Age of Legends

Chapter 228 What went wrong
Zheng Xue's heart sank. She figured that with so many people around, and with all the rumors about Shen Nuoyi and Pei Yan circulating, Shen Nuoyi might be embarrassed. So, by bringing her along, he was just making it look like a normal meeting with old friends, not a date.

Yes, Zheng Xue is now 80-90% sure that Shen Nuoyi likes Pei Yan, because when has Shen Nuoyi ever been afraid of such rumors?
She will only face the challenge head-on. When everyone is talking about it, she will ignore those comments and do her own thing because she has a clear conscience and doesn't care what others say.

But the fact that she's now bringing herself along to meet Pei Yan shows that she cares about what others say.

Actually, she was also flustered, and might even be shy about meeting Pei Yan alone at school.

What does this tell us? It's already obvious.

Zheng Xue tried one last time to argue: "Wouldn't it be inconvenient if you and Pei Yan had dinner together and I came along? I think I'll pass..."

Shen Nuo tilted her head and looked at her, saying, "Why should I eat with Pei Yan? It's still us eating."

"Ah..." Zheng Xue was taken aback for a moment, then said, "No... He came all the way here, aren't you going to treat him?"

"I didn't invite him, why would I treat him?" Shen Nuoyi chuckled. "The school provides for their meals, they don't need me to help them out."

"Huh?" Zheng Xue was completely dumbfounded. What made her even more excited was the ease with which Shen Nuoyi said this, as if he didn't have much inner conflict.

Does this mean that she and Pei Yan didn't agree to have dinner together today? But it's alright, she can still have dinner with Shen Nuoyi today, and she's happy again.

……

With school about to end and still no call or text from Shen Nuoyi, Pei Yan felt a little strange. Did she not know he was already there?

No, it shouldn't be like that. As soon as their car arrived, girls from Yude School surrounded them. The news must have spread by now. He also saw a lot of people gathered around the railing near the teaching building, looking towards the playground. There's no reason they wouldn't know that they had arrived at Yude School.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Yan took out his phone, opened Shen Nuoyi's email, and typed a text message: I've arrived at your school. Let's have lunch together this afternoon.

He knew the power of his text message and what it would bring. Just now, everyone was teasing him, and a group of girls were talking about the rumors between him and Shen Nuoyi. He indirectly admitted that the group of girls seemed to have received some major news. With a "Whoa!" they scattered and ran towards their respective classes on the sports field. It seemed that this news must have shocked Yude High School.

Pei Yan had also made up his mind. It wasn't a big deal for him to go public with Shen Nuoyi here. In fact, it wouldn't matter if he directly confessed his feelings to Shen Nuoyi during dinner today and confirmed the rumors about them.

He had originally planned to resolve their relationship after the college entrance exam, or even on the day the exam ended. However, recent events have left him somewhat uncertain about his plans.

On one hand, her mother specifically brought up the business dealings between the two families; on the other hand, Han Zhouxuan had recently returned to China, and they had encountered a boy named Zhang Chen at the mall. It seemed there was some connection between Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen?

Pei Yan vaguely knew that Zhang Chen was someone Shen Nuoyi had known for a long time. He belonged to the large circle of the Three Departments and Four Academies, someone who had grown up together, but was on the periphery. However, he was not worthy of being called Shen Nuoyi's rival.

That's normal. Before this, he hadn't shown any initiative towards Shen Nuoyi. Because of Han Zhouxuan, Shen Nuoyi would definitely suppress her feelings for him.

It's not surprising that some people will take advantage of the gap during this period of inactivity.

After all, who hasn't had a crush on someone of the opposite sex when they were young?

But a naive liking is different from a true liking.

The former may simply be a substitute for the latter's unfulfilled desire, which is also the source of Pei Yan's confidence to propose establishing a relationship with Shen Nuoyi after the college entrance examination.

Because he knew very well that if Shen Nuoyi had someone she truly liked in her teenage years, it must have been him, the one who walked with her home from school every day in the sunset.

It was the version of himself that the three of them had been through so much together during their very close friendship. The problem between him and Shen Nuoyi lay in the presence of Han Zhouxuan, caught in the middle, making it a difficult situation. Shen Nuoyi was a very sentimental girl; she was the kind of silly girl who might sacrifice her own feelings for her best friend's happiness.

But that doesn't matter anymore. Han Zhouxuan is abroad now, and I made it clear to her a few days ago that I only treat her as a younger sister.

Therefore, Pei Yan felt that she could take the initiative now.

Today's dinner with Shen Nuoyi at Yude School will not only cause a sensation at Yude, but it might even spread back to his own school, the Foreign Languages ​​School. But it doesn't matter. He needs to win the provincial first prize in the competition, and he also needs to win this decisive battle with Shen Nuoyi, openly and honestly confirm their feelings for each other, and establish their relationship.

but……

Ding! Although Nokia phones have many ringtones, Pei Yan still prefers to set his text message ringtone to this crisp, clear sound. It has a kind of ascetic efficiency, and a simple beauty of precise, certainty, and simplicity in everything.

He had been worried that Shen Nuoyi hadn't brought her phone. But now it seemed she had, perhaps still worried about missing their conversation?
Pei Yan smiled slightly and opened his phone's inbox. A dynamic screen of an open envelope appeared on the LCD screen, and Shen Nuoyi's text message opened.

He paused, then his face darkened.

Because after his slightly chauvinistic, somewhat forceful, and even unreasonable demand for a text message.

Shen Nuoyi replied: No, I'm having dinner with my classmates. You can eat with your provincial team members.

Pei Yan held his phone, wondering what exactly went wrong.
……

"What happened over there on the playground just now? What's all the noise about?" Principal Chen Qiushi of Yude School had just finished a meeting and remembered the noise outside during the meeting, so he casually asked the assistant principal who came in.

"Oh, the provincial physics competition team has arrived. Let's meet them over there," the assistant said.

"I saw it. The provincial team was meeting them. What were those girls from our school's playground doing there? They were crowding around a boy asking for autographs... When did students become so enthusiastic about people participating in competitions?"

The principal's assistant laughed and said, "That's Pei Yan, the famous one, the one from the Foreign Languages ​​Department."

"Oh, I know who it is now. This kid is quite popular!" Chen Qiushi nodded, somewhat displeased, after all, he was a famous student at the Foreign Languages ​​School.

As the two were talking, a passerby who was walking past Pei Yan called out to him a few times, including the name "Shen Nuoyi!" It was clearly meant to jeer, which made the passerby laugh.

Chen Qiushi then looked at the school assistant, "What's going on now?"

The assistant gave an awkward laugh. "It's said that Pei Yan and Shen Nuoyi like each other. Pei Yan is now at our Yude School, and some nosy students are making a fuss about it!"

Chen Qiushi glanced at him and said irritably, "You still know how to create hype!"

He then looked towards the playground with a displeased expression. "Shen Nuoyi has taken a liking to Pei Yan? They knew each other before? Are they dating?"

The assistant thought to himself, "Although I'm a friend of the students, I'm not Doraemon. Why does the boss ask me everything?" But there was nothing he could do. As a lowly assistant, his words carried little weight, so he could only be respectful and say what the boss wanted to hear: "It seems that they went to the same junior high school. Some people are bringing up the two of them, but I don't think they're dating. Shen Nuoyi is a pretty well-behaved girl in her class! And her grades are outstanding too."

"Nothing comes from nowhere, it's hard to say!"

A trace of worry crossed Chen Qiushi's face, a gloomy look as if the flowers he grew in his own yard were about to be dug up, roots and all.

(End of this chapter)