"Zhang Peng, what are you talking about? What did I do to her?" Xu Ying glared defiantly.
"Heh!" Zhang Peng sneered, raising his right arm to gesture sarcastically. "You, with your small words, have quite long arms. Not only did you occupy Qin Tian's seat, but you also took up half of Xia Nuannuan's desk. Are you chatting, or are you deliberately bullying her?"
Hearing this, everyone suddenly understood. Xia Nuannuan looked at Qin Tian with surprise. While she was touched, her nose suddenly felt a sting. It was like a bullied child finally receiving protection from a loved one, and a surge of grievances flooded her.
"You're talking nonsense, I didn't!" Xu Ying, caught red-handed, her expression turning somewhat hysterical, yelled at Zhang Peng. "When did I bully her? Did I touch her? Did I say a word to her? Zhang Peng, stop spewing your nonsense and slandering me!" Her voice even carried a hint of a sob. "Ask Qiu Man and Cui Ying, ask them, did I bully Xia Nuannuan?"
The crowd's gaze immediately shifted to the two girls sitting in front of Qin Tian. The two girls, good friends with Xu Ying, naturally sided with her and quickly shook their heads in denial.
"No, she wasn't bullied, we were just chatting."
"Yeah, yeah, what is all this!"
"Heh, you know in your hearts whether you were or not." Zhang Peng chuckled dismissively.
"Alright, alright, that's enough, everyone stop talking!" Mu Nan suddenly shouted. She held considerable influence in the class, and everyone immediately quieted down.
"Qin Tian, apologize to Xu Ying!" Mu Nan looked at Qin Tian and requested.
"Impossible!" Qin Tian refused without hesitation.
"Qin Tian..."
"Class monitor, you don't need to say more." Qin Tian raised his hand to interrupt her and stated logically, "Not to mention anything else, this is my seat. I'm back now. I've asked her to return my seat several times, and she refused. So I had to do it myself. Is that not right?"
"This..." Mu Nan's head began to ache. What Qin Tian said was indeed logical, but twisting a girl like she was a chicken was a bit too rough, wasn't it? Xu Ying, hearing this, turned even more livid. But she couldn't find any fault in Qin Tian's words. So, she naturally shifted her target to Xia Nuannuan.
"Qin Tian, you're defending Xia Nuannuan so much, could it be you like her?" Xu Ying questioned with a cold smile. The moment she said this, the classroom fell silent. Everyone stared in disbelief, their eyes fixed on Qin Tian. Xia Nuannuan was also taken aback. Snapping back to reality, her plump cheeks instantly flushed red, and she anxiously blurted out a denial, "No, it's not like that..."
"That's right!" Qin Tian's calm voice directly interrupted her. Xia Nuannuan's beautiful eyes widened, and she turned her head towards Qin Tian rigidly, like a robot. The classroom grew even quieter. It was so silent that one could hear a needle drop.
"That's right, I like her, so what? Is that not allowed?" Qin Tian retorted with a blank expression.
"You... her..." Xu Ying was momentarily speechless, her shocked gaze darting between their faces, and then she suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha... I knew it, Qin Tian, you really have good taste, haha..."
"You're actually right about that. My taste has always been good. Anyone who could fancy you would be blind." Qin Tian sneered.
"You—" Xu Ying was again angered into speechlessness. At this moment, the substitute teacher for the next English class entered the classroom. English teacher Liu Xu was a woman in her early thirties with a pleasant appearance.
"What... what's going on?" Noticing the tense atmosphere in the classroom, she looked towards Qin Tian and the others, asking in surprise.
"Teacher Liu, Qin Tian physically assaulted me," Xu Ying pointed at Qin Tian, directly lodging a complaint. Mu Nan, standing nearby, twitched her eye, feeling a growing dislike for Xu Ying. As the class monitor, she was responsible for coordinating relationships among classmates. Xu Ying's sudden complaint made her feel rather useless.
"Class monitor, what's going on?" Liu Xu glanced at Qin Tian, then looked at Mu Nan and asked.
"Teacher Liu, it's just a minor conflict," Mu Nan smiled and briefly explained the situation. After listening, Liu Xu's expression also became somewhat complex. After all, Qin Tian hadn't actually hit anyone. It would be best to smooth things over. Besides, she understood that Xu Ying was in the wrong first, and Qin Tian was merely defending his deskmate.
"Qin Tian, Xu Ying is a girl, you can't act like this again in the future." Liu Xu put on a stern expression and reprimanded him verbally.
"Understood!" Qin Tian nodded in agreement.
"Alright, alright, everyone return to your seats, class is about to start." Liu Xu clapped her hands and smiled, changing the subject.
"Teacher Liu..." Xu Ying wanted to press the issue.
"Student Xu Ying, please return to your seat first. You both have fault in this matter," Liu Xu said seriously. Xu Ying gritted her teeth, turned and glared fiercely at Qin Tian, and with a face full of unwillingness, returned to her seat.
A moment later, the bell rang for class. The commotion subsided just like that. However, the mood of the classmates remained unsettled for a long time. It wasn't because of Qin Tian and Xu Ying's argument, but because of Qin Tian's domineering response and his public confession. Most of the students in the class were already adults, about to graduate from high school. They weren't overly shy about dating. In fact, every class had one or two secret couples. However, this was Xia Nuannuan, the quiet, almost invisible, somewhat overweight girl in the class. While everyone was shocked, they were also puzzled whether Qin Tian was defending Xia Nuannuan or speaking his true feelings. Most students felt it was the former. Including Xia Nuannuan herself. After recovering from the shock, she also felt that Qin Tian had said it to protect her, intentionally. Even so, her heart still pounded like a startled deer, and she was too shy to look at Qin Tian beside her. Growing up, he was the first boy to say he liked her. And he did it so domineeringly and directly in front of so many people. Even if it was fake, she couldn't help but feel her heart flutter. In her eyes, Qin Tian just now was like a prince descending on a white horse from a fairy tale, so handsome, so dazzling. Subconsciously, she picked up the water bottle on the desk, twisted open the cap, and took a sip, moistening her somewhat hot and dry throat. She looked intently at the water in her hand. It was the green tea Qin Tian had just given her. The drink, which was originally only slightly sweet, now seemed to have honey added, its sweetness flowing down her throat and into her heart.