Hard to Deceive

His voice was neither gentle nor loud, but it shook Wen Yifan as if lightning had struck the ground. 

She recalled what she said to Sang Yan when she came the other day.

“I’m sorry, this is a decent and proper bar.”

“Really? What a pity.”

“……”

Wen Yifan pressed her lips together and an overwhelming embarrassment engulfed her.

Fortunately, it was very noisy, the bartender didn’t hear what Sang Yan had said. He was puzzled, “Bro, what are you doing?” Then, he pointed at the drawer and raised his voice, “Have you seen the bracelet that was placed here?”

Upon hearing that, Sang Yan glanced at the drawer.

The bartender explained, “This customer came to our bar and left a bracelet behind. Yu Zhuo found the bracelet yesterday, I……”

He paused and changed his mind, “Didn’t you keep it?”

Sang Yan sat on the barstool and lazily replied, “Ah…”

The bartender said, “Where did you keep it?”

Sang Yan casually looked away, “I didn’t see it before.” 

“...” The bartender nearly choked, he was speechless of his capricious boss.

Meanwhile, two young women went to the bar to order drinks.

The bartender saw his saviors, and he uttered, “Boss, could you serve this customer? Please excuse me while I get to work.” Then, he immediately went to greet the ladies.

Yu Zhuo left before anyone knew.

They were both left alone.

Although it was crowded and rowdy, they were still considered left alone with each other. After all, the bartender requested him to serve her. One of them stood there and the other remained seated. The atmosphere between them seemed to be strangely disconnected from the outside world.

Sang Yan took a clean empty cup and poured liquor into it until it was half full.

The next moment, Sang Yan pushed the cup in front of her.

Wen Yifan was surprised and she looked at him.

That man’s black hair was finely scattered on his forehead, his eyelashes were like the feathers of a crow, and his face was half bright under the lighting. He was still holding a can of beer in his hand. He raised his brows and said, “What can I do for you?”

It seemed like Wen Yifan really had the guts to come here to get laid.

She paused for a moment and did not touch the glass of liquor, “No, thank you.”

An awkward silence…...

Wen Yifan assumed Sang Yan was embarrassed by the bartender's explanation. He didn’t mention the incident about the contact number. She didn’t mention it either because she was in his territory and she decided to save his face. 

She went back to the main question, “Are you the person in charge of the Lost and Found items?”

Sang Yan smiled, “Who told you that?”

Wen Yifan pointed towards the bartender’s direction.

Sang Yan looked towards the direction, his hands loosened and the can of beer suddenly knocked the bar top. 

“He Mingbo.”

He Mingbo subconsciously looked up, “Hey! What’s wrong, Bro!”

Sang Yan calmly said, “When did I have the time to take care of Lost and Found items?”

“……” He Mingbo was clearly unable to respond, and he was also busy. He said, “Bro, wait, allow me to finish serving this customer.”

Sang Yan’s attitude was not pleasing.

Wen Yifan pressed her lips together and placed the business card next to the glass, “I’ll leave my contact number here. Please call me if you found the bracelet, I’ll come and get it. Thank you.”

Sang Yan didn’t even lift his eyes when he answered, "Hm."

Wen Yifan wondered.

How does this bar maintain its business?

If he treats every customer like this?

Or maybe it’s just towards me.

Perhaps it was because of what I said previously; Or he could still be holding a grudge of the past, to make him pretend not to recognize me and give me the looks.

I went to the police station early this morning and went to three places for interviews. I still have to negotiate terms with the landlord to end my rental in advance and think about where I should stay next. Not to forget keeping an eye on the man next door who may seek revenge.

There were loads of tasks waiting for her to complete.

Sang Yan’s attitude, by contrast, didn’t seem to be a big deal.

However, she didn’t know why.

She couldn’t tell why she was still slightly annoyed, it could be her remaining grumpiness from the day.

Wen Yifan softly added, “That bracelet is very important, sorry for troubling you.”

She was about to leave.

Sang Yan said, “Wait a minute.”

Wen Yifan stopped.

Sang Yan’s adam’s apple moved slightly and he snapped, “He Mingbo, why are you still fussing around?”

He Mingbo replied, “Ah?”

“She left something here.” Sang Yan glared at him and enunciated, “Aren’t you going to find it?”

“……”

He Mingbo had no choice but to continue to search for it since Sang Yan had given out the orders. He magically found the bracelet in the lower cabinet. He breathed a sigh of relief and immediately handed it to her, “Is this it?”

Wen Yifan took it, “Yes, it is. Thank you.”

He Mingbo glanced at Sang Yan and scratched the back of his head, “No, please don’t thank us. I apologize for delaying your time.”

Sang Yan continued drinking and remained silent.

Wen Yifan nodded and bid her farewell before leaving.

It was humid and freezing outside, not many people were outside. It was quiet and empty down the road.

Wen Yifan was so cold that she didn’t want to touch her phone. “I found the bracelet.” She quickly sent a message to Zhong Siqiao before putting her hands back into her pocket. She sniffled and was lost in her thoughts.

Her thoughts were gradually filled with memories.

Sang Yan’s poor but familiar attitude made her recall the scene when they first met.

……

Wen Yifan was late on the first day of her sophomore year.

She didn’t have the time to go to her dormitory when she reached her school. She asked her uncle to pass her luggage to the dormitory officer before hurrying to Building A in her high school. She went up to the fourth floor.

She walked past a corridor towards the internal area of the building. By a water dispenser, she met Sang Yan for the first time when she passed by.

The teenager stood tall, he was wearing a blue and white striped school uniform with a bag dangling on his shoulder. His facial features were elegantly attractive and he had a straight face. However, he seemed unapproachable.

She was the complete opposite of him.

He leisurely filled up his bottle with water and he ignored the ringing bell.

Wen Yifan was in a hurry to go to her class but the only thing she knew was her class was located on the fourth floor. She didn’t know the specific location of her class.

She didn’t want to waste time looking for it, so she stopped and asked, “Excuse me.”

Sang Yan turned off the dispenser, the flowing sound of water was cut off. He closed the bottle cap slowly and glanced at her.

He just glanced at her and didn’t have the intention to answer.

Wen Yifan didn’t know him at that moment. She noticed that he was not afraid of being late because he could fearlessly stroll around the hallway during lessons.

He looked like an experienced general in a battlefield.

She hesitated for a few seconds before asking, “......Senior?”

Sang Yan lifted his brows and looked towards her again.

“Excuse me,” Wen Yifan asked, “Do you know where Class 17 of Sophomore Year is?”

Sang Yan didn’t look like an indifferent person at that time. He looked up and kindly said, “Go straight and turn right.”

Wen Yifan nodded and waited for him to continue.

However, Sang Yan didn’t speak anymore.

Wen Yifan didn’t hear him ending the sentence with ‘Then you’ll reach the classroom’.

She worried that he had not finished his sentence, she cautiously asked, “Then?”

“Then?” Sang Yan started walking and he said in a sluggishly annoying tone, “Then look at the class number on the doors yourself. Do you expect your senior to tell you every single classroom?”

He enunciated, “Junior.”

“……”

Wen Yifan politely thanked him.

She followed the direction he mentioned. She turned right and saw the sign of Class 15 of Sophomore Year. She went straight and Class 17 was located at the end of the hallway. Wen Yifan walked faster, she went to the door and whispered, “Good morning.”

The class teacher looked at her and looked down at the name list. She asked, “Sang Yan?”

Wen Yifan shook her head, “Teacher, my name is Wen Yifan.”

“Oh, Yifan.” The class teacher looked at the name list once again, she was surprised. “Everyone on the name list is here except for you and Sang Yan. This name seemed like a female name, so I thought it was you.”

A male voice appeared behind Wen Yifan before the class teacher allowed her to enter, “Good morning.”

She subconsciously turned behind following the direction of the voice.

She noticed the “senior” who previously gave her directions was standing behind her. They were only two steps away from each other. She realized that he was really tall when she was standing close to him.

She had to tilt her head up to look at his face from the distance.

He spoke in an indifferent and nerve-racking tone, along with a faint smell of sandalwood.

He replied calmly without sincerity, “I’m sorry, Teacher. I’m late.”

“Both of you can come in, those are your seats.” The class teacher pointed at the only two seats left in the classroom before asking again, “Why are the both of you late on your first day? Did you two come together?”

The seats pointed by the class teacher were the last row of the innermost seats.

The two seats were side by side.

Wen Yifan replied honestly, “We didn’t come together. My family had something to settle in the morning, so I was late when they sent me here. And I was unfamiliar with the location of this classroom, so I was late.”

“I see.” The class teacher nodded and looked at Sang Yan, “How about you?”

“My father didn’t know I am already a sophomore student.” Sang Yan went straight towards the outer seat. He put his backpack on the table and said lazily, “He sent me to my junior high school.”

“……”

There was utter silence.

The classroom was instantly covered in laughter. The quiet classroom turned lively.

Wen Yifan smirked.

“Then, you should remind your father when he sends you to school in the future.” The class teacher was also amused, “Alright, both of you can go to your seat.”

Sang Yan nodded his head. He pulled out his chair but as he was sitting down, he noticed Wen Yifan was standing not far away from him.

He paused, “Do you want to sit outside or inside?”

Their eyes met each other.

Wen Yifan quickly smiled and hesitantly replied, “Inside.”

The classroom’s space wasn’t spacious.

The studying desks were divided into four groups, each with seven rows and two columns. There was not much space left in the last row, so the chairs were squeezed between the desk and the wall. If someone needed to go inside, the person outside would have to make room for the person to enter.

Sang Yan didn’t speak, he went out to give her way to her seat.

The class teacher began to speak again, “Let me introduce myself again. I am your class teacher for this year, and I’m also your Chemistry teacher.” She pointed at the blackboard, “This is my name.”

‘Zhang Wenhong’ Her name and contact number were neatly written on the blackboard.

Wen Yifan took out her stationery and started writing them down carefully.

After a while, a boy who was sitting in front of them suddenly leaned back and rested his elbow on Sang Yan’s table. He seemed to know Sang Yan. He turned his head slightly and smirked, “Miss Sang, your name certainly sounds feminine.”

“……”

Wen Yifan was stunned.

She suddenly remembered what Zhang Wenhong had said when she first entered the classroom.

“Everyone on the name list is here except for you and Sang Yan. This name seemed like a female name, so I thought it was you.”

Having heard that, Wen Yifan’s attention was already on Sang Yan.

He was born tall, so his long legs couldn’t fit into the restricted space. One of his legs was simply placed outside of the desk. His eyes were droopy, which gave others an impression of him being sleepy and impatient all the time.

Sang Yan looked at the boy with a straight face.

“It wasn’t me who said this, it was the teacher who said it. I thought about your name since she mentioned it. I would definitely fall for you if I didn't know your gender.” The boy held in his laughter, “I would definitely hit on you if you were a girl.”

Sang Yan observed him with his eyes from bottom to top and said slowly, “Su Haoan, you should look into the mirror.”

Su Haoan, “What?”

“If I were a girl, would I admire toads?”

“......” Su Haoan’s face instantly darkened and remained silent for three seconds, “Scram.”

Wen Yifan was distracted from the lesson as she listened to their conversation, she had the urge to laugh.

His tone reminded her of the fact that Sang Yan had just self-proclaimed as a senior and addressed her as a junior. She paused and muttered in her heart, “Shameless.”

Zhang Wenhong was called to go out by a teacher at that moment.

The classroom gradually became rowdy during the absence of a person who controls the crowd.

“Also, my name.” Sang Yan was not finished with his nonsense, “My father searched in the Zhong Hua Dictionary for seven days and seven nights, and also organized eighty family meetings before carefully choosing my name.”

Wen Yifan rested her cheeks on her hand, her thoughts gradually emptied and she continued listening to him.

He paused for a few seconds before saying playfully, “Hence, the most masculine name was chosen.”

The bustling background had brought a sense of security to Wen Yifan. She stared at the words on the notebook and secretly sighed. She softly commented, “Yet his name isn’t as masculine as mine.”

“……”

Su Haoan sneered, “Why didn’t you just name yourself as Manly Sang?”

Wen Yifan was tickled at her funny bone, she lowered her head and silently laughed. She suddenly realized after a long time that his deskmate had not replied to Su Haoan.

There was utter silence.

It was completely silent as if they didn’t exist at that moment.

She subconsciously looked at Sang Yan.

Only to find out that Sang Yan had set his eyes on her without knowing when he started. He had black but cold eyes, the sunshine that was reflected in his eyes didn’t manage to soften his eyes.

He openly and fearlessly examined her.

Wen Yifan’s heart thumped.

What’s happening?

“……”

Did he hear what I said just now…...

No way, right?

He couldn’t have...

Sang Yan didn’t wait for her to come to a conclusion.

He tapped the edge of the table and said, “Ah, yes. I haven’t had the time to ask.”

Wen Yifan stopped breathing and clenched the pen in her hand.

“New deskmate,” Sang Yan tilted his head and arrogantly asked, “What’s your name?”