Chapter 975-76: Beautiful Girl (22)

The rumors surrounding Tang Guo at school only grew more intense, even after Zuo Ran and Wei Liang had become her friends.

In front of the two boys, no one dared gossip about Tang Guo.

But the moment they turned their backs, all sorts of ugly words would come pouring out.

Besides the rumors about her being kept, what people discussed most was how Tang Guo was simultaneously stringing along both Zuo Ran and Wei Liang, which in their eyes was more than enough proof that she was a bad girl.

Every noon, the four wealthy heirs—Zuo Ran, Wei Liang, Song Zhouchen, and Chang Zhan—would eat together.

Now that Tang Guo had become familiar with them, they would come and call for her as soon as class ended.

As for Bai Fei, because Song Zhouchen had repeatedly reached out to help her, she trusted him greatly. What had begun as shyness and unfamiliarity had gradually turned into closeness.

A handsome boy like Song Zhouchen, treating a girl with such gentleness and attentiveness—probably no girl could resist him.

Bai Fei was no exception. Though the two had not officially confirmed their relationship, anyone could tell from the way they interacted that they were much closer than ordinary friends.

“Don't mind what other people say,” Zuo Ran comforted Tang Guo. “Once you get into university and leave this place, everything will be fine.”

Wei Liang quickly added, “Exactly. There are too many people, and we can't stop them all. But we believe you. You haven't done any of those things. Besides, we're together with you every day. We know better than anyone.”

“That's right, Tang Guo. Those people are just jealous because you're beautiful and can make money,” Bai Fei softly consoled her.

Of the three, the first two had ulterior motives in comforting her. Only Bai Fei was genuinely sincere.

Over the time they had spent together, she had come to like Tang Guo more and more. She had even personally gone to watch Tang Guo work part-time and had been amazed by how capable she was.

Song Zhouchen wasn't much of a talker. Ever since he had become interested in Bai Fei, he practically avoided all other girls. His attention was entirely focused on her, and he had no interest in offering hypocritical words of comfort to Tang Guo.

He merely glanced at Wei Liang and Zuo Ran before pinching Bai Fei's cheek.

“Final exams are coming. Come back to class with me and work on practice papers.”

Bai Fei nodded repeatedly and trotted after him.

Apparently dissatisfied with how slowly she walked, Song Zhouchen stopped and waited for her to catch up. Then, grabbing the back of her collar, he dragged her straight into the classroom.

“I'll head back and do practice questions too.”

Tang Guo bid farewell to the remaining three. Her gaze casually swept over Chang Zhan. Seeing his expressionless and cold face, amusement flickered in her eyes before she turned and left.

Only after Tang Guo's figure disappeared did Zuo Ran and Wei Liang withdraw their gazes.

Exchanging glances, Wei Liang lowered his voice.

“She keeps getting closer to us now.”

“Yeah.” Zuo Ran narrowed his eyes. “Should we take the next step? She's already trusting us a lot. If we start pursuing her now, she probably won't reject us as much.”

“Let's wait a little longer. After the exams, we'll have a vacation. Once we spend more time with her during the break, confessing then will lower her guard even more.”

Originally, Chang Zhan's attention had been entirely on the math problems in his hands. Hearing their conversation, however, his brows furrowed, and he looked up at them.

Wei Liang blinked in confusion.

“What are you staring at me for?”

“Yeah, Chang Zhan,” Zuo Ran joked. “Don't tell me you want to join us?”

“No interest.”

Chang Zhan answered flatly.