Age of Legends

Chapter 8: A Young Man Without Other Things
What Wang Shuowei didn't want to say was, you are the last one in the class, why are you making a fuss about wanting to study hard! Did you want to study hard today?
If Wang Shuowei had asked Zhang Chen this at that time, Zhang Chen would definitely have told him yes, as the saying goes, I write this poem for you today, and please start working hard from today.

But Wang Shuowei didn't ask, he just made some plans in his mind.

Zhuang Yanyue's eyes flickered and opened wide. What's going on? Thank you, I want to learn, you are a good person. In the blink of an eye, Dibafu was stacked up. Zhang Chen, are you a shaman priest?
Zhuang Yanyue didn't expect that what she encountered was the most common attack, the most common excuse to reject someone. It was so bad that most people wouldn't use it.

But this basic attack just came towards him.

The power also spread out in a straight line, hitting the heads of those on the second floor and causing a huge uproar.

Zhuang Yanyue opened her eyes and felt the noise coming from those people who were watching the fun. She felt an indescribable shock in her heart.

Oh, no. Am I really that unattractive?
She found that she seemed to have misjudged the boy in front of her.

But she clearly felt that she knew what kind of person he was from her previous observations. Seeing how heartless he was with his best friends, he was the type who had bad intentions but no guts to do anything to girls. He should be easy to take down and get.

She didn't expect that she, who usually thought she could see through people's hearts and was more mature than her peers, would experience the feeling of being rejected and setback by Zhang Chen.

The key is still such a bad reason!

Under the gazes of the crowd, Zhuang Yanyue's face was half bright and half dark in the division of light, and the corners of her mouth were somewhat stiff. She raised her hand and initially wandered aimlessly in the air, then after a moment it went to her ear, picked up a strand of hair, and twisted it with her index finger, which was a small action she would do when she was upset.

Shock, astonishment, reluctance, shame and anger, a variety of emotions mixed together.

She raised her head, her cute expression didn't seem to be affected at all. Instead, she tilted her head and looked at Zhang Chen through her golden curls in the sunset light. Her eyes were innocent, and her tone was hesitant and cautious. "Is it because... I'm not good enough for you to like me?"

hum.

The destructive power of this sentence made Wang Shuowei feel like a clown. What mistake did he make that made him stand here and endure this?
Among those people watching the fun upstairs, there was a feeling of holding their breath and staring. Many boys had their fingernails digging into the wall. If they were in Zhang Chen's shoes, every one of them would be killed.

Even Zheng Xue and Shen Nuo looked at each other and wondered who could withstand this?

Suddenly, Zhang Chen seemed to be pulled back to the moonlit night when he and Zhuang Yanyue went home for the last time. The moon was watching the fun with its eyes wide open as round as a silver plate. After thinking about it, it was considered a "supermoon" at that time.

In fact, the experience of dining together and then going home together was still very peaceful and warm when I think about it. It's a pity that Zhang Chen's level was not as good as Zhuang Yanyue's at that time, so it was expected that he was kicked out by her later.

The question she asked that year, "Don't you like me?" caught Zhang Chen off guard and he didn't give a good answer.

And now, Zhang Chen feels that he may never go home under the moon with Zhuang Yan again. It seems that it is just the right time to give a serious answer and make a connection with the past, spanning time and space.

"You are good-looking and generous... There must be not many people who don't like you, and I am not one of them," Zhang Chen recalled. "I read the letter you wrote to me. It was very well written. Thank you for your confession."

Wow... a small sound floated through the crowd.

Is it cheesy?
Damn, Zhang Chen, you are a love saint!
Shen Nuoyi and Zheng Xue looked at each other, both with bitter and questioning faces.

Zhuang Yanyue raised the corner of her mouth. Zhang Chen paused for a moment and continued.

“But I know that’s not true love.”

"When I was little, I spent the whole afternoon watching a goldfish stall at the river dam in order to avoid going to kindergarten. My dad found me and beat me up."

“When I was in middle school, the classroom was so hot that I felt sleepy. There happened to be an ant nest outside the window, which could help me kill time. I watched it for a semester, which led to my failure to enter high school and pay the school construction fee.

In order to show off my new Dragon Warrior model to my classmates, I quarreled with my mother for three days, and I succeeded. That model cost my mother one-third of a month's salary. Later, my mother borrowed money to pay for tuition, but I was immersed in having fun and didn't notice it at all. "

“Looking back now, whether it was the goldfish bowl that I didn’t want to see in kindergarten, or the ant nest at that time, or buying the models that others admired just to show off… these were not true love.

Instead, it will make you ignore what you need to do now and pay more attention to the things you cherish. "

There was a moment of silence.

In Zhuang Yanyue's opinion, Zhang Chen's implication was not difficult to understand. He meant that the love letters she wrote, including her previous actions, were because she wanted to escape the boredom and depression of high school.

Others would only think "WTF?", Zhang Chen, when did you ever say such a thing? It's a bit philosophical!
Is this really you?

Wang Shuowei was in a daze throughout the whole process.

"You said it very well..." Zhuang Yanyue paused, her eyes wide open, blinking as if she was re-examining the boy in front of her, "But whether I really like you or not, you have no way of really knowing, right?"

"You'll make people feel embarrassed if you reject a girl like this!" Zhuang Yanyue glanced at the onlookers upstairs and downstairs without hesitation, and said with a wry smile, "You know what? Because of you... I've lost face today."

Zhang Chen felt that she was indeed more mature than her peers. Her self-deprecating and carefree attitude at this moment really made people feel that rejecting her was a sin.

Zhuang Yanyue took a deep breath and said, "I finally understand what it feels like to be rejected."

“But maybe that’s because I’m not good enough.”

The girl said this quietly.

"Zhang Chen, are we friends now?"

Wang Shuowei stood by with a look of regret and reluctance, thinking to himself that if he and Zhang Chen had switched places, he would have changed his mind long ago.

Zhang Chen felt a little overwhelmed. He had to admit that sincerity was the ultimate skill.

He nodded. "Of course."

"Then..." Zhuang Yanyue smiled and waved her five green fingers in front of her body, "I will continue to work hard."

Then she stuck out a little tongue and made a face, "Maybe it will make you change your mind!"

After failing in her confession, Zhuang Yanyue did not stay any longer and turned around decisively. Her pink and white sweater outlined her proud figure and shape, leaving only Zhang Chen and the people in the teaching building with an absolutely pretty figure, looking full of youth and lushness.

At that time, the campus radio was playing Zhang Xinzhe's "Love is Just a Word". At that time, the cartoon "The Lotus Lantern" was broadcasted on various TV stations, and this ending song was very popular in the streets and alleys.

“The two people complement each other
Brighter than the stars at night
I climbed mountains for you

But unwilling to see the scenery
……

Love is just one word, I will only say it once

I am afraid that those who hear this will be reminded of my love for you."

When Zhuang Yanyue heard this song, she felt like a real loser.

But she did not feel too heartbroken or depressed afterwards. Instead, she had a new assessment of Zhang Chen and a renewed fighting spirit. Her heart was empty, yet filled with a kind of throbbing.

It was like the unwillingness of a hunter becoming the prey, but it was like she had found some new direction that could inspire her fighting spirit towards a higher goal.

Although she lost a game, Zhuang Yanyue felt pretty good. So this is the feeling of someone who had been rejected by her. Is this retribution?
However, there is still a long way to go.

Who can say that next time, the better me will still be the loser in front of you, Zhang Chen?

Zhang Xinzhe sang "Love is Just a Word" on the campus radio in a touching and sad voice.

As Zhuang Yanyue walked towards the sunset, she smiled for the first time ever.

Youth is a life of luxury.

You can lose as much as you want.

……

……

The people watching the excitement on the second and third floors also began to disperse. When the crowd of onlookers from Class 2-5 of Senior High School walked back, Zheng Xue opened her mouth and said to Shen Nuo, "Just because Zhang Chen rejected Zhuang Yanyue today, it's worth it for you to lend him fifty!"

"Goldfish, ant nests, dragon warriors...how come we don't know these things?" Shen Nuo frowned, and his long eyelashes fluttered.

"You're crazy, right? We're not Zhuang Yanyue, so he wouldn't say that to you or me." Zheng Xue said, "But then again, if you, Shen Nuoyi, come on, there's no one in the entire Yude that you can't take down. Of course... no one is worthy of you!"

Shen Nuo withdrew her gaze from Zhang Chen and Wang Shuowei. The last sunset glow in the sky gradually faded, coating her pupils with a gorgeous crimson color.

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Don't keep books, don't keep books, don't keep books, don't keep books, don't keep books! Show them all to me! Read them! Thank you, thank you, bla bla!

(End of this chapter)