Chapter 21

Wang Bo went to bed around eleven o'clock. As he had expected, he did not enter the magical dream this time. The opportunity to enter on Tuesday had already been used up, and he could only wait until Wednesday to go in again.

When he woke up in the morning, he calculated the time limit for the task and was not in a hurry. The first task, getting two girls to perform on the same stage, was already mostly completed. With his efforts and persuasion, the matter would be settled by the weekend performance. Yesterday, he confirmed with Liu Yan that their duet had made significant progress, and Jin Xiaoli was no longer strongly opposed to performing on stage.

He felt it was time to consider the second task, about the volunteer service team.

Yu Jia's words last night weighed heavily on Lu Lu's mind. She had a poor night's sleep, constantly thinking about the rumors about Wang Bo. She finally fell asleep, but then dreamed about being at his house. In the dream, Wang Bo took off his clothes and suddenly hugged her, pushing her onto the sofa.

Lu Lu was startled awake by the dream, drenched in sweat, and then tossed and turned for a long time.

She really wanted to know if the rumors about Wang Bo were true, whether he had ever dated a teacher. This was different from the matter with Huang Wen, as the uncertainty made her feel insecure, so she was particularly concerned.

Deep down, Lu Lu knew she cared about Wang Bo because she had a good impression of him. Of course, she would never admit this to others. But she had a clear understanding of her feelings. Wang Bo was a gentle and responsible man, with the only flaw being that he was a bit of a womanizer. Her good impression of him was based on her understanding of him.

Her intuition told her that Wang Bo also had a good impression of her, otherwise, he wouldn't care so much about her. Her past romantic experiences were a blank slate; she had never been in a relationship, but that didn't mean she was naive. Women are naturally born for love, and they are a hundred times stronger than men in matters of the heart.

She was particularly concerned about Wang Bo's past, hoping it was as blank as hers, or at least not as complicated as the rumors suggested.

Rumors are unreliable, so she decided to ask him herself. Otherwise, this would become a nagging worry that would keep her thinking about it.

During the break today, Wang Bo was running around the senior classrooms, urging people to submit articles for the school newspaper. He received a text message from an unknown number, simply saying: "12:00 PM, the small forest." The sender was Lu Lu.

This is where women have an advantage. They don't need to go to great lengths to get a phone number; they can easily contact the other person.

Regardless of the reason, Wang Bo decided to check it out. Huang Wen didn't come to find him after school today; she didn't come to school for some reason.

So Wang Bo went to the cafeteria alone for lunch and then spent time in the library. When the time was almost up, he left the library. Lu Lu was already waiting in the small forest, holding a book, at the same spot where they had talked before.

"What do you want?" He asked, feeling he had nothing to hide. The rumors about them had already faded, so she probably didn't have anything special to talk about privately.

She closed her book, a bit nervous, and after a moment, asked, "Did you have a girlfriend in junior high school?"

"Why are you asking this?" Wang Bo said guardedly, "What does it have to do with you?"

"Why won't you say? Is there something you're ashamed of?" she pressed.

"Ashamed?" Wang Bo laughed sarcastically, thinking she must have heard some rumors about him, "What exactly do you want to know? About the intern teacher?"

"I just want the truth," Lu Lu said calmly, "I don't want a rumor to ruin my impression of you."

Her intuition told her that Wang Bo had a good impression of her, so her impression of him should be important to him.

But in this matter, Wang Bo's attitude was very stubborn. He looked at her with a disdainful expression and said, "Hmph, you know it's a rumor, so why bother to confirm it? I don't care what impression you have of me. If I don't want to say something, no one can make me."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Lu Lu standing there, her brows furrowed. She was carefully analyzing Wang Bo's words. His reaction was strange, not panicked, but not calm either, more like a bit of a rogue. He seemed to be completely unbothered by her, as if this was his sore spot, and no one could know the truth.

Everyone has some secrets buried deep in their hearts, things they don't want anyone to know, things they don't want to talk about. If that's the case, something must have happened between him and the intern teacher, maybe a love affair, maybe a hurt, or something else that made him unwilling to talk about it.

Maybe if our relationship progresses further, he will tell me.

Lu Lu thought this, and a bold idea suddenly came to her mind. The matter had become a nagging worry, and the more Wang Bo refused to tell her, the more she wanted to know.

"What will it take for you to tell me?" she texted him.

"Stop bothering me, gossip reporter," Wang Bo replied, treating her like a nosy woman and not wanting to deal with her.

"If you tell me the truth, I'll agree to one condition, any condition," she sent another message, with a clear hint of temptation. This was a bold idea, a gamble. She was betting on Wang Bo's character, that he wouldn't make unreasonable demands. If the truth wasn't as shocking as the rumors, he should still be a relatively simple boy, just a bit of a womanizer, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Wang Bo didn't reply to the message. He came back, one hand on his chin, looking her up and down as if he were selecting a product. His actions made her a bit embarrassed and angry, and she asked, "What? Are you going to tell me or not?"

Wang Bo raised a finger, looked her in the eye, and asked seriously, "Any condition, no matter what I ask you to do, you'll agree?"

She nodded resolutely, her heart racing.

"Hah, who are you trying to fool?" he suddenly relaxed and said, "You're too young to try to trick me."

"You can state your condition first," she said, making the biggest concession she could. This way, if Wang Bo made unreasonable demands, she would have the right to refuse.

"Do you really trust me that much?" Wang Bo asked, "What if I don't tell you in the end?"

"Then I'll just have to take the loss and see what kind of person you are," Lu Lu said. She was placing a big bet on him. If Wang Bo didn't disappoint her this time, she felt she might give her heart to him. Although this went against her initial resolve not to date in high school, if it really came to that, she wouldn't mind her first love happening during this intense period, and the person would be this seemingly ordinary but deeply secretive boy in front of her.

Wang Bo thought for a moment and said, "I need to think about this. How about this: I'll give you an answer after the mid-term exams."

Lu Lu sighed in relief and asked, "Why so long?"

Wang Bo, of course, couldn't tell her that he needed to wait for the task list in the exchange system to refresh to see if he would need her help. So he said, "If it were anyone else, I would have refused without a second thought. But you're different, and I need some time to think about it."

This answer was thought-provoking. His words suggested that he saw Lu Lu differently, but was he seriously considering the exchange, or was he thinking about what unreasonable demands to make?

Actually, Lu Lu was overthinking it. Wang Bo really wasn't considering anything unreasonable. Although he was a healthy teenage boy and might have some inappropriate thoughts in the face of such obvious temptation, he only fantasized about it and had no intention of trying it. He knew it was impossible; Lu Lu wasn't stupid and wouldn't let him get away with it.

He just wanted to keep this condition in reserve in case he needed it for the next task list refresh.