110. Who was it, after all?

“...95, 96, 97...”

As Zhang Qi quietly counted, amidst the chaos and laughter, the water bottle was juggled several times in Ma Yunan’s hand before, urged on by the crowd, it was passed to Chen Ruowen.

Coordinating with Zhang Qi’s counting and the tense yet lively cheering around, Chen Ruowen swiftly flung the bottle like a bomb to Bai Jinyan beside her, who calmly placed it into Li Yun’s hands.

Even this brief contact caused Li Yun’s cheeks to flush slightly. She was just about to let go of the bottle when she heard Zhang Qi’s loud command from the center.

“...100—stop!”

As soon as Zhang Qi finished shouting, he opened his eyes excitedly, scanning the crowd before resting his gaze on Li Yun.

“Oh, oh, oh!!! Li Yun!” Ma Yunan suddenly burst with enthusiasm. “The first lucky participant! Truth or dare?!”

“Monkey Ma! You stole my line!” Zhang Qi howled, then smiled warmly at Li Yun. “Chosen one, will you pick truth or dare? I recommend dare—there’s a special treat for you!”

Li Yun’s face reddened slightly. Under the watchful eyes of over thirty people, she dared not look around carelessly and finally whispered,

“I choose truth.”

“Truth, huh...” Zhang Qi sounded a bit disappointed.

But Ma Yunan quickly jumped in, somehow producing another water bottle and fashioning it like a microphone, extending it toward Li Yun.

“Li Yun, please answer sincerely—do you have a crush on anyone in our class? Remember, no lying during truth time!”

Li Yun’s face burned as if touched by the summer sun at six in the evening. The crowd, seeing her like this, grew even more excited, howling like a pack of wolves.

Chen Ruowen gave Bai Jinyan a slight pinch, earning an utterly innocent look in return.

What does this have to do with me?

I didn’t do anything!

“Yes...” Li Yun muttered barely audibly. Without waiting for more questions from Ma Yunan, she quickly handed the bottle to Ye Qing and dashed to the center of the circle, pushing Zhang Qi aside to take charge of the second round.

This time, the bottle stopped in Zhang Yuan’s hand.

“Great!” Ma Yunan rubbed his hands together eagerly.

He was hesitant to be too aggressive toward the girls, but when it came to a thick-skinned guy like Zhang Yuan, all bets were off.

Wait, why did I just use the same phrase? My skin isn’t thick at all!

Ma Yunan’s mind raced. Without waiting for the host to get Zhang Yuan’s consent, he grabbed a brick from the edge of the playground and slapped it into Zhang Yuan’s hand.

What was that about?

---

The crowd was momentarily stunned, while Zhang Yuan weighed the brick in his palm, looking a bit troubled.

“Breaking a brick with bare hands? Chest smashing bricks? That’s a bit tough.”

“Who said you had to perform acrobatics?” Ma Yunan pointed excitedly toward a few shadows emerging from the teaching building. “Go flirt!”

“Flirt carrying a brick? Are you serious?”

“Go ask that girl if she dropped this brick!”

“Damn, you’re crazy!”

Though everyone protested verbally, Zhang Yuan eagerly turned and approached an unsuspecting junior schoolmate. To avoid exposing him, the group stayed seated, craning their necks to watch the fun unfold.

Within a minute, Zhang Yuan returned and immediately smacked Ma Yunan on the head.

“This trick’s outdated!” Zhang Yuan grumbled, drawing curious glances from classmates. “The girl said it’s hers.”

He opened his palm, revealing a clump of dark mud. “She said it’s a ‘thank you’ for honesty.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Amid laughter, Zhang Yuan smeared the mud on Ma Yunan’s face. “Next time come up with something fresher, will you?”

While Zhang Yuan scorned Ma Yunan’s old tricks, the others didn’t share his disdain. It was just the end of evening self-study, and after a few mischievous ideas from Ma Yunan to bother the juniors—which earned him a barrage of complaints—many classmates chose truth over dare for five or six consecutive rounds.

Ma Yunan initially found it dull but became excited after uncovering some earth-shattering gossip. The few boys eager to stir trouble started shouting wildly again.

“...99, 100—stop!”

Another round of musical chairs, and the water bottle conveniently slipped from Chen Ruowen’s hand into Bai Jinyan’s arms.

Ma Yunan perked up at once, his eyes scanning the girls flanking Bai Jinyan before grinning and asking,

“Brother Yan, is your first kiss still intact?”

Chen Ruowen rolled her eyes inwardly at the question.

What’s so interesting about that? Not explosive at all. Bai Jinyan just shook his head, brushing it off, revealing no useful intel.

Just as she sneered silently, Ma Yunan got even more excited, pointing at Bai Jinyan’s slightly embarrassed expression and yelling,

“Blushing! Brother Yan, who stole your first kiss? Tell us, and your bros will hold her accountable!”

Blushing?

No way.

Impossible.

Chen Ruowen looked up at Bai Jinyan in surprise.

It was hard to tell if he really was blushing, but his expression... seemed like there was something going on.

Feeling Chen Ruowen’s gaze, Bai Jinyan’s face grew stranger. He cleared his throat and said solemnly,

“I choose dare.”

Trying to hide something!

Trying to cover it up!

Although no information was revealed, his reaction clearly meant something was up.

Several people joined in teasing, but Bai Jinyan’s firm choice of dare meant Ma Yunan and the others got nothing useful.

“Then go to the playground and ask a junior, ‘Am I handsome?’” Ma Yunan suggested.

Bai Jinyan looked momentarily dazed but complied with the game rules. However, after returning from his punishment, he appeared puzzled and refused to reveal what the junior had said no matter how much Ma Yunan pressed.

Seeing Bai Jinyan take the center seat to host the next round, Chen Ruowen felt gloomy.

Why would Bai Jinyan rather approach a boy than answer that question?

Could it be his first kiss was already gone?

But she never kissed him—so who did?

Could it be another girl secretly crushing on him? Chen Ruowen’s sharp gaze swept over Li Yun and Ye Qing, who sat with an empty seat between them, then drifted to Du Yueyue, the girl she caught red-handed the other day. The more she thought, the angrier she became.

As soon as the truth-or-dare round ended and Bai Jinyan returned to his seat, Chen Ruowen twisted his arm hard.

“Who was it?” she demanded fiercely.

“What?”

“Who kissed you?”

“N-no one.”

“You’re lying! If no one, why won’t you answer Ma Yunan’s question?”

“I just... hss!”

Before Bai Jinyan could speak, Chen Ruowen twisted his arm even harder. In that split second, Bai Jinyan suddenly had a flash of inspiration, channeling his inner actor, emitting a muffled groan and clutching his arm in pain.

“Hit a sore spot.”