ATIBESLM 21

It was after Ye Lingwei finished calling Ye Xuan that he called Fei Lan.

It was as if the slight conflict that happened between the two of them that night was purely an illusion; one didn’t take it to heart at all, and the other was happy to see this outcome.

Ye Lingwei didn’t want to become Fei Lan’s enemy or opponent. Fei Lan… Fei Lan didn’t want to see Ye Lingwei cry again.

That little boy who called him ‘Gege’—he could still protect him for a few more years.

Having eaten something salty, shouldn’t one follow it up with something sweet?

Ye Lingwei asked Fei Lan to bring a cake to school tomorrow, calling him ‘Gege’ with extreme naturalness. Fei Lan was genuinely curious—did this little thing Ye Lingwei have no conscience anymore?

Ye Lingwei looked at the name ‘Fei Lan’ displayed in large characters on the screen, indicating the call was still connected. He unhurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth and lifted his gaze, looking as innocent as innocent could be.

“You are my Er-ge, and he is Fei Lan Gege. You bought me Oden, and he’s bringing me cake. It’s perfect.” Ye Lingwei felt this arrangement was wonderful, reasonable, and considerate—an even distribution, fair and just.

Ye Xuan could hear the sound of his back molars grinding together. “Ye Lingwei, do you realize what you’re saying?”

Ye Xuan’s disbelief wasn’t because he was shocked that Ye Lingwei had another ‘Gege’ besides him and Ye Cen, but rather because Ye Lingwei’s older brother at school… was Fei Lan.

Even though Fei Lan is innocent, between them and Fei Lan, it should be a case of ‘well water not violating river water¹An idiom meaning two parties should stay in their own lanes, mind their own business, and not interfere with each other.,’ and never interact with each other until death.

Ye Lingwei gently took a bite of the fish cake. “I know.”

He lazily swept a glance at Ye Xuan from the corner of his eye, then lowered his head again. He said in a very helpless tone, “Er-ge, I’ve told you this before, but you’ve forgotten again.”

“Adult matters have nothing to do with us.” Ye Lingwei’s deadpan, serious manner nearly angered Ye Xuan to death. “Er-ge, you need to be a sensible person.”

Ye Xuan: “…”

Does beating up one’s own younger brother count as domestic violence?

Everyone understands the principles, but not everyone listens to reason. This matter couldn’t be explained away with logic.

“If you provoke Fei Lan, you’re on your own.” Ye Xuan knew Ye Lingwei’s current stubborn temper. He coldly dropped this remark, reached out, and yanked Ye Lingwei off the back seat of the motorcycle.

“It hurts, Er-ge.” Ye Lingwei was hauled onto the ground to stand; he even lost one of his slippers. Ye Xuan didn’t even look at him. He straddled the motorcycle and, while starting the engine, expressionlessly buckled his helmet on.

“Er-ge…” Ye Lingwei called out in a low, helpless tone from beside him.

Ye Xuan began to grip the clutch. The roar of the engine was loud enough to shatter eardrums.

Ye Lingwei called out ‘Er-ge’ again.

The sound of the engine suddenly stopped abruptly. He didn’t take off his helmet, he just turned his head to look at Ye Lingwei. His voice was muffled, like sweet fermented rice wine buried underground in winter—icy cold, yet stinging and intoxicating when swallowed.

“Don’t blame me for not warning you. Fei Lan isn’t someone you can afford to provoke.”

“If you ask him to do things, he definitely won’t work for nothing.” Ye Xuan sneered. “Go ahead and prance around in front of him all you want, but when you come back bullied, don’t come crying to me.”

Speaking of being bullied…

Ye Lingwei held the Oden in one hand and pulled at the hem of Ye Xuan’s clothes with the other. Ye Xuan was impatient. “Speak.”

How had he not noticed before that Ye Lingwei had so much crap going on?

“Someone at school wants to beat me up,” Ye Lingwei said in a small voice.

Ye Xuan paused for a moment, then said somewhat sarcastically, “You can ask Fei Lan to hit them back for you. I think you’re pretty formidable.”

Ye Lingwei couldn’t be bothered to respond to him. He simply turned his head to the side, revealing the half of his face that had been pressed against the tree trunk by Yuan Song earlier. Right under the streetlight, the patch of skin that had endured the most contact and the greatest force was faintly red, with several bloody scratches rubbed raw by the coarse bark.

“Someone really did hit me.” Ye Lingwei lowered his head, his finger hooking the hem of Ye Xuan’s shirt. He looked as if he wanted to pull it but didn’t dare to. Compared to the boy who was shamelessly clinging to the back of Ye Xuan’s motorcycle earlier, he seemed like two completely different people.

Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes.

“What about Fei Lan?” He still couldn’t resist taking a jab at Ye Lingwei.

Ye Lingwei opened his mouth but said nothing, turning his head away, looking wronged.

Ye Xuan: “…”

Aside from not realizing before that Ye Lingwei had so much crap going on, he had also overlooked the fact that this little brat had a real talent for acting.

In just these few short minutes, his expression had changed from shameless pestering to a pitiful bag of grievances. And… and it actually looked pretty convincing.

However, Ye Xuan wasn’t in the mood to tease Ye Lingwei about his acting talent right now. He raised his hand and roughly gripped Ye Lingwei’s chin, narrowing his eyes to get a clear look at the injury on the side of his face. He then let go and asked, “Who did this?”

“Yuan Song from the art class. He was bullying someone else. I hit him, so he hit me,” Ye Lingwei said. In his entire life, he had never tattled with such confidence before. He knew very clearly that although Ye Xuan didn’t like the original host of this body, no matter what, they were brothers. No matter how cold Ye Xuan was, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch him get beaten up.

Compared to Ye Cen, Ye Xuan was much softer-hearted and easier to fool.

Ye Xuan was a bit angry, yet found it amusing. “How old are you? Do you think you’re three and a half? Have you forgotten you have a heart condition? There are plenty of people getting bullied out there; can you save them all?”

Ye Lingwei didn’t say a word.

Ye Xuan didn’t continue scolding him. He glanced at the injury on Ye Lingwei’s face one more time, withdrawing his gaze. While gripping the clutch, he said, “I will handle this matter. You behave yourself at school.”

“If you stick your nose into other people’s business again, I’ll have someone beat you to death.” Ye Xuan’s tone was fierce, attempting to warn Ye Lingwei—hoping to, at the very least, make him behave for a little while.

“Oh.” Ye Lingwei’s reaction was very flat.

Ye Xuan: “…”

Ye Xuan rode off, speeding away, still hauling the two tubs of honey mustard sauce that Ye Lingwei didn’t want. Ye Lingwei stood there holding his Oden, phone in hand.

The call hadn’t been disconnected yet.

“Hello.” Ye Lingwei put the phone to his ear.

Fei Lan seemed to have been holding the phone waiting the whole time; he let out a lazy hum. “You even made Ye Xuan buy things for you?”

“Moreover, you tattled?”

Ye Lingwei didn’t feel the slightest loss of face and admitted it openly. “If I have a backer, why wouldn’t I rely on them?”

“Why don’t you rely on me then?” Fei Lan’s tone sounded nonchalant, as if he were just asking casually and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Fei Lan asked casually, so Ye Lingwei answered casually. The speaker didn’t mean it seriously, and the listener just took it as the other party making a joke.

“You would let me rely on you?” Ye Lingwei pressed the elevator button. Watching the elevator rise floor by floor, he saw the expression on his own face in the elevator mirror and was slightly stunned for a moment.

The original host really was as beautiful as a painting. No wonder Ye Xuan, cold as he is, would also soften his heart.

His attention returned to the call with Fei Lan. 

Ye Lingwei thought Fei Lan would brush it off; after all, Fei Lan was the best at changing the subject.

“I would let you.” Fei Lan answered with a light chuckle, “If you want to rely on me, then rely.”

“…”

With a “ding,” the elevator arrived. Ye Lingwei came back to his senses. He gave a laugh of unclear meaning and then asked Fei Lan directly, “Ge²This is also Gege, but just the shorten version., do you hate me?”

“Be a good boy, and you’ll be fine.” Fei Lan used a tone like he was coaxing a child, but Ye Lingwei had the intuition that Fei Lan wasn’t joking.

Within the limits of what Fei Lan could tolerate, he could make as much of a fuss as he pleased. As long as he was good, Fei Lan wouldn’t hold anything against him.

“Then what if I’m not good?” Ye Lingwei’s voice was soft, so soft it could practically melt a heart right through.

Fei Lan thought for a moment, and his voice came through the receiver. “There won’t be any chocolate cake for you then.”

Ye Lingwei smiled, his eyes curving into crescents, his eyelashes pressing down like fans.

Opening the door, Ye Lingwei wiped the expression from his face. He said a faint “hanging up” into the phone and then actually hung up on Fei Lan directly. He tossed the phone onto the sofa, kicked off his slippers, and went to the bathroom to take another shower.

He and Fei Lan were the same kind of people.

Neither took the other seriously, yet both had their own bottom lines and principles.

Ye Lingwei intended to make those who had wronged the original host in the past, present, and future feel so much guilt and regret that they would wish they were dead. As for Fei Lan… Ye Lingwei swept his wet hair back behind his head and pulled out a face towel to wipe the red marks off the side of his face. He smiled at the boy in the mirror.

Fei Lan… ‘Gege’.

Toward others, perhaps he has his own bottom lines and principles. Yet toward him, Ye Lingwei believed he didn’t have any. Well, even if he did, he soon wouldn’t.

—

Gao Linhao had been staring at that cake for a long time.

The one right there on Ye Lingwei’s desk. The outer layer was a chocolate cake base, and inside was a small cake with a matcha molten center. It was even tied with a pale yellow ribbon. It looked so beautiful, so exquisite…

It must be so delicious.

It was brought by Brother Lan. At first, Gao Linhao thought it was for him. Just as he reached his hand out, he was swept with a glance that actually stung. He hurriedly retracted his hand.

Gao Linhao just watched helplessly then with wide eyes as that cake was placed onto Ye Lingwei’s desk.

When Ye Lingwei arrived at the classroom, Gao Linhao immediately snatched his gaze back. He had just had a conflict with him yesterday; if he was caught staring unblinkingly at his cake now, it would be so embarrassing.

Ye Lingwei stuffed his schoolbag into his desk. Gao Linhao listened to the commotion beside him and stole a few glances at Ye Lingwei. He wanted to speak up, but didn’t dare.

Ye Lingwei looked way too fierce yesterday. He was scared.

If he was looked at by Ye Lingwei’s icy cold eyes again, Gao Linhao felt his very bones would freeze away. Ye Lingwei simply didn’t look like just a naive little beauty!

Gao Linhao’s mind was a mess. Before he could finish his thoughts, a cake was placed right in front of him—it was that familiar cake from Ye Lingwei’s desk that looked so delicious.

Gao Linhao raised his head in pleasant surprise, only to see Ye Lingwei’s face right above his own. Those eyelashes were so long, so long.

“For you,” Ye Lingwei said.

Gao Linhao subconsciously looked toward Fei Lan. Isn’t this what Brother Lan brought for Ye Lingwei?

Ye Lingwei knocked on Gao Linhao’s desk. “It’s specially for you.”

Gao Linhao: “…”

As if he had obtained a precious treasure, Gao Linhao swore that in his entire life—no, in the dozen or so years he had been alive—this was the time he ate cake in the smallest bites and with the most elegance.

With every bite he took, he would glance at Ye Lingwei, then at Brother Lan. It was take a bite, take a look.

After stuffing the whole cake down under this pressure, he saw Ye Lingwei leaning back in his chair, smiling with curved eyes. “Is it tasty?”

Having experienced yesterday’s events, Gao Linhao was more or less a little apprehensive of Ye Lingwei now, so he nodded.

“Yesterday, my tone was too harsh. I’m apologizing to you,” Ye Lingwei said.

Gao Linhao froze.

Even Fei Lan gave Ye Lingwei a rare glance.

After realizing that the other party was apologizing to him, Gao Linhao almost sprang up from his seat all at once. To say he was flattered would be an understatement.

With Ye Lingwei’s personality, even though he hadn’t been in Class 1 for many days, Gao Linhao saw it clearly and plainly. Making him bow his head voluntarily would be harder than reaching out and wringing his neck—the latter would be much more direct and quick.

Even Brother Lan can’t handle him. Yuan Song, that trouble maker—Ye Lingwei hit him without hesitation, and afterwards, he was completely unscathed. This kind of Ye Lingwei is apologizing to him?

Gao Linhao’s expression was complex. He was actually used to these rich second-generation kids being high and mighty. Even with Brother Lan, he sometimes felt that he wasn’t from the same world as people like them.

Ye Lingwei doing this was undoubtedly like landing a heavy punch on Gao Linhao, directly knocking him dazed.

After a good while, Gao Linhao lunged over and hugged Ye Lingwei. “I will definitely turn over a new leaf from now on! Be a decent person! Help each other, find joy in helping others, and be an upright, kind-hearted high school student!”

Ye Lingwei patted his shoulder. He lowered his gaze and smiled.

Fei Lan happened to look over right then.

He didn’t know whether to say Gao Linhao was too stupid or to sigh at how smart Ye Lingwei was. If Gao Linhao treated Ye Lingwei well before purely because he looked good, then now, Gao Linhao’s feelings for Ye Lingwei were blind worship.

With just a casual move, Ye Lingwei had directly bought off Gao Linhao, making him dead set on being loyal.

Moreover, Gao Linhao, the person caught in the middle of it, didn’t even realize it himself yet.

While they were making a chaotic ruckus in the back, the front few rows were dead silent. Lin Chudong listened to the commotion at the back of the classroom and couldn’t help but secretly steal a few glances backward.

He saw Gao Linhao looking at Ye Lingwei with eyes that were practically glowing, handing him water one moment, finding books for him the next, busying himself with great joy. He was curious, and also a bit angry.

The curiosity lay in what Ye Lingwei had done to turn Gao Linhao, whose eyes usually only held his Brother Lan, into such a dog leg³This is a derogatory term for a henchman or someone who obsequiously does the bidding of a master..

The anger lay in the fact that Ye Lingwei was just so frivolous and casual. Could he just be close and intimate with anyone?

After watching for a long time, the pen in Lin Chudong’s hand slashed a heavy mark across the exam paper. It was just as he thought—Ye Lingwei was just this casual and frivolous.

A certain nameless emotion churned in Lin Chudong’s heart. When he withdrew his gaze from the back of the classroom, Fei Lan happened to lift his head from the crook of his arm. As if he could predict the future, he looked straight at Lin Chudong.

Lin Chudong was caught off guard, caught red-handed.

Fei Lan just looked at him indifferently for a moment, yet Lin Chudong’s whole body froze stiff. He could say that this was the darkest and coldest look he had seen in all these years.

—

Today’s inter-class exercises were temporarily cancelled. Instead, the whole school gathered on the playground for a grooming inspection conducted one by one by homeroom teachers, the dean of students, and the discipline committee. This was because a group of leaders from the Education Bureau was coming to inspect this afternoon. Even if they were just passing through for a quick look, the school wanted to leave a good impression to smooth the way for future administrative work.

As luck would have it, Ye Lingwei hadn’t worn his uniform. He had figured that since it was Saturday, there wouldn’t be a dress code check and the dean wouldn’t be on duty.

He had brought his old habit of staying up late into this new life. The original host’s constitution couldn’t handle late nights; Ye Lingwei had been careful for so long, but he slipped up last night. He woke up feeling groggy, grabbed a random shirt, and headed to school.

The uniform was a white short-sleeved shirt, though some students who were sensitive to cold were already wearing the thin autumn jackets. Ye Lingwei was wearing a sapphire blue T-shirt and black sweatpants that looked somewhat like uniform pants. Amidst a sea of snow-white shirts, he stuck out like a sore thumb—as conspicuous as conspicuous could be.

Gao Linhao looked even more worried than Ye Lingwei. “Ye Lingwei, what are you going to do about this? Going back to get the uniform is a minor issue, but Lao Di is definitely going to drag you to the dean’s office. Criticism, warning, self-reflection essay—the full dragon service. Not a single one will be missing.”

Ye Lingwei was playing on his phone, as if he hadn’t heard. Gao Linhao didn’t feel snubbed. He craned his neck, looking all around, muttering to himself, “Why do I not see Lan-ge? Did he go off to smoke again?”

“Fei Lan smokes?” Ye Lingwei asked casually, head lowered as he swiped on his phone. Only after asking did he remember that the previous two times he bumped into Fei Lan, he seemed to have been holding a cigarette.

Ye Lingwei said with great seriousness that smoking is bad.

Gao Linhao waved his hand, very helpless. “Lan-ge understands the risks much better than I do, but what can you do? When I first met Lan-ge, he smoked much more heavily than he does now.”

As he spoke, Gao Linhao got agitated, but he didn’t dare raise his voice. “Would you believe it? Back then, on the surface, Lan-ge was both number one in the grade and an academic competition contender. Yet in private, he hung out with a bunch of slackers. I wasn’t the first one to call him Lan-ge.”

“If it weren’t for that damn woman, Lan-ge wouldn’t have become like this,” Gao Linhao said hatefully.

Ye Lingwei, the son of that damn woman: “…”

Gao Linhao felt this way, but Ye Lingwei didn’t think so. Fei Lan didn’t seem like the type of person who would let himself fall into ruin just because of a woman like the original host’s mother.

It probably wasn’t because of Jiang Hui.

After listening to Gao Linhao making a ruckus in his ear for a while, the broadcast began notifying all students to gather at the sports field. Gao Linhao started pulling a long face again. Although he really wanted to swap his uniform with Ye Lingwei, thinking of the oil stains and ink splatters on his own clothes, he wasn’t worthy.

It was all the school’s fault. Why did they make the uniforms white? It didn’t match his rough guy persona at all.

Ye Lingwei wasn’t as worried as Gao Linhao. At most, he would get a scolding, stand in punishment for a while, and write a two-thousand-word self-reflection. The self-reflection could be written by Gao Linhao, and as for the scolding and standing, he could just say he wasn’t feeling well.

Gao Linhao, completely unaware that he had already been assigned the task of the two-thousand-word essay, was still diligently worrying his heart out for Ye Lingwei.

However, the inspection today was unusually strict. Homeroom teachers were not allowed to inspect their own classes; instead, they drew lots to determine who they would inspect.

Appearance and grooming standards included not only school uniforms and name tags but also fingernails, hairstyles, and hair color.

It was a rare, massive cleanup operation.

After discussing it, several grade heads, homeroom teachers, and the dean of students unanimously decided to seize this opportunity. Using the pretext of the Education Bureau leaders’ inspection, they intended to thoroughly correct and sweep away the evil winds⁴Literally “crooked wind and evil air.” This is a common idiom used by authority figures (like teachers or government officials) to describe bad habits, immoral behavior, or unorthodox trends that corrupt the youth (e.g., long hair on boys, dating, rebellious clothing). and unhealthy trends within the school.

Fei Lan sauntered in late⁵This idiom describes someone arriving late in a slow, leisurely, or unhurried manner., only after the ranks were already formed. There was a half-arm’s length distance between everyone. Gao Linhao was doing nothing but useless work; trying to prevent Ye Lingwei from being discovered, he shielded him behind his own back.

The boys in Class 1 had the highest average height among the ten classes. With a back row full of 1.8-meter giants, Ye Lingwei, at one meter seventy-something, landed in the middle of them—stinging the eyes⁶This describes something that stands out so much it is painful or impossible to ignore..

Fei Lan came over and stood directly behind Ye Lingwei.

There was a very faint scent of tobacco. Ye Lingwei couldn’t help but sweep a glance at Fei Lan, who happened to lower his gaze and look over at the same time.

“You stink.” Ye Lingwei furrowed his brows, his expression of disdain obvious. With a sweep of his eyelashes, he looked as if he wished he could get miles away from Fei Lan.

Fei Lan didn’t bother responding. His gaze landed on the nape of Ye Lingwei’s neck. The collar of the T-shirt was very wide, so wide that even from behind, one could see the small hollow of his collarbone.

“Where is your uniform?” Fei Lan shoved Ye Lingwei a little, not really holding back his strength. Ye Lingwei turned his head and glared fiercely at Fei Lan.

“The cake I brought you, you just gave it to someone else to eat?” Fei Lan’s voice was very low, sounding as if he was about to press right against the side of Ye Lingwei’s ear. “Using my stuff to coax other people?”

The corners of Ye Lingwei’s eyes were full of languor and unbridled willfulness. “What is given to me, is mine. Who I want to give it to is naturally my freedom to choose.”

There was a smile in Fei Lan’s eyes.

While the two of them were talking, the inspecting teacher had already come over. Just their luck, the one inspecting their class was Li Lan, the second year head. She held a teaching pointer in one hand and held the other behind her back; her hair was coiled high up in a bun, and her eyes stared dead-on at every single student.

“Hair, hair! Bangs must not cover the eyebrows!”

“You boy, who did you learn that hair-flip from? Aren’t you afraid of spraining your neck?”

“Those not wearing school uniforms, step forward voluntarily…”

The main point was this last sentence. Today is Saturday; those taking a chance and not wearing uniforms were not few in number. No one expected a sweep inspection on a Saturday.

Li Lan’s gaze landed directly on Ye Lingwei’s body—deadly accurate.

Gao Linhao was quick of eye and deft of hand⁷An idiom describing someone with sharp reflexes.. He took a step across, blocking the front of Ye Lingwei. Tugging at his own collar, he stammered, “Hey, uh, Teacher Li… look, isn’t my school uniform too dirty and not quite in line with school regulations…”

“…”

Li Lan stepped directly around him, walking up to Ye Lingwei. “Not wearing a uniform?”

She was so direct. Smart people had actually already sensed something was off, but no one had the inclination to offend a teacher for Ye Lingwei’s sake—especially the most calculating and petty-minded teacher in the whole school.

Ye Lingwei acted as if no unpleasantness had ever occurred between him and Li Lan. He revealed an embarrassed expression. “I left in too much of a rush this morning.”

“Everyone says that. You tell me, who should I believe?” Li Lan’s tone and expression were all fair and impartial, making it impossible to find a trace of bias.

“Write a twenty-thousand-word self-reflection and hand it in.” Li Lan looked at Ye Lingwei. The boy’s harmless appearance—compared to the arrogant appearance in the office before, where every word trampled her son underfoot and spat on him, they seemed like two different people.

Lin Chudong was much more silent at home now. Often, while speaking, he would zone out. The error rate on the practice questions she gave him had also increased significantly. Li Lan pinned all of this on Ye Lingwei’s head.

It was Ye Lingwei who had hooked away her son’s three souls and seven spirits.⁸In Daoist tradition and Chinese folklore, the human soul is composed of these parts. To say someone “hooked away” them means they have completely bewitched, entranced, or distracted someone to the point where they are no longer themselves (lost their soul).

Gao Linhao didn’t have that many complex thoughts. Plus, since Ye Lingwei had just lectured him yesterday, so he stood forward, unconvinced. “On what grounds? They all get two thousand words; why is Ye Lingwei getting twenty thousand?”

“On the grounds that he engaged in puppy love and stuffed a love letter to my son. You tell me, on what grounds?” Li Lan had seen that love letter. The tone was so humble and sincere. Compared to the current Ye Lingwei, they simply didn’t look like the same person.

Li Lan was a teacher, and teachers are generally never wrong.

Puppy love caused an uproar among this crowd of naive students. What’s more, the person he stuffed the love letter to was Lin Chudong—their male god⁹The male equivalent of a “Goddess” or “Muse.” It refers to a guy who is handsome, talented, and popular—the school idol.!

Li Lan had already nearly lost her reason. Her entire hope for living was pinned on Lin Chudong. She toiled endlessly just to raise her son into someone who could bring glory to the Lin family. Yet now, watching it all about to be ruined by Ye Lingwei, how could she not feel hate? How could she not be desperate? She wished nothing more than for Ye Lingwei to transfer and get the hell out of No. 3 High immediately.

Ye Lingwei had remained indifferent to Li Lan’s words all along, but when Li Lan mentioned him stuffing a love letter to Lin Chudong, he looked up and asked with some confusion, “Teacher Li, didn’t I tell you long ago? It’s Lin Chudong who’s pestering me. He likes me so much. If you don’t believe me, ask him.”

Ye Lingwei’s expression was natural, so they all turned to look at Lin Chudong with half-belief and half-doubt. Lin Chudong was a member of the discipline committee; wearing his uniform, he was watching from right near the center of the storm.

Lin Chudong’s face was beet red. He stammered, unable to get a single word out. Ye Lingwei understood him too well—he knew Lin Chudong wasn’t the type who was good at arguing so he could say whatever he wanted.

Ye Lingwei curled the corner of his lips. Even if Lin Chudong said right now, “I don’t, I don’t like him,” no one would believe him. His expression was the truest answer.

His face, flushed with anger, was interpreted by the crowd as shyness; his stammering was interpreted as being too nervous to get the words out.

Li Lan panicked slightly. This was not the outcome she had wanted to see.

“We will discuss these matters another time. Today, the focus is checking grooming and appearance. The twenty-thousand-word self-reflection—submit it to me as soon as possible.” In the blink of an eye, Li Lan transformed back into that invulnerable, strictly business head. For Lin Chudong, she would do anything.

On this point, Ye Lingwei indeed had nothing to say.

He lowered his head, once again adopting that obedient, docile appearance—impeccable and beyond reproach. Watching Ye Lingwei act like this, Li Lan felt a blockage in her chest and her vision went black. Is this boy a demon¹⁰In Chinese mythology, a yaojing is an animal or spirit that has cultivated powers, often gaining the ability to shapeshift into human form to seduce or trick humans.?!

However, in the eyes of others, Ye Lingwei appeared positively pitiable.

Just when Li Lan felt she had finally vented her frustration, Fei Lan, who had been standing behind Ye Lingwei the whole time, unhurriedly unzipped his own school uniform jacket. He pulled his arms out of the sleeves and draped it directly over Ye Lingwei’s head. Fei Lan raised his eyes to look at Li Lan. “Teacher Li, if I give my clothes to Ye Lingwei, is that alright?”

Ye Lingwei was caught completely off guard by the covering; his vision turned into a hazy blur of darkness. A very faint scent of tobacco laced with red wine gently yet domineeringly invaded his entire sense of smell.

A very pleasant red wine scent, Ye Lingwei thought.

As for the others who were astonished by this move of Fei Lan’s?

Li Lan was just about to say it wasn’t allowed, and Gao Linhao wanted to ask then what about you?—but as it turned out, both their expressions simultaneously morphed into identical looks of shock and disbelief.

Underneath his uniform jacket, Fei Lan was wearing short sleeves. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt—No. 3 High’s official summer uniform.

“…”

• 1
  An idiom meaning two parties should stay in their own lanes, mind their own business, and not interfere with each other.
• 2
  This is also Gege, but just the shorten version.
• 3
  This is a derogatory term for a henchman or someone who obsequiously does the bidding of a master.
• 4
  Literally “crooked wind and evil air.” This is a common idiom used by authority figures (like teachers or government officials) to describe bad habits, immoral behavior, or unorthodox trends that corrupt the youth (e.g., long hair on boys, dating, rebellious clothing).
• 5
  This idiom describes someone arriving late in a slow, leisurely, or unhurried manner.
• 6
  This describes something that stands out so much it is painful or impossible to ignore.
• 7
  An idiom describing someone with sharp reflexes.
• 8
  In Daoist tradition and Chinese folklore, the human soul is composed of these parts. To say someone “hooked away” them means they have completely bewitched, entranced, or distracted someone to the point where they are no longer themselves (lost their soul).
• 9
  The male equivalent of a “Goddess” or “Muse.” It refers to a guy who is handsome, talented, and popular—the school idol.
• 10
  In Chinese mythology, a yaojing is an animal or spirit that has cultivated powers, often gaining the ability to shapeshift into human form to seduce or trick humans.