Cheng Yue, still confused, was led into the school by the two men. It wasn’t until he saw the security guard quickly closing the gate behind them that he realized what had happened.
“You scared me to death,” Bai Zhen looked back to make sure the three men outside couldn’t get in, then sighed in relief. He elbowed Cheng Yue in the ribs with a smile.
“You sure know how to stir up trouble. I won’t mention the racing on the street, but those three guys looked like they really had some skills. Even if I fought with both hands, I’m not sure I could beat them.”
Cheng Yue flinched at the elbowing and was distressed about why those three men were after him again.
“Get going, the morning reading is almost over!” The math teacher, with his beard bristling in anger, glared at them.
“Why are you still staring at me? Do you think flowers will grow on my head?”
Seeing the old teacher’s beard bristling with anger, Cheng Yue bowed in thanks.
“I thank you!” The old teacher shouted, pulling out a test paper from a stack of documents he was holding.
“You failed the exam again! Forget failing, but even when others just scribble ABC, they get more than zero points! You managed to fill out the entire paper and still got zero! If I hadn’t seen you write it seriously, I would have made you copy this paper a hundred times; see if I wouldn’t beat you up!”
Cheng Yue, a bit embarrassed, took the test paper and touched his nose, about to say something, but the teacher waved his hand to interrupt.
“Enough with the chitchat. Go and study.” With that, the old teacher rode off on his clattering old bicycle toward the teaching building.
Cheng Yue sighed and was about to head to the teaching building when Bai Zhen grabbed the test paper from his hand.
“Tsk tsk tsk,” Bai Zhen said, examining the paper and clicking his tongue in amazement. “It’s incredible. This is the first time I’ve seen a paper filled out completely with not a single correct answer. It’s a miracle, man.”
“None of your business,” Cheng Yue snatched the paper back and headed towards the teaching building.
“I’m Bai Zhen, a year above you,” Bai Zhen casually draped his arm over Cheng Yue’s shoulder and walked with him.
“Afraid of going home alone after school? I can take you.”
Cheng Yue, already irritated by the appearance of the three men and now annoyed by Bai Zhen’s persistence, shrugged him off and said impatiently, “Can you not follow me?”
“Hey…” Bai Zhen was taken aback. This was the first time he encountered someone who seemed so indifferent to him.
This kid wasn’t trying to play hard to get, was he?
Bai Zhen wasn’t sure, but he gave himself some psychological comfort.
When Cheng Yue arrived in the classroom, morning reading was already over, and it was time for a break.
He had just arrived when he saw Chen Zong with his head buried in a drawer, eating noodles.
Chen Zong was the tallest boy in their class. With his body half exposed while bending over, steam was rising from his head.
It was like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, a futile action.
Cheng Yue wasn’t sure if he was using the term correctly, but Chen Zong did look a bit like an ostrich.
“Hey! Where have you been?” Chen Zong finished his last bite, handed the soup box to a passing classmate, and stood up, pulling out an oversized shuttlecock.
“There’s three people now; we’re still missing one*,” Chen Zong grinned at Cheng Yue and waved over the boy who had just handed him the soup box.
Cheng Yue sighed, puzzled as to why a tall guy like Chen Zong was playing with a shuttlecock.
Their class was a science class, with boys making up two-thirds of the students, but during breaks, these boys would be outside in the hallway, playing with shuttlecocks in a rather effeminate manner.
Although Chen Zong claimed that playing shuttlecock was good for physical and mental health and refined one’s temperament.
In reality, the playground was too far from the sixth floor, and after they had tried playing soccer in the hallway and hit the soccer ball into the head of the director of education, all ball games were banned on the sixth floor.
Later, their homeroom teacher, Mr. Chen, saw they were suffering in the classroom and brought a bag of shuttlecocks, saying that playing with anything was fine.
“Play or not!” Chen Zong shouted.
“Play,” Cheng Yue replied weakly. This was the only time they had to play in the day; the rest of the time they were stuck at their desks until school ended.
In the meeting room, the atmosphere was tense. Ji Xu glanced at Tang Jing, who was sitting next to him, playing a game on his phone, then looked at Zhang Mengmeng, who was standing in front of the PowerPoint presentation with a very serious expression.
He finally couldn’t help but frown and reach over to take Tang Jing’s phone, saying, “They’re asking what you want to eat.”
“Sweet and sour ribs, braised pig’s trotters, squirrel fish…” Tang Jing recited without blinking.
“Alright, meeting adjourned.” Ji Xu grabbed Tang Jing and walked out, saying, “You just ordered two of everything, stuff him.”
“The prime minister’s belly can hold a boat!” Tang Jing patted his stomach. “I’m one of the founders of our organization. Can’t you show me a bit of respect?”
“Have the people in the hospital woken up?” Ji Xu dragged Tang Jing into the office.
“Tsk tsk tsk.” Tang Jing, with a sly grin, touched Ji Xu’s well-built muscles.
“They’re awake, how could they not be? After your scheme, their company’s stock almost dropped to… It was terrible. They nearly got merged by their old rivals. They’re barely hanging on, refusing to go to court, and it’s not like they’re trying to go back to enjoy life. You’ve destroyed their company. Of course, they’re awake.”
“What about Xingchen?”
“Don’t worry, they now want to bring the court date forward.” Tang Jing smiled, then his expression darkened. “Those lackeys, threatening me. They haven’t looked at the mess they’ve made in the industry these years. Just blowing smoke without any real results, it’s making me anxious for them.”
After cursing, Tang Jing added, “By the way, my uncle has invited a few lawyers from our firm to give legal lectures at several schools. Have you wrapped up your cases? Do you have time?”
“I do,” Ji Xu said, though he would have made time. The paperwork for Cheng Yue’s school was all handled by Tang Jing’s uncle, and in the end, it was even sent to the city’s number one high school.
“Alright, I’ll arrange it.” Tang Jing smiled. “There’s nothing else for today. Your kid is about to finish school, so hurry up and go.”
Ji Xu nodded, just about to turn and leave when Tang Jing called him back.
Ji Xu raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
“Speak.”
Tang Jing cleared his throat, looking a bit awkward but very determined, and said, “Maintaining the healthy development of children is our urgent responsibility! Control yourself a bit!”
After finishing, Tang Jing crouched under the desks, scared until Ji Xu’s footsteps faded away. He emerged, still shaken, his hands clenched into fists, and silently prayed.
Little Yue, Uncle really tried hard, the rest is up to you.
As Ji Xu drove up to the school, it was just time for school to end.
Waiting until the crowd had mostly dispersed, Cheng Yue finally cautiously walked out, keeping close to the wall with his backpack.
Ji Xu, observing his manner, narrowed his eyes and got out of the car to approach him.
Cheng Yue looked around carefully, afraid the three men would be waiting outside at dismissal time, so he had deliberately avoided the rush to make them think he had left early.
“Cheng Yue.”
A sudden call of his name startled him, making him jump. Only when he was in mid-air did he realize it was Ji Xu’s voice and quickly turned to look.
“What are you jumping for?” Ji Xu steadied him.
“What are you doing here?” Cheng Yue asked, surprised, once he had regained his footing.
Before Ji Xu left the house today, he left a note saying he would be home late tonight and advised Cheng Yue to go to bed early.
“Didn’t you see the message I sent you?” Ji Xu asked as he pulled Cheng Yue into the car.
“Huh?” Cheng Yue was taken aback, then pulled out his phone from his backpack and noticed it was dead.
“How come it took you so long to come out?” Ji Xu asked again.
“The three guys who were looking for me earlier were waiting outside my school today,” Cheng Yue said with some worry on his face.
“This morning?” Ji Xu frowned.
“Yeah,” Cheng Yue nodded and added, “Luckily, a teacher pulled me away.”
Ji Xu tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, his expression darkened. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’m free tomorrow. I’ll drop you off at school.”
“Okay.” Cheng Yue nodded, feeling relieved.
Since it was still early, Ji Xu took Cheng Yue out for a casual meal before heading home.
Once they got home, Cheng Yue checked his phone and saw the math paper that needed to be submitted for evening self-study in the group chat. He suddenly remembered the math paper that the teacher asked him to correct. He hurriedly tossed his backpack onto the desk, sat down, and grabbed a pen.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Ji Xu asked, looking at him.
“The teacher wants me to correct the math paper,” Cheng Yue sighed and pulled the crumpled paper from his backpack, spreading it out on the desk.
“A zero?” Ji Xu walked over, looked at the paper, and was a bit surprised. “Is it really possible to get a zero in math?”
Cheng Yue pouted, feeling a bit ashamed, but quickly perked up and said, “It was really difficult; I couldn’t understand it.”
“Sit up straight.” Ji Xu touched Cheng Yue’s bent back with his finger, then sat next to him and looked at the first problem, pointing at the paper and asking, “Why did you choose C for this question?”
Cheng Yue rubbed his nose, trying to recall why he had chosen C at that moment.
Hmm…
Was it because of the formula, or was it something he calculated, or…
“Why?” Ji Xu asked again.
“The person in front of me said to choose C!” Cheng Yue answered confidently.
Ji Xu scowled at him and smacked him on the back of the head. “What kind of learning is this?”
“The formula used for this question is…”
Cheng Yue, feeling aggrieved, covered the back of his head with one hand and listened blankly as Ji Xu explained the problem.
Ji Xu’s voice was pleasant, especially when he patiently explained the problem over and over again right next to Cheng Yue’s ear.
However, Cheng Yue had not slept well the night before and had been in class all day. Sitting on the soft sofa, his eyelids were drooping and almost touching each other. Yet, he didn’t dare to fall asleep since Ji Xu had just smacked him on the head.
After a while, Cheng Yue’s exhaustion overpowered his fear of Ji Xu.
As he tilted his head to one side, thinking that if he was going to die, then so be it. A true warrior faces the bleak reality of life; even if he got hit, he needed to sleep!
With his head resting on Ji Xu’s shoulder, Cheng Yue was already feeling a bit disoriented and sleepy.
Ji Xu felt the sudden weight on his shoulder and turned to see Cheng Yue, who had fallen asleep without him noticing. Frowning, he glanced at the partially completed paper on the desk, then helped Cheng Yue up and pinched his chin, calmly saying, “What do you want to do?”
“I want to sleep,” Cheng Yue murmured with his eyes half-closed.
“No way.” Ji Xu pinched his chin, forcing him to focus on the paper. “You haven’t gotten a single question right, and you still want to sleep?”
“Let me sleep…”
Cheng Yue struggled, resting his head on Ji Xu’s shoulder, speaking slowly and dragging out his words due to extreme tiredness.
“Just for a bit… just a bit…”
Cheng Yue was so exhausted that he used his usual tactic of acting cute, which worked well when his mother forced him to do things he didn’t want to do.
Ji Xu squinted his eyes, feeling the warm body pressing against him, and held himself back, nearly snapping the pen in his hand.
Cheng Yue’s murmuring grew quieter, and he snuggled closer.
Ji Xu’s increasingly darkening gaze accidentally glanced at the belt hanging on the coat rack, then quickly returned to Cheng Yue.
He kept repeating in his mind that he needed to maintain children’s mental and physical health.
Cheng Yue, completely unaware of the approaching danger, still felt uncomfortable while sleeping. He cuddled even closer to Ji Xu, reaching out to hold him, and rested his head in a very comfortable spot, finally falling into a deep sleep.
Ji Xu’s body stiffened as he looked at Cheng Yue’s head buried in his chest, constantly seeking warmth and touching his back. He snapped the pen in his hand again, which was already half-broken.
