Chapter 24
The man on the high platform remained silent; the answer was obviously no.
Yan He scoffed. âNo eggs? Then whoâs going to believe in your religion?!â
In his past life, the old lady who rented in Yan He’s complex was a regular at a certain church. She often came back with eggs and would enthusiastically invite Yan He to join her. Later, when they stopped giving out eggs, the old lady stopped going.
This clearly demonstrated the irresistible charm of free eggs!
Seeing the man didn’t respond, Yan He tentatively stepped through the intersection. However, a vague, unsettling feeling of being watched by a predator lingered. Yan He couldn’t help but glance back frequently until he had completely left the central area of the Beast God statue.
Bestia Academy had a dedicated driving school that covered a vast area. However, when Yan He entered at night, let alone other students, he couldn’t even find an instructor.
After sending a WeChat message to urge him, an instructor finally arrived, albeit late.
The instructor looked Yan He up and down, his eyes bursting with admiration. “You’re the first-place winner from the Welcome Party Colosseum? Not bad, kid.”
As expected of the championâwho else would have the guts to come learn driving in the middle of the night?
Since there were no other students for the night shift, Yan He enjoyed one-on-one tuition. The instructor was quite patient.
“Do you know the first thing you do after getting in the car?” the instructor asked.
Yan He thought for a moment and tentatively guessed, “Step on the brake and hit the ignition?”
The instructor looked heartbroken by this answer. “Of course not! You lock the doors to prevent wild beasts from opening them!”
Yan He: “…”
Will he actually survive long enough to get his license?
Fortunately, Yan He’s luck held out. During the two-hour night session, he didn’t encounter any beast attacks. His learning ability was solid, and he managed to perform several maneuvers quite decently.
He didn’t notice any danger on his way back, either. Just as he was about to enter the apartment building, he heard someone call his name. Bai Yuzhou walked up quickly from behind.
Meeting Yan He’s surprised gaze, Bai Yuzhou said with a straight face, “I just went to the supermarket and happened to be coming back.”
Yan He looked at Bai Yuzhou’s empty hands with some suspicion.
Bai Yuzhou explained, “The prices in the supermarket felt fifty percent higher than outside. I decided to shop online instead, so I didn’t buy anything. Is it okay if I cook in the dorm from now on?”
Yan He thought about it and felt Bai Yuzhou had no reason to lie to him.
After all, this was the protagonist shou. The romantic entanglements of the future would be with the F4, not with an NPC lackey like him.
Yan He had heard his female colleagues discussing itâsuperb culinary skills were a “golden finger” the author gave Bai Yuzhou. The protagonist shou would cook in the dorm to save money, and the F4 would eventually come to blows over the bento boxes he made.
There was no reason to refuse, so Yan He nodded in agreement.
“Are you very busy? I’ve seen you leave immediately after class for the past two days,” Bai Yuzhou asked casually as he opened the door.
Yan He gave a vague answer. “Yeah, a bit busy.”
The F4 had found plenty for him to do. After feeding the horses, he had to rush over to pluck Yun Xiao’s feathers. Neither of these tasks could be casually revealed to outsiders.
Bai Yuzhou sensed Yan He’s reluctance to explain and lowered his eyelashes, asking no further questions.
He had a vague feeling that only if Yan He joined the Specially-Enrolled Student Association would their paths slowly realign.
The Association didn’t accept beasts without offensive capabilitiesâthat was the rule. Aside from beauty, a Husky indeed lacked offensive power.
Unless he could change the rules for Yan He.
For three consecutive days, Yan He went to feed the horses right after class, then rushed to pluck feathers. Yun Xiao could maintain his human rationality, but he simply couldn’t revert to his human form.
Shen Xianqing had requested leave for Yun Xiao for several days running. If Yun Xiao didn’t show up for class soon, the Academy would have to take action.
The moment Yan He walked into the communal lounge, he heard Pan Ze shouting, “Yun Shao, I beg you, don’t go out! Please don’t go out!”
He saw Pan Ze desperately hugging the large golden eagle, whose feathers were beginning to look sparse. Upon seeing Yan He enter, Pan Ze looked as if he’d seen a savior.
“Yan He, Yun Shao insists on going out!”
The moment the golden eagle saw Yan He, his sharp beak drooped, and he looked at him with an aggrieved and pitiful expression.
Yan He could sort of understand Yun Xiao. Because birds have straight intestines and can’t control their bowel movements, He Ting had arranged for the golden eagle to be confined in a room. All furniture and decorations were removed from that room, replaced by countless… litter boxes.
It was essentially a room-sized toilet.
When the golden eagle couldn’t hold it in, his human rationality made him feel incredibly ashamed of the act. He would sneakily use his wings to bury it in the litter, but since a giant bird isn’t a cat, he ended up flinging it everywhere.
Aside from that, any normal person would go crazy being locked in a toilet for days, let alone Yun Xiao of the F4.
Surrounded by litter boxes, the depressed golden eagle hadn’t even eaten. If he wasn’t starving, Pan Ze wouldn’t be able to hold him back right now.
It really would be better to be a pure golden eagle without human thoughts; this half-state was the most torturous.
Yan He thought for a moment, squatted down in front of the golden eagle, and asked gently, “Do you want to go out for some fresh air?”
“Alright. How about you go to the courier station at the school gate and pick up a package for me? We can also test the results of the feather plucking.”
Yan He recited the pickup code and told Pan Ze to let go.
Watching the golden eagle fly out, Pan Ze threatened Yan He, “If this goes wrong and the Academy finds out Yun Shao can’t revert to human form, selling you off won’t be enough to fix the mess.”
Yun Shao really must have been driven mad by confinement to actually go pick up a package! A young master like him had probably never retrieved a parcel in his life.
At Bestia Academy, although students couldn’t leave freely, online shopping was allowed.
After packages arrived at the courier station, they were sorted by nameplate rank. High-ranking students had their packages delivered downstairs or even directly to their doors. Only the specially-enrolled students had their packages tossed randomly into the station, requiring a pickup code to retrieve them.
The door-to-door service of his past life had turned into a caste system here. It truly was an evil capitalist world.
Yun Xiao had indeed never experienced picking up a package. He flew straight toward the humble courier station at the school gate. Soaring in the sky and looking down at the ground, everything seemed the same as before; he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t turn back into a person.
Driven by irritability, he entered the courier station through the window. Two or three specially-enrolled students were queuing inside.
Xiao Tu was one of them. Seeing the raptor up close, he instinctively nearly fainted from fright.
The giant golden eagle, acting like a free-range chicken, found the package on the bottom shelf according to Yan He’s pickup code. Without scanning it, he clamped it in his beak and whooshâflew away.
The specially-enrolled student working part-time crawled out from under the table, draped himself over the windowsill, and shouted in despair, “You haven’t scanned it! You didn’t scan to confirm receipt, Big Brother Bird!”
The package was just brazenly taken away.
Like a victorious bird general, the golden eagle returned with the dirty package bag in his beak, standing triumphantly on the lounge windowsill, looking at Yan He.
Pan Ze glanced at it and said in disbelief, “You sent Yun Shao to pick up a Pinduoduo package? Doesn’t that app automatically uninstall upon admission?”
Some specially-enrolled students would uninstall it before entering to protect their self-esteem.
What’s wrong with Pinduoduo? Yan He had found plenty of good deals on it in the past.
Yan He praised, “Xiao Xiao is the best!”
Seeing that today’s plucking project was about to begin, Yan He put on his mask of pain. Could they please come up with a new method? His hands were truly sore.
Because feathers were easier to pluck after soaking in hot water, they almost always did this in the bathroom.
Pan Ze, still holding a grudge that he couldn’t personally pluck Yun Shao’s feathers, made the bathroom setup incredibly ritualistic every time. The huge circular bathtub was filled with bath foam and rose petalsâas fancy as possible.
The golden eagle nestled in the tub, looking like a drowned chicken. Yan He sat by the tub, diligently plucking feathers while listening to the big bird’s excited and pained squawks.
Hands sore!
Extremely sore!
After plucking slowly for ten minutes, Yan He couldn’t take it anymore. He turned and saw Pan Ze hovering nearby, eager to try.
An idea struck him. He beckoned to Pan Ze, planning a bait-and-switch.
Pan Ze instantly understood and was thrilled, immediately swapping places with Yan He.
Yan He stood aside and opened the package, taking out a large, obviously cheap bird grooming brush.
Generally, small birds didn’t need owners to help clean their feathers; this was just an interactive toy for owners and pets. Yan He had simply bought the extra-large version.
For $9.99, you couldn’t be too picky.
Beside him, Pan Ze excitedly reached out and pulled a wet feather. He, an African Spotted Hyena, had plucked a Golden Eagle’s feather!
The feather came out, damaging the skin and causing a spot of blood.
The golden eagle in the tub suddenly shrank. This feeling was wrong. It wasn’t Yan He! And it wasn’t Yan He’s strength!
Realizing he had been deceived, the golden eagle slapped the water furiously with his wings and whipped his head around.
Yan He cursed internallyâwhy does this job have to be mine?
But he kept a smile on his face, shoved the startled Pan Ze aside, raised the bird brush, and swept it over the bird’s head.
The soft brush landed gently on the feathers. As Yan He moved his hand up and down, the distinct plastic bristles contacted the feathers, reaching even the roots.
The gentle touch stimulated every nerve of the golden eagle, sending a wave of comfort straight to his skull.
It was a different kind of pleasure from plucking. Unlike the cruelty of plucking, brushing was soft, comfortable, and full of tenderness.
Especially staring at Yan He’s face, watching his hand holding the cheap brush moving over his wings, a strange pleasure wildly occupied his body.
The golden eagle opened his beak and began to pant heavily.
“Eh? What’s wrong?” Pan Ze peered over. “Yan He, we agreed on plucking, why are you using a brush? Are you slacking off? Do you want to dâHoly crap?!!”
The giant golden eagle collapsed into the water. From beneath the heavy foam, what emerged was a handsome human face.
He recovered! Yun Xiao had actually reverted to human form!
Because Yan He was still gripping the golden eagle’s wing and brushing, he suddenly felt warm human skin under his hand. Before he could withdraw, he was yanked into the bathtub, splashing water half a meter high.
“Yan He!”
Yan He half-opened his eyes in the stinging, soapy water. He vaguely saw something round and perky, but before he could get a clear look, a long arm reached decisively into the tub, grabbed him, and hoisted him out like a chick.
Yan He wiped the water from his face and hurriedly opened his eyes. He saw He Ting standing there with a dark face, holding him by his back collar. Shen Xianqing stood at the door, looking thoughtful.
Because of the plucking, Yan He had taken off his jacket and was wearing only a white shirt. Now, it clung wetly to his body, outlining his outstanding figure.
Because he had fallen into Yun Xiao’s bath, there was a dab of foam on the tip of Yan He’s high nose, giving him a confused, cute look.
For a moment, words stuck in He Ting’s throat, and he couldn’t speak.
He Ting violently grabbed a bath towel from the side and threw it over Yan He, controlling his breathing to avoid looking at him.
Yun Xiao’s improvement and recovery were, indeed, because of Yan He again.
Also… He Ting couldn’t help but replay the images from a moment ago in his mind.
Yan He’s quality was indeed excellent.
But the focus right now shouldn’t be Yan He, but Yun Shao in the pool.
Yun Xiao hid his entire body under the water, covering his key parts with his hands. His face was flushed red, as if in shame and anger, screaming: “Get out! Everyone get out! Ahhhhh!”
“Don’t look! Don’t look at me! I’m not wearing anything!”
“Close your eyes! Close your damn eyes! I’ll gouge out the eyes of anyone who looks!”
The bathroom echoed with Yun Xiao’s chaotic screaming.
Ah, haven’t heard Yun Xiao’s noisy voice in days.
Yun Xiao was currently very fragile, shrinking back into the tub. Yan He, too embarrassed to look back, clutched the towel and ran out.
He Ting and the others retreated immediately, leaving Yun Xiao alone in the bathroom.
Yun Xiao took a few deep breaths and stood up from the tub. He looked down at his body; every inch was human skin, his abs rising and falling with his breath.
He extended his leg out of the water. His breath hitched.
Hmm, the hair on my left leg is sparse.
There was also a follicle oozing bloodâprobably Pan Ze’s doing. He’d make that bastard roll back to Old Shen sooner or later; having Yan He by his side was enough.
Aside from that, who could tell now that he was a golden eagle?
“I… I actually, really recovered.” Yun Xiao touched his body lightly, murmuring.
For the past three days, he hadn’t slept day or night. He was terrified to close his eyes, afraid that when he opened them, he would completely lose his mind and become a golden eagle forever.
Yet, in that blur of consciousness, there was a vague figure in his mindâa figure sitting by the tub, gently plucking his feathers.
He had felt that even if he lost his mind completely, becoming a raptor belonging solely to that person wouldn’t be so bad.
The two thoughts fought wildly in his mind. Yun Xiao was exhausted but couldn’t say it.
Only the time spent plucking feathers every day felt like the happiest moments.
And now… he had recovered.
Did that mean those times were over?
Yun Xiao’s gaze fell on the surface of the bathwater. The cheap, large plastic bird brush from Pinduoduo was floating quietly on the water.
Yun Xiao curled his lips into a smile. He had a plan.
Yan He changed into regular clothes and sat on the sofa in the lounge, drying his hair with a towel, his heart still worrying about Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao had the worst temper in the F4 and never played by the rules.
Would that guy be upset that he fell into his tub and embarrassed him?
Troublesome.
Sure enough, plucking feathers for Yun Shao was a thankless task.
He worked for days and didn’t receive a cent of overtime pay. What a loss!
On the side, Shen Xianqing smiled meaningfully. He had truly discovered many interesting things since returning to school.
It turned out that the theory about plucking feathers restoring sanity might be wrong. Instead, it was physical stimulation that brought rationality back!
Over the past few days, the little lackey Yan He had hugged, plucked, and brushed Yun Xiaoâwasn’t all of that physical stimulation?
Like Newton discovering gravity under the apple tree, the rule seemed so simple, yet so taken for granted before discovery.
Shen Xianqing glanced at Yan He. He really should thank this new lackey for helping him discover the pattern.
Heh, I really am a genius.
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