129 Have you ever liked anyone?

His black hair was like ink; his expression was indifferent, calm, and composed. He was as clean and refined as a traditional ink wash painting.

Among the many teachers on the stage, he stood there quietly, without saying a word, yet nothing could obscure his innate air of aloof detachment.

"There is a beauty in the North, independent and apart from the world."

"A single glance could topple a city, a second glance could topple a nation," Xie Xitong chimed in with a playful smile. "My brother is no beauty; Sister Xin is the real beauty."

As she spoke, feeling mischievous, she waved at Chen Zimo on the podium and made a silly face.

From the stage, one could take in the entire audience. Chen Zimo caught the movement in his peripheral vision. His gaze swept over, and upon spotting Lin Xia and the others, the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

In an instant, the iceberg melted, and flowers seemed to bloom everywhere.

The smile of a handsome man is truly irresistible.

The girls below could no longer contain themselves. Immediately, a girl beside Lin Xia and her friends covered her mouth and gasped, "He... he smiled at me! The handsome guy smiled at me..."

Lin Xia: "..."

Chen Zimo’s speech was conventional and short, lasting only a few minutes before he stepped down. After he left the stage, the girls let out a chorus of sighs, complaining, "The old men before him were all so long-winded. We finally get a handsome guy, and he’s off so soon."

"...Next, please welcome our freshman representative, You Xin from Class Seven, to the stage to speak..."

With Chen Zimo’s stunning performance as a precedent, everyone couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by You Xin’s appearance.

Seeing this, Xie Xitong leaned toward Lin Xia’s ear and whispered, "The world is full of people who judge by appearances. Someone like A-Xin is the true gentleman. He’s much better than that Zhou Meng guy, but these girls..."

She shook her head and sighed, "Sigh—"

Lin Xia nodded. "The world is too restless. Everyone is chattering away; how many are willing to listen to the voices in others' hearts? Judging by appearances is the simplest thing to do."

Although You Xin was plain in appearance, his temperament was vastly different from Chen Zimo's.

Looking at him, one felt a sense of peace, like lush greenery in quiet, tranquil times.

Compared to Chen Zimo’s elegant nobility and cold aloofness, the peaceful and gentle You Xin was far more suited to ordinary girls.

But at that age, when girls are busy dreaming, who would think of such things?

"Let’s go once A-Xin finishes, shall we?" Zhao Qian whispered.

Lin Xia hesitated. "Won't it be too conspicuous for the four of us to leave? This..."

Sun Xiaoxiao came up with a terrible idea. "It’s fine. We’ll just tell the teacher that Tongtong isn’t feeling well, haha. Tongtong just recovered from a major illness, so she really does need to rest. Hang on, I’ll go find the head teacher."

Without waiting for the others to discuss, she stood up and walked over to their head teacher, who was sitting at the back of the group chatting with other teachers.

Soon, she returned. "Done. We can go."

Xie Xitong looked at Chen Qingguo, who was sitting on the rostrum. "My dad is still sitting up there. Is it appropriate for us to just leave like this?"

It wasn't strange for her to respect Chen Qingguo; in ancient times, filial piety was supreme. No matter how high an official you were, you had to bow before your parents. Even if he were a terrible father, you still had to show respect.

Moreover, Chen Qingguo was so kind and doted on her so much. How could she leave early while her father was still enduring the heat on stage?

"Oh, your dad is sitting up there with a breeze and water to drink, and there’s shade, too. It’s nothing like us, being baked by the sun; it’s boiling!" Sun Xiaoxiao pulled back her long sleeves. "Look, look at how dark I’ve gotten since military training. Then look at how fair you are. Hmph."

She was telling the truth. After the military training, all three of them had tanned quite a bit.

When Lin Xia’s mother saw her daughter’s tan, she had actually nodded and said, "Though you're darker, you look much more energetic than you did when you were cooped up at home all day."

Lin Xia thought for a moment. "Let’s go. Since Xiaoxiao already asked for leave, it should be fine. If we don’t leave now, it might actually look more suspicious."

With that, she stood up first. "Where should we go? Should we wander around or go home?"

"Let’s go to 'Sculpting Time' and have something to drink; it’s killing me in this heat," Sun Xiaoxiao suggested. "The atmosphere there is pretty good; we can read books and chat."

"Sure, let’s go there, and we'll make Xiaoxiao treat us," Lin Xia agreed.

"Haha, no problem! We can also discuss going to your hometown this weekend," Sun Xiaoxiao said, completely oblivious.

Lin Xia: "..."

Once at "Sculpting Time," they ordered their drinks and began to chat, moving from Liuyan to her books, from *Young Girl, Don't Cry* to *Scheming the World*.

"Hey, have any of you ever liked someone?" Zhao Qian asked suddenly, biting on her straw.

Seeing everyone stunned, Zhao Qian became interested and added seriously, "I mean the sincere kind of liking. It doesn't matter if you never said it out loud; what matters is that you truly felt something."

Xie Xitong was the first to shake her head. She had never really liked anyone.

Not in her past life, and in this life, there hadn't been time yet.

Actually, she found it strange herself. In her past life, all the men around her had multiple wives and concubines, but she hated that. She found such an environment suffocating. She never felt much for the "ideal husbands" everyone else envied.

It wasn't until she arrived here that she realized, perhaps, this was the true paradise.

Men were only allowed to marry one wife and were expected to grow old with only one person. Women, too, had the right to pursue their own happiness.

Here, she would surely find a man she loved, a man who loved her back, and then hold his hand and live out their days in peace.

Seeing her shake her head, Zhao Qian asked curiously, "You’ve really never liked anyone?"

"Truly, I haven't."

Sun Xiaoxiao chimed in, "Well, that makes sense. With a brother as outstanding as Brother Chen, what kind of guy could possibly catch Tongtong’s eye?"

Lin Xia nodded; that was true.

Zhao Qian looked at Sun Xiaoxiao. "What about you? Do you have anyone you like?"

"I do! A whole bunch! Like Brother Chen, Louis Koo, Brother Zhou Meng..."

"Stop, stop... cut it out. Who told you to count them off on your fingers? Do you think you’re buying cabbage at the market?"

"But I like them all! There is no 'most,' only 'more'!"

Zhao Qian rolled her eyes at her. "What about Xiaxia? Anyone you like?"

Two faces flashed through Lin Xia’s mind, and she shook her head. "Not in this life, not yet."

Not in this life—but she had in her past life.

"Really?" Lin Xia looked over, only to see everyone staring at her with skeptical expressions.

"Then what about that cool older man from last time? You even blushed when you saw him," Xie Xitong teased with a wink.

"Is that the man we saw at the hospital?" Sun Xiaoxiao immediately added. "That man was so handsome, so cool."

"Yeah, even though I'm biased toward my brother, I have to admit that in terms of looks and temperament, that man was indeed more attractive than my brother," Xie Xitong said honestly. "If you liked him, it would make total sense."

Lin Xia: "..."

Had they all turned into Sherlock Holmes?