Chapter 31 Puncture

t somewhat resentful inside, if Su Can could successfully enter high school, she wouldn't mind her father buying him a bike, despite disliking this brother of hers. After all, Zeng Na was well aware o...Chapter Thirty-One: Exposing the Truth

As the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward, Wang Xuebing, who was quite clever, immediately cleared his throat to disrupt the moment of bewilderment among many of the girls present. "Haha, so this is it! Xue Yi Yang, your friend here is really great; he seems very amiable!"

He thought to himself that now that he understood everything, his previous fear of Su Can was gone. He didn't worry about how things would proceed anymore. It's like when you're on a date with your girlfriend, do you actually worry that a homeless person will snatch her away from you

This kind of uneven disparity clearly revealed the issue at hand.

Wang Xuebing suddenly became friendly toward Su Can; sometimes such unguarded enthusiasm can be extremely hurtful.

"Oh, so that's the student from the Third Middle School..." Li Ai said with a fake smile. "No wonder you're such an excellent card player!"

This immediately lowered Su Can's status to a very low level, as grace and being a degenerate gambler are indeed judged based on one’s identity.

With Li Ai secretly adding fuel to the fire, many of the girls looked at Su Can differently now.

Xue Yi Yang and Liu Rui found themselves helpless. He had originally planned to cover up that Su Can was a student from the city's Third Middle School because he knew there were some realists in this circle who would look down on anyone associated with schools lower than their own. Although he personally disdained Su Can’s academic performance and his school, it bothered him if everyone else looked down on Su Can.

Who could have guessed that Su Can would reveal his identity first Xue Yi Yang's heart sank a bit; it was somewhat uncomfortable to see this happen. However, when he observed Su Can who seemed so composed and unconcerned about being from the Third Middle School while everyone else was from First Middle School, he felt clearer in his mind.

But then, Su Can noticed that Chen Lingshan's originally bright eyes had suddenly turned to a dim gray tone, and she no longer looked at him as frequently as before.

Chen Lingshan's disappointment was inevitable. This wasn't because students from the Third Middle School were inherently bad; they didn’t necessarily commit crimes like murder or arson. However, mentioning that name alone made Chen Lingshan feel inferior compared to those from First Middle School, as she herself had a bit of vanity and her close girl friends all treated Su Can with kindness while he was secretly in love with her. If there wasn't any sense of superiority now, it would be false.

The mystery surrounding this boy, his speech and behavior, the way he smiled and frowned—all these made him a fascinating person at that moment.

But when one's mysteriousness is stripped away and their identity becomes clear and concrete, the anticipation and yearning for them suddenly become vague.

"Su Cen... Su Cen..." A slightly plump girl wearing glasses murmured, as if she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, is your mom working at Summer Sea Trading Company She surnames Zeng"

This statement caught Chen Lingshan's attention; she pricked up her pointed ears and looked over at Su Cen.

"Yeah."

"Hey, my mom works there too! That’s why I found your name so familiar. Aunt Zeng and Mom used to work in the same finance department. Mom surnames Huang; they all called her Manager Huang!" The plump girl excitedly said, looking at Su Cen with great interest, even adding a touch of flirtation, bumping Chen Lingshan’s arm unknowingly. "Lingshan, Su Cen's mom works for your dad’s company too! Oh, what a coincidence!"

Li Ai, Zhang Xi, Wang Xing and Sun Yiyi had smiles that grew even more intense on their faces. Regardless of the circumstances, if someone’s mother was still working at another person’s company, then from the starting point of being born into a wealthy family, it put them in a precarious position.

Someone pointed this out bluntly: "Oh, her mom is an employee of Lingshan's dad’s company!"

The meaning behind this statement was unclear, but Chen Lingshan's facial expression became complicated.

Deceiving a beautiful woman was risky because once it was revealed, everything she had hoped for—be it longing, scheming or heartfelt efforts—would be met with crushing disappointment!

Su Cen initially had no intention of deceiving Chen Lingshan; instead, Chen Lingshan mistakenly took him for another person. However, Su Cen couldn't start from the beginning to explain everything clearly to her, and he could already see signs that things were not going well.

Chen Lingshan frowned, as it was obvious that with Su Cen's background, his mother wouldn’t possibly be working at her father’s company.

Although Chen Lingshan is a beautiful girl, even she can have moments of disorganized memory. However, she isn't an empty-headed beauty; during such times, she can gradually piece things together, especially now when it's crucial for her to quickly sort out her past memories.

Su Cen felt that time was no longer relevant; Chen Lingshan needed time to think, and the enthusiasm of those around them rapidly cooled down as she sorted through her memories.

Finally, Su Cen understood the pressure this clique at No.1 High School represented, and why many people couldn't even continue studying in this school. Perhaps there wasn’t daily violence and fighting, but just the gazes and gossip from those around could easily shatter someone’s life.

Although Su Cen had the heart of an old hand from another era who was impervious to most things, he still felt overwhelmed by the current situation. Everyone's gaze turned cold, and even those few people who were friendlier looked at him awkwardly, as if they were close friends who would be willing to die with him but felt ashamed because his lie had affected them.

Ironically, that chubby girl wanted to break the awkwardness and said, "Uh, I remember Mom saying your family used to live in what was originally their finance department office"

The chubby girl's mother complained about how living in a small space designated for her family of three by the company would have negative effects on them, which the girl had heard.

This statement conveniently became a clue that helped Chen Lingshan recall some memories.

For a moment, the dim yellow summer day, the Bohemian cake dress, and the girl with her hair tied up in a scarf who was shoulder-length and flowing were superimposed on her vision. She saw the gray-toned scene opposite where she had seen a dirty boy wearing dirt-stained clothes, an excited little mutt, and even remembered how that dirty boy's smile could overlap with Su Cen's face as if they were two overexposed negatives.

Just like how Su Cen would subconsciously forget the heart-wrenching scene of his family holding their heads in despair after failing the high school entrance exam, Chen Lingshan would also subconsciously forget being beaten by her father when she was little, having her piggy bank shattered into pieces, or her most beloved doll torn to shreds by a washing machine. She would even forget that one afternoon had been ruined by an unwashed person and dog who admired her.

But once the memories came back, it felt like biting into an apple only to find half of a worm inside; her mood suddenly turned sour.

"You're...the one who lived in company dorms" Chen Lingshan said subconsciously. She might not remember exactly what that boy living in the basement looked like back then, but hearing her father's repeated complaints about this family occupying a small space combined with other information, she could roughly link Su Cen to them.

Su Cen smiled bitterly and nodded. The worst thing he didn't want to happen had still happened.

"Oh." Chen Lingshan replied nonchalantly without further words and turned her head away.

These words might not have been spoken with intent, but the listeners understood them well. Li Ai, Zhang Xi, and others couldn't help but laugh, thinking that this guy had a powerful background when it was just Chen Lingshan's company where his family worked in a small capacity. He really knew how to fake it; he managed to fool all of them.

Someone started whispering among themselves privately, "So Su Cen’s family works for Ling Shan’s dad..."

The prince charming—or dark horse prince—type might never exist in this world. With the mask torn off, Su Cen was completely exposed to everyone's gazes. Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui felt regretful inside, thinking they acted like fools one by one but couldn't offer any help to Su Cen.

Zhang Xi, Li Ai, Sun Ziyi, and Wang Xing looked towards the entrance of the barbecue plaza with a serious expression.

A group of four or five men, each with distinct appearances but roughly the same age as them, entered. Among them was a young man wearing a black silk shirt and tight Versace jeans, looking quite handsome. He glanced at the people around him and said, "If you don’t want to come in, wait for me outside."

This group of men usually had high self-esteem but lacked the approachability of this young man. They didn't plan on interacting with anyone in the barbecue plaza either. Upon hearing what the leading boy said, they decided to simply stand at the door.

Upon entering, the young and handsome man immediately spotted Zhang Xi's group and chuckled before greeting them.

Zhang Xi and his friends greeted him warmly with smiles.

The young man casually patted Zhang Xi on the shoulder, which made him feel honored. Moreover, this person’s friendliness was rare to find, making Zhang Xi, Li Ai, and others understand that those standing outside probably felt they were above mingling with them; thus, they didn't take offense at it considering their status.

"Little Zhang, is this a class reunion It's quite lively. I'm here playing with friends nearby, and you just texted me earlier. Since we're both around, I thought I'd come see you. There are so many people here; have fun! Today's treat is on me."

The barbecue plaza instantly buzzed. The handsome young man in the black shirt seemed to descend like a prince, generously offering to cover all their expenses with his grand gesture of waving away costs—this made everyone think they had encountered someone akin to a prince. In comparison, Su Cen appeared insignificant.

Zhang Xi and Li Ai felt immensely proud, thinking that today everyone could see what true nobility looked like.

The young man, originally intending to just drop by as a courtesy call, was about to leave when he inadvertently spotted some familiar faces in the barbecue plaza.

As Zhang Xi and Li Ai waited for him to bid farewell with polite words, they were surprised when the man didn't leave but walked directly towards their table. He extended his hand to Su Cen: "You've made me suffer so much; why did you not show up even after waiting"

Seeing Zhang Xi, Liu Rui, and Xue Yi Yang with blank expressions, thinking they had forgotten him, he jokingly added, “I’m Wang Weiwei, the one who got scolded by you!”

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Because I need to go out, the next chapter update will be a bit late. I'm currently in a ranking competition; please support!ir current situation and didn't see any point in competing with someone like Gao Fan, who was famous throughout the grade. Consequently, Wang An Dong and Nie Hai began to ingratiate themselves with Su...