『What are you going to do?』
『You’ll know soon enough, won’t you?』
What else could it be? Of course, he was looking for some fun.
Li Miao knocked on the principal’s office door.
“Come in.” A deep voice came from inside.
Li Miao pushed the door open, and the principal clearly wasn’t surprised to see him.
Looks like they were old acquaintances.
That made sense. Nan’en had a direct promotion policy, and most of the noble children came straight up from the junior division, so it was only natural for them to be familiar with the school leadership.
Especially someone like Li Miao, a regular in the office.
“Principal, I want to move Shen Yu into A class,” Li Miao said bluntly.
Not “want”… “want to.”
The principal immediately got a headache.
He had thought that after the placement exam, these little tyrants would keep quiet for a couple of days, but he had underestimated Li Miao’s ability to stir up trouble.
The principal took a deep breath and put on a kindly smile. “May I ask why?”
Li Miao knew it wasn’t that simple.
If someone couldn’t keep these spoiled rich boys under control, how could he become the principal of Nan’en?
If he had to satisfy everyone’s demands, what would Nan’en turn into?
But Li Miao had his own way. It helped that the original owner was outrageously arrogant and overbearing; with that predecessor, nothing Li Miao did now seemed out of place.
“Principal should know that Shen Yu is the top student among this year’s special admittees, right?”
The principal smiled faintly. Of course he knew.
“These past two years, Beisi has been watching us like a hawk…”
Li Miao successfully watched the smile on the principal’s lips slowly fade.
Just as he expected, the feud between Nan’en and Beisi had gone on for generations, to the point that principals on both sides would get red-eyed at the mere mention of the other school.
“The F class is a mess,” Li Miao coaxed. “If the future top scholar falls in F class… wouldn’t that be such a pity? Wouldn’t the top scholar end up in Beisi’s hands?”
“That’s true, but if Shen Yu enters A class without taking the class assignment exam, it’ll be hard to convince everyone…” The principal’s expression turned conflicted.
Li Miao lowered his head and smiled, his voice like a demon whispering, “That’s why I’m here. Letting Shen Yu into A class is my idea; whether Shen Yu can win everyone over is his ability. And you…” He walked around to the principal’s side and lightly rested a hand on his shoulder. “You’re just Nan’en’s most diligent and responsible principal.”
The principal paused, then slowly raised his head.
The two of them exchanged a smile, and the matter was settled without another word.
In fact, the moment the principal heard Shen Yu’s name and didn’t immediately ask who that was, Li Miao knew it was settled.
『Why?!!』
From the moment Li Miao entered the office, the system had practically been throwing a party in his head… first disco, then rap, and in the end, when it gave up, lullabies. But Li Miao remained rock steady, his thinking clear.
It didn’t understand why Li Miao was trying to disrupt the plot.
『My dog, of course, has to stay right under my nose.』 Li Miao said matter-of-factly.
Shen Yu “woke up” two days later. When he came out, Li Miao was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, eating breakfast.
Out of the corner of his eye, Li Miao saw someone standing in front of him. He swallowed the last spoonful of seafood congee, then slowly looked up.
Shen Yu was pale. Even the short trip from the guest room to the living room left him out of breath.
A broken bone, poisoning, and excessive blood loss… and he woke up this fast?
Not bad. His body was in good shape.
He crooked a finger, and Shen Yu hesitated before slowly crouching down in front of him.
Li Miao’s eyes curved. Satisfying. He liked seeing Shen Yu look unwilling, yet forced to submit.
Li Miao looked up. In this position, he had to tilt his head back to see Shen Yu’s eyes.
He clicked his tongue in displeasure, grabbed Shen Yu by the collar, and yanked him down. Shen Yu was already weak and unprepared, and he dropped to the floor in a kneeling sit.
The wound was pulled open, and he couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan.
Now Shen Yu had to look up at Li Miao. Satisfied, Li Miao loosened his grip, his fingers drifting over Shen Yu’s wound. “Does it hurt?”
He had tugged at his wound and then asked whether it hurt? No wonder he was the arrogant and domineering second young master of the Li family. A flash of hostility passed through Shen Yu’s eyes, but his tone was obedient. “It doesn’t hurt.”
How could Li Miao have missed Shen Yu’s pain? But he thought the beauty’s furrowed brow had a certain charm.
“That’s wonderful. If you were hurt, I’d be heartbroken.” Li Miao lied without blinking, his eyes curving.
On the other side, the system, furious enough to die at Li Miao’s hands, had no idea what was going on between the two of them.
The system ignored Li Miao for an entire weekend, which happened to leave Li Miao with some peace and quiet. He ordered the villain around with practiced ease… one moment massaging his back, the next kneading his legs; peeling shrimp in the morning and feeding him in the afternoon.
The system cut him off for a full day before reconnecting. It had expected him to panic like other hosts who couldn’t reach the system, but the moment the connection came back, it nearly went blind.
At this rate, Li Miao’s ending wouldn’t just be freezing to death on the streets; he’d likely be hanged and then drawn and quartered.
“Watermelon.” On Sunday afternoon, Li Miao was half-reclining on the sofa, looking at his phone without lifting his head.
The other servants in the villa already knew who he was talking to, so each of them kept their eyes lowered and said nothing.
Shen Yu pressed his lips together, slowly walked over, knelt beside the sofa, speared a piece of watermelon with a silver fork, and held it to Li Miao’s mouth.
Li Miao looked up from his phone, admiring Shen Yu’s sharp, well-defined features, and narrowed his eyes in pleasure.
Villa, air conditioning, watermelon, phone, handsome man.
Ah, this was pretty much life at its best.
“…Master,” even after several days, Shen Yu still struggled to say the word, “I should go.”
Tomorrow was the official start of school; he couldn’t keep living here forever.
If Li Miao wouldn’t let him leave, he could only…
The hostility in Shen Yu’s eyes had barely flashed when Li Miao thought of the surprise he’d prepared for him, and the corners of his mouth lifted. “Of course you can.”
Shen Yu froze. He shot Li Miao a suspicious look and was about to stand when Li Miao’s long fingers suddenly came to rest on his shoulder, and Li Miao sat up.
Shen Yu was still kneeling, facing Li Miao at eye level.
He suppressed the killing intent in his eyes. He knew it… this fool wasn’t going to let him go so easily.
For saving his life, he’d give Li Miao a quick death.
“Are you happy? Finally getting away from me?” Li Miao lifted Shen Yu’s chin.
As he spoke, a faint fragrance wrapped around them… the fresh scent of citrus and ocean.
Shen Yu unconsciously leaned forward. Realizing what he’d done, he immediately leaned back.
“No.” He came back to his senses and answered.
Li Miao gave a soft laugh. “Whether you are or not, only you know. But…”
“You should have heard about my reputation. I’m arrogant, overbearing, and lawless. If I’m unhappy one day, I can’t promise what I’ll do.”
Li Miao smiled innocently, as if the person talking about such unforgivable wickedness wasn’t himself.
“However I rescued you, that’s how I can send you back to hell…”
“Got it?” Li Miao noticed he had drifted off and reached out to pat his face.
“Got it.” Shen Yu lowered his gaze, a trace of hostility flashing through his eyes, but his tone remained respectful.
Li Miao saw Shen Yu’s barely concealed dissatisfaction, but he didn’t care in the slightest. Instead, his fingers rubbed along Shen Yu’s chin. “Good doggy.”
His fingers slowly moved down from Shen Yu’s chin to hook his collar. He sighed. “What a pity. Even if you hate me, there’s nothing you can do. You already agreed, didn’t you?”
Shen Yu said nothing. Li Miao didn’t mind. He pulled on Shen Yu’s collar, gave a light laugh, and leaned close to his ear. “See you tomorrow, good doggy.”
The two of them were so close that Shen Yu could even feel the warm breath from Li Miao’s exhale brushing his earlobe. His breathing hitched.
“Why aren’t you leaving yet? Fallen for me?” Li Miao’s eyes were full of wicked amusement. He stretched out his foot and lightly rubbed the inside of Shen Yu’s calf.
Shen Yu snapped back to his senses, brushed away Li Miao’s troublesome foot, and fled in panic.
Li Miao lay on the sofa, watching Shen Yu’s red ears, laughing so hard tears came to his eyes.
『So our big villain is a pure little puppy after all?』
For once, the system sided with the villain. 『He spends his first dozen years in an orphanage, barely surviving. When does he have time to fall in love? He only just enters society, and then you… you…』
『Ravaged him?』 Li Miao finished in his head, with no burden at all, painting himself as the bully who snatches women by force. He lifted his own collar to his nose and sniffed, genuinely confused. 『Does this laundry detergent really smell that good?』
Li Miao stood up and walked upstairs barefoot. Thinking of the flash of joy in Shen Yu’s eyes when he agreed to let him leave, the corners of his mouth curved.
Did he think he could get away from him?
He couldn’t wait to see Shen Yu’s expression tomorrow when he found out he’d been assigned to A class.