Age of Legends

Chapter 324 "Xiao He Chases Han Xin Under the Moon"

As Zhang Chen emerged from the school gate, he saw Shen Nuoyi turn around and walk towards him. However, he did not greet her but instead passed by the owner of those beautiful, delicate features. Amidst the stunned expressions of those around him, he walked straight to the street on the right, where paulownia trees grew in a crisscross pattern.

After a brief pause, Shen Nuoyi resumed her steps and headed towards Zhang Chen.

Wang Dan and Jiang Yutong were at a snack shop on the street. Their last two periods were PE, so they naturally skipped it and went outside the school to eat. Just then, they saw Zhang Chen rushing over. Wang Dan, with a sausage stuffed in her mouth, waved and cried, "Zhang Chen! Will you repay me with your body this time? I'll kiss you!"

Zhang Chen glanced at her waving and at Jiang Yutong, who suddenly looked resentful beside her, and then waved his hand to decline.

Some boys greeted him, "Zhang Chen, get out of class's over already? Where's Wei Ge? He's not with you? You didn't come to watch our last soccer game, you played well... Hey, come sit down for a bit! Where are you going, to the internet cafe...?"

These boys were from Wang Dan's class who played soccer together, and they managed to catch a glimpse of Zhang Chen as he passed by.

Zhang Chen nodded slightly without pausing.

“He wouldn’t even eat when I treated him…uh!” Wang Dan and Jiang Yutong were still looking in Zhang Chen’s direction when they turned back. Wang Dan almost choked. Jiang Yutong also suddenly shut up.

They both looked warily at the intersection.

Shen Nuoyi appeared.

To Wang Dan and Jiang Yutong, Shen Nuoyi was someone they only dared to admire from afar, someone they felt would be offended even to greet. She was too dazzling, and too distant; the various rumors about her seemed to come from another world.

At that moment, she actually walked into this street filled with the smell of fried food and seasonings.

Sure enough, the boys from their own class fell silent, not daring to breathe, their eyes following her as she passed by like a cool breeze.

"Wasn't Shen Nuoyi with Zheng Xue...?" After she walked away, Wang Dan murmured to Jiang Yutong, "Zhang Chen wasn't with Wang Shuowei either..."

Although her voice wasn't loud, it was penetrating; otherwise, she wouldn't have been known as "Little Loudspeaker." As she spoke, the boys in the snack shop suddenly and instinctively looked towards the same direction, with Zhang Chen in front and Shen Nuoyi behind.

Then, in an instant, everyone suddenly thought of the black and white illustration in the extended reading material for Chinese language that they had spoofed and doodled on. Back then, some people drew motorcycles, some drew bicycles, and some drew rockets.

The painting is called "Xiao He Chasing Han Xin Under the Moon".

The group exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

That's all there is to the picture.

Zhang Chen walked ahead, his steps never faltering.

Shen Nuoyi followed behind, quickening her pace to close the distance, and spoke softly, her voice clearly carrying over: "I didn't ask him to come, and I didn't know he would be at the door."

Zhang Chen did not react and continued walking.

Shen Nuo slowed down, and the distance between them widened again. Her words seemed to have vanished into thin air.

A faint blush flashed in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. She took a deep breath and quickened her pace to approach him again, her voice carrying a tone rarely heard before, almost like an explanation: "I've already explained it to him. I said... I have a boyfriend." She paused, "Don't be angry."

After saying all that, she seemed to have exhausted all her courage, and her steps involuntarily slowed down.

Zhang Chen paused for a moment, but still showed no sign of stopping.

She gazed at that resolute figure as he walked away, then suddenly raised her voice slightly, a voice tinged with grievance, a hint of shame and annoyance, and perhaps even a touch of helpless resentment she herself was unaware of: "You stingy little thing!"

Zhang Chen stopped.

He turned around.

He saw Shen Nuoyi, who was always aloof and composed, but now had slightly flushed cheeks and was glaring at him with a look that was both amused and embarrassed. For the first time ever, there was a hint of pitifulness in her eyes.

Seeing Zhang Chen finally stop, she breathed a sigh of relief, but her face still maintained a helpless and aggrieved expression, staring at Zhang Chen with an attitude that said, "If you want to argue, then argue; if you want to have a duel, then have a duel."

She simply couldn't bear the way he turned his back on her and left without a word. It was like a thorn, making her nose sting. A complex mix of emotions, such as grievance, frustration, and helplessness, surged into her heart, almost breaking through her usual calm and self-control.

Zhang Chen stared at her and said, "What did you just say?"

"Stingy!"

"Not this sentence, the previous one."

Don't be angry!

"Back before... the sentence you made clear to him."

"You—!" Shen Nuoyi felt her hair stand on end, but she reminded herself to hold back. Her face still burned slightly, and her eyes darted quickly to the side. She whispered rapidly, "Tell me I have a boyfriend..."

"Who?"

Zhang Chen looked up and pressed for an answer, but his single word carried an unavoidable implication.

For a moment, Shen Nuoyi really wanted to kick him a couple of times, stomping her feet on the ground. But the calmness of his tone made her uneasy. She took a small breath, suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, and tried her best to make her voice sound as clear and calm as usual, although the slight tremor at the end of her voice betrayed her: "You know perfectly well."

Zhang Chen seemed determined to force her, and suddenly stepped forward, saying, "Tell me."

Shen Nuoyi, on the other hand, felt a jolt of fear as Zhang Chen suddenly closed the distance between them. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, not only on the verge of exploding with rage, but also on the verge of bursting with anger. Looking at Zhang Chen, who seemed like a completely different person and was pressing closer step by step, she finally decided to take the plunge. She suddenly looked up, her clear eyes reflecting the golden sunset, and her voice became exceptionally clear and assertive.

"You! I said it was you! Okay, Zhang Chen, you big idiot!"

A clear yet naturally melodious voice echoed out.

Then the surrounding background fell into a deathly silence.

Her ears turned bright red, and her face was exceptionally bright and beautiful with embarrassment and anger.

Zhang Chen finally nodded, his previously stern face, which had been pressing her and putting immense pressure on her, now showing a faint smile.

"You knew it was me..." He paused, the smile fading, his eyes becoming complicated. "Then why is it that when something happened to your family, I was the last to know? And you didn't consult me ​​at all, didn't let a word out. You're really tough. Are you planning to bear it all alone? If you can't bear it anymore, are you planning to quietly run away? Or are you planning to wait until after the college entrance exam and then part ways with me?"

She paused for a moment, then shook her head vigorously, "I didn't think that way..."

"So you think that even if you tell me all this, it will only cause you more trouble and affect me instead?" Zhang Chen interrupted her, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "You don't think I can help you in any way, so you simply don't want to involve me, is that right?"

In that instant, Shen Nuoyi finally understood why Zhang Chen was behaving so strangely today.

"So it's because I didn't tell you... and not because of Pei Yan?"

“Pei Yan is a problem for you to deal with, and I have always believed that you can handle it. So what does Pei Yan have to do with me? On the contrary, such a big thing happened in your family, but you are unwilling to tell me even a little bit.”

He stared at her, his gaze so sharp it seemed to see into her heart. "Everyone around you may have noticed the changes in your family, but you kept me in the dark. I was excluded from your world like an outsider."

"You mean... you're planning to make me cooperate with you and put on a show of everything being fine, while everyone else knows the truth?"

Shen Nuo's pupils trembled.

(End of this chapter)