Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

"Why can't I go to him?" Hu Mengdie asked calmly.

Zhu Zhixue choked for a moment. She looked at Li Zhuangsheng with a mixture of grief and indignation, her eyes revealing a resentment that Li Zhuangsheng could not quite understand.

Li Zhuangsheng was caught in the middle, torn between two options, and secretly lamented his predicament.

He thought that Hu and Zhu had a conflict, which had even escalated to the point of fighting, and that they might fight again now that they were face to face.

This week, he had been somewhat resentful of Zhu Zhixue for hitting Hu Mengdie. In his opinion, hitting someone was wrong, especially hitting a reasonable and kind girl like Hu Mengdie. Most importantly, Zhu Zhixue had been stubborn after the attack, refusing to apologize or admit wrongdoing!
Therefore, after their argument last weekend, the two didn't exchange a single word. Li Zhuangsheng didn't know how to start a conversation, and Zhu Zhixue didn't take the initiative to contact him either; they remained in a cold war.

In truth, Li Zhuangsheng felt somewhat disappointed. He had always been a quiet, unassuming person in class, with no particular talents. For him, youth meant nothing more than a bleak sea of ​​books and exercises, and a nonexistent world of anime and manga. Chatting and laughing with a lively and adorable girl like Zhu Zhixue was one of the few bright spots and sources of hope for him.

After their cold war, he felt lonely and bored again. However, he was in a state of "being in love," looking forward to seeing Hu Mengdie every day, so he was just a little disappointed.

Regardless, Zhu Zhixue was his classmate and his best female friend. Although she did something that Li Zhuangsheng considered "wrong," she hadn't done anything bad to him.

He didn't want to see the two of them clash again at that moment, and he couldn't take sides with either of them.

"Li Zhuangsheng, are you two together?" Yao Xingyu said with a sneer.

"Huh?" Li Zhuangsheng suddenly remembered the confession he almost blurted out, and hurriedly shook his head in denial, "No, no, no!"

"A despicable couple."

Zeng Chen muttered a curse in a barely audible voice.

"Um... is there something you need?" Li Zhuangsheng stepped slightly in front of Hu Mengdie, looking at Zhu Zhixue and the other two with a wary yet apologetic gaze.

He was worried that Zhu Zhixue would target Hu Mengdie again, and he also felt apologetic for having to slightly favor Hu Mengdie at this moment.

After all, logically speaking, the friendship between classmates is definitely greater than that between friends from other classes, especially since he and Hu Mengdie had only known each other for a month.

"It's nothing, looks like I've bothered you!" Yao Xingyu sneered again.

"It's alright. If you're not busy, let's play together?" Hu Mengdie smiled, still appearing understanding, and took the initiative to extend the invitation.

Zhu Zhixue ignored her and glared angrily at Li Zhuangsheng, her eyes slightly red. She could notice Li Zhuangsheng's instinctive, subtle movements, which said it all.

After a long while, Zhu Zhixue bit her lip hard, remained silent, sniffed, and turned to leave. Yao Xingyu and Zeng Chen gave Li Zhuangsheng a cold look, as if he were some kind of trash, and then quickly followed.

Li Zhuangsheng felt a strange sense of guilt, but he had no reason to chase after them and could only watch them leave.

Logically speaking, even if they're all friends, Zhu Zhixue was the first to arrive. Favoring Hu Mengdie at this point seems like "being fickle" or "taking sides." Regardless, Zhu Zhixue has been very good to him.

"Your crush seems angry, aren't you going to go after her?"

Hu Mengdie's leisurely laughter carried a hint of mockery. "I..." Li Zhuangsheng snapped out of his daze and quickly and firmly denied Hu Mengdie's words, "She is not the one I love, I really don't like her!"

Now anyone can misunderstand him, but Hu Mengdie is the only one who cannot.

"I was just saying it casually, why are you so excited?" Hu Mengdie smiled with satisfaction. Of course, she also noticed Li Zhuangsheng's little gesture of protecting her.

A husband is a husband. Even if he's clumsy, dull, and has low emotional intelligence right now, he's still him. Hu Mengdie hummed softly.

"Oh right, what were you going to say just now?" Hu Mengdie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her smile radiant, her tone gentle, and her eyes encouraging. "I'm listening."

"No, it's nothing!" Li Zhuangsheng turned his face away, feeling guilty.

"No, where did your courage go?" Hu Mengdie was furious. "I've already taken this far, and you still don't dare confess? It's infuriating! I refuse to believe I can't make you pursue me!"
……

"Xiaoxue, I think that Li Zhuangsheng is a scumbag. Don't take it to heart! He's not that handsome, and he's a complete idiot!"

"I think he's a complete scumbag. He's always pretending, but he must have seen through your act a long time ago. He's just been stringing you along!"

"Holy crap, that's actually possible! He was keeping Xiaoxue on his leash while simultaneously pursuing Hu Mengdie. Holy crap, that bastard, he's been hiding this for so long!"

"Xiaoxue, let's not be sad over this kind of scumbag, it's not worth it!"

"Luckily we were found out. It's rare that Xiaoxue wanted to buy him a gift today. Xiaoxue, let's go return it!"

Yao Xingyu and Zeng Chen stayed by Zhu Zhixue's side, chatting amongst themselves, but Zhu Zhixue seemed not to hear a word, remaining silent. Her hand was in her pocket, inside was the voice recorder she had saved up for so long to buy.

After being in a cold war with Li Zhuangsheng for so many days, Zhu Zhixue felt uneasy.

She knew Li Zhuangsheng was upright and kind, and that he disliked violence and bullying. Even when he witnessed a teacher subtly bullying her, he would slam his fist on the table in protest.

She was more afraid than anyone else that Li Zhuangsheng would hate her because of this, so she wanted to give Li Zhuangsheng an MP3 player to make up with him.

She had previously heard from Li Zhuangsheng during a casual chat that his MP3 player was broken. Although he had a mobile phone, it was filled with anime, leaving little room for music playback. Furthermore, its large size made it inconvenient to use discreetly at times.

So today, she dragged Yao Xingyu and Zeng Chen into a boutique, intending to buy Li Zhuangsheng an MP3 player. But then she saw a voice recorder. She thought to herself that a voice recorder could play music just like an MP3 player, and that Li Zhuangsheng, with his adolescent delusions, would definitely be more interested in this kind of "spy-like" gadget.

In fact, she didn't have much money. Her father only gave her a small amount of living expenses from time to time, so she only had a little over two hundred yuan on her. The exact two hundred yuan was the reward she received for supervising a relative's child's homework during the National Day holiday. To buy a voice recorder, she not only emptied her savings but also borrowed more than ten yuan from Yao Xingyu and Zeng Chen.

As the three of them left the boutique, Zhu Zhixue was still fantasizing about Li Zhuangsheng's surprised expression when he received the gift. She thought she could then take the opportunity, with a touch of arrogance, to back down and reconcile with him...

But reality was so cruel, exceeding all her expectations and showing her the scene she least wanted to see.

Zhu Zhixue finally ran out of strength, her legs gave way, and she squatted down by the roadside, tears of grievance streaming down her face. (End of Chapter)