Chapter 6: The Emotional Intelligence of the Top Dog
The last bell of the evening class had just rung when Xu Yannuo slung his backpack over his shoulder, waved goodbye to Zhang Qi and Zhao Ying, and hurried off, saying he had to rush to a tutoring session.
The rest of the class was busy chatting and packing up their bags, but Chen Ciyi didn’t seem to be in any hurry. Unfazed, he remained lazily seated, pressing his temples with his middle finger and thumb to ease the slight dizziness. Without bothering to grab his backpack, he simply stood up and left. Amid the noisy classroom during the last self-study period, he had somehow managed to fall asleep.
Still, he had caught Xu Yannuo’s mention of going to a tutoring session. So, the guy was actually diligent and studious.
That night, to celebrate their “top dog” Chen Ciyi’s auspicious first day at his new school, his old “gang of misfits” from No. 2 High School reserved a private room at their usual haunt. The atmosphere was lively, with frequent toasts to his new campus life—though none of them really understood why Chen Ciyi had agreed to transfer schools after being poached, especially since No. 2 High had tried hard to keep him. That idiot who ended up in the ICU probably thought he could trade a thousand losses for eight hundred gains, but in reality, it had zero impact on Chen Ciyi.
But the whole event was meant to celebrate him—he was the main character. Yet Chen Ciyi seemed uninterested, casually drinking a couple of glasses before heading straight to the sofa in the private room to play games.
He hadn’t taken a nap today and had just woken up from evening self-study, so he was feeling a bit sluggish.
Seeing Chen Ci suddenly put down his glass and stop drinking, the whole table fell silent. Zhang Zhao looked incredulously at the juice in Chen Ci’s cup and then at the beer in their own glasses. “Bro, are you drunk already? Or is the food we ordered not to your liking?”
Zhang Zhao glanced at the dishes on the table again—they were all clearly ordered according to Chen Ciyi’s preferences.
Hearing this, Chen Ciyi showed no expression and responded indifferently before lowering his head to continue looking at his phone. Seeing that Chen Ciyi had finished eating, the others instinctively set down their wine glasses, quickly took a few more bites, and after finishing their meal, the group moved on to their usual pool hall.
At the pool hall, Chen Ciyi still seemed uninterested. After just one shot, he handed the cue to Zhao Xu and went to sit alone on the couch in the back, stretching his long legs as he started playing games.
Although he usually only played one round, he would always clear the table in one go and then stop, but today he only hit two balls in his turn. Zhang Zhao and the others paused, and Zhao Xu took the cue and asked Chen Ciyi, “Bro, something on your mind? You didn’t seem too upbeat during dinner earlier.”
Wang Sinan patted Zhao Xu’s shoulder, “Isn’t Big Bro always like this? The one who’s high-spirited is you, acting like an idiot wherever you go. Am I right, Big Bro?”
Chen Ciyi lazily sprawled on the sofa, his flawlessly handsome face expressionless. The standardized No.8 High School uniform was worn properly on him, with the zipper pulled all the way up to the top. Though it was the most conventional and conservative outfit, he somehow carried it with an air of effortless nonchalance—truly indifferent to everything.
He raised an eyebrow, gave Wang Sinan’s conclusion a thumbs-up, and then went back to gaming. As he played, he suddenly remembered the note in his school uniform pocket.
During the second class break in the afternoon, their class monitor—what was her name again?—handed him a note with the class QQ group number written on it.
Chen Ci reached into his school uniform pocket and pulled out the note, staring at the string of numbers… His fingers froze. On the phone screen, the game interface showed that the opponent player—whom he had nearly defeated—miraculously hadn’t died. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the opponent regenerated health and began attacking him fiercely. But Chen Ci seemed oblivious, completely ignoring his teammates’ frantic calls. His gaze remained fixed on the sticky note in his hand. Before his eyes flashed Xu Yannuo’s ferocious figure from that night, her pale face today at the slightest sound, and her indifferent attitude toward him.
It seems he’s not entirely uninterested in everything.
He immediately quit the game, opened QQ, entered the class group number in the search bar, typed “Chen Ciyi” in the verification field, and clicked join. Soon, the administrator approved his request.
After the group administrator’s first message “Welcome Chen Ciyi to the group,” the class chat erupted like a boiling pot, with welcome messages pouring in. Apart from the standard “Welcome Chen Ciyi to the group [applause],” there were also heart-filled greetings from some unknown girl, quickly pushed up and disappearing in the flood of messages.
The phone’s notification chime kept ringing incessantly, with several people repeatedly sending him individual QQ friend requests. He muted the notifications directly, ignoring all the messages and requests, exited the group chat interface, and scrolled through the list of 48 group members. Judging by the names, everyone seemed to have updated their nicknames. He quickly navigated to the letter “X” and scrolled up one by one until he found Xu Yannuo. His slender, pale fingers paused there.
Her profile picture was simple, just like her outward appearance—a soft, white bunny.
Chen Ciyi clicked into her QQ space. It was clean, devoid of even the slightest trace of personal information. There was no membership or premium badges, just a lone little sun indicating her level. The birthday listed as 114 years old was obviously fake. Apart from a few generic “dropping by to boost popularity” comments from classmates in various info sections, there were no photos or personal posts.
Chen Ciyi was still looking when Wang Sinan suddenly remembered something and looked up to ask him, “Brother Yi, did you have fun playing basketball at noon? How were those guys who joined you?”
Chen Ciyi was intently focused on Xu Yannuo’s QQ space and didn’t hear Wang Sinan’s question. After a moment of silence, the others also noticed that Chen Ciyi seemed a bit off today. Although he was usually aloof when nothing was going on, today wasn’t particularly different from usual. But normally, no matter if he was gaming or doing something else, he would at least absentmindedly respond when they asked him something, even if he didn’t reply properly.
But today, the atmosphere felt off. Their top dog seemed to be looking at something, and he was completely engrossed.
Engrossed?
Did the top dog find something interesting?
All four of them put down their cues and walked over to Chen Ciyi’s side. Then, they saw something unexpected—their usually indifferent top dog, who showed little interest in anything, let alone girls, was now intently browsing a girl’s QQ profile.
Damn it!
Damn it!
……
…..
The four of them simultaneously let out an excited curse in their hearts—their top dog was checking out a girl’s QQ space!
They had known Chen Ciyi since middle school, and Wang Sinan had even been his elementary school classmate. So they were all aware that while Chen Ciyi had an exceptionally high IQ, his emotional intelligence was..
Especially emotional intelligence towards the opposite sex…
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