Chapter 23: Holding a Battle of Drink Learning Against…

Although they hadn’t managed to bring Xia Hong Faction members back to Azure Dragon Hall, the matter of terminating the engagement seemed to have gone surprisingly smoothly.

Jin He walked out of the gymnasium with Xia Mi La and spotted Jin Can waiting at the entrance.

Leaning against the wall, he obediently waited there holding a bottle of drink.

Xia Mi La smiled when she saw him: “You didn’t leave?”

Jin Can hummed in acknowledgment, slowly straightened up, then glanced at Jin He.

It was clearly a lack of trust in him as a person.

Jin He couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

“Let’s go then.” Xia Mi La walked to Jin Can’s side, then asked Jin He, “Where are you headed?”

Jin He replied with a dark expression: “I’m going to the lounge.”

Pei Duo Xing was still waiting for him in the lounge.

“Mm.” Xia Mi La nodded, “See you later then.”

She waved at him, then turned away decisively, leaving him with only her retreating back.

Jin He watched as she and Jin Can walked slowly side by side into the distance.

Her back was resolute, never turning back to look at him again.

After watching for a moment, Jin He also turned and walked in the opposite direction.

*

Inside the lounge, Pei Duo Xing had long changed her clothes.

Today’s regular meeting had been interrupted, and with such unpleasant events occurring, everyone had dispersed listlessly. Only Pei Duo Xing remained in the sofa area.

Several badges were scattered haphazardly across the coffee table surface. Some, thrown with excessive force by their original owners in their anger, had even landed beyond the table’s edge.

Pei Duo Xing kept staring at those badges.

Then someone handed her a bottle of water – Cui Zhe.

The imported New Zealand mineral water in his hand cost ten thousand won per bottle when sold outside – equivalent to two days of her meal expenses.

Pei Duo Xing accepted the water and thanked Cui Zhe.

Cui Zhe shook his head and sat down beside her.

Pei Duo Xing took a sip of water, sensing Cui Zhe’s gaze fixed on her though he remained silent.

She turned to look at him and noticed his eyes focused on the Azure Dragon Hall badge pinned to her chest.

“You said this would be difficult,” she felt a slight sense of vindication, “but it’s only the third day of school, and I’m already wearing the Azure Dragon Hall badge.”

Cui Zhe showed no embarrassment at being contradicted. But he didn’t seem happy for her either.

He remained calm.

“Take it off,” he said, “If you choose to withdraw yourself, A He will pity you more. I’ll also protect you, help you transfer classes. Stay by my side from now on, and no one will bully you.”

“Why?” Pei Duo Xing asked. Her expression remained calm too, but beneath that calm lay complete disappointment in the person before her.

“It’s complicated.” Cui Zhe raised his hand to rub his temple, “Look, because of your arrival, the entire Xia Hong Faction has left. This isn’t the beginning – such things will only increase from now on.”

“Is Xia Mi La that important?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like Xia Mi La?”

“I like you.”

“…”

After several seconds of silence, Pei Duo Xing’s shoulders slumped.

The disappointment dissipated, leaving her completely listless: “I said I wanted to join Azure Dragon Hall. You said I couldn’t get in. Now that I’ve finally managed to join, you want me to quit. You’ve always been like this, constantly denying everything, making it hard to feel your affection.”

“I…” Cui Zhe said, “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t know why, but in his smooth-sailing life, anything involving Pei Duo Xing would become exceptionally difficult.

He knew he was handling things poorly, yet he couldn’t pretend ignorance and let matters develop toward the worst possible outcome.

“But it’s very difficult,” he continued speaking to Pei Duo Xing. “Not just you even A He will face attacks. With Jin Can’s appearance, A He is no longer Han Lin’s only choice. At a time like this, Mira’s support is crucial to him.”

Pei Duo Xing looked at him: “You’ve studied at the best private schools since childhood. Your family hired famous tutors to give you extra lessons. After middle school, even company executives came to teach you management courses, preparing you early to take over the family business. If even you are like this, Jin He must be the same. But before this, Jin Can was just a penniless orphan who grew up in an orphanage. Instead of thinking about defeating him through your own abilities and intelligence, you want to rely on marriage alliances taking such shortcuts. Since you can do it, why can’t I?”

Cui Zhe was momentarily speechless.

He thought this might be why Jin He would also be drawn to Pei Duo Xing she always possessed more drive and initiative than they did.

Mira was actually very good. She came from an excellent background, was beautiful, and had an exceptionally gentle personality the epitome of a well-bred, well-mannered young lady from a good family.

But she was too gentle. Compared to Pei Duo Xing’s vibrant vitality, she seemed somewhat bland and uninteresting…

“I can help A He too. I can learn how to handle things,” Pei Duo Xing continued. “Xia Mi La has many Sponsored students around her. If they can do it, why can’t I?”

Cui Zhe didn’t think there was anything wrong with Pei Duo Xing. The only area where she fell short compared to them was probably her background. Background was unfair because one couldn’t choose it for themselves.

So he didn’t try to stop Pei Duo Xing anymore.

She used to always say he was self-righteous. His rationality seemed completely defeated by Jin He’s emotionality. Perhaps he should have been braver earlier, instead of always being so hesitant.

The two sat there, each lost in their own thoughts, when shortly after, Jin He returned.

The expression on his face seemed somewhat bewildered, making Cui Zhe unable to tell whether his meeting with Xia Mi La had gone well or poorly.

Only when Jin He saw the two of them did he slightly regain his composure.

“A He,” Cui Zhe asked with some concern, “what’s wrong? How did your talk with Mira go?”

“I…” Jin He looked at him and cleared his throat lightly, “Mira said she’ll break off our engagement. She said they won’t come back, but they won’t go to White Tiger Hall either.”

Hearing this, Cui Zhe also fell silent.

For Jin He, this was definitely not bad news. The surprising part was just how straightforward Xia Mi La had been.

After some thought, Cui Zhe still asked: “Mira said she wants to break off the engagement? Is she serious? She’s not just saying it in anger, is she?”

Recalling Xia Mi La’s demeanor and tone at the time, it was actually hard to say she was just being spiteful.

But who could tell? Would someone who liked him so much give up so easily? Maybe she was just pretending.

Thinking this, the knot in his heart loosened slightly, and he let out a contemptuous snort.

Though he didn’t say a word, his expression still conveyed plenty.

Sure enough, it was out of spite… Pei Duo Xing had long anticipated that the matter of the engagement wouldn’t be resolved so easily. Mentally prepared, he wasn’t the least bit surprised by this outcome and even felt somewhat smug.

Xia Mi La, the pampered daughter of heaven, seemed to surpass her in every way, yet in the matter of Jin He, she still had to admit defeat.

Hmph, she snorted disdainfully in her heart as well.

Cui Zhe wasn’t very surprised either. Just imagine, if someone had spent nearly half their life revolving around another person whether due to unresolved resentment or long-maintained habits it wouldn’t be easy to simply let go.

He actually felt quite sympathetic toward Xia Mi La. After all, she hadn’t really done anything wrong.

But matters of the heart, like one’s background, are inherently unfair.

“I’ll go talk to her again tomorrow,” he said to Jin He.

“Suit yourself,” Jin He replied.

Calling off the engagement was the result he wanted. Regardless of Xia Mi La’s motives, as long as the outcome was achieved, he didn’t care about anything else. Whether Xia Mi La had meals with Zhao Taihe or chatted happily with his superfluous younger brother none of it concerned him in the slightest. Or so he thought, but that night, he found himself unable to sleep.

Lying in bed, he kept replaying the afternoon scene with Xia Mi La in the basketball gym.

He recalled her words, her faintly mocking expression, the way she sat with her legs crossed and challenged him: “Is this how you ask for a favor?”

Even now, Jin He found the remark utterly absurd, yet her condescending demeanor persistently resurfaced in his mind.

And there she was, standing beside Jin Can, her ponytail swaying gently with her movements as she walked away. Her smooth, long hair tied back, revealing a slender, pale neck elegant and noble, like a swan…

Jin He felt irritated. He didn’t want to think about Xia Mi La anymore, but perhaps this was the downside of growing up together it was hard to quickly strip someone completely from your life.

The next day, Friday, the last school day of the week.

Tan Ming’s luxurious campus was unusually tranquil, as if the commotion of the past few days had never happened.

After finishing lunch, Cui Zhe considerately allowed some rest time before taking out his phone and dialing Xia Mi La’s number.

But no one answered.

This was troublesome… The school was so large, and there was no telling where the young lady might be.

At this time in the past, she would almost always be in the lounge.

Thinking of this, Cui Zhe couldn’t help but feel a pang of sentimentality.

He stood up, deciding to try his luck near the classrooms.

As he approached the teaching building, he happened to run into Xu Lian Yi, who was also heading that way.

“Yi Yi,” he stepped forward to greet her.

Xu Lian Yi didn’t look pleased to see him.

While she agreed that Mira’s decision to leave Jin He was for the best, she held a grudge against Cui Zhe by association, given her strong dislike for Jin He.

So when Cui Zhe approached, she asked sarcastically, “Young Master Cui, what are your orders?”

Cui Zhe smiled. “Why are you talking like that?”

Back when Xia Mi La and Jin He were on good terms, he and Xu Lian Yi had gotten along quite well.

In fact, compared to Jin He, Xu Lian Yi had always been more comfortable around Cui Zhe, since he was unpretentious, gentle, and easy to talk to.

But that was before. Now, Xu Lian Yi let out a soft hum and didn’t say much.

“Where did you come from? Weren’t you with Mira?” Cui Zhe got straight to the point. “Where is Mira? I called her, but no one answered.”

Xu Lian Yi probably guessed why Cui Zhe was looking for Mira.

She hummed again and said to him, “Mira is in the music room with Ya Yun.”

Practicing the piano, huh… No wonder she didn’t see the call.

Cui Zhe curved his eyes and smiled at her. “Thanks.”