"Brother Chen, are you okay?" Gao Quan asked with concern as he noticed the dark circles under Ye Liangchen's eyes.
Yesterday, Brother Chen had already shown signs of being off.
They thought he might feel better today.
But unexpectedly, it seemed even worse.
The dark circles under his eyes were almost as prominent as those of a panda on TV.
Ye Liangchen put away his phone and shook his head helplessly.
Last night, he had been waiting for a message from Li Qingxue on QQ.
He thought about how, during the day, he had torn up the love letter and thrown it in the trash.
Then he ignored her for the entire day.
According to the way things unfolded in his dream, Li Qingxue should have taken the initiative to ask him what was wrong, why he had suddenly stopped paying attention to her.
Last night, Ye Liangchen had stared at his phone, waiting for a message from Li Qingxue.
But to his surprise, he waited until three or four in the morning, and still, no message came.
That's why he was in such poor shape today.
But it didn't matter. Li Qingxue wouldn't hold out for long. Once she slowly realized that he was no longer by her side, she would start to remember how good he had been to her.
Then she would regret it and come to her senses.
Taking a deep breath, he said, "It's nothing, I just stayed up late last night."
"Is it because of the pressure from studying lately?"
At this point, a thought suddenly popped into Gao Quan's mind: "Brother Chen, did you give up on confessing to Li Qingxue because of the gap in your academic performance?"
As the class monitor, Li Qingxue's grades had always been in the top five of the entire school.
Meanwhile, Ye Liangchen's grades were mediocre at best, and there was still a noticeable gap between him and Li Qingxue.
Was Brother Chen worried that, given his current academic performance, he might not be able to get into the same university as Li Qingxue, which was why he decided to give up on confessing to her?
Because he didn't want to hold Li Qingxue back.
But at the same time, he didn't want to truly give up.
So he secretly studied at night, hoping to improve his grades through hard work?
Ye Liangchen glanced at Gao Quan. This guy really had a knack for overthinking things.
But there was no helping it. To outsiders, his feelings for Li Qingxue seemed as if they were carved into his very bones.
Suddenly giving up on her would make people think either that he felt unworthy of her and had no choice but to step back, or that he was just trying a different tactic to get her attention.
Even Li Qingxue herself might think the same way.
So it was no surprise that Gao Quan would come up with such an idea.
They were only seeing the surface, while he was already operating on a whole different level.
Some things couldn't be explained, no matter how hard he tried.
Time would prove everything.
But Gao Quan's words did give him a reminder.
The college entrance exam.
In his dream, it was thanks to Hu Yuying's tutoring and his own exceptional performance that he managed to get into the university that both Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue had their hearts set on.
But with his current grades, there was still a significant gap between him and their dream university.
The key issue was that after being reborn, he had forgotten most of what he had learned in high school.
It was time to figure out a way to improve his academic performance.
Thinking this, Ye Liangchen took a deep breath and looked at Gao Quan: "The pressure from studying has been a bit overwhelming lately."
"But there's always a way to solve it. Come on, Brother Chen will treat you to breakfast today!"
With that, he patted Gao Quan on the shoulder, straightened his posture, and confidently walked toward the cafeteria.
After all, he was a reborn individual. Something as trivial as studying wasn't going to defeat him.
Just as he entered the cafeteria, he saw Hu Yuying standing in line, buying breakfast for Long Aotian!
The calm he had just managed to regain instantly vanished, replaced by burning anger.
He scanned the cafeteria for Long Aotian's figure.
Once he spotted Long Aotian's back, he glared at him fiercely.
Doesn't Long Aotian know how poor Hu Yuying's family is? How dare he make her spend money on his breakfast! Long Aotian, you're truly despicable!
If looks could kill, Ye Liangchen's glare would have annihilated Long Aotian hundreds of times over.
But looks couldn't kill, so Ye Liangchen clenched his fists and slowly walked toward the counter where Hu Yuying was standing in line.
He decided to bite the bullet today and pay for Hu Yuying's breakfast.
But he would remember this debt. Once he grew stronger, he would make Long Aotian pay it back tenfold!
You like having women buy things for you, huh? Fine, I'll buy you a thousand fried dough sticks and watch you eat every single one!
No—ten thousand!
If you dare to spit any out, I'll beat you up!
With these thoughts running through his mind, he arrived by Hu Yuying's side.
"Yuying, let me pay for your breakfast."
Hearing this, Hu Yuying turned and gave Ye Liangchen a puzzled look. "No, thank you."
"Please, let me." Ye Liangchen knew about Hu Yuying's difficult family situation.
She lived with her elderly grandparents, who no longer had any source of income.
Hu Yuying lived frugally, and sometimes even took on part-time jobs during holidays to make ends meet. She worked so hard!
Yet Long Aotian, this scoundrel, had the audacity to make her buy him food.
What he was eating wasn't breakfast—it was Hu Yuying's blood and sweat. How could he stomach it?
In his dream, he hadn't known about this at first. It was only later that he realized how much Hu Yuying had struggled.
He had felt so much regret and remorse!
Now that he knew the truth, he couldn't just stand by and watch Hu Yuying be treated this way.
"No, really, you don't need to. Just pay for your own." Hu Yuying sidestepped, avoiding any contact with the boy in front of her.
"Let me do it. Your family's situation isn't great. The money you spend on breakfast could cover your living expenses for several days!"
"I'm doing this for your own good. Please don't refuse."
Hearing this, Hu Yuying couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. Noticing that many people in the cafeteria were now looking her way, she instinctively wanted to lower her head.
"My little follower doesn't need your concern." Long Aotian pulled out his meal card and paid for the breakfast himself.
Afterward, he glanced around the room.
Everyone who had been ready to watch the drama quickly averted their eyes.
Long Aotian's actions were a clear message to everyone: Hu Yuying was under his protection.
At this moment, Long Aotian suddenly felt grateful to the author for writing him as an unapproachable delinquent, a villain.
It really came in handy.
Then he turned to Ye Liangchen. "Don't you think you're being too much?"
"Are you just going to stand there? Are you planning to eat while standing?" This last remark was directed at Hu Yuying.
Hearing Long Aotian's words, Hu Yuying pursed her lips and nodded.
Then she carried her tray back to her seat in the cafeteria.
Watching Long Aotian's retreating figure, Ye Liangchen mustered his courage and said, "How am I being too much? You don't care about Hu Yuying, you just want to bully her. Why can't I care about her?"
But his voice was so soft that not only did Long Aotian not hear him, even the cafeteria lady serving food just asked curiously, "Young man, what are you saying? Speak up if you want to order something!"
Ye Liangchen closed his eyes and exhaled. "Two eggs, two cups of soy milk, and six buns. How much is that?"