Yu Yang's words stunned everyone, none more than Lin Fan himself.
He'd admired the "Ice Queen" from afar but never dared dream she'd confess feelings for him. Must be a lie to save face, he thought bitterly.
Lyu Lingyu and Yang Ziming gaped. "You're joking!" Yang Ziming spat. "This trash? Let me fix your standards, Yu Yang—I'll take you instead of this gutter rat!"
Lyu Lingyu paled but stayed silent, her claws digging into Yang Ziming's arm.
"Shut your mouth!" Yu Yang snapped. Before Lyu Lingyu could react, a resounding slap cracked across her face.
"That's for your filthy tongue," Yu Yang hissed. "Underestimate Lin Fan now, but remember—fortunes change. He'll rise higher than you cockroaches ever will!"
She turned, gently linking arms with Lin Fan. Yang Ziming turned purple. The campus goddess choosing this pauper?!
"At least buy her a decent gift!" Yang Ziming sneered, clutching at straws.
Lin Fan smirked, pulling the Armani clutch from his bag. "This work?"
Lyu Lingyu's eyes bulged. The bag she'd begged Yang Ziming for—now in Yu Yang's hands! "That... was meant for me?" she whispered.
"You lost that right," Lin Fan said coldly.
Yu Yang beamed, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Dinner's on me tonight." She led him away, leaving the pair seething.
"Thank you," Lin Fan murmured later. "You didn't have to pretend to be—"
"Who said I was pretending?" Yu Yang cut him off, her smile enigmatic.
Before he could ask more, six thugs surrounded them in a deserted alley.
"Nice girl you got there," a tattooed thug leered. "We'll take good care of her after breaking your legs."
Lin Fan stepped forward. "Hurt me, but leave her—"
"Hurt her? Nah," the thug licked his lips. "We'll sell her to a brothel once we're done. Money talks, pretty boy."
As his grimy hand reached for Yu Yang's face, the System's voice rang out:
[Host, consume the Temporary Strength Boost Pill NOW.]