Chapter 20 Call for Submissions

er Well, I'll head off then." His demeanor was quite casual.Tang Wu nodded to him, but Ye Zijiang didn't seem perturbed by Su Cen's closeness with Tang Wu. Instead, he started the engine and sped away...Chapter 20: Call for Submissions

Slightly aware of the current scene before her, she gently brushed against Yue Liying and sat down in front of the two. She stared at Su Can and asked, "Transfer student, we meet again, do you feel welcome"

Even after sitting down, she pointed to the table, making it seem polite yet leaving no room for Su Can to refuse. Furthermore, her actions perfectly reflected the cunningness of a TV station's leading host from before, showing none of the disheveled and furious state when previously interviewing him. If not for their previous conflict, one might think they were good friends judging by her expression towards Su Can.

"Tang Wu, I didn't know you knew this transfer student; was he a former classmate" Sun Xiaoman finally looked at Tang Wu, playing with the delicate bracelet in her hand, appearing very familiar.

"Yes, we were from the same school."

Sun Xiaoman clapped her hands together. "No wonder! Your Xiahai No. 1 High School is full of talented individuals. Even a new transfer student doesn't act like this!"

Su Can looked at Sun Xiaoman, and when she met his gaze, her eyes flickered as she continued in a deep tone, "So easily getting the upper hand with your lady's appointment can only make one angry; you've gotten quite an advantage!"

Su Can thought to himself that offending such a sharp-tongued school TV station host wasn't good. So he smiled and said, "For what happened by the pond that day, I'm very sorry. It was unintentional. As a new transfer student at No. 27 High School, I’m still unfamiliar with everything here and inadvertently disrupted your extracurricular supervision."

Sun Xiaoman hadn't expected Su Can to apologize; besides being curious about the relationship between Tang Wu and him, she also wanted to taunt him a bit. But now that he had apologized like this, it made her feel small-minded if she continued pressing the matter, something girls generally wouldn’t care much about. Yet in front of Tang Wu, Sun Xiaoman naturally didn't want to fall behind.

For those who had offended her before, Sun Xiaoman always met them head-on with sharp words. Both parties were young and stubborn, neither willing to back down, but Su Can’s response made her feel a bit uncomfortable. So she just smiled and said, "It's fine. Although your actions were exposed on the bulletin board, aren't the words you spoke highly appreciated by Student Council President Gao Zhansong Anyway, just be more careful next time."

Unexpectedly, the situation didn't unfold as she had anticipated. Behind her, many close friends who were prepared to mock and ridicule Sun Man for losing face hadn’t materialized when Sun Man verbally confronted Su Can and embarrassed Tang Wu. There were also people looking forward to watching a spectacle, but they found that Sun Man turned around and called out to the boss, "Three more ice drinks and three skewers of grilled meat." Then she turned back and smiled at Tang Wu and Su Can, saying, "Here, I'll treat you."

She was naturally an outgoing person who liked making friends. Of course, this is relative. Those whom Sun Man could call her friends would only be people with certain appealing qualities—such as the boys in the school football team who expressed their affection on the field or those nameless but brave ones from various classes who had sent her love letters. These people merely elicited a distant smile from Sun Man, neither far nor particularly close.

Tang Wu’s excellence and unapproachability made it inevitable for Sun Man to form contradictory feelings towards her: on one hand, seeing Tang Wu as an opponent; on the other, yearning to be closer to this brilliant girl. A single-winged butterfly is inevitably incomplete; two wings are required for a more perfect and enviable presence.

So unexpectedly, she was able to sit in a small eatery with Tang Wu, who had been hard to approach before, thanks to Su Can’s influence. Most male friendships are formed through drinking together, while female ones often develop over shared meals. This close interaction made Sun Man view Su Can more favorably.

However, due to Sun Man's presence between them, Su Can couldn't be too frank with Tang Wu about his feelings; otherwise, it might have caused a major stir at No. 27 High School the next day.

Yet, Su Can didn’t dislike Sun Man because without her mediation, he wouldn’t have been able to meet and interact with Tang Wu in such an exciting way.

"I also heard that everyone says you have extraordinary charm. You don’t know it yourself but that doesn’t mean others aren’t aware! Every time you represent our school in competitions or exchanges, how many people from other schools are asking about you!" Sun Man was quite excited as she quickly drank some iced water, feeling refreshed and even more relaxed.

"I heard the champion of Yu De High School’s math Olympiad and the president of their Go club admire you! Look over there, the clean-cut guy in a t-shirt pretending to be waiting for a bus. He won an award at our school's arts festival last year. I heard he has been secretly infatuated with you! And the bookstore behind us, that guy holding a copy of 'The Twenty-Four Histories' is my sister’s brother from Class 37 Senior Three. He plays basketball and is quite handsome; they say his math score is top in class. Ever since returning from an exchange trip with you, he’s been utterly smitten!"

"And there are many more admirers according to the information I have," Sun Man concluded with a smile at Su Can. "There's nothing you can do. In No. 27 High School, good-looking girls like Tang Wu attract too much attention from boys! So you should feel lucky that in your school alone, there are countless excellent students who wish they could go out and eat or stroll around as freely with her."

It seemed that Sun Man’s words made people nearby feel she was talking about themselves, prompting them to look away.

"Is it" Tang Wu smiled but glanced at Su Cen. She was naturally aware of these judgments, yet she was also concerned for Su

Sun Man looked at Su Cen with an expression as if she had just come across incredible good luck. Finally, she summed up her thoughts: "In summary, although you may not be outstanding in this school, the fact that you know Tang Wu means your friends will definitely be popular."

A bicycle braked sharply by the roadside and a man with tousled hair and distinct facial features got off. As soon as he stopped here, some of the girls inside the shop greeted him simultaneously. He merely nodded and waved in response before carefully locking his bike and walking over to where they were sitting.

At this time, Sun Man’s group couldn’t help but have their eyes light up. Even Sun Man herself straightened her back subtly and put away a delicate necklace she had been playing with on the table. She smiled happily at the carefree boy,

"Li Qingyang, your youth magazine is ready!"

She also grabbed a small stool for him: "You, move over a bit."

Tang Wu frowned slightly at this gesture of Sun Man's. Su Cen smiled and moved aside to let Li Qingyang sit down between Tang Wu and himself.

Tang Wu gave him a smile. Although she was hard to approach in the eyes of ordinary students, that wasn't entirely true. She certainly didn’t have an anti-social tendency and reject everyone except Su Cen; for those she recognized and admired, she would return their smiles.

However, looking at this man now made Su Cen admit inwardly that if his goal was Tang Wu, then Li Qingyang truly had the qualifications to be his rival.

Once Li Qingyang sat down, Sun Man became lively and bombarded him with questions. Only then did Su Cen realize why this boy was so popular: he resembled a Japanese idol named Takuya Kimura that was very trendy at the time. With his casual tousled hair and distinct facial features similar to those of Takuya Kimura, combined with his inner qualities, Li Qingyang would certainly be an irresistible attraction for all high school girls in this era.

It was natural for Sun Man to change her attitude like this. However, the clique of friends behind her all looked enviously at her for being able to sit next to such a boy.

"The essay 'Weeds on the Fences' that you published last time is really well written. I read it several times and couldn't truly understand its meaning. Only someone who understands the atmosphere and style you described can appreciate your words, which are so refreshing and touching! I don’t know whether you will publish another solicitation for essays in next month’s campus section ‘Jiaotai’. I would really like to see more of your writing."

The sharp-tongued and mature Sun Man, who was just talking with Su Chan and Tang Wu, suddenly turned into a demure lady. She clasped her hands over her heart, accentuating the well-developed peaks in front of her chest. Whether this was an indirect way to attract boys at this stage was debatable.

"I won’t be writing for the journal essay contest since I am one of the judges, but there should still be a lot of essays worth looking forward to, such as Tang Wu’s, which leaves me very curious." Li Qiyang thought that it was too idealistic to see Sun Man’s deliberate display of obedience as her intention to pursue him. As an intelligent person, he wasn’t dazzled by this and smiled at Tang Wu instead.

While some regular high schools might still be in a dark sea of questions with no sight of the sky during daily reviews and pre-study sessions, various extracurricular activities for quality education were not reduced much due to heavy academic pressure in the enlightened environment of No. 27 High School. Perhaps it was because the students at No. 27 could manage both their studies and hobbies or leisure time well so that they complemented each other rather than conflicted.

Therefore, such student-run publications were popular among key universities in Ge City. Since many excellent students from No. 27 High School also published these magazines on campus to some extent, the magazines were more cutting and interesting compared to youth magazines available for purchase.

School was not a place for games and could not be used to watch movies every day. Therefore, reading was perhaps the most frequently contacted form of mental entertainment for students, whether it was reading books, comics, magazines, or celebrity gossip news. It naturally attracted everyone’s attention when there were good articles in the school publication, even at No. 27 High School known for its science subjects.

However, Tang Wu shook her head and met Li Qiyang's intense gaze with "Sorry, I don’t have anything to write right now…"

Li Qiyang put on a difficult expression and said, "Well, we’ve already received more than three hundred feedback cards from the previous issues of this message. The response to your essay in ‘Jiaotai’ was very enthusiastic. You know that every issue of the magazine receives feedback from the student council. We have collected nearly three times as many feedback cards compared to before, and everyone is looking forward to your article…"

"I really don’t have anything to write," Tang Wu shook her head and said, "Thank you for your trust in me, but that doesn’t mean I’m the best choice. There are others who can write better than me."ormitory area with Tran Wu after class.Tran Wu automatically ignored Su Cen's embellishments and replied, "Neither of them; I invited you myself." She then softly added, afraid it might cause a misund...