Chapter 22: Reckless

Chapter 22: Reckless

Cen Wu and Xie Guilan had just left the police station when Cen Xiao's car arrived. Cen Wu was still sick, and Cen Xiao wasn't comfortable leaving him alone, especially after a trip to the police station.

He had come to pick up Cen Wu personally.

"Look at you, getting into trouble now," Cen Xiao said, raising an eyebrow and gently ruffling Cen Wu's hair. "You got into a fight and ended up at the police station. You can explain it to Dad yourself."

It was late at night, with a damp and cold mist in the air. Cen Wu's pale skin had a faint flush, and his nose was red from the cold. He tugged at Cen Xiao's sleeve, his voice soft and pleading, "Brother."

Cen Xiao: "..."

Cen Xiao sighed, "Fine, I won’t tell."

It wasn’t the first time Cen Xiao had covered for him, so it wasn’t a big deal.

But tonight felt different. Instead of rushing to hug him or cling to his neck like usual, Cen Wu simply smiled, his eyes filled with quiet gratitude.

Cen Wu was his younger brother, and his love for him was no less than their parents'. Since when did they need to be thankful to each other? He could never bear for his brother to suffer any grievances.

"Wu," Cen Xiao said softly, almost tenderly.

Cen Wu looked up, confused. He held onto Xie Guilan, not letting him leave, and asked tentatively, "Brother, you drove all the way here so late, are you tired?"

"Not tired," Cen Xiao replied.

Cen Wu looked at him hopefully, continuing his plea, "Then... can you give my classmate a ride home first?"

Cen Xiao: "..."

Still a little brat, after all.

Xie Guilan didn’t seem too thrilled about it, but Cen Wu held onto him, not letting go. Xie Guilan frowned slightly, not wanting to engage in a tug-of-war, so he got into the car and said to Cen Xiao, "Thank you, President Cen."

Cen Xiao didn't say anything, walking around to the driver's seat to start the car.

The guy with the tattoos couldn’t stop the blood pouring from his mouth. One of his teeth had been knocked out by Xie Guilan, and he wailed and howled. The police had to take him to the hospital first, and as they left, they happened to run into Cen Xiao's group getting into the car.

The tattooed man's swollen, bruised eyes widened in shock. He didn’t know Cen Wu, but he knew Cen Xiao.

The only person who could make Cen Xiao come personally at this hour of the night, aside from his parents, was his younger brother.

Cen Wu turned, his eyes cold and distant, like a winter fog settling over the scene. The tattooed man felt the blood drain from his body. Cen Wu was threatening him, but he knew that what happened tonight would have to remain buried.

He didn’t know Xie Guilan, and Xie Guilan hadn’t hit him. It was best that he hadn’t crossed paths with Cen Wu.

The police station wasn’t far from Huai Jing No.1 High School. Cen Wu asked Cen Xiao to park near the back gate of the school. It was only an eight-minute walk from there to Xie Guilan's rented apartment.

Cen Wu had never been there, but he remembered everything written in the original novel.

After Xie Guilan left, Cen Wu sent him a message in the car.

"Cen Wu: Let me know when you're home."

Xie Guilan didn’t respond.

Cen Wu sent a picture of a cat with dark circles under its eyes.

"Cen Wu: If you don’t let me know, I won’t be able to sleep."

Regan Xie: "..."

Regan's eyes were filled with cold mockery. At such a young age, he was already skilled at coaxing people. It was unclear just how many he had coaxed—and where did Regan rank among them?

Everyone in Huai Jing knew that Second Young Master Cen was a real womanizer. His reputation was so widespread that no one but he knew the full extent of it.

Regan thought Cen Wu was too busy—worrying about everyone like this, how could he keep up with it?

What a con artist. He really knew how to put on a show.

As if just saying he wanted to see Cen Wu would make him drop everything and come running.

Cen Wu waited and waited, and finally, ten minutes later, he received a message from Regan Xie. Though it was only a cold, indifferent period, he still felt relieved.

It was already past 1 a.m., and Cen Wu still hadn't broken his fever. He took some medicine when he got home and continued to sleep.

He had originally planned to go back to school the next day, but Cen Xiao forced him to take a few more days off, so he only returned to school on Friday.

As soon as Cen Wu arrived at school, he noticed that Regan Xie's desk had been filled with trash again. The few test papers from last night had been torn up and thrown beside the seat, soaked in dirty water on the floor, crumpled and swollen.

A few class monitors were whispering complaints nearby, "Why am I so unlucky to be in the same class as him? There are so many key classes in the second year, why did he have to end up in Class 3?"

"Exactly, he barely attends class anyway. He might as well not come, saving everyone the trouble."

Song Lingwei had just undergone surgery, and Regan had to take care of her at the hospital, so he arrived at school just in time every day.

The class monitors were supposed to check the cleanliness before the morning self-study, but Regan hadn't shown up. If they didn't clean it, they'd lose points, but doing so left them feeling quite unhappy.

No one knew that Regan's mother was sick, and everyone just assumed it was the privilege of an academic overachiever—coming and going as he pleased.

The bullying had been tacitly allowed by the previous owner of Cen Wu's body and Xie Shangjing. But this would be the last time.

Cen Wu was as pale as fresh snow after recovering from his illness. He first cleaned Regan's desk, worried that he hadn't cleaned it well enough. He didn't want to trouble the class monitors, so he took a bucket downstairs to fetch water. He ran back and forth several times to refill and empty it.

When there was only one last bucket of dirty water left, he was too exhausted to move, so he just lay down on the desk, intending to rest for a bit before going again.

But just a few minutes later, someone poked his shoulder. Cen Wu looked up to see a female classmate.

She had a very beautiful, photogenic face.

"Second Young Master," the girl said, "I'll help you take out the trash. Should I empty this bucket of water now?"

"?" Cen Wu was stunned for a moment before realizing she seemed to be the duty student for the day. He quickly waved his hands, stammering, "It's too much trouble. I... I'll do it myself."

Cen Wu felt a bit dazed. The original owner had been so flashy that everyone in class, except Lu Wang, called him Second Young Master.

Every time he heard it, he cringed, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

The girl didn't mind, though. She hadn't been in the same class as the original owner during freshman year. It was only after the class reorganization in sophomore year that she started seeing the original owner. He had skipped several days of school after the semester started, so she had only seen Cen Wu.

She always got to school super early, but whenever she entered the classroom, she would find Cen Wu helping Regan clean his desk. After finishing, he would quietly either sleep on the desk or do his homework.

On an early summer morning, just after 6 a.m., the soft dawn light filled the classroom. The side profile of the young boy was serene and beautiful.

He was nothing like the arrogant, domineering guy people made him out to be.

Besides, she had long disapproved of the way those people targeted Regan Xie. What was the point of trampling on someone else's dignity? But she didn't dare speak up, afraid of stirring up trouble she couldn't deal with.

"It's okay," the girl said with a gentle smile, and with a downward motion of her arms, she lifted both buckets at once. "I'll help you."

The buckets for fetching water in the class are made of iron, and so are the trash bins. They are all very heavy and large, and Cen Wu always struggles to carry even one downstairs.

Cen Wu: “……”

A man of immense strength and courage.

In the whole class, maybe even the entire city of Huai Jing, he’s the only one who’s physically weak. Does that even make sense?

Cen Wu chased after her and took the heavier water bucket from her hands, saying nervously, “I… I’ll go with you.”

“My name is Xu Lingling,” the girl told him.

Cen Wu: ???

Since Cen Wu found himself in this world, he hadn’t really looked up much and wasn’t familiar with most of the classmates. However, when he saw Xu Lingling’s face, he already had a guess in his mind.

The original novel was a classic male-lead power fantasy, and even until the end, Xie Guilan remained alone.

At first, Cen Wu thought Xu Lingling might be the female lead, but he soon realized that Xie Guilan’s path was destined to be lonely.

Xu Lingling came from a humble background but had striking beauty. A few years later, Xie Guilan signed her to his company, where she changed her name to Yan Rong. After her debut, she became the most famous actress for over a decade.

Xie Guilan was a ruthless figure, rumored to have ordered killings and disposed of bodies in the sea. As his subordinate, Yan Rong was equally ruthless and flamboyant, with her own share of dark deeds.

In short, someone you don’t want to cross.

Xu Lingling was heading to the cafeteria, and Cen Wu also went to buy breakfast for Xie Guilan. By the time he got back to the classroom, it was nearly morning study period, but Class 2-3 was in chaos, with students crowding around the back door.

Cen Wu ran over and saw Xie Guilan standing next to the back door, his face expressionless but his eyes filled with frost.

Zhou Ye, hands in his pockets, gave Xie Guilan’s chair a hard kick and sneered, “Straight A student, you took my watch and won’t admit it. Isn’t that a little unfair?”