The inside was even scarier than the outside.
Yun had a vague guess.
The fact that Tuanzi had sweetly called everyone “Brother” yesterday—there was probably no worm who didn’t know about it now.
Standing beside Li Xi, he stealthily fished a bag of soft bread out of the cloth bag, tore it open, and took a bite. He thought as he ate. A moment later, between watching the show and smoothing things over, he chose to join in the heckling!
He leaned in mysteriously toward Li Xi and explained the reason for this scene in a very innocent tone: “You called them ‘Brother’ yesterday, you know.”
Li Xi stiffened: “…”
He called…?
Feeling he hadn’t been clear enough, Yun added: “You called every single one of them~”
“So sweet, so sweet.” He continued watching the show, looking forward to the scene of today’s Li He opening his mouth to call someone “Brother.” That impact would surely be huge for him.
This thought was like a flickering flame not only could it not be put out, but it also showed signs of growing. Although he tried his best to hide the sudden excitement, the uncontrollable, widening curve at the corner of his mouth clearly told the world one message. He was looking forward to it!
“Gonna call them?” Yun pointedly cleared his throat to remind him, his eyes bright with the morning sunlight shining in from the window.
Yesterday, facing his favorite model, he had raised his hand and solemnly sworn to be more respectful to Li He as a male cub. Yet, before the night was even over, he had directly revealed his true colors, throwing the restraint he’d spent all night brainwashing himself with to the back of his mind.
At this moment, Li Xi didn’t want to say a single word.
He had a premonition that he wouldn’t be attending school for long, because he wanted to go home right now.
Yesterday, he had let Tuanzi go to school in his place because he wanted Tuanzi to adapt to the new school life. Another big reason was:
He couldn’t quite accept the surrounding worms focusing all their gazes on him. It felt like he, who had lived on the edge of indifference for years, was suddenly exposed. Every move was caught with nowhere to hide. The feeling of discomfort, both psychological and physical, could not be eliminated.
Tuanzi’s awakening had just resolved his anxiety as a temporary escape, but he hadn’t expected it to attract even more attention.
Li Xi regretted not giving Tuanzi a few more instructions. Standing at the door, he stared at the dappled shadows moving on the ground. With a child beside him teasing him and enjoying the drama, he was momentarily caught in a dilemma.
“Why aren’t you going in?”
A familiar voice timely rescued Li Xi from his awkward situation.
It was Teacher Mo on patrol.
Students always have a mysterious fear of teachers. Hearing the voice, Yun put away his mischievous thoughts and quickly pulled Li Xi inside.
Li Xi deliberately released a cold aura, which momentarily scared away the female worms who wanted to come forward and greet him.
Today was a bit special. The seats that were usually empty were gradually being filled by male worms.
They were surrounded so tightly by female classmates that not even air could get through. Those getting water, those giving snacks…
Both were male cubs, yet the area around Li Xi was empty and devoid of life, making it seem like Li Xi was very unpopular.
Li Xi was indifferent to this. Alone, he lowered his eyelids, wearing the wireless headphones Yun had given him, and immersed himself in a small game on the optical computer, unable to pull himself out.
He was as quiet as a transparent worm.
At that time, a red-haired female worm across the aisle frequently peeked at Li Xi out of the corner of his eye. His palms were sweating, and he was hesitating, not daring to step forward.
His friend gestured to him from across the room, looking at him with an expression of pure frustration, as if he wanted to rush over and give him a kick.
But he couldn’t be blamed. Li He had isolated all the worms by his own strength!
Aside from talking to Yun and Si, he ignored all other worms. The image of a cold, aloof, and unapproachable person was deeply rooted in their hearts, like unmelted ice crystals atop a snow-covered mountain, hard to get close to.
But he was also like the spring sunshine radiating a faint warmth. He would say thank you, he would study seriously, he would be polite to others, and he wouldn’t lose his temper or act out for no reason. He was the “excellent male worm” their female fathers spoke of.
Unfortunately, his grade was a bit low.
Li He was a contradiction, and those who wanted to get close to him felt even more tormented.
The cub with the sweet smile from yesterday seemed to be a brief flash in the pan, gone in an instant.
“Hello, my name is Jie.” Jie mustered his courage to stand before the cub and introduce himself, then stammered out his intention, “Can—can we get to know each other? Can we be friends?”
Hearing the voice, Li Xi’s fingertip paused on the screen. Only after clearing the level did he look up in confusion, only to see a restrained, red-faced little female worm, uneasily wringing the hem of his clothes, talking to him weakly.
A moment of bewilderment spread from his heart. During this time, the classmates in the class would only peek at him, their gazes full of curiosity, but no worm had come up to talk to him.
This resulted in the number of worms he knew being countable on one’s fingers.
“Li He.” Li Xi took off his headphones and, influenced by the child’s behavior, responded politely.
Hearing this, Jie felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he breathed a great sigh of relief. Although it was only two short words, it was enough to prove the other party’s attitude.
He had asked his female father—the Sia family lineage only had two female cubs; he hadn’t heard of a male cub. Li He was perhaps from a side branch, so their statuses were somewhat similar.
He asked the question he had been keeping in his heart: “Is Yun your brother?”
Li Xi was stunned: “…What?”
For some reason, this voice was a bit cold. Jie’s heart, which had just landed, was hanging in the air again. He swallowed: “Yun said you were—were his…”
He didn’t dare say the rest because he felt the male cub’s gaze grow even colder.
Li Xi frowned slightly. That child was talking nonsense again, taking advantage of him.
Jie secretly turned his head to look at his friend. His friend was so excited he was dancing around, looking as if he were about to flip the table.
He withdrew his gaze and ignored his friend. He forced himself to change the subject, and only then did the temperature in the air rise a bit.
Li Xi was struggling to understand what the other meant by helping him in a while, when he heard a worm behind him suddenly interject: “He said, in a little while, he’ll help you with the exam.”
Li Xi turned and asked: “Exam?”
Yun smiled meaningfully and nodded.
Li Xi: “…?”
What exam?
Yun slapped his forehead and explained: “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Today is the final exam.”
Li Xi hadn’t experienced a school exam before, but the base had monthly evaluations, so he wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the concept.
He asked: “How will he help?”
Jie quickly replied: “Give me your paper, and I’ll write it for you.”
Li Xi: “…”
Si came over too: “I can also write it for you. Ranking first in the class is no problem!”
Li Xi: “…”
Yun laughed: “Before you speak, can you look at your own strength first? You haven’t even broken into the top five of the class. How can you have the nerve to say you’ll help Li He get first place?”
Si immediately bristled: “You—”
“No need.” Li Xi spoke up in time to smooth over the atmosphere.
He had thought it was simple guidance on techniques; he hadn’t expected it to be outright cheating.
The male cub refused bluntly, and they found it hard to pursue the matter further. After messing around for a bit, they returned to their seats.
Looking at the game page, Li Xi thought of the upcoming exam and was in no mood to play anymore. He closed the game, flipped open the textbook, and a faint worry appeared over his head.
He hadn’t been this worried even when dealing with those troublesome managers at the base.
By a full count, Li Xi had only attended school for three days, and for one of those days, it was Tuanzi who came to school. This news of an exam was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.
Li Xi: Dead.
His sleeve was lightly tugged from behind. Li Xi turned his body accordingly.
He saw the child resting his chin on one hand, blinking his eyes as if watching a show.
He waited for a while, but no worm spoke; the other just stared straight at him.
Li Xi: “?”
Yun slowly lowered his arm, leaning slightly forward toward Li Xi, and whispered: “Really don’t need help?”
Li Xi nodded.
Yun was puzzled: “Why?”
Li Xi said seriously: “Cheating.”
Yun was speechless, thinking, Must you be so serious?
“Don’t be so serious. No worm will say a male is cheating.” Yun smiled craftily. “If you do poorly, you’ll be scolded, you know.”
Li Xi looked around and saw that no worm was paying attention to this corner. He adjusted his posture, his whole body facing the child who was coaxing him, and began to settle the score: “Brother?”
Yun was stunned for a moment. Once he reacted, he began to swallow frantically, his heart rate suddenly losing balance. Does he know how I’ve been introducing our relationship to the outside world?
His brain worked at high speed, and then he sincerely tried to mend the situation: “I’m doing it for your own good!”
“Hmm?” Li Xi waited with poise.
Yun gave two dry “He-he” laughs: “Look, you’re my brother. If you’re bullied, I’ll have a legitimate reason to protect you.”
He really was smart.
Li Xi was too lazy to correct the form of address again and turned to another matter: “Cheating is not good.”
Being caught cheating in an evaluation was an extremely serious matter. Not only would all results be canceled, but in severe cases, one could lose their life. The micro-bomb buried under the neck was not just for show.
In Li Xi’s understanding: Cherish life, stay away from cheating.
At the very least, he didn’t want his head to explode. It was too unsightly.
“Fine.”
With that, Yun handed the medium-sized black plastic bag on his lap to the cub: “Take it.”
Li Xi instinctively caught it: “What is it?”
He tore open the packaging. Inside were bottled water, frequently-eaten soft bread and biscuits, and candies with colorful packaging…
“During the exam, no worm is allowed to leave until it’s finished.” Yun pointed at the pile of snacks.
He emphasized one sentence: “Including males. No special privileges this time.”
Li Xi touched the snacks, thought of the bulging cloth bag again, and then asked: “How long?”
Yun looked at the electronic clock on the wall and said: “A whole morning, about four hours.”
“Oh.”
Li Xi’s entire attention was captured by the abundance of snacks; even his worry about the exam was temporarily forgotten.
With his back to the door, he didn’t see a male worm behind him charging toward him with bared fangs and claws.
The noise in the classroom was like an ocean wave, and the voice of that male cub was instantly drowned out within it.
Just as Denier stepped into the classroom to find his seat, his friend beside him suddenly stopped. He looked over in confusion and saw Aian narrowing his eyes at a corner of the classroom, murderous intent rising like white mist: “…?”
He followed the gaze, and once he saw clearly, he silently cursed. Talk about a small world.
Since that incident, Denier had been placed under strict supervision by his male father. Combined with the upcoming final exams, he had been reviewing at home until his world turned upside down.
As for Aian, he had slept groggily for several days before showing signs of improvement. Then he began the path of watching surveillance videos. After finding the true culprit, he cried in Denier’s ear every day, swearing he would find that male cub and take revenge.
Just as Denier was surprised that they were in the same class as that cub, a gust of wind blew past his ear—Aian’s shadow was already gone from his side: “!”
Fighting before an exam means no grade! If I get a zero, my male father will kill me!
The fear of a zero score forced Denier to react quickly. He grabbed the other’s collar just before Aian could rush over.
“What are you do—”
Denier hurriedly reached out to cover the shouting mouth, cutting off the angry voice. While struggling to drag Aian out, he persuaded him: “Don’t fight now. I’ll help you beat him up after the exam, okay?!”
“Mmm-mmm-mmm…”
“Let—”
The classroom suddenly fell silent, not a sound to be heard.
The gazes of all the worms simultaneously focused on one spot.
Li Xi’s action of rustling through the snacks suddenly paused: “…Hmm?”
He was about to look over, but his cheeks were clamped by a pair of warm little hands, making him unable to move: “?”
Yun naturally saw everything clearly. He secretly cursed himself. How could he have forgotten this? He cupped Li Xi’s cheeks and quickly said, making up an excuse on the spot: “There’s too little bread. Come with me to buy some more.”
Without giving Li Xi a chance to refuse, he pulled him toward the back door without a word.
The remaining classmates watched the male being dragged out the front door in bewilderment, then their gazes moved in unison toward the male being pulled out the back door.
Every single one of them was thinking: Li He is finished. It looks like he’s offended Aian and Denier at the same time.