"Jason Liu, right? Wasn't he the guy who came to our school looking for Sharon Shen before? His family seems pretty loaded, but so what? Does Sharon really like that kind of guy?" The boy next to the pale-skinned soccer player sneered, "It's just unrequited love, plain and simple."
Hearing the voices nearby, the pale-skinned soccer player—hands in his pockets, looking cocky—stood beside Sharon Shen, who looked a little embarrassed, head down, saying nothing.
"Sharon! Over here!"
From a distance, Jason Liu spotted Sharon Shen and her group. His face lit up and he quickly waved them over.
He hurried over, eyes shining with excitement as he looked at Sharon Shen.
"What took you so long? We've been waiting forever." The girl next to Sharon Shen looked at Jason Liu, her expression slightly annoyed.
"Yeah, bro, I thought you were really into our Qiu-ge's girlfriend Sharon Shen. Thought you'd be waiting at the school gate just for her. But now, looks like that's not the case, huh? You made us wait for you instead?" The boy grinned, deliberately emphasizing "Qiu-ge's girlfriend."
As soon as he finished, the smile on Jason Liu's face turned a bit awkward. He scratched his head, "Sorry about that, Sharon..."
The pale-skinned soccer player was named Luke Lu. He looked pretty and delicate, but after hearing the boy’s words, he didn’t bother to explain, didn’t even glance at Jason Liu. Instead, he turned to Sharon Shen and said, "The match is about to start. We should head in."
Sharon Shen heard him and immediately looked at Jason Liu. "Did you get the seats I asked for?"
"They're ready. Just follow me." Jason Liu grinned and led the group into the school.
"Who's that? Is he from your Class 12 at Capitalview First High too?" The girl glanced at Evan Lin standing nearby, sizing him up with thinly veiled disdain.
Peiying High is academically on par with Capitalview First High, but when it comes to individual classes, the gap becomes obvious.
Class 12 at Capitalview First High isn't just at the bottom of the rankings there—even compared to Peiying High, they're dead last.
That's exactly why Luke Lu and his crew looked down on Jason Liu whenever he tried to talk to Sharon Shen.
They only knew Jason Liu's family might have some money, but probably not much—otherwise, he'd be at Peiying High already, not stuck at Capitalview First High.
"Class 12. He's my deskmate—Evan Lin. Super impressive! He's the Seacrest Province Math Olympiad Champion, helped the police crack a huge case, and got publicly praised by Chief Gary Chen at our Teacher-Student Assembly!" Jason Liu said all this loudly, brimming with pride.
"Seriously? This guy is Evan Lin?" The boy looked genuinely surprised.
"I thought Evan Lin would be one of the top students in your experimental classes. Is he just really bad at other subjects, so they stuck him in Class 12? Or is he only good at math?" Another girl looked at Evan Lin, her tone casual and dismissive.
After the last exam at Capitalview First High and the public praise from Chief Gary Chen, Evan Lin's name spread far and wide. Some Peiying students paid attention, but most still scoffed at the whole thing.
Most Peiying High students look down on Capitalview First High students—that's just common knowledge among the kids.
After they finished talking, they glanced at Evan Lin, noticing he had no intention of replying and was ignoring them completely. That made them feel a bit annoyed.
"Looks like Evan Lin's got a pretty serious attitude problem." Luke Lu shot Evan a glance, his pretty-boy face showing clear displeasure.
"Your deskmate is really rude." Sharon Shen frowned at this moment.
"Ah, that's just how he is. He's actually a good guy, so don't take it personally." Jason Liu tried to smooth things over.
"Didn't you say you knew someone who could get me Ethan Yi's autograph? Where is he?" Sharon Shen huffed at Jason Liu.
"It's him! Evan Lin and Ethan Yi used to go to the same school!"
"You'd never guess—Ethan Yi's about to join the National Team, and this guy's still stuck in Class 12. Talk about how unfair life is." Luke Lu sneered.
Jason Liu worried Evan Lin might get mad, but when he turned to look, Evan's face was totally calm. That made Jason breathe a sigh of relief.
When they reached the soccer field, the stands were already packed—crowds everywhere.
Jason Liu made a quick call, then led everyone to seats in the front row.
A few boys were holding seats there. When Jason Liu arrived, one of them stood up and grinned, "Hey Jason, you're here! Saved you six seats—so that'll be six hundred yuan. Cash or transfer?"
"Cash, cash. Thanks, man." Jason Liu nodded, pulled six hundred-yuan bills from his bag, and handed them over.
"So that's how you got the seats? Paid for them? Sharon, looks like your childhood friend isn't doing so great after all." The girl giggled.
"Take a seat. If it weren't for Sharon, we wouldn't have found any spots today." The boy smiled and sat down without hesitation.
Sharon Shen and Luke Lu took their seats in turn. Jason Liu wanted to sit next to Sharon, but the girl shooed him away. Jason just smiled warmly, not angry at all, and invited Evan Lin to sit down, taking the spot next to him.
"Sorry about her, that's just how she is. Don't get mad." Jason Liu said quietly to Evan Lin, worried Evan might lose his temper and beat up the whole group.
"I'm thirsty." As soon as Jason Liu sat down, Luke Lu spoke up coldly.
"Who said you could sit? We're thirsty—where are the drinks?" Sharon Shen turned, frowning at Jason Liu.
"I'll go buy some! Right now! Be back soon!"
Jason Liu hurried off, jogging toward the school store.
"Look at him go."
Luke Lu and the others watched Jason Liu's back with open disdain.
Jason Liu hurried toward the store, smiling a little as he ran. He hadn't gone far when his phone rang—it was Leo Yang calling.
Leo Yang was Jason Liu's other childhood friend. They grew up together on the streets, but Leo joined the army and hadn't been in touch since.
"Hey, Leo! What's up? Why'd you call all of a sudden? How's the army treating you—is that why you're back?" Jason Liu reached the store, grabbed six bottles of Coke, and answered the phone, sounding laid-back and cheerful.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then Leo Yang's voice came through, cold and hard: "Jason Liu, I know all about what's been going on with Sharon Shen lately. How long are you going to keep humiliating yourself like this? Is sticking hot faces to cold asses fun for you? Did you forget you nearly got killed chasing thirty gangsters with a knife for her when you were twelve? Are you brain-damaged or what?"