Despite his mild tone, he sounded authoritative.

 The boy looked baffled. “Su Xiaomo, you and him…”

 Su Xiaomo was equally dumbfounded and all she could do was blink.

 He Jiayu smiled and handed the love letter back to the boy. He then took Su Xiaomo’s hand, leading her into the school without looking back.

 “Unavailable… Gosh… Su Xiaomo and He Jiayu, you two are a couple now?!” The boy had such a loud voice that nearly everyone heard him.

 All the students passing by were now eyeing the two of them, which embarrassed Su Xiaomo greatly. She struggled, trying to break free from He Jiayu’s hand.

 However, He Jiayu’s grip only grew tighter. Su Xiaomo used all her strength, but still couldn’t throw him off.

 “It’s just as you think.” That was all He Jiayu said.

 Su Xiaomo lowered her voice and sounded frightened. “Hey, Cutie He! Why did you say that? You’re going to mislead them!”

 He Jiayu turned to her, the look in his eyes brooding. “Haven’t I done what you wanted?”

 “What the hell…” Su Xiaomo’s face puckered up. He Jiayu’s face darkened at her reaction and he kept dragging her along without another word.

 Before they reached the building, they were stopped by the dean.

 The dean roared, “You two! Hands off each other!”

 He Jiayu looked at the dean calmly and bowed. “Morning, Sir.”

 But he didn’t let go of Su Xiaomo’s hand.

 “Dating is forbidden on school grounds! You two are outrageous! Are you trying to get a major demerit on your record? You’re not holding hands!”

 He Jiayu wouldn’t follow his order. “Yes, we are.”

 Su Xiaomo tried to sabotage his effort. “Sir, he’s forcing me!”

 The dean pointed at He Jiayu, looking very distressed. “Young man, you’re doing something highly inappropriate! Not only did you coerce a fellow female student, you’re also flaunting it all over the campus…”

 “So what if I did?” He Jiayu smiled. “It’s not like we’re dating.”

 “Then what is this?!”

 “We’re just strengthening our bond before we get married,” He Jiayu said calmly. “Bye, Sir.”

 Still holding Su Xiaomo’s hand, He Jiayu casually walked past the dean and entered the classroom under the admiring gazes from everyone else.

 Su Xiaomo got away from him immediately when he put his school bag down and she shouted in exasperation, “He Jiayu! Are you nuts? What’s that bonding before marriage thing about?!”

 He Jiayu took out a book and darted her a look. “Didn’t you ask me to marry you?”

 “So what if I did?! You can’t just…” He couldn’t just say those things in public. For one, she was quite shy about such things; for another, it was so embarrassing. Furthermore, that just sounded ridiculous!

 Everyone in the classroom was eyeing them in bewilderment. He Jiayu raised an eyebrow and said calmly, “I’ll do it.”

 Su Xiaomo’s eyes were wide open. “Wh- what did you say?”

 “I’ll marry you.” He Jiayu opened his book unhurriedly. “Since you’re going to be my wife sooner or later, I think we should get started now and work on our relationship. Don’t you think that’s necessary?”

 “…” Only then did Su Xiaomo realize how intricate a scheme He Jiayu had dragged her into…

Was this a typical case of going for wool and coming home shorn?

 Chi Yuanfeng asked dumbly, “Brother, are you for real?”

 He Jiayu smiled. “Take a wild guess.”

 He couldn’t be any more real about it.