Capitalview Station. Out in the square, two cars were parked at that moment.
One was a pink Volkswagen Beetle, the other a black Audi A4.
A few young men and women stood by the cars.
One of them—a woman with short blond hair, a lady’s cigarette dangling from her lips—wore knee-high boots, a short skirt, and black tights, showing off her thighs. She had all the makings of a provocative vixen.
She leaned against the pink Beetle, her tight black top perfectly outlining her fiery curves. At a glance, she gave off an irresistible vibe that made men powerless to look away.
"Yolanda, Claire and Victor should be arriving soon, right? How come they're still not here?"
Next to her, a guy dressed a bit flashy looked over at Yolanda, grinning as he asked.
"Probably running late. What's the rush? If you've got something to do, go ahead and leave." Yolanda shot him a glance, completely ignoring the heat in his eyes.
"No way, I've got nothing going on. It's fine, I'll wait!"
Seeing Yolanda barely respond, the guy quickly turned his attention to the girl sitting in the Beetle’s passenger seat, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old busy on her phone.
The girl wore twin ponytails and a sailor-style school uniform. Pale-skinned, with an oval face, big eyes, and a slender neck, she gave off a dreamy vibe—especially with her frosty 'keep away' look, which made her the perfect ice-queen beauty.
Right now, she was fiddling with her phone, an orange tabby cat sprawled lazily across her thighs. Every so often, she’d reach down to scratch the cat’s head.
"Hey, I've heard plenty about your cousin, Yolanda, but never met her before. Is that her in the car?" The flashy guy glanced at the girl in the passenger seat, smiling as he tried to get friendly.
"Give it a rest. My cousin’s in a bad mood lately—don’t mess with her, or she might sic her cat on you." Yolanda shot the guy a look.
No sooner had Yolanda finished, the girl in the passenger seat let out a sigh, pushed open the car door, grabbed her cat, and climbed right up onto the pink Beetle’s hood to sit, her face icy cold.
"What’s wrong, Ivy? Go sit in the car, it’s cold out here—you’ll freeze."
Seeing the girl get out of the car, Yolanda was briefly stunned.
But the guys nearby were now staring at Ivy Liang in her sailor uniform, their eyes lighting up.
Ivy Liang was a senior at Capitalview First High School this year. She looked great and had solid grades too. At a school packed with beauties, she always ranked in the top ten on the campus beauty charts. Every year, someone made a 'Top Ten Campus Beauties of Capitalview First High' list, and Ivy’s name was always on it.
And odds were, give her a few more years for her figure to fully mature, and she’d have even more guys chasing her. Once she hit college, she was bound to stir up trouble as a full-blown campus femme fatale.
"I'm starving. When are they coming? I want barbecue—lots of meat skewers."
Ivy kept scratching her cat’s head, zoning out as she stared toward Capitalview Station.
"Barbecue!"
Before Yolanda could answer, a guy nearby couldn’t help blurting out, "Once Claire and Victor get here, we’ll head out right away—I already booked the barbecue place!"
Yolanda didn’t even bother to look at the guy. Instead, she glanced over at Ivy, who looked sulky. "What’s up with you? Did you fight with Leo Liu again?"
Leo Liu was Ivy Liang’s childhood friend, a classic boy-next-door. They made a great match, but their relationship had always hovered in that ambiguous, not-quite-romantic zone.
"A transfer student named Lynn Chen showed up at school. Last time Leo invited me out to eat, he saw her, and now he’s asking me for advice on how to chase her. If I hadn’t held back, I’d have let my cat scratch him already."
Ivy sighed, her face cold as ever after she finished speaking.
Yolanda was curious. "Seriously? A transfer student caught Leo’s eye? Where’s she from? Is she prettier than you?"
"She’s from over in Brightsea City, I think. Not in my class, but she’s good-looking and knows how to put on a cold front. On her very first day, the head of the sanda club, Mason He, tried to hit on her, bragged he could fight ten guys at once—and she just shut him down with an icy look, told him he was a crazy blowhard. The whole thing got caught on camera by the school radio club, and now she’s famous."
Even as Ivy kept talking, her face stayed frosty.
Really, Ivy only bothered to talk at all when she was with her cousin Yolanda. With most people, she couldn’t be bothered.
"Mason He?"
Yolanda looked surprised at the name. One of the college guys nearby paused, "Isn’t he the champion from the last Capitalview City high school sanda tournament?"
Ivy actually glanced at the guy for once and nodded. "Yeah, that’s him. He’s pretty good."
"Mason He chased after me once, but I wasn’t interested—too much of a player. Still, he’s got plenty of fangirls at school and even gets called a campus prince."
Ivy spoke in a flat tone, staying distant as she recounted all this.
Leo Liu didn’t go to the same school as Ivy, but he’d always make time to eat with her. Ever since that last incident, Ivy hadn’t been in a great mood—and with Lynn Chen’s reputation growing so fast, it was clear she was becoming a real campus sensation, even though she’d only just transferred.
Not only that, Lynn Chen had already turned down several campus princes. A sudden, beautiful newcomer with that kind of proud attitude was enough to set the whole school buzzing.
Yolanda laughed. "Sounds like Lynn Chen’s pretty impressive. Now I kind of want to meet her myself."
Ivy didn’t answer. She shook her head, yawned as the cold wind hit her, and scratched her cat again. "Why aren’t they here yet? I’m starving. And I’ve got school tomorrow."
Just then, a few of the guys who hadn’t gotten a word in suddenly perked up. Their eyes lit up as they saw a group coming out of the station. "They’re here!"
"Claire! Victor! Over here!"
One of the guys shouted, and everyone turned to look.
Ivy stayed cool as ever, but when she saw a strange boy standing next to Claire, a lot of people looked surprised.