Despite the heated arguments raging on the C University forum, Ling An knew nothing about it.
He was planning to keep a low profile. After all, the apocalypse was still over four years away, so it was better for him to stay in the country for now.
When they reached the school gate, Ling An got out of the car.
A beautiful teacher immediately came forward to greet him.
“You must be Ling An. I’m Wu Ying, your homeroom teacher. Welcome to C University.”
Ignoring the hand she extended toward him for a handshake, Ling An only gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment.
Wu Ying’s warm, friendly smile froze, and she nearly lost her composure.
But remembering the generous gift Ling Cheng had given her, she swallowed her anger.
Awkwardly withdrawing her hand, Wu Ying forced her good mood back and said, “Let me take you to your dormitory to get familiar with it. Mr. Ling Cheng mentioned this is your first time living in a dorm.”
“I’ve specially arranged for the top student in the class to sleep in the bed next to yours. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can ask your classmate.”
“Mm, show me around. I have things to put away.”
Ling An’s words were cold, betraying no emotion.
But they still infuriated Wu Ying considerably.
Wu Ying led him to the dormitory. Each room housed four students, with a loft bed over a desk setup. His bed was on the side near the door, already prepared, the bedding was laid out, and even the bed curtains had been installed.
On the desk and in the drawers were various study supplies and brand-new, unopened books.
The school uniforms in the closet had all been washed, dried, and hung up neatly.
In stark contrast to his bed was the one next to it.
It was just early autumn, and even the mornings were slightly chilly, let alone the nights. Anyone sleeping under a thin blanket would surely wake up cold in the night.
That bed had only a simple bamboo mat and a thin blanket and faint water stains were visible on the blanket, which clearly offered no warmth.
After a single glance, Ling An looked away.
Wu Ying then took Ling An on a tour of the school to help him get familiar with the environment.
Once that was more or less done, she took him to the office to pick up two sets of clothes for PE class, and then brought him back to the classroom.
They arrived at the classroom right at the end of a break. When Wu Ying walked in with Ling An, the previously noisy class instantly fell silent.
The young man following behind her wore the school uniform and carried a black backpack slung over one shoulder. He was tall, with handsome features and a straight, prominent nose.
But even such good looks couldn’t hide his fierce aura. Though his face was completely expressionless, he gave off a distinctly dangerous feeling.
Wu Ying clapped her hands and said, “Alright, everyone, back to your seats. Let me introduce our new classmate.”
“This is Ling An, who just transferred to our school and joined our class. It’s a rare stroke of fate that you get to be classmates. I hope you’ll all get along well and spend a peaceful, wonderful university life together.”
Hearing the homeroom teacher say “peaceful, wonderful life,” the students below couldn’t help wiping their sweat.
After finishing, Wu Ying let Ling An choose his seat.
Following his memory, Ling An chose the last seat by the window in the fourth row.
The boy sitting behind that seat hadn’t lifted his head since they entered. This self-abased posture matched Jiang Shu in his memory perfectly.
Seeing Ling An choose that seat, everyone burst into stifled laughter and gloating.
“That bookworm is doomed now.”
“Scared me to death there was an empty seat right next to me. Thank god it didn’t pick me. Picking the bookworm was the right call.”
“Yeah, yeah. The bookworm can take a beating like a champ anyway. Just no telling whether Ling An will beat him to death this time.”
“My god, Ling An looks way scarier in person than in the news. No wonder so many school bosses acknowledge him as their boss.”
“If I were up against him, I’d be scared too. That bookworm really is pitiful.”
“I’m suddenly thinking Boss Ming Zhou treats that bookworm pretty well. I honestly feel like Ling An really might beat him to death.”
“Why hasn’t Ming Zhou come back yet? If he doesn’t hurry, his position as boss is going to get snatched away.”
……
Seeing the classroom growing more and more chaotic, Wu Ying called for quiet and turned back to the office.
The moment she left, the classroom grew noisy again.
Ling An ignored the glances thrown his way, put down his backpack, slumped over the desk, and prepared to nap for a bit. An 8 a.m. class really wasn’t something just anyone could endure.
Next to him, Jiang Shu’s face had started going pale the moment Ling An sat down, and his body couldn’t help trembling.
Because Jiang Shu was shaking so badly, Ling An couldn’t help speaking up: “Stop shaking.”
Ling An didn’t think his voice was all that loud, yet somehow he’d scared Jiang Shu to the point of tears.
Jiang Shu stammered a reply in a trembling voice: “O… okay…”
A tear fell from his eye, landing on his faded, washed-out school pants, slowly spreading into a stain.
Ling An, lying there, happened to see it. He froze. Seriously? Crying already? Was this body’s reputation so bad it scared the guy to tears?
Whatever. Ling An couldn’t be bothered. He was sleepy and wanted to sleep.
Soon, Ling An no longer felt anyone trembling beside him.
Because Jiang Shu had been called out by someone.
He didn’t come back even after class started.
Ling An found it a little strange, but didn’t think much of it.
It wasn’t until class was almost over that Ling An felt someone pull out the chair beside him.
Ling An looked up and saw Jiang Shu, soaked from head to toe.
His shirt and pants were drenched through, clinging tightly to his thin, frail body.
The teacher at the front, seeing Jiang Shu in this state, immediately told him to go change his clothes.
Jiang Shu only shook his head to indicate it wasn’t necessary. The teacher had no choice but to continue lecturing.
Ling An’s gaze made Jiang Shu tremble again, but seeing that Ling An didn’t seem angry, Jiang Shu cautiously, fearfully sat down.
Jiang Shu carefully took out his textbook, his hands involuntarily tightening.
The classroom had fans running. Even sitting in the corner, Jiang Shu was chilled by the blowing wind.
It made him shiver again and again, his teeth chattering faintly.
It wasn’t that Jiang Shu refused to go change, he only had two sets of clothes, and one set had already been washed that morning. He had no spare clothes to change into.
Jiang Shu was dripping wet, and even standing near him, Ling An could feel a chill emanating from him.
Unable to stand watching any longer, Ling An slapped the set of clothes he’d received that morning onto Jiang Shu’s desk.
The sound wasn’t loud, but the crinkle of the plastic packaging being smacked down startled Jiang Shu, who had been lost in thought.
Looking at the clothes on his desk, Jiang Shu glanced at Ling An in some confusion, then quickly looked away, not daring to meet Ling An’s eyes.
Ling An couldn’t make out Jiang Shu’s expression. His bangs were too long, nearly covering his entire eyes, and he kept his head lowered the whole time. To this day, Ling An had no idea what Jiang Shu even looked like.
Ling An simply said flatly, “You’re soaked through. Go change your clothes, and wash them and return them to me tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Jiang Shu’s eyes lit up, filled with disbelief.
For me?
After confirming again and again that the clothes were really meant for him to change into,
Jiang Shu muttered a thank you, then raised his hand to ask permission to go change.
Ling An’s size looked very big on Jiang Shu, making him seem all the more thin and frail.
Jiang Shu took off his wet clothes and put on Ling An’s.
Warmth spread through Jiang Shu’s body, slowly flowing into his heart.
This was a warmth Jiang Shu had never felt before.