Chapter 19
He Ting stared at Yan He, having taken in his every move in the Colosseum. If his judgment wasn’t wrong, this little lackey truly had a miraculous effect on beast transformations, though he still didn’t know the principle behind it.
He Ting lowered his voice, speaking at a volume only the two of them could hear: “Don’t worry, you won’t have another chance to see me naked without clothes.”
The reason He Ting was the leader of the F4, aside from his status as a conglomerate heir, was his self-control, which surpassed the other three. He Ting was calm and self-possessed, rarely showing emotional fluctuations. Aside from when he entered the Discipline Room, he almost never transformed into his Siberian tiger form.
He Ting and Yun Xiao were two extremes.
He Ting looked down at Yan He’s face. His eyes moved slightly, wondering what he was thinking. With a magical little lackey like Yan He around, perhaps he really wouldn’t transform again.
Won’t give him a chance to see him naked? Yan He silently mused, “What about swimming, then? Does He Shao wear a men’s one-piece swimsuit? That’s so conservative!”
He Ting: “…”
He found that whenever Yan He fell into deep thought, his own head started to buzz.
He Ting pressed his temples slightly. “I’m heading back first.”
If he had known Yan He would get out of it completely unscathed, he wouldn’t have needed to rush over after seeing that Old Xu had changed the welcome party’s location to the Colosseum.
He Ting looked up at the giant golden eagle perched on a branch. Its eyes were sharp and full of bestial instinct, like a true bird of prey that had lost its humanity.
Yun Xiao’s emotions were out of control. He was likely affected by the Colosseum match, causing his transformation to worsen. It wasn’t a good sign.
He Ting signaled to Yun Xiao and left through the VIP channel. After He Ting left, the audience in the Colosseum also began to disperse.
The host senior said with a bright smile, “Junior Yan, the ticket fees you requested will be collected by the Student Council. Once they’re all gathered, they will be given to you within three days after taxes.”
“Scram, stop being so damn eager.” Pan Ze saw the giant golden eagle fly off after He Ting and was secretly thrilled he didn’t have to be Yun Shao’s lackey right now. He immediately darted over.
Yan He looked up and saw that Bai Yuzhou had already quietly left, so he had no choice but to walk with Pan Ze.
Yan He still remembered that Pan Ze had been so anxious about him that he had also jumped down from the ten-meter-high railing. Compared to He Ting’s graceful, wind-like descent, Pan Ze had stumbled and landed crookedly, looking like he’d sprained his ankle.
Yan He watched Pan Ze bare his teeth, scaring the two host seniors away, and asked with concern, “Senior Pan, is your ankle okay from that jump earlier?”
Pan Ze instinctively shot back, “Of course it’s… hell no, it’s not!”
Pan Ze’s small eyes darted, and he immediately thought of that green tea bitch, Bai Yuzhou, who loved to play weak.
If Bai Yuzhou could be a green tea, so could he!
“Aiyo—!” Pan Ze wailed, instantly bending over to clutch his left calf. He squeezed two tiny, bean-sized tears from his small eyes and cried, “My leg hurts so much from the fall! I’m going to need an amputation! Yan He, how can you not take responsibility?”
Yan He mercilessly exposed him: “But I saw you sprain your right foot.”
It seemed that although Pan Ze’s jump wasn’t as picture-perfect as F4’s He Ting’s—in fact, it was a total mess—he really was completely fine.
It was like the Filipino diving team; even if their dives bombed, they were still an Olympic diving team, just like China’s.
Pan Ze was cursing up a storm in his head. Damn it, playing the weak, seductive fox really does take talent. He just couldn’t learn it. Therefore… Bai Yuzhou still deserved to die!
The two walked out of the Colosseum together. Yan He couldn’t help but feel a little curious.
That was a platform over ten meters high. Pan Ze’s beast form couldn’t possibly be a timid lop-eared rabbit like Xiao Tu, could it?
Yan He: “Senior Pan, excuse my rudeness, but what’s your beast form?”
Pan Ze instantly froze, his face flushing red as he shouted, “You—You really are rude!”
“Asking for someone’s beast form at Bestia Academy is no different from asking what color their underwear is! Yan He, you’re even more of a pervert than I am!”
Yan He rubbed his nose. Is it really that perverted? He genuinely didn’t know.
Pan Ze grumbled a bit, then looked up at the full moon, mumbling shyly, “Er… African spotted hyena.”
Pan Ze knew that keeping one’s beast form a secret was a consensus in the academy, but he didn’t know why he was willing to answer Yan He’s question.
Yan He immediately remembered that on the first day on the school bus, Bai Yuzhou had also said Pan Ze was a “hyena,” but he had misheard it as “hunting dog”! That was a world of difference.
Yan He recalled the animal documentaries from his past life. “A spotted… spotted hyena?”
This was the spotted hyena, known as the “Second Brother of Africa,” a top-tier ferocious beast. Unfortunately, in the hyena world, females had the highest status, and adult males had the lowest. Otherwise, if Pan Ze looked a bit better, he might have been able to compete for a spot in the F4.
Yan He recalled the habits of spotted hyenas, and his lower abdomen instinctively clenched.
My god, this was the infamous “proctology director,” specialized in… that move.
In all sorts of media, spotted hyenas were always the villains!
“Yan He, what’s with that expression? I’m a spotted hyena! No matter what, I’m way stronger than your ordinary husky, right?” Pan Ze’s defenses were crumbling.
Yan He didn’t say anything. The key point was, he wasn’t even a husky.
Pan Ze closed in on him menacingly. “You punk, you think I’m ugly?”
Yan He shook his head. “Not at all. Ze Ge just has a… very distinct look.”
Once you got used to him, Pan Ze wasn’t really ugly. He had a kind of thuggishly-handsome vibe. Combined with his wealthy status, Pan Ze was actually very popular at the academy.
Pan Ze was quite pleased with the compliment. “Good that you know. From now on, I’ll take you under my wing, and we’ll follow the F4 together.”
Yan He said, “But I want to drop out.”
Yan He had thought about it for a while. He Ting’s and Yun Xiao’s salaries were indeed high, but the money was definitely not easy to earn.
If he got into a fight with a husky, the husky could bite him hard enough to need a rabies shot. It was too difficult for an ordinary person to survive at Bestia Academy.
It was better to return the money and say goodbye. At worst, he’d just go back and retake the college entrance exams.
Since he couldn’t be a “Terrifying Upright Ape,” he would, 100%, be at the absolute bottom of the food chain at Bestia Academy.
Pan Ze’s smug voice died in his throat. “!!!”
What? Yan He wants to drop out? Right after showing off in the Colosseum, he wants to quit? How could this be?
“In your dreams. Even the F4 can’t get out of Bestia once they’re in. You think you can just drop out?” Pan Ze reined in his emotions and sneered at Yan He’s wishful thinking.
Even his former boss, Shen Shao, had to beg He Ting to stage a fight with him so he could get off-campus medical treatment, and only because all the school doctors were conveniently away on a trip.
And Yan He? Did his status or background even compare to the F4’s?
Yan He was stunned. The way he described it, it sounded like a prison. No wonder the homesick Yun Xiao hadn’t left the campus in over a year since enrolling. It turned out he couldn’t leave.
This was great. What would happen if the other students at the academy found out he was just an ordinary human?
No wonder his dad had texted him back then, telling him to be a good husky for the young masters and not to expose his human identity… He was truly thinking ahead.
Right, from now on, he, Yan He, was just a perfectly ordinary husky, hahaha!
Yan He was a bit depressed. “Oh. Got it.”
Seeing that Yan He had given up on those ridiculous ideas, Pan Ze finally relaxed. “Alright, head back to your student dorm. I’m going that way to take care of something.”
Yan He didn’t feel it was right to ask what Pan Ze was doing, so they walked all the way back to the specially-enrolled students’ dormitory before Pan Ze left.
Yan He suddenly remembered something. Didn’t Pan Ze say asking about beast forms was like asking for underwear color? But hadn’t he just… answered?
What a pervert!
With the welcome party over, Monday marked the official start of the academic term. At Bestia Academy, all freshmen took general education courses plus electives, with grades based on end-of-term credits.
Because Bai Yuzhou was still under the red card warning, he didn’t go to breakfast with him. Xiao Tu, however, filled the empty spot.
The first class Monday morning was “General History of Animals.” The old zoology professor started from prehistoric times and lectured until Yan He was drowsy.
For fuck’s sake, he was a human! Could they talk about something related to humans?
The phone in his desk drawer vibrated. Yan He pulled it out, propping his eyelids open to look.
[2: Come to the stables after class.]
Sure enough, a hundred thousand a month wasn’t that easy to earn. Boss Number Two even knew his class schedule. Yan He replied with a “1”.
After class, Yan He packed his books, ready to go “clock in” with He Ting, when two vaguely familiar people walked in. It was the two host seniors from last night’s welcome party.
“Junior Yan, those viewing fees you requested last night have all been collected. There were 1,599 people in total. With He Shao’s contribution in US dollars, the sum is over 1.4 million. It’s been transferred to your account; you can check it.”
The rich kids were very obedient. The Student Council’s part-time programmers had worked overnight to create a payment applet, and they had all paid up.
Yan He mentally calculated the earnings, pulled out his phone, and sure enough, saw a bank transfer notification. He was shocked. “No taxes deducted? Is this tax evasion?”
This empire was monopolized by conglomerates, which meant taxes on commoners were extremely strict. Tax evasion was a serious crime, one that would get you “fed a peanut.”
For such a large sum, according to the empire’s tax laws, almost half should have been deducted!
These bastards were trying to frame him!
The host senior gazed at Yan He’s pleasant face and smiled. “Junior Yan, you’re overthinking it. The taxes were paid for you by our Student Council president. The 1.4 million-plus is your take-home pay.”
Yan He was surprised. “The Student Council president?”
The senior said proudly, “The Student Council president is one of the F4, Xu Shao—Xu Xingchuan.”
Yan He had heard this guy was out sketching. He still wasn’t back. He wondered if he’d fallen into a trap.
Yan He didn’t really understand why this Xu Shao would pay his taxes for him, but he didn’t have time to think about it right now.
Yan He said his thanks, left the classroom, and caught the campus bus at the building’s entrance. Twenty minutes later, he got off near the stables.
The academy’s stables were really the noble students’ playground. Specially-enrolled students couldn’t enter without applying.
Of course, some specially-enrolled students also worked part-time at the stables.
Yan He had originally planned to swipe the F4 black gold access card Yun Xiao had given him, but the gate opened automatically. The staff member who greeted him said He Shao had given instructions.
Yan He followed the staff member inside. It was a huge, natural pasture. The stables covered a vast area, and both the interior and exterior exuded a sense of high-class luxury.
Yan He heard He Ting was in the stable house. He walked in and saw that every horse had its own independent stall, housing several horses of different colors.
Other than on TV, Yan He had never actually seen a horse in real life.
He Ting stood nearby, dressed in a sharply tailored riding uniform, feeding one of the horses.
He Ting was already handsome, and the riding uniform gave him an imposing, heroic air—a mix of wildness and elegance.
Yan He walked up and greeted him, “He Shao.”
He Ting grunted an “Mm,” his gaze still on the tall horse inside, his hand still feeding it.
Since He Ting wasn’t talking, Yan He just stood to the side and watched for a while.
After a long time, He Shao finally deigned to speak. Staring at the Ferghana horse eating in front of him, He Ting said flatly, “They used to be human, too.”
Yan He’s heart jumped. This noble academy was really competitive about making money. Could it be that students transformed into horses for others to feed and play with?
But the horse in front of him was truly beautiful. Its coat was so glossy it looked like it was plated in gold. The sunlight from the window landed on it like shimmering, molten gold. You could tell it was well-cared-for.
He Ting’s gaze drifted, clearly lost in a memory. “They were also the first batch of students at Bestia Academy. When I enrolled, they were the ones who personally brought me in.”
Yan He noticed that in the stall next to the Ferghana horse was a… black-and-white striped zebra.
Generally speaking, black-and-white animals were always a bit nutty.
When someone tells a story, the listener needs to respond. Yan He followed He Ting’s lead and asked, “Then these two… Mr. Horses… are they your relatives, He Shao?”
Logically, being able to escort a student to university implied a very close relationship.
He Ting raised a hand to stroke the horse’s head, his voice low. “They are my two uncles.”
He Ting’s mood seemed a bit down.
Uncles? Then that meant they were from the same bloodline, and a very close one at that.
Yan He raised a hand to his chin, staring at the handful of green grass in He Ting’s hand, and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. “He Shao’s two uncles are both horses, but He Shao, you’re a tiger…”
That’s not right, is it? Probabilistically speaking, two uncles from the equine family, but the nephew is from the feline family? Tsk tsk.
A spark of inspiration hit Yan He. Could it be that He Shao…
A vein throbbed on He Ting’s temple, his emotions suddenly flaring. “Yan He. Put that spark of inspiration away.”
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