Chapter 55: Have You Ever Been Hurt by a Woman?

Early the next morning, classes resumed as usual.
A wonderful Thursday began with a general lecture.
The Telecommunications and Computer Science majors were taking the class together in a tiered lecture hall.
During the break of the first period, Li Baichuan hurried over.
"Bro Yuan, I heard you made it into the top seventy."
Li Yingying was sitting in the front row, and Chen Yuan was toying with her hair.
"Don't even mention it. There's shady stuff going on behind the scenes."
"Could it be that Qi Chen has a crush on you and practically dragged you into the top seventy?"
Broaching the topic of petty romantic entanglements, Li Yingying turned her head around. She was wearing a simple white tank top, and the outline of her bra was visible through the chest fabric, though unfortunately, she was part of the empty-cup club.
"Sister Chen actually thinks quite highly of you. When the two of us were chatting, she specifically brought you up, telling you to pick a serious song to sing tonight and take the opportunity to interact more with her. Who knows, something might actually spark between you two."
"She's a year older than me. An old woman, definitely not my type."
"Holy crap! A beauty!"
Li Baichuan let out a startled exclamation, prompting both Chen Yuan and Li Yingying to look toward the doorway.
Standing at the entrance was none other than Fang Youning.
As a strong contender for the title of campus belle, Fang Youning enjoyed immense popularity at the school.
Quite a few male students turned their gazes toward the doorway, whispering and murmuring among themselves.
"Why is she back?" Li Yingying asked.
"You know her?"
"She's our school's little songbird! Didn't you watch the welcome gala performance? Her appearance alone elevated the entire grade of the show."
Standing at the entrance, Fang Youning stood on tiptoes, peering inside the classroom, her gaze finally coming to rest on Chen Yuan.
"Bro Yuan, she's looking at me! She just glanced at me! Do you think she might have a crush on me?"
Li Baichuan was as excited as if there were springs installed under his seat.
"What kind of dangerous statement is this? Quick, contact the Palace Museum, the missing pig's head has been found."
Under the watchful eyes of a crowd of male students, Fang Youning lowered her head and walked over briskly, making her way to the back row.
"U-are you going to sit here?"
Li Baichuan folded down the stool next to him.
"I'm here to find Chen Yuan for something."
"Oh, looking for Chen Yuan, huh..."
BGM: Snowflakes drifting, cold winds whistling~~~
The attention of every single male student in the tiered lecture hall was focused entirely on Chen Yuan and Fang Youning.
Liu Shiyu: "Doesn't the boss have a good relationship with Campus Belle Song? Why is he hanging out with Fang Youning too?"
Sheng Kangming: "Is he seriously going for a double kill?"
Sun Pengnan: "I've already had my foreskin cut, so why is it him and not me!"
Burning with envy.

Chen Yuan hadn't expected this songstress beauty to be looking for him.
Could she be coming to cross-examine him?
"What is it?"
"The seventy contestants who advanced have been divided into seven groups, and you're in my group. I wanted to ask what song you're singing tonight and if you need any instruments; I can help you prepare them."
"I'm singing *Little Nezha* to ride the traffic wave."
"Huh? What?" Fang Youning was visibly stunned.
"You haven't heard this song? Tell a tale of mythology~ Once upon a time in a certain family~~~"
Chen Yuan had his own reasons for choosing to sing this song.
Even though it was a children's song, it was originally sung by Sun Nan, who was a big star after all. Singing such a song in the advancement rounds wasn't too outrageous.
"It sounds a bit familiar. My sister used to play it for my little nephew."
"Yes, yes, yes, exactly that one."
"But..."
Ring, ring, ring~~~
The class bell rang, and the classroom fell silent.
The professor on the stage tidied up the lesson plans.
"Students, please return to your seats. We will begin the lecture now."
Flustered, Fang Youning quietly took the seat next to Li Baichuan.
"Ahem, ahem..."
Coughing softly, Li Baichuan straightened his back, laid his notebook flat on the desk, and began taking notes diligently.
"Stop deceiving yourself."
"Class has started, is there something wrong with me taking notes? This counts for credits too."
As he spoke, Li Baichuan kept his eyes glued to the blackboard.
"Do you even know what this class is called?"
"College Students' Ideological Morality and Mental Health."
"With you wedged right in the middle like this, it shows you lack any ideology whatsoever, let alone morality, and your mental health is clearly compromised."
"Just you wait, I'll be back!"
Muttering complaints, Li Baichuan grabbed his pen and notebook and left, relocating to another empty seat in the back row to scroll through TikTok short videos.

Chen Yuan leaned over to Fang Youning's side.
"Don't you have classes today?"
"I don't have one first period. All the other students have already submitted their song choices, but yours was missing. I knew you had a class here, and since our second-period class is also in this room, I just came over on the way."
With that, Fang Youning handed over a bag she was holding, which contained a cup of coffee.
"Here, this is for you."
"Thank you for your help the other day. My sister said she's going to use the brand of diapers you recommended from now on."
Inserting the straw, she pushed it toward Fang Youning's lips.
"Want a sip?"
"No, no, no, I'll pass, you drink it," Fang Youning said nervously, the tips of her ears turning red.
With the professor lecturing up front, Fang Youning took out her phone to search for the song Chen Yuan was going to sing, then stealthily pulled out her earphones and listened to it once.
"This song is actually quite challenging and not very easy to sing. From top seventy to top thirty, the competition isn't that fierce, so you could play it safe."
"If this song won't do, I'll have to sing *Counting Ducks*."
"Counting Ducks?"
"Under the bridge in front of the door, a flock of ducks swims by, or maybe *I Have a Little Donkey, But I Never Ride It*. Give me some advice, which one do you think is better?"
"Ah, well... You'd better stick with *Little Nezha*."
"You seem very reluctant. I have one more trump card."
"What trump card?"
"A little monk goes down the mountain to beg for alms, and the old master instructed: women at the foot of the mountain are tigers, be sure to stay away when you meet them. What do you think?"
"Why would you sing that song? Were you hurt by a girl or something?"
Chen Yuan: ???
"Stop looking for accompaniment tracks for a moment, pay attention to the lecture, and learn what ideological morality is."
Fang Youning didn't dare to make a sound, realizing she might have spoken out of turn.
Lowering her head, she searched for the accompaniment for Chen Yuan and listened to it a few more times, eventually figuring out the rhythm of the track. Just as she was about to explain it to him, she discovered he had fallen asleep.
And so, right up until the class was about to end, Chen Yuan never woke up.
Quietly, Fang Youning gave Chen Yuan a gentle poke.
"Is class over?" Chen Yuan asked, frowning.
"Five minutes left."
"Just in time. I need to take a breather, otherwise going outside later will give me a chill."
"I found the accompaniment."
"Mm."
Chen Yuan yawned and ended the conversation right there.
Resting her delicate cheek on one hand, Fang Youning let her long hair drape down one side, looking thoroughly unenthusiastic.
A gentle breeze blew in through the crack of the open window, stirring her long hair, but failing to stir her thoughts.
She had been sitting here for so long, and tonight he was even going to compete in her group—why wouldn't he just ask to add her on WeChat?
And that song he mentioned earlier.
Who says women are tigers? The song was just spouting nonsense.
Could he really have been dumped by a girl and decided to stop interacting with girls altogether?
...
Thanks to book friend [Is Xiao Huihui Not Xiao Huihui] for the rewarded book coins.