The Foolish Bookworm of the Aristocratic Boys’ School chapter 74

Chapter 74: Sinking Together!

Wen Rong, unaware that such high hopes were placed on him, stood anxiously by the door waiting for Leon to return.

Zhou Xie was Senior Leon’s childhood friend, and Wen Rong had received so many favors from the Senior. He shouldn’t have argued with Zhou Xie just now.

One, two, three, four… and a half. Counting Shi Ye barely, he only had four and a half friends. Losing any one of them would make him sad.

His heart pounded with apprehension, and he couldn’t help pacing back and forth.

Until the door lock suddenly clicked. In his line of sight, the door handle turned 60° counter-clockwise.

Click.

Wen Rong held his breath. “Senior…”

“Bored?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have quarreled with Zhou Xie. I made things difficult for you.”

“It’s fine.” Leon raised a hand and waved, signaling him not to stand behind the door. “I called you up here just now because I planned to have a big fight with Zhou Xie.”

“Don’t fight because of me.”

“Don’t worry, come in and I’ll tell you slowly.”

Wen Rong’s heart calmed slightly. He moved aside to let Leon enter.

“It’s normal to argue with Zhou Xie. He has a bad personality and is good at making people angry.”

“Do you argue often?”

“Mm. Shi Ye has even fought with him since childhood.”

So there’s that kind of wondrous friendship.

Wen Rong opened his mouth wide, awed by this new knowledge.

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Leon patted his back. “Come sit. I want to talk to you alone.”

Senior Leon’s room had a small balcony. The layout outside was simple: a small table and two chairs, seemingly designed for resting and drinking tea.

The wind was a bit cold, carrying the salty humidity of the sea. Wen Rong couldn’t help rubbing his nose.

“Although Zhou Xie is annoying, what he said isn’t unreasonable. You shouldn’t have published that article to incite public outrage.”

If I didn’t publish that article, I would die.

Wen Rong couldn’t tell Senior Leon that he was bound to a System and needed to accumulate points to survive. He could only accept the Senior’s good intentions. “I’m sorry, Senior. I’ll definitely be careful next time.”

“The school anniversary is coming up. Based on my understanding of the school, they’ll deal with this matter during the anniversary. Be good for a while, don’t cause trouble, and wait until this blows over.”

“…Mm.”

“Also, don’t worry about the internship for the third term. I can help you find a research institute.”

Wen Rong instinctively refused. “No need, no need.”

“In the third term, you have to write a thesis. The final grade depends on the level of the journal your thesis is published in and its impact factor… Ordinary projects definitely won’t get high scores, and ordinary research institutes lack funding. Just doing research and publishing papers requires a huge sum of extra money. Going to a better institute means important projects and sufficient funds.”

Wen Rong understood what the Senior meant.

The wind fluttered, and his heart felt warm.

Senior is so good to me.

As the wind continued to cool his cheeks, he inexplicably remembered the story the Senior had told, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Leon keenly noticed it. “What’s wrong?”

Wen Rong answered busily, “Noth—”

“…” The azure eyes moved slowly, shifting from confusion to understanding, and finally to a smile. “Tell me again about what happened to you recently.”

“…Okay.”

Rambling here and there, he retold the events of the recent period in a disorderly fashion. Before dark, after serious consideration, Wen Rong troubled the Senior to send him back to school.

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Just as he stepped into the dormitory gate, the System notified him that he had gained another point because someone had poured sticky shampoo all over his door handle.

Wen Rong wasn’t happy about the points increase. He took out a tissue, simply wiped the stuff off the handle, and went inside.

The System noticed his silence and tried to make conversation: [Host was very successful this time. Keep working hard, and maybe you’ll save enough points soon.]

“Mm.”

Wen Rong nodded absently at the air, took off his clothes, and went to the bathroom to shower.

Steam filled the room. The glass above the sink was covered in water droplets. With a casual wipe, a fan-shaped clear patch appeared.

His pure white face was flushed red from the hot water. His hair stuck sparsely to his scalp, growing slightly long, almost covering his eyes.

His eyelashes felt the resistance, so he reached up and grabbed a lock, making it stand up.

Another lock, standing up.

He struggled to hook the corners of his mouth into a fake smile, shaking his head left and right to admire his “cool” hairstyle.

Until the smile gradually froze on his lips, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Seeing the excessively low mood value, the System asked worriedly, [What’s wrong?]

Wen Rong stopped moving. The fake smile vanished, and the mirror reflected a worried face.

“Brother, I only realized now that Senior Leon is too good to me.”

[Mm.]

“It’s just… he was supposed to fight with Zhou Xie, but to cancel my Red Card, he swallowed his pride to talk to Zhou Xie… And he said he would introduce me to a job at that kind of amazing research institute.”

Wen Rong stood dripping wet by the sink. His figure was slender, slightly fleshier than when he first arrived—flesh wrapping bone—and his ribs no longer showed their shape.

His light eyes, hidden in shadow, narrowed slightly as he carefully observed the face in the mirror.

“Brother, does Senior Leon like my face, just like Senior Liang?”

[…]

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“The more I think about it, the more I feel that’s the case.”

He paused. “Is it too late to realize it now?”

[Too late?]

“I can’t bear to let Senior go.”

[Can’t bear to?] Shocking words. The System’s CPU started to lag.

“I probably don’t love Senior. But if I reject him, we can’t be friends anymore.”

Silence for half a second, then he continued, “He’s already a very important friend to me. I can’t bear it.”

[…]

The System hadn’t expected that a robot would have to give love advice to its host one day.

[Host, Leon hasn’t confessed to you yet. Don’t think about rejecting him first. What if he likes you for a while and then moves on to someone else?]

Wen Rong’s eyes instantly brightened. “Will he move on?”

[Possibly.] After answering, the System thought of another possibility and quickly added, [It’s just that after moving on, he probably won’t be as good to you as he is now.]

Wen Rong’s eyes widened abruptly. He said nothing.

After a moment of stillness, his whole body jolted. He hurriedly turned on the faucet and splashed ice water onto his face.

His flushed cheeks were frozen until blood clots seemed to form, and the whites of his eyes turned strangely red from the water getting in.

[Host?]

Wen Rong wiped the water from his face vigorously and took a deep breath. “Brother, am I being too greedy?”

[Greedy for what?]

“I think things are great right now. I want to keep them this way forever. If Senior changes in the future, I’ll be very sad.”

[Then do you love him?]

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Love…?

This word had never appeared in Wen Rong’s world. He was confused. What kind of feeling was called love?

[Or rather, if he leaves you, will you be sad?]

“Of course I’ll be sad.” Wen Rong didn’t hesitate.

[Then you love him.]

Confirming it this way was too hasty. Wen Rong tried hard to think, then countered, “But I never thought about building a family with him.”

[…]

“If the seniors from the Journalism Club left, I’d be sad too.”

The System was getting dizzy from Wen Rong’s logic. Looking at the full favorability bar next to Leon’s name, and accidentally glancing at Shi Ye, the robot thought of a brilliant idea:

[What if Shi Ye likes you?]

[Would you not be able to bear letting him go either?]

“…”

[Host?]

Wen Rong shook all over again, snapping back from his thoughts. He covered his face in despair. “Brother, we have a problem.”

[What is it?]

“Senior Lin Qizheng warned me before that Shi Ye and Senior Leon like me.”

[Mm, and you denied it at the time.]

But thinking about it carefully now, it really seemed to be the case.

There were too many reasons to support it. Wen Rong became more convinced the more he recalled.

Because Senior Liang was the same way!

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Wen Rong felt a bit embarrassed. Senior Liang was good to him, and he satisfied his wish by cosplaying Mi Lulu.

But he had received so much help from Shi Jing (sic – likely meant Shi Ye) and Senior Leon, yet hadn’t given anything back.

What should I do?

[Host doesn’t need to worry so much. They are doing it voluntarily.]

“…”

[There are others in the school who like you too. Those two are the same as the others. just treat it normally.]

“Different.”

He had rejected the others. He hadn’t rejected the kindness of Shi Ye and Senior Leon. The medicine chest and potions from the mountain climbing last time cost lots and lots of money.

Wen Rong hung his head. His wet hair couldn’t maintain its shape and splat against his forehead.

It was like a bolt of lightning, suddenly illuminating the confused mind, revealing a path.

Joy appeared on Wen Rong’s face. “Then if I treat them well too, wouldn’t that cancel it out?”

[…]

System: If your stat panel had a generic “Sense of Entitlement” category, it would be a completely thorough 0.

The moisture settled. The mirror became clearer, water droplets condensing along the edge like ripe fruits, falling with a splat on their own. Shi Ye (sic – likely meant Wen Rong) created a small puddle on the sink.

His phone lay beside the puddle, its black screen cutting off the liveliness of the internet.

Black Pigeon Forum

Thread: [Did I see that right? Walking past Wang Allen’s studio this afternoon, I saw Zhang Jincheng inside.]

[I specifically lay by the window and watched for half an hour. I can confirm with certainty that Zhang Jincheng is really using Wang Allen’s studio.]
[Didn’t Wang Allen say he didn’t plagiarize? Isn’t the school letting Zhang Jincheng in there a bit disrespectful to Wang Allen?]
[Whether he plagiarized or not is another matter. My mom just called to ask if I could order the gauze robe Wife wore from Zhang Jincheng.]
[Wen Rong is just too good-looking.]
[Not that good-looking, right? Just a set of photos with heavy makeup. So many female stars have taken photos like that; they’re way better looking than him.]
[Indeed, he doesn’t look that good in traditional costume. He should wear Mi Lulu’s skirt next time.]
[Right, right, right. Wife should cosplay Mi Lulu.]
[Are you guys that thirsty? Forgot about him smearing the school?]
[Screw that, I’m insulting him. Don’t you know Wen Rong hates people calling him Wife the most?]
[I see. Sorry, fellow student, friendly fire just now.]
[Mm.]
[But I’m quite envious of Zhang Jincheng. Everyone outside is begging for his contact info now. He must have applied for the use of Wang Allen’s studio himself, and the Student Council actually agreed.]

The thread fell into brief silence. Everyone refreshed silently, but nothing new appeared.

More than envious—they were dying of jealousy!

Who didn’t want to be the hot new rising star?

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Making money easily doing whatever, having the best resources, the most tolerant clients, without having to grind for a year, ten years, or even a lifetime like everyone else.

Finger scrolls down. Refresh.

[My application to the Student Council was rejected again today. I thought those people at the Student Council just set up a button to reject everyone uniformly.]
[Who isn’t in the same boat? Rejection is a fate I cannot escape.]

Zhang Jincheng’s sudden success was certainly enviable, but seeing that others were just as miserable as themselves made them feel relieved.

Sinking together!

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