You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

After Zhao Wenyu, carrying his schoolbag, looked back at Jiang Che one last time with eyes full of expectation and trust, and then completely disappeared through the classroom door.

Jiang Che, who had been trying to remain calm, and Wang Kai, who had been suppressing his laughter, finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Pfft—hahahahaha!"

Wang Kai laughed so hard he collapsed onto the table, pounding it with his fists, tears welling in his eyes. "Brother Che... Oh my god, I can't take it anymore! What kind of absolute idiot is Zhao Wenyu? Is his brain filled with mush?"

"He actually believed your lies and bribed you with a three-yuan bottle of iced tea to woo Su, the school beauty? Hahahaha... That's hilarious..."

Jiang Che leaned back in his chair, shaking his head with a laugh: "Who knows? I just casually said a few words to him, and he actually thought he had a chance..."

"Forget it, since this idiot is so eager to be my shield, I might as well use him."

Jiang Che picked up his backpack, patted Wang Kai on the shoulder, and said, forcing a smile, "Alright, alright, let's go now, stop laughing."

"Take these two bottles of water home and drink them. My husband doesn't allow me to drink things from strangers."

Wang Kai's big teeth, which he had been baring just a second ago, were suddenly pulled back.

What I'm saying is, there was absolutely no need to say that last sentence, okay...

……

Time flew by day by day amidst the intense preparation for the senior year exams and daily intensive training.

In the days that followed, an extremely bizarre yet harmonious scene would always unfold in the back row of Class 1, Grade 12.

Every day, Jiang Che would use the excuse of "speaking well of Class Representative Zhao and gradually getting closer to her" to openly chat with Su Qinghe.

Whenever Zhao Wenyu appeared in the classroom or turned his gaze in their direction, Jiang Che would deliberately raise his voice and say in a pretentious tone, "Hey Qinghe, actually, Zhao Wenyu studies quite diligently. He's just too focused on his studies..."

Su Qinghe sat in her seat, twirling her ballpoint pen with her slender fingers, and tapping her chin lightly in perfect coordination.

If you looked closely at her face-to-face, you could see the deep disdain she felt for Zhao Wenyu in her eyes. But in front of Jiang Che, she obediently played along, nodding coldly, "Hmm, is that so? That's good."

Hearing that Su Qinghe didn't tell him to get lost like before, Zhao Wenyu excitedly rubbed his hands together in his seat, screaming in his mind: Holy crap! There's a chance! There's definitely a chance!

Jiang Che is a great friend! He's truly there for you when something happens, and the groundwork he laid was absolutely perfect!

Once Zhao Wenyu turned back to pretending to read, satisfied, Jiang Che and Su Qinghe's conversation would naturally veer towards everyday topics like what to have for dinner.

The two heads drew closer and closer, and Jiang Che secretly hooked Su Qinghe's soft, boneless hand under the table, gently stroking it in his palm.

Su Qinghe's cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes and brows revealed tender affection that she could not hide. She would even secretly tickle Jiang Che's palm.

Zhao Wenyu was completely unaware of these matters. He was so happy that he was practically floating on air, feeling that he was just one step away from winning the heart of his beloved.

Jiang Che is incredibly shrewd. Whenever he senses classmates casting inquiring glances at him while walking with Su Qinghe, he frantically mentions Zhao Wenyu's name, successfully clearing himself of suspicion.

The reason this happened is entirely thanks to Zhao Wenyu's idiotic act of popping champagne at halftime.

It was something that was still far from being finalized, yet he had already made a huge fuss about it at school.

He was afraid others wouldn't know he was pursuing Su Qinghe, so he deliberately posted about Su Qinghe on the campus forum for several days in a row.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he had won Su Qinghe's heart, but when they clicked in, it turned out to be just some ordinary guy's wishful thinking.

Over time, the classmates also learned that Zhao Wenyu had asked Jiang Che to speak well of him in front of Su Qinghe. So when they saw Jiang Che and Su Qinghe walking together, they would subconsciously think that Jiang Che was speaking up for Zhao Wenyu.

They wouldn't even think there was any relationship between Jiang Che and Su Qinghe.

Therefore, Jiang Che felt extremely comfortable during this period.

Sigh, having someone act as a free shield makes it so great to be able to openly date and shamelessly flaunt your love on campus...

……

Soon, the day of the Lincheng Marathon officially began arrived.

The day before, after the final special training session, Liu Zhenguo called Jiang Che aside and handed him a cigarette, his expression more solemn than ever before.

"Little Jiang..."

Liu Zhenguo lowered his head, took a drag of his cigarette, and exhaled a puff of smoke before speaking in a deep voice, "During this period, I used some of my old connections here, and even asked friends at the Sports Federation to investigate Chen Feng, as well as several other active provincial team athletes who suddenly appeared at the Lincheng competition venue."

Jiang Che took the cigarette. He didn't usually smoke, so he just held it in his hand.

"Did they find anything?"

Liu Zhenguo shook his head, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and said with a deep worry in his voice, "No... completely clean, without a single clue."

"There was nothing unusual about their private accounts, communication records, or the people they had recently been in contact with."

Jiang Che's expression gradually turned serious, but there was nothing unusual about it.

This is precisely the biggest anomaly.

"These people gave up the better treatment, easier to achieve results, and even better rankings in the big city competitions, and instead came to the second-rate competition area of ​​Lincheng. This is abnormal in itself."

Liu Zhenguo patted Jiang Che on the shoulder, "If we can't find anything, there are only two possibilities."

"Or perhaps these three people are just too good at disguising themselves, it's flawless."

"Either... it's the mastermind behind all this, whose methods are truly brilliant, cleaning up all the clues to prevent us from investigating."

Jiang Che hadn't forgotten about this matter in the past few days. Whenever he had free time, he would think back to himself, wondering which person he had offended that made him want to do this.

It's one thing to mess with him, but to have such deep scheming and methods to do things so flawlessly is another.

After all, even Liu Zhenguo, the commander-in-chief of the military region, found it troublesome, which shows how powerful the person behind it must be.

"No matter what, you have to be extremely focused and careful when you're on the field tomorrow."

Liu Zhenguo threw the burnt-out cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. His expression became even more serious as he solemnly instructed Jiang Che, "Whether or not you get a special admission spot at Peking University is important, but your safety comes first, understand?"

"If you find something is wrong, even if you have to withdraw from the competition, you must ensure your own safety."

"Where there's life, there's hope."