Chapter 17

Chapter 17

◎Favoritism◎

After leaving the private dining restaurant, Ji Nanxing glanced back.

The waiter was clearing the leftovers from their table. The little boy, clutching his toy car, knelt on the seat they had just occupied, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window. When he saw Ji Nanxing looking back, he rolled his eyes at him, a gesture likely learned from his parents.

Xiao Ye followed Ji Nanxing's gaze and caught the boy's eye-roll. He clicked his tongue, "These days, every family spoils their kid rotten. If they don't teach them properly when they're young, they'll get a harsh lesson from society sooner or later."

Ji Nanxing hummed in agreement, then turned his gaze away and walked toward the door. Sooner or later, indeed—it would be sooner.

Some calamities can be avoided if luck happens to be on your side at that critical moment. At worst, you might face a minor setback or lose some money.

But some calamities are caused by one's own personality and environment. If you don’t change your ways or your surroundings, the calamity won’t pass.

After the meal, the boy's family went their separate ways—some went to work, others went home to sleep.

The boy's grandmother went grocery shopping. They had eaten out today because someone had treated them, but dinner would still be at home, so she needed to buy some ingredients.

The boy's grandfather took him home, intending to coax him into taking a nap. However, while the grandfather fell asleep, the boy stayed awake.

Seeing his grandfather asleep, the boy climbed out of bed and sat in the living room, playing with his toys for a while. He wanted to go outside, but the door was locked, so he couldn't leave. After a while, he grew impatient and started smashing his toys. The broken pieces scattered everywhere, and some accidentally flew into the ornamental fish tank.

The boy then turned his attention to the fish tank, using a small net to scoop out the fish one by one and placing them on the floor mat, watching them flail their tails in struggle.

Finding this amusing, he ran to the kitchen and put the fish into a kettle. He filled it with water, mimicking the adults, and pressed the button to start boiling the water.

The electric kettle heated up quickly, and the water temperature rose in no time. The fish thrashed their tails in the boiling water, but soon, as the temperature increased, they were cooked alive.

The boy stood on a chair, peering into the kettle for a while. Remembering there were still a few fish in the tank, he turned to jump off the chair but accidentally pulled the kettle's cord.

The boiling water spilled out, and the kettle crashed to the floor with a loud explosion. The boy's sharp cries woke his grandfather, who rushed to the scene to find his grandson sitting in a pool of scalding hot water.

Child safety education has always been a major concern, especially during school breaks when children are out of school but parents are still working. Accidents are frequent during these times, and to warn more parents, such incidents are often reported in the news.

With the rise of short videos and the chase for online traffic, it didn't take long for Ji Nanxing to come across the news and videos of the incident the next day.

The boy's face was blurred in the video, but his grandfather was clearly visible, so Ji Nanxing immediately recognized them as the family from the restaurant the day before.

The details weren't fully captured in the video, but the text provided a general description. The boy had been playing with boiling water while his family was asleep, resulting in severe burns. He was still in the hospital undergoing treatment.

After reading the news, Ji Nanxing swiped past the video. The family’s vibe suggested they weren’t headed for a peaceful end—either plagued by financial hardship or emotional entanglements.

While one’s fate can’t be determined just by their appearance, some traits are shaped by external environments, while others are born from within. The former can be changed or overcome, but the latter is much harder to alter.

September 1st happened to fall on a Monday. Although high school classes had already started during the summer, the feeling of the official start of the school year was different. Even though they had been attending classes during the summer, the arrival of September still brought a sense of the holiday's end.

Ji Nanxing had arrived the night before. It took over forty minutes to drive from Zhuangge Li Mansion, so he came a day early to get some extra sleep in the morning.

With plenty of time, he even had breakfast at the school gate.

Xiao Ye's home wasn't close to the school either. It took him over twenty minutes to drive there in the morning. The traffic near the school gate was congested, so he got out of the car at the intersection and happened to see his deskmate, Ji Nanxing, leisurely eating breakfast at a nearby shop.

Even though everyone wore the same school uniform and the street buzzed with high school students, Xiao Ye immediately spotted Ji Nanxing.

The breakfast shop was crowded, and people squeezed into any available seats, whether they knew each other or not. Some even carried their food while walking toward the school.

Amid the row of noisy shops, only Ji Nanxing sat alone at a table. People around him instinctively quieted down or lowered their voices. While everyone else was in a hurry, Ji Nanxing moved at a leisurely pace, sipping his soybean pudding as if he were dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Xiao Ye smiled and walked over. Just as someone got up from their seat, Xiao Ye, with his long legs, quickly claimed the chair and sat down next to Ji Nanxing. "Just soybean pudding for breakfast? You'll be hungry before the first class is over."

Ji Nanxing looked at the person who had suddenly appeared beside him. Xiao Ye was leaning casually against the table, one hand propping up his chin, his legs crossed, and a relaxed expression on his face as he gazed at Ji Nanxing.

Ji Nanxing's eyes lightly swept over him before he said, "Morning."

Xiao Ye, noticing Ji Nanxing's slightly delayed reaction, smiled even more. "Morning. There's still time. Want to eat something else? Just soybean pudding won't fill you up."

Ji Nanxing finished the last bite, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and said, "No need."

He had already eaten a basket of steamed buns, a bowl of chicken offal noodles, and a marinated egg. The yolk was a bit dry, so he had bought a sweet soybean pudding. However, since the remnants of his meal had been cleared away by the shop owner, it looked as if he had only had the soybean pudding.

But what he had eaten wasn't important. What mattered was...

"Where's your backpack?"

Xiao Ye was taken aback and instinctively looked at his hands and behind him. "Oh no! I forgot my backpack!"

Ji Nanxing had been sitting in the classroom for a while when the first morning self-study bell rang. Xiao Ye rushed in, panting, just as the teacher hadn’t shown up yet. He slowed down and walked in, relieved.

Zhang Yuan, sitting behind Xiao Ye, grinned at him. "Almost late on the first day. Teacher Liang already has it out for you, and now you're giving her another reason to scold you."

Teacher Liang was their homeroom teacher, a stern middle-aged woman who rarely smiled and seemed to disapprove of everyone. Since Xiao Ye had gotten into a fight with a senior student during military training and later took down a drill instructor, Teacher Liang had developed a particular dislike for him.

Among the students, many found Xiao Ye cool. Combined with his good looks, even though his temperament was hard to read and people kept their distance, he was quite popular on the school forum, having been newly crowned the school heartthrob.

But to the teachers, his behavior was too rebellious and difficult to manage. With so many incidents already at the start of the school year, they worried more trouble was brewing.

Xiao Ye set down his backpack and grabbed an unopened bottle of water from Zhang Yuan's desk. He twisted it open and took a few sips. "Forgot my backpack. Luckily, I still had my phone, and the driver hadn't gone far."

Zhang Yuan chuckled. "First day of school, and you already forgot your backpack. How come you didn't forget your brain too?"

Xiao Ye confiscated the water bottle. "Who says I brought my brain?"

Zhang Yuan had no retort.

The homeroom teacher walked in with her textbooks, her sharp eyes scanning the room. The classroom fell silent instantly.

Once everyone was quiet, the teacher began, "The holidays are over, and high school has officially begun. It's time to focus. My class doesn't have many rules, but every month, I'll have a chat with the parents of the students who rank at the bottom of the monthly exams."

The class collectively winced. No wonder people said it was bad luck to be assigned to Teacher Liang's class. Monthly parent-teacher meetings? That was just too much.

On the first day of school, during the first morning self-study session, the homeroom teacher naturally emphasized classroom discipline. While she was going over the usual points, Xiao Ye pulled out a bunch of snacks from his backpack and stuffed them into his desk.

He then gently poked Ji Nanxing's arm with his pen.

Ji Nanxing turned to look at him. Xiao Ye gestured for him to lean closer and then handed him various snacks—cookies, pastries, jerky, and chocolate.

He whispered, "Eat if you're hungry. If it's not enough, just take more from me."

Ji Nanxing watched as Xiao Ye stuffed his desk with snacks, unsure whether these were already in his backpack or if he had gone out to buy them, which had caused him to almost be late.

Zhang Yuan, witnessing the entire scene, couldn't resist kicking the back of Xiao Ye's chair repeatedly, trying to jolt some sense into his friend.

The commotion almost drew the teacher’s attention. To appease his friend, Xiao Ye rummaged through his bag and finally pulled out a one-yuan sucker, tossing it onto Zhang Yuan's desk. "Here, this is for you!"

Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared. This was what they called favoritism, and he had just gotten a taste of it.

Author's Note:

The early part of the story will focus more on school life and character development. The male lead won't encounter ghosts right away, but later on, he'll join forces with Ji Nanxing to solve supernatural cases.