Chapter Twelve: Boy or Girl?

The long-absent sound of the school bell rang out, and the once-quiet classroom instantly erupted into lively chaos. After enduring a dull morning of classes, Luo Chen realized that most of what he had learned in high school had already faded from his mind. It seemed he would have to devote some attention to lessons from now on, lest his grades fall to ruin.

Fortunately, those three years at university in his previous life had not been wasted—after a bit of review, he should be able to keep up without much trouble.

“Fancy seeing you here, Luo Chen. You actually came to class instead of working your part-time job? Hahaha!” As he was mulling things over, two or three boys swaggered over, their hairstyles bizarre, their manners brash. The leader, wearing a particularly ostentatious pompadour, grinned as he greeted him.

Luo Chen remembered the ringleader, Li Fei, rather clearly. To put it plainly, the guy couldn't stand to see others doing well. Before Luo Chen’s parents’ accident, his family had been well-off and he’d had plenty of friends, which only fueled Li Fei’s envy. Every day, Li Fei would mock him with veiled, sarcastic remarks.

After the incident half a year ago that left Luo Chen with mountains of debt, he’d sometimes taken on part-time jobs. Li Fei had somehow caught wind of this, and from then on, he broadcast Luo Chen’s misfortune everywhere he went, making sure everyone knew.

“You know, my dad made a killing down south last year, and he’s even planning to buy me a real car. People really do live in different worlds, huh?” Li Fei shot Luo Chen a provocative look, raising his voice just enough to let the secret slip to everyone around.

“See? Our big bro Fei is loaded! When are you taking us out for a spin?” one of Li Fei’s lackeys chimed in.

“Yeah, Li bro, don’t keep the good stuff to yourself—you gotta show us!” another echoed.

With his sycophants hyping him up, Li Fei seemed to float on air, as if he really were about to take them cruising tomorrow.

“A car? You mean a bicycle,” Luo Chen retorted flatly.

He knew what kind of person Li Fei was. Never mind his average family background—his miserly old man wouldn’t even buy himself a car, let alone one for his son.

And how did Luo Chen know all this? Li Fei constantly bragged about his family, not realizing he’d already let all his secrets slip.

“Nonsense! My dad said he’d get me a car—a scooter, all right?” Li Fei blurted, unable to contain his anger at the implication he’d only get a bicycle. The words had barely left his mouth when he realized his mistake. By now, a crowd had gathered, all of them staring at him as if he were a joke.

“Bravo, truly impressive! Your family must be rolling in it!” After a brief silence, Luo Chen led a round of applause, and the bored onlookers joined in, clapping enthusiastically as Li Fei’s face flushed bright red. He looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

Li Fei felt the world’s malice closing in on him, especially when one of his clueless minions, the buzz-cut kid, also began to clap along. Li Fei wanted to throttle him on the spot.

“Are you stupid?” Li Fei snarled at the buzz-cut lackey, who looked lost and bewildered. What was wrong with clapping if big bro Fei was getting a scooter?

“Luo Chen!” Li Fei glared at him, eyes red with fury. Hadn’t he ever heard of not exposing people’s hardships? Now he’d been utterly humiliated—something he’d never experienced before.

Luo Chen eyed the fuming youth before him, wondering if he’d gone too far. Was this about to get ugly? He gripped the side of his chair, ready for Li Fei to make a move.

“All right, Li Fei, everyone knows how stingy your old man is. Buy you a scooter? Don’t kid yourself—he rides one himself, doesn’t he?” A clear, melodic voice, impossible to discern as male or female, rang out.

“Nonsense! Who—who the hell is spouting crap? My old man rides an Aima!” Li Fei shot back, turning to find the crowd looking at him with an “I knew it” expression, which nearly made him faint from rage.

“Was it you guys who spread this around? Tell me!” How could something so private be so widely known? There had to be a traitor among his own group, but he couldn’t recall telling anyone.

“Huh? It’s an Aima scooter? That’s news to me,” the buzz-cut kid chimed in again, cluelessly adding fuel to the fire.

Li Fei’s face turned purple with fury. He staggered, grabbing a chair, ready to beat the idiot into a scooter himself.

“It was me,” a slender figure in a white shirt emerged from the crowd—a beautiful youth whose delicate features and long, bare legs drew every eye in the room, regardless of gender.

“Yan He!”

“Angel Yan He!” Some clueless girls squealed with excitement, then swooned in bliss as Yan He glanced their way with a smile, only to be dragged away by their friends.

“Yan He?” Li Fei paused at the name, then grabbed a chair and charged, though for some reason his pace slowed considerably.

“Forget it, Fei bro, let’s not mess with her,” advised a quick-witted lackey, grabbing Li Fei to hold him back.

“Yeah, Fei bro, we can’t take her,” buzz-cut added, jolted to his senses, but when he tried to help, he caught a bloodshot glare from Li Fei and awkwardly withdrew.

“Luo Chen, you remember this—this isn’t over!” Li Fei ignored Yan He and directed his threat at Luo Chen, who had been watching as a bystander, then let his lackeys drag him away without much resistance.

Having once again become collateral damage, Luo Chen paid no mind to the blustering pompadour, turning instead to the beautiful youth who had just spoken up for him.

Yan He? Wasn’t she his childhood friend? That name sounded so familiar.

“Li Fei, what did you just say?” Yan He shot a menacing look at Li Fei, who was pretending to charge but was actually being dragged away, sending him fleeing with his loyal sidekick.

“All right, everyone, break it up,” Yan He said with a wave, sending a fresh round of squeals rippling through the crowd before shooing them off.

After fending off a few eager teenage girls, Yan He finally had a moment to turn to Luo Chen, who had been waiting nearby.

“Haha, Luo Chen, you’ve really changed—since when do you have time to mess with that pompadour?” Yan He laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“It’s nothing. Some people just won’t give up unless they suffer a bit. You have to teach them a lesson,” Luo Chen replied, a little embarrassed by the exquisite face so close to his own, especially by the faint, sweet fragrance that made him even more flustered.

“What’s wrong, Luo Chen? Are you sick today?” Yan He asked, puzzled by his unusual reaction, touching his forehead lightly with her slender fingers. This wasn’t like him at all.