"..."
There was nothing more to say.
Li Wu quickly led Raiden Mei upstairs toward their classroom.
Almost there. Almost there.
As long as he got back to the classroom, he could go back to being a normal person. Being cursed at or ostracized—it didn't matter. At least he wouldn't have to deliberately pretend to be a psychopath anymore.
If he kept up this act, sooner or later he'd end up falling into depravity right alongside Raiden Mei. What would he turn into then? He didn't even dare imagine it...
Soon, amid countless bizarre and mocking gazes and whispers, Li Wu and Raiden Mei arrived at the floor where their classroom was located.
To his surprise, however, no one offered any sarcastic remarks, even upon seeing Raiden Mei's strange attire.
Everyone's attention was captivated by Kiana and another male student at the classroom door.
The boy was holding a miniature palace model—meticulously constructed from countless thin strips of paper glued together layer by layer. He looked with a smile at Kiana, who was standing before him holding a stack of books, having just picked up some materials from the teachers' office.
Countless eyes instantly zeroed in on them.
People were whispering to one another, their faces displaying a knowing "I knew it" look and the excitement of watching a good show.
"Kiana-san, this... is for you. I made it myself, little by little."
The boy offered the delicate yet fragile paper palace. It was quite ornate; one could tell he had put a lot of effort into it.
"I... I've always been grateful to you! Last month, when I dropped out of the top ten in the exams, a lot of people were secretly—or even openly—laughing at me. You were the only one who didn't say anything. And that one physics problem I was stuck on for a long time... You noticed, and you took the initiative to write out the solution steps for me. You explained every step so clearly, completely unlike how dismissive others were when they taught me... I-I like you!"
The boy spoke very quickly, as if afraid his courage would turn coward and sneak away midway through.
Oho, a confession.
Li Wu's innate Chinese genes for watching a spectacle activated. He pulled Raiden Mei along and proactively moved closer to watch.
The tips of the boy's ears were bright red, and his shoulders trembled slightly. There were occasional pauses when he spoke, but he was clear enough. It looked like he had gathered courage for a long time before finally making up his mind.
The people around them were smiling, and fragments of their discussions drifted over: "This guy's had a crush on her for ages. During PE class, whenever Kiana walked by while we were playing basketball, he'd suddenly start dribbling past everyone. And during the long-distance run test... he was clearly out of breath in the second half, but the moment he saw Kiana pass by, he sprinted like he was on steroids..."
His buddies' words drifted into the boy's ears, making the bases of his ears turn red as well.
Nevertheless, the boy kept his eyes on Kiana, waiting for her reply, his eyes full of anticipation.
"This is a paper model of the Potala Palace. You made it very accurately; it's quite beautiful."
Finally, Kiana responded. She first accepted the paper palace—which had cost countless hours of painstaking effort and now gleamed with a soft luster under the midday sun—acknowledging the boy's hard work.
Then, she looked up at the overjoyed boy in front of her, who thought his confession had succeeded.
Her expression held no mockery, no surprise, not even the annoyance of being interrupted.
She was like snow falling in winter: if you didn't touch it, you couldn't feel its chill. You would only find it beautiful, romantic, and weightless, melting in your heart in the blink of an eye.
He's got no chance, Li Wu shook his head.
Building someone up before letting them down. Although Li Wu didn't know what Kiana's personality was like in this world, the fact that she didn't directly accept the boy's confession and instead shifted the topic to an irrelevant palace—moving the focus from "love" to "hard work"—was a clear, polite rejection.
But those involved are often blind, while bystanders see clearly. The boy didn't seem to realize this. Thinking his efforts had been recognized and that she cared about him, he smiled even more radiantly.
Kiana raised her eyes. Her ice-blue pupils were like deep, pristine snow, burying all emotion.
She handed the paper palace back, her tone completely flat: "You may have misunderstood some things. I simply think you work very hard, and people who work hard shouldn't be treated poorly by bad results. Helping you that time was just a small effort. Your thought process was stuck in a common conceptual trap for that type of problem, and clarifying it was beneficial for understanding those kinds of questions in general. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether I have any special feelings for anyone. You can consider it... a small favor within my duties. If it were anyone else stuck on a problem, I would have helped them too. This is my responsibility as the Class Representative."
Hearing these words, the boy's lips twitched slightly, and the color began to drain from his face bit by bit.
After a brief pause, Kiana continued:
"There is a quote in our textbook that I hope might enlighten you."
"'In our interactions with the opposite sex, we may feel pleasure due to our appreciation of them and our yearning for beauty, and it is easy to mistake this appreciation and yearning for love. But in truth, this is not love.'"
Kiana's gaze remained tranquil. There was no ridicule, no frivolity; her tone was entirely earnest.
She shook her head slightly, her silvery-white hair swaying gently with the motion.
"I do not like you, nor do I have any intention of dating anyone. I'm sorry."
Her words were like a silver needle dropping to the floor, yet simultaneously stabbing fiercely into the boy's heart, causing an invisible wound to gush copious amounts of blood.
The boy gritted his teeth, his eyes trembling. He forced out a polite but incredibly ugly smile, repeatedly mumbling, "I understand. It's okay. Thank you for your honesty."
"Do not be discouraged. As long as you are willing to open your eyes for tomorrow, the future can be seen. Our paths are still very long."
With that simple acknowledgment, Kiana hugged her stack of materials and returned to her rational world—one completely detached from the restless youth surrounding her. It was as if that conversation, which was enough to send shockwaves through the school, was nothing more than solving a slightly complicated math problem.
The gazes of the surrounding students grew more complex. There was pity, there were sneers, and there were faint sighs.
In the end, the boy said nothing more. With slightly trembling hands, he extremely carefully cradled the fragile paper palace to his chest. He turned and walked back to his seat, looking for all the world like a dog that had its spine pulled out—crawling pitifully before the crowd's eyes, even though his back remained perfectly straight.
The sunlight was as bright as ever, and the noisy chatter in the classroom gradually resumed, covering up the sudden silence from moments ago.
Only the silver-haired girl sitting in her seat remained aloof from it all, as if nothing had ever happened.
Li Wu was dumbfounded.
Holy crap, is this really the Kiana I know?
To actually reject someone so logically, politely, and with such a broad perspective.
And honestly, considering she was casually quoting textbooks, Li Wu felt it was necessary to investigate Kiana's current grade ranking.
She couldn't possibly be ranked first in the whole grade... right? Haha.