"Ah? You mean you want to pursue me?"
Chen Jie could only nod to admit it, to stop her from being so scared.
"No way, you're too shameless! You actually used that kind of trick to deceive me. I will never be your girlfriend, so give up on that idea!"
Li Ziling shook her head quickly.
"That won't do. If we don't try, how will we know? What if you change your mind?" Chen Jie said.
"No, no, don't be disgusting! I've already rejected you, how can you be like this? Besides, do you have enough money to keep following me around and changing apartments? Don't waste your energy." Li Ziling said.
"You will accept me whether you want to or not. Even though I don't have much money, I think I have enough to keep up with you, enough to keep you from being unable to afford rent. By then, maybe you'll have nowhere to live and end up staying at my place..."
Chen Jie deliberately put on a wicked smile.
"You..."
Li Ziling helplessly touched her forehead. "You're really annoying! I don't want to be harassed by you all the time!"
"Who said I'm harassing you? I'm just living next door to you, aren't I? I haven't trespassed into your apartment," Chen Jie said.
"You want to break into my apartment!" Li Ziling's eyes widened.
However, her eyes darted around, and she realized that Chen Jie had indeed only moved in next door and hadn't done anything outrageous to her.
Thinking of this, she felt relieved.
She wasn't afraid of Chen Jie pursuing her; she was only afraid of him harassing her like those thugs on the street.
If he was just pursuing her, she could simply refuse.
But if she encountered a thug, she wouldn't know how to deal with it.
"Fine, do as you please. Don't blame me for not warning you. Don't fall for me, it's a dead end. The more you give, the more you'll end up with nothing but bruises!" Li Ziling warned.
"Okay!"
"Then I have to go to class. Don't follow me!"
Li Ziling said.
"Okay."
Li Ziling immediately left the residential compound.
A short while later, as she waited for the bus at the bus stop, she saw Chen Jie arrive there too.
She immediately asked, "What do you mean? Didn't we agree you wouldn't follow me?"
There were other people at the bus stop. Upon hearing Li Ziling's words, they all cast disdainful glances at Chen Jie.
Clearly, Li Ziling was young and beautiful, and Chen Jie was obviously her fawning admirer.
Chen Jie shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm not following you. I'm going to work."
Hmph!
Li Ziling huffed and walked a few steps away from Chen Jie.
She could barely accept Chen Jie's excuse.
The bus arrived, and they boarded one after another.
Finally, the bus reached the Provincial Celebrity Dance Training Center.
The Celebrity Dance Training Center was the second to last stop on this bus route.
The next stop was the final one.
Li Ziling was learning dance inside, but seeing that Chen Jie hadn't gotten off the bus, she was convinced that Chen Jie was deliberately pestering her.
"Hmph! I'll intentionally ride past my stop. When I get off later, let's see how you explain that you weren't following me!"
The bus stopped, but Li Ziling had no intention of getting off.
This surprised Chen Jie a little.
However, he didn't think too much about it and got off first.
What?
Seeing him get off, Li Ziling's eyes widened in disbelief. "How did he know I study at this dance academy?"
"Damn it! He even investigated where I go to school!"
Seeing that it was now pointless to get off the bus, Li Ziling simply got off and followed Chen Jie.
"What exactly do you want? Why do you have to stick around me? Don't you have your own things to do?" Li Ziling grabbed Chen Jie's arm and said.
Chen Jie looked helpless. "I don't think I'm following you, am I?"
"Really? You know I study at this dance academy, yet you deliberately got off here. If that's not following me, what is?" Li Ziling pouted angrily, her face bare of any makeup, flawless.
"Me following you? Can't my work be here?"
Chen Jie asked.
"What? Are you kidding me? How could you possibly work here? I've never seen you before," Li Ziling said, her eyes wide.
Chen Jie replied, "That's because I'm an air-dropped hire and I'm reporting for duty today. I'm also a dance teacher. Perhaps I'm your new dance teacher!"
"Keep pretending! Anyway, strangers can't get into our dance school without an ID! Let's see how you pester me then!"
Li Ziling stomped her way towards the school.
Chen Jie, as expected, followed her.
"Stop!" The security guard's eyes were sharp. He immediately noticed Chen Jie had no ID and stopped him.
Li Ziling didn't leave immediately but stopped in her tracks, looking at Chen Jie with schadenfreude.
"Where's your ID?" the security guard asked.
"I'm here to report for duty at the school today. I don't have an ID. You can call the principal and ask." Chen Jie said.
Li Ziling's eyes widened.
Seeing how convincingly he spoke, she almost believed him.
"Are you Chen Jie?" the security guard suddenly asked.
Li Ziling blinked.
Chen Jie nodded. "Yes."
"Teacher Chen, our principal already instructed us in advance. You can go directly to the administrative building to find him."
The security guard immediately spoke politely.
Li Ziling stood there dumbfounded.
Chen Jie is actually a dance teacher at the school?
Could it be such a coincidence?
In an instant, she felt like the sky was falling.
It would have been one thing if Chen Jie, an ordinary person, was pestering her.
But he turned out to be a dance teacher, which meant he would have all sorts of excuses to be close to her at all times.
Li Ziling quickly stepped forward and asked, "Uncle Security Guard, you said he's a dance teacher at our school?"
"What? Do you have a problem?" The security guard was polite to Chen Jie because the principal had given special instructions.
But he was different towards a student.
"Ah? He's so young, which class does he teach?" Li Ziling quickly asked.
"Young lady, aren't you Li Ziling from Dance Class Seven? What a coincidence, he is your dance teacher. You must call him Teacher Chen from now on, understand?"
Li Ziling was stunned.
Chen Jie smiled. "What a coincidence indeed, I'm your teacher."
Li Ziling glared at Chen Jie, then fled without a word.
Chen Jie touched his nose. His mission was to protect Li Ziling, but he assumed she was safe within the school. Therefore, he didn't chase after her and went to the administrative building to report first.
This dance school had both male and female students, mostly recent college graduates.
Along the way, Chen Jie saw many female students dressed in showy attire.
Soon, Chen Jie arrived at the principal's office door.
Several people were seated inside the office.
A middle-aged woman with an elegant demeanor looked at her phone. "It's almost time, Teacher Chen should be here. Everyone, please be quiet!"
Not far away, a middle-aged man with a large belly couldn't help but say, "Principal, isn't he just a teacher sent from headquarters? Do you need to be this grand?"