clicked to play the video, the internet suddenly cut out.
Despite her clicking, she couldn’t play anything.
Yu Wen, puzzled, exclaimed, "What happened to the internet, why is it gone?"
