Zhu Tong was born with a weak constitution, but having poor health didn’t mean he was abnormal in certain aspects. It’s just that nobody had ever guided him in matters of the flesh. He was tormented by illness, lacking the energy to explore more, unlike his peers.
He had a few rare reactions, but he didn’t care much about them.
During junior high biology class, he overheard some boys chatting about physiological matters, but lacking similar experiences, he couldn’t muster any interest. Moreover, due to some unspeakable vulgar language they used, he felt repulsed.
So when he noticed something unusual, Zhu Tong’s first reaction was to rush to the bathroom.
Once inside, he did nothing. He only leaned against the cold wall to calm himself down.
He should be able to calm down quickly.
But it was really chilly.
Winter had arrived, and even though the room had air conditioning, the bathroom’s tiled walls were still very cold to the touch.
After leaning against it for a while, unable to bear the cold, he straightened up, relaxed for a moment, then leaned in again, repeating several times until he finally calmed down.
He sighed and then began to wash up.
After finishing up, as he stepped out of the bathroom, he collided with someone who had been waiting outside for who knows how long.
Zhu Tong’s face flushed, feeling the warmth he had just shed returning. “You… why are you here?”
Shao Ming was holding a blanket, looking at the somewhat loose and thin long blue pajamas on him, furrowing his brows lightly. He opened the blanket and wrapped Zhu Tong entirely in it. “It’s so cold, and you’re out here like this?”
“…”
His icy body suddenly enveloped in warmth, it was indescribably comfortable.
Zhu Tong rubbed against the smooth, soft blanket, looking up in confusion.
So Shao Ming waited outside the bathroom, fearing he might catch a cold from wearing too little?
Not only did Zhu Tong feel warm physically, but his heart also felt the warmth. His tense body relaxed. “It’s okay, I won’t catch a cold that easily.”
But Shao Ming was still worried. He brushed a stray strand of hair from Zhu Tong’s eye and asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere these days?”
Zhu Tong blinked in confusion. “Why are you asking?”
Shao Ming said, “Because you spent quite a long time inside.”
“…”
When he was washing up, Shao Ming was in the kitchen, right? How did he know that he took too long?
Why did it take “too long”?
Zhu Tong blushed a bit, feeling guilty. “I’m not feeling unwell, it’s just that it’s cold, and the water heater takes time to heat up.”
Shao Ming: “…”
He looked at Zhu Tong strangely for a moment.
Indeed, the water heater did heat up more slowly in winter, but Zhu Tong almost always entered the bathroom after him, so the water heater quickly heated up.
Shao Ming couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. Suddenly, he noticed the reddened ears of the youth in front of him.
“?”
Before he could think of a reason, Zhu Tong quickly wrapped himself tighter in the blanket and pushed him into the bathroom. “You should wash up quickly. Else, you’ll be late.”
With that, he walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Shao Ming: “…”
Once out, Zhu Tong breathed a sigh of relief, glancing back at the bathroom before hurrying back to his room to change.
Back at school during the day, Zhu Tong resumed his daily routine of “diligent studying.”
Actually, Zhu Tong didn’t find the routine hard and terrible. However, there’s a kind of hardship in the world called others thinking you’re hardworking.
“Zhu Tong is truly the most inspiring second-generation rich kid I’ve ever seen. With such a wealthy family, he still studies so diligently.”
“He studies so hard every day… does he have enough brain cells?”
“I don’t know if he has enough, but I’m sure I don’t have, ah. I feel like my brain cells aren’t enough even when I read novels every night.”
“Do you even need brain cells to read novels? Like that one you’re reading, ‘I Rely on Strategy to Capture Male God’? That kind of novel doesn’t require brains, okay?”
“…”
Two girls sitting in front of him were passionately discussing, and Shao Ming, who was summarizing knowledge points behind them, heard bits of their conversation here and there. His pen paused slightly, then he suddenly looked up.
Shao Ming had never been interested in entertainment media, be it novels, movies, or TV shows… well, not that he wasn’t interested, but ever since he grew up, it seemed like no one had given him the opportunity to relax and enjoy these things.
He had always been curious about Zhu Tong’s “secret”. He had some speculations, but he couldn’t confirm them.
Just now, he accidentally heard their conversation, which made some of his thoughts, which had been hovering without a definite answer, suddenly have a focal point.
His gaze suddenly fixed, and one of the girls discussing turned her head unintentionally, meeting Shao Ming’s expressionless gaze.
The girl’s heart jumped, and she pulled her deskmate suddenly.
Her deskmate also saw it. The two girls exchanged glances, both with inexplicable emotions in their eyes.
Why was the Study God staring at them?
Because they just discussed Zhu Tong?
The two girls discussing leaned closer, lowering their voices, “Did you feel that since the Study God and Zhu Tong came back from A City, their relationship seems different?”
The other girl nodded in agreement. “Not only is their relationship different, I’ve noticed that Zhu Tong seems different from before too.”
Then, once it was pointed out, suddenly, everything made sense.
Since returning from A City, not only did Zhu Tong no longer go to the hospital, but there was also no trace of illness on his face, and his spirit was high.
“He looks even more handsome than before.”
“Is this the nourishment of love?”
“…”
Without knowing who started it, they burst into laughter. The two girls turned their heads secretly and found that the study god was no longer staring at them but was now focusing on his deskmate.
The two exchanged glances again, their mouths involuntarily curling up, their eyes met as they telepathically communicated: ‘Exactly!’
Shao Ming stared at Zhu Tong without looking away.
Zhu Tong was exceptionally focused, able to automatically block out the gaze of others when immersed in his mock exam problems.
However, this “others” did not include Shao Ming.
After being stared at continuously for more than ten seconds, Zhu Tong turned his head slowly after filling in an option for a multiple-choice question.
Shao Ming had changed from leaning on one side to propping his head with one hand.
Zhu Tong was slightly stirred by his somewhat lazy demeanor, his heart pounding. He forced himself to stay calm and asked, “What’s wrong? Did I make a mistake?”
“…”
Shao Ming pondered for a moment. “Is your body really okay? If you’re uncomfortable, don’t hide it from me.”
He brought up the “old matter” again. Zhu Tong was stunned for a moment, then quickly avoided his gaze and said, “There’s really nothing wrong.”
As he spoke, fearing that Shao Ming was genuinely worried about his health, he added, “I won’t hide anything from you.”
Shao Ming looked at his ears calmly.
‘Mn, it’s reddening again.’
‘It seems like it’s not a physical problem.’
‘As for what the problem is…’ Shao Ming smiled mysteriously, full of hidden meaning.
‘I will know sooner or later.’
He didn’t disturb Zhu Tong further and continued to organize his notebook, while also improving Zhu Tong’s study plan.
The young master’s efforts didn’t need his worry, he could only help improve efficiency.
In the evening, when he returned home, Zhu Tong, as usual, did his math homework. When he reached the last question, his phone buzzed on the desk.
He picked it up and glanced at it. It was a message from his cousin.
The New Year holiday was coming soon, and Zhu Tong wondered if it was another message from his Auntie using her son to ask him to come home for dinner. He opened the WeChat message and was puzzled for a moment.
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: How have you been recently? Any troubles?
<Zhu>: ?
What troubles could he have at school? Would unfinished mock exam papers count?
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: It’s good if there’s nothing wrong. Take care.
<Zhu>: ….
<Zhu>: Just talk.
Cheng Chen also couldn’t hold back, hesitating for less than half a minute before blurting everything out.
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: There have been some rumors in the wealthy family circles of A City recently. It’s said that your sweetheart is the illegitimate child of a certain group’s CEO in A City. You are now one of the candidates for a son-in-law favored by those old foxes in A City. Cousin is reminding you to pay more attention to your sweetheart.
Zhu Tong: …
Son-in-law candidate? Illegitimate child?
Son-in-law candidate… because of Uncle Liu?
Uncle Liu had indeed been quite busy recently. After the private estate banquet, the people in A City who had appointments to meet him were probably queuing up until after New Year’s.
Grandfather also arranged a new driver for him, but he still used bicycle as his means of transportation to and from school. He never used the driver.
It didn’t matter how those people in A City saw him, as long as they didn’t provoke him directly.
But what did “illegitimate child” mean? Was Shao Ming an illegitimate child?
How was that possible?
Zhu Tong was about to refute it, but his typing hand paused slightly.
It’s not… impossible, is it?
At this moment, his phone buzzed again.
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: Do you know about his family background?
Zhu Tong didn’t know.
He thought he understood Shao Ming quite well—his mother, his stepfather, his upbringing… But he really didn’t know about Shao Ming’s biological father.
There was a vague mention by Qiu Shaoping when he caused trouble at the milk tea shop, something about Shao Yujie dreaming of climbing into becoming a wealthy family’s madam…
‘Wait, a wealthy family’s madam?’
Zhu Tong thought back carefully, his eyes widening in astonishment.
‘Shao Ming’s biological father couldn’t really be in A City, could he?’
Zhu Tong furrowed his brows suddenly.
As far as he knew, from childhood to adulthood, Shao Ming’s biological father had never appeared in his life. What kind of biological father was he, who was irresponsible enough to let someone get pregnant before marriage and then allowed his own son to be abused for so many years without caring?
He lowered his head and typed.
<Zhu>: Is the rumor saying that Shao Ming is the illegitimate child, or that my sweetheart is?
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: …
Zhu Tong looked at the words he had sent out—”my sweetheart”—and couldn’t help but feel his face heat up, but he didn’t retract the message.
<Zhu>: What were their exact words?
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: Naturally, there were all kinds of words — someone who is in love with you, someone who plays with you, someone who accompanies you, and so on.
Zhu Tong: “…”
His brows furrowed even tighter.
The rumor of being an illegitimate child emerged right after Uncle Liu hosted the banquet…
<Zhu>: Can you find out who spread the rumor?
<Young Master Cheng’s Love of Crime 2>: I’m looking into it.
Zhu Tong silently hoped that his cousin would be reliable this time and replied: [Thanks, cousin.]
Putting down his phone, he sighed suddenly.
“Why the deep sigh?”
Shao Ming suddenly spoke from behind him, startling Zhu Tong. He turned around abruptly, only to find that Shao Ming had already finished washing up and had casually walked into his room, holding a glass of water.
Zhu Tong picked up his pen again, casually improvising, “Nothing, just feeling a bit tired.”
Shao Ming sat down beside him without hesitation, handing him the glass of water. “If you’re tired, rest already. Balancing work and rest is also important.”
“It’s okay,” Zhu Tong said, “I just have one more question to finish.”
He took a sip of water and set the glass aside.
Then he saw Shao Ming sitting beside him, maliciously playing with his phone. Zhu Tong glanced at the screen, but it was filled with text, making it hard to discern the content.
He asked directly, “What are you looking at?”
Shao Ming’s lips curled slightly. “Reading some erotic stories, want to join?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
He chose to continue doing his work.
The last math question was a big one, with three sub-questions. Zhu Tong calculated while thinking, ‘Did Shao Ming know who his biological father was?’
‘He probably… wouldn’t want to know who his biological father was, right?’
Seeing that Shao Ming was still in the mood to read erotic stories, the rumors in A City probably hadn’t reached his ears yet.
Anyway, the rumors weren’t anything good, so he’d wait until his cousin found out more before telling him.
Zhu Tong focused his mind and quickly finished the last question.
He stretched lazily with a small range of motion.
Shao Ming looked up from his phone screen at the same time. “Finished?”
“Mn.” Zhu Tong nodded and started to clean up the desk.
Shao Ming locked the screen of his mobile phone then sat upright with his body leaning on the back of Zhu Tong’s seat, “You took 40 minutes. Quite a lot of progress, Little Young Master.”
Whenever Zhu Tong was doing the mock exam questions, Shao Ming would help him from time to time. While the difficulty of the same set of mock exams were not much different, the time for him to complete a test paper was getting shorter and shorter.
Today he slacked off halfway through, and yet he only took 40 minutes to finish.
Zhu Tong was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Seeing the joy on his face, Shao Ming couldn’t help but smile and say, “We won’t use this set tomorrow. The difficulty of these questions can’t satisfy our Little Young Master anymore.”
Zhu Tong had been doing better and better with his assignments these past few days, and his confidence was soaring. He nodded in agreement, “I can do anything.”
Even though Shao Ming knew he was referring to doing the assignment, hearing those words still gave him a slight pause. His eyes darkened slightly, and he smiled ambiguously, “Anything?”
Zhu Tong happened to finish tidying up his desk at that moment, and he let out another “Mm” before turning his head, only to meet Shao Ming’s approaching face.
Their breaths mingled, the air was charged, and Zhu Tong couldn’t help but swallow nervously.
Shao Ming, at a distance where a slight misstep could lead to contact, smiled at him and said, “Didn’t you just say you can do anything?”
Zhu Tong was taken aback for a moment, blinked rapidly, then tentatively leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against Shao Ming’s upturned lips.
Shao Ming: “…”
At the moment of contact, both of them froze for a second, their eyes flashing with the same light.
But their thoughts weren’t the same.
Shao Ming hadn’t expected Zhu Tong to kiss him voluntarily.
As for Zhu Tong… when he kissed Shao Ming, he saw that the favorability level had actually moved forward, albeit by only one percent.
He backed away slightly, saw Shao Ming’s stunned face, and leaned in again, this time he gave a more decisive peck.
“…”
After the kiss, Zhu Tong’s eyes sparkled even more.
When he went in for the third kiss, Shao Ming couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed the back of his head and gave him a passionate kiss.
After releasing him, he breathed slightly heavily, and squeezed out from between his teeth, “Your seduction skills have improved quite a bit. Who have you been learning from?”
Zhu Tong honestly replied, “No one…”
Shao Ming looked at his crimson, moist lips, then chuckled with a hoarse voice, “Our Little Young Master… is quite a quick learner even without a teacher, mm?”
