She looked up in surprise, and when she saw the person clearly, she instinctively took a step back.

  It was the male student who had given her the black goji berries and the hot milk tea.

  He was still wearing those stained khaki shorts, but his upper body had changed to a black T-shirt, with a flaky white patch of dandruff scattered across the shoulders.

  A smile hung on his face, but for some reason, this smile only sent chills down Grace's spine.

  Before Grace could speak, a bouquet of flowers appeared in front of her.

  They were vibrant red roses.

  Grace's face showed slight surprise as she shook her head and quickly refused: "Sorry, classmate, this isn't appropriate."

  Rock seemed not to have expected Grace to reject him. His smile stiffened upon hearing her words, and he blinked, asking: "You... you don't like roses, right?"

  "It's not about the flowers. I can't accept your things for no reason. Let's just forget about the previous black goji berries and milk tea. Please don't do this anymore in the future."

  Grace tried her best to communicate with him in a euphemistic tone because she felt the person in front of her had an inexplicable sense of madness; in short, he didn't seem very safe.

  But after hearing Grace's words, Rock actually showed an expression of disbelief: "What do you mean 'for no reason'? Don't you like me? You hinted at me first!"

  "Ah?"

  Grace was directly dumbfounded, her face full of incomprehension. "Classmate, have you misunderstood something? I don't even know you, I've never even seen you before. When did I ever hint at you?"

  Upon hearing this, Rock actually looked completely justified and said: "It was that financial aid grant! The teacher said you actively gave it up for me. If you didn't like me, why would you proactively give up the financial aid grant for me?"

  Grace: ...

  So his good grades are because he used all his brains for studying, is that it?

  She never could have imagined that the root cause of this mix-up was actually the financial aid grant she had voluntarily given up.

  "Classmate, you've really misunderstood. I gave up the financial aid grant for personal reasons; it has nothing to do with you. After I gave it up, an extra spot became available, and the teacher gave it to you. I didn't control that."

  "Isn't it possible that the teacher gave this spot to you simply because you have good grades and just happened to meet the criteria?"

  "Impossible!" Rock actually shook his head with firm conviction. "I applied for a whole year last year and didn't get a financial aid spot. I only got this spot because you gave it to me!"

  "This spot only became available because I actively gave it up, not because I intended to give it specifically to you. Who the teacher gives it to has nothing to do with me!"

  "But if you hadn't given it up, then this spot wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't have gotten it either!"

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Grace: ...

  Alright then. So this is the Math major's bizarre train of thought? Is this how their logical thinking works—'utterly unreasonable'?

  Grace decided to give up arguing about this causality with him. She mustered her courage to state things more plainly: "In short, I don't know you. Who gets the financial aid is arranged by the school; I have no right to interfere. So, there's even less basis for the idea that I was hinting at you or that I like you."

  "Your recent behavior has already caused me great distress. So I'm begging you, please stop here, okay?"

  These words were already very direct. Grace believed anyone who understood human language would grasp her meaning.

  Result: Rock widened his eyes: "Then why don't you like me?"

  Grace nearly laughed in frustration. She looked at the person in front of her and really wanted to blurt out: 'Does not liking you need a reason? Because you don't wash your hair? Because you don't change your pants? Because you have a damp, musty smell about you?'

  Her patience ran out. She instantly lost all desire to communicate with him and sighed helplessly: "I've made myself very clear. If you still don't understand, then there's nothing more I can do."

  With that, she moved to step around him, but he persistently blocked her path.

  Grace had to step back to keep her distance from him. Just then, a basketball flew from the side and hit Rock's head with a "thud," right on target.

  Rock staggered, nearly falling.

  Grace turned in surprise and saw Leo jogging over. He glared at Rock and demanded, "What are you doing?"

  Faced with Leo's sudden appearance, Rock visibly became timid. His eyes darted around evasively, not daring to answer Leo.

  Seeing his cowardly appearance, Leo couldn't be bothered wasting words on him. He turned to look at Grace and asked, "Are you okay?"

  Grace shook her head with a grateful expression. If Leo hadn't shown up suddenly, she was about to use her phone to call Advisor Lee for help.

  "Get lost, now! And stay away from her in the future!" Leo scolded Rock.

  Rock hung his head, not even daring to breathe heavily. Upon hearing this, he turned and ran. Seeing this, Grace immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

  She had been really afraid he might get agitated and force some physical contact. Just thinking about it made her scalp crawl and feel extremely disgusted.

  "Thanks. I still need to go to the principal's office. I'll properly thank you later," Grace said, her expression returning to normal as she waved and prepared to leave.

  "I'll walk you there," Leo mustered his courage to speak. Seeing Grace look at him, he flusteredly added, "Who knows if that guy from just now has gone far yet."

  "But they're waiting for you to play ball."

  Grace looked towards the group of a dozen or so male students gathered on the basketball court not far away, clearly all waiting for Leo.

  Upon seeing Grace look over, the guys got excited, whooping and whistling, obviously teasing Grace and Leo.

  "It's fine. I'll come back after I walk you."

  Without waiting for Grace to object further, he picked up the basketball that had rolled on the ground and threw it towards the court, then started walking ahead of Grace.

  Seeing this, Grace had no choice but to follow him.

  The sound of the guys' loud laughter rose again behind them.

  Along the way, Leo was as silent as if he'd been muted. Although he had long legs and a large stride, he deliberately slowed his pace, walking just a little ahead of Grace.

  Grace looked at his back; the short hair on the back of his head glistened faintly with fine beads of sweat. After about ten minutes of walking, he finally stopped and turned around.

  "Here you are. Go on up."

  "Sorry for the trouble, and thank you," Grace said.

  Leo didn't speak again, just followed Grace with his eyes until she entered the administration building.

  She went all the way to the top floor. Before she even reached the principal's office door, Grace could faintly hear a frantic, sharp voice. Advisor Lee had already secretly messaged her the general situation, so after arriving outside, she directly knocked on the principal's office door.

  The sound inside stopped abruptly. Immediately after, the door opened. It was Mr. Ethan who opened it.

  Seeing it was Grace, Advisor Lee gave her a "this is troublesome" look. As Grace entered, he whispered quietly beside her: "Speak little. Don't worry, I'm here."

  Grace gave him a grateful smile, then walked into the principal's office calmly and confidently. Ignoring Eric's mum, whose furious expression seemed to wish she could grind her bones and scatter her ashes with her gaze, she greeted the principal and the Dean of the Office of Academic Affairs: "Principal, Dean, I'm here!"