"Look, look—it's Guo Chouzhou and Zeng Shunxi~~~~!"
"Oh my god, it's real! They're really together!"
"I can't believe our campus prince, single for three whole years, ended up falling for that Chinese major's belle."
"She's insanely lucky. First she got confessed to publicly by the runner-up on the campus heartthrob list, and now she's dating the number one? How can one girl have ties with the two hottest guys in school? All the good fortune is hers!"
Hand in hand, Guo Chouzhou and Zeng Shunxi walked across campus, drawing every pair of eyes like magnets. It was flashy—almost blindingly so.
Girls everywhere were trembling with jealousy. Several times, Shunxi tried to pull her hand back, but Chouzhou just tightened his grip. She blushed shyly on the outside, yet inside her heart was dancing through the clouds.
She didn't deny any rumor, didn't argue with any whisper. Let them talk. They were right—she was too lucky, too blessed.
Even now, it still felt unreal. When the wind messed up her hair, he'd gently brush her bangs aside. Whenever he finished class early, he waited by her classroom door. No matter how busy he was, he always ate with her. The two of them, side by side in the cafeteria, had become the campus's most dazzling sight.
Zeng Shunxi had never asked him why he accepted her confession so quickly. He never explicitly said he liked her. But she didn't care anymore—he was her boyfriend now. This was both their first love. She wasn't the kind of girl to cling to a boy asking "Do you like me?" every day. She was carefree, unbothered by trivialities.
Guo Chouzhou, on the other hand, was cautious and meticulous, always thinking two steps ahead for her. The more she interacted with him, the more she was drawn to his maturity and quiet brilliance. They were opposites in all the right ways—perfect complements.
This newly minted golden couple instantly became the hottest topic on campus, and among all the spectators, the one suffering the most was Mo Lü. Overnight, he became a walking joke. Rumors evolved from "he's secretly in love" to "a messy love triangle" and finally to "playboy dumped by the heroine." Not only did he suffer heartbreak, his reputation took a beating.
Mo Lü slumped over his desk, burning with frustration. He couldn't focus on class at all.
His seatmate tried to comfort him, only to be shoved away.
"It's all your fault! You told me to go all in and chase her sincerely. Now she's gone, and I'm being called a 'player' across campus! Thanks to your terrible advice."
His outburst instantly drew the whole class's attention. Even the elective English teacher—who had been passionately lecturing about language, culture, and idioms—turned, raising a brow.
"Mo Lü," she said with mocking politeness, "since you seem quite familiar with the term 'player,' tell us—how do you say '海王' in English?"
Face burning, Mo Lü stood and replied without hesitation, "Aquaman."
He was referring to the American movie title—thank goodness he'd seen it.
He had just begun to lower himself back into his seat when Guo Chouzhou's calm voice floated from the front.
"It used to be close to 'Aquaman.' Nowadays," Chouzhou said lightly, "the closer meaning is 'player.'"
The class erupted in laughter. Guo Chouzhou glanced back at Mo Lü with leisurely amusement, leaving him utterly humiliated. Mo Lü clenched his fists so hard his knuckles whitened.
But that wasn't the end of it.
After class, Chouzhou called out from behind him, "Hey, player. Since you like giving people nicknames, I'm sure you won't mind having one of your own."
Mo Lü spun back, eyes red.
"What now? Next to 'fried dough stick,' there's not only 'pancake', and now even a 'wrapper'? Man, you want to be her little knight in shining armor so badly, huh?"
"That's right," Chouzhou replied without hesitation. "Shunxi is a flower, and from now on, I'm the only one who gets to protect her. Whether she's a pancake or a dough stick —none of that is for you to judge."
He said it with unapologetic dominance, openly claiming territory. He wanted zero ambiguity between his girlfriend and any other guy.
Mo Lü hated that he had no grounds to refute him. All he could do was snap, bitterness dripping from every syllable:
"Don't tell me you're just using her to get back at me. Using her as a shield so you can stomp me under your feet?"
Chouzhou only shrugged, calm and untouchable, giving him a knowing look—as if saying, Believe whatever you want.
Any curiosity or faint goodwill Mo Lü once had toward him evaporated in an instant. All that remained was resentment—sharp and burning.
And because the English teacher had also embarrassed him in front of everyone, he lumped her into the same category of hatred. She was currently organizing a joint campus English competition. Mo Lü led the charge against it, claiming her classes were boring and pointless and there was no real learning value. He insisted the school would only embarrass itself if it participated. Gathering what little influence he had, he tried to rally students to boycott the event.
But the moment Guo Chouzhou heard of Mo Lü's plan, he deliberately became the first to sign up.
The rest of the class followed—naturally siding with the campus prince.
No one listened to Mo Lü's protests anymore.
And just like that, the fragile connection between Guo Chouzhou and Mo Lü snapped entirely. They were now only one step short of being enemies.