When she returned home, Zhang Yun's parents had not yet come back. She looked in the mirror and saw her swollen cheeks. She went to the kitchen, boiled an egg, wrapped it in a cloth, and returned to her bedroom to tend to her wounds. That night, she couldn't sleep; every time she closed her eyes, she saw the faces of the thugs from earlier that day.
"Cheng Haifeng... thank you," Zhang Yun thought gratefully.
The next morning, she woke up early and prepared a sumptuous breakfast to express her gratitude for Cheng Haifeng's help. She personally made a bento box, carefully selecting and cooking each dish to perfection, making it mouthwatering.
When Cheng Haifeng arrived at the classroom, he found a bento box in his drawer with a small note on top. "Thank you for yesterday."
Cheng Haifeng's face lit up with joy as he glanced over at Zhang Yun's seat, only to find it empty. However, holding the bento in his hands filled him with an indescribable warmth. He knew this bento was hard-earned, and he suddenly felt grateful to those thugs for giving him the chance to talk to Zhang Yun again. In his eyes, she became even more adorable and captivating. He silently vowed to always protect her from harm.
But Cheng Haifeng didn't know that Zhang Yun was cornered by Chen Xiaoxi at the corner of the teaching building. Chen Xiaoxi looked at Zhang Yun's slightly swollen face with a sneer. "I heard someone was a hero saving a beauty yesterday!"
Zhang Yun bit her lip tightly and said nothing.
"You little slut." Chen Xiaoxi raised her hand as if to slap Zhang Yun across the face, but Zhang Yun blocked her hand. "What gives you the right to keep hitting me?" Zhang Yun glared fiercely at Chen Xiaoxi.
Chen Xiaoxi shook off Zhang Yun's hand. "If I see you with Cheng Haifeng again, you're dead."
"So you like him? I thought you were with that older guy," Zhang Yun said disdainfully.
"None of your business! You better listen to what I'm saying; if there's a next time, you'll be hurt worse than this. Do you hear me?" Chen Xiaoxi shouted angrily.
Zhang Yun turned her eyes away and weakly replied, "Got it." At that moment, she felt very conflicted inside. She knew Chen Xiaoxi liked Cheng Haifeng, and that his act of saving her had planted a thorn in Chen Xiaoxi's heart. But she also liked Cheng Haifeng; he saved her and protected her. She couldn't distance herself from him just because Chen Xiaoxi liked him. Yet Chen Xiaoxi's fierceness frightened her.
Zhang Yun quietly leaned against the wall until the class bell rang before she moved towards the classroom. As she passed by Cheng Haifeng's seat, she caught a glimpse of his eyes filled with unspoken words.
Zhang Yun felt a heavy pressure that made her hesitant to talk to Cheng Haifeng. Although she had many things she wanted to say, it felt as if an invisible force sealed her lips shut. Inside her heart, various anxieties and hesitations intertwined, making it difficult for her to face Cheng Haifeng easily.
She wanted to break the silence and engage in conversation with him, but an indescribable tension surged within her. Unsure how to approach him, she glanced over at Chen Xiaoxi’s seat where Chen Xiaoxi was glaring at her intensely. With determination in her heart, Zhang Yun chose to remain silent and temporarily avoid contact with Cheng Haifeng.
However, what Zhang Yun didn't see was that this action extinguished the spark of hope that had ignited in Cheng Haifeng's heart; the bento box in his drawer suddenly felt like a hot potato he couldn't bear to think about or imagine.
"Zhang Yun, why do you have to do this?"
Thus, Zhang Yun and Cheng Haifeng returned to being familiar strangers once again.
After Chen Xiaoxi dropped out due to family issues, Zhang Yun finally let go of the knot in her heart. She wanted to try talking to Cheng Haifeng but didn't know how to start. In the new semester, the teacher rearranged seating according to height; with Chen Xiaoxi gone, Zhang Yun sat alone without a deskmate while Cheng Haifeng sat behind her along with Shen Yulin.
It wasn't until Yue Fanxing transferred into their class that Zhang Yun was captivated by this lovely girl. Yue Fanxing transformed Zhang Yun's years of solitude into nothingness and allowed her to reconnect with Cheng Haifeng. Although both of them kept their feelings hidden deep inside, at least they no longer engaged in cold wars like before.
The road ahead is still long; they would take their time...
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