Chapter 3

Because of the campus relocation following the merger, the school opened a few days early. At this point, the students hadn’t yet realized the “conspiracy” at play.

After the merger, the student body was centralized. The seniors were assigned to a separate campus—the original site of Qingyu High School. The sophomores and freshmen, however, were placed at the Fenghua High School campus. The school’s name was officially changed to Fengyu High School.

When Sui Houyu arrived at the Fenghua campus dragging his suitcase, he stood at the gate looking at the teaching buildings, then turned to look at the endless cornfields stretching out diagonally in front of him. His expression gradually crumbled. The lush green corn stalks, their long leaves rustling in the breeze, looked perfectly content in the sun. That vibrant, healthy green stood in stark contrast to Sui Houyu’s face, which had turned a shade of sickly pale green.

This place was very close to Xiangjia Lane, which was why he had chosen to live there, but he hadn’t expected the school to be even more remote than the lane itself. Xiangjia Lane sat nestled by mountains and water; the Fengyu campus sat nestled by fields and loess slopes.

Perhaps it was because land was so cheap out here that the campus was massive—rumor had it you could get lost inside. Some buildings had been completed with no clear purpose and sat entirely empty.

Getting lost inside the school; feeling lost once outside of it.

Sui Houyu followed the crowd inside, comforting himself with the thought that he’d be back at the original campus next year. Since it was just “return day,” the students weren’t wearing uniforms. Unless they were old acquaintances, it was hard to tell who was who.

Sui Houyu wore noise-canceling headphones in “Twilight Red.” The headband flattened his fluffy hair slightly, but the stubborn ends not covered by the earcups poked out defiantly, swaying in the wind.

Students who found Sui Houyu’s face unfamiliar stole extra glances. The boy stood out sharply in the crowd, but unfortunately, he looked ice-cold, his gaze sharp and prickly. As he moved through the throng, people occasionally recognized him and called out, “Brother Yu!”

Another said, “Brother Yu, Ran Shu is over at the entrance of that curved building.”

Sui Houyu gave a few casual acknowledgments and headed toward the building. As he drew closer, he saw a cluster of people he knew well. Having arrived in a strange environment, these boys were all trying to project an air of dominance, determined not to be outshined by the students from the other school. They gathered together in various styles, trying to make even the wrinkles in their clothes look arrogant.

It was chuunibyou and silly all at once. Sui Houyu felt like laughing.

Ran Shu was different from the others. He was crouching on a ledge, looking dejected. He glanced at Sui Houyu, stood up abruptly, and cursed, “F-f-f*ck! They re-tested us for the classes… and they’re dividing us by grades.”

Ran Shu was Sui Houyu’s best friend—a “rich second generation” whose daily hobby was flaunting his wealth. Aside from being rich, he had no other notable traits, so he used money to prove himself and gain recognition. Academic performance was his shortest board—so short it was practically non-existent.

Sui Houyu chewed his gum and said casually, “They’re probably afraid of us forming cliques.”

When two schools merge, and the students are at an age full of “hot blood,” it’s easy for them to split into two camps that hate each other. The school’s solution was to scatter them so the boundaries would blur. Once they became friends with students from the other school, they wouldn’t start trouble.

Ran Shu looked miserable. “Th-th-then what do I do?”

Sui Houyu and Ran Shu’s grades were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sui Houyu could easily be ranked first in the school, while Ran Shu was consistently last. That they were friends was a miracle.

Sui Houyu looked at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. Most people can’t get rid of you. And if someone really can, you wouldn’t be able to hide anyway.”

Ran Shu had no choice but to accompany Sui Houyu to the dorms. As they walked, he grumbled, “D-d-don’t mind the classes being scattered; at least the dorms aren’t. The fifth and sixth floors are all our school. There are some on the lower floors too, but the first floor is near the trash station. S-s-such dogs.”

Their room was on the sixth floor. For Sui Houyu, the floor was fine, but for the “delicate” Young Master Ran, it was an abomination that would wear down his precious little feet. Sui Houyu didn’t mind and chatted idly with Ran Shu while unpacking.

Ran Shu was still nagging about Sui Houyu renting a place. “M-m-my family has so many houses. Why didn’t you ask me if you wanted to move out?”

“If my mom finds out I’m gone, she’ll just ask your mom. I can’t hide it from her.”

“True…” Ran Shu sat down lazily. “That cr-cr-crappy house is only for weekends anyway. But the air conditioner in this dorm… I can’t feel any breeze at all.”

The task for the returning students today was moving in and cleaning. Neither of them went to help with the cleaning, and no one came to fetch them.

By evening, the students who had finished cleaning returned. Someone knocked on their door and poked his head in. “Brother Yu, Brother Shu, the exams start tomorrow at 7:30 AM. You two are in Exam Room 11. I checked—it’s in Building 2, the tallest one.”

Ran Shu nodded and waved. “Th-th-thanks.”

Sui Houyu only offered a non-committal hum.

Based on the number of students in their grade, the sophomores were divided into 32 classes. Classes 1 through 9 were Liberal Arts; Classes 10 through 17 were Science. There were also 15 “International Classes,” which were the specialty of these two private schools. In Liberal Arts, Class 1 had the best grades, followed by Class 2, and so on. The Science classes followed the same logic.

The exams finished in one day, covering only the core subjects. The school graded them at lightning speed—rumor had it the teachers worked until dawn—and the class lists were posted the next morning.

Ran Shu knew exactly which class he’d end up in, so he didn’t bother squeezing into the crowd to check the rankings. He went straight to Class 17 and claimed his favorite spot: the corner seat in the very last row by the window. To a “slacker,” this was the ultimate feng shui—perfect for tanning or sleeping.

While Ran Shu was rocking his chair, a large group of tall, rowdy boys swaggered in. They were all grinning, seemingly in high spirits despite being in Class 17—they were quite the “talents.”

They headed for the back row and sat in four connected seats in the middle. One fairly handsome boy sat near the aisle, quite close to Ran Shu. Ran Shu glanced at him and curled his lip. The guy looked okay, but his smile was “greasy”—Ran Shu was afraid he’d get grease stains just by being near him.

The students who entered after them were all familiar with these boys, and the room became loud and boisterous. Ran Shu rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Someone remarked, “Is Class 17 going to be taken over by us sports students?”

Fenghua High used to have dedicated classes for sports and art specialties. These classes were full of academic slackers, and a whole bunch of them had landed in Class 17.

While Ran Shu was waiting, he saw Sui Houyu walk in with his backpack. He froze in shock, watching stupidly as Sui Houyu walked toward him. “A-a-are you here to see me?”

Sui Houyu dropped his bag on the desk in front of Ran Shu. “What, you think I’d leave you here alone?”

“Y-y-you didn’t have to! Classes won’t change until senior year!” In his urgency, Ran Shu stopped stuttering.

Ran Shu’s stutter was a developed condition; he didn’t stutter when he was anxious or when he was singing. According to him, his stutter was caused by his overly strict father—maybe one day, when his wounded little soul healed, he’d be fine.

“What’s the difference where I am? Your daddy will always be your daddy.” Sui Houyu didn’t care. As he sat down, he glanced at the person next to him.

The “Big Brother who didn’t break up the fight” from the other day was actually from this school too. He was sitting just across the aisle, propping his chin on his hand and watching the two of them with an unmasked, interested gaze.

Ran Shu was incredibly moved. He knew Sui Houyu’s academic potential; the realization that his friend had intentionally tanked the exam to be with him made him jump up and hug Sui Houyu. “Y-y-you are my dad! My real dad!”

“Get off.”

“Okay.” Ran Shu let go obediently.

Just as Ran Shu was helping Sui Houyu adjust his chair, another familiar face appeared. Su Anyi walked in. Another person who had “fallen” to Class 17 for him—and a goddess, no less.

Ran Shu’s eyes welled up. “Mom!”

Sui Houyu smacked him on the head. Realizing his mistake, Ran Shu corrected himself: “Dear sister!”

Su Anyi didn’t respond and sat in the seat in front of Sui Houyu. Ran Shu thought for a moment, took his bag, and moved to sit next to Su Anyi instead of Sui Houyu. He knew Sui Houyu’s “issues,” so he decided to let his friend be “beautifully alone.”

Hou Mo saw Su Anyi walk past him and immediately knew what would happen next. He turned his head and saw his friends’ eyes were glued to her. This was the “curse” of the sports classes—there were almost no girls, and the few they had were usually tougher than the boys. He covered his face in frustration, praying his friends wouldn’t do anything embarrassing. Fortunately, they just started “posing” to look cool and didn’t do anything excessive.

As the classroom filled up, Hou Mo boredly spun a tennis ball on his desk. He heard his friends welcoming a newcomer and looked up to see Sang Xian walking in. Hou Mo stared at him, and his molars started to ache. This guy was like a ghost that wouldn’t leave him alone.

“What’s your situation?” Hou Mo asked in an unfriendly tone.

Sang Xian replied lazily, “Oh, I just had a feeling you’d be here.”

Hou Mo immediately cursed: “F*ck.”

Once the room was nearly full, the homeroom teacher finally entered. Seeing him, the boys in the back row groaned in agony. “No way!”

“Gege, why are you so annoying?”

“Gege, we wanted a female homeroom teacher.”

The teacher, nicknamed “Gege” (Princess), looked to be in his early thirties with medium-length hair and some stubble on his chin. He looked a bit scruffy. He glanced at them lazily and replied, “You think I want to see you?”

Gege organized the student files and pointed a finger. “Let’s start the self-introductions from here.” He sounded like he didn’t want to say a single extra word.

The introductions started with Sui Houyu’s column. When it was Su Anyi’s turn, she stood up and said coldly, “My name is Su Anyi,” and sat back down.

Teacher Gege looked at her. “That’s it?”

Ran Shu spoke up first: “T-t-teacher, she doesn’t like to talk.”

“Then you go next.”

Ran Shu stood up immediately. “M-m-my name is Ran Shu. I was at Qingyu before. Middle school was Qingyu too. I like street dance and singing…”

Sui Houyu watched Ran Shu introduce himself, then frowned as he looked around. As expected, he saw expressions of mockery. He had come here specifically because of Ran Shu. Ran Shu had a temper, but he was also “meddlesome”—even though he stuttered, he felt the need to chime in on everything. He had no intention of changing this habit and lived quite freely.

However, people often mocked him for his stutter, which infuriated the protective Sui Houyu. Sui Houyu was a man of “double standards”—and he was shamelessly honest about it. He could tease Ran Shu, but no one else could. He came to Class 17 to protect his friend.

Sui Houyu turned his head and saw Hou Mo and his friend across the aisle exchange a glance and smirk. Noticing Sui Houyu’s gaze, Hou Mo looked over. Sui Houyu gave him a look of pure disgust.

Hou Mo was baffled. Had his whispering been overheard? His friend had just mentioned that “Qingyu High” (Qingyu) sounded like “Lust” (Qingyu). When Ran Shu mentioned the school, they had laughed at the double entendre.

Before his smile could even fade, Sui Houyu glared at him. Hou Mo immediately wiped the smile off his face.

When it was Sui Houyu’s turn, he stood up. Some of the girls in the class had already noticed him but were too shy to look back. Now that he was speaking, they finally dared to turn around and look, feeling secretly excited.

Sui Houyu said in a low voice, “I am Sui Houyu. I have a bad temper, so don’t mess with me. I’m sick.”

After the introduction, he sat back down. Hou Mo raised an eyebrow.

When it was Hou Mo’s turn, he stood up slowly and said with a beaming smile, “Hello everyone, my name is Hou Mo. I have an excellent temper, you can mess with me, and I’m not sick.”

This caused Ran Shu to turn around and glare at Hou Mo, cursing under his breath, “F*ck…”

Why is this guy so annoying? Was that on purpose?

Sui Houyu also looked at Hou Mo with an unfriendly gaze. Hou Mo continued to smile, looking perfectly innocent.

At this point, the teacher looked at the two of them. “You two already have a problem with each other? I heard the ‘pillars’ of both schools are gathered here. What? You want to have a fight?”

The teacher was quite the character, asking the question with total indifference.

Hou Mo remained smiling. “How could that be? I’m sure I’ll get along great with my new classmate. Right, Classmate Sui?”

Hou Mo reached out his hand toward Sui Houyu. Sui Houyu reached out as well, but instead of shaking it, he slapped Hou Mo’s hand away. “I won’t. Scram.”