WP Chapter 7

Guanlan was a restaurant that had opened in the past couple of years. The prices were steep, the ingredients were fresh, and the service was attentive in a butler-like way. It did not aim to be friendly or accessible, but it certainly had style. When it was approved for construction, it had been placed in a newly built commercial district along the Fourth Ring. Now, with the time not yet at ten thirty, the area was already lit up and buzzing with life.

Some shopping malls had closed for the night, but the KTVs, bars, cinemas, and restaurants were still packed. The street looked almost like daytime. Across the road stood a large 24-hour convenience store. Under the bright white lights at the entrance, a group of teenagers stood together, around fourteen or fifteen years old, a mix of boys and girls, laughing and chatting about something.

People passed by in groups, no one paying them any special attention. But Jiang Yibai immediately spotted one of his students. The boy was short and had a terrible temper.

His name was Chen Yi, fifteen years old and right in the middle of his rebellious phase. Outside of school, his parents brought him to Jiang Yibai’s place to learn piano, claiming it was to cultivate his temperament and teach him self-discipline.

But after nearly a year, Jiang Yibai had seen no sign of temperament being cultivated. If anything, the boy’s attitude had only gotten worse. Chen Yi often got into trouble. Once, Jiang Yibai had seen him come in with blood on his forehead, looking like he had rolled in mud. The boy had even tried to threaten him, warning him not to snitch to his parents or he would make sure Jiang Yibai never had another student.

Jiang Yibai put on a fake frightened expression, then calmly made the call to the boy’s mother right in front of him.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Yibai got to witness a one-sided mother-son singles match.

It was very satisfying.

Since then, Chen Yi had viewed him with open hostility, but he still had to attend his weekly lessons. He never practiced, though. His playing was always a mess. Whatever they had covered the week before, he would still be stuck on it by the next. After almost a year, he was still working on basic finger exercises. Even four-year-olds picked things up faster than he did.

The moment Jiang Yibai saw him tonight, he had a feeling something was wrong. He was still a teacher, even if only a music teacher, and he had to take responsibility.

He walked straight to the entrance of the convenience store. The boy surrounded in the middle caught sight of him and frowned slightly.

Jiang Yibai also realized something was off. He had thought Chen Yi was just messing around here with a few equally rebellious friends, but once he got closer, some of the kids’ words drifted into his ears.

“Aren’t you rich? Can’t even pull out five hundred yuan?”

“Come on, man. This is my new girlfriend. That makes her your future sister-in-law, doesn’t it? What’s the big deal about spending a little money on her?”

“I want that one,” said a girl, arms crossed, leg twitching as she chewed gum. A schoolbag strap hung loosely from one shoulder. “Are you buying it or not?”

Well, now.

Jiang Yibai was thoroughly impressed. He gave the group of brats a slow once-over and was just about to speak when Chen Yi beat him to it.

“Sister-in-law, my ass. You two ugly trolls think you’re good enough for Grandpa Chen? Leave your face at home today, did you?”

Chen Yi shoved someone aside. “Move. Filthy things, get out of my sight.”

Jiang Yibai stood there in silence.

At that moment, he had no idea what to say. Thank goodness he had come himself. If he hadn’t shown up, how exactly had this “Grandpa Chen” planned to settle things?

Chen Yi was still trying to squeeze out of the crowd with his bag when that so-called “sister-in-law” let out a shriek and grabbed him by the hair. He stumbled backward and was about to crash into a trash bin behind him.

Jiang Yibai rushed forward and caught him just in time. He had reached out on instinct and ended up grabbing the kid by the collar. From an outsider’s perspective, it might have looked like he was about to beat him up.

Chen Yi let out a short “hey” as Jiang Yibai straightened him up. Jiang Yibai frowned and looked at the group.

“What are you doing here? Extorting people in public? Which teacher taught you that?”

“In public?”

The kids looked up at the sky in unison.

Jiang Yibai swept his hand across them.

“I recorded the whole thing. If I see you here again, I’ll post it online. Let’s see how famous you get then.”

The group of kids exchanged glances. None of them looked afraid. One of the bolder ones even pulled out a phone and said, “Who’s scared of who? We recorded you too. We’ll post it online and say you were abusing children.”

Jiang Yibai gave a short laugh and found it pretty funny. “Sure. It’s almost eleven, and you kids are out here getting abused by an adult. How exactly are you going to explain that to your parents? You’re all from No. 4 High, right? That school isn’t anywhere near here.”

A couple of the kids were still wearing their school uniforms. At those words, they hurried to cover up their clothes.

The one leading the group realized this was a strategy that harmed others at the cost of harming themselves. One lie would need countless others to cover it, and somewhere in the middle, the truth would slip out.

So the bunch of them flipped Jiang Yibai and Chen Yi the middle finger, then quickly walked off.

Chen Yi was furious. Still being held by the collar, he shouted, “Why’d you let them go? Expose them!”

Jiang Yibai glanced at him and said, “Young Master Chen, and what exactly have you done any better? It’s the middle of the night and you’re not home from school. What are you doing hanging around here?”

Chen Yi ground his teeth. “Mind your own business.”

“Whether I should or not, I’m already in it, so just deal with it.” Jiang Yibai let out a lazy snort, reached for a cigarette, and only then realized he was out. So he dragged the kid into the convenience store to buy some.

Chen Yi’s uniform hung loosely on him, a full size too big. He looked completely pathetic. No matter how much he tried to act tough and rebellious, he looked more like a rooster that had lost a fight. No, a wild hen, the kind that had all its tail feathers plucked out.

Jiang Yibai came out with the cigarettes. Chen Yi trailed beside him, casting him a sideways glance and held out his hand. “I want one too.”

Jiang Yibai tapped his ash into the boy’s palm. Chen Yi quickly pulled back and yelled, “You—”

“I’m taking you home. Say one more word and I’ll tell your mom everything that happened tonight. Every last detail.”

Chen Yi stayed silent.

He stared at Jiang Yibai and thought this man was really no man at all. “Despicable.”

“You’ve shown me no decency,” Jiang Yibai exhaled a puff of smoke. The night breeze lifted a bit of his fringe. The streetlamp cast faint stars in his eyes. He smiled. “If you were one of my star students, maybe I’d cover for you. But are you?”

Chen Yi said nothing.

Jiang Yibai pointed at him with the hand holding the cigarette. His fingers were long and pale, better looking than most girls’. Chen Yi’s eyes followed his hand until they started going cross-eyed. Then he heard Jiang Yibai say, “So don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”

Chen Yi: “……” What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Jiang Yibai had just called a car when his phone rang again. The caller ID actually showed “Male God.”

Jiang Yibai lit up on the spot. He let out a howl right there on the roadside, scaring Chen Yi.

Chen Yi had always thought this teacher Jiang was a bit crazy sometimes. Good-looking for sure, and his smile was nice. He had to admit, even if the guy’s words were annoying, he was actually pretty decent to him. Played piano beautifully. Hands looked especially nice. The joints were sharp and defined. Honestly, even though those hands looked delicate, just now they had quite a bit of strength when grabbing him.

Chen Yi stared at Jiang Yibai, watching as he picked up the call and could barely speak.

“Great Master!”

Chen Yi: “??”

Si Shaorong sounded a little awkward on the other end of the line. “You… can just call me by my name.”

Jiang Yibai licked his lips and smiled. “You’re older than me. How about I call you ge?”

“…Alright.” Si Shaorong paused for a moment, then said, “I just wanted to ask about that… the rental.”

Jiang Yibai’s eyes widened slightly. His heart was pounding. He had been prepared for a long game, already thinking about how to start getting closer to the great master starting tomorrow. Who would’ve thought it would happen this soon? Was the big fish already about to bite?

Jiang Yibai forced himself to stay grounded. Something felt off about this.

Si Shaorong didn’t seem like the type to be this impatient. Maybe something had happened.

That thought flashed by in an instant. He quickly steadied himself, doing his best to make his voice sound calm and collected. “Yes. What is it? Is there something you want to know? About the price? Or do you want to see the area?”

He deliberately tossed out a few common rental questions to make himself seem more normal.

At that moment, he was holding his breath, wishing he could pass through the signal and see Si Shaorong’s expression. Because he was so focused, he caught faint background noise on the other end.

“Si… he…”

“Bastard…”

“No… will…”

Fragmented voices came through the line, too broken to make out clearly, but the tension was obvious.

Jiang Yibai frowned. He couldn’t really ask more and could only wait, feeling anxious in the silence.

After a few seconds, Si Shaorong finally said, “I want to move in tonight. The price you mentioned before is fine. I don’t have a problem with it.”

Jiang Yibai: “!!!”

This was a meat pie falling straight from the sky. Was he about to get crushed by it?

His head was spinning. The ride he had called had already arrived, and it was Chen Yi who pulled open the car door and gave him a shove.

“No problem… no problem…” Jiang Yibai’s voice had softened completely, and his legs were going weak. He was grinning like a love-struck fool. “I’ll wait for you. No, wait, I’ll come pick you up!”

He collapsed into the back seat, then suddenly shot upright like he’d been injected with pure adrenaline, slapping his thigh with a loud smack—so loud that even Chen Yi winced from the sound.

Jiang Yibai couldn’t care about anything else now. He said at once, “I haven’t gone home yet. Where are you? I’ll drop someone off and come get you.”

Si Shaorong was just as straightforward. Since he had already made the decision, he reported the address directly, then asked, “Are you busy? I can go over by myself.”

“Not busy! I’m just dropping off a student. Hey, your place is close to where he lives anyway. It’s right on the way.”

Si Shaorong listened to Jiang Yibai’s loud and unfiltered voice and let out a soft laugh. He could feel this man’s enthusiasm and eagerness, and it made him feel a little better.

“Alright then. I’ll pack up and wait downstairs. Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble! Don’t say that!” Jiang Yibai responded immediately. “See you soon.”

As soon as the call ended, the warmth Jiang Yibai had just poured into him cooled instantly, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

He packed without a change of expression. The desktop computer would have to wait; he would come back for it another day. He shoved his laptop into his backpack, grabbed a few sets of clothes he wore often, then opened the door to collect his toiletries.

The moment the door opened, the noise from the living room exploded.

A man and a woman were standing in front of the sofa, shouting at each other. The man’s face was red, his neck bulging with anger. When he saw Si Shaorong come out, he shot him a vicious glare.

“He Jia,” Si Shaorong said to his former roommate, “I found a place. I’ll move out tonight. I’ll come back for the rest when neither of you are here.”

He Jia paused for a moment, then sneered, “Cheated me and now you’re running?”

Qin Cheng immediately said, “There’s nothing going on between me and Rong-ge! Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Nothing? Then why’s he running? Guilty conscience?” He Jia said. “You guard against thieves day and night, and it turns out the real one’s in your own damn house.”

Si Shaorong ignored him completely. He packed his toiletries, picked up his bag, and headed for the door.

“Rong-ge!” Qin Cheng reached out to stop him. “Don’t be like this. You and He Jia have been roommates for two years. This is half your home too.”

“All feasts come to an end.” Si Shaorong frowned and avoided her hand, then glanced at He Jia. “This is the last time I’ll explain it. There is nothing going on between us. I don’t like her, and I never had any intention of stealing anything from you. You don’t have to act like this.”

He Jia was already furious and in no mood to listen. When he saw his girlfriend trying to stop Si Shaorong, he exploded. “Still saying there’s nothing going on? Then what the hell are you two doing? Grabbing and pulling at each other? What, am I dead? Qin Cheng, do you even remember who your boyfriend is?”

“He Jia!” Qin Cheng snapped too. “It was just dinner, wasn’t it? You were the one who said you weren’t coming back!”

“Your so-called heartfelt dinner, I wouldn’t touch a bite of it. And you still have the nerve to bring it up?” He Jia kicked the coffee table. “Si Shaorong, don’t you dare leave. Answer me. That night, did you or did you not pull Qin Cheng into your bed?”

Si Shaorong had explained this more times than he could count. But since the other party refused to believe him, there was nothing left to say.

Qin Cheng was not someone suited to be a girlfriend, but looking at He Jia now, he couldn’t even bring himself to say that.

Si Shaorong couldn’t be bothered anymore. He opened the door and said, “Thanks for the past two years. I’ve already transferred this quarter’s rent. You don’t need to return the deposit. Consider it a thank-you for your help these past two years. Goodbye.”

“Rong-ge! Where are you going in the middle of the night?”

“Qin Cheng, stay right there!” From behind the door, He Jia shouted, “Who the hell needs your thanks? Who wants it? I’ll return every damn cent I’m supposed to!”