Monday.
Physical Education class—
This session was a swimming lesson. Originally, everyone was required to change into swimwear to practice, but Bai Nanxing’s body was covered in injuries. New wounds had been added before the old ones could heal, and the pain was excruciating. Touching the water would be a searing, stinging agony, no different from torture.
Bai Nanxing couldn’t bear it. In the end, he had to ask the swimming instructor for leave, skipping two sessions for now and arranging to make up the course content at a later time.
However, because it was class time, Bai Nanxing couldn’t just wander off. He was currently absent from the activity only due to physical discomfort; if he were to roam elsewhere, it would be considered skipping class, leading to a direct deduction of credit points. Thus, he could only sit quietly in the seating area by the pool.
Every time such a situation occurred, it inevitably attracted a crowd of onlookers.
Of course, it wasn’t because people swam particularly well or had perfect strokes; it was because once everyone put on swimwear, it became clear at a glance who was attractive, who was handsome, and how their body curves looked.
Most of the audience came to see the “scenery.” If they saw someone who suited their taste, they would even go and ask for a WeChat contact after class.
In short, swimming class didn’t just serve the purpose of an exam; in the eyes of all the students, it was more like a time to scout for prey.
Bai Nanxing sat there bored, scrolling through his phone. Occasionally, he heard people nearby whispering about him, but he acted as if he heard nothing. This wasn’t the first time, and he had long since grown used to it.
He no longer bothered to explain anything. The more he explained, the more it looked like a cover-up in the eyes of these people, who would eventually turn it into a joke and become even more unscrupulous and bottomless in their mockery.
The best method was to ignore them directly. Once people lose a certain level of excitement, the gossip naturally dies down.
Over time, the public outcry would slowly subside.
Eventually, things would return to normal.
Even if it didn’t subside, Bai Nanxing didn’t care. His miserable life was already miserable enough; one more or one less problem made no difference.
He was listlessly replying to messages.
Suddenly, a figure sat down beside him.
Bai Nanxing originally didn’t want to pay any attention and even intentionally tilted his body toward the other side. However, in the next second, the other person’s voice made his eyes snap wide open.
“Little Junior, do you really not want to see me that much?”
Bai Nanxing whipped his head around. “…”
Mo Leyang was smiling slightly at him.
But this smile was not friendly at all. it was a “hidden blade behind a smile,” especially since Bai Nanxing knew what kind of face Mo Leyang had in private. This smile felt even more chilling.
“Senior, why are you…”
“Why am I here? Naturally, it’s because I missed you too much, Little Junior.”
Bai Nanxing hadn’t expected this person to be so thick-skinned that he didn’t even bother to lie convincingly.
It was utterly pointless.
He lowered his head.
Mo Leyang felt very displeased by this reaction. It had always been his role to ignore others; since when was it anyone else’s turn to ignore him?
But he didn’t get angry. Instead, he leaned forward slightly and said in a low, smiling voice, “Little Junior, are you sure you want to keep talking to me like this? Because I wouldn’t mind bringing up some even more explosive topics in front of all these people—how about we solidify the events of Saturday night?”
Bai Nanxing could only purse his lips and obediently lift his head.
He believed that Mo Leyang was fully capable of doing such a shameful thing. A madman doesn’t care about the strange looks from others, let alone the consequences of his actions.
“So well-behaved.”
Mo Leyang finally sat up straight again, resuming his harmless appearance.
The onlookers didn’t know what was happening, but based on Mo Leyang’s face alone, they mostly recognized who he was. They all watched with infatuated expressions, but the moment they saw who was sitting next to him, their countenances instantly changed.
“Why is he sitting next to the new school hunk? This is the gymnasium, there are so many people here—does he have no shame at all!”
“How could a male ‘mistress’ who sells his body have any shame? If he had shame, he wouldn’t be the number one trending topic in the school forums.”
“True. As long as someone is good-looking, he has to ruin them. One foot in n-number of boats—damn, that’s truly disgusting.”
“Yeah, if it were me being pointed at and whispered about by so many people, I would have jumped into a river and killed myself long ago. He, on the other hand, gets more shameless by the day. To live like that… he really is cheap.”
The unbearable gossip continuously drifted into Bai Nanxing’s ears. It was hard to pretend he didn’t hear it. Finally, unable to take it any longer, Bai Nanxing made an excuse to get up and head toward the restroom.
There weren’t many people in the restroom at the moment. After entering, Bai Nanxing washed his face and stood by the window for a short while. He originally intended to wait until the bell was about to ring before going out, so he wouldn’t have to run into that pervert Mo Leyang again.
However, just as the thought crossed his mind, a pair of long arms reached out from behind him and braced against the wall on either side of him.
“Little Junior, does it really take this long to use the restroom?” Mo Leyang leaned down close to Bai Nanxing’s ear and sneered, “Could it be… that you’re ‘not capable’ down there?”
If it had been anything else, Bai Nanxing would never have responded to Mo Leyang. With a pervert like Mo Leyang, the more you responded, the more energized and excited he became. If ignored, he would soon find it boring and slowly lose interest.
But this specific sentence—no matter what, he absolutely could not tolerate it.
Bai Nanxing turned around and shoved him away, his eyes glaring fiercely. “Yours is the one that’s not capable!”
The damn competitive spirit of a man.
You can say I’m incapable in other areas, but you absolutely cannot say I’m incapable as a man in that regard.
Mo Leyang pinned him back against the wall, his expression instantly darkening. “Since it’s not a problem in that department, were you staying in the restroom so long intentionally to hide from me?”
Bai Nanxing already had injuries on his back. Being shoved so heavily by Mo Leyang made his entire back feel as if it were being sliced by knives. He nearly fainted from the pain.
Seeing that he didn’t speak and remained with his head down and arms crossed, Mo Leyang’s expression became visibly more displeased. He reached out and pinched Bai Nanxing’s chin, forcing him to look up.
“Crying?”
Mo Leyang frowned. He had no interest in people who acted pitiful everywhere, especially a man—it turned his stomach even more.
He pulled his hand back, gave Bai Nanxing a disgusted look, and turned to leave.
However, before Mo Leyang could turn away, Bai Nanxing suddenly collapsed toward his chest, his entire body eventually leaning into Mo Leyang’s embrace.
Mo Leyang remembered the last time this happened. That time, Bai Nanxing had fainted from low blood sugar. Considering it wasn’t intentional, he hadn’t pursued it. This time, without a low blood sugar episode, he wanted to see how Bai Nanxing would justify this.
“Little Junior, do you like leaning on men that much? Does it not matter who it is as long as they’re a man?”
Bai Nanxing was in too much pain to speak. His whole body was trembling, and he could only manage a faint, weak sound: “It hurts.”
Mo Leyang thought Bai Nanxing was faking an injury to gain sympathy. Amidst his annoyance, he felt the urge to hit someone. He intended to lean down and warn Bai Nanxing not to play these useless mind games in front of him, but as he lowered his head, he smelled a strong scent of alcohol.
And a faint metallic scent of blood.
Though it was light, his nose was very sensitive, and he could pick it up immediately.
Was Bai Nanxing injured?
He remembered Bai Nanxing seemed fine on Saturday night, except for some whip marks on his chest. He had thought Bai Nanxing had played some “games” with some wild man, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Mo Leyang reached out to touch Bai Nanxing’s forehead and found it burning hot. The shove he just gave him had most likely caused the wounds to reopen and become inflamed.
No wonder his complexion looked off from the very beginning.
What a real troublemaker.
Mo Leyang felt extremely annoyed, but since this was technically his fault, he pulled out his phone and called Zhou Lin.
“Where are you?”
Excited screaming came from the other end of the line. “Ah! What did you say? I can’t hear you clearly!”
Mo Leyang’s patience was limited, especially with a “troublemaker” like Bai Nanxing on his hands. “Five minutes. If I don’t see you in the men’s restroom in five minutes, I’ll post all your embarrassing photos on the school forum.”
“Wait, why the men’s restroom? Mo Leyang, you haven’t told me what you’re doing yet!”
Beep, beep, beep.
Ten minutes later.
At the school infirmary—
“The wounds on his body are too severe, especially on his back. The skin is bleeding and a bit inflamed. I’ve re-bandaged them and prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine. Have him take it in a moment.”
The school doctor looked at Mo Leyang and Zhou Lin standing nearby with strange eyes, then asked, “Are you two his classmates? Or friends in some other relationship?”
The question was just short of asking, “Are you both his boyfriends?” Zhou Lin quickly explained, “I’m his senior. As for the one next to me… he’s his sister-in-law (Da Sao).”
The doctor’s gaze toward Mo Leyang became even weirder.
Likely thinking Zhou Lin was joking with her, the doctor snapped at Mo Leyang, “Even if you are his boyfriend, you can’t play things this far. Look at what’s happened to his skin. Even if you have those kinds of ‘tendencies,’ as the one on top, can’t you feel some pity for your little boyfriend? What a waste of such a good-looking face.”
Mo Leyang didn’t retort; he even patiently listened to the doctor’s lecture. But Zhou Lin could already sense that Mo Leyang had a faint urge to kill someone. He immediately grabbed Mo Leyang’s arm and explained, “Doctor, he doesn’t have those tendencies. I can testify—the wounds on the Junior’s body weren’t caused by him.”
The doctor was half-doubting. “Not caused by him? Then who did it? Except for his face, only his lower legs are intact. These are injuries that could only be caused by a specific type of whip. If it wasn’t him, who else could it be?”
Zhou Lin thought of Bai Nanxing’s trip back to the Bai family home on Saturday night. Who had inflicted those wounds was self-evident.