A few boys from the back row of the third-year class were already laughing uncontrollably. They gestured toward a delicate, fair-skinned boy, who walked over with a smile, holding a book in his hand, and tapped it on Ethan Xavier's head using the spine.

"If I had left right after school today, I would have missed a great show. Brother Charles said you went crazy after reading it and rehearsed the scenes for days?"

After reading it? Zoe Young looked up, her gaze fixed on what the boy was holding. On the cover was a girl in a Japanese sailor uniform, along with a few big pink characters: 《Falling for the Mischief-Maker》.

She knew about this kind of thing, had heard girls talk about it, all calling it "unhealthy." Before Zoe Young could figure out the connection, the boys were already laughing so hard they were doubled over, walking over to Ethan Xavier to playfully punch and kick him, calling him crazy.

Zoe Young kept her head down and hurried along the wall, trying to slip away in the chaos, but a hand grabbed the back collar of her uniform and dragged her back.

"Zoe Young, I'm telling you, I was giving you face today—" Ethan Xavier seemed to have finished his "performance," back to his usual self, and was extremely embarrassed and angry.

"Zoe Young?" The fair-skinned boy who had just teased Ethan Xavier seemed surprised. Zoe Young was baring her teeth at Ethan Xavier, not noticing the boy's expression.

"Ethan Xavier!" the boy shouted at them, and Zoe Young finally looked his way. The boy's delicate, open features looked somewhat familiar, but he was still a stranger—of course, how could she know these delinquent boys? "Ethan Xavier, I just remembered I know this girl. Do me a favor, don't stoop to her level." With his pride hurt, Ethan Xavier wasn't listening at all. His face was red, and he clung to Zoe Young's collar, refusing to let go. "There are plenty of smart girls out there. If this one doesn't appreciate you, just pick another. Forced love never works." He finished with a laugh, pointing at the flashy book in his hand: "Look, Amy and Forrest actually like each other. Not like you, acting like a bandit snatching a bride."

No matter how fierce a delinquent is, at the end of the day, they're still not even fourteen. With his pride wounded, Ethan Xavier glared viciously at Zoe Young: "Get lost! Ugly and fat, idiot, who the hell would be blind enough to like you!"

Who was blind just now, anyway? Zoe Young yanked her collar free, straightened it, and quietly said, "Congratulations on regaining your sight."

Then she took off running, not caring how many people were laughing at her behind her back. When she reached the classroom door, she realized Monica Zack was already gone, though her backpack and papers were still on the podium. The group leader looked at the panting Zoe Young in surprise, watching her carry a rag back to the blackboard tray, head down, continuing to scrape off chalk dust bit by bit.

In fact, her back was already soaked with cold sweat. They finally finished cleaning. Zoe Young washed her hands and reluctantly parted with the rag. Looking up, she saw the fair-skinned boy from earlier and another boy who looked like a little mouse, both with bags slung over their shoulders, walking past the classroom door, peeking inside. "Wait a second!" Zoe Young ran out with her bag. The two stopped, and the little mouse grinned crookedly. Zoe Young shot the boy a look, then bowed to the one who had helped her out earlier.

"Thank you." The boy smiled brightly: "You don't remember me?"

Zoe Young looked at him in confusion, the little mouse beside him also looking curious. "I'm..." The boy's eager expression froze, words stuck in his throat, and he finally just smiled apologetically. "Let's go!" He grabbed the little mouse by the collar like a chick and dragged him away. Zoe Young stared at their backs for a while, then finally let out a long breath, clutching her chest, and slowly squatted down against the wall. Actually, she was really scared.

That night when she got home, her mom had already made dinner. Zoe Young picked at her rice with her chopsticks, distracted. "Zoe, what's wrong?" After thinking it over, Zoe Young finally burst into tears. "Mom, someone likes me..."

Zoe Young's mom didn't know whether to laugh or cry, quickly pulling out tissues to wipe her tears: "Someone liking you is a good thing, why are you crying? Really, someone likes you and you're this emotional?"

Zoe Young shook her head quickly, finally finding an outlet for all her tension and fear. She sobbed, unable to explain clearly just how scared she was when she saw that crowd of delinquent boys outside the boys' bathroom. She didn't write about this to Alan Carter. She still wrote about all sorts of little things and feelings on the backs of various pieces of paper to send to him, but this one thing, she never mentioned.

After experiencing such a close threat, she realized the moon was too far away. All the things of this world, it could only watch from afar in the sky. All Zoe Young had was a dirty rag.

The morning after that incident, Zoe Young's mom personally took her to school. After Zoe Young explained Monica Zack's incompetence in the most tactful way possible several times, her mom finally gave up on telling the teacher.

Retaliation and pursuing the matter aren't always the best ways to solve problems. Many things, you just have to endure and let them fade away bit by bit.

What comforted Zoe Young was that Ethan Xavier only glared at her a few times and didn't bother her again. A few days later, she heard that Ethan Xavier had a girlfriend.

A girl from the next class, supposedly a good student. This explosive news spread privately among the first-year students for several days. Ethan Xavier's romantic act of leading his buddies to call her "sister-in-law" was the talk of the school. Zoe Young couldn't help but twitch her lips, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. After her mom saw that nothing happened after a few days of picking her up, she let her go home alone. On Friday night, as Zoe Young passed by the semi-basement rental near the school, she saw it was empty and, on a whim, went inside. The owner had a great memory and, seeing her, stacked two thick bound volumes of the comic 《Shaman King》on the counter. "Girl, the ones you wanted last time!" Zoe Young jumped in surprise, quickly pulling ten yuan deposit from her pocket and handing it to the owner, hugging the dirty comics and saying thank you. She glanced around—the dim rental was a mess, all sorts of things piled together, on the shelves, tables, floor...

"I'll just look around a bit more." She said softly, then walked over to the comics section, pretending to study the titles on the spines, while sneaking glances at the owner—she really wanted to drift over to the messy shelf with the romance novels to find a book, but felt too embarrassed.

Finally, when the owner turned and went into the back room, she quickly walked over to the "unhealthy thoughts" section, looked up, and rapidly scanned the titles and colorful covers.

She finally found 《Falling for the Mischief-Maker》. Zoe Young pulled it out, extremely alert, and walked back to the comics section before opening the cover. In a few minutes, she quickly skimmed the whole story. The delinquent Forrest and the top student Amy started out fighting, became a bickering couple, and ended up together. Ugh. Zoe Young flipped through with disdain, then suddenly saw an illustration on one page that startled her so much she almost threw the whole book, quickly slamming it shut, feeling like even the cover was burning hot.

...The two of them... were kissing... wearing very little... Zoe Young was so angry her teeth hurt. That Ethan Xavier, so disgusting! But thinking about how he foolishly copied the scenes to confess, even reciting awkward lines, she felt a bit gleeful, like she'd glimpsed a mafia boss's secret. What an idiot, Zoe Young thought. She forgot that she herself had often acted out silly scenes from comics and TV shows in private.

She sighed, about to put the book back on the shelf, when she suddenly felt a warm breath on the back of her neck, as if someone was breathing very close behind her.

Zoe Young spun around. The person in front of her was the boy who had helped her out that day. "Ah, it's you—why didn't you say anything... you almost scared me to death..." Zoe Young put her hands behind her back, hiding what she was holding.

"What are you reading?" The boy looked over her shoulder with interest. "Nothing, nothing, I..." She freed one hand and pointed at the 《Shaman King》 on the table, "I borrowed a comic." The boy turned to study the 《Shaman King》 on the table, and Zoe Young quickly found a spot in the comics section to stuff 《Falling for the Mischief-Maker》 into.

"I've already paid the deposit, I have to go." Zoe Young forced a smile, grabbed the comic from the table, "Bye!" But the boy grabbed her sleeve, grinning: "Zoe, you really don't remember me?" "Who are you?" This time, he didn't seem to care about his companion like last time, and laughed loudly: "I'm Benny!"

Zoe Young stared at him, mouth agape. Actually, she couldn't really remember what Benny looked like anymore, just a vague outline in her memory. But that didn't matter—whether Benny had grown taller or changed, he would always be Benny. Zoe Young screamed.