Chapter 142

Chapter 142

The instructor who came to conduct the training was the same professor who had taught this course during their freshman year, so everyone was already familiar with him. He glanced at the pile of items next to Bai Xingshu’s desk, smiled without saying much, his expression clearly conveying the sentiment of "Ah, to be young again."

Receiving gifts was wonderful, but figuring out how to take all those things back was a challenge.

It wasn’t that Bai Xingshu couldn’t manage it.

But using his abilities for something like this would undoubtedly seem like overkill.

If Bai Xingshu was troubled by this, others naturally thought of it too.

As for the solution, it was simple.

All they had to do was throw the squad leader under the bus—they were sure he’d love it!

Sure enough, as soon as the training session ended, before anyone else could speak, Lin Lie jumped in eagerly, "I’ll help you carry these back."

At this, the classmates who had originally planned to throw the squad leader under the bus immediately traded looks and chimed in, as if rallying behind Lin Lie’s offer: "Vice Cap, I’ll help too~"

Their tone, though, was anything but sincere—teasing couldn’t have been more obvious.

Lin Lie shot them a look and, unsurprisingly, met a wave of grins.

His ears instantly flushed red as he snapped, "Buzz off! I can handle this much by myself!"

The scolded group cracked up.

Bai Xingshu didn’t find anything odd about it—in his understanding, the classmates were just messing around because Lin Lie “couldn’t handle it.”

Class S might sound prestigious, but the students were no different from kids their age anywhere else.

In other words, they all loved begging for a smack.

After some playful banter, Lin Lie, as if to show off, picked up the heavier items from the pile of gifts.

Bai Xingshu snorted a laugh but didn’t try to stop him.

The two walked along the path back to Bai Xingshu’s dorm—a route he had taken countless times over the past year.

This path inevitably passed by the maintenance room Bai Xingshu had visited so often.

As they walked by, Bai Xingshu automatically slowed his steps.

He noticed the tiny yellow blooms once again in the maintenance yard’s flowerbed.

Remembering all that had happened around this time last year, Bai Xingshu couldn’t help but glance toward the maintenance room.

Lin Lie, of course, caught that and felt a twinge of jealousy in his chest.

He hated that Bai Xingshu was thinking about Song Xiyan while he was right beside him. With a bitterly sarcastic edge, Lin Lie spoke up.

"Stop looking. Teacher Song is definitely busy with the start of the semester—he’s not there right now."

Then, with a sneer, he added, "Anyway, once the reorientation drills end this semester, he’ll come chasing after you in a hurry."

Hearing this, Bai Xingshu paused.

In the past, Bai Xingshu wouldn’t have given Lin Lie’s words much thought, but now…

Bai Xingshu had already understood Song Xiyan's feelings, so he naturally caught the hidden meaning behind Lin Lie's words.

Bai Xingshu shot Lin Lie a surprised look. "You know Teacher Song likes me?"

Now it was Lin Lie’s turn to be stunned.

Lin Lie stared at Bai Xingshu, his expression inscrutable.

How did Bai Xingshu know about this?

With Bai Xingshu’s track record with emotions, how could he have figured it out?

From Lin Lie's understanding of Bai Xingshu, he seriously doubted this was something Bai Xingshu could have deduced on his own.

Lin Lie’s face fell instantly. "Did Song Xiyan confess to you?"

Though it was a question, Lin Lie was already certain of the answer in his heart.

Thinking it over carefully, it wasn’t completely out of the question.

He knew the mechs from the repair bay had been wrapped up by last semester’s end.

However, Lin Lie had assumed that, given Song Xiyan's cunning nature, he would find a million excuses to keep swinging by the Combat Department to see Bai Xingshu.

For example, after the Freshman Tournament, some mechs would inevitably get banged up—though certainly not as much as last year when Bai Xingshu went on his mech-dismantling spree—but Song Xiyan could still milk that excuse to keep coming around.

But instead...

Song Xiyan just went and confessed?

Bai Xingshu gave a dry laugh.

Though inwardly, he was low-key roasting Lin Lie’s reaction.

What the hell was his deal?!

How could he leap from that to the conclusion that Song Xiyan had confessed to him??

Seriously?

Couldn’t it have been something Bai Xingshu realized on his own?

Was he really *that* clueless?

Well... yes, he was...

At this thought, Bai Xingshu even felt a pang of envy toward Lin Lie.

Man, if he had Lin Lie’s radar for others’ emotions.

Missions wouldn’t be such a headache right now.

Still, despite these thoughts, Bai Xingshu didn’t bite.

He dodged with a vague answer. "Doubt he’ll show up again."

Lin Lie went quiet.

As far as he knew, all those who had liked Bai Xingshu and confessed to him had been flat-out rejected, no exceptions—decisively and without any room for reconsideration.

Cheng Yunxi, as far as Lin Lie knew, had never reached out to Bai Xingshu again after the coaching session.

And now Song Xiyan was in the same boat—he had confessed to Bai Xingshu, and it was clear that they’d cut ties completely.

Then what about him?

Lin Lie’s heart sank.

Bai Xingshu noticed immediately that Lin Lie seemed somewhat upset upon hearing his words.

Bai Xingshu… Bai Xingshu was genuinely touched.

He naturally assumed that Lin Lie’s reaction stemmed from concern over Bai Xingshu losing a friend.

How could Bai Xingshu not be moved by that?

Bai Xingshu reached out and patted Lin Lie’s shoulder, comforting him instead: "Don’t sweat it, that was ages ago. It’s all in the past now. Everything’s fine."

Hearing Bai Xingshu’s attempt at comfort, Lin Lie was at a loss for words.

He pressed his lips together, looking at Bai Xingshu with nothing but resignation in his eyes.

Whatever. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what kind of person Bai Xingshu was.

The two returned to Bai Xingshu’s dormitory, laden with bags.

As soon as they reached the landing, Bai Xingshu spotted Luo Yu standing there and blurted out in surprise, "Little Luo, you’re back so early? Is the Freshman Tournament already over?"

Luo Yu nodded, but his eyes flicked past Bai Xingshu to the figure behind him.

He recognized Lin Lie—the second young master of the Lin family, overseeing the Fourth Legion.

Gripping his medal, Luo Yu’s sense of alarm grew.

He knew that the Lin family had been cultivating closer ties with the royal family over the past two years.

However, the Lin family was different from the Luo family. The older generation still held onto their pride, sticking to diplomatic niceties among the younger generation.

In short, the Lin family’s outstanding eldest son had once been sent to the royal palace to train alongside the crown prince under the tutelage of specially appointed royal instructors.

Rumor had it they were tight.

But who would have thought that the Lin family, already having one prince’s right-hand man, wasn’t satisfied and was now trying to have the second young master suck up to the prince too?

That was downright shameless!

Luo Yu clenched his jaw.

He watched as Lin Lie shouldered the heavier load, tagging along dutifully behind Bai Xingshu.

Wasn’t the second young master of the Lin family notorious for his pride?

Why was there not a shred of that arrogance when dealing with the royal family?

Not only did he deliberately take the heavier items, but his expression radiated eagerness.

Luo Yu couldn’t pinpoint why Lin Lie’s behavior was so over-the-top.

But…

This was beyond the pale!