Ding Xian sat upright, her back to him, and casually picked a channel. "You go play with them, I'll just watch TV by myself."

Zhou Siyue glanced at her, probing, "So I'm leaving?"

Ding Xian nodded.

'Go wash your bird's nest hair.'

"Alrighty then."

Zhou Siyue actually got up and left.

The Zhou family's TV was bigger and clearer than theirs. Ding Xian rarely had the chance to watch TV; it was either monopolized by her younger brother or her father.

She was happy to be at leisure by herself, watching with great interest.

Not long after, Ding Juncong fussed about needing to go to the bathroom. Ye Wanxian told Ding Xian to take him. Ding Xian took him inside and leaned against the outer wall of the bathroom to wait.

First, a burst of boisterous laughter came from a door nearby. Ding Xian's attention was instantly caught, and then she heard someone mimicking her speaking in a high-pitched, shrill voice.

"I scored six hundred eighty-five points!"

This was immediately followed by another burst of laughter.

Someone else imitated Ye Wanxian, repeating the dining table conversation: "Our Xianxian is so well-behaved, I don't need to worry about her at all, and she never compares herself to other children. Our Xianxian understands everything!"

"Look at her mom, still trying to get close to Siyue by marriage! Who still arranges childhood engagements these days!"

"Don't you think that bump on her head looks like a horn,..."

"I think she looks like Shrek the Ogre."

"She was even shy when she looked at Siyue just now!"

Ding Xian's back stiffened against the wall, as if someone had reached out to choke her. Her brain roared, starting to run out of oxygen, a complete blank.

"Hahahahahahaha, I think that little monster is quite pathetic too. Her mom's gaze at her son is so different from her gaze at her."

It wasn't her fault to be born into a biased family, so Ding Xian had always carefully maintained her bit of self-esteem. Although her mother indeed favored her younger brother over her, she would never say anything negative about her mother in front of outsiders.

Her adolescent wound was suddenly exposed and torn to shreds. She couldn't help but clench her fists, a little devil in her heart clawing and wanting to climb out!

"Siyue, her mom clearly isn't a good person. Stay away from that little monster, don't get yourself involved."

This was Jiang Chen's voice.

"Mm."

Zhou Siyue, who was fiercely battling in front of the computer with a game controller in his hands, answered absentmindedly, but in his mind was Ding Xian's small figure sitting on the sofa.

The next second, his character in the game fell.

He was dead.

The bespectacled boy next to him, who had inexplicably won, looked bewildered.

Zhou Siyue threw down the game controller, irritably ran a hand through his hair, and slumped onto the sofa, grabbing a pillow and pressing it to his face. However, just by looking at his expression, one could tell he was a bit annoyed at the moment.

Jiang Chen hooked his arm and leaned over: "Siyue, tell me, what's it like to suddenly have a fiancée?"

Everyone in the room subconsciously wanted to hear his opinion on the "fiancée."

Zhou Siyue was already annoyed because he lost the game due to distraction caused by her. Although it was his own subjective factor, she still had to bear some joint responsibility. Jiang Chen's relentless questioning irritated him. He directly pressed the pillow onto Jiang Chen's head, "Are you annoying or not? If you like it, go for it yourself, don't bother me." After saying that, he directly kicked Jiang Chen away: "Get off, you're sitting on my models."

That's right.

Everyone knew that Young Master Zhou was only interested in various models.

Only Song Yijin, from the side, asked very seriously, "I don't think Sister Ding Xian is as... why do you all dislike her so much..."

"Little sister, we just dislike the way she boasts about her grades. Her demeanor at the dinner table reminded me of my ex-girlfriend, equally hypocritical." Jiang Chen bit off the last two words.

"She didn't mean anything else, right?"

"Of course she didn't mean anything else, she just likes to show off, it's a common flaw of good students: 'I scored six ninety, I didn't perform well... sniff sniff... I only got second in class this time, sniff sniff...'"

Jiang Chen was mimicking with great relish.

From outside the door came a loud shout: "Sister!!!"

Everyone inside paused, looking at each other, even Zhou Siyue, who had been idly tossing a pillow, stopped.

Jiang Chen mouthed silently, 'Holy crap, those two siblings are outside?'

Song Yijin gave him a look that said, 'Good luck to you.'

Then there were a few light knocks on the door from outside. Zhou Siyue, lying on the sofa, kicked Jiang Chen with his foot, signaling him to open the door.

Jiang Chen didn't dare to go, afraid of seeing Ding Xian's gloomy face, but Zhou Siyue had an expression that said 'if you don't open it, I'll throw you out,' so he bit the bullet and went.

The door opened with a click. Jiang Chen grinned cheekily, "Little monster... little beauty, looking for Siyue?"

People inside sat in small groups; some were playing games, while Zhou Siyue sat on the sofa like a grand old man, cuddling a pillow with his feet propped up. Song Yijin sat beside him.

Ding Xian walked past Jiang Chen and looked at Zhou Siyue, "Bathroom, no paper."

Zhou Siyue rubbed his nose and stood up, walked through the hallway and directly into his room. He habitually rubbed his neck when walking. In a moment, he came out with a pack of tissue paper and threw it to her while leaning against the doorframe.

Ding Xian accurately caught it, and politely thanked him, "Thank you for the trouble." Then she turned and left.

Zhou Siyue watched her retreating figure and suddenly smiled. He glanced to the side and bluntly exposed, "Stop pretending, you heard everything, didn't you?"

Ding Xian stopped and calmly turned around.

The boy leaned against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets, looking at her with a half-smile. The light streaming in from the stairwell window fell on him, highlighting the unrestrained arrogance in his eyes.

She didn't know where she found the courage, and replied calmly:

"If I break off the engagement, would you be happier?"

Zhou Siyue was puzzled. After a long moment, he nodded.

Then he heard the clear and cheerful voice of the girl.

"Oh, then I won't break it off."

One of the hallmarks of adolescent rebellion: specifically not doing what you want.

Originally, he had wanted to apologize for Jiang Chen, but Zhou Siyue was so amused by her that he just laughed. He bit his lower lip, nodded, and said, "Fine, whatever you want."

After saying that, he closed the door.

They parted on bad terms.

And so, her high school life began with an engagement.