Chapter 51: An Unspeakable Secret (Requesting recommendations! Requesting hearts!)

Early one weekend morning, everyone was woken up, boarded a bus, and left the farmhouse to head toward Heaven Mountain.

Today's mountain climbing was their main event.

"Shurui, how did you sleep last night?"

On the bus.

Jiang Chen was still sitting next to Li Shurui. No matter how he tried to strike up a conversation, Li Shurui remained silent, treating him like thin air.

"Jiang Chen, aren't you having a great time? You were chatting so happily with those girls last night. Why do you have to stick to Shurui? Go find your seniors and juniors!"

Zheng Jingjing, sitting just across the aisle, spoke with a sarcastic tone.

Jiang Chen ignored her and whispered to Li Shurui, "Senior Xie was just telling me about her relationship history last night; it almost sent me into a depression. Do you want to hear it?"

Li Shurui finally spoke.

"You can get depressed?"

Jiang Chen froze.

What kind of nonsense was that?

How could he *not* be able to get depressed?

Of course, he wasn't going to argue. Seizing the opportunity, he immediately pressed on, "Senior Xie was talking about an eight-year..."

"You don't need to tell me. I'm not interested."

Li Shurui coldly interrupted him.

"Serves you right," Zheng Jingjing curled her lip, gloating.

Last night in the room, she had spent the whole night scolding Jiang Chen, telling Li Shurui not to pay any more attention to this seemingly devoted but actually philandering bastard. It seemed her words hadn't been in vain.

"The weather forecast says there might be strong winds today, so please be careful while climbing. Don't fall behind, and more importantly, do not act alone," Hu Heng reminded everyone dutifully.

The bus swerved left and right along the rugged, steep mountain road. The conditions here were nothing like the city; there were no guardrails by the roadside. One wrong move and the bus would plunge off a cliff. An average driver wouldn't dare drive such a road, yet even so, there were several moments where the bus looked as if it were teetering on the edge, about to fall.

Before they even started climbing, everyone had experienced what it meant to be terrified.

Another bump at a bend.

As the bus tilted, Li Shurui was involuntarily thrown toward him.

"Careful."

Jiang Chen instinctively reached out to steady her, but damn it, his hand was misplaced. It slipped through the crook of her arm and pressed against...

In that instant.

Both were struck as if by lightning, frozen in place.

As they cleared the bend, the bus stabilized.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Chen quickly withdrew his hand and opened his mouth to explain, but Li Shurui was faster. The face of this Academy of Arts beauty, whose figure far surpassed her peers, turned colder than ever before. She abruptly turned her body and, without a second thought, swung her hand to slap Jiang Chen.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen was prepared. With quick reflexes, he caught her fair, white wrist.

"Shurui, I didn't mean to..."

Never mind Li Shurui; any girl in this situation would likely be unable to hear an explanation.

With one hand caught, Li Shurui raised her other hand quickly, only for Jiang Chen to catch that one as well.

"I really didn't mean it, it was just an accident..."

"Shameless!"

Li Shurui struggled, but Jiang Chen didn't dare let go. He could only hold her firmly, lowering his voice to say, "Do you want everyone to know?"

The effect of these words was instantaneous. Li Shurui froze as if struck by an acupoint, her struggling coming to an abrupt halt.

It was true.

There were so many people on the bus.

Jiang Chen was already notorious; it didn't matter if his reputation got a little worse. But she was different.

She didn't care if people at school called her vain or materialistic, but regarding matters of reputation and chastity, any girl—or rather, any girl with a sense of shame—would care deeply.

"Let go."

Having regained a sliver of composure, Li Shurui took a deep breath.

"Do you promise you won't hit me again?" Jiang Chen asked doubtfully.

"Let go," Li Shurui repeated, her teeth clenched. Although she knew it was an accident, no girl could remain calm after being taken advantage of so blatantly.

Only after confirming she had regained her senses did Jiang Chen slowly release his grip. At the same time, he remained cautious, watching her every move, ready to defend himself at any moment.

Fortunately, Li Shurui was a woman of her word and did not lash out again.

"If you dare tell anyone about this, I'm not finished with you."

Her voice was icy, as if the words were being squeezed through her teeth.

"Shurui, don't worry, I definitely won't say anything."

Jiang Chen nodded quickly, his tone full of sincerity, as he whispered, "This is a secret between the two of us."

Hearing this, Li Shurui felt a blockage in her chest, nearly fainting.

What did he mean, "a secret between the two of them"?!

"I'm warning you, you'd better forget this happened! Nothing happened between us just now, do you understand?!"

Jiang Chen frowned.

"Forget it? Shurui, that might be a bit difficult. The human brain isn't a computer; you can't just format it. How do you delete a memory?"

Li Shurui's face turned pale.

She was purely furious.

Picking his application form out of the trash can had been a massive mistake!

"Then you'd better keep your mouth shut. If I hear even a whisper of this outside, I swear, even if that man named Bai doesn't kill you, I will!"

That resolute, cold gaze made it impossible to doubt the sincerity of her words.

Jiang Chen wasn't afraid; instead, he felt a bit surprised.

Logically speaking, a girl like Li Shurui—if not a veteran of the social scene, at least a veteran of romance—shouldn't be this conservative, right?

It was just a touch. In nightclubs, wasn't this kind of physical contact commonplace?

"Shurui, don't worry. As long as you don't say anything, I definitely won't."

Jiang Chen quickly gave his guarantee.

*I won't say anything? How could I possibly say anything?!*

The sudden accident had completely shattered Li Shurui's peace of mind. She turned her head forcefully to look out the window, hoping to avoid the sight of him, but little did she know the bus was approaching another bend, and the vehicle tilted once more.

Jiang Chen was indeed not a petty man who would take advantage of a situation. Seeing Li Shurui heading toward him again, this time he raised both hands in advance, using his body to shield her.

This proved that the previous incident truly was a coincidence; he really hadn't meant it.

A scent of perfume filled his nose.

The young man and woman were once again in zero-distance contact.

Li Shurui, leaning into his arms, was fuming with rage, but since his intentions were good, she had no way to vent. After sitting up straight and seeing Jiang Chen's innocent "hands up in surrender" expression, her face turned ashen. Her red lips trembled for a long time, but she said nothing, only sitting back down heavily in her seat.

"Shurui..."

"Shut up!"

"No, I just wanted to tell you, you can fasten your seatbelt."

Li Shurui froze, then looked down, only to realize there actually was a seatbelt by her seat.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

She completely lost control of her emotions.

Jiang Chen looked aggrieved.

"You told me not to talk."

"You...!"

Li Shurui almost cried.