Lin Luxi dragged Yue Xinghe all the way back to the villa from the cafeteria.
Before Yue Xinghe could even say a word, Lin Luxi shoved him straight into the bathroom.
“Hurry up and wash off all that mess,” Lin Luxi said. “I’ll wait outside.”
With that, he slammed the door shut.
Only then did Lin Luxi have the chance to look around the male lead’s bedroom.
As the master bedroom of the villa, it came with not only a sleeping area but also a small sitting room and an open-air balcony.
The furnishings were simple, without any unnecessary decorations, a minimalist, almost austere style that didn’t quite match his personality.
From here, one could see the courtyard below, planted entirely with the same kind of green vegetation, probably a common plant in this world. It looked a bit monotonous.
Not seeing any flowers, Lin Luxi unconsciously twitched his fingers.
He lingered on the balcony for a while before returning to the bedroom.
His personal device suddenly chimed.
A message came from someone named “Z.”
【Blue Dream, 8 p.m. tonight.】
Lin Luxi raised an eyebrow.
This “Z” was the villain the original owner had previously contacted. Searching through the information, Lin Luxi found that the original owner had already taken money from him and used it to buy something that supposedly enhanced mental power.
The original owner might have had flaws in character, but he hadn’t been willing to remain mediocre.
However, Lin Luxi knew that such drugs were only developed later, after the discovery of new energy substances. They didn’t exist at this stage.
The original owner had obviously been scammed.
Among the information he had received upon arriving were both the original novel’s plot and the original owner’s memories.
Lin Luxi pulled up the contact for that drug dealer and sent a message saying he wanted to buy more, insisting that he needed the drug today as soon as possible.
The drug dealer probably assumed the original owner was an oblivious sucker and didn’t fear anything, so he immediately agreed to the offline transaction.
Lin Luxi set the time and place, hearing the sound of water trickling from the bathroom.
Then an idea struck him. He suddenly twisted open the bathroom door. “Yue Xinghe, your hair is so long, it must be inconvenient to wash by yourself. I’ll, how about I help you wash it?!”
He had originally wanted to say outright, “I’ll wash it for you,” but hesitated, feeling that would be too forceful, so he softened the tone a bit.
Yue Xinghe, only halfway through his shower, didn’t expect the sudden intrusion. He froze for a moment, then quickly wrapped a nearby towel around his lower body.
In just those two seconds, everything that should be seen and shouldn’t be seen was fully revealed.
Lin Luxi whistled.
Yue Xinghe truly lived up to being a male lead in a harem story, his physical endowment was immense. Even asleep, it was beyond the reach of ordinary people. Lin Luxi made a quick mental comparison, and his own masculine pride took a slight hit.
The other’s gaze lingered down there, and Yue Xinghe suppressed the odd feelings in his chest. “No… need…”
Before he could finish, Lin Luxi furrowed his brows, eyes glistening, biting his plump pink lips pitifully. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be in such a mess, and you’d have saved yourself a lot of embarrassment. Let me help you, otherwise, my conscience won’t let me rest, and I won’t sleep well tonight.”
Sleep or not, coming to spy on him was audacious enough already.
Thinking this, Yue Xinghe was about to refuse.
“Okay?”
Lin Luxi clasped his hands together, his tone soft and light, like a cloud drifting across a spring sky. His pale gray eyes were moist and shimmering.
The refusal caught in Yue Xinghe’s throat. He pinched his fingers and turned away. “Then hurry up and make it quick.”
Hehe, Lin Luxi thought, no one could resist his request!
Excited, Lin Luxi rolled up his sleeves and brought in a chair from outside, earnestly saying, “Please sit!”
“…”
Yue Xinghe paused, then turned and sat on the stool.
With his back to Lin Luxi, he didn’t see Lin Luxi’s eyes sparkling like they were filled with diamonds.
He had already been fixated on that hair, radiant like sunshine, and it was just as he imagined, smooth and silky.
Despite the male lead’s tall, broad frame, his hair was soft and fine. Although it seemed inconsistent with his exterior, it perfectly matched his delicate, gentle inner nature.
The male lead was a tall guy, 1.9 meters, and his hair was nearly a meter long, thick, fine, and heavy when lifted.
Lin Luxi carefully applied shampoo, working up a large patch of white foam, then started from the top of his head. His fingers pressed gently, massaging the scalp with the pads of his fingers.
Just thinking about how this usually elegant, confident guy had to wash his hair alone, awkwardly and seriously, made Lin Luxi press his lips together. A smile lingered in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth.
It was Yue Xinghe’s first time letting someone else wash his hair. The delicate fingers busy at work across his head made him tense each time they passed over the vulnerable spot at the back of his neck.
“Relax.”
Lin Luxi chuckled as he massaged the neck and shoulder area, teasing lightly, “I’m not like those other girls; I won’t do anything to you. Why so nervous?”
He had Yue Xinghe lift his head, and as Yue Xinghe complied, Lin Luxi tugged gently at the hair on his forehead. His long fingers continued to work around the neck and shoulders. Yue Xinghe forced himself to relax, but the blue veins on his arms, lying at his sides, bulged uncontrollably.
Yue Xinghe’s fingers curled slightly, his tone tinged with helplessness. “It’s just because of this face.”
Lin Luxi immediately objected: “No way! It’s not just your looks, your personal charm is amazing too!”
The original owner also had a striking appearance, yet because his inner nature wasn’t pure, he still got verbally torn apart.
For a moment, Yue Xinghe’s expression darkened. “Then I’d rather be an ordinary person without any charm.”
His tone was light, like a gentle spring breeze over a lake.
Lin Luxi didn’t catch that. “What?”
Ten fingers ran through his hair, kneading and massaging. Yue Xinghe couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle, a spark shooting up to his ears, and he accidentally left a few small dents on the corner of the chair.
Yue Xinghe pressed at his brow, his patience wearing thin. “How much longer?”
Lin Luxi massaged the ends of his hair carefully. “Almost done, almost done. Your hair is so long, it definitely takes time to care for it properly.”
“Lean back, close your eyes.”
Lin Luxi supported the back of Yue Xinghe’s neck and immediately felt his body tense.
From his angle, he could see Yue Xinghe’s thick, long eyelashes. He tried to resist but couldn’t help blowing gently across them. The pale-gold lashes fluttered, then locked onto his eyes.
For a brief moment, Lin Luxi saw a dead, desolate emptiness inside. His smile faded instantly.
Just as he was about to double-check, Yue Xinghe had already closed his eyes.
It must have been just an illusion, right?
After rinsing out the foam, Lin Luxi wrapped Yue Xinghe’s hair carefully in a dry towel, making sure it was secure.
Yue Xinghe stood and turned around, and Lin Luxi saw the male lead with a large white bundle atop his head, a few strands of hair stuck to the side of his face, and his lower body wrapped in a white towel.
For some reason, it reminded him of a golden-haired beauty just stepping out of the bath.
Lin Luxi: “Pfft.”
He immediately forgot the fleeting thought he had just had.
Yue Xinghe shot him a glance: = =
Lin Luxi quickly adjusted his expression. “Ahem… I’ll go out first. You better hurry, we’re almost late.”
The two arrived at the competition venue just a second before the contest began.
Over half an hour had passed, and the cafeteria incident had already spread across Star Network.
The network now was far more advanced than a thousand years ago, able to track keywords specifically. Some people had “Yue Xinghe” set as a watchword, so they received alerts whenever there was news about him.
“Ugh, why didn’t that food get spilled on Lin Luxi? I really wanted to see him embarrassed!”
“OMG, Yue Xinghe is way too gentle. I really want to be friends with him, being cared for like that is amazing.”
“Ahhh, my boyfriend had someone sit on his thigh! I’m not happy! Who’s coming with me to teach that bitch a lesson?!”
“Stop spreading lies! That’s clearly my husband! Just because of what you said, he’s holding me and desperately explaining, do you know that? But Lin Luxi… really is annoying!”
“Enough, you guys! Yue Xinghe is a grown man and keeps long hair. How can he compare to our Zhao Fan, handsome, dashing, and utterly charming!”
“Your senior Zhao is a regular at Blue Dream, okay? He’s had more than a dozen alien girlfriends. At least Yue Xinghe has never messed around with anyone!”
Lin Luxi hadn’t had time to check the network these past two days, so he didn’t realize that on the campus buzz boards, he had already drawn wave after wave of hatred, mostly because of Yue Xinghe.
The better the male lead treated him, the more others despised and looked down on him.
Even if he knew, Lin Luxi probably wouldn’t care.
Right now, he was still worried about how to win the upcoming competition without raising anyone’s suspicion.
Before the contest started, Lin Luxi left his seat and headed for the restroom along the wall, following the marker.
Just after washing his hands, Lin Luxi heard the sound of a lock clicking behind him. He looked up and saw in the mirror a boy who bore some resemblance to him, eyes filled with mockery and disdain, mixed with a hint of envy.
Lin Luxi quickly dug through the massive amount of information he had and identified the boy: Lin Leyin, the son of his uncle. When they were younger, he had been close to the original Lin Luxi, always trailing behind like a little shadow, calling him “brother” constantly.
Their relationship had soured after talent assessments were done. Lin Luxi had an F-rank aptitude, a failure by interstellar standards, the lowest of all in mental power, while Lin Leyin was a B-rank talent. In an ordinary family, a child with such aptitude would naturally receive intensive cultivation.
The difference in talent reflected in how adults and classmates treated them: one was pampered and adored, the other constantly mocked and ostracized.
Over time, Lin Leyin came to believe he was superior to the original Lin Luxi, and the original Lin Luxi began seeing Lin Leyin’s words of comfort as false kindness. Naturally, the rift between them grew wider.
Lin Luxi thought: if he’s coming here to see the original, it can’t be for anything good.
“Lin Luxi, you should withdraw from the competition!”
Lin Leyin scrutinized his cousin. It had been a while since they last met, and Lin Luxi looked even better than he remembered.
Back then, although Lin Luxi had good looks, his spirit seemed defeated, his gaze dark and brooding, as if he held a grudge against everyone.
Now, he gave off an entirely different aura, gentle and clean, with soft gray eyes that were no longer shadowed, paired with slightly wavy hair ends, resembling a sheep bleating on the grasslands.
“You’ve got problems in your head, huh?” Lin Luxi said, pointing at him with blunt mockery.
Of course, all that gentleness and calm from before was an illusion. Lin Leyin clenched his fists and jerked his neck angrily, shouting, “You’re the one with the problem! I’m doing this for your own good, can’t you understand?!”
Why can’t he get it? A failure is a failure, why not just behave like an ordinary person?
Lin Luxi tilted his head. “You know if I don’t make it to the semifinals, I’m out, and you still come here telling me to quit? That’s for my own good?”
“Do you even know who your opponent is? One punch and he could cripple you! How much trouble would that bring Yue Xinghe? Don’t you have any sense at all?”
Lin Luxi let out an “oh” and smiled meaningfully. “Ah, so you like Yue Xinghe, huh?”
The calmer Lin Luxi acted, the harder it was for Lin Leyin to stay composed.
His face reddened, his neck thickened with tension, whether from anger or embarrassment, he gripped Lin Luxi’s collar with force. “Can you focus! If you quit, at least you’d have some self-awareness and could walk away with nothing but some ridicule, something you’re already used to. But if you get knocked out on stage, how would others view Yue Xinghe? They’d say he’s blind for protecting such a worthless loser! If you call yourself his friend, if you care about him even a little, don’t keep ruining his reputation and making him solve all your problems! Got it?”
Lin Leyin was delicate-looking, but his grip was strong enough that Lin Luxi’s neck reddened slightly. He waved it off casually. “Easy, easy… why get so worked up?”
He tilted his ear to listen; someone outside was already calling names.
“My match is about to start; I don’t have time to dawdle with you.”
Lin Leyin’s voice was rough, and he was about to say something more when Lin Luxi suddenly spoke: “How about we make a bet? If I lose the match, I’ll grant you one request. If I win, you give me fifty thousand, no, let’s make it twenty thousand.”
“Fine, a bet it is!”
Lin Leyin was still fuming. “Fifty thousand it is. Twenty thousand? Who are you trying to insult? If you lose, you leave Yue Xinghe alone and don’t cause him any more trouble!”
Lin Luxi nodded, carefully smoothing the folds of his collar, then winked at him. “Remember what you said.”
Lin Leyin returned to the stands. Zhao Fankong lazily propped his head with one hand. “Back already? How did it go? Did he agree to your request?”
Lin Leyin’s face darkened. Slowly, he realized he not only hadn’t achieved his goal, but had been manipulated by the very “loser” he had always looked down on.
Zhao Fankong looked at his expression with interest and nodded. “Oh, he didn’t agree.”
The more Lin Leyin thought about it, the more irritated he became. Flushed with shame and anger, he snapped, “Focus on the match! Don’t talk to me!”
The two girls on the team next to him couldn’t help but laugh.
They never got tired of watching these two bicker, it was endlessly entertaining.
At that moment, the audience suddenly grew lively. Lin Leyin focused and saw Lin Luxi entering the arena from the competitors’ entrance.
In the past couple of days, Lin Luxi had become a huge sensation at the school.
Although his talent was poor, he had managed to get into Alliance University, which made many unsuccessful students resentful. When they discovered it was because he had a double-S friend, this opportunity became possible, their resentment turning quickly into jealousy and anger.
In today’s multiple matches, Lin Luxi was undoubtedly the center of attention.
Under countless eyes, other competitors made flashy entrances. Usually, they’d leap several meters directly onto the platform, landing with style and flair.
But Lin Luxi walked step by step to the edge of the platform, planted both hands, and rolled himself up onto it.
Immediately, the stands erupted with a unified chorus of boos. They knew Lin Luxi was a “loser,” but they didn’t expect him to be so hopeless that he couldn’t even jump onto a platform barely 1.6 meters high.
No one knew who started it.
“Worthless! Worthless!”
The voices grew louder.
“Worthless!! Worthless!! Worthless!!”
Eventually, even spectators watching other matches were swept up by the crowd’s emotion, joining in. Soon, the entire arena was drowned in a single sound.
Tens of thousands of spectators, united as one, roared like thunder, deep and resonant.
“Worthless!!! Worthless!!! Worthless!!!”
They shouted with ferocity, faces contorted, collective anger palpable, as if even the air itself trembled.