132: It's okay, small ones are cute too!

After Qian Manzhi finished speaking, she noticed Du Zhaoyu beside her. "Wow, you must be the legendary Du Zhaoyu! I'm Qian Manzhi from Senior Year Class 3. I was the top scorer in English for the last Joint Exam, and I even shared the stage with you guys during the awards ceremony, but you probably don't remember me, right?"

One does not hit a smiling person. Although Qian Manzhi's ample figure made her seem quite a threat, her beaming smile made her seem easygoing. Besides... Du Zhaoyu already knew that Lin You's recent performance would attract the attention of other girls, but she was more confident in herself.

"Hello, Classmate Qian Manzhi. It's nice to meet you." Du Zhaoyu nodded with a smile.

Qian Manzhi had originally intended to chat with Lin You and catch up, but seeing Du Zhaoyu there, and realizing Lin You and Du Zhaoyu seemed to have plans, she greeted them and then turned to leave.

Qian Manzhi came from a good family and had transferred back from a Provincial Foreign Language School, giving her a broader perspective than ordinary high school students. Her approach to relationships was also different from that of typical high school girls.

Qian Manzhi knew long ago that good men were a rarity, and when you found one, you had to grasp the opportunity firmly.

Originally, Lin You was just handsome, had good grades, and played basketball well. While these three points were dazzling enough for a high schooler, what truly captivated Qian Manzhi was his act of courage that time. In her heart, excellent character was far more important than excellent ability, but the combination of both was what truly moved people.

In Qian Manzhi's eyes, Lin You was a very good person, someone worth putting extra effort into.

What if Lin You was close with other girls? Even if Lin You had dated several people, or was currently dating, she didn't mind. After all, as long as they weren't married, who knew who would end up walking down the aisle with whom?

Moreover, Qian Manzhi had already inquired and learned that Lin You hadn't dated in high school and was only recently close with a few girls... After leaving the school gate, Lin You and Du Zhaoyu walked closer together, and Du Zhaoyu suddenly bumped Lin You's shoulder lightly with her own.

"Do you like curvier girls?"

Lin You's heart skipped a beat. He then realized that Xiao Yu'er must be trying to trick him. It was the first time they had encountered Qian Manzhi together, so asking such a question was completely illogical.

"I look at character and personality; I pay no attention to physique."

"That Qian Manzhi looks like she's almost an E-cup. I noticed you sneaking glances several times during the last award ceremony."

Lin You was sweating profusely. He couldn't fully recall whether he had sneaked a peek last time... but, given his nature, sneaking glances was standard procedure... An E-cup beauty—any other guy would look too.

After all, one must seize the day when presented with an E-cup; even if you can't have it, a look is fine.

He had merely committed the mistake that all male high school students... no, that all men commit!

"What E-cup? I don't understand ABCDE at all. Are you discussing a multiple-choice question from Physics, Chemistry, Biology with me?"

Du Zhaoyu paused, then retorted playfully, "Multiple-choice questions in Physics, Chemistry, Biology don't even have an E option!"

Lin You was utterly embarrassed. He paused, deciding to only admit half the truth, and argued, "Everyone likes to look, it's not just me who likes it... I just looked; it was my eyes' fault, don't blame me!"

"Hmph, then I guess I'll just eat more and get fat."

Lin You smiled, then began his dangerous declaration, "It's fine, small is cute too."

A gentleman's revenge lasts from noon till night!

Du Zhaoyu grew anxious. "I'm not small! I also have..."

Halfway through her sentence, Du Zhaoyu realized the topic was getting a little risqué, so she shut up, turned her head away, and stopped paying attention to Lin You.

Yet, her body still leaned close to him, and her bright red ears and pink cheeks made her look like a beautiful girl from a comic book.

Lin You couldn't help but swallow. He had video-chatted with Xiao Yu'er several times when she was wearing pajamas, so of course, he knew she wasn't small... but he couldn't think about it anymore; it wasn't appropriate on the main road.

When Lin You went home for his midday nap, he arranged with Du Zhaoyu on his phone to eat dinner together that evening. The two arrived at the bus stop outside the school gate and waited for the bus side-by-side.

The destination was a shopping mall near Ancheng's Old Town District, about three kilometers away from the school. After they got on the bus, since it wasn't yet time for school dismissal or work to end, the bus was empty, and they found a double seat.

Sitting together like this, moving slowly as the bus swayed, Du Zhaoyu actually found it interesting: the streets outside the window, the pedestrians by the roadside, the sunlight streaming into the carriage, the other passengers talking inside—the whole world was rich and colorful.

And Lin You?

What Lin You was thinking was: Good thing I ate lightly at noon. At the BBQ Seafood Buffet later, I'm going to eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat heartily!

A seafood BBQ buffet costing over 120 yuan per person was quite expensive for students, but now appearing was Lin You, system daddy's favorite child, holding hundreds of thousands of yuan. He could even afford to treat the entire class to a meal.

After getting off the bus, the awkwardness they felt before boarding had vanished. They chatted about trivial daily matters as they walked toward the mall.

Entering the buffet restaurant, Lin You validated the voucher at the front desk with his phone and followed the waiter to a good seat.

The waitress clearly rarely saw such a good-looking couple; she seemed thrilled and enthusiastically said, "Handsome guy and pretty girl, if you need any help later, feel free to wave and call me over~"

Before long, Lin You and Du Zhaoyu each retrieved the food they wanted. When they returned, Lin You immediately started gorging himself. Once his hunger was slightly satisfied, Lin You picked up a glass of juice and took a couple of sips, then looked at Du Zhaoyu across from him, who was eating quickly yet appeared very organized and elegant, and he chuckled foolishly.

"Xiao Yu'er, the thing you mentioned yesterday, was that the time you were wrongly accused during the second semester of the first year of junior high when we were desk mates?"

As soon as Lin You finished speaking, Du Zhaoyu put down her chopsticks, her eyes filled with surprise. "You really remember!"

Lin You actually didn't remember it very well.

Although he had always been lackadaisical about studying and his grades weren't top-notch, his parents' education since childhood involved beatings. Whenever Lin You dared to do something wrong, he would be severely punished, which shaped his moral compass to be relatively upright.

He had done many things like standing up for others.

The reason Lin You and Wang Xinxin became good brothers was also because one time, when Wang Xinxin was surrounded while playing on the court, Lin You rushed over to help him out of Classmate loyalty.

What he considered ordinary actions, in the eyes of those he helped, made him seem like the sun.

"You were super cool back then. You were the most masculine boy I had ever seen. It's a shame we changed seats and weren't desk mates after that, otherwise..."

Otherwise, I would have wanted to be your girlfriend right then.

Du Zhaoyu shyly said the rest in her heart, words she was too embarrassed to voice. She was only thirteen back then, but she had matured emotionally earlier than boys. Du Zhaoyu also knew that boys mature later, and Lin You certainly wouldn't have understood anything at that time.

Otherwise, why would he have had such a head start with Du Zhaoyu only to fall for someone else in high school... "Exactly! Otherwise, we definitely would have been really, really good friends. Then I could have received your guidance earlier in high school, and like the saying goes, 'near cinnabar, one is stained red,' my grades wouldn't have only started improving in grade 12."

Lin You finished speaking with a smug smile.

See? That's emotional intelligence! Learn from this; it's all solid advice!

Du Zhaoyu pouted, deciding not to burst Lin You's bubble.

"Mhm, everything you say is right."