Chapter 7: Chen, How Did You Get Tricked by a Dog?

“Shushu, what are you thinking about? So engrossed?”

It was Friday again, the last day of classes. Zhou Ya boarded the school bus and saw Lin Shu transformed into Lin Daiyu, resting her chin on her hand, gazing out the window with a melancholic expression. The boys sitting in the row beside her were sneaking glances at her, quickly averting their eyes with guilty looks as Zhou Ya approached, fumbling awkwardly as if caught doing something wrong—not playing basketball, yet making so many fake moves.

Zhou Ya observed quietly and understood perfectly.

Lin Shu no longer indulged in daydreams; after reforming and immersing herself in studying, her looks had rebounded. Already beautiful to begin with, she now practically restored her original charm. Wearing the school uniform and a ponytail, even a side profile of hers could captivate anyone.

A first-love face?

That’s how the boys described her on the forum.

Quite fitting indeed.

Lin Shu continued to stare outside the window, lost in her sorrow.

Zhou Ya plopped down beside her, leaning in and suddenly raising her voice, “Looking at handsome guys so intently!”

“Xiao Ya…”

Lin Shu turned her head and smiled at her. Not only did the boys nearby brighten up, but Zhou Ya’s eyes also lit up, a smile naturally spreading across her lips.

One could say, how could anyone smile so radiantly? It was truly a delight to behold.

Clearing her throat, Zhou Ya asked what Lin Shu was daydreaming about so early in the morning.

Lin Shu complained about having to leave her corner seat next week and move to the front row.

Zhou Ya immediately understood.

Brother Gang loved to pick on the first row to answer questions and run errands. As the homeroom teacher, he was a bit mischievous. If another class couldn’t answer a question, they’d get scolded. Gang took a sharp turn in tactics, preferring to assign “scapegoats” among students who couldn’t answer. If one student failed, he would ask them to call on someone they thought could answer. If that person also failed, the question would keep passing along.

Once this game started, the whole class became highly alert and even resented those who couldn’t answer.

Physics was Lin Shu’s weak point, so sitting in the front row with Brother Gang was truly a cause for fear.

Zhou Ya patted her shoulder.

Lin Shu sighed deeply, shaking her head repeatedly. After a week, she was gradually adapting to her reincarnated high school life, but she was still too immersed. The fears she had back then still lingered.

“Oh, it’s Xie Buchen.”

With her 2.0 vision, Zhou Ya accurately spotted Xie Buchen on the street and pinched Lin Shu hard.

The underachiever rode his mountain bike along the bike lane, one hand on the handlebar, the other holding breakfast. He looked sleepy but handsome, the type that even the pancake-selling aunties would stop their stalls to watch.

Lin Shu looked over; she hadn’t noticed before, but her low spirits instantly vanished.

Zhou Ya knew that during morning exercise, it was Xie Buchen who stopped Ji Xingshen from making a move on Lin Shu. She had somewhat improved her opinion of him and happily watched the sleepy underachiever ride his bike with Lin Shu.

Girls’ joys were so simple.

Perhaps sensing someone staring, Xie Buchen took a sip of soy milk and turned his head alertly.

Lin Shu and Zhou Ya immediately sat up straight.

Xie Buchen glanced at them twice and continued riding.

Zhou Ya thought, that was close. Lin Shu, usually so gentle, actually started cursing: “Is he a dog? How could he notice that?”

Zhou Ya laughed, feeling the interaction between Lin Shu and Xie Buchen was quite amusing.

Lin Shu gave her a sour look.

Only then did Zhou Ya stop laughing.

The traffic light turned red.

The school bus stopped; Xie Buchen also stopped his bike.

“Still following traffic rules, huh~”

Zhou Ya teased.

Lin Shu thought Xie Buchen was strangely normal, a bit unbefitting of his underachiever identity.

A stray dog came sniffing over. Xie Buchen looked down at the dog; the dog eyed the food in his hand. The boy scratched his head reluctantly and broke off a piece of bun to give the dog. Unexpectedly, the dog jumped up and snatched the larger half of the bun, nearly causing Xie Buchen to fall off his bike. Regaining balance, he glanced toward the school bus, then lowered his head and hurriedly stuffed the piece he was about to give to the dog into his own mouth.

Pfft.

Lin Shu laughed out loud, then covered her mouth and curled up in her seat.

Zhou Ya laughed heartily, saying that the underachiever looked fierce but was actually so silly, being toyed with by a stray dog. Truly, beauty was often exchanged for intelligence.

Lin Shu kept chuckling silently.

The gloomy morning was instantly swept away.

People on the school bus looked over curiously; a few boys turned red-faced for unknown reasons.

Ji Xingshen sat on the other side by the window, with the chattering Huang Pingting beside him. He remained silent, holding a book. Hearing Lin Shu’s laughter, he furrowed his brow.

During morning exercise, Lin Shu and Zhou Ya ran side by side.

Xie Buchen strode past them with long legs and shot them a glare.

Zhou Ya rolled her eyes.

Lin Shu was indifferent, seeming like a completely different person from the one laughing loudly on the bus.

After Xie Buchen rejoined his class’s line, Lin Shu took out her phone to show Zhou Ya the video of the stray dog teasing the underachiever. Zhou Ya said, “You’re something else, send it to me, send it to me.”

Lin Shu was just about to share it.

Brother Gang suddenly appeared, sneaky as ever.

Day students weren’t allowed to bring phones to school. Although everyone did, if caught, the teachers would confiscate them.

Lin Shu and Zhou Ya quickly stuffed their phones back into their pockets.

At lunch break, remembering the incident, Lin Shu took out her phone only to find she had accidentally posted the video of the stray dog mocking Xie Buchen to Douzi.

Disaster.

Douzi was merciless.

Carefully staged videos received no promotion at all, but casual shots of Xie Buchen’s embarrassment had already amassed over a thousand likes in one morning. Several students from other schools recognized Xie Buchen and tagged him in the comments, all saying: “Chen Ge, how did a dog manage to trick you?”

Help!

Lin Shu nearly dropped her phone. Composing herself, she methodically exited the app and found the delete button. Just one second more and the evidence would be gone—unfortunately, Xie Buchen arrived.

Most of the class had already left.

Those who were getting lunch had gone to get food; those going home had left.

Only two die-hard night owls remained, slumped over sleeping.

Xie Buchen walked in, scanning precisely, standing right where Lin Shu was sitting, bending slightly with an overwhelming presence.

Lin Shu nonchalantly continued scrolling on her phone.

In truth, sweat almost broke out.

Xie Buchen glanced once, then said cheerfully, “They all say it’s the short-haired girl who posted it. You’re the fiercest in your class. I always say you can’t judge a book by its cover: the purer the looks, the worse the heart. Wasn’t I right, Lin Shu?”

His voice was very pleasant.

From afar, it sounded mischievous.

Up close, his tone was low and articulate, with an inexplicable teasing charm.

Annoying.

If she weren’t so tense, Lin Shu might have enjoyed it.

Still, she dared to keep scrolling.

Xie Buchen grabbed her phone, pinning her head with one hand to seal her off.

Lin Shu struggled.

“Give me back my phone!”

“Okay.”

“...Hey, Xie Buchen, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t hold my head, let go, stop looking through my privacy!”

Lin Shu’s Douzi likes and favorites were all private—not because she was privacy-conscious, but because those likes and favorites were embarrassing.

[Top Ten Girls’ Outfits Boys Like]

[What Type of Woman Do Highly Intelligent Men Like]

[Three Tricks to Win Over Your Crush]

[How to Wear a School Uniform Fashionably—Advanced]

[If the One You Like Doesn’t Like You Back, Is It Worth Continuing?]

...

Though she hadn’t opened them in a long time and only had a shallow impression of the videos in her favorites, as Xie Buchen kept scrolling, his smile grew wider and his expression more intriguing. Lin Shu knew then she was utterly ruined.

She sat like a dead fish, her mind blank.

Xie Buchen finally stopped and handed the phone back.

Lin Shu slumped over the desk like a melting cream cake.

Xie Buchen said, “It’s too late to delete now. The video’s everywhere. Better to keep it. Otherwise, people might think I threatened you to delete it.”

Lin Shu sat upright and stared at him.

“Aren’t you threatening me?”

“...No, I didn’t say anything.” He had only flipped through her embarrassing likes and favorites right in front of her.

Lin Shu let out a groan.

Two classmates napping nearby stirred, looking impatiently at her.

Lin Shu pushed Xie Buchen out of the classroom, asking, “What exactly do you want?”

“That should be my question, Lin Shu.”

“...I really didn’t mean to.”

Lin Shu was truly innocent in her own mind.

“Even if you didn’t mean to post the video, how do you explain shooting it in the first place? Did your phone get possessed?”

Hmm?

Who said Xie Buchen’s looks came at the cost of intelligence?

This guy was not easily fooled at all!!!

Not a fool in the slightest!!!

Lin Shu clenched her fists, her face flushing. Her bright apricot eyes shone with anger. She was the one who did something wrong, yet she looked indignant and righteous. And he even helped her—truly a dog biting Lu Dongbin, heartless through and through.

Xie Buchen was silent for a moment, then said, “Buy me breakfast for a week as an apology.”

“Okay.” Lin Shu agreed readily, glanced around, and lowered her voice, “But don’t go telling everyone.”

“Do I need to? If I’d known you were the famous Lin Shu, and that guy was Ji Xingshen, I wouldn’t have meddled. Why bother being a lamp…”

Xie Buchen fell silent.

Lin Shu glared at him fiercely, her eyes like knives. How could a girl look like this and have such a personality?

She enunciated clearly, “I, do, not, like, Ji, Xingshen!”

Xie Buchen nodded.

Lin Shu’s hair bristled, and she shoved him.

Xie Buchen snorted and dodged. With her small limbs, she thought she could touch him? Ridiculous. Though small, her temper was strong. The boy bent down to whisper in her ear teasingly, “Alright, alright, you don’t like Ji Xingshen. You like me, right?”

The furious Lin Shu quieted.

Their eyes met.

Something flickered in hers.

Xie Buchen was momentarily stunned, withdrew his gaze, straightened up, ran a hand through his hair, adjusted his uniform, took a few lazy steps, and finally resumed his usual casual posture as he descended the stairs without looking back.

Lin Shu leaned on the railing.

Pinching her earlobe, she couldn’t understand why it felt so hot.

Zhou Ya returned from the bathroom, limping slightly, her foot numb from squatting too long, and asked why Lin Shu hadn’t left yet. Didn’t she say not to wait for her when going to the bathroom?

Lin Shu told her about the accidental video post.

Zhou Ya laughed heartily, saying, “So what if you posted it? It’s no big deal. Do you think Xie Buchen would know it was you and come to class one to confront you?”

Lin Shu sighed.

Xiao Ya knew nothing about Douzi’s push algorithm, but her jinx was remarkably effective.