After saying this, Jiang Cheng directly stood up while holding Lin Qingxue.
The sudden movement caused Lin Qingxue to let out a small cry of surprise.
"Ah, be careful, I've gotten heavier lately..."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng replied dismissively, "Heavier is good, I just like them with some meat on their bones..."
"Oh, don't bite yet, we'll fall in a moment..."
She found that Jiang Cheng's waist strength was truly impressive.
Especially when he held her face-to-face in the bathroom for their activities.
He didn't even need anything for support.
He could actually last for at least five minutes or more.
In Lin Qingxue's eyes, it was simply insane.
Every time, she was afraid Jiang Cheng might strain his back.
However, Lin Qingxue's concern was clearly unnecessary.
At Jiang Cheng's age, he was already physically strong, and he had even added several Constitution points thanks to the system's rewards.
So, wasn't it normal for his waist to be fine?
Soon, Jiang Cheng gave Lin Qingxue a live demonstration in the bathroom of whether his waist would actually get strained.
Once the demonstration began, it lasted for several rounds... The next morning, when she woke up, Lin Qingxue instinctively reached for her phone.
She turned on the screen to take a look.
She sat up instantly.
It was past 11 o'clock, so she had missed her morning classes.
After opening wechat and checking Wang Xi's messages, Lin Qingxue's face fell into a mournful expression.
"Ah, they did a roll call this morning, and they even called my name... I'm going to cry..."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's half-open eyes began to close again.
"In that case, let's sleep a bit longer..."
"I can't, I have classes at noon. I took too much leave last semester, so the teachers remember me well. It's a bit hard for me to skip class..."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng immediately sat up.
"Alright then, shall we go eat at the cafeteria at noon?"
If this were any other guy asking a girl to accompany him to the cafeteria after a night of tossing and turning...
He would probably be roasted to death by her.
Even if she didn't say it out loud, she would definitely be secretly cursing him for being stingy.
But with Jiang Cheng, this clearly wasn't an issue at all.
In Lin Qingxue's eyes, the fact that a rich heir like Jiang Cheng would condescend to go to the cafeteria with her was simply so down-to-earth; it was a rare and precious virtue.
As it approached one o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them finished their meal and walked out of the cafeteria hand-in-hand.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the roadside trees, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
Looking at Jiang Cheng holding her hand, Lin Qingxue felt happy, yet also felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Last semester, when she first met Jiang Cheng, she was still desperately trying to find ways to catch his attention.
She hadn't expected that in the blink of an eye, Jiang Cheng would pamper her so much.
Just as Lin Qingxue was enjoying the envious gazes coming from all directions, she noticed Jiang Cheng's gaze was fixed on a spot ahead.
Lin Qingxue followed Jiang Cheng's gaze.
She saw a somewhat thin girl up ahead, handing out something that looked like flyers.
As they walked forward, the girl clearly saw them too.
The flyers in Ye Wan's hand faltered for a moment.
Her eyes instinctively fell upon Lin Qingxue, who was beside Jiang Cheng.
Lin Qingxue was wearing a simple knit sweater today, with her long hair loosely tied back, her temperament gentle and striking.
She stood in stark contrast to Ye Wan, who was wearing an ordinary black cotton coat and looking slightly cramped.
Seeing this, Ye Wan's heart instantly sank with a sense of loss.
Her heart skipped a beat for some reason, and she hurriedly lowered her head, pretending to be focused on organizing her flyers.
Jiang Cheng pretended not to know that Ye Wan was here because of the insider recruitment drive organized by Wang Jian.
He spoke to Ye Wan, asking, "What are you doing here?"
Seeing Jiang Cheng strike up a conversation with her, Ye Wan's fingers tightened on the flyers.
When she looked up, there was a slightly unnatural smile on her face: "Um, it's a recruitment drive for the External Liaison Department. Vice Department Head Wang said I could participate..."
After saying that, perhaps fearing Jiang Cheng wouldn't understand, she added another sentence.
"I... I asked the manager for leave from the milk tea shop... If I... if I can get first place in this External Liaison Department activity, there's a... laptop..."
Seeing her speak so haltingly, as if afraid he would blame her for not going to the milk tea shop, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but smile.
"I see. Well, good luck then. I'm heading out..."
Ye Wan immediately gave a gentle nod upon hearing this.
As they brushed past each other, Lin Qingxue's gaze lingered on Ye Wan for a moment.
She remembered when Ye Wan mentioned the milk tea shop just now.
Although Lin Qingxue no longer worked at the milk tea shop because of Jiang Cheng...
She would still go there often as long as she was at school after it opened.
When she went, she had heard the staff mention it.
Ye Wan was a student Jiang Cheng had specifically recruited.
Not only was she given easy shifts, but he also always looked after her in secret.
Especially that gentle smile Jiang Cheng just gave her—it was quite unusual.
So, even though Ye Wan wasn't as pretty as her, Lin Qingxue couldn't help but look back at her after they had walked some distance away.
As she looked, Ye Wan, who had been watching them leave, hurriedly averted her gaze.
She watched as Jiang Cheng naturally reached out to steady Lin Qingxue, who had almost tripped on a step.
The sight of the two from behind was intimate and harmonious.
The sunlight falling on them seemed to have added a soft-focus filter; they were so dazzling that she could hardly look away, yet also didn't dare to look.
Especially at the moment she met Lin Qingxue's eyes, a strong sense of inferiority welled up in her heart.
She looked down at her faded, washed-out sleeves.
The corners of her mouth couldn't help but droop.
A crush means that with just one look from the other person, you can immediately imagine many things that never even existed.
Yes, someone like Jiang Cheng was meant to stand with a girl as beautiful as Lin Qingxue.
They belonged to the same world.
Her previous inexplicable heart flutters were nothing more than wishful thinking.
Before Ye Wan could even set aside her emotions, she found Jiang Cheng appearing by her side once again.
"Why are you back?" Ye Wan was stunned.
"I've dropped Qingxue off at her classroom." After saying this, Jiang Cheng naturally took some of the flyers from her hand. "I saw you were busy on your own, so I'll help you hand them out for a while."
As he spoke, he had already handed a flyer to a passing male student: "Hey classmate, take a look at the External Liaison Department's activity."
Looking at his practiced and composed manner, Ye Wan felt as if something had struck her heart, making it feel both aching and soft.
She didn't understand. Jiang Cheng clearly had someone as outstanding as Lin Qingxue by his side, so why would he specifically come to help someone like her, who was riddled with embarrassment?
Doubts wound around her like vines, but as she looked at Jiang Cheng's profile as he seriously handed out flyers, a sliver of unspeakable joy quietly surfaced.
She lowered her head, her fingers clutching the flyers trembling slightly, her heart a tangled mess.
Her inferiority hadn't faded, yet it was now joined by a bit of anticipation that she didn't even dare to examine closely.
She could only silently follow him amidst these conflicting emotions.
Handing out flyers to the passing crowds.
In reality, Jiang Cheng wasn't thinking as much as Ye Wan was.
He didn't deny that he wanted to help Ye Wan.
But he was more interested in the "The Ugly Duckling's Transformation" prompt that the system had sounded yesterday.
Although this reward didn't have a specific task, it required his interaction with Ye Wan to progress.
Since he had nothing to do right now anyway, helping her hand out flyers might just push things forward.
He hadn't handed out many when he saw Wang Jian jogging over toward him.
"Cheng-ge, why are you here?"
After saying that, Wang Jian raised an eyebrow at Ye Wan: "Ye Wan, you really need to work hard. You actually managed to get our Department Head to help you hand out flyers..."
Hearing this, Ye Wan hurriedly lowered her head.
Jiang Cheng gave him a helpless eye-roll: "I was dropping Qingxue off for class. How's the activity going?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Jian immediately gave Jiang Cheng an 'OK' gesture.
"Don't worry, the activity is going very smoothly. As for the prizes, I've got them ready too. First prize gets a high-end Lenovo laptop... See, to win that first prize, I pulled Ye Wan over to help..."