Chen Xiangbei didn't pay attention to Fatty Wang's "praise", his mind was occupied with the sentence he had just blurted out.
[Only like you because you're attractive to her]
Dong Yuanxi likes him or not, Chen Xiangbei can't say for sure, but at least he can confirm that she doesn't dislike him.
Given this, there must be some trait of his that attracts her, but which one is it?
While Chen Xiangbei was pondering this key question, Xue Meiting happened to be discussing him with her friend Yang Xinxin.
"Meiting, after how Chen Xiangbei treated you, you still took the initiative to message him last night?"
Upon hearing Xue Meiting say she sent Chen Xiangbei a "Goodnight" message, Zhao Xinxin was somewhat incredulous, wondering what she was thinking.
"Well, I don't want to give up."
Xue Meiting pouted as she replied.
"What's there to give up on? You were the one who rejected him, not the other way around."
"But now he's the one rejecting me!"
Saying that, Xue Meiting's nose turned sour and she began to cry, never having felt so aggrieved before.
It's not like a romance drama where she suddenly realizes she unknowingly fell for Chen Xiangbei and regrets it now that she's lost him.
In fact, it's because Xue Meiting saw a video on the school forum of Chen Xiangbei driving Dong Yuanxi home and felt outshone, a girl's jealousy bursting uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Yang Xinxin was stunned, feeling at a loss about whether Xue Meiting actually liked Chen Xiangbei or not, accepting him yet unwilling, rejected and discontent?
"Oh, stop crying, it's not like you don't have guys chasing you."
Yang Xinxin quickly patted Xue Meiting on the back to comfort her, her friend was considered beautiful both in their class and school, there's hardly any lack of male suitors.
"I clearly gave Chen Xiangbei hope, why can he just change his mind and stop pursuing me so easily!"
"How did he change his mind?"
"You saw the video on the forum too, yesterday Chen Xiangbei messaged Dong Yuanxi right in front of me and drove her home at night!"
"But in the video, it seemed like Dong Yuanxi was the one who approached..."
Yang Xinxin timidly replied, pointing out that Dong Yuanxi had clearly been the one to stop Chen Xiangbei.
"I don't care, how can he pursue me while sending another girl home."
"Didn't you already reject him?"
"That's not rejection, more like a test, girls can't agree just like that, he needs to pursue a bit longer to show his persistence."
Ah, this...
With this logic, Yang Xinxin was directly confounded by Xue Meiting.
Fortunately, Chen Xiangbei didn't hear this conversation. What's meant by pursuing longer to test persistence, it's more nerve-wracking than reaching ninety-seven point six percent on a Pingduoduo price-cut!
"What exactly do you want to do then."
"I don't know what to do, I just feel like he's wrong!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Xinxin understood. The terrifying possessiveness of women...
"You're just feeling unbalanced because Chen Xiangbei shifted his attention to Dong Yuanxi."
Yang Xinxin sharply exposed Xue Meiting's mindset.
Were it the Chen Xiangbei of old, he might have been reeled back by this maneuver. After all, the first throbbing of youthful heart is hard to forget, just like Fatty Wang said.
If it weren't true affection, who would want to be a loyal admirer?
Yet this hot-and-cold strategy no longer worked on Chen Xiangbei. Not to mention the additional life experience from being reborn, just in terms of a racer, women only slow his driving speed!
The classroom bustle didn't last long before the homeroom teacher walked in to start morning readings, and soon the chatter transformed into earnest study.
The class period quickly passed by, however the homeroom teacher Wu Jiang didn't leave after the bell. Just when everyone thought he was about to hold overtime, Wu Jiang cleared his throat and said: "Students, I have good news to announce."
"Next month, the famous author Han Han will come to our school for a lecture. Then, students will not only have the chance to meet him up close but also receive his personally signed books."
Han Han is coming?
Upon hearing this news, the classroom instantly buzzed with excitement. Given Han Han's "rebellious" image, coupled with his youth literature, many regard him as a symbol of an era, with countless fans in schools.
Besides that, even if they're not Han Han fans or have any interest in his works, there's still reason to cheer.
The reason is simple: having a celebrity come to school for a lecture means at least half a day without classes!
Fatty Wang, for example, likely doesn't know what Han Han wrote, but just tell him that following Han Han means no classes and he'll become Han Han's most loyal fan.
Yet among the students, Chen Xiangbei was the exception. He didn't care about Han Han's celebrity author status, nor half a day without classes. The only thing that truly mattered to him about Han Han was his professional racer identity.
In a way, Han Han could also be considered a racing prodigy. Though once a successful bestselling author, he took a detour to play with racing and compete professionally.
To the public, most view him as just dabbling, burning cash out of boredom, misunderstood by readers and dismissed by race circles. Who'd have thought, in just a few years, he'd become a national track and rally double champion.
Later, he even made three rally-themed films out of his racing experience and successfully transitioned into a box office hit director.
In his previous life, Chen Xiangbei had crossed paths with Han Han several times, but with different racing types and Chen Xiangbei's longtime absence in domestic circles, they were mostly mere acquaintances.
Unexpectedly, reborn, to meet Han Han again under such circumstances, it's amazing how life sometimes works.
After announcing the news, Wu Jiang exited the classroom, leaving students excitedly discussing Han Han's stories.
Sitting in front, Zhou Eyeglasses seemed to have remembered something, turned to Chen Xiangbei and asked: "Xiangbei, if I recall correctly, last year's CCC national champion was Han Han, right?"
"Yes, he took the 1600CC group annual championship representing East Sea 222 team."
"Wang Yidong says you're great at racing, could you reach Han Han's level?"
Upon hearing Zhou Chenshu's question, Chen Xiangbei suddenly laughed.
"What are you laughing at."
Fatty Wang saw this and was puzzled, was Chen Xiangbei feeling inadequate?
But Fatty Wang thought that the day on Nanyun Mountain, Chen Xiangbei performed quite well, probably reaching three or four tenths of Han Han's level, not without qualification to compare.
"Zhou Eyeglasses, do you know East Sea International Racing Circuit?"
"I know."
Zhou Chenshu nodded, East Sea F1 Chinese Grand Prix will be held soon, recently heavily publicized.
"On this track, given a CCC standard car, I could lap Han Han by at least three seconds."
In racing, time standards are measured in thousandths. Even a few hundredths of a second can determine the winner, a three-second gap means a massive disparity, two drivers from entirely different leagues.
But Chen Xiangbei wasn't done, he then added: "The faster the car, the bigger the difference between me and Han Han. If we compared with F1, I could lap him by over thirty seconds!"
PS: Thanks bros for the support and votes, it can be test-pushed on Sunday! Actually, you guys have been awesome, achieving one to two thousand follow-up votes with just a few hundred collections, just a small niche collection base.