Chapter 7: No Money, No Buy

Chen Ciyi usually skipped classes, fought, and played games with them, never missing out on anything. Yet, when it came to exams, his grades were always the top of the year, far ahead of everyone else. It wasn’t because he secretly studied—he never hid buying workbooks or doing practice tests from them. But even his openness didn’t help; while the others struggled with homework assigned by teachers, he found those assignments dull and preferred tackling problems and new question types they couldn’t even comprehend. However, while heaven opened one door for him, it inevitably closed another.

Perhaps he was just too exceptional, understanding everything at a glance and never forgetting anything. As a result, most things in life seemed utterly mundane to him, failing to spark any interest.

When it came to emotions, it was even more complicated. Countless girls had crushes on their “First Brother,” but how had he reacted before?

He rejected every single one!

And the way he rejected them was quite bizarre.

The funniest time was when, after school at the school gate, a girl came up to stop them and confess to Chen Ciyi. She had mustered up so much courage to stand before him, her face flushed and eyes filled with determination as she said, “Chen Ciyi, I like you!”

The result… In the end, he actually frowned angrily and said to them, “I’m not a dog!”

Hahahaha, they couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing on the spot, which made the girl unable to take it and ran away crying.

This left them feeling quite guilty, but they swore to the heavens that they weren’t laughing at the girl—they were laughing at their “top bro.” Because when it comes to romantic intelligence, their top bro’s brain-dead antics are always endlessly creative.

Later, out of curiosity, they asked him, “She confessed to you, so why did you tell her you’re not a dog?” Chen Ciyi looked serious, as if pondering something, and then explained to them, “When you raise a dog, don’t you say to it, ‘Little cutie, I like you’?”

…..

…..

Awesome!

So, is their top dog now either got his brain squeezed by a door on the first day of the new semester or had some kind of epiphany after bumping his head somewhere?

Having found a new direction, they crowded around again, leaning in to scrutinize his head closely. A few seconds later, Chen Ciyi furrowed his brows and shot them an annoyed look. “What are you doing?” Just as he was about to say “Get lost,” the other four promptly jumped back, lining up in front of him—though their eyes still couldn’t help but linger on his head.

Chen Ciyi was speechless: “What are you looking at?”

Zhang Zhao: “Checking for injuries.”

Zhao Xu: “Seeing how serious the injuries are!”

Wang Sinan: “Could it be internal injuries?”

Seeing Chen Ci’s expression grow increasingly grim—though he rarely got angry and usually remained indifferent to most things—it was clear he was losing patience now. Qi Yang quickly added, “We were admiring your handsome head.”

“……”

Chen Ciyi ignored their intermittent outbursts and continued to look down at his phone. Soon after, the other four shamelessly huddled around to peer at Chen Ciyi’s phone screen.

“Little bunny avatar, gender: female, age: 114…” Zhang Zhao, engrossed in reading, unconsciously murmured aloud…

Chen Ciyi was speechless, looking up at them with a warning gaze as if they were idiots. Although the guys wanted to steal a few more glances, they couldn’t withstand the terrifying intensity of his stare. Immediately, they scattered like startled birds and went back to posing and playing pool.

After a while, Chen Ciyi stood up. “You guys keep playing. I’m heading back first.” Then, he slipped his phone into the pocket of his school uniform jacket and strode out of the pool hall with an air of confidence.

The group watched Chen Ciyi’s retreating figure, and the moment the pool hall’s door closed behind him, they collectively exhaled in relief. Then, they all turned to glare at Zhang Zhao. “You just had to open your big mouth.” If it weren’t for him, they might have gotten a few more glimpses of their leader’s gossip.

The night breeze was pleasantly cool. In this northern city, summer evenings weren’t stiflingly hot, and the wind against their faces felt exceptionally refreshing.

This generation is Xuefu Road, with many schools—high schools and junior highs—and a couple of universities not far away on the neighboring streets. The area is quite lively, with LED signs from bookstores, restaurants, cafes, bars, and hotels competing to shine brightly. Chen Ci originally planned to go home and work on a set of new question types from the college entrance exam simulation papers he had bought the day before. But as he passed the side street from that night, he froze.

That night, while working on a new problem type and attempting a second solution, his train of thought suddenly stalled halfway through. He decided to take a walk and get some fresh air. Since his mind was still preoccupied with solving that problem, he didn’t realize where he had wandered until the angry, impatient curses of three boys snapped him out of it. The surroundings were a secluded street, unlit by lamps, with only moonlight to see by. The voices came from an alleyway, and out of curiosity, he walked over to see what was happening.

But halfway there, a short figure wearing a black baseball cap and a black mask also headed toward that alley, holding what looked like an iron rod used for burning paper. The rod scraped against the ground, producing an unpleasant sound. Perhaps the light was too dim—she didn’t notice him.

Later, he stood at the alley’s entrance and witnessed the entire scene. That short figure actually beat up three boys who were taller than her, and every move was ruthless. The three boys, despite their height advantage, were instantly knocked down without any chance to fight back…

Moreover, the short one was actually a girl.

Before his eyes appeared Xu Yannuo’s wary face from that night, questioning how much he had seen.

Later, he recalled how today in the school hallway, upon hearing just a faint sound of a fight from another classroom, she had been so frightened that she immediately crouched down, unable to move. Her face had turned deathly pale, clearly not an act. He simply couldn’t reconcile these two images of her. If not for his excellent memory, he might have even doubted whether he had mistaken her for someone else.

Chen Ciyi stopped in his tracks, then took out his phone and searched Baidu for No. 8 High School’s internal forum, suddenly wanting to see if there were any posts about Xu Yannuo.

Under the streetlight, his slender, pale fingers tapped lightly on the phone screen. His neat short hair, cool fair complexion, and sharply defined profile made his entire face not just strikingly handsome but almost mesmerizing—one glance and you couldn’t look away. His demeanor was effortlessly casual, and his school uniform was impeccably clean, not a speck of dust even on the cuffs. Up close, you could catch the fresh scent of laundry detergent lingering around him.

The streetlight cast a long shadow of him on the ground. Several passing girls couldn’t help but glance back repeatedly at him. After whispering among themselves with flushed faces, they turned around and approached him. Just as one of them uttered the word “classmate,” Chen Ci’s phone ran out of battery and shut off automatically. He happened to look up and saw the two girls standing before him, their faces red as they hesitated to speak. He immediately understood—that was the awkwardness of first-time sales pitches. With indifference, he replied, “No money, won’t buy.”