Tang Yu lowered his resisting hands. His shoulder brushed against the front of Bai Yuenian’s school uniform as he turned to look. Sure enough, it was Auntie Liang leaving the house.
Auntie Liang was the housekeeper at Bai Yuenian’s place. She was an amazing cook and took great care of Tang Yu, too.
Ever since he transmigrated into this book a few days ago, he would find a thermos packed with food in the living room every morning when he woke up. The same went for dinner no matter how late he got home, a piping hot meal would be delivered to his doorstep half an hour later. Even though Tang Yu knew perfectly well she was just doing her job, it had been a long time since he’d felt this kind of warmth and care.
Maybe because it had been an emergency, the spot Bai Yuenian had dragged him into wasn’t exactly ideal. The dumpster was just a short distance behind this tree. Tang Yu measured the distance with his eyes and realized someone standing by the dumpster could easily spot them.
So, Tang Yu gripped Bai Yuenian’s waist and shoved him further into the shadows.
But doing that brought Bai Yuenian even closer!
The teenager’s burning body heat pressed against him again. His breath fanned across Tang Yu’s ear, trailing down the collar of his school uniform, puffing against his neck in faint, ticklish wisps.
Damn it! Does this guy have asthma or something? Why is he breathing so heavily?
And look at their positions! Bai Yuenian had both hands braced against the tree on either side of Tang Yu’s shoulders, while Tang Yu’s hands were still resting on Bai Yuenian’s waist. Add to that the setting someone could spot them from behind at any moment.
Why did this… feel so much like they were… having some sort of secret affair?
Tang Yu snapped out of it, instantly letting go and shoving the ridiculous thought out of his head. At the same time, he reached up and pushed Bai Yuenian’s head down.
If your nose is itchy and you’re looking for a beating, just say so! Stop breathing down my neck, damn it! So annoying!
Maybe it was the lingering adrenaline from the fight, but Tang Yu was feeling incredibly irritable.
Bai Yuenian lowered his head as guided, but immediately looked back up, his eyes filled with sheer confusion. Tang Yu shoved his head down again. This time, Bai Yuenian stayed down.
After about a minute, Tang Yu whispered, “Is she gone?”
Bai Yuenian, head still lowered, asked softly, “Can I look up now?”
Tang Yu: “…”
Are you stupid or what? Who knew a nerd could be this obedient?
Strangely enough, Tang Yu’s mood improved a bit. He gave a quiet “Mm.”
The moment Bai Yuenian looked up, his eyes caught the deep crimson flush on Tang Yu’s ears and the high collar of his school uniform, which he had just zipped all the way up to cover his neck. Auntie Liang had already gone inside, and the street was completely empty.
Tang Yu said, “Let’s go. By the way, what were you saying earlier?”
Bai Yuenian replied, “I said, I don’t want my parents to find out I got hurt. Can I sleep over at your place tonight?”
Tang Yu fell silent. His mind was instantly thrown into a chaotic mess, with two little voices aggressively duking it out in his head.
Voice A: You should let him. At the end of the day, you’re the reason he got into this fight. You need to take responsibility.
Voice B: But you’re just going to let him into your house? You barely know him!
Voice A: Tang Yu, how can you be like this? Aren’t you school bullies supposed to be all about loyalty and honor?
Voice B: What does a stray thug’s mess have to do with you? Besides, he’s the protagonist gong! Remember your role as the protagonist shou? This is literally inviting a wolf into your house! Do you want to be a little lamb eaten alive, bone and all?
Voice A: As if you couldn’t handle him. He’s weak as hell.
Voice B: No, no, no… a weak top is still a top! You cannot let your guard down.
Tang Yu’s footsteps grew heavy with frustration. He desperately wanted to kick the entire Earth into smithereens. Ahhhh, so annoying!
Bai Yuenian’s soft sigh cut through his chaotic thoughts. “It’s fine, really. It’s not a serious injury anyway. Don’t worry, I can manage on my own.”
Tang Yu’s eyes lit up. “Then…” Then we can just go our separate ways?
Before he could finish, Bai Yuenian continued, “It’s just that my school uniform got some blood on it, and I have to wear it tomorrow, so I need to wash it. If my parents catch me washing it, or hear the loud dryer… I don’t know what I’d tell them.”
Looking down, Tang Yu noticed a few crimson spots on the hem of Bai Yuenian’s shirt. His guilt instantly surged to the next level.
“And then there’s dinner,” Bai Yuenian added. “My family is very strict; we always have to eat together at the dining table. But my right hand is so stiff right now. If they notice, they’ll worry.”
“I guess I just won’t eat dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow. It’s fine, I can tough it out. I definitely won’t faint during class.”
Tang Yu: “…”
Glancing at the guy’s arm which was wrapped in at least ten layers of bandages Tang Yu’s resolve completely crumbled. “Whatever. Come if you want.”
Following closely behind Tang Yu, Bai Yuenian asked, “Which room will I be sleeping in?”
“The pigsty,” Tang Yu snapped. Realizing he sounded a bit too harsh, he quickly added, “Don’t worry, my house doesn’t have one.”
Bai Yuenian replied with complete sincerity, “Yeah, I know. You don’t raise pigs.”
Tang Yu: “…”
The exact second he unlocked the front door, Tang Yu cursed inwardly. Damn it! How can a nerd be this clueless? Did he literally study his brain into mush?!
Once inside, Tang Yu headed straight upstairs, while Bai Yuenian stood by the floor-to-ceiling window to call his family. When Tang Yu walked back downstairs, the call was still ongoing.
He could guess what Bai Yuenian’s mom was asking: “We live right across the way, why didn’t you just come home to tell me? Why call?” Or maybe, “What time are you coming back? Should I leave the door unlocked for you?”
Bai Yuenian deftly dodged the questions, either changing the subject or smoothing things over with clever excuses.
Huh. Maybe this nerd isn’t as dense as he looks.
Watching this scene struck a chord in Tang Yu. He possessed plenty of self-awareness and knew he had never been an easy child to raise; he had been a total handful growing up.
He remembered one time when he was around eight years old. His mother had come home with a stern expression. Seeing him playing happily, she immediately flew off the handle: “Still playing? Have you finished today’s homework?”
In reality, his mother never nagged him about homework. Bringing it up was just her code for being absolutely furious.
His father walked in right behind her, trying to soothe his wife. “It’s no big deal, honey! Don’t let it get to you. Take a deep breath.”
“I can’t!” she snapped. “Nene, let me tell you I share an office with little Tianyi’s mother. You made her son cry just to snatch a gaming console, and now the two of us have to sit next to each other in total awkwardness! Do you know how long I’ve been holding this anger in today?”
‘Nene’ was Tang Yu’s childhood nickname. When his mother was pregnant, she had desperately wanted a daughter. Before she could even come up with a proper name, she started using this cute nickname. It was “Nene this” and “Nene that.” Even after he was born and she saw he was a baby boy, she refused to give up the name and kept calling him that.
To Tang Yu, his mom was incredibly endearing. The reasons she got angry were just as quirky as she was. Being scolded like that only made eight-year-old Tang Yu look down and hide a smirk. He had initially thought his mother was going to lecture him about fighting, but it turned out the whole issue was just the second-hand embarrassment of sharing an office with Xie Tianyi’s mom.
His father was an expert at handling his wife. With a smooth, “It’s fine, she’s the one who should feel embarrassed. Think about it if our son was the one who got beaten up and came home crying, that would be embarrassing.” That completely broke her stern facade.
His mother burst out laughing, leaning into his father’s chest. “You’re right! That makes total sense. Our boy is the one who won the fight!”
As he grew a bit older, his mother started stressing over his schoolwork. Not because his grades were bad, but rather…
“What kind of problem is this? Did this type of question even exist when I went to school? Is elementary school math seriously this hard nowadays?!”
His father walked past, ruffling her hair affectionately. “Honey, you skipped straight past third grade entirely, so it makes sense you don’t know how to do it.”
Tang Yu’s mother, Tong Qinwen, had skipped grades all through elementary and middle school. She was admitted into the prestigious Southern University Genius Youth Program at just fourteen and graduated with a PhD at twenty. Now, she was a full professor at Southern University and a leading expert in the field of chemistry.
Yet, she was completely stumped by an elementary school math problem!
After checking the answer key, Ms. Tong got an even bigger headache. “The answer is just 1/8? How can it be that simple?”
“Forget it! Just copy my work. Mine is definitely right. I trust my own calculations.”
As a result, Tang Yu was called into the teacher’s office the next day. “Tang Yu, where on earth did you get this answer?”
Tang Yu had puffed out his chest, his chubby little face brimming with pride. “My mom solved it!”
He genuinely believed his mom’s answer was the coolest thing ever. But the teacher was utterly flabbergasted. “This answer… why are there infinite summations? And square roots? There are literally differential equations in the middle of the steps! Could you please ask your mother to come in?”
The next day, his mother showed up at the school, and his math teacher nearly dropped to his knees in horror. As it turned out, Ms. Tong… happened to be the very university professor who had failed his math teacher back in college.
The freshly graduated, rookie teacher had never imagined he would reunite with the professor who once failed him in this exact manner. In that split second, the teacher’s entire world turned gray.
Back in middle school, Tang Yu had gotten into a fight with a boy who had excellent grades. The trigger was a younger girl who had written Tang Yu a love letter. The other boy liked the girl, became intensely jealous, and started making nasty, passive-aggressive remarks behind Tang Yu’s back. One day, Tang Yu caught him red-handed. With his explosive temper, Tang Yu couldn’t let it slide. He threw hands immediately and ended up knocking out one of the boy’s front teeth.
Naturally, parents were called in again. The other boy’s mother immediately launched into a furious tirade, while Ms. Tong sat there completely silent.
Once the woman finally ran out of steam and calmed down, it was Ms. Tong’s turn to take the stage. “Our laboratory just developed a highly rare, premium material. It’s incredibly valuable and not yet available on the market. It’s called… and possesses incredible properties. It happens to be perfect for your son’s situation. If we restore his tooth with our material, it can…”
The other mother was totally dazed, yet completely swayed by the scientific jargon. “Then… then how much would that cost?”
Ms. Tong put on a thoughtful expression. “One hundred thousand yuan.”
As soon as they left the school grounds, Tang Yu gave his mom a massive thumbs-up. “Brilliant! You actually managed to close a business deal. As expected of an economist’s wife!”
Ms. Tong beamed with pride. “Only a fool passes up a chance to fleece someone. Did you see her handbag? It was easily worth five figures. Honestly, I feel like I asked for too little.”
Tang Yu asked, “Then why didn’t you demand more?”
“I didn’t recognize the brand!” Ms. Tong huffed. “I only looked it up on Baidu after we left the office. You know your mom doesn’t care about luxury brands.”
“And ugh, that kind of parent! She doesn’t even know how to correct her own kid’s rotten attitude, yet she tried to look down on me just because her son gets good grades? So what if his grades are good? Has he ever won a national gold medal? My son won the gold medal in the National Youth Art Competition! A real national title! If it weren’t for the fact that my boy prefers to keep a low profile, I would have thrown that in her face and scared her to death.”
Tang Yu smiled. “Next time, just say it. We’ve got to protect our bragging rights.”
The sudden wave of memories made Tang Yu’s eyes sting with unshed tears.
Auntie Liang had already brought over dinner from across the way, and Bai Yuenian was busy setting the table.
Tang Yu turned his back to him, quickly wiping the corners of his eyes. Forcing a casual tone, he said, “Go ahead and eat first. I’m exhausted, I’m going to take a nap.”