Vol 2 Chapter 8: A Chilled Heart

"Because I like..."

As the words trailed off, An Yuanyao's eyes widened slightly as she gazed at the other girl.

But before Li Wanran could finish speaking, their teacher walked into the classroom and immediately noticed the two talking. Without saying much—granting these two top students considerable leniency—the teacher simply stated:

"Class is starting. Return to your seats."

"..."

"..."

The conversation interrupted, the hand that had been gripping the other's arm loosened its hold.

Finally freed, An Yuanyao glanced guiltily at Li Wanran before lowering her head and quickly walking away without another word, returning to her seat.

The previously noisy classroom quieted as the teacher began the lesson.

Seated at her desk, Li Wanran couldn't focus on the lecture at all. Her eyes remained fixed on the open textbook in front of her, lost in thought.

She knew her approach was underhanded. She also knew that given their relationship in high school—before An Yuanyao had fully fallen for Liu Changqing—uttering those words would...

She... would definitely step aside for her.

For some reason, Li Wanran felt a pang of guilt. But the emotion was fleeting as she quickly rationalized it away with another thought:

If the other girl had already experienced happiness in their past life...

This time...

It should be her turn.

Not far away, An Yuanyao wasn't paying attention to the lesson either. Instead, she was staring distantly at Li Wanran. Though the other girl hadn't finished her sentence earlier, An Yuanyao understood perfectly well...

She didn't know why, but despite how much Li Wanran had despised Liu Changqing's constant presence just days ago, she now seemed to have feelings for him.

But...

An Yuanyao averted her gaze.

The girl who always wore a smile now had none, staring blankly at her textbook instead.

Forget it...

————————————

Sitting in the back row of the classroom, Liu Changqing leaned against the wall with his chair balanced precariously on two legs. He looked baffled at his deskmate, who had an arm slung over his shoulders in an overly familiar manner.

Both had extremely short haircuts, but unlike Liu Changqing's plain look, his deskmate at least had something resembling a hairstyle—a standard crew cut.

Liu Changqing had just returned from the office when, after class, this guy immediately threw an arm around him and leaned in close.

The smell of cigarettes on his breath was unmistakable.

"Old Liu."

"..."

Sun Fan spoke cautiously, his voice barely above a whisper. If they hadn't been so close, Liu Changqing might not have even heard him.

Glancing around to ensure no one was paying attention, Sun Fan moved his mouth right next to Liu Changqing's ear.

But before he could speak, Liu Changqing—utterly disgusted—shoved him away and vigorously rubbed his shoulder where Sun Fan had touched him, visibly repulsed.

"What is it? Spit it out!"

"Heh... you know~"

"..."

"That thing you promised me the other day~"

As he spoke, Sun Fan waggled his eyebrows suggestively, as if Liu Changqing's predecessor had made some sort of agreement with him before his transmigration.

Staring blankly at the eyebrow-waggling Sun Fan, Liu Changqing fell silent, trying hard to recall...

Whether due to memory gaps or simply because the original owner hadn't cared enough to remember, Liu Changqing couldn't for the life of him figure out what Sun Fan was referring to.

Until Sun Fan dropped a hint.

"The love letter! You promised to write it for me. Is it done?"

"Love letter?"

"Yeah! Don't tell me you forgot!"

"..."

"Holy crap, you actually forgot?!"

Seeing Liu Changqing's silence, Sun Fan—having known him for so long—instantly realized he'd completely forgotten their agreement.

He immediately lost his temper.

"You can't do this to me!"

"I gathered so much intel on Li Wanran for you! We had a deal!"

"Ungrateful! You're shameless! A total scumbag!"

"Liar! I'm never trusting you again!"

"..."

Watching Sun Fan rant angrily at him, Liu Changqing was speechless. Sun Fan's mouth had turned into a machine gun, relentlessly firing verbal bullets at him.

Though he wanted to ignore it, the undisguised disappointment in Sun Fan's eyes was impossible to overlook...

And then—

"Give me my dollar back! Forget the letter!"

Money?

Hearing that word, Liu Changqing perked up immediately, turning his head back to face Sun Fan.

"You paid me a dollar to write a love letter for you?"

"Stop dodging! Give it back!"

"Hold on—"

"MY DOLLAR!"

"You—"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"..."

Staring at Sun Fan's outstretched hand and utterly dejected expression, Liu Changqing fell silent again.

After a long pause while observing Sun Fan's flushed, angry face...

Liu Changqing sighed heavily.

He turned away, pulled a notebook from his desk, flipped it open, tore out a blank sheet, and grabbed a pen—fully prepared.

Then he turned back to Sun Fan with a customer-service-ready smile.

"Dear customer, what style of love letter would you like?"

The extended break between classes was more than enough time for Liu Changqing to craft an emotionally moving love letter.

Honestly, he hadn't understood why Sun Fan was so insistent on having him write it—until he saw Sun Fan's handwriting.

To put it bluntly, scattering rice on a page and letting a chicken peck at it would produce more legible results.

That's how atrocious Sun Fan's penmanship was.

Once finished, Liu Changqing handed the letter over. Sun Fan eagerly skimmed through a few lines.

"You are like rich, velvety chocolate—too precious to chew or swallow, only to be savored slowly, dissolving in sweetness..."

Sun Fan's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull at this analogy.

"Damn! This is good!"

"Heh..."

"I want to watch the stars and moon with you, counting them one by one as they connect like constellations..."

Sun Fan couldn't help but marvel.

"Whoa... this is brilliant!"

"Heh..."

Unlike Liu Changqing's dead-inside expression, Sun Fan was thoroughly impressed by the freshly penned letter in record time.

It was hard to believe such eloquence came from Liu Changqing—

The guy who rivaled him in academic failure...

Permanent resident of the back row...

Reigning champion of the bottom ten rankings...

The writing was beautiful, moving enough to give even a guy like him goosebumps.

If a girl read this, wouldn't she be moved to tears?

Sun Fan was thrilled.

After finishing the letter, he carefully folded it, smoothing out the creases with uncharacteristic gentleness to avoid damaging his precious masterpiece.

Then he placed it on Liu Changqing's desk.

"For you."

"..."

Liu Changqing's eyes widened to an impossible degree as he slowly turned to stare at Sun Fan's oddly shy expression.

In that moment...

His heart turned to ice.

Three seconds later.

Liu Changqing suddenly lunged, grabbing Sun Fan by the collar and roaring:

"YOU SON OF A—SO THIS WAS FOR ME ALL ALONG?!!"