Chapter 70

Chapter 70

The burn on Lu Qiuyan’s arm wasn’t too bad. The school doctor prescribed a burn ointment, instructing him to apply it three times a day—it would heal within three days.

The infirmary phone rang suddenly, and the doctor went to answer it, handing the ointment to Yu Shang, who was closest.

Yu Shang looked at the ointment. "Let me apply it for you."

Lu Qiuyan: "I—"

Tian Ruan cut in: "Come on, quit stalling. The food’s gonna get cold."

Yu Shang unscrewed the cap, squeezed out a small dollop onto his fingers, and then spread it over the reddened burn on Lu Qiuyan’s arm. The mint-green, gel-like ointment spread smoothly.

Lu Qiuyan’s jaw tightened, a light sweat breaking over his pale skin. "Speed it up."

Yu Shang: "..."

Lu Qiuyan quickly corrected himself: "Quit dragging it out."

Yu Shang’s slender fingers circled the wound, but perhaps he had applied too much ointment—it stayed stubbornly slick.

Tian Ruan remarked: "This could double as lube."

"..."

Lu Qiuyan was confused: "What lube?"

Tian Ruan: "Lube... for bicycle chains."

Lu Qiuyan glanced at the ointment, utterly failing to see the connection. "You’re really reaching with that one."

Tian Ruan zoned out: "Lu Qiuyan, your skin is so fair and soft."

He then looked enviously at Yu Shang—his lucky boy was in for a treat.

Yu Shang: "..."

Lu Qiuyan: "...Get lost." He yanked his sleeve down and shrugged on his jacket.

After leaving the clinic, they headed back to the cafeteria to nuke their food and continue eating. But then, a bunch of guys from No. 2 High sauntered up, led by a bald guy who growled, "You the punks messin’ with my boy?"

Tian Ruan was astonished—the nerve—some nobody picking fights and then crying victim.

Soon, the student council showed up, led by Xie Tangyan, who said, "You the ones who dumped soup on our basketball guy and are now here picking fights?"

The bald guy leered at Xie Tangyan. "Hey sweetheart, lookin’ fine."

Xie Tangyan slid on her boxing gloves and laid him out with one shot, sneering, "No. 2 High? More like No. 2 IQ."

"..."

The pack of No. 2 High guys whined: "This how rich kids roll? Beating folks in broad daylight?"

Xie Tangyan waved a hand, and seven or eight student council members stepped forward. "Bring it—gang fight or solo, we don’t care."

The No. 2 High boys exchanged glances, then cussed under their breath and bolted, tossing back, "Court’s where we’ll wreck you."

"Pathetic. They really thought they could take me on?" Xie Tangyan removed her gloves, earning a round of seal-claps from Tian Ruan.

Yu Shang frowned slightly. "Who told you to hit them?"

Xie Tangyan retorted, "They started it first. Luckily, Lu Qiuyan is thick-skinned, or else how could he still play basketball this afternoon?"

"Even so, you should have waited until after the match to settle the score."

"I was the one who hit them. If there's any punishment, I'll take it alone." Xie Tangyan shrugged. "Besides, getting knocked down by a girl isn't something they'd want to brag about."

Yu Shang said, "You represent the student council."

As the two bickered back and forth, Tian Ruan raised his hand. "I'll be the referee!"

"?"

"Xie Tangyan, you're wrong. Lu Qiuyan isn't thick-skinned—he has soft skin."

Lu Qiuyan: "...Shut up."

Xie Tangyan, however, gave him a once-over and suddenly realized, "Now that you mention it, he really does have softer skin than most people. What's your skincare routine?"

Lu Qiuyan ignored her, finished his last bite, and stormed off.

Just as Yu Shang predicted, within half an hour, the boys from No. 2 Middle School went crying to the principal's office.

Principals from other schools were also present, and the place was in an uproar. Tian Ruan, an eyewitness, was called in to give his account.

"Tian Ruan, give us your account," Principal Li said kindly.

Tian Ruan replied, "A scrawny guy from No. 2 Middle School splashed boiling-hot soup on Lu Qiuyan first—it was so severe he needed to go to the infirmary. Then the No. 2 Middle School guys came looking for trouble. Xie Tangyan couldn't take it, so she exchanged blows with their bald leader. Who knew the guy was so weak? He went down in one punch. The scrawny guy ran away when he saw that, and the others followed."

Principal Li nodded. "Is that clear to everyone? It wasn't the student council causing trouble."

The Principal of No. 2 Middle School waved it off. "Boys will be boys. We'll deal with them ourselves."

Tian Ruan didn’t recognize the principal but noticed his gleaming bald head and asked, "Is that little bald guy your son, Baldy Sr.?"

The Principal of No. 2 Middle School: "...Yes, he is."

"No wonder he acts so arrogant."

"..."

Principal Li said, "Back to class."

Tian Ruan nodded and left.

The Principal of No. 2 Middle School was still fuming. "Principal Li, your student's got quite the mouth on him."

Principal Li smiled gently. "I suppose he takes after Mr. Yu."

"Mr. Yu?"

"That would be Mr. Yu Jingmo, the largest shareholder of Deyin. The student you just met is Tian Ruan—Mr. Yu Jingmo’s brother-in-law."

"..."

No one dared to criticize Tian Ruan after that.

On his way back to the classroom, Tian Ruan was shooting a text to Yu Jingmo when he suddenly jerked to a stop and looked back—but only to find nothing but the empty hallway and offices.

He took a few more steps but still felt goosebumps. Suddenly, he sped up into a run and didn’t stop until he descended the stairs, bathed in the crisp autumn sunlight. Only then did the creepy feeling gradually fade.

Could it be a bodyguard? But bodyguards usually don’t follow into the school building.

In an instant, every campus urban legend rushed into Tian Ruan’s head—

Like the girl who was dumped by a jerk and chose to hang herself from a ceiling fan in the classroom; or the girl who accidentally got pregnant and had a stillbirth in the restroom; or the girl who jumped off the school building due to bullying…

Why were they all girls? Because girls were naturally more vulnerable.

Tian Ruan felt that whoever was tailing him was a girl.

Nah, this is slice-of-life—no ghosts allowed!

Even though he told himself that, Tian Ruan still booked it back to class, finding solace in the lively vibe of his twenty-something classmates.

Then he went to the school forum and searched for posts about the supernatural, only to find zilch.

As expected, this world had no supernatural occurrences, especially around the main characters.

However, one post caught his attention. Its title read: *Spilling the Tea on Our School’s Messiest Club*.

He clicked in and eagerly indulged in the gossip.

The club leader was dubbed the *Top*, while the members were labeled as *Glasses Bottom*, *Beauty Bottom*, *Rich Bottom*, and *Struggling Bottom*.

According to reliable sources, the *Top* had feelings for *Struggling Bottom*, *Glasses Bottom* pined for the *Top* to no avail, *Rich Bottom* was wealthy but not as rich as the *Top*, and *Beauty Bottom*, despite his looks, was the *Top*’s uncle by circumstance.

The explosive title triggered a flood of comments like *"Dish the deets!"*, *"Listening!"*, and *"OMG more please!"*

Then, the original poster began weaving an elegant yet dramatic narrative, composing a small novel’s worth of drama.

Tian Ruan spent pages just scrolling through the gossip, but the more he read, the weirder it got—the gossip left a bad taste.

The *Top* took *Beauty Bottom* and *Struggling Bottom* out for a meal, only to encounter harassment from a cross-dresser. *Struggling Bottom* threw hands, while *Beauty Bottom* melted dramatically into the *Top*’s arms. The *Top* ignored it all, simply waving for the manager to kick the cross-dresser out.

Tian Ruan: *"…………"*

Silently, Tian Ruan forwarded the post to Lu Qiuyan, Yu Shang, Xi Qin, and Qian Lailai.

After reading it, they all replied: *"…………"*

What kind of psychological attack was this? It practically nuked the whole student council group chat.

Soon, the post was yeeted, and the poster’s phone number was traced. When called, it turned out to be a girl.

Yu Shang spoke sternly, *"Come to the student council after the afternoon league match."*

The girl pleaded, *"I’m dead serious! I’ll never write exaggerated stuff about you guys again! Please let me off, President!"*

Yu Shang: *"So you really were stalking us."*

The girl: *"I wasn’t stalking all of you—just Tian Ruan. He’s the only interesting one."*

Yu Shang turned to Tian Ruan.

Tian Ruan: *"The actual hell?"*

So that being creeped out after leaving the principal’s office was because of this girl?

Tian Ruan was both annoyed and amused. He snatched the phone and asked, "Did you follow us to the student council? Come up and let's talk."

The girl replied, "No, I need to watch you more to confirm you're really the person I'm looking for." *Click*—she hung up.

"Can we find out her class and name?" Tian Ruan huffed angrily.

Xi Qin adjusted his glasses. "We *could*, but that would be illegal."

"She's stalking me—that's just as illegal."

Xi Qin shrugged. "Alright then."

In less than ten minutes, the phone number's owner details—name, family background, class, and grades—were all displayed on the computer screen: Zhu Zhizhi, Class 8 of Grade 11, ranked 106th in the last simulated exam, pharma heiress, and president of Deyin Literature Club.

Xie Tangyan exclaimed. "It's *her*?"

Xi Qin: "You know her?"

Xie Tangyan: "Not really. Back in my first year, I won a writing competition, and she tried to recruit me for the literature club. I refused."

Tian Ruan tried to remember Zhu Zhizhi's role in the plot. There *was* something—she and Nan Mengyao from the same class were always butting heads, pulling petty pranks on each other. But during an outdoor activity, when Nan Mengyao injured her leg, it was Zhu Zhizhi who bandaged her up.

They went from enemies to friends—a minor subplot in the original story.

"Let's go watch the tournament first," Tian Ruan said. He knew what mattered most. Lu Qiuyan's basketball game was far more important.

Due to the inter-school tournament, the crowd was massive, and the match was held on the outdoor court. The stands were packed, with Deyin students clearly segregated from the other schools by a gap of over ten meters.

The basketball team warmed up on the court, while cheers from the visiting schools' female students were deafening.

Tian Ruan helped the student council keep things organized while scanning the crowd for Lu Qiuyan. School administrators strolled over, giving quick nods to the student council.

Too focused on the game, Tian Ruan didn’t notice the approaching officials—*thud*—he collided with someone's chest.

"Sorry, I—"

He looked up and met a pair of sharp, upturned eyes, their dark depths hinting at amusement. "Mr. Yu, what are you doing here?"

Yu Jingmo, ignoring the onlookers, fixed Tian Ruan’s messy hair. "Still so careless. Watch where you're going."

Tian Ruan replied, "Right, sorry."

Yu Jingmo glanced around. Principal Li, smiling, hurried the shocked staff along. Yu Shang, expressionless, led the student council to continue their rounds.

Though everyone else was staring, Tian Ruan remained oblivious, staring intently at Yu Jingmo.

Under that gaze, Yu Jingmo swallowed hard. "Don't look at me like that here."

Tian Ruan blinked. "How am I looking at you?"

Maintaining his distance, Yu Jingmo murmured in a low voice, "You're really tempting me."