TFRLTOP Chapter 100 Part 2

Aside from his face, Woodblock Brother was useless. Every time Mingming looked at him, her mind would automatically supply: “Idiot he may be, yet beautiful he remains.”

But when compared side-by-side, he still couldn’t compete with the school idol’s refined looks.

So the others didn’t bother hanging out with him. They saw no need to treat him as competition.

Yet he himself was constantly indignant, determined to challenge the rest.

Talking about “defending the dignity of a man!”

Even the school idol—who loved pretending he was a brooding protagonist—looked down on him.

The guy was clueless.

He heard Mingming liked anime, so he eagerly went off to watch some, hoping to match her interests.

Never mind that Mingming liked shōjo manga, handsome male leads in one-on-one romances, or otome and reverse-harem stories. And occasionally she drifted into… well, that wasn’t important.

But Woodblock Brother didn’t bother figuring out what she liked. He just dove headfirst into the world of anime, watched a few hot-blooded shōnen battle shows, got fired up, and started thinking he could beat anyone.

Now he was determined to upend the delicate balance and establish a ranking among them.

“I will be the man who wins Xiao Xinxi’s heart!”

That scared Mingming so badly she started avoiding him on sight.

And if anyone else happened to be around, Woodblock Brother would also receive a cold stare and a disdainful snort for his trouble.

He gradually realized that not only did Mingming not like him, but even his so-called rivals didn’t take him seriously.

It infuriated him.

So much so that he actually started using his brain.

He went to the basketball captain and said, “If things keep going like this, she’ll never choose you by graduation.”

The basketball captain shot back, “And she’d choose you instead?”

Woodblock Brother said, “If we don’t break this stalemate, you’ll never beat that rich kid who spends all his allowance on her.”

That comment struck a nerve. The basketball captain still didn’t understand why Mingming treated him worse than the rich kid—he bought snacks too!

“What are you proposing?”

“An alliance. You, me, and the school idol take out those two tough little punks first.”

The basketball captain thought it over and agreed.

The two approached the school idol.

The school idol, proud and aloof, refused to ally—he preferred fighting alone. But he did say that, if needed, he’d be happy to stomp those two idiots.

And so, Mingming noticed the boys weren’t hovering around her as much. She felt mildly disappointed, but with graduation coming and middle school ahead, she didn’t dwell on it.

Eventually, when they did appear, they all had faint, suspicious injuries on their faces or arms.

“What happened to you?” she asked each of them out of courtesy.

Basketball Captain: “Fell during practice. No big deal.”

School Idol: “My uncle—our discipline officer—was jumped by students. I got hurt rescuing him.”

Rich Kid: “Some brat tried to steal your allowance. Luckily, I stopped him.”

Little Sickly Boy: “Someone intended to harm you. I handled it ahead of time.”

As you can imagine, Mingming ended up holding the school idol’s and the rich kid’s hands, teary-eyed. “You two are such good people!”

Woodblock Brother exploded. “Why didn’t you ask about me?!”

Mingming blinked. “Oh? Are you still here? Sorry, I didn’t see you. I thought you transferred schools…”

Woodblock Brother nearly cried. I’m the only one in your class! Your actual classmate!

The silent war among the five grew more intense.

Mingming found the whole “boys fighting for attention” thing rare and fascinating—and admittedly entertaining.

So she often stirred the pot a little, purely for fun.

Unexpectedly, right before graduation, the five finally snapped.

They arranged a showdown on the school field.

And invited Mingming to watch.

Mingming was stunned.

“Wait—no—stop fighting!”

But all she heard was punches landing and grunts of effort.

With Woodblock Brother occasionally shouting, “Xiao Xinxi, I fight for you!”

Mingming felt she must have caused this… but surely it wasn’t really her fault.

She hadn’t done anything! Why were they fighting?

“You guys, stop it already!”

And then she saw the principal, the discipline officer, and a swarm of teachers sprinting their way.

She knew.

It was over.

Parents were going to be called. Again.

During questioning, Mingming tried to play innocent.

“I told them not to fight…” she said pitifully.

“Then why did they fight?”

“How should I know?”

“They all say they were fighting for you.”

“Slander. Lies. Complete fabrication!”

Then Mingming clung to the teacher’s sleeve, sobbing dramatically.

“Xiao Xinxi,” the teacher sighed, “even if you cry and say you’re an orphan, it won’t stop your older brother—who is already on his way—from arriving.”

“…”

Mingming cursed under her breath and trudged off to stand against the wall in the principal’s office with the five troublemakers.