“Heh.” Bai Yanzhou chuckled lightly and stopped inserting the needle.
He casually plucked the sunglasses from Lin You’s face, raising an eyebrow slightly. “So, even a little leopard can’t escape the trouble of insomnia?”
Lin You, who had been turned into a human hedgehog, wore a bitter expression, not daring to move a muscle.
“Teacher…”
He should have known. Since Bai Yanzhou had lived this long and could hide his demonic aura so well that they hadn’t detected a trace of it, he couldn’t possibly be a simple character.
If he hadn’t accidentally come across that video-loving auntie who happened to capture Bai Yanzhou in her shot, who knows how long they would have kept searching.
“So you still know to call me Teacher?” Bai Yanzhou leaned against the table, his brow quirked. “It’s been so long. Did you come here specifically to catch up?”
Coal Ball wandered over at some point, rubbing against Bai Yanzhou’s foot and letting out a soft mew.
To Lin You’s ears, that meow translated automatically into another sentence:
If you dare tell anyone, you’re dead.
Lin You shuddered and quickly forced an ingratiating smile. “Teacher, it’s been a thousand years. Let’s have a nice chat… Could you maybe take the needles out first?”
“Catch up? Sure.” Bai Yanzhou smiled and picked up Coal Ball. But before Lin You could be happy for even two seconds, he added airily, “But I never said the needles could come out now.”
He wasn’t some merciful, saintly teacher.
When a student delivered himself to the door, why would he let him off easy?
And so, for the next half hour, Lin You thoroughly experienced the idiom “sitting on pins and needles.”
He should have known better. His teacher was a Smiling Tiger through and through!
The gentler his voice, the harder he struck.
Finally, having endured until the time was up, the moment the needles were removed, Lin You turned to flee, only to have his collar grabbed from behind.
“Hey, don’t rush off so soon.”
Lin You’s back went cold, cold sweat breaking out. “Haha, Teacher… I suddenly remembered I have something to do at home. How about next time… Besides, don’t you have to watch the shop?”
Just as he finished speaking, Bai Jimu’s drawn-out voice drifted in from the door: “Bro—I’m back!”
Lin You felt like he was seeing a savior and quickly looked toward the entrance.
Bai Jimu strode in, cupping something indistinguishable in his hands.
Seeing Lin You, he was visibly startled.
Why is there a sparkling golden guy in the shop?
“Little Mu is back,” Bai Yanzhou said, walking out slowly with Coal Ball in his arms. His nose twitched slightly. “What’s that smell? Did you bring me snacks?”
“What? No! Bro, since we have a guest, I’ll go upstairs first.” Bai Jimu acted quite properly in front of strangers; his sunny, handsome smile nearly blinded Lin You.
So… this is the guy who’s been living with Teacher for ten years?
Looking at the data, I didn’t think much of it, but seeing him in person…
I suddenly feel like my older brother is under a lot of pressure.
This guy is way too good-looking…
Sensing the vaguely teasing look in Lin You’s eyes, Coal Ball silently unsheathed his claws.
“Wait a minute,” Bai Yanzhou called out to stop Bai Jimu just as he was heading upstairs. He leaned in to look at the lump in his hands and clicked his tongue with slight disdain. “Where did you pick up this ugly thing?”
“Just over in the residential area,” Bai Jimu said, scratching his head. “Someone threw away a birdcage. I was about to leave, but I saw it was still moving, so I brought it back.”
The little thing in his palm flapped weakly.
Bai Yanzhou could see it now—it was a bird, plucked nearly bald with only a few stray feathers left.
It was hard to tell the breed at a glance.
But with Bai Yanzhou’s experience, he guessed it was a parrot suffering from depression and self-mutilation. He had seen cases like this before.
” The owner said it’s a cockatiel. Bought it half a year ago, but it started plucking its own feathers. They thought it was too ugly and didn’t want to keep it, so they threw it out. Bro, can we keep it?”
Looking at Bai Jimu’s expectant eyes, Bai Yanzhou’s heart softened.
But birds were naturally one of his favorite foods.
Wasn’t this equivalent to putting a roast chicken in front of him and telling him not to eat it?
Truly…
“Fine. Go get it settled first, then come down and help me watch the shop. I need to have a good catch-up with this ‘old friend’.”
“Okay! Right away!” Bai Jimu sprinted upstairs.
“As for you—” Bai Yanzhou turned his head, smiling at Lin You, who already had one foot out the door.
With a slight lift of his finger, the door slammed shut with a bang.
Lin You yanked his foot back just in time to avoid getting it crushed.
Looking at the heavy wooden door before him, he swallowed hard.
Will I make it out of here alive today?
It was strange. Before seeing Bai Yanzhou, he had been full of confidence.
But the moment he saw him in the flesh, the oppressive aura from a thousand years ago instantly returned, as if he were back in the days when he was punished to stand in the corner for failing to recite his lessons.
A student’s fear of their teacher—it really was an instinct carved into the bone.
Upstairs, Bai Jimu looked down at the listless little parrot in his hands, feeling a bit worried.
He rummaged through boxes and cabinets until he found a clean shoe box, lined it with cotton and soft cloth, and carefully placed the little bird inside.
Still uneasy about leaving it alone, he carried the box back downstairs.
“Bro, I’ll put it at the front desk for now. Do we have any millet or something in the shop?”
Bai Yanzhou waved his hand. “Look for it yourself. There might be some leftover millet in the kitchen.”
While Bai Jimu busied himself with the bird, the atmosphere around Bai Yanzhou suddenly grew heavy.
He grabbed Lin You by the back of his collar and dragged him all the way into the innermost break room.
The faint scent of herbs mixed with the aroma of tea.
Bai Yanzhou leisurely brewed tea, not saying a word.
Lin You sat stiffly, hands on his knees, staring at the tea leaves swirling in his cup.
“Speak,” Bai Yanzhou said, taking a sip of tea and lifting his eyes to look at him. “How did you find me?”
“Just saw you by chance while scrolling through short videos…” Lin You confessed honestly. “At first, I thought I was mistaken. After all, you back then…”
“Was buried right in front of your eyes, right?” Bai Yanzhou finished for him, a faint smile playing on his lips. He stroked Coal Ball’s fur, his gaze softening a bit. “About what happened back then… I really am sorry for keeping it from you all this time. But I had no choice.”
Coal Ball’s ears twitched, and he looked up at him.
In those days, Bai Yanzhou was the highly revered Imperial Preceptor of the Great Zhao Dynasty.
Through prophecy after prophecy, he had guided the nation away from disaster and toward glory.
Coupled with his brilliant medical skills and vast knowledge, even the Emperor treated him with deference.
But the greater his ability and the higher his prestige, the heavier the Emperor’s suspicion grew.
The fate of a subject whose merit overshadows the master is naturally a trumped-up charge and a cup of bitter poison wine.
It wasn’t a pleasant taste.
To survive, he had no choice but to fall into a long slumber.
Of course, part of the reason… was that he didn’t want to face reality.
He didn’t want to witness the Emperor he had personally supported eventually be blinded by the lust for power.
Lin You’s mood involuntarily sank as well.
He knew what happened back then.
He and Xiao Duchuan had always firmly believed that their teacher wasn’t someone who would collude with the enemy.
“Alright, Wenyou.” Bai Yanzhou smiled and reached out to pat his head. “Don’t look so miserable. We haven’t seen each other in so many years. Don’t you have anything to say to your teacher?”
Hearing that long-lost name, Lin You’s eyes instinctively stung.
Wenyou. What a distant name.
It was the courtesy name Bai Yanzhou had personally bestowed upon him back in the palace.