Chapter 65 (Extra 5)
When Yu Le moved into the villa, the most delighted was Lu Xingxing.
At dinner, Lu Xingxing piled Yu Le’s plate high with all the dishes she thought were delicious: “Brother, eat this, and this, and make sure to try this one too, and this, this, and this.”
With every bite, Yu Le was called “Brother” so often that it felt like he was turning into a pigeon.
Usually, when addressing Lu Yao, she would sternly call him “Boss Lu.”
Yu Le was overwhelmed with gratitude, “Thank you, little sister. You’re really a good person.”
Smack.
The fried eggplant pancake Lu Xingxing had just picked up fell back onto the plate.
She looked at Yu Le in disbelief: “Brother, how can you do this? I’m still so young, and you’re giving me a good person card?”
Yu Le: “???”
Lu Yao picked up the fried eggplant pancake and placed it in Lu Xingxing’s bowl: “You’re still so young, and you’re talking so much.” Then he turned to Yu Le and said, “Don’t mind her. She’s just being dramatic.”
Lu Xingxing immediately pointed her chopsticks at Lu Yao: “Boss Lu! I, Lu Xingxing, in the name of the Dark Queen of Ancient Nara, command you not to embarrass me in front of the new brother, or I’ll turn you into a pig!”
Lu Yao: “You’re already a pig without needing to be turned.”
Lu Xingxing: “?”
Lu Xingxing: “Mom! Control your daughter!”
Mrs. Lu was used to it by now. She didn’t help either, but smiled as she served Yu Le a bowl of soup: “A friend from Yun City sent us many kinds of mushrooms. This is mushroom soup; try it, Yu Le, and see how it tastes?”
Yu Le quickly accepted: “Thank you, Auntie.”
Lu Yao looked up: “Mom, are you sure it’s cooked?”
Mrs. Lu: “Of course. It’s been stewed for a long time, even the leather should be cooked. Don’t worry, it won’t make you lie down like a dead man.”
Yu Le drank three big bowls of soup, and it was very fresh, fragrant, and filling.
When the guest room was ready, Lu Yao also ushered Cotton, the dog, into his room.
Yu Le: “?”
Lu Yao: “Let it keep you company. If you need anything, send me a message or come find me; I’m right next door.”
Cotton was indeed very obedient, not jumping on the bed or the sofa. Yu Le sat at his desk, and Cotton sat quietly by his feet. Whenever Yu Le seemed to want to pet it, Cotton would immediately lift its front paw onto Yu Le’s lap and lick his hand.
With its fluffy body and soft ears, it was adorable and comforting.
How could anyone concentrate on homework?
He picked Cotton up, heavily placing it on his lap, and let its front paws rest on the desk, pointing to a physics problem he had been stuck on for a long time: “Cotton, how do I solve this problem?”
Cotton looked up at him with its sweet, adorable face.
Yu Le rubbed its face: “Can’t be, right? Some dogs who live with top students learn by observation. Can’t you solve this too?”
Cotton licked his chin.
Ding~
A message came in.
Yu Le put Cotton down and grabbed his phone.
Desk Partner: [Tonight’s study hall teacher is Mr. Jia. He’s started pretending to go for a walk and then peeking through the window again!]
Desk Partner: [/facepalm]
Yu Le: [/petting dog head jpg.]
Desk Partner: [Aren’t you guys without a teacher for evening study? Reply quickly.]
Yu Le: [I didn’t attend evening study.]
Desk Partner: [You skipped?]
Yu Le: [No, I’m not staying at the dorm anymore~]
Desk Partner: [So where are you staying? Didn’t you say you had no relatives in Xuan City? Did you rent a place or find a new relative?]
New relative? Yu Le was amused by his desk partner’s train of thought, but then suddenly remembered something, and his smile froze.
In some ways, it seemed like his desk partner was onto something.
Yu Le: [Well… sort of?]
Desk Partner: [???]
Desk Partner: [Dude, I just said that casually. Don’t mess around. Do your parents know?]
Yu Le: [I’m staying with my new desk partner. My parents know.]
Desk Partner: [Brother Lu???]
Yu Le: [Mm.]
Desk Partner: [……]
Desk Partner: [Are you renting from him? Like paying rent?]
Yu Le: [I wanted to, but my new desk partner said his home is only suitable for family living, not for renting out.]
Desk Partner: [Feng Shui? Does that still exist???]
Desk Partner: [Honestly, I think something’s off.]
Yu Le: [Why?]
Desk Partner: [Don’t you think your relationship has progressed a bit too quickly?]
Desk Partner: [Usually, if something like this happens, it’s either planned or premeditated.]
Yu Le: [You’re overthinking it. No one expected I would have an allergy.]
Yu Le: [Being gay doesn’t mean liking every guy; we can’t generalize. One must have clear self-awareness.]
Desk Partner: [???]
Desk Partner: [What?! Did he tell you he likes guys??]
Yu Le: [No!]
Desk Partner: [Oh, so how do you know?]
Yu Le: [He just told me he doesn’t like girls.]
Desk Partner: […… Isn’t that basically the same thing!!!]
Desk Partner: [I don’t just think something’s off; I think it’s very off!]
Desk Partner: [Don’t you feel anything?]
Yu Le: [No.]
Yu Le: [You have a bias against Brother Lu; I think it’s not as serious.]
Desk Partner: [……]
Not convinced, the desk partner spent nearly 10 minutes recounting grim tales of wolves eating little white rabbits and weasels eating chicks, passionately and tearfully. Then asked Yu Le: [Do you understand?]
Yu Le: [Mm.]
Desk Partner: [So what are you planning to do now?]
Yu Le: [I’m going to find him.]
Desk Partner: [???? What the heck?!]
Yu Le: [I’m stuck on a physics problem, and I’m going to ask him how to solve it.]
Desk Partner: […… Damn.]
Yu Le, holding his physics workbook and Cotton, stood at the door of the adjacent room and knocked.
“Who’s there?” Lu Yao’s voice sounded distant from the door.
Yu Le: “It’s me, and a little dog.”
After two seconds, the voice from inside replied: “The door isn’t locked, come in.”
Yu Le pushed the door open. Cotton, more enthusiastic than Yu Le, nudged its way inside.
Lu Yao had apparently just come out of the shower, with half-dry hair and only a loose white pair of shorts on, his shoulders broad and waist slim, with well-defined lines and a layer of light muscle. His cool, pale skin, combined with his relaxed expression, made his gaze, when he looked up casually, extraordinarily captivating.
In that moment of eye contact, Yu Le felt his heart skip several beats.
His feet seemed to be rooted to the spot. He silently raised his hand, using the workbook to shield his face and avoid eye contact.
“What are you hiding for?” Lu Yao’s voice was lazy and particularly pleasant to hear at night.
Yu Le peeked from behind the workbook and saw Lu Yao putting on a white T-shirt from the bed. He then lowered his hand, “Wow, your physique is amazing; it makes me a bit shy.”
Lu Yao seemed to chuckle lightly, but Yu Le didn’t see it clearly as someone brushed past him and patted his head.
Lu Yao walked to the desk to get his phone: “What do you need?”
Yu Le followed him: “I have a problem I can’t solve.”
Lu Yao, seemingly anticipating this, pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit: “Come and sit down.”
Yu Le immediately sat, spread his workbook on the keyboard, and pointed to a problem: “This one has been stumping me for a long time.”
Lu Yao didn’t take his pen. Instead, he took a pencil from the pen holder by the computer, casually propped his left hand on the edge of the desk, leaned over, and wrote the solution next to the problem.
Yu Le was about to praise his skills for solving such a difficult problem so easily, but a faint, pleasant fragrance that drifted into his nose cut off his praise before it could reach his lips.
It wasn’t a strong fragrance but the subtle scent of body wash, light and refreshing, just like the feeling Lu Yao gave him, incredibly soothing.
It was just too faint, sometimes strong, sometimes absent.
“Once you’ve confirmed the formula to use, then plug in the values—”
Lu Yao’s voice was suddenly interrupted as he was gently pulled down by a finger on his collar, feeling a faint warmth on his neck.
He looked down at the pale, slender side of his neck, swallowed, and said softly: “What’s up?”
Yu Le twitched his nose a few times: “This smell is so nice.” It was like the scent of grass after rain.
The warmth on his neck became even more noticeable when he spoke.
The pen fell on the desk with a clatter, and before Yu
Le’s words could finish, his forehead was pushed backward.
Lu Yao: “You’re here to do homework, not to be a pervert.”
Yu Le was taken aback, then laughed, and let go of his hand, lowering his head to smell himself: “But isn’t this the same body wash we use?”
Lu Yao: “Yes.”
Yu Le: “Yours smells better.”
Lu Yao: “Come back tomorrow to wash yourself.”
Yu Le: “But I washed at your place last night. It seems like it only smells good on you—?”
Lu Yao pinched his face, “Still doing the problems?”
Yu Le, pouted as his mouth was pinched, “Yes.”
Lu Yao: “Then focus and stop sniffing around. Can you do that?”
Yu Le nodded: “Yes.”
Lu Yao released him, pushed the chair and himself to the side a bit, and pulled another chair from the side of the desk. He turned on the computer, and the keyboard lights up, “Do your work here. If you don’t understand something, ask me.”
Yu Le said “okay,” spun his chair back and forth, and asked, “What about you? What are you going to do now?”
Lu Yao: “Play games.”
To avoid disturbing Yu Le, Lu Yao didn’t use speakers but wore only one Bluetooth earphone. To Yu Le, the room was so quiet that only the sound of Lu Yao typing on the keyboard could be heard. To Lu Yao, it was a cacophony of chaos.
“Brother Lu! That wolf that blocked the road almost squashed me with one swipe, boohoo!”
“I told you to run fast, but you had to poke it! Hands off!”
“You too! You just poked the gorilla’s butt, don’t think I didn’t see!” “Well, I run fast. Come and try it if you can?”
“Damn, with your sarcastic comments, let’s just die already.”
Here is the English translation of the text:
—
“You’re the only one who can ambush; I can ambush too, and keep ambushing.”
“Stop hitting, you all stop hitting!”
“……”
“Where’s Brother Lu? Why has he been silent all this time?”
Lu Yao: “I’m here.”
Shen Yu: “Oh, he’s not mute, haha.”
Classmate 1: “Let’s go, we just went to the top of the mountain! With Brother Lu here, I’m invincible!”
Classmate 2: “I’ll go back and fight a wolf first. Shen Yu just left it with half a health bar, I’ll pick up the kill, haha.”
Shen Yu: “You’re a farmer, haha!”
It was too noisy. Lu Yao turned down the volume of his headphones, tilted his head, and tapped the desk. The person who had been distracted, playing with the dog, immediately looked up and continued working.
Lu Yao: “Can’t figure it out again?”
From the headphones: “What?”
Yu Le nodded obediently.
Lu Yao: “Bring it over.”
From the headphones: “Huh? The big axe? But this one has a nick in it.”
Lu Yao: “I’m not talking to you.”
Yu Le: “But aren’t you busy? Can you manage?”
The headphones immediately filled with疑音:
Shen Yu: “How did I hear Yu Le’s voice?”
Classmate 1: “I heard it too. Isn’t Yu Le living in the dorm?”
Classmate 2: “How come you’re all together? Brother Lu, are you at school?”
Shen Yu: “Where would there be computers at school?”
Classmate 2: “No way, it’s only been a few days since school started and he’s already moved in with someone?”
The three were arguing like tadpoles looking for their mother. Lu Yao simply muted them: “Managing one more person is more than enough.”
Yu Le’s face lit up with a smile as he immediately leaned over: “Big Brother, this question, this question, and this one.”
And so, he and the people on the other end of the headphones witnessed Xuan City’s top student master the art of multitasking.
“Understand the problem, determine if it’s gravity or friction, and calculate the values before applying the formula. The 3KG here needs to be converted…”
Yu Le was dumbfounded, watching as Lu Yao’s right hand swiftly wrote out the solution while his left hand skillfully operated the keyboard. His eyes went wide.
His worldview, as well as his views on life and values, were all struck.
Lu Yao even found a moment to use the back of his hand to prop up Yu Le’s chin: “Come back to reality, don’t just stare.”
The other three people present weren’t much better:
“Damn, is Brother Lu teaching someone?”
“So who’s the guy with the big axe killing the enemies???”
“……Brother Lu is really impressive.”
–
After a few good friends tirelessly promoted their older brother’s impressive skill of doing homework with one hand and playing games with the other, the news that the transfer student moved into the school bully’s home spread explosively at school the day after the new term began.
Such small talk among a few people behind closed doors is boring; in the group chat with so many people, the messages scrolled by so quickly that they were unreadable. Thus, the “gathering of heroes” on the forum, with its large number of people, became the perfect place for information to ferment.
1L: [Not spreading rumors or misinformation, this is what Brother Lu’s friends said themselves. No exaggeration, absolutely authentic!]
2L: [I asked the dorm students in Class 3, Yu Le indeed moved out a week ago. Someone even checked Room 305, and the beds are all empty.]
3L: [kdlkdl]
…
14L: [What? Yu Le moved out because he was allergic in the dorm. There was no other way, so he had to move out. Don’t spread false rumors.]
15L: [Damn, my neck is so itchy. Could I be allergic too?!]
16L: [Not necessarily, it might be that you need to grow a brain.]
17L: [My stomach hurts so bad, no, I can’t take it, quickly, give Brother Lu a call…]
18L: [Above, just live in the dorm. I’ll take care of it.]
…
28L: [I also have a vacant room at my house, Yu Le can stay with me/sex/sex]
29L: [My house doesn’t have a room QAQ, but I can move to the doghouse and sleep with my dog! Yu Le, haha, hehe]
30L: [What nonsense? Can you play games with one hand and do physics problems with the other?]
31L: [Shrimp and pork heart, puke]
32L: [/knocking on bowl to take in heartbroken high school boys, no poopers please!]
…
The story of the school bully and the transfer student was sensational on the forum, but the transfer student himself didn’t know. He was very busy, busy learning how to skip classes by climbing walls from the top student.
“Isn’t this inappropriate?” Shen Yu said with a grin, contrasting with his current expression, “Taking the new student to skip classes is too inconsiderate. If Old Liu knew you were taking care of Yu Le like this, he’d be furious!”
Lu Yao didn’t respond.
Yu Le, who had just struggled to keep his eyes open during math class, was rejuvenated after coming downstairs, even feeling vaguely excited.
He had never skipped classes by climbing walls before.
“Are we going to have to write a self-criticism later?” he asked.
Shen Yu: “No way! Don’t worry, Old Liu has long turned a blind eye to us. As long as we don’t get caught by the discipline inspection department, there’s no problem~”
It was the same old place. A year had passed, and Shen Yu’s wall-climbing skills hadn’t improved at all, entirely relying on Lu Yao’s friendship for help.
Now they needed to add Yu Le to the mix.
Not knowing how high the wall was, he was about 1.7 meters tall, not short, but still had to make an effort to reach the top.
“I don’t think I can do it.” He said, feeling disgruntled, “Maybe I should just go back to class.”
“Class?” Lu Yao said ambiguously, “You call that state where you can’t understand, can’t learn, can’t keep your eyes open, and can’t dare to sleep, attending class?”
Yu Le: “……”
It hurts to hear that QAQ.
Lu Yao: “Jump up. I’m here, what are you afraid of?”
Shen Yu also chimed in from the next room. “Go for it, Yu Le. Brother Lu is solid!”
Alright, Yu Le prepared to jump.
He rubbed his hands, took a run-up, and leaped, attempting to grab the top while jumping directly over it. Unfortunately, reality didn’t allow it. His arm strength wasn’t enough, so he not only failed to get over but almost lost his grip and fell back.
Fortunately, Lu Yao promptly supported his waist, exerting force to lift him up. Yu Le managed to prop himself up with his arms and successfully sat on the wall.
What a fresh perspective, unseen before.
The strong feeling on his waist was still lingering. Yu Le looked down at the ground, swallowed, and his heart pounded. He wasn’t sure if it was excitement for skipping classes or the thrill of climbing the wall.
“Don’t come down yet.” Lu Yao rolled up his jacket sleeves.
Yu Le nodded and asked him. “Do you want me to pull you up?”
“No need.” At a height of 2.2 meters, it was too easy for Lu Yao. The whole process, from climbing up to jumping down, took less than three seconds.
Yu Le saw how easily Lu Yao jumped and felt a deep sense of “If the older brother can do it, the younger brother can too,” and then looked down, “I really am the younger brother.”
It was a bit high and felt like it could break his dog’s legs.
Shen Yu: “Don’t be afraid, be careful when you land. You won’t fall!”
Lu Yao: “Jump.”
Yu Le looked down at them: “Brother, I weigh over a hundred kilograms. Will I crush you?”
Lu Yao: “No—”
“Hey! What are you doing on that wall over there!”
“Which class are you from? Come down!”
Shen Yu: “Damn! Why did the discipline inspection department come at this time? Yu Le, hurry up, or we’re all done for!”
Not far away, a man and a woman were running towards them with a record book, shouting for him to come down quickly.
Yu Le’s heart tightened immediately.
No, can’t let Lu Yao get in trouble with him! He steeled himself, closed his eyes, and jumped down with one final effort.
He didn’t fall. Lu Yao bore the impact and steadied him.
“Damn!” Shen Yu: “They even want to chase us out of the school gate!”
Yu Le’s feet touched the ground, and just as he felt safe landing, he was pulled by the hand and sprinted away from the school gate.
The scenery on both sides blurred as it retreated, with Lu Yao’s school uniform flapping in the wind, and the sound of rushing wind in his ears.
He widened his eyes, facing the early autumn sunset, and the youthful rebellious spirit in his chest expanded rapidly. His heartbeat soared, almost jumping out of his throat!
