Chapter 52: What a coincidence, classmate Lu Mingfei.

Sunlight poured through the transparent glass dome of the mall as Liu Miaomiao walked over with an effortless grace, while Qiao Yiran followed closely behind her like a female bodyguard, holding her head high with a proud posture.

The more nonchalant Liu Miaomiao appeared, the more anxious Lu Mingfei felt inside.

Liu Miaomiao's outfit today was quite similar to her usual style: beneath a sky-blue cardigan was a white knee-length dress, her hands naturally clutching a small Prada handbag dangling by her thighs. On her feet were a pair of British-style leather shoes paired with pure white socks, creating an overall aesthetic of sweet innocence.

Lu Mingfei stood straight and rigid, watching Liu Miaomiao approach him step by step.

Su Xiaoqiang, meanwhile, stood with one hand on her hip, looking at the scene unfolding before her with an amused expression.

When she was about two or three meters away from Lu Mingfei, Liu Miaomiao stopped in her tracks.

Just as Lu Mingfei was wondering what Liu Miaomiao would say to him, she gave a gentle nod and spoke with a smile, her crisp, clean hair naturally falling to one side.

"What a coincidence, classmate Lu Mingfei," Liu Miaomiao smiled. "I didn't expect to run into you here."

Lu Mingfei was momentarily stunned. *Well, well, I've been downgraded to 'classmate'.*

He had been through thick and thin with Liu Miaomiao, fighting their way from Fuxingmen Station to Fushouling Station, and even protecting her three times from the harassment of that jerk Zhao Menghua. Only after all that had he finally earned the right to have her address him simply as "Mingfei" instead of "Lu Mingfei."

Yet, in the span of a single minute, "Mingfei" had been brutally knocked back to the much more distant "classmate Lu Mingfei."

"Yeah, yeah, what a coincidence, what a coincidence," Lu Mingfei chuckled awkwardly, feeling a guilty pang of conscience.

In truth, he knew that the present-day Liu Miaomiao definitely had no recollection of what had transpired between the two of them in the Beijing subway. The crucial point, however, was that Lu Mingfei remembered.

Moreover, Lu Mingfei was not a jerk like Zhao Menghua; he was someone whose heart was perpetually overflowing with a sense of indebtedness—especially toward girls.

If that sudden subway train hadn't barreled toward them at that exact moment, he would have very nearly kissed Liu Miaomiao right on the lips. That would have been Liu Miaomiao's first kiss. Although there had been a fair bit of the suspension bridge effect at play in their psychology back then, a kiss meant taking responsibility for her.

Even though the kiss never happened in the end, Lu Mingfei still felt a lingering emotional awkwardness regarding Liu Miaomiao, an awkwardness tinged with a hint of ambiguity.

That was why, facing Liu Miaomiao now, he wore the guilty look of an adulterer caught in the act.

"But if I recall correctly, classmate Lu Mingfei, your home is on the east side of the city, isn't it?" Liu Miaomiao tilted her head, freeing one hand from her handbag to rest gently against her chin in a thoughtful pose. "The east side is quite far from this CBD center, you know. There don't seem to be any direct buses. It must have taken classmate Lu Mingfei quite a long time to travel all the way over here, right?"

Lu Mingfei froze. *Damn it! How am I supposed to answer that?!*

If he answered truthfully by saying, "I came here in a taxi with classmate Su Xiaoqiang standing right beside me."

Then, leaving his relationship with Su Xiaoqiang aside for a moment, why on earth would he and Su Xiaoqiang end up sharing a taxi together?

Could it be that they had arranged to meet up at a specific location before setting out?

In that case, why would a single teenage boy and girl be hanging out together?

Were the two of them on a date?

On the other hand, if he lied, the lie would only sound clumsy.

First of all, Liu Miaomiao had been Lu Mingfei's junior high school classmate for three years, so she had a rough idea of his family's financial situation. She knew he wasn't someone who usually threw money around, meaning it was impossible for him to have taken a taxi here all by himself.

However, if Lu Mingfei claimed he had taken the bus, traveling from his house to the CBD center would require a transfer, making the commute nearly two hours long.

What kind of reason could possibly make someone willing to travel thousands of miles—spending two hours on a bus from the east side to the CBD center on the west side? Could it be to see this pretty girl?

No matter how he answered, it felt like a death trap.

Lu Mingfei had already started breaking out in a cold sweat.

Before Lu Mingfei could figure out how to respond, Su Xiaoqiang suddenly spoke up on his behalf:

"He took a taxi here with me."

Su Xiaoqiang said this with a nonchalant expression, shifting her weight from one leg to the other as she changed her stance.

Although Su Xiaoqiang was dressed simply today, she was naturally the kind of girl who, much like a rose, was striking with a fierce, arresting beauty.

Even though her physical position hadn't changed at all, the dynamic among the three of them instantly shifted. It was no longer Liu Miaomiao confronting Lu Mingfei; it had transformed into a head-on clash between Su Xiaoqiang and Liu Miaomiao.

The bright and flamboyant Su Xiaoqiang, the well-behaved and confident Liu Miaomiao—two girls with completely contrasting styles standing face-to-face... and it was all because of him?

In his past life, this kind of treatment would only ever happen to Chu Zihang or Zhao Menghua.

Standing right between the two of them, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that life could be quite unpredictable.

"By the way..."

Just as Lu Mingfei was about to say something, he suddenly saw Liu Miaomiao flash a radiant smile and say,

"Classmate Lu Mingfei, really now. I've been standing here for so long, and you haven't even introduced me to the young lady with you."

"Ah, she's Su—"

Before Lu Mingfei could finish, Su Xiaoqiang cut him off.

"My name is Su Xiaoqiang," Su Xiaoqiang said, her voice brimming with delight. "If nothing unexpected happens, I'll also be a student at your Shilan High School when the semester starts. Who knows, we might even end up in the same class!"

"Oh, so you're classmate Su! Then let me welcome you in advance to the Shilan High School family. My name is Liu Miaomiao, and I'm Lu Mingfei's classmate. With a pretty girl like you who is also a friend of Lu Mingfei's, if you happen to end up in our class, classmate Lu Mingfei will surely be thrilled."

"I've actually heard Lu Mingfei mention you before. He said you're the campus belle of Shilan High School, and seeing you today, you really are very pretty. I'm quite looking forward to us ending up in the same class, though I suppose it might be a bit difficult. After all, you and Lu Mingfei were only junior high classmates; there's no telling if you'll be in the same class in high school. Having all three of us placed together is just too unlikely. Who knows, it might end up being Lu Mingfei and me in the same class while you get assigned somewhere else!"

Even though both girls were chatting with brilliant smiles plastered across their faces, Lu Mingfei couldn't shake the feeling that their words were loaded with hidden barbs.

Moreover, whether it was his imagination or not, for a split second, he actually saw lions in the eyes of both girls.

And they were female lions, at that!

...

The first round of the battle ended with Su Xiaoqiang holding a slight upper hand, and both sides temporarily paused.

Looking at Liu Miaomiao—whose lips were pursed in unconvinced defiance and whose eyes were still slightly swollen—Su Xiaoqiang didn't feel any overwhelming sense of joy or triumph.

To be honest, did she really harbor any genuine hostility toward Liu Miaomiao? Not really.

Her current relationship with Lu Mingfei was still strictly that of online pen pals; at best, they were internet buddies who could act like bros. As a fellow girl, she could easily tell what Liu Miaomiao's intentions toward Lu Mingfei were. Seeing the scene of Lu Mingfei feeding her cake earlier, Liu Miaomiao must have mistaken her for a romantic rival.

That was why she had acted a bit playfully toward Liu Miaomiao, wanting to tease this pretty girl while simultaneously giving a gentle push to help advance the relationship between Liu Miaomiao and Lu Mingfei, essentially doing a favor for them. That was the only reason she had deliberately said those things to provoke Liu Miaomiao.

If it truly came down to a battle of wits and words, Liu Miaomiao was certainly no match for the overbearing Su Xiaoqiang. Therefore, she intended to stop while she was ahead; there was no need to escalate things into a full-blown catfight.

However, Liu Miaomiao's stubborn refusal to admit defeat even while losing the upper hand genuinely startled Su Xiaoqiang.

She glanced sideways at Lu Mingfei, thinking to herself what on earth this loser had going for him that could make a pretty girl like Liu Miaomiao fight this hard for him.

At the same time, this only served to ignite Su Xiaoqiang's competitive spirit. She suddenly wanted to test Liu Miaomiao on a deeper level to see just how firm her resolve truly was.