Chapter 83: Don't Bully My Ex-Husband

Liu Siying hurriedly tried to put away the letter in her hand.

"Not even letting me see?" Dong Yanyan laughed. "Let me take a look, I can help you analyze it!"

Liu Siying smiled shyly. "If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll show you."

"Don't worry!" Dong Yanyan grinned. She wasn't usually so nosy, but this time was different—she wanted to know how many rivals Xu Cheng had, just to be mentally prepared.

The two girls leaned close, heads together, peering at the love letters beneath the desk. Dong Yanyan realized that, in this little school, overnight fame really did exist. In just two days, this girl had received more than ten letters—some passionate, some feigning deep feeling and artistic flair. Judging by the names, there were talented types and handsome ones, together fulfilling all her fantasies about men. Why was her luck so enviable? Wait—there was even one from Li Zhe! That notorious flirt! Dong Yanyan suddenly felt a sense of crisis. She quickly checked all the envelopes, relieved not to see Ren Jiaxuan's handwriting; she breathed out in ease.

"Zhou Zheng is pretty good—handsome and capable," she whispered to Liu Siying.

"Really? I think these two are nice, too. Their handwriting is lovely, and they're quite talented." Liu Siying shyly handed over the two letters in her hand. Dong Yanyan glanced at them—so the girl liked the artistic type! She looked down at the signature—wait! Liu Qiang?! That fickle troublemaker!

Dong Yanyan swallowed nervously. "Siying, there's something I need to tell you—don't tell anyone..."

"Hmm? Go ahead." Liu Siying smiled.

"Liu Qiang's letter—I wrote it for him. I didn't know he meant it for you. Maybe you shouldn't consider him; it might save you regret in the future," Dong Yanyan said, awkwardly laughing.

Liu Siying was surprised, then laughed as well. "No wonder. How could he come up with such beautiful lines? Yanyan, you really are talented."

"You're too kind!" Dong Yanyan joked, then remembered something else. She picked up another letter—it was from Song Xiaojun, the athletic monitor from the Audio-Visual class. She knew Song Xiaojun; he was tall and handsome, with a sunny, youthful presence. She hadn't expected him to have such beautiful handwriting.

"What do you think of Song Xiaojun?" she probed.

Liu Siying's cheeks flushed. "I think he's very nice, but we're not familiar yet. We need to get to know each other. Do you think he's good too?"

"And Xu Cheng?" Dong Yanyan pressed.

Liu Siying paused, then smiled. "I leave him to you. I think he's a wonderful friend, but he's not my type, I've told him clearly."

Dong Yanyan thought that made sense. Liu Siying liked ambitious, outstanding boys, not considerate, gentle types like Xu Cheng. Yet...just a few days ago, Xu Cheng fetched her meals and water, stayed up with her practicing songs in the classroom until midnight. He clearly didn't just see her as a friend.

She felt a faint ache in her heart.

"Yanyan, my mind is a mess right now. We’re at the age to think about romance, aren’t we? Like you—someone likes you, someone woos you, isn’t that wonderful?" Liu Siying smiled, her eyes full of longing.

Dong Yanyan smiled. "How could I compare to you? You have so many admirers."

Liu Siying beamed sweetly.

"Exactly! She’s the school celebrity, beloved by all! How can we compete?" Yang Ruining appeared, sweeping a disdainful glance at Liu Siying, then turned to Dong Yanyan. "Yanyan, come out for a moment, I need to talk to you." With that, she walked away.

"I'll head out then," Dong Yanyan smiled at Liu Siying.

Liu Siying looked unhappy but forced a smile. "You go ahead."

Dong Yanyan reached the doorway, spotting Yang Ruining waiting outside their dorm room. She hurried over and asked what was going on.

Yang Ruining gave her a reproachful look. "Yanyan, why are you still so close with Liu Siying? Do you know what kind of person she is?"

Dong Yanyan knew well—Liu Siying was never popular, especially among girls; she had no social circle at all. In that aspect, Dong Yanyan was much better. Look how well she handled the other girls!

"I think she's pretty outstanding," Dong Yanyan replied with a cheerful smile. "She just isn’t very good at socializing and sometimes offends people. Did she upset you? I’ll talk to her."

"You’re so naïve, always helping her out, and where does that get you?" Yang Ruining rolled her eyes angrily. "You really don’t know, or you’re pretending? She’s cunning—she saw you’re close with the teachers and latched onto you. Now she’s cozying up to them behind your back. After the singing contest, Director Tang invited her to the office, and they were really chummy. I hate those who curry favor like that!"

"It’s not that bad, is it? If a teacher calls her, she can't refuse. Don’t listen to gossip," Dong Yanyan replied, unconcerned.

"Believe it or not, I just can’t stand her. She won the championship, now she has admirers, and soon she’ll dump Xu Cheng—she turns faster than a page! With the way she handles things, none of the boys in our class like her, except Xu Cheng, who always defends her. Everyone knows how good he is to her. This sudden turn—who can take it?" Yang Ruining fumed.

Dong Yanyan listened, her heart growing heavy and uncomfortable. If that was true, Xu Cheng was really heartbroken. If only she hadn’t given Liu Siying that advice, maybe he wouldn’t be suffering now.

"And Xu Cheng? I haven’t seen him," she asked quietly.

"He’s out. Leng Haoyang and the others took him drinking," Yang Ruining replied.

Dong Yanyan sighed. She knew better than anyone how Xu Cheng got when drunk—he’d likely have a rough night.

*

This was the first time since returning to the present that Dong Yanyan’s heart was so troubled for her ex-husband. Even after evening study hall, Xu Cheng, Leng Haoyang, and Zhang Lei didn’t return. She waited anxiously until lights-out approached; most students had left. Suddenly, she remembered something: that year, Xu Cheng once drank too much and got into a scuffle with seniors from the Production class. It wasn’t really a fight—before anyone could land a hit, he toppled over himself. He hadn’t been with her then, so she never knew how it turned out.

Loud noises echoed from the corridor, and without thinking, she ran outside.

At the corridor’s end, near the stairwell, Xu Cheng and his two friends were arguing with two seniors from the Production class. As she approached, a strong smell of alcohol hit her. Xu Cheng was clutching the stair railing, eyes bloodshot and swaying, in heated debate with Gao Jian and Zhang Yuhang. Leng Haoyang, face flushed, head lolling, was shouting loudly and trying to start a fight. Zhang Lei seemed drunk too, attempting to mediate, but his words were barely coherent.

"Xu Cheng, what are you all arguing about? Go back to the dorm and sleep!" Dong Yanyan stepped forward to pull Xu Cheng behind her. Her tug made Xu Cheng stagger, almost falling.

"Why are you drinking for no reason? Zhang Lei, take those two upstairs now, before the teachers see!" Dong Yanyan called out. Luckily, Zhang Lei was still somewhat sober and began dragging Leng Haoyang upstairs. Seeing them leave, Zhang Yuhang pulled Leng Haoyang back, his face cold. "It’s not over yet! You hit us for nothing—look at my pants! What are you going to do about it?"

Dong Yanyan glanced at Zhang Yuhang’s trousers—there was indeed a large muddy stain. This couldn’t be denied.

She forced a smile. "Zhang, which of the three hit you?"

Zhang Yuhang pointed at Xu Cheng behind her. "It was him! Dong Yanyan, this has nothing to do with you, stay out of it!"

Dong Yanyan turned to Xu Cheng. "Did you bump into him?"

Xu Cheng, eyes red, stared at her, mumbling drunkenly. Dong Yanyan hated seeing him so out of control. If it were anyone else, she’d have wanted to smack him.

"Shut up! You can’t even speak clearly!" she snapped, glaring at him. Xu Cheng tried to say something else, but seeing her angry expression, fell silent.

"Yanyan, stay out of this. I don’t believe—" Leng Haoyang shouted, Dong Yanyan shot him a fierce look. "You too, be quiet! Zhang Lei, take him upstairs! Don’t let him embarrass himself here!"

Zhang Lei, swaying, managed to drag Leng Haoyang upstairs.

Zhang Yuhang and Gao Jian both glared at Dong Yanyan. She forced herself to smile apologetically. "Seniors, it’s definitely our fault. I apologize on his behalf. But you can see he’s drunk—could you let it go? Zhang, I’ll definitely compensate for your trousers. Tomorrow I’ll take them for dry cleaning, or buy you a new pair. Can we just move past this? It’s really not a big deal, and the teachers will be checking dorms soon. If they catch him drunk, I don’t know what to do. Consider it a favor to me?"

She looked at them pleadingly. Xu Cheng still had a decent reputation among the teachers. If this ruined it, that would be so unfair. She remembered that at graduation, most boys got recommendation letters from teachers for jobs, except Xu Cheng, whose grades were good but received none. If not for family connections, he wouldn’t have gotten into the TV station at all. Because of that, he had to spend extra money to secure a position equal to his classmates, so his first two years at work were spent paying off debts. She didn’t want something like this to happen again.

Gao Jian smiled helplessly, turning to Zhang Yuhang. "Let it go, don’t make things hard for her." Then he said to Dong Yanyan, "We won’t pursue it tonight. Tomorrow, have the three of them come to our dorm."

"Absolutely! I’ll make sure they apologize tomorrow. Thank you, Gao," Dong Yanyan replied hurriedly.

The two men glanced at each other and headed upstairs.