Chapter 180: I Also Like

Su Wanli racked her brain to come up with a good excuse, inspiration surging up like a river flowing in torrents—

That’s it! Studying! The thing she interacted most with Meng Huange over, at its core, was still about studying.

From the very first day, she had already told herself about that agreement concerning the Evening Banquet—

She needed to achieve a mid-tier grade in the Opening Exam before the Sujia would agree to let her attend the banquet with him.

After that, any interaction she had with Meng Huange was built upon this foundation, including one-on-one tutoring, providing notebooks, and going to school together, and so on and so forth.

—So in the process, if she ended up liking studying, it was only natural… right?

Forget it, as long as she used this excuse, anything she’d said before like, “I’ve been really happy these past few days,” or “Without you, I could never have made it this far,” could be brushed off using this.

“Haha, to think I never realized it before—turns out, I really quite like studying.”

Su Wanli gave a couple of light laughs to Meng Huange, then turned away and looked up at the list of results on the screen in front of her.

“This kind of happiness—seeing your ranking steadily rise with just a little bit of effort—really isn’t the kind of vulgar pleasure you can buy with money.”

Hearing this, Meng Huange unconsciously pursed her lips, then lightly patted Su Xiaoli’s shoulder.

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s thanks to… I mean, I did help a little in all this. If it weren’t for you giving me those notebooks, I might never have started studying at all.”

Resuming the conversation, Su Xiaoli turned around shyly, nodded toward Meng Huange, and stepped forward to give her a quick, enthusiastic pat on the shoulder.

“In that case, this young lady will definitely help you out even more from now on. We’ll be equals, so don’t be shy!”

The moment she finished this long string of explanations, the System’s voice sounded in Su Wanli’s ear, like a heavenly melody—

[Favorability of Female Lead increased to 80, debuff completely removed.]

In short, crisis averted.

Su Wanli patted her own chest and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

…There’s no doubt about it, she was a genius at improvising! Even after saying something that corny, she could still turn it into a perfectly reasonable excuse. She really was a master at adapting to any situation!

However, for some reason, Meng Huange was still frowning slightly, as if she was troubled by something.

“What’s wrong, Meng Huange? You think I won’t keep my promise? Don’t worry, my word is my bond. As long as you do your part for me, I won’t easily drive you out of the Sujia.”

“Of course I believe you, Miss Su, but I’m not doing all this just to earn your reward.”

“Huh?”

Su Wanli looked at Meng Huange in confusion, suddenly realizing something.

“Oh? I get it now. You want your mother’s hairpin back, right? Don’t worry, once the banquet is over, I’ll naturally return it to you.”

“That’s not it, Miss Su.”

Meng Huange smiled and leaned in.

“Although that hairpin is important to me, it’s not really my true goal.”

As she spoke, she walked to Su Wanli’s side, her gaze skimming lightly over the grade report above.

“Actually, what I want… is exactly the same as what you didn’t say just now.”

“Exactly the same as what I didn’t say?”

“That’s right, Miss Su.”

Meng Huange slowly bent down, placing her finger on Su Wanli’s brow, the rise and fall of her breath gently caressing her face.

“Maybe it’s a little strange to say this now, but…

“Actually, I also like it very much.”

What is Meng Huange saying? She also likes it!?

Like… like what? If it’s really the same as what she didn’t say out loud, then isn’t that—

“Yes, just as you’re thinking.”

Meng Huange’s fingertips lightly traced the school badge of Baiying Academy on Su Wanli’s chest, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

“I like… studying together with you.”

At the same time, in the Experimental Building at Baiying Academy, the results of this exam were being projected on the bulletin board of Class 1, Second Year Experimental.

Bai Hewei sat silently at his own seat, calmly studying the very top of the grade report.

…Class rank, second. Grade rank, fifth.

Heh, as usual. For a not-so-official test like the Opening Exam, just going over the previous questions was enough to score seventy or eighty percent. This time he’d simply not put in much effort, plus he had a streak of bad luck.

If Su Wanli hadn’t interfered and messed up his mood, how could he have made such a rookie mistake in the English exam…

But these were all trivial matters. It didn’t shake his ambitions in the least. He still needed to focus his energy on more important things.

—That would be this spring’s Evening Banquet hosted by the Bai Family.

On the surface, it was just another routine banquet for the family. In truth, the head of the Bai Family—his grandfather, Bai Qinghuang—had already told him in advance the real weight of this banquet.

Whether or not he could move even a corner of the Sujia’s power depended almost entirely—no, at least partially—on his performance at the banquet.

Sigh, it was a tough task. No wonder he’d started preparing over a month ago, but he still didn’t have a perfect plan.

No use worrying too much for now. He’d just take it one step at a time.

Bai Hewei let out a gentle sigh and got ready to greet the teacher at the office before heading home early to prepare for the banquet.

However, just as he was getting up, a few knocks suddenly sounded at the back door of Class 1.

It was Wang Zheng. Although he’d caused him to lose a fair bit of face in front of everyone earlier, it wasn’t really Wang Zheng’s fault, so he didn’t mind getting along with him.

Seeing Bai Hewei wave at him, Wang Zheng walked straight over and said bluntly—

“…Young Master Bai, your results this time—are they a bit below your usual?”

“Yes, my condition wasn’t great during this exam.”

Bai Hewei answered lightly, tilting his head.

“But next time will be different. It’s not every exam that Su Xiaoli manages to distract me.”

“I-I see! You’re really generous…”

Wang Zheng hesitated for a moment, about to hand his phone to Bai Hewei, but Bai Hewei stopped him.

“No need. Let’s not bring up small matters now. I have more important things to handle tonight.”

Bai Hewei gently shook Wang Zheng’s hand off and continued toward the teacher’s office.

“By the way, if you have any news that’s a little sensitive, contact me online instead.”

“Okay, got it?”

Wang Zheng scratched his head, glanced at his phone, then at Bai Hewei’s departing figure.

Although Young Master Bai’s personality was sometimes a bit questionable, when it came to presence, he was still the scion of an aristocratic family. Even though rumors said he’d lost his edge, he still acted like it didn’t faze him at all…

Well, since he said to contact him online, he’d send the message that way.

Wang Zheng tapped three threads at the top of the school forum and forwarded them to his chat with Bai Hewei—

—《Identity Exposed: Is Meng Huange Really the Sujia’s Hidden Ace?》

—《Secret Ceremony Conducted Privately by Young Master Bai—The Surprising Subject Is…?》

—《Complete Collapse! Love and Ambition Both Shattered, Meng Huange Surpasses Bai Hewei as Grade’s Number One Rising Star》

Sheesh, who even wrote these kinds of posts? There were so many of them, all filled with gossip.

To think he’d even specially picked out an old, secure phone. If he’d known Young Master Bai wouldn’t even look at them, he’d have spent that ten thousand yuan on the latest model instead.