Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

[Yan Xi: Highly guarded, but extremely insecure. She leaves a three-centimeter opening in her bag so she can easily reach her phone or keys.]

[Li Chen: Conclusion?]

[Yan Xi: You can't force a girl like this. If you let Wang Qiang act cool and keep pestering her, he'll just get blacklisted.]

[Li Chen: Then what are we doing?]

[Yan Xi: Showing weakness.]

Li Chen saw these two words.

He turned his head and glanced at Wang Qiang, who weighed 200 pounds and whose arms were thicker than Lin Duo's thighs.

Show weakness?

[Li Chen: With his physique, how can he show weakness?]

[Yan Xi: Stupid.]

Yan Xi's last instruction popped up on the screen.

[Yan Xi: Have him create a small problem that requires her help to solve. The clumsier the better. This will reduce his aggression.]

Li Chen locked the screen. He flipped the phone over and placed it face down on the table.

He got it.

A strategy of overwhelming the opponent by feigning weakness.

"I have a plan," Li Chen said.

Wang Qiang immediately came over. "What should we do?"

Did you bring a pen?

Wang Qiang reached into his pocket and pulled out a black ballpoint pen.

"When get out of class ends, she'll definitely zip up her pants and head out. You need to quickly pass by her as she reaches the back door, pretending to be in a hurry."

Li Chen pointed to the pen in his hand, "Drop your pen at her feet."

Wang Qiang was stunned. "Dropped pen?"

"You dropped the pen," Li Chen said confidently, "but there's a proper way to drop it. It can't look like you threw it on purpose."

"As you walk over, shift your weight slightly, and your book or coat might slip from your hand, causing the pen to fall and land at a 45-degree angle in front of her."

Chen Mo adjusted his glasses. "Precise calculation. A 45-degree angle is the area that the human subconscious most easily notices and doesn't trigger a defensive instinct."

Wang Qiang swallowed hard. "And then?"

"She will definitely help you pick it up. I just observed that she picked up the chair very gently; she has a habitual, gentle tendency to take care of her surroundings."

Li Chen looked at Wang Qiang.

"When she bends down to pick up the pen and hand it to you, don't try to look cool. You should blush. You should apologize to her for your clumsiness. The more flustered you are, the better."

Wang Qiang scratched his head. "I don't need to act blushing. I blush when I see her."

"That's enough," Li Chen said. "Then, naturally, say, 'Thank you, classmate. I'm just a bit impulsive.' Then, out of gratitude, it's only natural to offer to buy her a milk tea or ask for her WeChat."

Wang Qiang went over the plan in his mind twice.

Class starts at nine o'clock.

Wang Qiang didn't hear a single word of the entire advanced mathematics class.

His gaze never left the beige down jacket in the third row.

10:40. The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

Lin Duo began tidying up her desk.

"Get ready," Li Chen ordered softly.

Wang Qiang suddenly stood up. Because he stood up so quickly, his knee hit the bottom of the table again.

He was in so much pain that his face contorted for a second, but he managed to hold it in.

Lin Duo slung her canvas bag over her shoulder and walked towards the back door with her companion.

The pace is very slow.

Wang Qiang, carrying his advanced mathematics book and clutching a black ballpoint pen, walked around his seat.

His massive body squeezed into the aisle, forcing himself to appear as if he was in a hurry.

Li Chen stood to the side behind Wang Qiang, his gaze never leaving him.

three meters.

Two meters.

one meter.

Wang Qiang passed by Lin Duo from the left.

What was originally planned as a wonderful "shift in center of gravity" turned into an extremely stiff movement of moving one hand and one foot simultaneously under his highly tense muscle control.

In the instant they brushed past each other, the pen in Wang Qiang's hand did not "slip down naturally." Instead, because his palms were sweaty and slippery, it flew out of his hand as he swung his arm.

Without leaning to one side, the pen traces a parabola in the air.

With a "snap".

It fell into the hood of Lin Duo's beige down jacket, whose collar was half open.

Li Chen's expression froze.

Chen Mo's pen tore the paper.

No one spoke in the hallway.

Lin Duo stopped in her tracks.

She touched the back of her head in confusion and found nothing there.

But her companions behind her saw it.

His companion looked at Wang Qiang's face, which was flushed red, with the eyes of someone looking at a lunatic.

Wang Qiang stood frozen in place.

He felt that if there were a crack in the earth now, he could drill directly into the earth's core.

Is this what you call showing weakness?

This is called precise targeting!

Reminded by her companion, Lin Duo reached back and touched the hood of her down jacket.

She pulled out a black ballpoint pen.

She held up the pen, turned her head, and looked timidly at Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang felt as if his throat was sealed with cement.

All the lines Li Chen had taught him—"shifting the center of gravity," "a 45-degree angle of vision," and "say thank you naturally"—were shattered into pieces during that failed throw.

"Classmate... classmate..." Wang Qiang began.

His voice was hoarse and rough.

"I'm sorry for your hat."

Five meters behind him, Li Chen closed his eyes.

Chen Mo wrote two words on the loose-leaf notebook: disaster.

Lin Duo looked at the boy in front of her, whose face was flushed, whose height was imposing, but whose expression was like that of a primary school student who had done something wrong.

She looked at the pen in her hand.

He glanced again at Wang Qiang's thick fingers, which were gripping the edge of the calculus book tightly, their fingers trembling with nervousness.

He almost crushed the advanced mathematics book.

Lin Duo didn't frown. She didn't even back down.

The corners of her mouth curved upwards very slightly.

It was a very small arc, but Li Chen caught it.

"It's alright," Lin Duo said softly, her voice gentle. "Is it your pen?"

"It's mine!" Wang Qiang bowed deeply, so deeply that he almost knocked Lin Duo flying.

Fortunately, he managed to stop the car midway.

"I accidentally... my hand slipped."

Lin Duo handed over the pen. "Here you go."

Wang Qiang stretched out both hands.

I carefully took the ballpoint pen.

The moment his hand touched the pen, his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

"Thank you, classmate." Wang Qiang gripped his pen tightly to his chest, his face flushed red.

"I...I am indeed too impulsive. I'm very clumsy."

In his extreme fear, he somehow managed to recite the last line of his dialogue by sheer luck.

Lin Duo tugged at the strap of her canvas bag. "It's okay."

She tilted her head, seemingly finding the contrast with the tall man in front of her somewhat comical.