To her surprise, Jiang Yunnan shot her a disgusted glare. “Are you insane? Who said I’d sleep with you?! Did I ever suggest sharing a bed just because we’re in the same room? You pervert, what’s going on in your head?!”
Youen froze.
Had she misjudged him, projecting her own pettiness onto his noble intentions?
After a moment’s reflection, she felt a sudden surge of emotion.
“Jiang Yunnan, are you… planning to give me the bed and sleep on the floor yourself?”
Jiang Yunnan rolled his eyes at her without hesitation.
He’d never met anyone so delusional in his life.
“Am I sick? Do I have a self-destructive streak? You’re not my fiancée—why would I treat you so well?”
Youen felt a pang of disappointment. So it wasn’t what she’d imagined—her earlier sentiment had been wasted.
“Then what do you intend? You’re not planning to make me sleep on the floor, are you?”
Jiang Yunnan replied, “If you want to sleep on the floor, I won’t stop you. Heck, if you’re feeling inspired, sleep on the roof for all I care—just stay off my bed.”
Youen gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re truly a great brother to me.”
“Seriously, are you really taking my words that way? Don’t overthink it—I’ve got no time to dwell on your affairs. Since you’ve gotten this Single Room Dorm, make yourself at home. I’ll find another place to stay, but rest assured, I won’t fight you for this room.”
Jiang Yunnan knew she wouldn’t compete for it.
After all, she was poor.
The Su family was dirt-poor.
Even if she wanted the room, she couldn’t afford to contest it.
“Su Youen, you have no money, no influence, and your brains aren’t any better than mine. In your current state, what brilliant plan could you possibly come up with?”
Youen ignored him.
She silently gazed out the window, as if assessing the surroundings.
Jiang Yunnan patted her shoulder twice and spoke with grave concern. “Brother, you’re not actually thinking of spending one lonely, desolate night after another on a roof, are you?”
“Sleep on a roof and feed the mosquitoes? Sorry, but I don’t have a self-destructive streak either.” She wouldn’t suffer like that just to stay in this place.
Her eyes drifted toward the Book Collection Pavilion across the way, which housed numerous ancient texts—the most valuable spot in the entire Academy.
“Youen, no wild ideas.” Su Yan suddenly tapped her head, his tone deadly serious. “You can’t destroy anything there.”
“Second Brother, can you read minds?”
She didn’t understand—how had Su Yan guessed her thoughts just from a glance?
For a moment, she had indeed considered damaging a few books to get Dean Zhu Huaishu to expel her.
But she quickly dismissed the idea.
After all, that Zhu Huaishu was far from normal.
She feared that even if she caused trouble, he’d find some lofty excuse to keep her.
Night began to fall, the bright moon approaching.
Su Yan closed the book in his hands and looked at Youen’s troubled face. “It’s getting dark. If you don’t want to stay with the other students, I’ll sit here with you all night.”
“There’s class tomorrow. Staying up all night here is fine for me, but not for you. Second Brother, you need to go back and rest properly.”
As soon as Youen finished speaking, Jiang Yunnan grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.”Alright, alright, stop messing around. I won’t joke with you anymore either. Su Youen, come with me back to the room to sleep now.”
These wild words made Youen tremble with fear.
“Act normal, you’re scaring me.”
“What nonsense are you thinking about again?” Jiang Yunnan was somewhat speechless. They were all grown men, so why was Su Youen so bashful? Like a girl, who knows what goes through his mind all day.
Seeing Youen still full of vigilance, he finally released her wrist and explained, “Brother, don’t be afraid. I really don’t have any interest in men.
I’ve already had my family send over another bed today, and even set up a screen.
You can rest assured and come live with me. I, Jiang Yunnan, swear I won’t do anything to you.”
Although he had been single for twenty years, he certainly wasn’t interested in men.
Su Youen being so guarded against him actually made him feel quite uncomfortable.
They were all good brothers and fellow townspeople. Looking out for each other should be natural, right?
“I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” Youen stood up beaming, bid farewell to Su Yan, and then followed Jiang Yunnan to the Single Room Dorm.
Unexpectedly, there she once again encountered that ugly playboy Lin Chaoyu.
Lin Chaoyu stood with one hand on his fat waist, the other pointing at the study room, spraying saliva as he spoke.
“Land Supervisor, what exactly is going on here?! Didn’t our Lin family reserve this room long in advance?! Didn’t my father notify you long ago to keep this room available? Wasn’t the money delivered to your residence?
So how did you handle this? How did such a good room end up in someone else’s hands! This is my first day at your Academy, and you pull this stunt on me. What do you mean by this? Do you even remember who my father is?!”
The person standing before him spoke in a humble, pleading tone: “Oh dear, Young Master Lin, please calm down first. Would you allow me to explain slowly?”
This person was Proctor Lu Ting, usually responsible for establishing the Academy’s rules and regulations. His position was second only to Dean Zhu Huaishu, equivalent to a modern vice principal.
Neither Youen nor Jiang Yunnan had met this person before; today was their first time seeing him. At first glance, Lu Ting truly appeared as rumors described – the very picture of a petty man.
Despite being essentially a vice principal, he spoke with such subservience, lacking any scholarly integrity.
“Today is also the Young Master Jiang’s enrollment day. Young Master Lin, you’re aware of the Jiang family’s influence – that’s not something I can afford to provoke. Moreover, our Academy previously focused solely on literary studies, but the Jiang family directly donated substantial funds for us to build the Martial Arts Academy.
After learning of this, our Dean was overjoyed. Assigning this room to Young Master Jiang was his decision – it really has nothing to do with me.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yunnan suddenly conceived a mischievous idea.
He walked directly toward Land Supervisor Lu, pretending it was a casual encounter.
“Well, if it isn’t Land Supervisor Lu? What a coincidence meeting you here.”
“Young… Young Master Jiang…” Lu Ting hadn’t expected to simultaneously encounter both of his major benefactors, momentarily caught off guard.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yunnan spoke with remarkable directness: “I was just coming to thank you. I never expected to run into you here like this.”
“Land Supervisor, I truly have you to thank for being able to stay in this room. I honestly didn’t expect that with the mere silver our Jiang residence offered, you would arrange everything so thoroughly for me.”