The Foolish Bookworm of the Aristocratic Boys’ School chapter 35.2

Part 2

The tissue box in the middle of the table had just been filled, and the cafeteria lady had thoughtfully pulled one out for students to use.

At this moment, that tissue stood straight up. Two hands landed on the paper simultaneously. Because they were too fast, neither noticed the other. One pulled forward, one pulled back. Rip, the tissue tore in half.

Shi Ye and Leon froze in unison.

Immediately, Shi Ye put his hand under the table, and Leon pulled another intact tissue to hand to Wen Rong.

“Thank you, Senior.”

“I’ll go get you some food.”

The moment Leon left, a phone rang.

Black Pigeon System Notification: [Shi Ye used violence on campus. Penalized with a Yellow Card.]

Wen Rong’s hand blocking his nose shook violently. He hurriedly bowed to Shi Ye. “I’m sorry, I caused you to get a Yellow Card.”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“It still has a little… connection. I’m really sorry.”

“F*ck!”

Wen Rong trembled all over, knowing Shi Ye was angry, and dared not speak again.

Shi Ye rubbed his hair irritably. “No, why am I the only one punished? Didn’t that grandson hit someone too…”

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

Shi Ye’s gaze changed from annoyance to depth.

Across the “wall” formed by black uniforms, Shi Ye met Zhou Xie’s gaze in the distance—Zhou Xie’s eyes were cold and gloomy, like a hunting venomous snake, staring dead in this direction.

Why was Shi Ye punished for fighting while the other guy wasn’t? Because the other guy hit Wen Rong. Using violence against Wen Rong is not a violation.

This notification was like a key, unlocking the shackles on everyone, telling them nakedly: Doing anything to Wen Rong is not a violation.

From the moment Zhou Xie sent that notification, every action was targeting Wen Rong. And these actions were borrowing a knife to kill—every cut fatal.

Sponsored

Insidious villain.

Shi Ye looked away from Zhou Xie in annoyance and unintentionally met Wen Rong’s eyes.

Wen Rong’s eyes were very beautiful, clean and clear like amber beads. Usually, they didn’t ripple much when seeing anyone, but right now, he looked somewhat guilty.

In this gaze, Shi Ye thought of meeting Wen Rong’s eyes in class today and felt an inexplicable pang of conscience.

Wait, what am I doing? Am I flirting with my good friend’s boyfriend while he’s getting food?

Fck!*

Am I even human?

Shi Ye hurriedly avoided Wen Rong’s gaze. Staring at the empty plate as if he had finally found an excuse to leave, he stood up quickly. “I’ll go get food.”

Wen Rong: “O-Okay.”

Confusion climbed onto Wen Rong’s pretty face.

He couldn’t figure out Shi Ye’s expression. After apologizing, he didn’t seem angry, but he didn’t truly forgive him either. That expression was very complicated; the micro-expression class didn’t teach it.

“Didn’t know if you like spicy or sweet, so I got a bit of everything.” Leon sat down next to Wen Rong. “Where’s Shi Ye?”

“He said he went to get food.”

Leon pushed the plate in front of Wen Rong. “Has the nosebleed stopped? Does it still hurt?”

“Senior, I seem to have caused Shi Ye to be recorded with a Yellow Card.”

“It’s fine, don’t blame yourself. He did it voluntarily.”

“Because I helped him by getting Zhao Zeryang expelled, so he’s willing to help me?”

Leon was surprised Wen Rong could sort out this logic, but thinking about how fast Wen Rong was improving, it wasn’t hard to understand. “Mm. But in the future, you will encounter actions that are purely simply to help you.”

“I’ve already encountered them! The seniors in the club are really helping me.”

Leon’s face changed slightly, thinking inexplicably, Am I not one of them?

Sponsored

But seeing Wen Rong so happy, Leon didn’t want to trouble him, so he forced the corners of his mouth up. “Mm.”

“But the seniors don’t seem to like working with me very much.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I want to write real, effective news, but the seniors say writing gossip is better.”

“That’s normal. Are you tired after a day of classes?”

Wen Rong nodded. “A little. I didn’t understand anything, and I have to study when I get back.”

“Everyone is the same as you. So at times like this, you need to find something happy to pass the time. Before, everyone would browse the forum to read gossip.”

Wen Rong thought for a few seconds and asked carefully, “Then did I do wrong by telling the principals there was a problem with the forum comments?”

“No problem. Entertainment is entertainment; it cannot be excessive indulgence. Not just the forum—insulting others and spreading rumors online should be dealt with too. Everyone is blaming you now only because someone wants to deliberately smear and exaggerate your request to make you unlucky.”

Wen Rong shrugged. “Is it Zhou Xie?”

Wen Rong had seen the Black Pigeon notification. With the Senior putting it this way, he could only link it to Zhou Xie.

And these sinister schemes indeed seemed like things Zhou Xie would do.

“It’s him. Are you afraid?”

Wen Rong shook his head. “I’m more afraid of not getting the scholarship. I don’t understand the classes now, and I don’t know how to make the club better.”

“Take your time with studies, no rush. As for the club…”

Wen Rong suddenly clapped his hands. “At times like this, news can play a role.”

Leon: “What?”

“Senior, wait a moment.”

Wen Rong took out his phone and opened the Black Pigeon Forum.

Poster: Wen Rong

Sponsored

[Black Pigeon News September 8th Briefing: Special Recruit conflicted with others; the reason is worth investigating.]

Today, a fight occurred in the cafeteria.

The cause was dissatisfaction with the forum real-name system, mistakenly believing this event stemmed from the Special Recruit reporting poor school spirit to the Principal.

In this editor’s opinion, this is not the case.

According to the principle of non-retroactivity and leniency stipulated by Federal Law, posts made before the real-name regulation was issued should not be made real-name. Setting all past posts to real-name seriously violates this principle, deliberately intensifying conflicts. It completely transforms the purpose from “correcting school spirit” to “the Special Recruit shouldn’t have proposed correcting school spirit.” The intent is sinister, fooling the alumni, and brings hundred harms and no benefit to the school.

Since few people dared to post after the real-name system was implemented, the moment Wen Rong’s post went out, there were instantly many replies:

[???]

[Did I see wrong, or is it the same name? It really is Wen Rong, right?]

[The man himself is here inverting right and wrong.]

[Wait a minute, I study law. Federal law indeed has this principle. The real-name system can be implemented, but past posts shouldn’t be deanonymized.]

[To be fair, those forced-love comments led by Zhao Zeryang before were indeed illegal acts; they were uncomfortable to watch. Posting such remarks online gets accounts banned; surely saying them in our forum can’t be right? Is our school forum some low-class place?]

[The school really did this disgustingly. Before, we spoke freely anonymously, but in the end, without even a heads-up, they exposed our real names. No respect for our privacy at all.]

…

The crowd in the cafeteria excitedly lowered their heads to refresh the forum. There was even the bang, bang, bang sound of screens being tapped.

Leon sat next to Wen Rong. The distance between them wasn’t close or far, not like a young couple stuck together like glue, but Leon leaning over to look at Wen Rong’s screen from time to time was more intimate than ordinary friends.

Shi Ye sat in the distance, silently giving the young couple space to be alone. He forced his gaze to fix on the phone screen. As he scrolled through the forum, his anxious mood calmed down. He looked up and curved his lips in provocation at Zhou Xie in the distance.

He knew it…

Since the start of school, that little mouth of Wen Rong’s would pop out some annoying words to make him angry from time to time. What good words could that little mouth have for Zhou Xie now?

Zhou Xie, no matter how calm you pretend to be, your trembling hand gave you away.

Shi Ye triumphantly added fuel to the fire in the thread: [Support the Special Recruit. Not everyone posted inappropriate comments. Suggest the Student Council reprocess the issue of forum deanonymization and consider the rights and interests of us innocent alumni more.]

Sponsored

[Support!!!]

[I strongly support too! My brother is already smashing my door with a baseball bat. I can’t hold on much longer, save me, save me!]

[Alumni, my crush said he likes me too. Hope to get blessings, thanks.]

Shi Ye’s finger paused. He looked up toward Wen Rong’s direction.

Leon took the initiative to help Wen Rong carry his laptop bag and left the cafeteria with him.

Shi Ye: [Wish you a breakup soon.]

📖 Return to Table of Contents