Chapter 5: Unspeakable Sincerity to Keep You 1
Although I went to school with Hongze, I was still confused about how he was going to go to school. But Hongze said, "The mountain man has his own clever plan," and refused to explain. Seeing that he was confident, I had no choice but to let him go.
"Ah! That, that must be the 'Prince of the Dragon', right?"
"Yes, you can tell from his extraordinary demeanor that only the 'Prince of the Dragon' can have such demeanor!"
"Who is the 'short, ugly, and clumsy' guy next to the 'dragon prince'?"
"Tsk, I don't know either. It must be a shameless fly clinging to 'Prince Dragon'."
"If I were that shameless, I would have become friends with the 'Dragon Prince' a long time ago."
"It's all because 'Prince Jiaolong' is too gentle. Sometimes I wish he could be a little more fierce, so there wouldn't be so many people pestering him."
"Yes, I just want to be able to watch the 'Prince Dragon' from afar."
I was sweating as I looked at the girl who had been walking two steps ahead of us since we entered the school gate, and who had been looking back at me and Hongze and talking all the way without disguising herself. She actually said she was watching from a distance? According to her calculation, if she was close to Hongze, she would have to ride on his head...
I silently thought about the scene of the girl riding on Hongze's head. Her gentle "dragon prince" would probably go berserk on the spot, grab her feet and stomp her into the center of the earth. I was amused by my own fantasy and laughed with my hands covering my face.
"What are you laughing at?" Hongze poked me sensitively.
I jumped away immediately, trying to hold back my laughter and said, "Don't touch me, 'Prince Dragon'. I'm afraid I'll be torn apart by your admirers. I'm still young and have a lot of good times ahead of me."
Hongze gritted his teeth and said with a fake smile: "Humph, if you hide any further , I will tear you apart."
"Uh..." I took a step towards him obediently. After thinking for a while, I couldn't help but complain, "I can probably guess that you used magic, but what about the 'Dragon Prince'? Are you the male lead in an idol drama?"
"You! I find that you are very excited today, so unrestrained. It would be more effective if I asked you to kneel directly on the floor in the morning." Hongze threatened me coldly, with a gentle smile on his face, and smiled at the girl who happened to turn around.
The girl's eyes immediately sparkled with love, and she clenched her fists tightly in front of her chest, looking like she wanted to faint on her friend. Her friend was also very excited, slapping her arm to prevent her from fainting, while staring at Hongze without blinking.
"Ha, I'm still as charming as before." Hongze looked quite satisfied. He raised his hand to casually brush his bangs and looked at me proudly.
The girls screamed softly because of his actions, and I even saw flashbulbs. I felt relieved that Hongze had integrated into the school effortlessly, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel worried about Hongze's tendency to show off.
I shook my head. Maybe it was because I was too dull that I felt it was not good. If it was Zhou Mian or Ling Jiao, they would definitely think it was normal.
While I was daydreaming, Hongze and I had already walked to the classroom. Standing at the front door of the classroom, I paused and asked Hongze with my eyes where he wanted to sit.
Hongze winked at me nonchalantly and walked straight to the single seat in the last row by the window and sat down. None of my classmates seemed to think there was anything wrong. Xu Zhishang, who was sitting in the second to last row, even greeted Hongze very naturally.
I was very shocked, shook my head and sighed: "This spell is really too terrifying."
"What are you talking about, standing at the door like an idiot?"
Zhou Mian rested his head on top of mine and spoke as if nothing had happened.
I lowered my head, jumped away, rubbed my head and complained, "Ah! What are you doing?"
"Huh? That's..." Zhou Mian suddenly pointed to the corner of the classroom and asked me in disbelief, "Hongze?"
I had a headache and hesitated about how to explain this to Zhou Mian: "This... Hongze seems to have used magic to make everyone think that he is a student of our school."
Zhou Mian rubbed his temple and frowned: "Why did he come?"
I looked at Hongze who was surrounded by girls. He sat on the table, looking back out the window from time to time with a stiff expression, as if he was thinking whether he could jump out of the window to avoid the embarrassing situation.
I couldn't help but rub my temples and had a headache again. This was the first time I saw someone who dug a hole for himself. It was obvious that he was not good at dealing with girls at all, but he still wanted to be in the spotlight and pretend to be a popular campus idol.
Fortunately, the bell rang at the right time, and Hongze barely escaped. Looking at Hongze's relieved look, I really don't know whether to say he is stupid or foolish.
"Who are you talking about? Aren't stupid and foolish almost the same?" Li Weiwei, who was passing by me, suddenly spoke to me, sat down at the table in front of me, turned around and asked me with a gossipy look on her face.
I was shocked and realized that I had said what was in my mind, so I had to change the subject: "Class is about to start, why don't you go back to your seat?"
"I'll be back in a minute. I want to ask you something." Li Weiwei simply turned around, leaned over my desk, and asked me mysteriously, "Aren't you on good terms with Hongze? Does he have a girlfriend?"
"Hey, you want to die!" Ai Jia next to her suddenly slapped Li Weiwei on the back and said angrily.
"Don't be shy. Besides, I didn't ask you personally, so what does it matter?" Li Weiwei rubbed my back nonchalantly, looked at Aijia with a teasing expression, and raised her chin towards me, motioning me to answer.
I complained in my heart, why don't you ask him in person! Then I thought, if Hongze was asked such a question, he might really jump out of the window, so let's not do it.
I suddenly realized a problem. Why did Li Weiwei insist that I had a good relationship with Hongze? Could it be that Hongze used magic to leave an impression on everyone? No, the girls in the same school also called me "short, ugly and clumsy". It didn't seem like they knew that Hongze had a close female friend.
Li Weiwei knocked on the table and urged me: "Speak up, you have such a rich expression, what are you thinking about?"
Expression! Li Weiwei's words reminded me that she had met Hongze before, on the first day when Hongze escaped from the Soul Binding Cage. Not only Li Weiwei, but several other girls had also met Hongze and even took photos with him.
At that time, Zhou Mian and I explained that Hongze was our friend. Although we did not emphasize that he was not from our school, if we were to become classmates now, Ling Jiao and Li Weiwei would probably find it strange.
I wondered if this would become a hidden danger, so I said cautiously, "I don't know. Why are you so interested in Hongze?"
"That's the 'Prince of the Dragon', of course I'm interested."
Li Weiwei said it as a matter of course.
"Yes! I just don't know who was the first to call out 'Prince Dragon'. It's a bit embarrassing both when it sounds like it and when you say it yourself." Now, Aijia was no longer reserved and agreed with great interest.
"Eh? You guys think so too, right? Where did this title come from? It wasn't someone from our class who spread it first?"
As soon as they heard the name "Prince Jiaolong", several girls around them immediately joined the discussion. They complained that the title of "Prince Jiaolong" was old-fashioned and meaningless, and it was not worthy of Hongze's extraordinary temperament.
I propped up my head and listened to their conversation, thinking to myself, this is the title that you, the otherworldly Hongze, gave yourself.
Complaining is just my thing, but I'm not good at joining in such conversations. I'm worried that they might find out something, but I don't know how to change the subject.
"Are you guys going to class or not? The teacher will be here soon. Hongze is so handsome, no matter what he does or what he is called, you think it is right. No matter what others say about him or do to him, you think they are not worthy of him." Li Zimei, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, her voice neither too loud nor too low, but what she said made it impossible for them to refute.
“This seems to make sense.”
"Actually, 'Prince Dragon' isn't that strange. It probably means he's a great swimmer or something like that."
"It's possible, an underwater dragon or something."
"Ah...it would be nice if I could take swimming as an elective in PE class. I want to swim with him."
"Swimming! Half naked! Abs! Oh my god, I think I'm going to have a nosebleed!"
"Hey, hey, hey, Li Weiwei, keep your voice down!"
"That's right. I blushed when I heard that. Do you think the guy named Hongze 'Prince Jiaolong' has seen him swimming? I'm so jealous..."
"Now that you mention it, I'm jealous too."
Seeing the attention of the girls instantly diverted to who knows where, I turned to look at Li Zimei, and I just admired her. She was just a bystander, but a simple sentence changed the whole situation.
"What are you still doing together? Are you going to have class or not?" As the bell rang, the English teacher walked into the classroom and said very dissatisfiedly.
Several girls were startled and ran back to their seats with their tongues sticking out and faces made.
Li Zimei looked at me and smiled, then whispered, "Are you okay? They kept making trouble around you, and I deliberately didn't remind them."
I smiled. I didn't expect Li Zimei to have such a little thought. I shook my head and said, "It's okay. I just feel dizzy because of the noise from so many people."
The English teacher at the podium, like everyone else, was not at all surprised by Hongze's sudden appearance and continued the class as usual.
I stared at the blackboard, a little absent-minded.
Hongze has an unclear relationship with the Dragon King, and the scales on his body made me guess that he was a fairy beast from the water. Now it seems that "Prince Jiaolong" is not just something he said casually. Maybe his true identity is a Jiaolong.
However, such a self-exposure title is not a good thing. Before, only Zhou Mian and I knew about his existence, but now there are thousands of people in the whole school. If there is someone with ulterior motives with such an unusual and eye-catching title...
No, humans probably can't do any harm to him, but if something is exposed, he probably won't be able to go to school with me. Or even leave.
Thinking about this, I turned around to look at him, and Hongze had already fallen asleep on the table.
The morning sun shone on him, giving him a light golden glow. His long eyelashes cast a shadow, and his distinct chin line became softer. The shimmering desktop made his face look a little mottled, as if there was a great distance between us.
Wait, sparkling?
I looked closely and wished I could poke my own eyes out.
This guy was sleeping soundly on the table, with a snot bubble on the tip of his nose, his mouth open like an idiot, and saliva flowing from the corners of his mouth all over the table.
I desperately turned my gaze back to the blackboard and took out a pack of tissues from my pocket. Finally, when the English teacher was writing on the blackboard, I turned around quickly and threw the tissues at Hongze, hitting him accurately on the bridge of his nose.
Hongze closed his eyes, raised his hand to touch his nose, changed direction, and continued to sleep with his head facing the window.
I closed my eyes in despair. Does this guy really have the slightest awareness of being a popular campus idol? If Li Weiwei and the others saw me like this, they would definitely think I was crazy for liking him and thinking he was handsome.
Is there really nothing wrong with “Prince Jiaolong”?
