DABGBTF 2

“Xiao Lu, the clay has been delivered, it’s right downstairs. The two of us will go down and move it now, quick battle, quick decision.”

Classroom 2301, Teaching Building 2, which was also the studio for the class of ’24¹In Chinese universities, classes are usually designated by their entry year rather than their graduation year. So, the “Class of 24” means students who enrolled in 2024. sculpture department freshmen.

The studio was messily piled with drawing boards and plaster. Sunlight passed through the window, cut into small pieces, falling onto the young man’s smooth hair and clean, fair face.

Lu Lu sat in front of the drawing board, holding a charcoal pencil in his hand, but not drawing. His head leaned back against the back of the chair, staring at the ceiling, his expression blank.

“…Xiao Lu? Xiao Lu? Lu ah, Lu Lu?!”

Lu Lu’s hair was slightly long. When doing things, he would use a rubber band to tie his hair into a small tail at the back of his head. Cui Songbai couldn’t wake Lu Lu up, so he had to reach out and tug at the small tail at the back of Lu Lu’s head. “What are you thinking about?”

Lu Lu let out an “ah” and only then returned to his senses.

Using his head-tilted-back posture, he looked at Cui Songbai directly behind him.

Lu Lu’s appearance was docile, absolutely not the kind of aggressive look. From childhood to adulthood, he was exceptionally likable, which brought him a lot of convenience. His own personality also matched his appearance, friendly and endearing. At this moment, before he even spoke, his eyes first curved up in a smile.

“I was thinking about what to wear tonight.”

Cui Songbai: “…”

Just this? Just because of this kind of boring question, he completely ignored him?

“Don’t force me to hit you in the studio, making the art department, which is already very pathetic because it can’t find jobs, even sadder.” 

Cui Songbai with a dark face: “Get up and work.”

Lu Lu let out a “pfft” laugh and obediently stood up.

The corridor of the art building wafted with the smell of paint, paper, and ink. Lu Lu carried the heavy express delivery box and followed behind his roommate, still thinking about the question from just now.

What to wear?

Bright yellow would make his whole person look bright and full of vitality, but the cuff of the one on his body was bumped by someone while eating, splashed with vegetable soup, and wasn’t suitable to wear to see people anymore.

He did have two other yellow pieces of clothing, but they were both short sleeves. It was now April, the weather at night was still cool, and he was somewhat afraid of the cold.

He didn’t have many clothes. Thinking carefully, there was still a blue windbreaker and a pink jacket to choose from, but the windbreaker was a bit too thick, and the pink was too tender. He didn’t want to play cute tonight.

What to wear?

For the dinner party tonight, what to wear to see Song Qingyuan?

What to wear to see Xie Zheng, who Song Qingyuan might bring along?

Lu Lu had heard Xie Zheng’s name many times.

He heard the middle school’s dean of students used to have a very bad personality and always corporally punished students, but after being blocked at his door and taught a lesson by Senior²A respectful term used by students to address an older male schoolmate (upperclassman or alumni) who attends or attended the same school. Xie Zheng eight years ago, he turned into this kind of yes-man appearance³This describes someone who is subservient, overly compliant, and always says yes out of fear or lack of a spine.;

The school’s 1,000-meter record at the sports meet was left by Senior Xie Zheng;

In the high school classroom, the seat by the window was Senior Xie Zheng’s exclusive spot. An Omega senior sister who secretly had a crush on him sneakily took a picture of him. From then on, everyone discovered that at two o’clock in the afternoon, the lighting at this seat was surprisingly good, and taking pictures looked exceptionally nice. As soon as class ended in the afternoon, everyone fought to come take selfies;

At the university’s freshman orientation, the vice principal mentioned the names of a few alumni who were already successful in society, and among them was Senior Xie Zheng;

The “my friend from university” from his homeroom teacher’s mouth was also Xie Zheng.

Today was Lu Lu’s first time seeing Xie Zheng.

When Song Qingyuan called him over to explain things, a classmate behind him mischievously rubbed his head, pressing his front hair down. Through his bangs, he only clearly saw at that time that there was a man in a black suit not far behind Song Qingyuan. It was Cui Songbai who recognized him first. He pulled Lu Lu a bit, leaning close to his ear. “Holy f*ck—that’s Xie Zheng!”

Xie Zheng.

The senior from ten years ago was like dark clouds gathering a thunderstorm; the falling raindrops would occasionally splash a couple of drops onto Lu Lu’s face. Lu Lu didn’t like it, didn’t resent it, and never cared.

However, that occasionally heard name suddenly turned into a vivid, living person, standing less than fifteen meters away from him. This feeling was very strange, like a not-so-genuine celebrity chasing.

Lu Lu always pretended to be very happy, but at this moment, he was truly a bit elated.

Song Qingyuan finished explaining things, and Lu Lu, Cui Songbai, and another classmate who had agreed to have lunch together walked forward together. Lu Lu rejoiced that he wore the jacket that suited him best. When passing by Xie Zheng, he couldn’t hold back from taking a quick glance at Xie Zheng.

Lu Lu tripped a bit and suddenly staggered. Xie Zheng looked up at the sky, his thin lips splitting into an arc resembling a sneer, exhaling a mouthful of choking smoke.

Cui Songbai hurriedly supported him.

There were quite a few students secretly sizing up Xie Zheng, and Cui Songbai was one of them. Even after walking far past him, he was still on tiptoes looking back at Xie Zheng.

Cui Songbai hissed. “How come Xie Zheng looks even fiercer than in the videos?”

The other classmate didn’t know Xie Zheng. “Who is it? A celebrity?”

“Not a celebrity. He’s a company boss, has a good-looking face, and is always photographed and posted online. I saw in the comments section that those who have interacted with him all say he is a person not to be trifled with, looks like he’s in the underworld, and is ruthless.”

Ruthless?

In Lu Lu’s mind, he recalled the image of Xie Zheng’s fingers holding the cigarette butt covered in teeth marks.

…Mm, he is very hot.

The classmate raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. “Oh oh, that’s so scary—why is Xiao Lu not talking?”

Lu Lu became even more elated, jumping and skipping as he pounced onto his classmate’s back. “Thinking about what to eat later.”

—

“Barbecue?” Xie Zheng lazily sat on the sofa, asking Song Qingyuan, “Is it convenient? Bring me along.”

“It is convenient.” Song Qingyuan squatted in front of a pot of flowers, currently holding small scissors to prune the branches and leaves. “You can tell my students about your entrepreneurial history. Encourage them a bit.”

Xie Zheng couldn’t help but hook the corners of his mouth into a smile.

His entrepreneurial history?

Poaching others’ key personnel at high prices, planting spies in rival companies, forcing other companies to sign valuation adjustment mechanisms with him, forcibly acquiring others’ companies—these matters were not glorious. Anyway, if he were Song Qingyuan, he wouldn’t let his students listen to this.

At 6 PM, the two set off for that barbecue restaurant.

This meal was said to be a group dinner, but in fact, it was used by Song Qingyuan’s students to see him off. Teacher Xiao Song suddenly decided to take a vacation and didn’t state a specific reason, only saying he was going to relax his mind, and everyone was quite worried about him.

The two set off very early, but when they arrived, the students were already there; there were a total of nine people in the private room, five boys and four girls, among whom 5 people wore collars on their necks, being Omegas.

As soon as Xie Zheng entered the door, an Omega boy’s face started turning red, sneezing several times in a row.

“Sorry… Achoo! There’s… a very pungent smell… Achoo!”

Xie Zheng’s pheromones smelled of tobacco mixed with pepper, rich and spicy. Omegas usually had five sharp senses, especially their sense of smell. Even if Xie Zheng wasn’t in his susceptible period⁴Another ABO genre term. It refers to a period where an Alpha’s pheromones become volatile, aggressive, or overwhelming (similar to an Omega’s heat)., some Os could still smell it. There was a receptionist in Xie Zheng’s company who would sneeze as soon as they saw Xie Zheng.

The boy hurriedly took a pill out of his bag in a flurry and swallowed it with water, and the sneezing finally settled down.

The main culprit, Xie Zheng, didn’t seem the least bit apologetic, but still asked the boy a sentence: “Are you okay, kid?”

The boy was a bit afraid of Xie Zheng, lowering his head and nodding it vigorously.

Song Qingyuan cared for the boy with a few sentences, then pointed at Xie Zheng and said, “This is my friend, Xie Zheng, very formidable. If you run into trouble while I’m away, you can also look for him for help.”

He accepted Song Qingyuan’s favor by moving into his home, so helping to look after the kids a bit was also what he should do. Xie Zheng hummed. “However, I am usually very busy. Look for me only when you encounter big trouble.”

Someone said, “Okay, Xie-ge.”

The speaker’s voice was bright. Xie Zheng raised his eyes and looked over, and saw that prized student of his good friend.

What was his name again?

Stupid deer… oh right, Lu Lu.

The boy wasn’t wearing that very eye-catching yellow jacket at this moment. He had put on a light gray, blue-striped workwear jacket⁵Refers to cargo/utility-style fashion., slung a small bag cross-body, and his light-colored hair was gathered into a tail at the back of his head. He should be considered the type who really knows how to dress up.

At this moment, Xie Zheng actually saw Lu Lu’s appearance clearly. A well-behaved and harmless face, but different from that kind of softness of an Omega—it was the kind of appearance Xie Zheng liked.

Just now, when that Omega sneezed, it was him by the side handing over water. At this moment, it was also him who was the first to speak up and address people. Even many people in the workplace might not necessarily be this clever—he actually really knew how to handle things.

However, Xie Zheng didn’t want to buy into his routine⁶A colloquial phrase meaning to fall for someone’s charm, tricks, or flattery.. “Stop calling me ge. I’m so much older than you, better call me uncle.”

The Xie Zheng who was very fierce at fighting, the Xie Zheng who ran very fast, the fiercely scowling Xie Zheng from other people’s mouths, the highly loyal Xie Zheng from Teacher Song’s mouth. One by one, fragment-like images converged together, ultimately converging into this man right before Lu Lu’s eyes.

Lu Lu tugged at the hem of his brand new clothes, reached out his hand, introducing himself for Xie Zheng to know, “Hello Uncle Xie, I am Lu Lu.”

Xie Zheng lowered his head and swept a glance at the boy’s hand, reached out and shook it briefly.

The other students also one after another imitated Lu Lu in making self-introductions. Xie Zheng also shook hands with all of them, but didn’t remember a single person’s name.

Xie Zheng wasn’t particular about food, and had no feelings toward the barbecue that Song Qingyuan praised profusely. Halfway through eating the meal, the students opened their chatterboxes, pestering Song Qingyuan, asking exactly where he was going for this vacation.

Song Qingyuan said, “I will make a trip back to my hometown first.”

Xie Zheng received a call from his assistant, asking his current address, wanting to purchase some daily necessities and deliver them to him. Xie Zheng walked outside while taking the phone call, his hand pressing briefly on Song Qingyuan’s shoulder.

After hanging up the phone, Xie Zheng wasn’t in a hurry to go back either, standing at the doorway and smoking two cigarettes.

His smoking addiction was very heavy, and his sexual desire was actually too. However, the latter had always been unable to be satisfied so he could only use the former to relieve it.

When he went back again, the topic of conversation had already steered away from Song Qingyuan. A boy sighed while recounting his recent troubles, “He wants us to send all the cats and dogs away within a week.”

Xie Zheng listened for a while before understanding what was going on.

This boy was a member of the school’s Animal Protection Club, rescuing the cats and dogs in the school.

A school director’s son kicked a dog but was bitten by the dog, forcing them to send all the animals on campus away within a week, otherwise—

The words after otherwise were not said, but hid a full flavor of threat. The club currently only had over twenty people, mostly college freshmen; encountering this kind of situation, they were both scared and troubled.

“Teacher Song.” The student pursed his lips and asked for help from Song Qingyuan, “What on earth should we do?”

Song Qingyuan hadn’t opened his mouth yet, but Xie Zheng laughed.

He leaned his body back, single-handedly unbuttoning two buttons at his collar. “Seeking your Teacher Song’s help for this matter is useless—your Teacher Song is also a person under the eaves⁷This comes from a famous Chinese proverb: “When standing under someone else’s eaves, you have no choice but to bow your head” (人在屋檐下，不得不低头). Xie Zheng is pointing out that because Song Qingyuan is employed by the university, he has no power to fight a school director’s son without risking his own job..”

The whole table of people looked over toward Xie Zheng.

“Uncle will teach you.” Xie Zheng teased the kids, “Use alt accounts⁸Internet slang for secondary, anonymous “smurf” accounts used to post things without them being tied back to your real-life identity. to post a few threads, just say the school director’s son might have animal abuse tendencies, and the school, in order to flatter him, insists on driving all the animals on campus to extinction.”

The students hadn’t seen this kind of tactic before, staring blankly, looking at each other in dismay.

Song Qingyuan: “…”

The veins on his forehead twitched wildly. “Xie Zheng, don’t corrupt my students!”

Xie Zheng laughed out loud. His peripheral vision swept over Lu Lu—the boy’s eyes were sparkling bright.

• 1
  In Chinese universities, classes are usually designated by their entry year rather than their graduation year. So, the “Class of 24” means students who enrolled in 2024.
• 2
  A respectful term used by students to address an older male schoolmate (upperclassman or alumni) who attends or attended the same school.
• 3
  This describes someone who is subservient, overly compliant, and always says yes out of fear or lack of a spine.
• 4
  Another ABO genre term. It refers to a period where an Alpha’s pheromones become volatile, aggressive, or overwhelming (similar to an Omega’s heat).
• 5
  Refers to cargo/utility-style fashion.
• 6
  A colloquial phrase meaning to fall for someone’s charm, tricks, or flattery.
• 7
  This comes from a famous Chinese proverb: “When standing under someone else’s eaves, you have no choice but to bow your head” (人在屋檐下，不得不低头). Xie Zheng is pointing out that because Song Qingyuan is employed by the university, he has no power to fight a school director’s son without risking his own job.
• 8
  Internet slang for secondary, anonymous “smurf” accounts used to post things without them being tied back to your real-life identity.