Chapter 23: The Falling Out

Chu Bai leaned against the balcony in the hallway, letting the evening breeze blow over him as he gazed at the two beautiful girls walking arm in arm below.

Shuize High School had three acknowledged beauties, all in the senior class. One was Xu Muyan, and the other two were the girls who had just walked by.

"If only they could both be my girlfriends," Chu Bai fantasized.

Just then, a powerful force struck him from behind, nearly making him vomit his dinner. Someone had sneakily kicked him hard in the back.

Fuming, Chu Bai turned around to see that the attacker was none other than Chen Zishi.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Chu Bai roared, struggling to restrain himself from retaliating.

If he hadn't just been disciplined again, he would have pinned Chen Zishi to the ground and made him pay. Chu Bai had been in countless fights and despised people who attacked from behind.

"You bastard!" Chen Zishi screamed, his expression manic.

"I'm innocent! You'd rather believe a woman than trust your own brother, is that it?" Chu Bai could guess that Wen Jing had told Chen Zishi what happened; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so out of control.

"Believe my ass!" Chen Zishi spat. "You're a fool, an idiot who doesn't even know when he's being played. We're done. I don't need a brother like you!"

Chu Bai's anger flared. "You lowlife! Fine, we're done!"

**Ding! The host has successfully manipulated the protagonist, Chu Bai, and a key supporting character, Chen Zishi, to turn against each other. Host gains 300 Villain Points, Chu Bai's protagonist halo -20, Host's villain halo +20.**

"Perfect!" Wang Haoran smiled in satisfaction as he received the system's notification. Everything had gone according to plan.

---

After evening study, the students and teachers prepared to head home.

To avoid suspicion, Song Zhenyu lingered in the office a bit longer than usual, just like the night before.

Taking advantage of this, Wang Haoran offered to take Wen Jing home.

In the car, Wen Jing smiled sweetly. "Honey, I completed everything you asked for. Are you satisfied?"

"You did an excellent job." Wang Haoran praised, noticing the slight redness around her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now," Wen Jing shook her head nonchalantly. As long as she could carry out Wang Haoran's orders, the pain was nothing to her.

Wang Haoran took out his phone and transferred 188,000 yuan to Wen Jing as a reward.

Wen Jing was stunned. Her family's annual income was only around 50,000 to 60,000 yuan, and her usual monthly allowance was only 200 to 300 yuan. 188,000 yuan was an enormous sum of money for her.

Being with the boy she loved and having so much money to spend, Wen Jing felt more and more that choosing to be with Wang Haoran was the wisest decision she had ever made.

"I'll take you home," Wang Haoran said as he signaled the driver to start the car.

But Wen Jing suddenly held Wang Haoran's hand and said tenderly, "Honey, I miss you so much..."

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Then let me take you home. You cried so much today, aren't you tired?"

"I'm... I'm okay," Wen Jing murmured, her head bowed.

"Then I'll take you to a hotel first. I have something to do, and I'll come see you later," Wang Haoran said, suddenly grateful that his father had given him a black VIP card. It allowed him to book a room without any prior reservation.

"Okay!" Wen Jing nodded eagerly and quickly took out her phone to call her family.

---

Xu Muyan returned home, took a shower, and washed away the fatigue of the day. Passing through the living room, she noticed her father still watching TV.

"Dad, I'm going to bed," Xu Muyan said.

"Yan Yan, wait a minute. Dad wants to talk to you," her father called out.

"What do you want to talk about?" Xu Muyan asked curiously.

"There's a boy in your class named Chu Bai, right?"

"Yeah, how do you know him?" Xu Muyan was surprised.

"I met him at the station."

"Did he commit a crime?"

"No," her father shook his head, a look of admiration on his face. "A student at your school reported a group of criminals. I was in charge of the case, and the student who reported them was Chu Bai."

"Oh, it was him," Xu Muyan said indifferently.

"You don't seem to like Chu Bai very much. Why is that?" her father asked.

"He tried to harass my friend. I wanted to punch him," Xu Muyan replied.

"Did that really happen? Tell me the details," her father said.

Xu Muyan recounted what she had heard from Wen Jing.

"Your friend only heard a noise and felt someone's hair. That doesn't prove it was Chu Bai," her father said, his professional instincts kicking in.

"But he admitted it."

"Based on what you described, all the evidence points to Chu Bai. The girl chose to settle it by having him apologize, and Chu Bai agreed to avoid trouble. That's understandable," her father said.

"Dad, you seem to be defending Chu Bai," Xu Muyan said, puzzled.

"I've only met him once, but I'm sure he's not that kind of person. There must be some misunderstanding," her father replied.

"Could Wen Jing have been mistaken?" Xu Muyan suddenly wondered.

Given her father's job, he dealt with criminals every day and had a keen eye for people. Xu Muyan trusted his judgment, but she also believed her friend wouldn't lie.

However, since the matter was already settled, Xu Muyan decided it wasn't worth dwelling on.

"Why did you suddenly bring up Chu Bai?" Xu Muyan asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot," her father said, tapping his forehead. He pointed to the phone on the table. "Chu Bai called earlier, while you were in the shower. I told him to call you back later when you were done."

"Really?" Xu Muyan didn't seem too pleased.

"You don't want your dad to break his word, do you?" her father shrugged.

Reluctantly, Xu Muyan called back and put the phone on speaker.

Chu Bai picked up immediately. "Is this Xu Muyan or her father?"

"It's me, Dad," her father replied.

Xu Muyan rolled her eyes at her father and then spoke flatly. "What do you want?"

"Xu Muyan, I swear I didn't do anything to Wen Jing. I was framed!" Chu Bai hurriedly explained.

If Wen Jing had told Chen Zishi, she must have told Xu Muyan, her best friend. Chu Bai didn't mind falling out with Chen Zishi, but he couldn't bear the thought of Xu Muyan hating him.

After evening study, he guessed that Xu Muyan would be home and able to use her phone, so he called her right away to explain.

"His tone is firm, and he's not hesitating. He's telling the truth," Xu Muyan's father, unable to resist analyzing the situation, commented to his daughter. "Yan Yan, it seems Chu Bai is innocent."

"Thank you, Uncle Xu! Xu Muyan, you believe I'm innocent, right?" Chu Bai asked, his voice full of excitement.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You should focus on the upcoming joint exams," Xu Muyan said, not wanting to dwell on the issue.

"I'm not worried about the exams. I've been studying hard lately, and I'm sure I'll make it into the top ten in the class," Chu Bai said confidently.

"Yeah, right," Xu Muyan scoffed.

The top ten students in the class were all top achievers with a strong chance of getting into prestigious universities. Chu Bai had always been at the bottom of the class. Even his most recent exam score was just below average, still placing him among the "poor students." Jumping into the top ten seemed impossible.

"I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, let's make a bet. If I make it into the top ten, you have to be my girlfriend. If I lose, you can do whatever you want with me. Do you dare to bet?" Chu Bai challenged.