Chapter 8: Learning.

Chapter 8: Learning.

"It's the weekend and no one's around. I'm heading to your place for some gaming, and maybe ask Mrs. Zhang to make some crispy shrimp wrapped in red sausage."

Ye Lincheng lazily lay in bed, eyes still shut. He fumbled an arm over the bedside table, searching for and finally answering the phone, and then stretched, yawning before he spoke.

"I'm at the mansion, not in the apartment."

Yu Yang clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, "Didn't your parents leave? Why are you staying alone in that big empty house? I left my Switch there."

Ye Lincheng rolled over, nose twitching against the pillow, and after a moment, he mumbled, "I brought Mrs. Zhang here. There's a computer, just come over." Then he hung up.

By the time Yu Yang arrived, Ye Lincheng was already in his pajamas, lounging on the sofa with messy hair, sipping milk, while Ye Wangwang panted, tongue lolling out.

No food, no water, and the host was still groggy.

"Didn't you dislike this house for being too big and empty? Why'd you move back?" Yu Yang removed his shoes, gave the dog a pet, then lovingly poured some dog food into its bowl. Ye Wangwang, eager to please, drooled over Yu Yang's pants leg.

"Don't feed him," Ye Lincheng glared at his dog, "He's been cut off."

Daring to pee under his bed, the audacity!

After Ye Lincheng ended the call, he took a shower. When he returned, he found his pet dog had made a little 'golden lake' by the bed.

Yu Yang laughed uncontrollably, "Just have Mrs. Zhang clean it up. Let's play a couple rounds of the game first."

The two battled in the gaming room all afternoon. By the time they heard Mrs. Zhang's "snap" at the door, signaling her return with groceries, they were starving.

Mrs. Zhang served up four dishes and a soup, accompanied by two baskets of dim sum. She asked with a smile, "Lincheng, are you staying tonight? If so, should I tidy up the master bedroom on the third floor? This guest room needs some airing out."

Ye Wangwang whimpered pitifully.

"Why did you sleep in the guest room?" Yu Yang asked, munching on a shrimp.

"Too lazy to go up to the third floor," Ye Lincheng replied.

The master bedroom on the second floor was occupied by Ye Tian and Xu Xu. Ye Lincheng typically stayed on the third floor when he visited, but with fewer people around, room assignments weren't strict.

Yu Yang nodded, "Good timing, I was planning to ask if I could stay here for a few days."

Ye Lincheng shot him a glance, "What happened? Your father finally decided to kick you out, the black sheep of the prestigious Yu family?"

Yu Yang's family was affluent. Both his parents and grandparents were intellectuals and held official positions. Yu Yang had an elder sister, an academic prodigy. He was the only underachiever in the family, the one who chose an unconventional path.

"Ugh, it's like World War III at my house right now."

The two hastily finished their meal and returned to the battlefield. Yu Yang, while searching for weapons, muttered, "Yu Ruoxin seems like she'd love nothing more than to sever ties with our family these days."

While scavenging for equipment, Ye LinCheng mused, "Isn't your sister supposed to be the beacon of your life and the future of the Yu family?"

"Exactly! But a few days ago, she brought home some art student who didn’t even make it to college and announced they're getting married. Our father was absolutely livid."

As Yu Yang drove towards the safe zone, he said, "The past few days at home have been deafening. The moment a door closes, they start arguing. And what does my father shout about? 'Isn’t one failure of a son enough, that we need another one brought home?' Seriously, it's been tough on me..."

Ye LinCheng replied nonchalantly, "Maybe you should stay over for a few days."

"I might lay low for about a week," Yu Yang sighed, "But looking at their academic and social class disparity, I think they'll split sooner or later. Once the novelty wears off, what's left? She writes academic papers while he plays the erhu? Oh, Ye, someone's approaching your room in the game! Damn!"

A few rapid gunshots later, their duo was eliminated from the game.

"You're off your game today, Ye."

"I didn't hear the footsteps," Ye LinCheng took off his headphones.

"Anyway, between my dad’s irritation at my sister and all the family drama, trying to be the peaceful, uninvolved younger brother is tough," lamented Yu Yang. He then patted Ye LinCheng's shoulder, adding, "Now, all I have is our bond, the inseparable trio from the back of our class..."

A doorbell interrupted with a 'ding-dong.'

Ye LinCheng got up to answer the door and after a moment returned to the doorway of the gaming room, sporting a playful smile and a dimple, he softly said:

"My tutor's here for the lesson. You...want to continue playing? Whenever you want to stay over, just let me know. I’ll inform Aunt Zhang. We'll make sure you’re well-fed and comfortable."

Yu Yang: "...Really?"

Later that night, Yu Yang, feeling slighted, updated his social media status:

[Abandoned by family, betrayed by a brother.]

On a foggy Monday morning, the campus lay shrouded in mist.

It was the most draining part of the entire week, and to make matters worse, there were back-to-back English classes. Ji Feifei rested his head on the desk, on the verge of drifting off, while even Xie Chu found her mind wandering.

"Xie Chu, what are you gazing at? Has the iron tree outside bloomed?" The English teacher tapped the lectern with her hands behind her back.

It was rare for the top student to be singled out. This prompted a slight stir amongst the drowsy class. Ji Feifei, roused from his slumber, touched Xie Chu's head, "There's no bloom." This elicited a round of muffled laughter from those nearby.

"Ji Feifei! Come to the blackboard and complete the listening task," the English teacher slammed the desk, "I want to see who else dares to sleep!"

A snore, particularly noticeable in the silent room, echoed.

"Yu Yang! Step up here!"

Consequently, two sleepy-eyed students stood before the board, glaring at each other.

"It's all your fault!"

It wasn’t surprising the English teacher was exasperated. Guan Liang nudged the primary culprit of the “sleeping epidemic”, Xie Chu, who had been staring out of the window for half the lesson, despite being an exemplar student.

Only then did Xie Chu snap back to reality with a hum.

As usual, Xie Chu received a WeChat message from Xue Jiaran over the weekend.

[Bro, when are you coming home?]

[Are you mad at me, bro? I promise I won't do it again.]

As usual, he didn’t respond. The chat screen between him and Xue Jiaran was predominantly filled with one-sided messages from Jiaran.

Xie Chu had told him long ago, "It's hard for me to even see you as a brother." Anything more was out of the question. Yet, Xue Jiaran seemed indifferent, asserting, "We're not brothers by blood anyway."

Later on, Xie Chu deleted Jiaran's contact, avoiding any interaction. However, one day, his elder brother Xie Weizhou chided him, "Act like the elder brother you are. Jiaran says you've been ignoring him and not treating him like a brother. Both of you should keep in touch. Come home for dinner tonight."

Thus, at the dinner table, they reconnected on WeChat. Jiaran seemed quite pleased with this ambiguous, hard-to-break "brotherhood".

[Are you with that guy surnamed Ye now?]

In a rare move, Xie Chu replied: [No.]

Involving Ye Licheng seemed inappropriate, even though Ye had an unconcerned demeanor, seemingly okay with any association.

But Xie Chu also didn’t want to have a fall out with Jiaran.

Once university exams were over, Xie Chu was certain he would distance himself from Jiaran, severing all ties. Any issues now would only embarrass their mutual acquaintances, Wan Jun and Xie Weizhou.

He also didn't want to witness another intimate moment between Wan Jun and that woman.

Every argument was an affront to Wan Jun.

During the recent break, Xue Jiaran sent another message on WeChat. Evidently, Xie Chu's [No] didn't placate Jiaran, but rather seemed to grant him carte blanche.

[I knew it. Wait till I deal with him.]

Xie Chu stared pensively out of the window, his brow furrowed.

Logically, he should apologize to Ye Licheng, but he hadn't actually done anything, nor had he truly "used" him.

It would be absurd to approach and say, "Did you know? My brother is out to get you." It sounded almost like a provocation.

Xie Chu massaged his temples. For some reason, matters related to Ye Licheng always perplexed him. It was the same with the previous uniform issue and the same now.

He could have simply ignored it.

Yet, he was keen on complicating matters for himself—

As the morning classes concluded, the classroom of Senior Year 2, Class 7 was instantly empty. Monday's first afternoon session was the much-anticipated PE lesson of the week.

The sports field had been bustling since lunch break with ongoing ball games. Because Class 7 and Class 8 had overlapping PE times, Mondays always witnessed heated matches between them.

A golden-haired student, with a streak of granny-gray hair, eagerly approached the basketball hoop, but Gu Sheng waved him off, "No more, we have enough players. Five on each side."

The golden-haired student grumbled, "Call me if you need someone," before temporarily joining the soccer team.

Ye Licheng, having not played for days, thoroughly enjoyed himself that Monday. Since it was lunch break, a few girls brought snacks. Both Gu Sheng and Yu Yang snagged a couple of bags of chips.

Yu Yang remarked, "Can you believe Ye Dog actually hired a tutor for evening lessons?"

While munching on his chips, Gu Sheng responded, "Well, mothers have high hopes for their kids. It's understandable."

Yu Yang retorted with a smirk, "‘His mother’ is just a filler phrase!"

Gu Sheng blinked in realization, then teasingly said to Ye Licheng, "Did you fall for your tutor or something?"

"Buzz off."

The game continued until the class bell rang. The coach, Sun Changzhi, didn't dampen their spirits, but maintained the usual protocol, shouting, "Gather up! Girls, one lap around the track. Boys, 20 pull-ups on the horizontal bar. Once done, resume free activities."

Holding oneself up on the horizontal bar wasn’t challenging. Apart from Ji Feifei, who was a tad slow, the rest of the Alphas and Betas in Class 7 swiftly completed their reps. Ye Licheng finished all 20 in one go, not even short of breath when he was done.

Sun Changzhi checked his list, then called, "Xie Chu, your turn."

Xie Chu, standing next to the bar, rubbed his palms and, without any intention of pushing himself, honestly said, “Teacher, I scalded my hand with boiling water. Would 10 be alright?”

The day he snuffed out Wan Jun's cigarette, even though he had immediately rinsed it under cold water, a burn mark persisted on his palm. It also developed some uneven blisters. Writing and eating weren’t much hindered, but holding onto the horizontal bar was quite the stretch.

Without overthinking, Sun Changzhi nodded in agreement, “Skip it and take a rest. If it’s severe, maybe get it checked in the infirmary.”

According to the school’s rules, if Omegas didn't want to attend PE, they could take leave directly. Should they feel any discomfort, they were allowed to rest in the designated infirmary. Sun Changzhi naturally wouldn't push the issue.

Xie Chu gave a light chuckle, “It’s alright, thank you, teacher. I'll run a couple of laps instead.” With that, he paced onto the track.

Just as he finished his two laps, he heard Gu Sheng calling out from the side of the field, "Hey, Old Guan, join the game!"

Beside Guan Liang, the golden-haired student gave the soccer ball a hefty kick, his eyes sparkling with eagerness, "You guys short on players?"

Gu Sheng scratched his head and waved off, "Not you. Someone from our class got called by Principal Lu. Doubt he'll be back anytime soon. Your class already has a full team."

Golden-haired returned grumbling to his soccer team, "Call me if someone drops out.”

After an endless unconscious state, Shi Yu abruptly sat up in bed.

He gasped, greedily inhaling the fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, incomprehension – a tumult of emotions surged within him.

Where am I?

Immediately, Shi Yu instinctively scanned his surroundings, only to be further perplexed.

A single dorm room?

Even if he was rescued, he should have woken up in a hospital room.

And his body... how could it be devoid of any injuries?

As questions swirled in his mind, Shi Yu's gaze darted around the room, finally resting on a mirror beside the bed.

The mirror reflected his current appearance, looking roughly seventeen or eighteen years old, strikingly handsome.

The version of him from before was a dashing young man in his twenties, already having some years of work experience.

But now, his features seemed to belong to someone in high school, no matter how one looked at it...

This transformation left Shi Yu stunned for a longest time.

Please don't tell him the surgery was a success...

With both his body and face changed, it wasn't a matter of surgery anymore; it felt more like magic.

He had completely turned into someone else!

Could it be... he had time-traveled?

Aside from the mirror by the bedside that was evidently placed in an inauspicious feng shui position, Shi Yu also discovered three books nearby.

Picking one up, the title rendered Shi Yu speechless.

"Essential Handbook for Novice Beast Tamers"

"Postnatal Care for Tamed Beasts"

"Guide to Evaluating Different Beast-Eared Girls"

Shi Yu:

The first two titles seem normal enough, but what's the deal with the last one?

"Ahem."

Shi Yu's gaze sharpened, and he reached out, but his arm stiffened momentarily.

Just as he was about to flip open the third book, curious about its content, a sharp pain surged through his brain, and memories flooded in like a tidal wave.

Icefield City.

Beast Taming Base.

Intern Beast Tamer. The website is closing soon; download the iRead app which claims that "The Great Zhizhi's lovely Omega can deceive."

Beast Mastery?