The Foolish Bookworm of the Aristocratic Boys’ School chapter 76.1

Chapter 76: After Shi Ye Hugs, the Senior Hugs part 1

The rain came down furiously. A flash of displeasure crossed Zhou Xie’s heart, but he quickly suppressed the barely perceptible emotion.

He looked back at the villa’s main gate; Shi Ye had noticed him at the same time.

The gaze hidden behind his shoulder carried a faint hostility, but upon seeing Leon, Shi Ye’s hands retracted, and he released Wen Rong.

Zhou Xie saw Wen Rong tilt his head, as if confused.

Shi Ye said something. The rain was too loud to hear clearly, but Wen Rong turned his head, and the sentence wasn’t hard to guess.

He didn’t wear women’s clothing as required.

That was Zhou Xie’s first thought.

But when he realized Wen Rong showed no embarrassment, only head-bowed contemplation, he suddenly felt the rain was incredibly heavy, the umbrella surface shivering under its assault.

Zhou Xie had to admit he had developed an instinctive reaction to that expression.

Because that was clearly a thinking pose. And whenever Wen Rong thought, trouble followed.

He felt ridiculous for feeling intimidated by a mere Special Recruit.

To end this irrational emotion, Zhou Xie looked away and returned the umbrella to cover Leon. “Aren’t you going over to say hello?”

Leon’s mind returned to the present. The malicious urge to desensitize Shi Ye fell to the ground with the rain. His face turned cold; he tossed the cake onto the wet ground and walked straight toward the villa gate.

Rain soaked his golden hair, water droplets sliding down the tips onto his shoulders. Leon walked up to Wen Rong. “Why did you come here so early?”

“…”

“Wen Rong?”

Only then did Wen Rong look up, his face blank. “Senior, why are you so wet?”

“It’s nothing.” A smile finally floated onto Leon’s lips. “Why did you come over so early?”

“I came to find Shi Ye to learn tennis.”

“Mm, you mentioned that to me.” He paused. “Let’s go inside. It just so happens we were planning to get together today. All of us.”

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Zhou Xie thought with dissatisfaction: Even if we really are using Wen Rong to change the Federation’s power structure, we shouldn’t drag him into our foursome’s gatherings every time.

“Senior, I won’t join your gathering.”

He actually refused?

Leon was clearly more shocked than Zhou Xie, his smile stiffening. “Do you have something to do later?”

“…Mm.”

Avoiding eye contact, hesitant—obvious signs of lying.

Why was he so handy with his lies the day he wore women’s clothing, yet his performance in front of Leon is so clumsy?

Leon played along. “The rain is heavy. I’ll drive you.”

“No need, I…”

Zhou Xie glanced sideways, exhaling heavily through his nose to express his inexplicable dissatisfaction.

He walked squarely up the steps and snap—closed the automatic umbrella.

Wen Rong suddenly walked toward Shi Ye. “Do you have a spare umbrella here?”

“Yes.” Shi Ye yanked the door handle, surprisingly nervous. He didn’t step aside in time and slammed his face into the door. He stumbled back half a step, covering his nose before rushing inside without even crying out in pain.

Ten seconds later, he rushed out with an umbrella and handed it to Wen Rong.

Wen Rong said thanks, opened the umbrella, and ran hurriedly into the rain.

Zhou Xie watched the thin figure disappear, then looked at Shi Ye’s nervous face. He couldn’t help but mock, “Look at you, so nervous. Like a mistress caught by the main wife.”

The “main wife” wiped the fake smile off his face. “Shi Ye.”

Shi Ye looked away. “What?”

“Let’s talk alone.”

Water had gotten into his leather shoes. Every step felt like squeezing a sponge, the liquid squishing between his toes.

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Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Wen Rong’s heart was still pounding wildly. Like a thief on the run who wasn’t actually being chased, his body reacted uncontrollably to the escape.

The moment he arrived at Room 100, the breath suspended in his chest finally rushed out.

“What happened?” Lin Qizheng poked his head out from behind his computer, eyes wide. “Youngest, the rain is so heavy, you should have just messaged me on Black Pigeon. Why run over? You… hurry up and take off your shoes and pants. I’ll ask the President to bring some clothes over.”

Wen Rong closed the umbrella, but when he reached up and yanked the top, the frame didn’t budge.

“It’s automatic. Press the button on the handle.”

Wen Rong found the button. Sure enough, the umbrella collapsed automatically, just as Zhou Xie had done on the steps earlier.

Earlier…

Wen Rong called out hesitantly, “Senior.”

“Close the door, quick! The rain is blowing in.”

The sound of rain was explosive. After speaking, the agitation in Wen Rong’s chest continued to erupt, impossible to suppress.

He said forcefully, “Senior, can you hug me?”

“What?”

“Can you hug me?”

Wen Rong clarified, “I want a hug from you.”

“Huh?”

Lin Qizheng never expected Wen Rong to drop such a shocking line. In a normal relationship, who asks someone to hug them? “This… isn’t… isn’t appropriate…”

Then, realizing that usually only couples hugged like that, he exclaimed again, “Y-y-you don’t like me, do you?”

Wen Rong shook his head, water from his hair flinging onto his cheeks. His face, pale from the cold, showed a moment of hesitation. “Is it not allowed?”

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“Holy crap, Youngest, you really like me?”

Wen Rong paused, then shook his head again. “No, I’m just asking, is hugging not allowed?”

“Oh—”

Lin Qizheng patted his chest in relief. But after thinking about it, he sucked his breath back in. “Why do you suddenly want a hug? Two guys hugging is so awkward.”

“I…”

Wen Rong didn’t know the answer himself.

But he could hear that Senior Lin Qizheng had rejected him. Embarrassed to say more, he lowered his head slightly and turned to leave.

“Hey, Youngest—”

“Senior, I’m going back to the dorm to shower.”

Wen Rong ran back to the dormitory.

Warm water was different from rain. As it fell on his head, the clumped hair was rinsed smooth, and his chaotic thoughts evaporated with the rising temperature.

Wen Rong’s brain gradually emptied, leaving only the sensation of a heart beating in the right side of his chest.

That wasn’t his heartbeat; it was Shi Ye’s.

When he hugged Shi Ye, his limbs felt glued to the wall, unable to move. But his chest held a balloon that expanded to fill the narrow space. Pop, pop, pop—two balloons fought fiercely for territory.

But Wen Rong couldn’t beat Shi Ye, because Shi Ye wasn’t glued down. His chin and hands were helping, and Wen Rong’s shoulders and back collapsed in defeat.

“Brother.”

[Mm?]

“I want to build a family with Shi Ye.”

[What?]

As a robot, the System experienced a brief lag. It couldn’t believe its ears and asked, [Did you get a fever from the rain?]

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“I think being held by him feels very comfortable.”

Wen Rong’s mood right now was as excited as the first time he went on an outing with the Journalism Club.

But there was a difference.

Back then, his heart felt satisfied. Now, his body felt satisfied.

Yes, his body.

Wen Rong raised his arms, miming an embrace with the air, savoring the feeling of that hug.

It felt like Shi Ye had become the closest person to him in the world—closer even than the seniors in the Journalism Club. A closeness that wouldn’t separate.

[Host, no one builds a family just for a hug.]

“Is that so…”

Wen Rong hung his head. The water hit the back of his head, scalding his pale neck red, the bone of his vertebrae protruding slightly.

[The video Leon made you watch contained things that must be done to build a family. Do you want to do that kind of thing with Shi Ye?]

The video Senior sent!

A body with golden hair and blue eyes suddenly flashed before Wen Rong’s eyes—embracing, thrusting. The sound of rapid breathing drifted out from a distant memory box.

Recalling it now, he had a different understanding.

So hugging feels like this.

Because it felt like this, the two people in the video were lost in passion, whereas what he did that day was just “relief.”

Doing that kind of thing while hugging Shi Ye…

A strange flush appeared on Wen Rong’s cheeks. He covered his face with both hands. “Brother, can you go into sleep mode for another half hour?”

Half an hour later.

The phone on the sink vibrated. Zhang Lin sent a message asking how to handle the Wang Allen situation.

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Wen Rong called out to the System again, “Brother… can you sleep for another half hour?”

System: […]

Having too good a memory wasn’t a good thing. Wen Rong was aroused and seeking relief, yet images of the video and the hug with Shi Ye kept appearing in his mind.

Whenever this happened, Wen Rong would stop, spending a long time washing away the guilt of “using someone else.”

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