Eavesdropping on the Campus Belle's Thoughts: She's a Love-Struck Fool - Chapter 1

I gained the ability to eavesdrop on the campus belle’s thoughts. While outwardly cold, she was screaming internally: “He looked at me, he looked at me!” “The way he just adjusted his glasses was so handsome, I want to have his babies!”

Until one day, she was fawning over a greasy school bully: “He looks so manly playing basketball…”

I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Lady, he just tripped and face-planted! You call that manly?”

She stared at me in shock, “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

The entire school heard her confession over the broadcast: “Zhang Yang! I want to marry you!”

I was mortified.

My mind buzzed. It was like someone had stuffed a radio into my ear. It crackled and hissed. The sounds were messy, a jumble.

I shook my head. No use.

I rubbed my temples hard. Still no use.

Those voices were like a swarm of headless flies, crashing around inside my head. They made my brain ache.

I slumped over my desk, burying my face in my arms. I hoped this annoying noise would disappear quickly.

After a long while, the buzzing slowly quieted.

Just when I thought it had finally stopped.

A particularly clear voice suddenly drilled its way in.

“Argh—so annoying! This crappy math problem! Who made it?! All my brain cells are dying!”

The voice was sharp and bright, with a hint of exasperated coyness.

I shot upright as if zapped by electricity.

My eyes wide.

This voice… so familiar!

Stiffly, I slowly, bit by bit, twisted my neck.

My gaze crossed several rows of desks.

It landed on the spot in the front right of the classroom, by the window.

Chen Xueyi.

Our school’s campus belle.

She tilted her head slightly, a soft wisp of black hair sliding across her pale cheek. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a hazy golden glow over her. Her brow was slightly furrowed, her delicate nose lightly scrunched, and her light pink lips were pursed into a stubborn line.

The beautiful silver fountain pen in her hand was tapping, tap-tap-tapping, against the open math workbook.

Making faint “thudding” sounds.

It was very quiet around. Only the rustling of leaves outside the window, blown by the wind.

Her mouth hadn’t moved at all.

But that frantic voice just now, it was, beyond a doubt, hers!

I blinked hard.

Wondering if I’d stayed up too late and was hallucinating.

Chen Xueyi!

The universally acknowledged ‘ice queen’ of the school!

Always appearing cool, distant, and ethereal, as if she didn’t belong to this world.

She walked with a straight gaze, spoke softly.

They said she was polite and aloof with everyone, always saying “thank you” or “no, thank you.”

How could she possibly… let out such “lively” inner roars?

I must be going crazy.

I pinched the inside of my thigh hard.

Hiss—that really hurt!

Not a dream.

Rubbing the sore spot where I’d pinched myself, my heart was in a tumult.

Just then, Chen Xueyi seemed to sense my gaze.

She suddenly turned her head and looked my way.

Her beautiful big eyes, like black grapes soaked in water, were clear and bright.

Our eyes met directly.

My heart gave a violent lurch, as if something had squeezed it tight.

I quickly lowered my head, pretending to search for something in my drawer.

Flustered.

My face felt a little hot.

Oh no, oh no.

I got caught looking.

She definitely thinks I’m a creep.

I held my breath, but my ears were perked up high.

Nervously trying to catch any movement around me.

A few seconds of dead silence.

Then, that clear, slightly sweet voice exploded in my head again.

“He’s looking at me! He’s looking at me!”

“Ahhh! Is he looking at me?”

“Just now! Was he just now looking my way the whole time?”

The voice was trembling with excitement.

Filled with unbelievable joy.

Like countless tiny bubbles popping in her heart.

My hand, rummaging for books, froze in mid-air.

My entire back tensed up.

All my blood seemed to rush to my head at once.

My ears buzzed with ringing.

Is this… is this really Chen Xueyi?

That ice-cold campus belle?

Is her inner world… really… this active?

I secretly, very slowly, raised my eyelids.

And quickly glanced at her.

She was still looking my way!

But the moment I looked up, she turned her head away swiftly, like a startled deer.

Leaving only the beautiful outline of her profile.

And the slightly reddened, small and cute tips of her ears.

Her hand on the desk, her fingertips unconsciously curled up.

Here it came again!

That voice, filled with uncontrollable excitement and shyness.

“He looked up! He’s looking at me again!”

“Oh my gosh! Does he like me?”

“The way he just adjusted his glasses was so handsome!”

“Ahhh! I want to have his babies!”

Pfft—!

I almost choked on a mouthful of water.

Have… have babies?!

I froze in my seat as if struck by lightning.

All the blood in my body seemed to solidify at once, then instantly rushed to my head, burning my cheeks.

My mind was filled with that earth-shattering “have babies,” buzzing and drowning out all other sounds in the classroom.

I instinctively adjusted the ordinary black-rimmed glasses on my nose.

This thing… handsome?

I looked down at my slightly faded school uniform and the ink stain I’d accidentally gotten on my sleeve.

Handsome? What does that have to do with me?

I quickly lowered my head again, pretending to scribble furiously on my scratch paper.

But my pen trembled violently, drawing several crooked lines on the paper.

My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest, thump-thump-thump, so loud I suspected the whole world could hear it.

Secretly, I used all my strength to control my eyeballs, moving them just a tiny bit to the front right.

My peripheral vision caught a glimpse.

Chen Xueyi sat upright, like a slender young poplar tree.

The sunlight outlined her perfect profile.

From my angle, her long eyelashes were lowered, casting a small, soft shadow beneath her eyelids, and her expression was intently focused on her textbook.

Quiet, beautiful.

It was simply a standard picture of “the goddess immersed in study.”

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought that inside this perfect shell, there was a little person screaming frantically, shouting about wanting to have my babies?!

A tremendous sense of absurdity and an inexplicable nervousness intertwined around me like vines.

I forced myself to concentrate on the math problem in front of me.

But those complex formulas and symbols now all turned into distorted scribbles.

My mind was a mess, filled with that sweet, cutesy, yet horrifying voice echoing.

I can’t live like this!

Since that math class, I had become Chen Xueyi’s “exclusive” radio.

The switch was broken, the channel locked.

I couldn’t get rid of it.

Outwardly, she remained calm and collected, the aloof goddess who could only be admired from afar.

But her inner world was as rich as a non-stop, twenty-four-hour idol drama filled with pink bubbles.

And the male lead, it seemed… no, definitely… it was me.

The cafeteria.

Heads crowded together, the air thick with the greasy smell of mixed food.

I held my tray, struggling to navigate the crowded aisle, just wanting to find a corner seat quickly and quietly devour my meal.

My gaze swept over the window seats.

Chen Xueyi was sitting and eating with her two girlfriends.

She was delicately eating her greens, her movements refined and graceful.

Sunlight streamed through the window, dancing on her dark hair, making her look as clean as if she’d stepped out of a painting.

From time to time, boys’ eyes secretly darted her way.

I quickly averted my gaze, lowered my head, and prepared to detour.

Just as I took a step.

That familiar voice, with a hint of smugness and delight, unexpectedly sounded in my mind:

“He’s looking at me! He’s looking at me again!”

“Hehe, he must be looking for a seat, trying to sit next to me, right?”

“Oh my! So shy! Is he coming over?”

My footsteps instantly froze.

Like I’d been cast with a stunning spell.

The tray almost slipped from my hands.

Lady!

I was just passing by!

Seriously, just passing by!

I wailed internally, my scalp tingling.

I felt like hundreds of eyes in the cafeteria instantly focused on me.

Though they weren’t.

I took a deep breath, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Eyes straight ahead, I held my tray and quickly, resolutely, charged towards the exact opposite direction from Chen Xueyi’s seat—the darkest, least crowded corner of the cafeteria—almost a full-on escape.

It wasn’t until I sat down heavily at that greasy corner table, my back pressed against the cold wall, that I finally felt like I could breathe.

My heart was still pounding.

I couldn’t resist, and secretly glanced at Chen Xueyi again.

It was far away, only a blurry silhouette was visible.

But from her direction, there seemed to drift a faint trace of… disappointment?

Immediately after, that voice, with a somewhat wronged tone, came again:

“Huh? Why did he run so far away…?”

“It’s so dark over there, will the food taste good?”

“Hmm… is he shy?”

“Shy boys are so cute too!”

Me: “…”

I silently lowered my head, looking at the few greasy, unrecognizable pieces of braised pork on my tray.

Suddenly, it tasted utterly bland.

Cute my foot!

I just want to eat my meal in peace!

Leave me alone!

The dismissal bell rang, and I grabbed my bag and bolted out.

I moved so fast it was like a ghost was chasing me.

I just wanted to get rid of that omnipresent voice bombardment.

I rushed out of the teaching building, cutting through the edge of the noisy basketball court.

The setting sun dyed everything a warm orange-red.

The thudding sound of basketballs hitting the ground, the shouts of boys, and the screams of girls nearby mingled together.

I had just let out a sigh of relief.

That voice, it came again.

With an unprecedented, almost dreamy sense of intoxication.

“Wow—!”

“Look, look! Li Hao senior is so handsome!”

“He looks so manly playing basketball…”

“Those muscles! That sweat! Ahhh! So charming!”

“My heart is beating so fast! Like a deer scrambling!”

“Is this what it feels like to fall in love?”

My steps abruptly halted.

As if I’d been hit over the head with a club.

An indescribable feeling, both sour and astringent, and a little inexplicably annoyed, instantly rushed to my head.

Li Hao?

That Li Hao, the school basketball team captain, who always greased his hair back, walked like he owned the place, and looked at people down his nose?

He’s manly?

He’s handsome?

Chen Xueyi, what kind of eyesight do you have?!

Just as I was frantically ranting internally, a dramatic scene unfolded on the basketball court.

Li Hao, probably eager to show off in front of the surrounding girls, tried a fancy spin dribble to break through the defense.

Resulting in a slip!

His entire center of gravity was completely lost.

Like a clumsy sack, he face-planted with a “thud” firmly onto the plastic court.

The basketball in his hand flew out and rolled far away.

The sound alone made you wince.

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

Immediately after, a burst of laughter erupted from around.

A few boys he usually bullied laughed particularly loudly.

Li Hao lay awkwardly on the ground, taking a long time to get up.

The carefully styled strands of hair on his forehead were plastered miserably to his sweaty forehead, his slicked-back hairstyle completely ruined.

His expensive jersey was also stained with dusty marks.

All the “handsomeness” he had put on earlier was gone, leaving only a face full of embarrassment and anger.

Looking at his pathetic state, and then thinking about Chen Xueyi’s internal screams of “so manly,” “so handsome,” and “falling in love.”

The huge contrast was like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.

That previous feeling of sourness and annoyance was instantly replaced by an extreme absurdity and speechlessness.

This love-struck fool… is beyond saving, isn’t she?

Her filter is so thick it could stop bullets!

She can even see charm in a face-plant?

I really couldn’t hold it back.

A strong urge to complain burst through my throat.

That sentence, held back in my mouth, filled with boundless speechlessness and disdain, slipped out:

“Lady, he just face-planted! You call that manly?”

The voice wasn’t loud.

But in this area by the basketball court, in the brief silence after that burst of laughter had just subsided, it stood out with striking clarity.

Like a small pebble, abruptly dropped into calm water.

The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted it.

Done for!

My heart sank, realizing my blunder.

Sure enough.

Several classmates who were still laughing at Li Hao simultaneously turned their gazes to me.

Their eyes filled with astonishment and… the respect one would show a brave warrior?

Even worse.

I felt an intense gaze, like a searchlight, “whoosh,” fixed on me.

I steeled myself and slowly, bit by bit, turned my head.

My gaze crossed the noisy crowd.

And directly met Chen Xueyi’s beautiful eyes.

She had turned around at some point, standing a few steps away, staring intently at me.

The golden glow of the setting sun fell on her face, but it couldn’t dispel the shock in her eyes.

Her eyes were wide, and my dumbfounded face, clearly showing “I’m screwed,” was perfectly reflected in her pupils.

Her pink lips were slightly parted, as if she had forgotten to close them.

The color had drained completely from her face.

It was filled with disbelief.

The air around seemed to freeze.

The thudding of the basketball, the commotion on the sidelines, all seemed to have been muted at this moment.

Dead silence.

A few seconds of suffocating dead silence.

Then.

I saw Chen Xueyi’s lips move.

A clear, unmistakable, and tremendously astonished and trembling voice pierced the frozen air, exploding in my ears:

“You… how do you know what I’m thinking?!”

I’m done for.

Completely done for.

That sentence was like a clap of thunder, exploding in my mind.

My brain went blank.

My blood seemed to instantly flow backward, my hands and feet turning icy cold.

The surrounding air seemed to have been sucked dry, making it difficult to breathe.

The gazes directed at me, from initial curiosity to instant doubt, swept back and forth between Chen Xueyi and me.

Every gaze was like a needle pricking me.

My secret was exposed.

She exposed me in front of everyone!

A huge panic, like an icy tide, instantly drowned me.

I had only one thought: Run!

As far away from her as possible! As far away from this place as possible!

My body reacted faster than my brain.

I turned sharply, like a soccer ball kicked hard, charging recklessly towards the most crowded place—ignoring everything else!

My backpack bounced wildly behind me, slapping against my back.

All I could hear were my own heavy breaths and the rushing wind.

I didn’t dare to look back.

My heart was pounding frantically in my chest, almost leaping out of my ribs.

Behind me, Chen Xueyi’s voice, tinged with a cry and furious, seemed to come:

“Zhang Yang! Stop!”

“You explain yourself!”

Her voice was scattered by the wind, yet it clearly drilled into my ears.

I ran even faster.

Almost using every ounce of strength I had, stumbling blindly.

I just wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

Or just run to the end of the world!

This sudden “escape” completely ignited the school forum.

All sorts of absurd guesses and exaggerated versions flew around.

“Breaking News! Ice Queen Campus Belle Chen Xueyi Publicly Questions Zhang Yang, ‘How Do You Know What I’m Thinking?!’ Suspected Superpowers Exposed?!”

“Huge Love Triangle Scandal! Li Hao Falls on Court, Chen Xueyi’s Heart Aches, Zhang Yang’s Jealousy Flares, Uttering Wild Words!”

“Eyewitness Account: Zhang Yang’s Escape Posture Extremely Awkward, Chen Xueyi’s Expression Complex, Li Hao’s Face Green!”

I became the biggest joke in the entire school.

Everywhere I went, I felt like someone was pointing and whispering behind my back.

Those probing, curious, and schadenfreude-filled gazes made me feel like I had thorns in my back.

I shrunk into the corner of the last row in the classroom.

Like a startled ostrich.

Wishing I could disappear on the spot.

Yet the “culprit,” Chen Xueyi, seemed completely unaffected.

Or rather, she entered an even more bizarre state.

Outwardly, she was still the cool, distant campus belle, oblivious to the surrounding discussions.

But every time she saw me from afar in the corridor, in the cafeteria, on the playground.

That cursed voice would promptly sound in my head.

The content, however, became more and more outrageous.

“He looks so good in that gray hoodie today! It makes his skin look so fair!”

“He seemed to glance at me just now! Is he not mad anymore?”

“He looks handsome even when he’s frowning! I want to poke his face…”

“Hmm… I wonder what kind of girls he likes?”

“For the wedding, is Chinese or Western better? A Qipao also doesn’t seem bad…”

I was about to lose it.

Lady!

We’ve barely exchanged a few words!

You’ve already planned the wedding style?!

This love-struck brain… it’s in its final stages, isn’t it?!

I avoided her like the plague.

Every day, I’d enter the classroom right as the bell rang for class, and be the first one to rush out as soon as the dismissal bell rang.

My routes were planned to avoid all places she might appear.

I was being driven crazy.

Until that afternoon.

The nightmare descended.

It was time for the whole school’s broadcast calisthenics.

The sports field was packed with people, dressed in uniform blue and white school uniforms, like a neat field of wheat.

The powerful rhythm of the fifth set of broadcast calisthenics music played from the loudspeakers.

“Now begin, march in place—go! One-two-one! One-two-one!”

I stood in the middle-to-back of my class’s line, mechanically lifting my legs and swinging my arms according to the command.

The sun was a bit glaring.

The air was filled with the smell of sun-heated plastic track and sweat.

I just wanted these torturous twenty minutes to end quickly.

Suddenly.

“Sizzle—!”

An extremely harsh, sharp electrical noise suddenly erupted from the loud speakers at the front of the sports field!

Like countless steel needles piercing my ears.

Everyone was startled by the sudden noise, their movements stopping.

Many covered their ears.

“What’s going on? Where are the people in the broadcast room?”

“My eardrums are going to burst!”

Complaints rose.

I also frowned, covering my buzzing ears.

This broken equipment is acting up again?

Just when everyone thought it was just equipment malfunction.

The piercing electrical noise suddenly vanished.

The sports field instantly fell silent.

Only the faint rustling of the wind passing through the flagpole remained.

Immediately after.

An incredibly clear, incredibly familiar, slightly sweet yet extraordinarily loud female voice, through that huge loudspeaker, resonated across the entire sports field!

Clearly reaching everyone’s ears!

“Zhang Yang—!”

“I like you—!”

“I want to marry you—!”

Boom!!!

My mind instantly went blank.

Like I’d been struck directly on the crown of my head by a divine thunderbolt from the heavens.

All the blood in my body seemed to solidify at that instant, then in the next second, rushed wildly backward, straight to my head!

On the sports field, a deathly silence.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

Thousands of eyes, filled with shock, confusion, disbelief, and then erupting with immense gossip-fueled light, simultaneously, like searchlights, focused on me!

I felt like I’d been stripped naked and thrown onto a stage under a spotlight.

Nowhere to hide.

Time seemed to stretch indefinitely.

Every second felt like an unbearable century.

My face was burning as if branded by a hot iron.

My ears buzzed with ringing, all of it the roaring of blood rushing.

The world spun.

I could even clearly hear the chattering of my own teeth.

I’m done for.

Completely socially dead.

I’ll never be able to hold my head high in this school again.

Just in this suffocating silence and under the gaze of thousands of eyes.

That loudspeaker, as if an invisible hand had choked its neck.

The voice stopped abruptly.

The sizzling of electricity started again, then completely died down.

The broadcast room staff finally cut that cursed signal!

But it was too late.

A belated, massive wave of commotion, like a tsunami, suddenly swept across the entire sports field!

“Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow!”

“Who?! Who shouted that?!”

“Chen Xueyi! It was Chen Xueyi’s voice! I heard it clearly!”

“Oh my goodness! The ice-cold campus belle openly confessed?! And wants to get married?!”

“Who’s Zhang Yang?! Which class?! Quick, point him out!”

“Over there! That one in the back row! His face is red as a monkey’s butt!”

“Awesome, bro! He got the campus belle!”

Whistles, screams, the sound of slapping thighs, rose and fell.

The immense wave of sound almost drowned me.

I stood frozen in place, like a stone statue struck by lightning.

Wishing I could dig a hole and bury myself on the spot.

Just then.

Through the layered, pointing figures.

I saw her.

Chen Xueyi.

She stood at the front of her class’s line, surrounded by her female classmates who were excitedly shaking her arm and chattering.

And she, it seemed, had completely blocked out all the surrounding noise.

Her gaze, piercing through the dense human wall, accurately and firmly locked onto me.

On her beautiful face, there was not the slightest trace of indignant shame or panic.

Instead…

A strange, somewhat triumphant glow actually appeared?

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her eyes incredibly bright, like stars had fallen into them.

And the corners of her mouth even curved upwards into a small, sly arc?

She was smiling?!

Under the gaze of thousands of people, after just experiencing such terrifying social death…

She was actually looking at me and smiling?!

That smile was blindingly bright.

But it instantly set off alarm bells in my heart!

An extremely ominous premonition, like a cold viper, instantly coiled around my heart.

Run!

I must run immediately!

Get out of here! Get out of her line of sight!

My survival instinct instantly overrode all shame and stiffness.

I turned sharply, like a startled wild bull, using all my strength to push past the still-not-fully-reacted classmates, charging desperately towards the edge of the sports field, away from the teaching building—towards that relatively secluded small grove of trees!

My backpack bounced wildly on my back, slapping against me.

I couldn’t care less about anything.

All I could hear were my own heavy breaths, like a bellows, and the rushing wind.

And behind me, that voice, getting closer and clearer.

With a strange excitement and stubbornness, it pierced through the clamor of the sports field, chasing me directly:

“Zhang Yang—!”

“Husband—!”

“Don’t run—!”

I stumbled, almost face-planting on the spot.

Husband?!

She called me husband?!

My soul flew away, adrenaline surged, and my two legs pumped even faster, almost a blur!

The small grove! Almost there!

As long as I got in there, I could temporarily escape this nightmare!

That persistent voice behind me was still chasing relentlessly, with a hint of wronged coyness:

“Husband! Wait for me!”

“Don’t run so fast!”

I ignored it, my eyes fixed only on the green shadow ahead.

Closer!

Even closer!

Just as my fingers were almost touching the rough bark of the nearest camphor tree.

Just as I thought I could finally temporarily hide in this life-saving small grove.

That clear, unmistakable voice, filled with deep confusion and a touch of grievance, unexpectedly, directly sounded in my own mind:

“Huh?”

“Why is he… running even faster?”