Chapter 1224: Taking the Initiative Lu Yun protested, but received no effect at all. It took the awkwardly tilted roast chicken a while to come up with such a move—how could he be content without putting it into action? At Shi Yu's heart, the same frustration stirred. It was the awkwardly tilted roast chicken who had arranged for Lu Yun to switch seats and sit beside her. Now, thanks to just that one whimsical idea, Shi Yu's slender body had ended up in Lu Yun's arms. They had only recently warmed up to each other, and now, just as things were getting comfortable, Lu Yun was being moved again. Shi Yu felt a sudden emptiness in her heart—she had grown used to Lu Yun's presence beside her. If he were to suddenly leave her side, she didn't know how she would cope. Watching the awkwardly tilted roast chicken's smug expression, Shi Yu longed to leap up and kick him right in the chest. "Lu Yun, go over there. Don't fight it. In the end, you'll be the one who suffers." Shi Yu firmly suppressed the flames within herself, knowing that if Lu Yun were to clash with the Crooked Chicken in class, then Lu Yun would truly be unable to stay at school. "But..." Lu Yun was furious—the Crooked Chicken kept targeting him, how could he possibly focus on his studies? Even now, Lu Yun merely managed to keep his head above water in the classroom. If he could only get along as harmoniously with the other teachers, then years down the line, when they met again as teacher and student, their conversations about school days would surely be pleasant. Yet now? Since Lu Yun had enrolled, the Crooked Chicken had always found him disagreeable, consistently finding ways to make his life difficult. Otherwise, Lu Yun wouldn’t have delivered a solid punch right to the Crooked Chicken’s face. There seems to be an unbreakable deadlock between the two of them—one is the homeroom teacher, who holds absolute authority over the class, and the other is a fresh-faced student who, the more I get involved, the more I find myself unable to yield. They’ve truly become adversaries, standing face to face. “There’s nothing I can really say, except that my only concern is if you and Wang Dabao end up sitting together—then I’m afraid you two will start bickering. Will you promise me, please? No matter what happens, just don’t fight anymore. You already have so many people genuinely caring about you. When you fight, we’ll worry about you; when you get hurt, we’ll feel truly concerned, don’t you see?” Po Yu’s eyes glistened, as if she were bidding farewell to a beloved partner. It’s only a few steps apart, yet they can no longer lean on each other, no longer play and laugh as they used to, no longer be taken for granted by Lu Yun’s boyish, slightly domineering attitude. Po Yu felt deeply unsettled. Lu Yun's eyes flashed with inspiration, and immediately he came up with a brilliant solution. Glancing at the touched Po Yu, he whispered, "Po Yu, I've got it! He'll never guess. Don't worry—rest assured, I won't clash with Wang Dapao, nor will I let you all worry or feel distressed." Po Yu's heart was in a whirl, and she didn't really pay attention to what exactly Lu Yun's solution was. Lu Yun simply took his textbook and swapped seats with the girl. He didn't carry his desk over on purpose—after all, isn't Wang Dapao always making things difficult for me? No matter how impressive he is, he can't possibly have every single class scheduled for him. As long as it's not one of his classes, I'll naturally return to Po Yu's side. Suddenly, Lu Yun realized how brilliant this idea was—how come he hadn't thought of it before? Now that the issue was clearly understood, it was surely time to get closer to Xiao Yu. During these days of sharing a desk with Shi Yu, he had indeed been rather neglecting her. As this thought came to him, Lu Yun felt his spirits lift. After sitting down beside Wang Dapao, he looked up at the self-satisfied, slightly tilted chicken, offering a warm, knowing smile. The chicken on the podium, leaning at an awkward angle, was spilling out streams of saliva. Meanwhile, Wang Dapao, sitting next to Lu Yun, was mentally cursing the chicken’s entire lineage—eighteen generations deep. Man, what a stroke of bad luck! All the misfortunes have landed squarely on my shoulders. How could I possibly sit next to this little disaster, Lu Yun? After all, we’re classmates—facing each other every day. Over time, the little grievances between Wang Dapao and Lu Yun would naturally fade away. But what really irked Wang Dapao was that he had his eye on Wang Shiyu, only for the chicken—Lu Yun—to be moved to sit beside her, turning the girl he’d been hoping to win over into Lu Yun’s girlfriend. Even worse, Wang Dapao wasn’t just disappointed that he couldn’t land Wang Shiyu—he also felt frustrated that his own seatmate, though not bad-looking, wasn’t exactly a match in terms of chemistry. While their relationship wasn’t particularly harmonious, Wang Dapao believed that with time, he’d surely win her over—after all, being close to her every day was a great advantage. He was certain that Wang Dabao's abacus clicked loudly, yet his plan—so crooked and thoughtless as the one from the "Twisted Thigh Roast Chicken"—had turned even his meager hopes into nothing. Man, what a disaster! In his heart, Wang Dabao lamented, but what could he do? He lacked Lu Yun's boldness. With the homeroom teacher, even a slight irritation would mean a full-on confrontation—Lu Yun was a whole different level. Wang Dabao was just a student who disliked studying and had a few tricks up his sleeve. He simply couldn't match Lu Yun's caliber. He'd have to hold his ground—by heaven! He'd find a way to pop the valve core off the Twisted Thigh Roast Chicken's bicycle by noon. With this thought, Wang Dabao already imagined the Twisted Thigh Roast Chicken's frantic expression upon returning home and discovering the valve core missing. "Heh... heh..." As he thought of his own satisfaction, Wang Dabao couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Hey, what's so funny? Did you see me coming and suddenly feel like I owe you dinner?" "Lu Yun said with a touch of amusement, then gently poked Wang Dabao. Wang Dabao was momentarily startled, realizing his own awkwardness, and quickly settled back into his seat, pretending to be listening intently, though softly murmuring, "Now you're a wealthy guy—your school convenience store is all yours, and yet you still expect me to treat you to dinner?" Lu Yun chuckled, "Hey, don't be so stingy! How about I treat you to dinner to help me woo girls?" Upon hearing "woo girls," Wang Dabao's eyes lit up with a bright glow, eagerly nodding and asking, "You're really going to help me woo girls? Are you pulling some kind of prank on me?" Previously, the two had been constantly at odds—especially over Zhang Xiaoyu—where Wang Dabao had truly been thoroughly defeated by Lu Yun. Fortunately, Zhou Quan had already dropped out of school at that time; otherwise, with Zhou Quan's help, who knows how many of the others who had stepped up to defend Zhang Xiaoyu might have ended up with nothing but bones scattered all over the place. Wang Dapao glanced at Lu Yun with hesitancy and asked carefully, "Lu Yun, are you planning on doing something underhanded to me?" "Ugh, what could I possibly do to you? You've got all the things I have—actually, better than I do by a long shot. And your strength and bulk are impressive. If I were to have any intention of doing something to you, I'd be considered crazy." Lu Yun scoffed lightly. "Anyway, the point has been made. Whether you agree or not, it's up to you to decide." Lu Yun also knew there had been some friction between him and Wang Dapao. If he wanted to keep his seat back from the girl he'd just exchanged it with during the awkward seating rotation in the class on the crooked chicken, he'd have to get past Wang Dapao this time—otherwise, the solid fellow would surely go behind the scenes and complain to the crooked chicken. If that happened and someone caught him in the act, there'd be no avoiding a fresh round of trouble. Wang Dabao stared intently at Lu Yun, as if trying to detect any subtle signs of unusualness on his face. After a long while, however, he found nothing out of the ordinary. With a determined sigh, he said, "Alright, I'll listen to you. Tell me how to help me attract girls. But first, let's make it clear—no extra conditions, and certainly no overreach." Oh, really? Well, it seems he's not completely naive after all—he's aware that there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. "Since we've become brothers, I actually have something I need you to help me with..." Before Lu Yun finished speaking, Wang Dapao immediately frowned and said, "Lu Yun, we already agreed earlier—no conditions, no strings attached. How can you back out so quickly? You're not even keeping your word!" "Take a deep breath and let me finish," Lu Yun interjected. "This is nothing for you—it's just a small favor, a matter of a simple gesture." "What do you mean?" Wang Dapoo seemed a bit confused, asking for clarification. "Do you know how I'm related to Shi Yu?" Wang Dapao felt a sudden pang in his chest. He had once threatened Shi Yu, only to find himself now becoming her subordinate—something only he and Shi Yu knew. How could Lu Yun possibly know about the little gestures he made toward her in class? Had Shi Yu told him everything? With that thought, Wang Dapao immediately felt a wave of nervousness, his forehead already glistening with cold sweat, and it took him a while to stammer, "This... I really didn't know anything about your relationship with Siyu." He knew he'd never succeed in winning over Wang Siyu—right now, all he wanted was to avoid getting thoroughly beaten up by Lu Yun over this matter. "Hey, you don't have to worry about that." Lu Yun gave a solemn smile and continued, "You know how I don't get along with the crooked chicken. He clearly arranged my seat today as a direct move against me. Right now, our relationship with Po Yu is heating up, so naturally, we can't let this issue drive us apart. Therefore, as long as it's not one of his classes, I'll return to my original seat and stay with Po Yu..." Wang Da Pao seemed to grasp something, and immediately said, "Don't worry—I won't go tell the crooked chicken. Man, I'm really annoyed with him right now. Go ahead and spend all your time with Wang Shiyu from now on. Just don't forget to help me with my dating efforts!" Lu Yun chuckled, "Got it!"