Right after getting dumped, He suddenly learned that his best buddy was the legendary cold-as-ice school beauty. - Chapter 41

“Ha… ha…”

Chen Wei’s face was flushed red, his chest heaving.

His opponent, Instructor Sun Bing, had spectacularly face-planted onto the ground.

The crowd erupted in laughter:

“Senior, and you said you wouldn’t interfere!”
“One move and Monkey Bro completely broke him!”
“Chen Wei, hey, that medal of honor—half yours, half Senior Lu’s!”

Sun Bing struggled to his feet, gasping for air, then glared at Lu Yibei:

“You little—!”

Lu Yibei shrugged:

“Monkey Bro, I even set up the exclusive BGM for you. If you couldn’t take him down, it only proves your technique isn’t up to par. Don’t blame anyone else.”

Sun Bing pointed at him:

“Alright, alright, you little—”

Honestly, Sun Bing wasn’t mad at Lu Yibei.

If anything, he was grateful.

He had sensed his impending loss even before the music started. Lu Yibei’s little trick made the audience think that Sun Bing’s defeat wasn’t due to lack of skill but some outside interference… effectively saving his face.

Sun Bing clasped his hands on his hips and glanced at the tall, dark-skinned freshman.

Truly unlucky—he’d run into a powerhouse.

“Chen Wei, right?”

“Yes, Instructor!” Chen Wei snapped to attention like a soldier reporting in.

“You damn kid… how do you have so much strength?”

“Reporting, Instructor, I farmed back home.”

Sun Bing: …

“Instructor… you keep your word, right?” Chen Wei asked timidly.

“Of course!”

Sun Bing’s flushed face finally cooled a bit: “Looking at you, seems like you want to give the reward to someone else, huh?”

Chen Wei nodded vigorously: “Yes!”

“Say it. Let’s see which lucky girl—”

Even though he could designate the winner, when it came to actually saying her name, Chen Wei felt shy. He lowered his head, eyes unwilling to meet hers, and muttered three words:

“…Ji Qingqian.”

Sun Bing froze.

His first glance wasn’t at the girl but at Lu Yibei.

Lu Yibei blinked, then gave a wry smile.

The Ji Qingqian heroine really was popular.

“Ohhh!”
“So, Chen Wei, you’ve got your eye on the goddess, huh~~”
“Goddess, look at how sincere our Wei Zi is. Accept his goodwill, okay?”

The freshmen began teasing, their voices rising in waves.

Ji Qingqian remained silent. She glanced at Lu Yibei, then firmly said:

“No.”

Chen Wei didn’t expect such a blunt rejection. He froze:

“…Huh?”

Ji Qingqian stayed quiet for a moment, then carefully mustered the words:

“I’m not tired.”

She then looked toward her roommate Chu Ru. Chu Ru had been complaining all through military training, and among the four in the dorm, her physique was the weakest. She’d been drinking herbal remedies these past couple of days.

Ji Qingqian thought for a moment and said:

“Why don’t you give it to Chu Ru? She’s not feeling well.”

Chu Ru: “…Huh?”

She hadn’t expected to be involved at all.

Tears streamed down her face. She had secretly imagined a prince winning against the instructor, gently whispering to her: “My princess, more than anything, I want you to rest well…”

That fantasy had come true—but she never imagined the “prince” would be Ji Qingqian.

Chen Wei’s dark face turned scarlet—whether from the rejection or the exertion, he couldn’t tell.

After a moment, he nodded: “…Okay.”

“Then Chu Ru, you can rest now,” Sun Bing said with a wave of his hand.

Chu Ru turned to Chen Wei:

“Thank you.”

She had truly reached her limit. She then glanced at Ji Qingqian, whose posture remained perfectly straight, showing no sign of fatigue.

A true superwoman.

Sun Bing noticed that anyone connected to Lu Yibei always turned out interesting.

Last year, Lu Yibei hadn’t claimed his reward either. He said he wanted to give it to Zhao Sun, who declined, saying a real man could handle a little military training. That reward ended up being given to… Liu Jie. Sun Bing finally recalled Liu Jie.

But Liu Jie hadn’t taken it either.

“Monkey Bro, slipped up, huh?”

One freshman laughed: “First time losing to a student in a wrestling match?”

“Second time,” Sun Bing said, holding up two fingers.

He was a man of loyalty. That boy had saved his face, so he owed him some credit in front of his crush. He recounted last year’s embarrassing loss, patting Lu Yibei’s chest:

“The first time, I lost to this brat… damn, you think I’d forget it?”

The freshmen were shocked.

So was Lu Yibei.

Sun Bing: “They’re shocked, fine. You, though—you haven’t forgotten beating me last year, have you?!”

Lu Yibei: “No, I just thought you remembered me so well because of my looks—”

“Bollocks!”

Last year, Lu Yibei had indeed beaten Monkey Bro once. Thanks to his father’s profession, he had done physical and combat training since childhood… plus, Monkey Bro had underestimated him, not expecting a freshman like him. A few moves later, he’d taken him down.

“Senior, you’re this strong?”
“Can’t tell, you look so skinny…”
“Senior, are you the type that looks slim in clothes but has abs underneath? Abs, right?”
“Can I touch them?”

What nonsense!

Lu Yibei groaned at the wide-eyed freshmen—especially the girls.

Wait, the girls were one thing, but the boys over there had their hands out too, fingers wiggling… doing what exactly?

He peeked at Ji Qingqian.

Her dark brows were slightly furrowed, as if displeased.

Sun Bing seized the moment: “Yibei, since the juniors are so excited, why not show them~~”

And maybe the icy goddess would be impressed with your physique… Sun Bing remembered, at least last year, Lu Yibei had quite the build.

Lu Yibei was not interested.

No way could he strip in public.

Ji Qingqian would tear him apart.

He felt her gaze already giving a silent warning:

—Try it, see what happens.

Men must maintain their dignity.

If the heroine was interested, it could be discussed privately.

Lu Yibei quickly changed the topic:

“Monkey Bro, by the way, I haven’t used last year’s reward yet.”

“Not yet,” Sun Bing said. Then he realized Lu Yibei’s intention.

Sure enough, Lu Yibei continued:

“Then can we give it to the juniors now?”

“As long as they accept, sure.”

Honestly, Sun Bing didn’t have much hope. The Ji girl was cold and aloof, having rejected so many suitors these past few days—not a single one could speak more than three sentences with her…

Lu Yibei held out his hand toward Ji Qingqian:

“Heroine! So noble of you! I happen to have one more reward here. I’ll give it to you—you can rest with your friend.”

Just as everyone expected another blunt refusal…

In front of all eyes, Ji Qingqian surprisingly nodded obediently:

“Okay, thank you, Senior.”