Chapter 33: It’s Good to Have Friends
It was hard to say that Shi Ye and Zhou Xie were sworn enemies.
Even if they found each other eyesores and loved to fight, they had grown up together. Their relationship was probably slightly better than Shi Ye’s relationship with Qi Yuan, but slightly worse than his relationship with Leon.
However, ever since an illegitimate half-brother appeared in Shi Ye’s family, the relationship between the two took a sharp nosedive.
Shi Ye rubbed his hair irritably, unsure where to place this “friendship” they had shared since childhood.
“Heh—” Zhou Xie let out a short, sharp laugh.
He raised a hand to wipe his mouth, adjusted his glasses, and stood up. His gaze swept over Shi Ye’s face, then looked toward Leon. After a moment of silence, his trembling hand reached out to the table and fumbled for a cigarette.
He lit it.
His cheeks hollowed and relaxed as he inhaled, the smoke obscuring the frantic, violent look in his eyes.
None of the four made a sound.
The accumulated conflicts were tangled into a messy ball of yarn, and no one could find the loose end.
After the cigarette had burned halfway down, Zhou Xie finally narrowed his eyes and spoke. “Are you also here to ask me why I gave Wen Rong a Red Card?”
Shi Ye looked at Leon. He happened to meet Leon’s gaze, and after a brief, dull pause, he hurriedly explained, “I planned the Zhao Zeryang thing with him.”
Zhou Xie crushed the unfinished cigarette into the ashtray and said nothing.
Leo looked at his cousin, unbearable pity in his eyes, and took the initiative to speak for him. “Regardless of what plan you had with that Special Recruit, in everyone’s eyes, he did it. He provoked public outrage, and everyone needed an outlet to vent. Besides, giving him the Red Card was a decision by the school directors. My cousin didn’t do anything.”
“I just haven’t had the time to do anything yet…” Zhou Xie turned around and locked eyes with Leon. “Do you think the investigation team can uncover my cover-up of Zhao Zeryang from three years ago? I wasn’t the handler. Even Zhao Zeryang himself doesn’t know I was the one who shielded him.”
“Once I deal with the investigation team, I’ll settle these accounts with Wen Rong slowly.”
“If you can’t solve the problem, you solve the person who raised the problem?”
“There are no problems in this school that require a commoner like him to solve.”
Leon twitched the corner of his mouth in self-mockery. “You listen to the Principal so well. Then I’ll go discuss it with the Principal. No matter what, Wen Rong cannot be expelled.”
“In the future, leaving this school will be better for him than staying here.”
Leon raised his voice. “Dare to make a bet?”
Zhou Xie: “Bet on what?”
“Everything.”
“How do we determine the winner?”
“When you admit you’ve lost, step down from your position in the Student Council.”
With that, Leon slammed the door and left.
In the silence, Zhou Xie scoffed. “People in research are such idealists.”
Shi Ye didn’t comment. He turned to leave as well.
Zhou Xie called out to him, “Shi Ye—”
Shi Ye opened the door and walked out.
Zhou Xie shut his mouth, reached out to straighten the chair that had been knocked askew, and then reorganized the neatly stacked documents on the table once more.
“Cousin, do you want me to help you…”
“No need. You go on.”
Once on the elevated highway, the view became much broader.
Looking into the distance, one could see a cluster of buildings taller than the ones before, with somewhat peculiar shapes.
The buildings seemed to have massive screens installed on them, looping numbers whose meanings Wen Rong didn’t understand.
No wonder his high school teachers always said to study hard and go to a big city for university. It really was beautiful here.
The people on the roadside were fashionable too, dressed in colorful clothes, tall and thin.
Wen Rong gazed at them enviously when suddenly, a familiar face crashed into his field of vision.
“That!”
Lin Qizheng: “What?”
Wen Rong turned his head to look out the back of the car. “I think I saw a huge picture of Shi Ye’s face on a billboard.”
“Oh, that’s normal. Ever since Shi Ye won the Grand Slam, he’s been getting commercial deals until his hands are soft from signing.” Lin Qizheng sighed. “Sigh, I really envy him. I spend a million a year buying junk in stores just to qualify to spend three million on a watch. He sits at home doing nothing, and brands send people to deliver things to his doorstep personally.”
Wen Rong could tell Senior Lin Qizheng was truly envious, though he didn’t understand why one would spend three million on a watch.
He had calculated it; if he put three million in the bank, the interest alone could support him living frugally for a lifetime.
But thinking about it, Shi Ye was an amazing athlete. It was normal to have advertisements. Sports stars appeared on mineral water bottles, so Shi Ye probably did too.
He was making a fuss over nothing.
The car was quiet for a few minutes before Zhang Lin, sitting in the passenger seat, turned back to say to Wen Rong, “Youngest, change into a different set of clothes later. Your school uniform is torn.”
Pfft. Lin Qizheng suddenly covered his mouth and laughed.
Wen Rong: “?”
Feeling strange, Wen Rong refused, “No need, no need. My shirt inside isn’t torn, it just got a little oil on it. I’ll take the jacket off later.”
“Don’t refuse. I have tons of clothes.”
“Really, no need. Thank you, Senior.”
“Why are you being polite with me? In our club, you’re probably the only one willing to wear my clothes. You have to join me.”
“Huh?”
Ten minutes later, inside a luxurious flat, Wen Rong didn’t have time to be awestruck. His body was leaning back continuously, his head and mouth rejecting the white dress getting closer and closer to his nose in unison.
“No, no need.”
“Come on! Just try it.”
“No no no no.”
“I bought it a size too small and never got to wear it. I bet only you can fit into it.”
“No way, no way. I can’t. How can I wear a skirt?”
“What’s the big deal? There’s no difference between a skirt and trousers.”
“No, no.” Wen Rong couldn’t find a specific reason to refuse Zhang Lin, so he could only shake his head and wave his hands incessantly to demonstrate his determination.
Zhang Jincheng couldn’t watch anymore. He reached out and pulled Zhang Lin away. “Alright, if he won’t wear it, he won’t wear it. You go change quickly.”
“Sigh, I thought since the Youngest is so fair and thin, he’d look really good in it.”
Wen Rong shook his head firmly. “Thank you, Senior. I really won’t wear it.”
Disappointed, Zhang Lin turned and went upstairs.
Wen Rong remained in shock that the Senior had actually asked him to cross-dress and couldn’t recover for a long time. He was so stunned his tongue went dry. Biting his lip, he carefully weighed his words before asking Zhang Jincheng, “President, Senior Zhang Lin, he…”
“Is it strange to like wearing women’s clothing?”
“Mm-hm.”
After nodding instinctively, he immediately shook his head and corrected himself. “Not strange, not strange.”
But that was too obvious. Afraid his behavior would give the Senior the wrong idea, Wen Rong hurriedly explained, “I saw boys wearing skirts in the opera performance at the club recruitment fair before. I just didn’t expect Senior Zhang Lin to like it…”
Realizing this topic couldn’t continue, he quickly changed the subject. “I didn’t expect the Senior to have such a house outside the school…”
Lin Qizheng returned from scavenging for food in the kitchen, gnawing on an apple. “No choice. The school requires all students to live in dorms. Trash like us aren’t worthy of applying for school resources, so we can only keep our stuff off-campus.”
Wen Rong thought about it. The dorms didn’t seem small; were they not big enough to hold their things?
Perhaps his confusion was too obvious because Lin Qizheng laughed so hard apple bits flew everywhere. “Oh my, I forgot our Youngest is a pauper. Senior Zhang Lin has hundreds of dresses that require regular maintenance by professionals. Of course, he can’t bring them into the school.”
“Oh…”
While Wen Rong was immersed in the puzzle of why skirts needed regular maintenance, the sound of high heels came from upstairs.
Click, clack, click, clack.
The sound got closer. The next second, a stunning long-haired beauty over 1.8 meters tall descended the spiral staircase.
Wen Rong’s eyes widened: You can’t tell it’s Senior Zhang Lin at all!
Lin Qizheng whistled. “Nice. Come, come, come. Let’s take a group photo before eating.”
Click.
The image froze. Wen Rong was sandwiched between the three of them, awkwardly holding up two peace signs.
Night fell. On this difficult night without the anonymous forum, Wen Rong held up two peace signs in front of the mirror, grinning brilliantly.
“Brother, you were right. There is hope as long as you are alive.”
[Mm.]
“I feel like I’m more outstanding than before, so I made friends.”
[Mm-hm.] Your data is growing weirdly fast. In a literal sense, you are indeed more “outstanding.”
“It’s really so good to have friends!” Wen Rong cupped his face with both hands and squatted down. “I have to repay the kindness of the seniors for helping me. And Senior Lin Qizheng! I have to get his Yellow Card removed to avoid irreversible consequences later. He hates me.”
The Next Day
Wen Rong got up at five. He had intended to take the robot vacuum from the room, but the thing was too heavy. In the end, following the System’s advice, he crossed items off his list one by one and left with only a garment steamer.
He ran into the Tennis Club members while eating at the cafeteria. In the past, he would have been nervous seeing them, forcing himself to pretend to be calm. But now, he didn’t need to at all. Casting his eyes toward the ground, he walked indifferently past the Tennis Club members, got his food, ate, and rushed to Room 100.
Wen Rong had made a grand plan for himself last night: Clean Room 100.
New semester, new beginning. He wanted everything to have a good start. The books said, “If you don’t sweep a room, how can you sweep the world?” Only when it was clean could he strive for a scholarship.
…
16:00 PM
Zhang Lin and Lin Qizheng returned from class.
“I’ll get someone to develop yesterday’s photo. Shall we hang it on our main door then?”
Lin Qizheng roasted, “Wouldn’t that look too much like a tomb? Our place is already dead silent. If we hang a photo on the door, people passing by will think four people are buried inside.”
Zhang Lin was helpless. “Can’t be helped. It’s full of stuff inside; there’s no empty space.”
“Just put it on the table? You can see it just by turning your head. Put it on the end where the President likes to sleep, so he remembers our club friendship even in his dreams.”
Click.
“What a rotten idea. I made a huge print. If we put it on the table, won’t it look like an offering when we eat? Offering to ourselves… Holy sh*t!!!”
The two stood dumbfounded at the door.
Across the table in Room 100, which had suddenly become clean, tidy, bright, and spacious, Lin Qizheng and Zhang Lin saw a pristine corner. All the clutter was arranged in neat rows, layer by layer, like books in a library.
The window was wide open.
The breeze brushed gently against their faces—warm and fresh.
“Good afternoon, Seniors!”
A pretty face full of vitality rushed into their field of vision from the side.
Lin Qizheng: “???”
Zhang Lin: “???”
“Seniors?”
Zhang Lin manually closed his jaw. “You cleaned this?”
Wen Rong nodded.
“Why did you clean it? It’s all Lin Qizheng’s stuff. You should have called him to clean it.”
“We have to clean up for the start of the new semester! Aim for the scholarship with a new look.”
“Uhh…”
Zhang Lin didn’t dare tell Wen Rong that 60% of the club score depended on the year-end school-wide vote. Obviously, ever since he exposed the forum matter, the News Club had become a target of public criticism. The News Club’s votes this year would definitely be miserable, utterly hopeless.
On second thought, the junior had worked so hard to clean up the garbage dump. His behavior was commendable and shouldn’t be discouraged.
So he tried hard to come up with words of praise. “Youngest, you’re so virtuous. I’m starting to feel like I can’t live without you.”
Wen Rong’s smile froze. “Senior, I don’t like men.”
Zhang Lin slapped himself.
Look at this mouth. Wen Rong went to make a scene in front of the school directors because he was angry about everyone fantasizing about him, and here I am saying this kind of thing.
Just as the words “I’m sorry” were about to leave his mouth, a glint of cunning flashed in Wen Rong’s very light eyes. “But—I can accept a little brother. If Senior becomes my little brother, I can help you sweep every day.”
Zhang Lin froze for a moment.
Then, realizing what Wen Rong meant, he couldn’t help reaching out to grab him and press down on his head. “You actually want to take your Senior as a little brother? I’ll beat you up!”
“Ah, Senior is so fierce.”
After a bout of playful fighting, Wen Rong sat down and formally thanked Lin Qizheng and Zhang Lin.
Yesterday he had been a bit light-headed, happily accepting the praise and the “team building,” forgetting that the success of the plan was entirely due to their help.
Ah, and Shi Ye too!
While Zhang Lin and Lin Qizheng were looking at the computer, Wen Rong secretly sent a message to Shi Ye.
[The plan’s success couldn’t have happened without your help. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure cooperating.]
It was his first time cooperating with someone, so he didn’t have much experience and didn’t know if his etiquette was in place.
Wen Rong thought about it. Gratitude should be accompanied by well-wishes. So he found the photo of the advertisement he took yesterday in his album and sent it over.
[Image]
[I saw this on the roadside yesterday. You are so amazing. I wish you even better results in the future.]
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