Chapter 46: Do You Want to Like Men Now?
He had agreed not to appear in front of him, yet here he was, wandering into his line of sight again just a few days later.
Wen Rong repented silently in his heart.
If he hadn’t watched that video last night, he wouldn’t have woken up late. Consequently, he wouldn’t have run into Shi Ye.
While he was debating whether to apologize, the feet that had stopped in front of him quickly stepped around him and walked away.
Wen Rong let out a sigh of relief. Being ignored was fine; mutual ignoring could barely count as disappearing, right?
“Brother Wen Rong!”
A smiling face suddenly popped into Wen Rong’s field of vision.
Pretty eyes, a pointed chin, and a small snaggletooth.
Wen Rong reflexively took a step back, seeing clearly that the nameplate pinned to the chest of the beautiful boy in front of him read “Shi Jing.”
Shi Ye’s illegitimate half-brother, and also the one Wen Rong had saved.
He didn’t look anything like Shi Ye. Shi Ye looked fierce, while he looked approachable, like a child who hadn’t fully grown up yet.
Realizing this particular individual was here, Wen Rong subconsciously turned his head toward the direction Shi Ye had left.
It was deep autumn. The sky over Floriman Academy was a wash of gray, matching the spiky gray hair that was currently plastered dejectedly against Shi Ye’s scalp.
Shi Ye’s brow was furrowed tight; he seemed to be annoyed.
Wen Rong remembered the roar that had come from the walkie-talkie earlier. Feeling inexplicably guilty, he hurriedly averted his gaze and walked straight inside.
“Brother Wen Rong, why are you ignoring me?”
Shi Jing’s voice got closer, accompanied by the sound of leather shoes trotting on the floor tiles.
Because Shi Jing hadn’t offended Wen Rong like the others had, Wen Rong tried his best to swallow the words “stay away from me” that were bubbling up in his throat.
This made him look a bit sullen, as if he were being bullied.
The footsteps stopped, and a soft voice sounded right by his ear. “Brother Wen Rong, I want to eat noodles too.”
Wen Rong quickly pulled back the hand he was reaching out for a bowl.
Shi Jing took the opportunity to pinch Wen Rong’s sleeve and tugged. “Brother Wen Rong, I want to eat noodles…”
His mouth pouted, looking both innocent and pitiful.
In this moment, Wen Rong truly understood what the senior had said last night.
Indeed, there was no clear right or wrong.
No one chooses their birth. Cheating is wrong, but Shi Jing didn’t intentionally choose to be the child of a mistress; he wasn’t at fault.
If Wen Rong fixated on right and wrong, he wouldn’t know how to handle Shi Jing right now.
He weighed his words carefully in his mind, gently pulling his sleeve back. Just as he was about to tell Shi Jing that they couldn’t be friends, Shi Jing grabbed his wrist first.
Wen Rong was startled. He raised his wrist to shake him off, but a dark shadow flashed before his eyes. A cry of “Ah!” rang through the air, and Shi Jing fell to the ground.
“If you want to eat, get it yourself. Don’t you have hands?”
Wen Rong jumped, terrified, not daring to turn his head.
hadn’t Shi Ye just left?
On the ground, Shi Jing clutched his right arm, tears swirling in his eyes. “Brother Wen Rong, my hand hurts so much.”
Reason told Qi Yuan that the best course of action right now was to stand aside and pretend to be a passerby. After all, Shi Ye was in a bad mood and needed an excuse to explode.
But Qi Yuan now suspected that Shi Jing harbored some inappropriate thoughts toward Wen Rong.
Moreover, Wen Rong was already hesitatingly raising his hand; he would probably go to help Shi Jing up soon.
Why should he help him?
Jealousy surged in Qi Yuan, and he stepped forward to help Shi Jing up first.
Once up, Shi Jing fearfully skirted around Shi Ye and approached Wen Rong again. “Brother Wen Rong, are you angry that I haven’t contacted you during this time?”
From his position, Qi Yuan couldn’t see Wen Rong’s reaction, but he could clearly see Shi Ye’s cheek twitch as he clenched his back molars!
“Brother Shi.”
Qi Yuan chased after them, intending to drag Shi Jing away. However, in the same second, both Shi Ye and Shi Jing looked at him simultaneously.
Qi Yuan felt embarrassed and awkwardly changed his tune. “Shi Jing, if you don’t leave now, you’ll miss early class.”
Shi Jing, refusing to give up, continued to hold onto Wen Rong’s hand. “Brother Wen Rong, I’ve missed you so much. But Mom arranged for me to go to a film set for closed shooting for a long time. I didn’t have my phone. I could only miss you in my dreams every day.”
Wen Rong stood there like a broken toy, letting Shi Jing hold on without reacting.
Qi Yuan glanced fearfully at Shi Ye.
Muscles bulged on his exposed arms, veins prominent, ready to strike.
He looked like he might punch Shi Jing at any moment!
Shi Jing seemed unaware he was in danger. With a face full of innocence, he continued to look expectantly at Wen Rong. “Don’t be mad at me, okay? I wrote you letters every day. There’s a huge box of them. I’ll read them to you later.”
Wen Rong: “…”
“Brother Wen Rong?”
The moment Shi Jing tried to lean closer, Wen Rong turned around and picked up a bowl of noodles.
Taking this as a signal of permission, Shi Jing’s smile grew brighter. “Brother Wen Rong, I don’t like green onions. Help me get one without green onions, okay?”
Expressionless, Wen Rong held his bowl, skirted around the three of them, and found an empty seat to sit down.
Shi Jing: “…”
Qi Yuan: “……”
Shi Ye: “…”
Shi Jing’s smile froze for a split second before quickly recovering. He turned back and instructed Qi Yuan, “Brother Qi Yuan, I want noodles too. Bring them over for me, please.”
After speaking, he followed Wen Rong. Even though there were seats opposite, he deliberately walked around to sit on Wen Rong’s left.
“Brother Wen Rong, your noodles smell so good. Can I have a taste?”
Wasn’t that a bit too shameless?
Qi Yuan, terrified that Wen Rong would actually feed him noodles out of annoyance, sped up and shoved a bowl of noodles in front of Shi Jing before Wen Rong could answer.
“Brother Shi, noodles. Here are chopsticks.”
Shi Jing picked up a chopstick in each hand and stirred the bowl awkwardly.
Qi Yuan frowned, thinking, He’s about to act up again.
Sure enough, Shi Jing put the chopsticks down. “Brother Wen Rong, I’ve used a fork since I was little. I don’t know how to use chopsticks. Teach me, please?”
Qi Yuan: “…”
Wen Rong finally paused his chopsticks. “Why do you—”
Shi Jing was overjoyed. He wrapped both hands around Wen Rong’s arm and rested his head on it. “Brother Wen Rong, you finally spoke to me.”
“Um…”
“I’m so happy. This is the first time I’ve felt this happy since waking up in the hospital bed.”
Wen Rong was completely stunned by his enthusiastic offensive and once again turned into an unresponsive toy.
Just then, Shi Ye walked over and sat down next to Qi Yuan, shooting a sharp glance at him.
Wen Rong swallowed hard, regretting watching the video Senior Leon sent last night even more.
If he hadn’t watched the video, he wouldn’t have woken up late. If he hadn’t woken up late, he wouldn’t be facing such an awkward situation.
“Take your hands off.”
The icy gaze shifted from Wen Rong to Shi Jing.
Shi Jing ignored Shi Ye and looked up at Wen Rong. “Brother Shi Ye just has a bit of a bad temper. Brother Wen Rong, don’t be scared by him.”
Shi Ye glared…
Having followed Shi Ye for many years, Qi Yuan was incredibly familiar with this subtle, low-pressure atmosphere. Sure enough, he saw Shi Ye shove both hands into his pockets, the fabric of his pants bulging in the shape of fists.
Qi Yuan stood up decisively, circled behind Shi Jing, forcibly grabbed Shi Jing’s hands, pried them off Wen Rong, and dragged him away.
“What are you doing? I want to be with Brother Wen Rong…”
The voice grew more distant until it could no longer be heard.
The surrounding air seemed to tighten inexplicably, becoming even more oppressive.
Wen Rong gripped his chopsticks and poked the bottom of the bowl, lowering his head to apologize. “I’m sorry. I agreed not to appear in front of you, but it ended up like this.”
“…”
“How about you tell me what time you come to the cafeteria every day and your activity zones? I’ll definitely avoid them next time.”
Shi Ye raised a hand and brushed all his bangs back, revealing a rarely seen look of indifference. “Can you avoid me during class?”
“…” Wen Rong was speechless.
He shared most classes with Shi Ye.
“How do you plan to completely disappear from my sight?”
“I’ll try to stay as far away from you as possible during class.”
“Why is Shi Jing so clingy with you?”
“Huh?” The topic shifted too quickly; Wen Rong’s brain didn’t catch up.
“Have you been in contact with Shi Jing?”
Wen Rong shook his head rapidly.
He didn’t even have the guy’s contact information on his phone, so he definitely hadn’t contacted him.
“Then why is he clinging to you?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Did you have any contact with him after you saved him?”
No.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“…” So many whys, but Wen Rong didn’t know why either.
Shi Ye’s brows knit even tighter.
Wen Rong (trembling).
After a moment of silence, Shi Ye asked again, “Why didn’t you reject him just now? Did you suddenly decide you want to like men?”
“I…” Wen Rong’s expression changed slightly.
“Do you really like men?”
“…”
“Do you like Shi Jing’s type? Innocent and cute?”
Wen Rong simply recalled last night’s video because of the word “men.” Before he knew it, Shi Ye had dragged the topic to his preferred type. He quickly shook his head to cut off the conversation. “Don’t worry. I saved him, but that doesn’t mean I’m on his side.”
It was Shi Ye’s turn to be silent.
Wen Rong thought he didn’t believe him, so he raised his hand to promise. “I’m telling the truth. The Senior is my friend, you are the Senior’s friend, so I stand with him on your side.”
A helicopter flew overhead, the wind making hair stand on end.
Wen Rong patted his head and couldn’t help but ask the System, “Brother, why was Shi Ye super, super angry just now?”
【…】
He still didn’t get an answer this time. Confused, he walked into the lecture hall. Habitually entering from the first row, he suddenly saw a head of gray hair. He wanted to turn and leave, but someone was right behind him, so he ended up sitting to the right.
Wen Rong stood there like he was being punished for two seconds before the class bell rang. Teacher Xu Qiu rushed in, dusty from travel, so he had to sit down.
Everything around him suddenly became very clear—fingertips pressing hard on a keyboard, the springs clicking crisply. Bang, bang, bang, bang. The overly rapid frequency hinted that Shi Ye was in a bad mood.
For the first time, Wen Rong was distracted in class.
So many confusing things had happened this morning.
He didn’t know why Shi Jing was clinging to him.
He didn’t know why Shi Ye was suddenly angry.
And he didn’t know why Shi Ye insisted on occupying the seat he usually took, considering Shi Ye used to sit far away from him.
Everyone was so strange.
—”Listen to the class.”
Shi Ye’s voice came from the left. Wen Rong’s adrenaline spiked from fright, and his mind snapped completely back to attention.
“Student Shi Jing.”
“Shi Jing?”
The teacher called twice before Shi Jing jerked awake. He lifted the corners of his mouth, displaying the innocent smile he had practiced countless times in the mirror. “Teacher, I’m sorry. I was thinking about the character a little too deeply just now.”
“You and Qi Yuan, do this scene again.”
“Okay, teacher.”
The role assigned to Shi Jing was an obedient student, a boy just like Wen Rong.
He firmly remembered every movement Wen Rong made in the photos; he could easily imitate them without thinking.
Only, those movements were outdated.
Shi Jing felt regretful.
Wen Rong was different from what he had seen in the news. He had missed his transformation process.
He really wanted to make up for that lost time.
His impatient heart finally heard the bell ring. Shi Jing instructed Qi Yuan, “Brother Qi Yuan, help me pack my things and send them back to the dorm. I’m going to pick up Brother Wen Rong.”
Walking to the door, a few students trickled out into the long corridor, but none of them were Wen Rong.
He doubled back. “Brother Qi Yuan, hurry up. I don’t know which classroom Brother Wen Rong is in.”
Qi Yuan: “…”
Normally, students wouldn’t know where others had class unless they interacted.
Good news: Qi Yuan knew Wen Rong had class with Shi Ye.
Qi Yuan packed Shi Jing’s things and asked deliberately, “Why are you going to find the Special Recruit? Do you like him?”
“Yeah.”
The affirmative tone gave Qi Yuan a headache. “He’s a commoner. Madam won’t allow you to be with him.”
“He’s different. He saved me and my mom.”
“…”
Brain, think fast!
“When I fell into the water, he appeared like a god. In that moment, I decided I only wanted him for the rest of my life.”
Qi Yuan’s brain crashed.
Just dealt with Shi Ye, and now another one named Shi?
Shi Jing turned around, smiling innocently. “Brother Qi Yuan, you seem to hate Brother Wen Rong very much.”
Qi Yuan: “…”
“I check the forums, you know.”
“…” Damn the real-name system.
“Brother Wen Rong is my savior. I hope you won’t hate him in the future.”
“Mmn…”
“And don’t like him either.”
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