Handsome is Beyond Reason

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Gu Luo placed his backpack into the desk drawer before turning to Shen Yue, who looked unusually listless.

"No..."

Shen Yue shook her head slowly, as if trying to shake off some unpleasant emotion, then forced herself to straighten up, pretending nothing was wrong.

"Did something happen in class?" Gu Luo's confusion deepened at her demeanor, and he lowered his voice to ask, "The atmosphere feels a bit off today."

At this, Shen Yue merely pursed her lips slightly. "...You'll find out soon enough."

Last night, her phone had been bombarded with notifications for the first time—several girls had messaged her one after another, asking about Gu Luo's preferences.

For example, what snacks he liked.

Shen Yue had stared at the messages in a daze, unsure how to respond. In the end, she just repeated the list of snacks she had given him the day before as part of their "friendship fee."

But as soon as the girls heard, they immediately declared they'd be bringing snacks for Gu Luo the next day.

Shen Yue felt her blood pressure spike as she read their replies.

But the messages were already sent—there was no taking them back.

Besides, even if she hadn't said anything, those girls would probably have sent snacks to Gu Luo anyway.

Right then.

Just as Gu Luo was puzzling over the situation, several girls stood up simultaneously. Led by the English class representative, Feng Youqing, they marched toward him like a well-trained squad—each carrying a small bag of snacks.

The moment he saw this, he instantly understood what was happening.

A wry smile tugged at his heart.

This was way too enthusiastic.

"Gu Luo, as the new student in our class, this is our welcome gift for you," Feng Youqing said cheerfully, placing her snacks on his desk with a grin. "We saw how much you enjoyed snacks yesterday, so we decided to make them our gift!"

At the same time, the other girls crowded around, chattering excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah! You have to accept them, Gu Luo!" one girl said, blinking her big eyes expectantly.

"It's our heartfelt gesture," another chimed in.

"I brought chocolates and strawberry cookies—they're super tasty!" A third eagerly showed off the contents of her bag.

"......"

Faced with this lively, overly enthusiastic group, Gu Luo maintained a polite smile while his mind raced for a way to tactfully decline.

After all, the sheer amount of snacks was overwhelming.

But since they'd framed it as a "welcome gift," outright refusal would be awkward.

Left with no choice, Gu Luo smiled gratefully. "Thank you all. I’ll accept them this time."

"Youqing, you’re amazing! Gu Luo actually took them!" A girl excitedly patted Feng Youqing’s shoulder.

"Great! Let’s make feeding Gu Luo a regular thing!"

"Totally! Just thinking about it makes me feel all motherly," another girl gushed, covering her flushed cheeks.

"Pfft—motherly? More like—" The girl paused, then leaned in with a mischievous whisper, "You just wanna devour him!"

"Ah! You’re the worst!" The teased girl turned bright red and playfully swatted at her.

"Hahaha!"

The two dissolved into giggles.

Meanwhile, Gu Luo, surrounded by this flock of chattering girls, could only force a strained smile.

At this proximity, he heard every shameless remark loud and clear—and they weren’t even trying to hide it.

Gu Luo fell silent. He hadn’t expected a charm stat of 9 to have such an exaggerated effect.

What would 10 be like?

If he used a charm boost card to push it to 20, would people literally drop dead from his looks?

The thought was terrifying.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Being this handsome did grant some... unconventional advantages.

Take Qu Meimei, for example. Yesterday, he hadn’t bothered replying to her until 10 PM—right before gaming.

And yet, she’d responded instantly.

Not only that, she’d already submitted his club application for him, telling him to just show up the next day.

As if afraid he’d run away.

Then came the endless stream of small talk and over-the-top concern.

Gu Luo, busy gaming, had mostly ignored her.

But instead of getting upset, she’d doubled down—flooding him with even more messages full of warmth and random topics.

He was baffled.

Could looks really influence people this much?

He was only, like, a tiny bit more attractive than 99% of the population.

Guess that research was right—women were seven times more visually driven than men.

At this point, Gu Luo could only resign himself to the absurdity.

Such were the struggles of excessive charm.

"Gu Luo, why so spaced out? Super happy, huh?" Feng Youqing teased, nudging his shoulder with familiar ease.

"Ah..." Gu Luo snapped back to reality. Eyeing the mountain of snacks on his desk, he paused before offering a gentle smile.

"Thank you all so much for the gifts. I’ll make sure to return the kindness."

"But honestly, I don’t eat that many snacks—Shen Yue’s already got me covered."

"Really, though, I appreciate it."

He kept his tone warm and sincere, subtly hinting that future snack deliveries weren’t necessary.

After all, they meant well—rejection required finesse.

Hearing this, Shen Yue—who’d been staring out the window—jolted slightly. The complicated emotions weighing on her instantly brightened.

She straightened up, ears practically perked.

In contrast, the girls’ expressions faltered for a split second. They exchanged glances, smiles dimming briefly before bouncing back.

Gu Luo exchanged a few more polite pleasantries, finally managing—with considerable effort—to usher them back to their seats.

Exhausting.

After stashing the snacks in his drawer and backpack, he turned to Shen Yue, still gazing outside, and grinned playfully.

"What, no friendship fee today?"

At once, Shen Yue whipped around, movements almost frantic, as if desperate to correct the misunderstanding.

She waved her hands, insisting that wasn’t the case, then swiftly pulled out her own stash.

"Today’s got meat floss cake, fruit daifuku, and..."

She rattled off the list like a menu before dumping everything into Gu Luo’s drawer—now officially packed to the brim.

"Thanks." Gu Luo smiled, then pulled a carton of milk from his bag and set it on her desk.

Although it was Luo Shuning's kind gesture, it still needed to be arranged reasonably.

Drinking three bottles of milk a day was clearly a bit excessive.

Even for "nourishing the body," there was no need to go that far.

"Is this for me?" Shen Yue stared blankly at the milk on the table, her eyes filled with surprise and delight.

"Yes, it's a mutual exchange. Though this milk definitely can't compare to the snacks you gave me."

"No, no."

Shen Yue quickly denied the statement, as if afraid Gu Luo would misunderstand her as being ungrateful.

Then she immediately grabbed the milk.

Since childhood, she had always been the one giving snacks to others—rarely did anyone share things with her.

Seeing this, Gu Luo blinked and smiled. "Do you really like milk? Then I'll bring you a bottle every day from now on."

Though it did feel a little wrong to casually pass on the little angel's goodwill to someone else.

But, as they say, there really was no way to drink that much.

Waste was shameful.

"Okay..."

Shen Yue suppressed the emotions welling up inside her and nodded gently, carefully placing the milk in her drawer.

Compared to her initial listlessness, she now seemed full of energy.

Even though it was basically her giving things to Gu Luo one-sidedly, she was still incredibly, overwhelmingly happy.

After all, the other girls didn’t even get the chance to "feed" him.

That secret sense of pride and smugness surged in her heart once again.

Meanwhile, at that very moment...

Situ Wenyao, sitting in the front row, had slumped over his desk, his body trembling slightly.

So good... so damn good.

He had been observing Gu Luo the entire time, imagining himself in Gu Luo's shoes—the handsome transfer student surrounded by adoring girls.

He reveled in the fantasy of being swarmed by girls offering him treats, gracefully declining them, all while basking in the subtle envy of the male classmates.

This feeling... was just too amazing.

The most lethal kind of flex was the subtle one.

In his heart, Situ Wenyao had already enshrined Gu Luo as the grandmaster of the flex game.

He felt he was still too inexperienced in the art of flexing—there was still a long way to go.

But as long as he kept imagining himself as Gu Luo, he could slowly grasp his techniques.

Maybe even surpass the master one day.

So good...

............

............