The next day, apart from some bruises and aches on my face, the swelling had mostly subsided, and at least I had a face. When I looked at myself in the mirror earlier, it was truly a sight to behold. However, I didn't feel any happier about the recovery; on the contrary, I felt very melancholic. I propped my chin and sighed from time to time, my gaze fixed on Su Yuqian who was taking notes with a ballpoint pen. I wasn't paying attention to the teacher's lecture.

"Jerry, what's wrong with you? You keep sighing," Zhiye, who was sitting next to me with a ten-centimeter gap between us after she shared her textbook with me, couldn't help but ask.

"Huh? What's wrong?" I started to play dumb and pretend nothing was wrong.

"You've been sighing," Zhiye replied skeptically, not believing me.

"No, Zhiye, you must have seen wrong just now," I said with a very certain tone, and Zhiye didn't pursue the matter any further.

I leaned to the side and looked out the window, taking another deep breath. I was just going through the motions and had to force myself to deal with Zhiye so that she wouldn't be suspicious of me. After school, Zhiye and I were almost the last to leave. After all, by leaving a little later, we would avoid the rush hour when everyone was leaving at the same time.

"Jerry, are you going to the library today?" Zhiye asked with a smile, looking at me.

I hesitated for a moment but nodded, "Do you really not want to come with me?"

Zhiye seemed to want to accompany me, but I couldn't agree and could only say, "If you're here, I won't be able to focus on studying."

"Well, there's nothing I can do," she said, a little disappointed but still smiling. "I'll make dinner at home and wait for you to come back. Don't make me wait too long!"

"Okay," I nodded.

"I'll go now," Zhiye said, then turned and walked away.

As soon as she was out of the school gate, I took off my mask and started thinking about what to do next. "Do not give up easily?" I muttered to myself, recalling what Fia had said. My legs moved forward unconsciously, and before I knew it, I had arrived in the school backyard.

"Yuxi classmate, ever since I first laid eyes on you, I couldn't help but fall in love with you," suddenly I heard a boy confessing to Su Yuqian, and the line was perfectly aligned with my own mindset of liking Su Yuqian.

"Please date me," the boy said straightforwardly.

At this point, Su Yuqian should have rejected the boy or maybe even punched him hard. But after half a day had passed, there was still silence. I instinctively panicked, walked closer to the bushes and saw Su Yuqian in sportswear with a long-haired, decent-looking boy. Su Yuqian was blushing, with her head down and her hands on her pants. This shy demeanor worried me greatly. If she agreed to date, then I would have no chance.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw Su Yuqian slightly open her thin lips, and I felt like something ominous was about to happen. Before she could say anything, I lunged forward, thinking I could jump over smoothly. However, I tripped on something, fell to the ground, and landed perfectly like a dog eating shit.

"Don't even think about…" I trembled and stood up rudely, interrupting the confession.

"What? Can I call you my love rival?" The guy calmly called me that.

"Who's your…" I didn't finish my sentence before he continued, "I believe in fairness. Let's have a fight. Whoever gets knocked down can pursue Yuxi classmate, and the loser can never come into contact with Yuxi classmate again."

The guy suddenly raised the flag, and it was such a vicious flag that it instantly increased my pressure.

"What do you say? Are you scared?" The guy said tauntingly."Who's afraid!" I rushed forward recklessly, feeling extremely annoyed by this guy, especially his flippant smile.

"Oh... you have courage,"

"I'll make you search the ground for your teeth because you really pissed me off,"

"Then come at me," he provocatively beckoned. I charged at him, but as soon as I reached him, he took a step forward and hit my stomach hard with a punch. I collapsed to the ground, feeling a sharp pain and a nauseating burning sensation in my stomach.

"You're really weak,"

"Sneaky..."

I glared at him with anger.

"What's sneaky? I attacked first to take you down. Don't you understand? It's really a shame for you, but it's for the best. I wanted you to stay down and completely unable to get close to Yuxi. Everyone else is the same, only I am qualified to be Yuxi's boyfriend, hahaha..."

This guy was really arrogant. He then sneered and waved his fist, ready to give me a heavy hit on the face.

"Fall down for me, trash," he shouted arrogantly, and then threw his fist at me with the force of a breaking wind. I had no time to hesitate, so I relied solely on my anger and a bit of luck. I closed my eyes and grabbed his hand that was about to hit me.

"What?" I successfully caught his hand and held it tightly. He looked surprised.

"Don't think I'm easy to bully. Although I'm average in every aspect, my fists are not to be underestimated."

While he was still stunned, I infused my fist with power and hit him hard on the face, gritting my teeth.

He flew far and when he stood up, his face was swollen.

"Damn it, you attacked me unexpectedly!" He was very angry and rushed towards me, grabbing my collar.

"Fall down for me!" He punched me in the face but I fought back and hit him back.

"Damn it!"

"Bastard!"

We cursed each other and kept punching each other until we could hardly recognize each other. My hands became weak and my body was exhausted. Suddenly, he stumbled and fell to the ground. He was still breathing, so it seemed that I had won. I felt delighted, even though my nose was bleeding and my face was swollen. I had won with glory.

"Su Yuqian... I knocked him down, so don't go out with him," I said proudly.

Su Yuqian still looked cold and seemed to have a bad impression of me.

"I didn't say I want to go out with him..." she blushed slightly.

"Well, that's great..." I felt relieved and happy about what I did.

But as soon as I showed a happy smile, Su Yuqian kicked my leg and I fell to the ground uncontrollably.

"Fool," she said softly and walked away as if it had nothing to do with her.

I lay on the ground, looking up at the orange sky, wondering whether I had done the right thing or not, and whether I was being foolishly hopeful.