Chapter 51.1

Editor: yummers

On their way back, they ran into a few students who were going out to eat. Some of them were acquaintanced with Shi Qing and greeted him.

Shi Qing could clearly feel Zhuo Junli purposefully lean closer to him although he had an arm around the youth’s shoulders.

He felt like he was going to be smothered by all this affection.

[Tong, doesn’t he look like a little puppy protecting his food?]

The system looked left and right, up and down. It really did see a resemblance.

However, it didn’t understand. [The animosity value is still above 50, ah.]

Shi Qing, [It’s a quirk of his character, a quirk.]

The school bully seemed happy with how sticky the youth was being, but it would be OOC for him to show that happiness. He could only be happy on the inside while maintaining his arrogant exterior.

Shi Qing bragged about himself to Zhuo Junli, “See how strong I am? Even a whole gang can’t stop me. Even dozens of people are no match for me!”

The youth who still looked rather weak, nodded. “You’re amazing.”

The smile on Shi Qing’s face grew even wider as he was praised.

He hung onto Zhuo Junli’s shoulders the entire way back to school.

The youth was still a little worried. He asked, “What if those people really come to the school to complain?”

“Hah! Like I’m afraid of them!”

The school bully was very dismissive. “I’ll beat them up every time they show up.”

Zhuo Junli now understood how Shi Qing’s bad reputation at school came to be.

Apart from their cla.s.s, all the students knew that there was a second-year student named Shi Qing who was an arrogant little master that always fought and caused trouble.

Even the teachers didn’t like Shi Qing. They felt like he was a slacker who used his wealth to cause trouble.

Other than their homeroom teacher, the other teachers all frowned when they saw Shi Qing.

Zhuo Junli also thought that Shi Qing was a typical rich second generation loser, but now he was having second thoughts.

Although Shi Qing had a reputation as a school bully, he hadn’t really done much at school.

Even when he started targeting Zhuo Junli after Tong Xinyu’s confession, the most he did was start a few small fights and verbally hara.s.s him in front of the school and in their dorm.

He did pour cold water all over Zhuo Junli’s bedding in winter, only to force him to sleep in his bed afterwards, and he did lock Zhuo Junli in the washroom, only to let him out after a mere twenty minutes.

Zhuo Junli completely forgot about how he aloofly dismissed Shi Qing as human sc.u.m before.

In his heart, Shi Qing was now a tsundere school bully whose bark was worse than his bite.

He cared a lot about Zhuo Junli.

But he showed his affection in strange ways.

Zhuo Junli had always been a good-looking boy. Although he came from unfortunate circ.u.mstances, other people always had a soft spot for him ever since he was little.

For the most part, his neighbours, teachers, and cla.s.smates all treated him well.

In this world that judged others based on appearance, almost everyone generously offered Zhuo Junli warmth.

But he didn’t like their warmth.

No matter how well they disguised it, Zhuo Junli could feel that they pitied him.

He couldn’t stand being pitied.

He loathed himself for being weak.

But most of all, he hated having to bare his pain and weakness to the world in order to survive.

Zhuo Junli was also disgusted by how Tong Xinyu chased after him.

They were complete opposites.

He grew up in a swamp and struggled to escape from his unfortunate circ.u.mstances every day.

Tong Xinyu had obviously been spoiled by her family growing up. Her way of demonstrating her affection was to repeat over and over that she liked Zhuo Junli. She thought that this was the way to get into his heart.

How amusingly naive.

In the end, “love” was just a product formed by dopamine secreted from the hypothalamus. “Love” came from the way you thought about the other person.

Their looks, body, mannerisms, and behaviour.

Zhuo Junli once thought about what he would do if he liked someone.

If he liked them, he would chain them up thoroughly.

This person could only like him and look at him.

He would give them everything they wanted.

The person he liked could only like him forever.

Zhuo Junli originally thought he wouldn’t produce much dopamine from his hypothalamus for the rest of his life.

Until he sensed Shi Qing’s secret crush.

That’s right, a crush.

Shi Qing showed it in the oddest of ways. He threw cold water over Zhuo Junli’s summer blanket to force him to sleep with him under a warmer blanket.

He also pretended to like Tong Xinyu to monopolize him so he couldn’t have any contact with her.

And this buddhist pendant.

Shi Qing gave him a buddhist pendant filled with blessings.

While walking with the school bully back to school, Zhuo Junli’s hand was still under his collar, holding the pendant that was now warm from being pressed against his skin for so long.

There were many people who had liked him ever since he was a child.

There were also many people who confessed to him and gave him gifts.

But this was the first time that his heart felt something different in response.

Shi Qing’s feelings for him held no trace of pity, only domination and tyranny.

Zhuo Junli liked that.

He liked the kind of fondness that seemed like he was being protectively wrapped up in a ball by a python that refused to let him touch others.

It was probably because he would like someone in the same way.

Next to him, Shi Qing was still muttering on.

“If you ask me, you shouldn’t work part-time in places like that. There’s all sorts of people there. With your face, they’ll eat someone as weak and timid as you alive. What will you do if they take a fancy to you and rob you?”

Only Shi Qing knew if he was worried about Zhuo Junli being robbed of his money or his chast.i.ty.

The school bully liked to be protective, and Zhuo Junli didn’t mind indulging him.

He lowered his eyes helplessly like always.

“I’m a student. I’m not old enough, and I don’t have a lot of spare time. Only these places are willing to let me work.”

“Ahem.”

Shi Qing coughed awkwardly. “Actually, you should’ve gotten a scholarship before, but, um, there was a bit of a mix up.”

The youth looked up. A pair of clear eyes stared at him quietly.

The school bully became increasingly embarra.s.sed, and finally waved his hand around uncomfortably.

“Okay, okay. To tell you the truth, I told my mom not to choose you because I couldn’t stand the way you were getting cozy with Tong Xinyu.”

“My mom’s the one who set up this scholarship. Every quarter a list of good students with excellent character and teacher recommendations are sent to her. I made her not choose you.”

Zhuo Junli already had a hunch.

But it was only now he realized that Shi Qing, who acted domineering and arrogant on the outside, was actually like a little kid who threw tantrums when he was upset.

He smiled gently. “It’s okay. The scholarship was originally sponsored by your family anyway.”

Shi Qing came closer and closer to him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not the type to hold grudges. I’ll definitely make it up to you.”

Due to their close proximity, Zhuo Junli could clearly see Shi Qing’s handsome face leaning over.

The school bully’s narrow eyes were curved up with a smile. He appeared extraordinarily charming.

Zhuo Junli was in a trance for a moment.

As if he was under a spell, he also slowly, slowly leaned over.

“Shi-ge!!”

A shout of surprise dispelled this intoxicating atmosphere.

The school bully who was smiling at Zhuo Junli straightened up violently. The tips of his ears flushed red, and the hand originally placed on Zhuo Junli’s shoulder was quickly and uncomfortably taken down.

Lu Tao who ran over from a distance was completely unaware of what the two were doing immediately before. He was gleeful.

“Shi-ge, there’s still half an hour before we have to go to evening self study. Why don’t we go out and play some games?”

Zhuo Junli was silent.

He looked up lightly and stared at Lu Tao with a gloomy look.

The school bully was probably looking for a way out of this awkward situation. He quickly agreed.

“Sounds good!”

“Um.” He stretched out his hand like he wanted to pat Zhuo Junli on the shoulder, but he awkwardly put it down again.

“Zhuo Junli, you should go back to school first. I’m going to play games with Lu Tao.”

Seeing that Shi Qing had agreed so readily, Zhuo Junli’s eyes shifted to him, his tone still gentle.

“You guys go ahead then. I’ll go find Tong Xinyu and ask her how she made the cookies.”

Shi Qing, “!!!”

“Who the h.e.l.l is going! I’m not going!”

Lu Tao was full of questions. “But Shi-ge, we haven’t played together in a long time…”

“Games, games, games! All you know how to do is play games all day! No wonder your grades are so bad! How are you going to get into college in the future?!”

Lu Tao dumbfounded after being scolded. “But I wasn’t planning on going to college.”

“Besides, you didn’t either, right? Before you said that you would take us to an internet cafe because laptops couldn’t compare, right?”

The school bully was exposed, and his tone became angrier and angrier. “Okay, so you’ll listen to whatever I say. Right, okay, I’ll say it now then. No one is allowed to go out and play games anymore. You’re all coming to study with me.”

Lu Tao was surprised. “…Study?”

“That’s right, study! Learn!”

Shi Qing became more and more righteous. He turned to Zhuo Junli.

“Weren’t we talking about compensation before? I’ll make it up to you by hiring you part-time. My boys aren’t doing so well in the grades department. Tutor them and I’ll pay you.”

Lu Tao from the side, “???”

“Wait, Shi-ge, I don’t want to be tutored…”

Zhuo Junli didn’t look at Lu Tao. He didn’t say yes or no, or even ask how much he would be paid. He only looked at Shi Qing gently and whispered, “Are you coming?”

“Me?” Shi Qing laughed disdainfully. “Even if I don’t go to college, I’ll still be set for life.”

The youth hung his head in disappointment. “But if you don’t go to college, we can’t be deskmates anymore after graduation.”

Lu Tao, “Right, Shi-ge, if you’re not going to tutoring, then why make us go? You know me, I’ve already decided to get a job after graduation.”

Shi Qing ignored Lu Tao. It was as if he just realized that “not going to college’ was the same as “not being able to be with Zhuo Junli after graduation”.

He suddenly changed his mind again.

“Fine, I’ll study too then. Tutor me so I can get into the university you’re going to!”

Zhuo Junli’s gaze towards him became more and more gentle.

The good-tempered top student smiled and nodded. “Alright.”

Lu Tao from the side wondered “…Am I invisible or something?”

“Shi-ge, I don’t want to be tutored.”

Shi Qing turned around and slapped the back of his head. He lowered his voice and glared fiercely. “You’re going to be tutored even if I have to drag you there myself!”

Lu Tao held his head. “But that doesn’t make sense ah. Shi-ge if you want to go to college you can just go by yourself. What’s the point of pulling me in?”

The school bully turned towards Zhuo Junli. “Wait for me. I’m going to teach this punk a lesson.”

He waited until the handsome youth nodded before dragging Lu Tao away. He made sure Zhuo Junli couldn’t hear him.

“Are you stupid?! Tutoring is paid based on the number of pupils present. If I was the only one going, then how can I pay Zhuo Junli?!”

Lu Tao grimaced, completely unable to follow his logic.

“Shi-ge, you…”

He received another blow to the head.

Shi Qing glared at him, “Keep your voice down!”

Poor Lu Tao could only lower his voice and pout. “Shi-ge, aren’t you loaded? Why don’t you just give him the money? Or you can go by yourself and just pay more later. Why do you have to drag me along? You know me, I want to sleep through normal cla.s.ses, let alone tutoring.”

The school bully was unmoved. “I’m going to suffer, so you guys are going to be right there with me. If you don’t come, I’ll beat you up!”

Lu Tao, “……”

He thought there was still a chance out of this.

“How about this Shi-ge. Look, there’s quite a few people following you. There’s almost ten in our cla.s.s alone, fifteen if you include the other cla.s.ses. Can’t you just pick one of them to replace me?”

“En…you’re right.”

There was a thoughtful look on Shi Qing’s face.

Lu Tao’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together. “Right? Isn’t this a good idea?”

As for the unlucky guy who was going to stand in for him, all he could say was sorry. The show must go on, after all.

“It’s good, really good.”

Shi Qing stroked his chin and nodded. “Fifteen people, sixteen counting you, and seventeen counting me. That should be enough for Zhuo Junli to make a living.”

“……”

Lu Tao was starting to have a bad feeling about this.

The poor little lackey asked cautiously, “Shi-ge, what do you mean by that…?”

With a rather smug smile, Shi Qing used his right hand to pat Lu Tao’s shoulder encouragingly.

“You have a bright future ahead of you, kid. That’s a great idea. If all of us come to Zhuo Junli for tutoring, won’t he make a lot of money?”

“That’s settled then. Go and tell the others. All of my people need to come for tutoring during lunch break and before evening self-study. Don’t worry, you won’t need to pay a cent. I’ll cover the cost. Aren’t I a generous fellow?”

“You need chalkboards, right? Don’t you go home a lot? Smuggle me some chalkboards tonight.”

The school bully finished with a rather self-indulgent quip, “I really am a good boss.”

“……”

“…………”

In Lu Tao’s head, he recalled the boys who followed Shi Qing.

Some were good at fighting, some were experts at p.i.s.sing off their parents, some were smooth talkers, some were skilled at leading their teachers around in circles, and others were just general delinquents with dyed hair and tattoos that skipped school regularly.

The only thing that they all had in common was their lack of love for learning.

He really wanted to cry.

Why do you have to study even if you follow a boss these days?

Why?!!