Chapter Twenty-Seven: Cheng Shiyu

The joyful weekend had passed, and Monday morning arrived. As usual, Nangong Yuchen dressed, washed up, and boarded the 7:30 maglev train, heading toward District A.

On the way, his mind was preoccupied with how he would ask Le Han about the mecha shop when they met later, and what he should say if the homeroom teacher, Shangguan Luohua, inquired about his physical fitness. He hadn’t thought much about these things over the weekend, but as soon as he sat on the train that morning, he remembered how he had rushed off right after the physical test last Friday. Today, the homeroom teacher would certainly ask about it.

Lost in these troublesome thoughts, he slowly followed the crowd to the gates of Star Academy. Perhaps because he was so deep in thought, he failed to notice that all the students outside the gates were standing quietly, none of them daring to step inside for some unknown reason.

Oblivious to all this, he lifted his foot and walked straight through the gate.

At that moment, a sharp female voice rang out.
“So you’re Nangong Yuchen?”

“Hm?” His thoughts were interrupted, and he turned toward the voice.

Standing beside the academy’s black gates was a tall, beautiful girl. Her uniform was distinctive: a white and blue shirt, a blue star-crystal pinned above her left chest, and a powder-blue skirt that revealed a pair of long, shapely legs, their fair, smooth skin glowing in the morning light.

As her sharp voice faded, the girl folded her arms and fixed him with a pair of cold, beautiful eyes.

“And you are?” Nangong Yuchen’s brows slowly furrowed. He had no recollection of the girl standing not far from him.

“Hmph! Since you’re Nangong Yuchen, then—go to hell!” With a kick of her long leg, the girl leapt high and aimed a fierce kick at his head.

Completely bewildered, Nangong Yuchen’s face darkened. As the girl’s leg lashed out, he hastily raised his right arm to block and snapped angrily, “Are you crazy?”

“You—you dare insult me?” The girl’s face twisted with incredulity and anger. She spat coldly, “Well, Nangong Yuchen, not only did you hurt Lu Ling, now you insult me too? Looks like you really have a death wish!”

Wham!

She lunged at him and swung a slap at his face.

Hearing her words, Nangong Yuchen suddenly understood: she was from the Lu family!

Since that was the case, he no longer felt obliged to hold back.

With that thought, he spread his fingers to catch her descending arm. But in the next instant, his face went pale—he realized the strength in her hand was tremendous. His own strength, nearly 300kg, couldn’t match hers at all; he was forced back several steps, his fingers tingling numbly.

The girl closed her fist and launched another fierce punch at his face. He quickly crossed his arms to block, but was sent flying backward once again.

“Wow, who is that guy? He actually fought back against Cheng Shiyu?”

“I think his name’s Nangong… Yuchen, right? Have you heard of him?”

“Hah, who cares who he is—he’s about to be beaten to a pulp. Cheng Shiyu is one of our academy’s elite students!”

…

“An elite student, huh?” Nangong Yuchen’s face went completely dark as he heard the murmurs around him. He hadn’t expected this girl, who had attacked him out of nowhere, to not only be from the Lu family but also an elite student of Star Academy. It seemed today’s trouble wouldn’t be easily resolved.

Cheng Shiyu glared at Nangong Yuchen, her eyes blazing with anger. She’d already been irritable these past two days because of her father’s sudden disappearance, and after hearing yesterday that Lu Ling had been beaten up, she seized the chance to vent her frustrations. Yet instead of easing her anger, it only grew.

“Hmph!” She snorted coldly and attacked again. Her tall figure bent slightly, her hand forming a blade as she lunged at Nangong Yuchen.

Feeling the force of her palm cutting through the air, Nangong Yuchen’s eyelids flickered. He hurriedly retreated, spinning and kicking at her chest.

Cheng Shiyu nimbly twisted aside, easily dodging his kick, then chopped down at his exposed thigh.

Unable to dodge, Nangong Yuchen quickly raised his arm to block—but her strength was overwhelming, and he crashed face-first to the ground.

“Die!”

Her face full of contempt, Cheng Shiyu lifted her foot and stomped toward his head.

With his superior reflexes, Nangong Yuchen sensed the incoming attack. He rolled over, bracing both hands upward to block her foot.

But as he completed the maneuver, he froze.

From this angle… everything was too clear. The view beneath her skirt was completely exposed to him, and with Cheng Shiyu’s foot pressing down on his hands in a stalemate, he saw everything in vivid detail.

Especially the black lace underwear, which made his face flush red. He quickly turned his head aside.

“Huh?” As she pressed down harder with her foot, Cheng Shiyu noticed his odd reaction, and suddenly realized—she was wearing a skirt...

In an instant, her face turned scarlet. Her body trembled as she screamed, “Nangong Yuchen! I’ll kill you!”

Wham! Mortified and furious, she unleashed her full strength, kicking Nangong Yuchen flying.

Afterward, her body shook violently, both shamed and enraged. Her beautiful eyes blazed with fury, as if she might rush over and kill him on the spot.

Coughing and holding his chest, Nangong Yuchen stared at her as well. Though he despised the entire Lu family, his face was tinged with red at that moment.

“Haha, I told you that guy didn’t know what he was getting himself into!”

“See? Cheng Shiyu’s totally furious now. She’s about to get serious—he’s going to be beaten to a pulp!”

Sure enough, as the voices faded, Cheng Shiyu charged again. All her strength, approaching 450kg, was unleashed. With a single punch, Nangong Yuchen was sent flying several meters.

“You madwoman!” Nangong Yuchen’s face darkened with pain, and he snapped back, “You think I wanted to look?”

“You… you pervert! I’ll kill you!” Cheng Shiyu’s flushed face turned pale with rage, and she went berserk.

Just then, the academy bell rang. In an instant, the crowd of students who’d been enjoying the spectacle scrambled into the academy in a panic.

Nangong Yuchen did the same. Knowing he was no match for Cheng Shiyu at the moment, he took advantage of the chaos to slip inside.

Behind him, Cheng Shiyu stamped her feet in frustration, biting her lip in anger as she stormed into the academy. But as a girl, she couldn’t force her way through the crowd of boys. By the time she made it inside two minutes later, Nangong Yuchen was nowhere to be seen.

“Nangong Yuchen, I swear I’ll kill you!”