Beneath his thick, dark eyebrows were a pair of eyes, black with a hint of red, like sparks in charcoal.
That was an extremely high temperature, and an immense anger.
His hand reached out towards You Ran, ready to push her down again.
But Long Xiang's hand stopped a centimeter before You Ran's shoulder—because another hand grabbed him.
If a hand were a person, it would be described as breathtakingly beautiful, long and clean, with a texture like jade, yet without the slightest weakness; on the contrary, strength is contained within each finger.
That kind of understated, silent, and elegant power in black.
Everyone turned to look at the owner of that hand.
The midday sun shone around the lenses of his glasses, marking Qu Yun's entrance.
You Ran looked up and gazed at Qu Yun, who was standing protectively in front of her. His back was as tall and imposing as a Vajra.
At that moment, You Ran finally proved to herself that the reason she chose Qu Yun as her boyfriend was definitely not just because of his looks, but because she admired his masculine spirit—she, Li You Ran, was definitely not a superficial woman!
Long Xiang was also a frequent fighter, and his keen sixth sense told him that the man in front of him, who was not sweating at all under the scorching sun and had a calm and deep gaze, was not someone to be trifled with.
"What, trying to be a hero and save the damsel in distress?" Long Xiang became wary.
But Qu Yun's answer surprised him: "No."
"Then why did you stop me?" Long Xiang remained vigilant.
“Because,” Qu Yun smiled, “this woman should be dealt with by me.”
After saying that, Qu Yun turned around, looked at his girlfriend who was unaware that things had taken a 180-degree turn, and reached out to tap her forehead hard.
With a thud, he fell to the ground and did not get up.
Qu Yun turned around, wiping his hands with a tissue, and casually said to the dumbfounded Long Xiang, "Classmate, I've already avenged you, and you can join the drama club. It's getting late, please go back."
Long Xiang has never been an easy person to deal with, but in front of Qu Yun, he always felt that he was still a little bit lacking.
Anyway, the woman had learned her lesson, so Long Xiang took the opportunity to back down, gave a light snort, and left.
At this moment, You Ran, lying on the ground, finally understood a fact that she was very unwilling to admit—she really was a shallow woman who only looked at a man's appearance.
"Why did you do this to me?" That night, You Ran kicked open Qu Yun's door and asked this question with anger and resentment.
But... no one was in the living room.
"I'm here." Qu Yun's voice came from the kitchen, calm and composed, with very little emotional fluctuation.
She strolled leisurely into the kitchen and asked again, "Why did you do this to me?"
Qu Yun casually brewed his coffee: "How have I treated you?"
"You actually committed domestic violence against me, you're not a man!" Every word You Ran uttered was stained with blood and tears.
“In my opinion, it’s not what you think.” Qu Yun took a sip of coffee, her Adam’s apple bobbing sensually as she swallowed.
"I'm all ears!" You Ran leaned against the kitchen counter, looking at him with a hint of anger.
"I just don't want my things to be touched by others." Qu Yun leaned against the cabinet, her eyes closed. She was wearing a loose white T-shirt. The soft kitchen light cast a shadow on her collarbone, concealing a subtle sexiness that aroused harmless lust.
"So you just beat me up yourself?" You Ran asked.
"You could say that," Qu Yun said frankly.
"Hearing such words, I really don't know whether to be happy or sad," You Ran sighed.
"Choose to be happy, after all, there will be many more difficult days ahead," Qu Yun advised.
"I think you did this to get revenge for pushing you into the bushes last time and hurting your forehead. You vindictive little man," You Ran said indignantly.
“That night, after you pushed me into the bushes, I suffered more than just a head injury,” Qu Yun said.
"What else happened?" You Ran asked curiously.
Qu Yun put down what she was holding; the clinking of the cups and saucers was a little cold.
You Ran watched as Qu Yun walked towards her, stopped in front of her, and reached out her right hand to stroke her cheek.
You Ran felt as if Qu Yun would never see her again. He tried to gather memories with his hands, stroking her cheeks to her forehead, then her nose, and down to her lips.
Qu Yun seemed to have a particular fondness for her lips; his hand kept caressing her upper and lower lips, as if he wished he could stick his fingers into her mouth.
After enduring Qu Yun's strange "caresses" for three minutes, You Ran finally couldn't help but ask, "What else happened?"
Qu Yun pressed her forehead against You Ran's, an intimate gesture that brought their eyes closer together—though You Ran began to unconsciously cross her eyes.
Meanwhile, Qu Yun's hand continued to linger on You Ran's lips.
"Could it be," You Ran noticed Qu Yun's odd behavior and a thought suddenly occurred to her, "that some muscular man suddenly appeared in the bushes, and then you... lost your chrysanthemum?!"
Besides this, You Ran couldn't think of anything more serious.
Fortunately, Qu Yun denied this conjecture: "No."
"What exactly is that?" You Ran asked.
Although Qu Yun's fingers are beautiful, it's really unseemly for her to keep playing with them near her mouth.
Qu Yun smiled and said, "After you pushed me into the bushes, my forehead hit a rock, and my right hand—yes, the very right hand that's stroking you right now—touched dog excrement—to put it simply, dog poop."
You Ran realized she was wrong, terribly wrong—this should be the most tragic thing in the world.
At this moment, You Ran would rather Qu Yun's chrysanthemums had not survived that night.
Suppressing her nausea, You Ran, her face pale, blurted out three words: "You're ruthless."
She then planned to flee, but Qu Yun stopped her: "Also, don't talk to that kid from noon today too often."
“He’s just a junior brother,” You Ran said.
Qu Yun picked up his coffee again, with the gesture of a gentleman, but his words were anything but gentlemanly: "Little brother, you can't tease him either."
He looked up leisurely at the ceiling, suppressed the urge to vomit blood, and then slammed the door and left.
This was the seventh lesson Qu Yun taught her—even a little brother shouldn't be teased.
[Lesson 8] A love rival is essential.
"You know what? You look a lot like a steamed bun," Ye Xiaomi said.
"You mean, I've gained weight?" You Ran asked, a hidden murderous intent in her eyes.
If the mistress dares to agree, the consequences will be severe.
Fortunately, Xiao Mi didn't do that: "No, what I mean is, Qu Yun is like a wolfhound...you were bitten badly by him."
You Ran wanted to refute, but after recalling it, she realized that since meeting Qu Yun, she had indeed become a meat bun that he could mold and shape at will.
"You're really in danger, classmate," Xiao Mi sighed, feigning concern.
"Classmate, you really enjoy sowing discord." You Ran put the popsicle in her mouth and cracked the chocolate shell with a little force.
"I care about you, I can't bear to see you go to hell," the mistress pleaded earnestly. "Don't you feel like you've completely lost yourself?"
"It's alright." You Ran's words lacked confidence.
"Don't you think that every time you go against Qu Yun, you end up losing?" Xiaomi continued.
"Maybe... I have a better temper." Although You Ran was eating an ice pop, she was sweating profusely from being pressed for answers.
"Don't you think you know nothing about his past?" the mistress said, throwing out the most poisonous threat.
“His past is clean, very clean… very clean.” You Ran felt that the popsicle in her hand must be too cold, so cold that her tongue could not taste anything.
"Really? Could it be that you checked the goods?" Xiao Mi started winking.
"He and I are still innocent, very innocent... very innocent." You Ran finally finished her popsicle and took the small wooden stick out of her mouth.
"Judging from your tone, it seems you're dissatisfied with the fact that you're temporarily innocent," the mistress guessed.
"Yes," You Ran replied honestly.
"If that's the case, how do you know his past is clean?" Xiao Mi pressed on to this point.
"Just a heads-up," said You Ran, "a very sharp knife is behind me."
"What a guy who values women more than friends," Xiao Mi said dismissively.
"Same to me. Someone cheated me out of a month's allowance just to buy things to please her boyfriend, didn't she?" You Ran looked at Xiao Mi with a wistful expression.
"To repay your kindness, I'm risking being hunted down by Qu Yun to tell you something important." Xiao Mi regained her seriousness: "Listen carefully, the day before yesterday, I saw your Qu Yun and a woman in a Starbucks coffee shop. From the way they looked at each other, I can confirm that... their relationship is not normal."
That evil, concentrated essence of capitalism—Starbucks.
"What's that woman like?" You Ran asked casually. "Who's prettier or more elegant compared to me?"
The mistress looked at her friend with pity: "Do you really want me to say it?"
"Never mind," You Ran rationally stopped her friend.
After saying that, she strolled around the room with her hands behind her back.
"What are your plans?" Xiao Mi's eyes gleamed, eager to stir up trouble.
You Ran did not disappoint him. After walking around for a while, she finally made a major decision: "I'm going to force him to tell the truth."
As Xiao Mi leisurely walked out of the room, she instructed, "For the sake of my quick notification, please don't tell Qu Yun that I told you."
"Don't worry," You Ran promised, "I would rather die than betray you."
"Ye Hong told me that you and a woman were intimately drinking coffee in that pretentious Starbucks? Is that true?!" You Ran kicked open the door of Qu Yun's house, directly betraying her friend.
"Ye Hong, is that the man I told you to stay away from?" Qu Yun was half-reclined on the sofa, with a laptop on her lap, working on a presentation.
"Whether your mistress is a man or not is not important. What is important is whether you actually went to Starbucks with that woman as he said?" You Ran asked.
"What if this were true?" Qu Yun countered, "What would you do?"
"I'll curse you!" You Ran said indignantly, "Last time I asked you to come with me for noodles, you made excuses all the time, and now you're going to Starbucks with a beautiful woman. As a teacher, why don't you support domestic food instead of increasing the income of capitalist countries that invaded us?"
"To clarify, it's not that I dislike eating Chongqing noodles, but rather that I don't like eating them with you," Qu Yun said calmly.
"Why?" You Ran felt she had been treated unfairly.
"Because when you eat noodles, you always like to slurp them up, splashing soup all over my face." Qu Yun continued typing, his fingers never stopping.
"Don't change the subject!" You Ran strode up to Qu Yun and forcefully closed the notebook: "Explain yourself clearly, is what Xiao Mi said true? Have you been intimate with a woman? If so, what is that woman's name, where does she live, and how far have things progressed between you? If not, why is Xiao Mi accusing you? Please do a thorough analysis of the reasons yourself."
Qu Yun raised his head and looked at You Ran as if she were an unreasonable child. After a long while, he reached out and pinched his girlfriend's earlobe hard: "Before answering your question, you must answer one of my questions first."