Demonic King of the Metropolis

Tang Jie hesitated at first, not wanting to tell Chen Shuran about what had just happened. However, fearing she might misunderstand if he stayed silent, he decided to explain how Jiang Dong had tried to seek revenge by bringing people over.

Chen Shuran’s face showed initial shock, clearly frightened. The memory of that night at the bar, when she had narrowly escaped being assaulted by Jiang Dong, still made her shudder. But upon hearing that Tang Jie had managed to drive Jiang Dong and his men away, her expression instantly shifted to one of relief and joy. She threw her arms around him.

“Tang Jie, are you hurt?” she asked with concern, leaning against his chest like a delicate bird seeking shelter. Seeing her so gentle and caring, Tang Jie felt an immense sense of satisfaction, with a hint of pride. He recalled how Chen Shuran had initially seemed like an unapproachable ice princess, but now, in front of him, she was showing a softer and gentler side.

“Ah! Why are you still holding that? Get rid of it immediately!” Tang Jie was still reveling in his delight, lost in his thoughts, when Chen Shuran noticed the dirty clothes in his hand. She let out a startled cry, bringing him back to reality.

“Oh, right! I forgot.” Tang Jie quickly tossed the garment into a trash bin. However, Chen Shuran disapproved, so he begrudgingly put it into a bag and took it downstairs to throw it in an outdoor garbage container.

When he returned, Tang Jie saw that Chen Shuran had heated some milk for him and even prepared a bath. She urged him to drink the milk and take a warm bath. Once again, happiness swelled up in his heart. After finishing the milk, he sidled up to her sheepishly and said, “My shoulders are a bit sore from earlier. I think I overexerted myself.”

“Well, you should see a doctor then. Telling me won’t do you any good-I can’t treat it,” she replied as she handed him his milk. But seeing the cheeky grin on his face, she suddenly understood his intentions. Her cheeks instantly flushed pink.

“What are you thinking?” Chen Shuran asked in mock irritation, her face tinged with shyness. Memories of a past incident rushed to her mind, and she could guess what Tang Jie was implying.

“Nothing, really. It’s late. No point going to a hospital now. How about you give me a massage instead?” Tang Jie finally voiced his playful request, grinning mischievously. Chen Shuran retorted with a flurry of light punches.

“Harder, harder! That feels so good!” Tang Jie teased, deliberately letting her fists land on his shoulder. His face lit up like a sunflower basking in the sun.

“You…” Chen Shuran stopped her punches, her face burning even redder.

“Serves you right if it hurts, you deserve it!” Flustered, she shot him a glare before retreating to her room. Tang Jie watched her retreating figure, a warm sweetness spreading in his heart. Looking out at the cool moonlight outside, he thought to himself, “This kind of life isn’t bad at all.”

But as he let his thoughts drift, the image of Wang Qianya’s face surfaced in his mind. How was she doing now? Was she still angry with him? He had never blamed her-he had just been too impatient that day and had spoken too harshly.

“Wow! Shuran-Jie, you look even more beautiful today!”

The next morning, as soon as they stepped through the school gate of No. 2 High School, Tang Jie heard Xiao Ran chirping away in her usual lively tone. When he turned his head, he saw Xiao Ran dressed in a pink dress, her round, doll-like face lightly made up. What was going on?

Tang Jie couldn’t help but study her from head to toe. Surprisingly, the person catching everyone’s attention wasn’t Chen Shuran-she had always been stunning, and today was no exception. Instead, it was Xiao Ran who looked noticeably different. Chen Shuran also noticed this change in Xiao Ran and raised a curious eyebrow.

“What’s the occasion today? Are you heading off to a date or something?” Chen Shuran asked, scrutinizing Xiao Ran’s outfit. She realized that Xiao Ran was even wearing shaping undergarments. My goodness. That pink dress was practically bursting at the seams, thanks to her, well… generously enhanced curves. “Eye-catching” was the only word that came to Chen Shuran’s mind. It was as if the dress might rip apart at any moment.

Was this elaborate getup for some guy? Chen Shuran glanced at Tang Jie, who quickly averted his eyes. Sure, Xiao Ran’s… assets were impressive, but he wasn’t interested in her.

“Yep, Shuran-Jie! Want to come with me after school?” Xiao Ran admitted without hesitation, even with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Tang Jie frowned slightly at her openness.

“Who are you going out with? You’ve got a boyfriend, and you didn’t even bother to tell me?” Now Chen Shuran was intrigued. She looked at Xiao Ran with curiosity.

“You’ve got your little gigolo keeping you company every single day. How would you have time to care about what’s going on with me?” Xiao Ran replied teasingly, casting a deliberately pointed glance at Tang Jie.

A “gigolo”? Did she just call this handsome, dashing gentleman a gigolo? Clearly, she didn’t appreciate his role as a gallant protector of ladies. Tang Jie thought to himself how utterly sharp-tongued this girl was.

He looked at Xiao Ran but refused to dignify her comment with agreement.

“Fine. After school, we’ll all go together. Tang Jie, you can tag along too. Let’s see who this handsome boy is that Xiao Ran’s all dressed up for,” Chen Shuran suggested, flashing Tang Jie an amused smile.

“Of course! Maybe he’s an even fairer-skinned gigolo than me,” Tang Jie quickly seized the opportunity to begrudgingly fire back at Xiao Ran.

“You! At least you admit you’re a gigolo. But you’re just a wandering gigolo, not the good kind. Hmph!” Xiao Ran retorted, unwilling to back down as she playfully argued with Tang Jie.

Laughing and bantering, the small group eventually made their way into the classroom.

“Wow! A beauty! Our class has a new beauty!”

The moment they stepped into the classroom, Fatty Zhang-the class clown who loved stirring things up-let out an overly dramatic yell. His exclamation immediately drew the attention of everyone around him.

“Shut up, you fatty! Watch me smash that mouth of yours!” Xiao Ran dropped her backpack, grabbed a book, and swung it toward Fatty Zhang. He quickly darted around the desks, narrowly escaping her playful wrath.

At that moment, the door opened again, and a cold air swept into the room. Xiao Ran froze, mid-chase, and Fatty Zhang also glanced back toward the door. Li Feifei walked in, carrying her bag. Her face was icy, and her eyes seemed to hold a hint of melancholy.

“The teacher’s here!” someone sitting near the doorway called out. Xiao Ran quickly returned to her seat, just in time for their class teacher, Jin Yan, to walk in with her usual brisk authority.

During class, Tang Jie noticed something different. The icy gaze that often seemed to stab into his back wasn’t as cold today. In fact, it didn’t feel like there was anyone glaring at him at all. Could something have changed?

The class passed by quickly. When the bell rang, Tang Jie followed his usual routine of accompanying Chen Shuran as they left the classroom. Xiao Ran, as always, tagged along as their unofficial third wheel. The group stopped in front of the playground. Deliberately drawing attention to herself, Xiao Ran stood in a busy spot, twirling slightly as if to show off her new dress. Chen Shuran, on the other hand, stayed quietly under the shade of a tree, her demeanor calm and understated, as always.

“Hey, you see him? Over there. That’s him!”

Not far away, a group of boys stood huddled together, whispering and pointing in Tang Jie and Chen Shuran’s direction. Tang Jie glanced over casually and immediately noticed them-several of the boys had the appearance of hoodlums. They weren’t from his class, but clearly, this wasn’t their first time causing trouble. One of them, who had a streak of yellow-dyed hair at the front, seemed to be eyeing Tang Jie intently.

Then, as soon as Tang Jie looked over, the yellow-haired boy broke away from his group and started heading directly toward him.

“Hey, you’re Tang Jie, right?” The boy stopped in front of him and gave him a thorough once-over.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s up? Got something to say?” Tang Jie narrowed his eyes, his tone calm but slightly sharp. He didn’t enjoy unnecessary small talk-especially not with someone who clearly had trouble written all over him.

“Someone’s looking for you. Come with me.”

The moment the words left the boy’s mouth, Tang Jie’s instincts kicked in. This phrase-it was practically a universal code for stirring up trouble on campus. He glanced toward the group of boys the yellow-haired one had come from. One of them, standing in the center, had a cold, arrogant gaze full of defiance. His demeanor screamed dominance. Not someone you’d associate with anything subtle or peaceful.

Tang Jie smirked faintly. Without hesitation, he turned to Chen Shuran and said, “Be right back,” before casually walking toward the group of boys.

“Was it you who wanted to see me?” Tang Jie walked up to the group and directly addressed the boy in the middle, whose cold, piercing gaze had been locked on him the entire time. The boy seemed briefly taken aback by Tang Jie’s directness, his face showing a flicker of surprise before settling into a sneer.

“So, you’re the big deal around here? I heard you managed to win over the school beauty. You’re pretty arrogant.”

Tang Jie looked at him with a calm smile and responded, “Arrogant? I wouldn’t say that. But yeah, the school beauty does spend every day by my side. You could say she’s exclusively mine now.” His tone was playful, and after finishing, he glanced over at Chen Shuran, who stood a short distance away. Thinking about how she had taken care of him the previous evening, his heart filled with a subtle sense of delight.

“After the second class, meet me on the west side of the playground. We’ll play a little game. If you don’t show up, well… you know what happens.” The cold, confident boy delivered his challenge and walked off without waiting for a response, his entourage following closely behind.

Tang Jie let out a silent snort of contempt. Calling him arrogant? That kid looked ten times cockier. He hadn’t originally planned to humor the invitation. But on second thought, school life had been a bit too peaceful lately; maybe this would be a nice change of pace-something to liven things up.

“Tang Jie, who was that?” Xiao Ran wasted no time questioning him as soon as he returned to where Chen Shuran and Xiao Ran stood.

“Nothing much, just some friends inviting me to hang out,” Tang Jie replied with a cheeky grin. His eyes moved to Chen Shuran, and his expression radiated a warm brightness.

“Class is starting. Let’s head back.” Chen Shuran turned her gaze away, feeling a bit flustered under his smile. What’s with this guy, always grinning like that? she thought. Is it necessary to be this shameless?

“Hey, Tang Jie, wake up!”

It was the second class-history-and Tang Jie had already dozed off. History, full of events from long-dead eras, wasn’t exactly his favorite subject. He had drifted off into a peaceful nap when he suddenly felt a pair of small hands poking and tickling him. The sensation made him stir, and when he groggily opened his eyes, he saw Chen Shuran staring at him.

“What’s up?” he asked, still half-asleep. Chen Shuran didn’t say anything. Instead, she gestured toward the back of the classroom. Tang Jie turned his head slowly and noticed Li Feifei slumped over her desk. Her shoulders were trembling, and it looked like she was crying.

Hmm… She did look pretty pitiful, but what did that have to do with him? Tang Jie took one look and then turned back around, closing his eyes again, ready to resume his nap.

A sudden, sharp pain jolted him awake. Chen Shuran had stomped on his foot-hard. Tang Jie barely managed to stifle a yelp. He looked up, only to find Chen Shuran glaring at him.

“Young Miss, we’re in the middle of class. Could you not use this time to tease me?” Tang Jie complained, though his face still carried its usual mischievous grin.

“Look again,” Chen Shuran said, pointing once more in Li Feifei’s direction.

Sighing, Tang Jie turned his head and gave her another look. This time, he noticed something he hadn’t seen before-a thick bandage wrapped around Li Feifei’s wrist. Blood had started to seep through the layers, staining the fabric.

Wait… what? Tang Jie’s eyes narrowed, his thoughts racing. What happened to her? He recalled the way she had looked when she confessed her feelings to him just days ago-vivid, determined, so different from this shattered version of herself. Did something happen to her?

A faint sense of sympathy began to stir in Tang Jie’s chest. But as his gaze shifted back to Chen Shuran, he hesitated. In the end, he turned away.

He and Li Feifei weren’t close. He wasn’t her bodyguard or her confidant. Even though he sympathized with her situation, whatever had happened wasn’t any of his business.