Chapter 24: A Smile Is a Hint, What You Did Was Seduction

The instructor spoke in a leisurely tone: "So, regardless of whether you are a boy or a girl, and whether it stems from admiration or jealousy, please take this time to look your fill at the two of them. During tomorrow's military training, I do not want to see any student turning their head with such painstaking effort to catch a glimpse of them while I am not looking. Is that understood?"

"Understood—"

"The instructor knows my heart!"

Ye Zhaoying chimed in, stirring up the crowd: "If you bring them out every day to feast our eyes, I think everyone will be much more enthusiastic about military training!"

"Hey, this student has a point!"

Xia Chiyi was so shy he truly wanted to burrow into the grass. Being called the "department heartthrob" was something Zhou Zhexiao could carry, but what was he?

He glanced at Zhou Zhexiao. The other man’s expression remained as immovable as a mountain, as if he were accustomed to all kinds of gazes.

The instructor stood with his hands behind his back, teasing Xia Chiyi with a smile: "This student seems to lack cultivation; his state of mind is not as steady as the cool guy next to him, and he still gets shy. As long as people live, they will be observed and compared by others. If you are good-looking, then let people look at you openly and confidently. This is your advantage; you must learn to enjoy it."

Xia Chiyi’s ears turned even redder at the instructor's words.

A photo of him and Zhou Zhexiao standing shoulder-to-shoulder appeared once again on the front page of the military training newsletter.

Someone jokingly replied on the official WeChat account: "This looks exactly like the scene at the civil affairs bureau for marriage registration."

Ye Zhaoying, loving the chaos, commented: "The cover photo for our school's recruitment advertisement is ready."

The first day of military training finally ended, and it was easy to imagine that the school's cold drink shop must be packed to capacity.

Pang Shuai claimed he was one step away from being sun-baked into a piece of pork lard residue. Ye Zhaoying used all his strength to drag him back to the dormitory, and before Pang Shuai breathed his last, he did not forget to entrust Xia Chiyi: "You... must... buy the popsicles back..."

"Got it, got it. Hurry up and go to your peaceful rest."

Xia Chiyi tugged at Zhou Zhexiao’s sleeve and headed to the campus supermarket with him.

The small shop was indeed bustling, and people were nearly fighting in front of the freezer. Xia Chiyi had to pull Zhou Zhexiao out of the school gate, walking over fifty meters until they found a supermarket with fewer people.

The owner was particularly savvy; for every ten cold drinks purchased, he gave away an insulated bag. Xia Chiyi immediately began picking items out from the freezer.

"Zhou Zhexiao, you must have never tasted White Rabbit milk-flavored ice cream, and this mung bean one is also delicious! Did you eat Haagen-Dazs often while in the States?"

"It’s too sweet. I didn't eat it often."

"Well, since you sweated so much today, you can eat a bit more."

Xia Chiyi looked up and noticed that on the sidewalk on the other side of the glass window, two girls in blue and white school uniforms were looking at him. One of them had just tucked her phone into her pocket, looking quite flustered.

*Did she take a photo of me?*

Xia Chiyi calmly rummaged for popsicles while observing them, and couldn't help but smile.

Those two young girls were looking at the expressionless Zhou Zhexiao, who had his hands tucked into his pockets.

He figured it was hard for anyone, from an eighty-year-old grandmother to an eight-month-old human infant, to escape the beauty of Zhou Zhexiao.

It was one thing for Xia Chiyi not to smile, but once he did, that innocent handsomeness—a feeling that made one inexplicably want to possess him—seemed to diffuse through the glass. One of the girls had accidentally captured this expression in a photo and stared at it for a long