24 You Can't Afford to Lose!

smile.Xie Yujia’s fair complexion turned slightly red. "Grandma, it's not like that!"She helped the elderly woman into the house before stepping back out and gesturing for Hao Ren to follow her. "Let...Chapter 24 You Mustn't Lose

Hao Ren saw that there was no one else around her and assumed she had come alone. He hesitated for a moment before jogging over to her, "Why... why are you here"

"I came to watch you run," Xie Yujia tilted her head and smiled.

Her hair as black as silk shaded her bright forehead while the ponytail at the back of her head added a fresh touch to her appearance.

The cool night breeze blew against her body, bringing with it Hao Ren's scent. Her fair skin, neat hairstyle, and flowing dress all indicated that she had just taken a shower.

Hao Ren always thought Class President Xie Yujia was beautiful, and the boys in their class shared his opinion. However, because she rarely participated in school activities, this "class flower" remained exclusive to their class or department, rather than being known as the school's "campus beauty."

Actually, Hao Ren felt that Xie Yujia was even more beautiful than the campus beauty Lin Li and her fresh, elegant demeanor made people feel comfortable.

"How did you know I would be here running" Hao Ren asked next.

He hadn't sweated much while running but now facing Xie Yujia, he suddenly felt as if his sweat was pouring down like rain.

"I'm the class president. What don't I know" Xie Yujia looked at Hao Ren with a confident smile and said, "You've been coming here every night at nine o'clock for practice. Am I wrong"

Hao Ren knew that girls were good at passing information among themselves but he hadn’t expected Xie Yujia to pay attention to him of all people. Don't the girls usually discuss a handsome guy from school

"You look really cool when you run," said Xie Yujia.

Hao Ren lowered his head bashfully, "It's an honor to receive such praise from our beautiful class president."

Xie Yujia sweetly smiled again, "I'm the class president. For the sake of our collective reputation, it’s my duty to encourage you."

"So it was encouragement and not a compliment," said Hao Ren with disappointment.

"It's both encouragement and a compliment. When you run seriously, you really are very attractive," Xie Yujia quickly added when she saw the disappointed look on Hao Ren’s face.

Having spoken those words, Xie Yujia suddenly felt that something wasn’t quite right and could only lower her head to smile before regaining her confident demeanor as class president when looking up again. "Actually, I'm happy even if you end up last place as long as you try your best."

"Thank you for the encouragement, Class President!" Hao Ren pulled out his phone from his pocket, "It's already 9:40; if I don't head back to my dorm soon, they'll lock it."

"Today’s Friday. The dorm won’t be locked until midnight," Xie Yujia reminded him.

"Oh right, you're reminding me." Hao Ren thought for a moment and said, "Still, it's pretty late now. I finished my practice session too. Shall I walk you back"

"Aren't you hungry" Xie Yujia suddenly asked.

Hao Ren was taken aback, "There’s instant noodles in the dorm..."

Seeing Hao Ren's blank look, Xie Yujia smiled, "I’ll treat you to some late-night snacks. You’ve brought glory to our class and trained hard. I’m rewarding you."

"Sure," Hao Ren nodded. He hadn’t expected that Xie Yujia would take him out for a midnight snack; he had already been surprised by her coming over at this hour to watch him practice.

"Wait here for me!" Hao Ren asked Xie Yujia to stay put while he dashed across half the field, picked up his jacket that was lying on the grass, and ran back to Xie Yujia with a burst of speed.

Xie Yujia in her elegant long dress stood on the steps. The contrast between the darkness and the light highlighted how delicate she looked.

“Let’s go!” Hao Ren waved at Xie Yujia.

"Hmm." Xie Yujia nodded her head and followed Hao Ren out of the perimeter fence of the playground.

Huff... Once they left the playground, a strong night breeze swept towards them. Without much thought, Hao Ren immediately put on his coat for Xie Yujia, then stood in front of her to shield her as he led her out of this bitter and cold place.

"I didn't realize you were so gentlemanly before" Returning to the quiet road within the campus, Xie Yujia returned Hao Ren's coat and said.

"Could it be that I've been hanging around Zhou Liren too long, making me look quite lecherous" Hao Ren joked.

"Zhao Jiayin and them can sometimes be a bit over the top. But somehow you seem different from them." Xie Yujia said as they walked along.

Within this campus nearing midnight, it was so quiet that no one else could be seen around. The dim yellow lights from the scattered street lamps on both sides of the road made this not too far yet not too close distance seem cozy and romantic.

"What's different about me I'm actually not much better," Hao Ren said self-deprecatingly.

"I feel like you're more serious when it comes to things. At least, you know to practice a few days in advance for the competition," Xie Yujia couldn't help but defend Hao Ren.

Hao Ren smiled, "I have thin skin; I'm afraid of losing."

Xie Yujia didn't say anything more and walked side by side with Hao Ren towards the school's back gate. She walked quietly as if savoring Hao Ren’s words or pondering other thoughts.

Hao Ren had never thought before that he could walk alongside his class beauty in their school, especially at this tranquil night. If anyone saw them now, they'd definitely think they were a couple.

"What do you want to eat" When they reached the back gate of the school, Xie Yujia suddenly asked Hao Ren.

"Um... spicy hotpot skewers" Hao Ren試探地問道。

The cheapest food he could think of was spicy hotpot skewers. After all, he really didn't feel comfortable having a girl treat him to dinner.

"Sure!" Xie Yujia readily agreed.

Since the dorms closed at midnight on Friday evenings, there were actually quite a few students out for night snacks now. Once Hao Ren decided to have spicy hotpot skewers, he regretted it immediately, fearing that those guys playing cards in their dorm might suddenly come out for snacks too. If they saw them and spread rumors around, no one would believe him.

Xie Yujia didn't seem worried about this; she cheerfully headed toward the spicy hotpot skewers stall on the square and asked Hao Ren over her shoulder, "What do you want Pick it yourself!"

Seeing how straightforward Xie Yujia was, Hao Ren felt a bit embarrassed to hesitate anymore. Thus, he took several meat and vegetable skewers at random and handed them to her.

"You’ve been running for so long; you must be hungry. Grab more!" Xie Yujia put a few more meatball skewers into Hao Ren's basket without his consent.

Then she picked out some for herself too, and handed everything over to the boss for payment.

Sitting by an open-air table, they eagerly waited for their tasty spicy hotpot skewers.

Please don't let those guys show up... Hao Ren silently wished as he waited.

"Why are you looking so tense" Xie Yujia looked at Hao Ren and asked.

"Ah, no." Hao Ren looked at the beautiful class president. "It's my first time having night snacks with a class president; it’s inevitable to feel a bit nervous."

"Isn’t this your first time having night snacks with a girl" Xie Yujia asked again, staring at Hao Ren with her bright eyes.

"Who said... I had a girlfriend in middle school..." Hao Ren insisted.

Seeing Hao Ren's stiff expression, Xie Yujia laughed out loud, "I don't believe you."

Hao Ren awkwardly pouted and shot back, "Class Monitor is so pretty; did you have a boyfriend before"

Xie Yujia shook her head. Her ponytail swung behind her, reflecting a glossy black sheen under the light of the stall.

"Then we're evenly matched," Hao Ren said offhandedly.

Xie Yujia smiled but didn’t respond. At that moment, it dawned on Hao Ren that they weren't even remotely comparable: with her striking looks, there must have been plenty of boys who had pursued Xie Yujia in the past, but she simply focused on her studies and ignored them all. For him, an ordinary guy, he probably wouldn’t attract much attention from girls.

"Two servings of spicy hot pot!" The boss lady placed two bowls of spicy hot pot in front of Hao Ren and Xie Yujia. She couldn’t help but gaze at the latter's pretty face a bit longer than necessary.

Actually, not only did the shop owner stare at her; some of the boys nearby were secretly eyeing her too.

A beauty was always a beauty—no matter how low-key she was, she couldn’t escape the attention of male eyes.

"Eat up!" Xie Yujia pointed to the hot pot and handed Hao Ren a pair of chopsticks.

This casual gesture made it look like they were on intimate terms. The bystanders, who didn’t know them, couldn’t help but look envious: How did this ordinary-looking guy manage to get such a beautiful girl’s attention… Those boys who were sipping their spicy hot pot while secretly eyeing Xie Yujia thought darkly.

"Why didn't Class Monitor go home for the weekend" Hao Ren asked as he opened his chopsticks.

"To watch you run, of course!" Xie Yujia answered without a moment’s hesitation. Seeing Hao Ren's slightly surprised expression, she smiled and said, "Ah well… The student council needed me to help out with some things."

"So would inviting me to dinner count as part of your plan" Hao Ren asked.

"Let me think about it…" Xie Yujia lowered her head to bite into a meatball. "Well… I was originally just here to see you run, but when I saw how hard you were running, I thought maybe I could invite you to dinner as a reward."

Hao Ren didn’t want to delve too deeply into the truth behind these words. He simply felt that it was already quite remarkable for Xie Yujia to come see him train in person late at night.

"What did Su Han tell you when she asked you to go to her office" Xie Yujia suddenly asked.

"She saw me chatting during class, so she called me into the office for a reprimand," Hao Ren replied.

Xie Yujia’s eyes showed her disbelief but didn’t refute him. She continued to ask, "What about that pretty girl who came looking for you last time"

"She’s one of my tutees; she just came by to cause some trouble." Hao Ren answered without hesitation—he had already prepared an excuse for this.

He looked at Xie Yujia. "Class Monitor seems to have taken a sudden interest in me recently"

"All the things that happened lately with you leave me no choice but to be interested," Xie Yujia retorted.

Hao Ren smiled and lowered his head to slurp up his noodles. The boys who had secretly gathered around them couldn’t help wanting to strangle him for ruining the romantic atmosphere: eating late-night snacks with a pretty girl while acting so uncouth was just showing off!

Deep down, Hao Ren also felt uncertain about their relationship. He and Xie Yujia had been classmates for over a year, but they hadn’t interacted much. College classes were rather loosely structured; major courses might be shared among several classes, general courses could be mixed with those from other departments, and his major had very few female students who tended to stick together—leaving Hao Ren little opportunity to interact with Xie Yujia.

"Was what Cao Ronghua told me a joke" Xie Yujia asked suddenly.

“Hmm” Hao Ren lifted his head, his face flushed from the spicy hot pot.

"What they said about you liking me," Xie Yujia bit her lip and blurted out.

Her large eyes with long lashes made her stand out even in this chaotic night market setting.

Hao Ren's face turned redder, "No... They were just kidding around..."

"Oh... I was just asking casually. It seems like those three enjoy joking a lot," Xie Yujia smiled brightly, seemingly not too concerned about the matter.

"Those upperclassmen didn't cause you any trouble, did they" After a while, Xie Yujia suddenly asked again.

"Why do you ask that" Hao Ren's heart suddenly braced up and he inquired.

"I heard it from the Student Council. Those outstanding upperclassmen are quite unhappy with how you've been flaunting your wealth these past two weeks. They said they're going to teach you a lesson." Xie Yujia looked at Hao Ren worriedly as she spoke.

"Bah, not like it's some big deal," Hao Ren brushed it off and continued munching on his spicy hot pot.

"I know a few of them. Should I talk to them and clear up any misunderstandings" Xie Yujia asked for Hao Ren’s opinion.

"It's nothing serious, you don't need to get involved," Hao Ren waved her off.

He didn’t believe those people could really cause him trouble, nor did he want a girl like Xie Yujia to help resolve his problems for him.

"Alright then. They probably just wanted to give you a warning. You should keep a low profile at school from now on," Xie Yujia advised with good intentions.

It wasn't my doing, Hao Ren thought to himself but didn’t voice it out loud.

After finishing his spicy hot pot, the time was already approaching 11 PM. The temperature outside kept dropping and Hao Ren saw that Xie Yujia only wore a thin dress, so he suggested going back to their dorm early for rest. Xie Yujia didn’t object.

No matter how you look at it, they were still classmates first and foremost. There was no way they could be like real-life student couples who would stroll around campus hand-in-hand until late into the night.

He walked through the quiet campus and sent Xie Yujia to her dormitory building.

"Do your best at the sports meet!" Standing by the door, Xie Yujia smiled and said to Hao Ren.

"Alright, I will. You should get some rest too." Hao Ren waved back. He didn't know why, but he was more accustomed to calling her "Class President" rather than her name.

As he turned around to leave and head for his own dormitory, a thought occurred to him: Was this considered a date

If it wasn’t, then how come they seemed closer than before

The class president was probably encouraging me more about my performance at the sports meet.

Hao Ren shook his head and dismissed these strange thoughts. He went back to his dorm room for a bath and went to bed.

Ring ring...

The next day on Saturday morning, an irritating phone call woke Hao Ren up from his sleep.

"Ah Ren! What's the deal" Zhao Jiayin, who was sleeping in the lower bunk and was first to be awoken by the noise, threw off his blankets and rushed over to the table to toss the phone to Hao Ren on top.

An unfamiliar number appeared on Hao Ren’s phone screen.

"Who is it Calling so early!" Hao Ren answered with slight irritation in his voice.

“I’m Zhao Guang, our car is downstairs by your building,” a very calm and composed voice said from the other end of the line.

(This chapter is 4000 words long. Please do give some votes after reading it!) them so much that they couldn't even breathe. The two blue-robed cultivators kept switching positions within the arena, and each collision left the low-ranking cultivators feeling a heavy chest!Rush....