In the ten minutes between classes, except for those who need a bathroom run, only a few people would leave the classroom.
Zhou Sui has been in No. 1 Middle School for more than two years. Because he played well in basketball, he was also famous in his year. When suddenly someone came to the classroom to look for him, his idle schoolmates would inevitably take a second look.
Zhou Sui expected that Zhu Tong would return the medicine he sent, and he was about to take that as an opportunity to show how concerned he is. He didn’t expect Zhu Tong to do… this.
Throwing the things he sent straight into the trash?
Saying it so bluntly?
Not only outright rejection, but showing disgust and publicly humiliating him?
His classmates were shocked.
They knew Zhou Sui quite well. He was usually a mild-mannered person, only a bit careless. He has dated an unknown number of girlfriends in school, and he had many ways to romance a girl.
But Zhou Sui’s previous pursuits were basically all girls, and he never failed.
Now he was… hitting a wall?
And the boy just threw the plastic bag into the trash?
Is it the Zhu Tong they knew about? The 2nd Year sick beauty who made quite a splash a while back?
Even Zhou Sui was interested in that sick beauty?
Someone in the classroom immediately joked, “Yo, Sui-ge, you are very brave.”
“This little boy is very ruthless. How disgusted he was to be able to do this?”
“So decisive!”
“Zhou Sui, you have a day when you’re rejected this hard, hahaha.”
The sound of joking and sarcasm all around made Zhou Sui’s heart stunned until his breathing almost stagnated.
He reluctantly maintained his superficial calm demeanor and looked at the boy who came to deliver the things, “This… Did Junior Brother Zhu Tong misunderstand something? I gave him medicine because his older brother asked me to take care of him in school, nothing else.”
The boy was unmoved by his words. “Oh”, he reacted, before continuing, “I’m only the messenger. You have to tell him that yourself.”
But then, the boy seemed to remember something. “But he said that there’s no need for you to approach him, so I don’t think it’s necessary for you to explain to him.”
“…”
That Zhu Tong was so good at rejecting.
Zhou Sui kept a smile on his face, but he actually gritted his teeth. Before he could speak, the boy had already turned around and left.
The rest of the Class 7 immediately surrounded them with gossip on their faces.
“What do you mean, Zhou Sui? You still know Zhu Tong’s older brother?”
“Is it true? I heard that Zhu Tong’s family relationship is quite complicated. You actually know his older brother? How did you know him?”
Zhou Sui calmed down and said with a smile, “I met him by chance while playing basketball in the city.”
He drew closer to the relationship between him and Qin Junhong, but he scolded Qin Junhong over and over again in his heart.
–He said that Zhu Tong trusted very much.
‘Trust my ass!’
‘If he really trusts him, how can I, as his “friend”, get this attitude?’
‘Is it because he doesn’t believe that I am Qin Junhong’s “friend”?’
‘Not impossible.’
Zhou Sui quickly calmed down. As he observed the gossip around him, he took his mobile phone and sent Qin Junhong a message.
In the 2nd Year teaching building, after the last class in the morning, Zhu Tong just turned on his mobile phone when he received a WeChat message from Qin Junhong.
<Qin Junhong>: I heard that Zhou Sui was looking for you at school? I’m sorry, I was just worried about what trouble you would encounter in school. I didn’t intend to tell you, but he missed the point.
<Qin Junhong>: But he is not malicious either, I hope you don’t mind.
Zhu Tong: “…”
Qin Junhong really could act. He could even wear the face of a worried brother who asked nothing in return.
Zhu Tong’s mood, which had just been washed and purified by the chemistry class, was instantly shrouded in smog.
He said in his mind, ‘Can I go back and kill him now?’
The system reminded him, ‘The host’s current favorability has not reached 50%, and there is a risk of a heart attack after a very “exciting” event. Such high-intensity action is not recommended.’
Zhu Tong frowned suddenly.
It was not difficult to monitor Qin Junhong and his mother, but it was difficult to have reason and evidence to justify such a thing.
The mother-son pair have not done anything morally corrupt or criminal. Although Zhu Shoushan and those two have no familial feelings, they cared about their faces and were most afraid of trouble.
It was almost impossible for him to drive those two out of the Zhu family’s house without any basis.
Zhu Tong didn’t care what his father thinks. However, Xiao Xin was taken care of by Qin Manwen since she was a child, so he knew she had some good feelings towards her.
If he really drove them out, there would be trouble on the horizon.
–Though, getting into trouble was a trivial matter. In case he really got a heart attack in the process of solving those trouble… that is not worth it.
He should focus on increasing the favorability level first.
After weighing it, Zhu Tong sighed and blocked Qin Junhong.
Shao Ming leaned against the window sill next to him, watching his every move. Since he returned to the classroom with a plastic bag, he seemed to be in a bad mood.
The reason for the bad mood was not hard to guess.
Just why does Zhu Tong hate Zhou Sui so much?
Although Zhou Sui was indeed quite annoying, Zhu Tong’s attitude towards Zhou Sui seems to be more than just “disgusted”.
Even Yuan Shaozhou, who he “personally” taught him a lesson, failed to arouse that many negative emotions towards him.
But now… his face was almost stretched into dough.
‘It’s cute though.’
Zhu Tong’s emotions have always been restrained. Even when angry, he expressed his thoughts expressionlessly.
Just what can make his expressions fluctuate so much?
Shao Ming looked at him for a while, then suddenly took a pen and poked his face with the end of the pen cap.
The cap of the pen was slightly cold, and Zhu Tong was startled and turned his head subconsciously.
“Do you need your deskmate to remind you of the time?”
Zhu Tong: “…what time is it?”
“Time for lunch.”
“…”
Shao Ming continued, “Are you going?”
Zhu Tong finally calmed down. He nodded and said, “Go.”
He lowered his head and took the pen that he had not used for a long time in his hand, closed the cap, and turned to organize the books on the desk.
Shao Ming withdrew his hand and waited patiently for him to clean up.
Before throwing the pen back into the pen holder, he glanced at the pure black cap, then looked at Zhu Tong’s face that he had just poked with the said pen cap. Thinking about Zhu Tong’s depressed expression in contrast to now, a smile escaped from his lips.
‘Very soft… I want to touch it directly.’
Zhu Tong didn’t know what he was thinking. He tidied up the table according to his previous habit, and habitually opened the desk’s locker to get his breakfast’s food box. When he failed to get anything, he realized that he seemed to have forgotten something important.
Usually, Uncle Liu helped him prepare breakfast and brought it to school, and when he returned at noon, he would take the food box back.
No food box today because he didn’t have breakfast at school today.
He suddenly looked at Shao Ming. “We…”
As soon as he opened the locker, Shao Ming knew what he was going to do, and naturally he knew what he wanted to ask. But pretended to be puzzled. “Huh? What?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
He wanted to ask if they really wanted to live together.
–But he seems to have asked.
While hesitating, Uncle Liu suddenly called.
Zhu Tong: “…”
When the two returned to the homestay, Uncle Liu was already waiting in the courtyard.
He still had the same bitter and resentful face that morning, and Shao Ming’s expression was also quite stinky.
Zhu Tong felt guilty, but at the same time he couldn’t say anything.
Why did he suddenly live here?
‘Is it so bad to live here? Not only is it convenient to gain favorability, it’s quite close to school.’ The system’s sound resounded in his brain.
But for Zhu Tong, things weren’t as simple as that.
When the school started, because he rented a room here, Shao Ming suspected he had an impure motive, thus making him almost sent to the heavens.
Now he came back here again and stayed in Shao Ming’s room.
‘This should be… an improvement, right? At least it means that Shao Ming has no doubts about me.’
But to live with Shao Ming, he was inexplicably a little nervous.
“Why don’t I stay in the single suite next door?”
After taking the glass of water that Shao Ming handed him, Zhu Tong said hesitantly.
Shao Ming saw his nervousness and was about to speak when Uncle Liu, who was helping him clean up the room, suddenly came out and said, “Master, the room is all cleaned up. I live next door, so no matter what happens, I will rush here as soon as possible!”
As he spoke, he glanced at Shao Ming with a warning.
Zhu Tong: “…”
He also turned to look at Shao Ming, who only shrugged.
Zhu Tong sighed.
Uncle Liu blocked his way back.
–He had so many things to say, especially because he’s afraid his Young Master would be eaten clean by a certain someone. He told Zhu Tong thousands of cautions and instructions.
Being disturbed by Uncle Liu, Zhu Tong was not so nervous.
He closed the door and walked back to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and looked at Shao Ming, who sat opposite him.
Shao Ming was calm, and still has the mind to peel the apple. His movement and technique was enough to peel the skin without breaking it.
Zhu Tong paused and said, “I can’t afford to keep the lie going.”
Shao Ming lowered his head and raised his eyebrows. ‘He thinks that I asked him to live here just to keep the lie going?’
He smiled and replied, “It’s okay, of course I will turn that lie into truth.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
–Isn’t the lie was for his sake?
Still wanting to say something, Shao Ming cut him before he could say it. “Are you hungry?”
Zhu Tong was stunned for a while, suddenly realizing that they hadn’t had lunch yet.
“…a little bit.”
Shao Ming handed him the peeled apple, “Eat an apple to pad your stomach first.”
Zhu Tong looked at the apple in his hand, then made eye contact with Shao Ming. “What about you?”
Shao Ming said, “I’ll go fix our lunch.”
Saying that, he shoved the apple directly into Zhu Tong’s hand. Purely by reflex, Zhu Tong caught it. He asked, “You cook by yourself?”
“Yeah, what would you like to eat, Young Master?”
“…”
Zhu Tong also stood up, a little surprised that his deskmate could still cook.
Shao Ming has skillfully tied his apron.
Seeing Zhu Tong following up with an apple in his hand, eyes sparkled with curiosity, he couldn’t help but hook his lips.
‘–He looked like a little naughty imp.’ Shao Ming thought.
But Shao Ming didn’t say anything, just turned his head to look in the direction of the door.
Uncle Liu was peeking, looking nervous as he looked towards Zhu Tong. He should still be very concerned. However… why didn’t he ask around the school? As long as he asked around, he would know that last night Zhu Tong was sent to the hospital, and he really didn’t go to Shao Ming for a tutoring session.
If he knew that they were lying, why didn’t he say anything? He really let Zhu Tong move to Shao Ming’s home?
Shao Ming pursed his lower lip subconsciously.
‘Or did I think too much?’
A City, in a villa complex.
As soon as Cheng Qingsong received a call from Uncle Liu, the housekeeper walked in with a stack of high-definition photos in his hand.
The person in the photo is his grandson. But, there are also a couple of photos of a handsome boy.
All the photos were taken from multiple viewpoints, and the locations were not uniform.
There was a photo of them riding a bicycle together, and another one where his grandson was carried princess-style by the taller boy.
Regardless, every photo of them together was quite intimate.
The expression of his grandson in the photo did not contain any rejection or disgust.
Is this really his grandson? His grandson, who had to bathe and disinfect his body immediately when touched by a stranger?
Cheng Qingsong, who had never been so close to his grandson, had a very complicated mood when he saw these photos.
He turned to look at the person who had been standing next to him — the family doctor he found for Zhu Tong.
“Tongtong’s condition improved, is it really because of the boy in these photos?”
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