Finding Stardust

"Well... David and I were studying like our lives depend on it. Plus, we have an amazing private tutor," Haoran replied, glancing at Emma. She was taking out a Biology textbook for the next subject and pretended not to hear him.

"Is that so? So are you two studying with the same tutor?" Anna seemed very interested. "Do you mind giving out his contacts? I think my parents would love to hire him to teach me too."

"Eh ... I can"t. Our tutor is very busy. She doesn"t accept new students," Haoran said hurriedly.

"Well ... that"s too bad."

"That"s right, too bad. You"re too late. I"ve booked her for the entire next year. She won"t have time for you," Haoran answered again.

"Your tutor is a woman?" asked Cedric curiously. "Is she cute?"

"Oho! Cute! So beautiful! The most beautiful tutor in the world ..." Haoran puffed out his chest.

Haoran"s words made Emma, ​​who was now drinking water from her tumbler, suddenly spouted her water. The girl coughed violently and tried to wipe her wet hands with her uniform skirt.

Haoran just laughed to see it. His cla.s.smates laughed too when they saw Haoran laughing.

"What happened to you?" Anna asked in surprise.

"Uhm ... nothing. I"m fine." Emma shook her head. She refocused her attention on her Biology textbook and placed her tumbler back in her bag.

"Hi, Haoran ... Don"t you want to go to the cafeteria for lunch?" Laura asked the young man with a slightly flirty expression. "We can go together."

"Hmmm, sure. Since this is my first day in cla.s.s A, I will treat you all to lunch at the cafeteria," Haoran said. He nudged Emma"s shoulder. "You are coming, too, right?"

Haoran knew that, usually, Emma ate her lunch in the cla.s.sroom. She was used to bringing her own lunch box from home. So, if Haoran wanted to take the girl to lunch in the cafeteria together, he knew he must do it subtly because Emma had asked him not to show their relations.h.i.+p openly at school.

"Are you serious? Are you going to treat us? All 30 students?" Laura asked excitedly. "Do you have enough money?"

Haoran glanced at David. "If I don"t have enough, I"ll borrow David"s money."

His friend just nodded in agreement. David only laughed inwardly at how Haoran still covered up the fact that he was far richer than David. None of these students knew how wealthy Haoran was.

"Wahhh .. how exciting. Come on, let"s all go to the cafeteria!!" exclaimed Peter, who loved eating more than anything.

"Sure thing! I"m always up for free food ... hehehe." Cedric also rose from his chair and walked toward the door.

Emma was amazed to see some of her cla.s.smates whom she knew came from a rich family looked so excited about being treated to lunch by Haoran. Maybe Haoran was right when he said that even rich people like free stuff.

"Come on, Stardust. If it wasn"t for you, how could David and I enter this elite cla.s.s," Haoran said in a low voice as he patted her shoulder.

Seeing, one by one, her cla.s.smates had stood up and exited the cla.s.s following David and Haoran; finally, Emma relented. She walked the last to follow the other cla.s.s 3A students to the cafeteria.

"Students from the 3A eat for free! Haoran will pay for it!" Peter announced as soon as the small group arrived at the canteen. Alex, who had just come with Dinh, pouted when he heard that.

"You are only buying them lunch? What about us? You don"t want to treat us too?" He quickly complained.

Emma pursed her lips at Alex"s words. Yep, Haoran was correct. All rich people seemed to like free stuff. Even Alex, a young master from a wealthy family who had 20 restaurants, protested when Haoran treated the others to free meals and he wasn"t included.

"Okay... I will treat all the students from 3A and my comrades during summer school ..." Haoran said with a laugh.

3A students all cheered happily and went to the various food counters to get the food they liked. After they ordered their meals and drinks, they each gave the receipt to Haoran so that he could pay for them.

The young man sat at a long table with his arms crossed, very much looking like a small-time thug boss receiving tributes from his people. He would handover all the receipts to David, who collected them in his pocket.

"Hey .. look, Haoran said he is paying for 3A students" lunches," Nadya said, touching Mary"s shoulder. Her friend turned her head in the direction Nadya was pointing in, and immediately her tears flowed again.

"Huhuhuu ... even when Haoran is buying lunch for everyone ... I can"t enjoy it ... huhuhu ..." Mary wiped her tears dejectedly. "Because now I"m downgraded to cla.s.s B ..."

Emma, who was pa.s.sing by with her food tray, heard Mary"s complaint. The girl felt sorry to see her friend looked so miserable. She knew how Mary had been having a crush on Haoran for two years.

Mary had always believed that Haoran was a kind and smart student when everyone considered him a troublemaker. And now, when Haoran moved to cla.s.s A, Mary was kicked out to cla.s.s B. Emma felt really sorry for her.

"Hey ... Mary, Haoran initially only wanted to treat cla.s.s A students, but then he made an exception for you and Leonard. He felt bad because you two left cla.s.s A because he and David got in," Emma suddenly said to Mary. "Do you want to join us for lunch?"

Mary was surprised by Emma"s words. She looked at the beautiful girl with topaz eyes with a confused expression.

"Re ... really? Haoran said that?" Mary asked in a stuttering voice.

"Of course. You can ask him yourself." Emma pointed at Haoran, who was still sitting in his place, like a small boss, taking his cla.s.smate"s lunch receipts, like receiving his subordinates reporting for duty.

Mary looked dazed for a few moments.

"If that"s the case ... I ... I"ll get something to drink and sit with you guys." Finally, the girl decided. She pulled Nadya"s hand and walked toward the drink counter. "Let"s get some drinks and sit at Haoran"s table."

Nadya could only follow Mary. She wasn"t sure that it was the right thing to do. But at least, if that could make Mary happy... she would do it for her friend.

[Haoran, I just invited Mary to have lunch here with us. I said you are also paying for her meal. I hope you don"t mind.]

Emma sat next to Haoran with her food tray. At the same time, Haoran almost fell from his chair. He didn"t see Emma"s lips move, but he clearly heard she was talking to him.

Emma just told him that she invited Mary to eat with them.

Hold on.

Mary is... Emma"s cla.s.smate, right?

Wait... Emma"s ex-cla.s.smate, who was having a crush on Haoran. So, why did Emma invite her here?

[I feel bad for her. She has liked you for two years and always believes in you. She kept saying that you are a good boy and that you are actually smart. She has been feeling dejected lately because she was downgraded to Cla.s.s B when you finally got into Cla.s.s A and proved her right all along. It doesn"t hurt you to treat her nicely, does it?]

Haoran looked at Emma with round eyes. He really didn"t see her lips move, but he clearly heard Emma"s voice talking to him.

Was this girl using telemancy?

That was soooo cool!!

"All right," Haoran said with a smile.

"All right for what?" David asked in confusion.

"Uhm ... it"s nothing," Haoran said. "Don"t you want to get lunch for us? Here, let me keep all the receipts."

"Oh, right... of course. Wait here." David handed over all the receipts in his pocket and immediately headed to the fried chicken counter to order food for him and Haoran.

At one corner of the cafeteria, Bianca and her two friends were watching Haoran"s group with furrowed brows.

"Look at all the girls surrounding Haoran," Bianca commented to her friend. "Since Haoran now entered the elite cla.s.s, even cla.s.s A girls have started to flock to him like bees to honey. In the past, only girls from other cla.s.ses thought he was cool. Girls from our cla.s.s have a much higher standard."

"Well, he really is handsome. I"ll give him that. Mary has actually liked Haoran for two years," Sandra commented.

"Well.. he is not THAT handsome," Bianca replied with a shrug. "It"s just that, after Allan graduated, there are no more guys who deserve to be idols in our school, so someone like Haoran can be popular."

"Ahhh .. you cannot compare him with Allan, please. Allan Wu was a heartthrob. Since you"ve got yourself a boyfriend so handsome and wealthy like Allan Wu, no wonder you don"t have eyes for other men," Sandra commented with a laugh. "Have mercy on us, single girls. I don"t mind if Haoran fancies me."

"Ahahaha .. you girls are right. I shouldn"t compare Haoran to Allan. I should stop talking. My standards are indeed too high." Bianca chuckled while covering her lips with the back of her hand.