Wen Ying was simply angry.
But Huo Jueyue, with his overinflated self-confidence, thought he was about to cry.
Even though there wasn’t a trace of moisture in those eyes.
The young man before him furrowed his brows, his tone fierce, looking utterly furious.
But really, how terrifying could Wen Ying possibly be?
Meeting his furious gaze, Huo Jueyue felt a deer stampede in his chest.
He must be putting on a brave face, hiding a heart as sweet as a macaron, one that would melt at the slightest bite.
Before Huo Jueyue could finish his fantasy, a sharper dull pain shot through his elbow, yanking him back to reality.
“Ow!”
The pampered Young Master Huo panicked, his tongue leaping around in his mouth like a salt-drenched razor clam from the pain.
Wen Ying, annoyed by the sudden noise, unconsciously tightened his grip.
Seeing Wen Ying’s leg bend slightly, as if about to assume an attacking stance, Huo Jueyue’s psychological defenses completely collapsed, and his legs went weak.
“I was wrong, I was wrong!”
Who was this little tyrant?
Where was that beautiful young man he’d seen this morning, sitting by the window, quietly propping his chin on his hand and daydreaming?
“I don’t like hearing that kind of talk.”
Wen Ying released him and warned sternly: “If you dare say it again, don’t blame me for not considering our classmate relationship.”
Doesn’t like hearing that kind of talk.
Roughly translated, that meant he was disliked by Wen Ying.
Disliked.
Disliked.
Disliked.
Disliked.
The light in Huo Jueyue’s eyes faded.
He staggered around, fleeing in panic like a crab that had lost its claws.
Within seconds, Wen Ying heard a scream from the descending staircase, accompanied by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
“…”
The sound was too pitiful. Wen Ying felt a twinge of reluctance to be harsh.
Shuffling a few steps closer, he saw Huo Jueyue collapsed on the ground, clutching his rear in pain with a grimacing face, his handsome features scrunched up.
While Wen Ying was still hesitating about whether to help, Huo Jueyue saw him looking down from above, and forgetting the pain in his backside, wore an extremely wounded expression before scrambling away and disappearing from Wen Ying’s sight.
Problem solved.
Wen Ying sent a message to Butler Wang, tactfully suggesting he arrange for someone to check on Huo Jueyue’s rear, then left with a light heart.
Throughout the walk, he didn’t converse with the Gentleman.
Young Highness?]
Connecting it to Huo Jueyue’s earlier harassment, the Gentleman was a bit worried about Wen Ying.
It was all Huo Jueyue’s fault his young master didn’t even smile anymore.
Though Wen Ying wasn’t naturally inclined to smile.
“I’m fine.”
Wen Ying held his transparent, round water bottle and took a slow sip.
“I won’t bother with him.”
[That’s good.]
The Gentleman breathed a sigh of relief.
But five minutes later, Wen Ying spoke hesitantly.
“Fine, I admit he made me very uncomfortable.”
The Gentleman:
So those three hundred seconds just now were spent deliberating whether to honestly express your disgust?!
Sensing its emotion, Wen Ying cleared his throat: “I really want to get rid of him sooner.”
This kind of disheartened talk could only be shared with the Gentleman. Saying it to anyone else would make it seem like he was afraid of Huo Jueyue.
[Although there are four more books after this, the plot of the first book only extends to the first monthly exam, which is about to end soon.]
“There’s still half a month until the exam.”
Wen Ying wasn’t pleased.
[In the book, this half month is described in only three hundred words, with no important plot in between.]
The Gentleman reassured him.
[So for quite a while, you won’t suffer too much harassment.]
“True.” Wen Ying’s mood improved slightly.
The next major plot point should be after the monthly exam.
On the day the exam results were announced, the first book would reach its most important plot the female lead formally revealing her identity in front of Huo Jueyue.
At that stairwell corner where too many incidents had occurred, Huo Jueyue would inadvertently overhear the female lead on the phone.
Wen Yingying would personally admit her gender, confirming Huo Jueyue’s suspicions.
The seed of doubt would sprout, growing into a budding flutter of the heart.
But this plot point was easy to avoid he just needed to avoid making phone calls in public.
“When the monthly exam is over, can I read the plot of the second book?”
He was genuinely curious about where the story would go next.
But Wen Ying knew very well that once he read the plot, he would overthink everything. And right now, he just wanted to focus on preparing for the monthly exam and get through this overly lengthy checkpoint.
After all, the exam results affected the scholarship assessment.
As long as the Gentleman hadn’t warned him, it meant there was nothing in the second book that required special vigilance in the short term.
[Yes, Your Highness, that should be fine.]
The Gentleman had checked his physical condition and replied cautiously.
[As long as you don’t stay up late recently, you can stabilize within half a month.]
The young master’s emotional sensitivity was high, but not fragile half a month would be enough.
[If you’d like to know any part of the plot in advance, you can ask me anytime.]
“Forget it.” Wen Ying rubbed his temple, which still throbbed faintly.
If he read it, he wouldn’t be able to sleep again.
Tactical avoidance might be shameful, but it worked.
Knowing that his short-term goal was now only studying, Wen Ying’s mind settled.
After calming down, Huo Jueyue behaved himself for several days. When he saw Wen Ying, he never mentioned what happened at the stairwell corner, and there was even a hint of fear in his eyes.
Richard and Si Haoxing occasionally dropped by their class to visit. Richard always brought Wenying a different kind of chocolate each time.
“You don’t eat dark chocolate?” Richard looked wounded. “God, this is really terrible.”
“It’s dark chocolate, not black chocolate.”
Si Haoxing drifted over quietly, the Brazilian turtle shell from last time nowhere to be seen, three tarot cards pinched in his hand.
He stared seriously at the tarot cards: “Miss, Wenying, your fortune today is quite good.”
Having been mistakenly called “Princess” several times before, Wenying was already used to it and simply pretended not to hear Si Haoxing’s slip of the tongue.
He gave a slight tug at the corner of his mouth: “Thanks.”
Si Haoxing wasn’t just a mystic he was a mystic blending East and West.
The silver-haired, bespectacled youth placed a reference book on his desk and smiled at him.
Wenying returned a friendly smile, and Gu Xiche, whose social anxiety had flared up, also lowered his head and left in relief.
Just then, Huo Jueyue crept over sneakily, but didn’t dare get too close.
He seemed to have inexplicably gotten chummy with the Four Young Masters.
Wenying stared at the three tall walls in front of him, sinking into self-doubt.
Still, it was probably a good thing.
At least when the node assessment came around, it would definitely judge that he had integrated into Mingying Academy.
It wasn’t just the Four Young Masters he was close to there was also Qu Huo.
The two of them ate in the classroom together, and since Qu Huo brought the food, some verbal exchange was inevitable.
Their topics gradually shifted from commenting on the food to discussing their studies.
But Qu Huo had a much better sense of boundaries than the three besides Gu Xiche.
He never dragged a chair over without a word, never abruptly insisted on discussing whether the weather was good or bad, and never pulled him along for random strolls around campus.
And whenever he heard Wenying complain about not understanding a big question in business class, Qu Huo would always offer help at just the right moment.
When he moved his chair, he didn’t scrape out an ear-piercing sound, and when he sat down, he didn’t casually make physical contact with Wenying.
Qu Huo always looked seriously at the exam paper, and he would also look at him, but there was no aggression in his gaze.
It was simply a pure, focused stare.
This sense of boundaries made Wenying feel very at ease.
As a gesture of reciprocity, he would casually hand Qu Huo some small snacks and explain the math problems he’d gotten wrong.
Just casually, that’s all.
Wenying thought happily as he took the lunchbox Qu Huo handed over.
When a person lets their guard down, their perception of danger becomes dull as well.
Over a week passed, and Wenying didn’t notice that the distance in their normal social interactions was quietly closing.
He was fretting over the tomato scrambled eggs in the lunchbox.
Seven days, and he’d eaten tomato scrambled eggs five times.
And those five times were twice sweet, twice salty, and once a slightly sour sweet version.
But no matter how the flavor changed, it couldn’t hide the fact that they were still tomato scrambled eggs.
Even the most oblivious person would sense something was off.
Could it be that Qu Huo particularly loved tomato scrambled eggs?
Wenying pondered.
But he’d seen Qu Huo’s lunchbox in the first few days of school, and tomato scrambled eggs hadn’t had much of a role in it.
The more he thought about it, the more unsettling it became.
A ridiculous idea sprouted in Wenying’s mind.
Could Qu Huo possibly think he was a picky eater who only liked tomato scrambled eggs, and so he’d been making them all along?
Absolutely impossible.