Chapter 11 PART 1
As the man approached, a tall, dark shadow fell under the fluorescent lights, completely enveloping Yan He.
He Ting was very tall. He looked down at Yan He, taking in everything about him.
The heir to the empire’s top financial conglomerate naturally exuded an aura of power and authority.
Yan He instinctively took a step back, his back hitting the lab bench. He cursed inwardly, but his face broke into the sycophantic smile of a corporate slave. âGood evening, He Shao. I didnât expect to see you here.â
He Tingâs tone was playful. âI didnât expect to see you here either.â
As Yun Xiaoâs newly appointed, loyal little lackey, why wasnât he at the basketball court cheering for his boss tonight? It didnât seem like he was very devoted to Yun Xiao.
Yan He quickly began to pack up his things on the table. âThen I wonât disturb you, He Shao. Iâll go to another lab.â
âYou can stay,â He Ting said calmly. âI just came back to change.â
He was wearing the standard black academy uniform underneath a well-fitting white lab coat, which gave him a scholarly air.
Lab 01 on the third floor was the largest on that level, connected to several other rooms, including a changing room.
He Tingâs gaze swept across the lab bench. Yan He had laid out some chemicals. His eyes paused on the nameplate, and he understood Yan Heâs purpose for the night.
âYouâre here to refine gold?â
Yan He saw a flicker of amusement in He Tingâs usually cold eyes and quickly explained, âThis is just some scrap that Senior Pan Ze insisted he didnât want. I didnât steal anything.â
It was better than just throwing it away. What was wrong with him taking it to refine?
He Ting unbuttoned his lab coat and walked towards the adjoining changing room. âIt seems your taste isnât as bad as I thought.â
Even a common husky would find it hard to be attracted to the appearance of an African spotted hyena.
So he was keeping Pan Zeâs nameplate not as a token of affection, but to extract the gold. A crush on Pan Ze did seem rather unrealistic.
Did all the F4 members speak in such cryptic ways? Yan He didnât quite get it. He leaned against the lab bench, watching a video on gold refining and taking notes on a piece of paper. His brain understood it, but his hands weren’t so sure.
Yan He had been a science student in his past life, but after two years in the workforce, he had forgotten most of his chemistry. Looking at the table full of chemicals, he felt a bit out of his depth.
âPut on a lab coat.â He Ting emerged from the changing room. He hadnât taken his own off; instead, he was holding a new one, which he tossed to Yan He.
Yan He was surprised by how easygoing He Ting was. He quickly caught it and thanked him.
Without much fuss, Yan He slipped the lab coat on over his uniform. He then reached up to take off his ordinary blue and white mask, intending to put on the professional one that came with the coat.
As Yan He removed the mask, He Tingâs gaze fixed on him, freezing for a moment.
Having seen those glass-gray eyes, He Ting had already guessed that Yan He would be good-looking. He wasnât wrong. Yan He had a harmonious blend of gentleness and spirit. His skin was fair and delicate, with a faint pinkish hue, just like the frozen soup dumplings from that morning. It made one want to take a bite.
He Tingâs Adamâs apple bobbed. It seemed there was a good reason why Yun Xiao gave this little underling special treatment.
At the very least, he was pleasing to the eye.
Perhaps only old Shen had a fetish for the unconventional.
Yan He quickly put on the professional mask, disposable cap, and gloves. The gold refining video played on a loop on his phone, but he was still hesitant to handle the chemicals.
âYan He.â
Yan Heâs attention snapped back from the video. He looked toward the lab window, where He Shao was standing with his hands behind his back, gazing out at the mountain forest as if contemplating the meaning of life. He looked so full of himself.
Heâs still here?
Yan He grumbled internally but quickly replied, âYes, He Shao? What can I do for you?â
He had no desire to be like Bai Yuzhou, playing the part of Shancai or Chu Yuxun. If he wanted to surviveâand live comfortablyâat Bestia Academy, he absolutely could not afford to offend the F4.
He Ting turned to look at him, his golden eyes unreadable.
Then, as if having made a decision, he strode towards him. A magnetic, seductive voice exploded above Yan Heâs head. âHow about⌠you come work for me?â
Yan He froze. ????????
The chemical bottle nearly slipped from his hand. What did he just say?!!
This damn gay noble academy.
âYun Xiao pays you fifty thousand a month?â He Ting leaned in slightly, his golden eyes reflecting Yan Heâs own, which were filled with refusal. âIâll give you a hundred thousand.â
Yan He blinked, then leaned back against the lab bench, patting his chest and gasping for air. âHe Shao, you meant you want me to be your lackey? You scared me to death.â
He thought he was being asked to sell his body!
But this noble academy was truly different from any he knew. The F4 actually paid their lackeys a salary.
A hundred thousand a month. He couldnât have even dreamed of that in his 996 past life. The last time he saw that many zeros was on a business trip in Sichuan Province!
Still, this wasn’t right, was it? He had just started working for Yun Shao yesterday, and today another company was already offering a higher salary to poach him?
For a moment, Yan He wondered if he had chosen the wrong major back then. Why be a programmer when being a lackey was the real path to success?
But Yan He felt he needed to know his place. He was just an NPC in a book. Did he really think he was entitled to special treatment?
He momentarily forgot why he had come to the chemistry lab. âHe Shao, this⌠this isnât right, is it? Yun Shao wouldnât agree if he found out.â
Based on his character in the book, if Yun Xiao found out he had switched sides, his explosive temper would lead him to tear Yan He limb from limb.
He Ting rested his hand on the lab bench, his long fingers tapping lightly on the surface. He continued his persuasion with a soft laugh, âItâll be fine as long as you donât tell him.â
Why did that sound so ambiguous, like they were⌠having an affair?
But how could he be He Tingâs lackey without telling anyone?
Yan He was slightly confused. âSo, He Shao on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Yun Shao on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday? And I get Sundays off?â
Only one day off? Being a lackey was pure physical labor. Could he handle it with just one day of rest?
Yan He couldn’t help but worry about the future. What if the two main gongs, He Ting and Yun Xiao, started fighting over Bai Yuzhou? The lackeys would surely be sent in first. Whose side would he be on then?
Yan He felt like there was a trap waiting for him. Donât trust high salaries. You might end up making scam calls from northern Myanmar.
Seeing his hesitation, He Ting frowned slightly. âWhat did Yun Xiao give you that youâre so reluctant to leave?â
Yan He immediately started spouting nonsense. âWell, Yun Shao said that if I do a good job, heâll consider letting me ride his big tiger, Silas. I donât have many interests, but thatâs one of them! I love showing off!â
An unreadable glint flickered in He Tingâs eyes. âIâll let you ride him.â
Even if he didn’t know that Silas the Siberian tiger was him, any student at Bestia Academy would guess that the tiger might be a transformed student.
Yan He⌠seemed to be unaware of the secret everyone at the academy knew.
But it didnât matter. He would find out within a month of being here.
He Ting hated losing control. Besides his uncontrolled transformations, he also disliked exceptions.
He didnât understand why Yan He could so easily pull him back to his human sanity from his beast form. If that was the case, he might as well keep this source of his loss of control by his side.
Observe, scrutinize, control.
Yan He still seemed to be hesitating, but He Ting had already lost his patience. He reached into his lab coat and ripped the black and gold nameplate engraved with âHe Tingâ from his uniform.
The next moment, the nameplate, a symbol of the highest status in the academy, flew from his long fingers and landed in a chemical dish.
He Ting put on his gloves, picked up a blowtorch, and decisively began to melt the gold, preparing to separate the impurities.
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