Chapter 17 part 1
Xiao Shan doubted life.
Inside his right palm, the warm touch of Luo Shizhen’s ankle seemed to linger.
When did it start? When did he put his hand there?
Recalling carefully, it seemed Luo Shizhen was clumsy and couldn’t put it on no matter what. He had no patience, so he helped.
Luo Shizhen wasn’t short, and his figure wasn’t thin; seeing him move the training room equipment showed he was quite strong.
But such a Luo Shizhen actually had ankles that could be called slender—or perhaps it was because Xiao Shan’s own palm was too big, effortlessly encircling it with one hand.
Xiao Shan snapped back from the memory.
Fuck!
He actually initiated it himself!
Luo Shizhen stood blankly on the spot, standing on one foot:
“Big Brother? What’s wrong?”
Xiao Shan recovered and immediately warned:
“You are not allowed to tell anyone about this! Heard that?!”
Luo Shizhen was puzzled, not knowing what he was talking about. He looked left and right, asking naively:
“What matter?”
Xiao Shan: “…”
He found it simply unspeakable: “Just… the matter of me helping you put on shoes.”
“Oh, okay.”
Although he didn’t know why helping put on shoes couldn’t be told to others, Luo Shizhen’s virtue was obedience. He nodded immediately.
“Big Brother, I definitely won’t tell anyone!”
“Big Brother, then give me the shoe; I’ll put it on myself.”
Only then did Xiao Shan realize he was still holding Luo Shizhen’s shoe in his left hand.
“…”
—Bang. As if seeing some flood or wild beast, he threw the shoe out.
Luo Shizhen didn’t feel anything was wrong. He hopped on one foot to pick up the shoe and put it on slowly according to what Xiao Shan just taught.
Once put on, his face instantly burst with joy, looking at Xiao Shan happily.
“Big Brother, look, I put it on. Did I put it on right?”
Xiao Shan felt unwell all over, still immersed in the emotion of how could I actively reach out to help Luo Shizhen put on shoes, so he only answered perfunctorily:
“Right, fine.”
“Thank you Big Brother! If you hadn’t taught me, I wouldn’t have been able to put it on at all. Fortunately, you were here.”
Luo Shizhen smiled brightly, expressing thanks straightforwardly.
While cherishingly touching various parts of the combat suit on his body, he decided to use all his time today to memorize the various functions on the combat suit.
“Big Brother, then I’ll go write down what you just taught me. If you have anything to order me, just shout.”
Luo Shizhen happily returned to the desk and began to write furiously. Sometimes he forgot a function, so he stopped to feel the combat suit on his body, then continued writing.
Xiao Shan scratched his hair. Thinking of his hand having just touched Luo Shizhen’s ankle, he quickly put it down and rushed to the bathroom to wash his hands.
He originally intended to take a shower. Since his bathroom smelled of disinfectant, he could just use Luo Shizhen’s bathroom, right?
After all, Luo Shizhen just arrived and hadn’t used the bathroom yet.
But upon going there, he found that Luo Shizhen had already diligently cleaned his own bathroom too, which also had a faint smell of disinfectant.
Damn! Why is this guy so diligent!
Xiao Shan couldn’t lower himself to ask Rong Nian and Lu Qiujin to borrow a bathroom, and those two definitely wouldn’t lend it to him either.
He could only wash his hands frantically several times before coming out. As soon as he came out, he saw Luo Shizhen muttering what he just taught him while taking notes incessantly.
Hearing the noise, Luo Shizhen paused his pen, turned his head to smile at Xiao Shan:
“Big Brother, I will definitely memorize well today and won’t delay you teaching me training tomorrow.”
Xiao Shan was made a bit uncomfortable by his serious look.
He had always gone his own way; tearing down half a school building couldn’t make him feel half a bit of guilt.
But discovering Luo Shizhen meant it seriously, Xiao Shan felt inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart.
He knew clearly that teaching Luo Shizhen to wear the combat suit and promising to train him tomorrow was just to drive him away.
But Luo Shizhen thought he was doing it for his good and was so grateful to him.
He thought, Actually, Luo Shizhen isn’t annoying either. Indeed, like Lu Qiujin said, he listens to me quite well.
Being trusted and relied upon wholeheartedly by another person was truly a strange experience.
In Xiao Shan’s environment growing up, almost everyone he encountered survived on violence and robbery. After becoming an Awakener, the predatory nature in his bones was amplified.
Someone with such a soft, honest personality like Luo Shizhen—it was his first time encountering one. Facing this unknown, he just wanted to get away quickly.
Xiao Shan thought, Fine, before kicking him away, I’ll teach him some real stuff.
Luo Shizhen wanted to recognize a Big Brother because he was afraid of being bullied.
Considering that among the twenty-seven students in the school, twenty-six were idiots (except himself).
Xiao Shan believed that Luo Shizhen’s worry as a newcomer was very logical.
As long as he taught Luo Shizhen to be formidable enough so others couldn’t beat him, it would be fine.
For the rest of the time, Luo Shizhen diligently memorized various marked functions on the training suit.
His study would only be installed tomorrow, so he still memorized at the desk in the common space.
Luo Shizhen had poor memory for reciting books since childhood. Fortunately, it wasn’t that he couldn’t memorize it even after two hundred times.
His way of reciting was to repeat it over and over again, until he spent ten times more time than others to memorize the content.
Because of the disinfectant, Xiao Shan was forced to stay in the common space. With his good hearing, he could constantly hear Luo Shizhen repeating the same paragraph.
I memorized it already, but Luo Shizhen still hasn’t!
Xiao Shan: “…”
He wanted to turn around and ask if Luo Shizhen was doing it on purpose, but upon turning, he could see this kid’s face full of seriousness and piety, looking exceptionally engrossed.
Xiao Shan: “…”
All afternoon, Rong Nian continued going in and out, glancing at Luo Shizhen occasionally. Unfortunately, Luo Shizhen was immersed in memorizing and didn’t notice him at all.
Lu Qiujin also came out once in the middle. Seeing them “getting along peacefully,” he went back to the study uninterestingly.
When rest time arrived, Luo Shizhen reluctantly put down his notes and began to wash up and prepare to rest.
To allow students to sleep together at night, as soon as 8 PM arrived, power would be cut off in other rooms, and automatic cleaning would begin.
The automatic cleaning noise was loud, so students had to leave their separate rooms and come to the common space.
The four gathered for the second time.
The dormitory beds arranged by the school were very nondescript. Obviously comfortable two-meter large beds, but they insisted on putting several beds together, arranged like ordinary school dorms.
Opposite Luo Shizhen was Lu Qiujin; in front was Xiao Shan.
Behind Lu Qiujin was Rong Nian.
Luo Shizhen accepted this very well. After all, the student dorm layout in his impression was like this. After washing up and returning to bed, he patted the comfortable mattress with some novelty before leaning against the headboard to continue memorizing notes silently.
Because he was too engrossed, he completely failed to notice the dormitory was extremely quiet. Obviously roommates, but among the three, no one spoke; everyone treated the others as dead.
Studying until ten o’clock, Luo Shizhen put down his notes.
He looked at his roommates.
None were asleep.
Rong Nian was looking at his phone; Lu Qiujin was reading.
Luo Shizhen wasn’t familiar with them and was embarrassed to initiate a greeting. He reached out and patted the bed frame of Xiao Shan, who was playing games, and whispered:
“Big Brother, I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.”
Xiao Shan was used to the icy atmosphere in the dorm. Suddenly hearing someone say goodnight to him, he almost thought it was a reanimated corpse.
Reacting for a second, he remembered it was Luo Shizhen.
“Aren’t you cheesy, saying goodnight? Go, go, go, sleep your sleep.”
Luo Shizhen smiled nonchalantly, lay down, and closed his eyes. In just a minute or two, his breathing became obviously even and steady.
The dorm was full of Awakeners; everyone could hear he fell asleep.
Lu Qiujin reading, and Rong Nian scrolling through novels, both placed their surprised gazes on Luo Shizhen.
Awakeners found it hard to adapt to being in the same space with strangers. Even during the day, they would be subconsciously alert. Resting was even more impossible.
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