Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Lan Yexing couldn't fathom the extent of Qiao You's privileges within the club; he even had his own private lounge at Football Field 1!

As he pushed open the door, the blond young man in a jersey sat on the sofa, wearing metal-framed, non-prescription glasses. On his lap lay the blanket Lan Yexing had used previously, topped by a thin laptop.

The young man was casually typing on the keyboard, his fingers long and strong, his arm muscles smoothly defined and elegant. The cool, stark light reflecting off his transparent lenses made his handsome face appear even sharper and more unapproachable.

Hearing the sound, he looked up at Lan Yexing and smiled, "Ten minutes late, junior. Punctuality isn't a good habit."

It was precisely because he hadn't heard from Lan Yexing after their meeting, and had just encountered a fool trying to lure him to the audience stands to meet someone, that he suspected Lan Yexing was likely there too—after all, Lan Yexing's objective was to deter those who approached him.

He still went and intervened—the method was simple. Su Lou's mental power operated through sight, and when space was extracted, one's vision would distort and skew. As for the ball, that was merely a minor trick.

Yet, even now, he didn't understand his own motivation for acting.

Lost in thought, Qiao You gazed at the young man, a rare hint of inquiry in his green eyes behind the lenses: Why, exactly?

Lan Yexing didn't notice the other's contemplation. He sighed softly and offered a sincere, "I'm sorry." Regardless of the reason, he was indeed late.

Qiao You then leisurely surveyed him from head to toe: beautifully defined ankle bones, long legs covered with a thin layer of muscle, a slender waist concealed by a loose jersey, hands still elegant as they held a canvas bag, and a chest gently rising and falling with his breath…

Finally, his substantial gaze subtly rested on the slender neck and delicate collarbone visible above the neckline, where a large expanse of skin gleamed dazzlingly white. He raised an eyebrow and remarked, seemingly unperturbed, "This is the second time I've seen you in a jersey."

The last time had been in that warehouse.

It was only after they had shared a life-or-death experience that he truly noticed how well the young man looked in a jersey.

Lan Yexing nodded, "Well, I have football class this afternoon."

As he spoke, he approached the young man, retrieved two notebooks from his canvas bag, and handed them over, saying, "The other one is the one you lent me last time. I've copied everything. Thank you."

Qiao You nodded, taking them neatly. His gaze, however, followed Lan Yexing's movements into the canvas bag. Upon seeing the pudding bread and milk, his actions paused. He raised an eyebrow and, without ceremony, pointed at the items in the bag, stating, "I happen to be hungry."

Lan Yexing: "..." Was he asking for food?

But who was it that threw his bread and milk into the trash last time?!

He was so fastidious that when Zhou Yanqiu merely used water from his cup, he'd discard the entire cup. Now he was actively asking him for food?

Could this person be possessed?

Qiao You seemed to recall the previous incident. He showed no trace of guilt, merely looking at the items in the bag, a subtle hint of regret appearing on his face. "That bread looks quite delicious."

This was the second time he'd seen Lan Yexing buy them. He rarely ate such packaged foods and was now uncharacteristically curious about the taste.

Lan Yexing: (ellipsis)

He twitched an eyebrow but still pulled out the bread and milk, tossing them beside Qiao You, grumbling, "Senior, next time you want some, please buy it yourself."

A truly satisfied smile finally graced Qiao You's face. "Thank you."

At this point, he set aside the laptop from his lap and his own notebook, picked up Lan Yexing's notebook, and casually flipped through it, praising indifferently, "Your handwriting is quite good, junior."

Lan Yexing stood before him, and the more he observed the scene, the more he felt like he was submitting homework to a high school teacher. The thought grew increasingly bizarre. Lan Yexing subtly took a step back, unable to resist retorting, "Should I thank you for complimenting me?"

Qiao You's smile deepened. "You're welcome."

Lan Yexing: "..." How childish this guy suddenly became!

Just then, he noticed that the young man's hand, which was flipping through the notebook, was still bandaged—after all, only a few days had passed since the pet shop incident, so it was normal for his hand injury not to have healed.

Lan Yexing hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "Even with daily dressing changes, your hand still needs a follow-up check-up at the hospital. If leaving school is troublesome, the school hospital is fine." After all, this injury was sustained because of him, so even if it was overstepping, he should remind the other party.

Qiao You seemed not to have expected Lan Yexing to bring this up. He was momentarily stunned, then thoughtfully looked at his bandaged hand and blinked. A slow smile then reappeared on his face. "Thank you for the reminder."

Having seen too many human organs and tissues since childhood, he eventually lost his sense of reality and judgment regarding his own wounds. If Lan Yexing hadn't reminded him, he truly wouldn't have known that such a wound required re-examination.

Seeing him agree, Lan Yexing finally felt relieved. He glanced at his watch and said, "It's almost time, senior. I'm going to class. Bye!"

Qiao You smiled and took something out of his sports bag, accurately tossing it into Lan Yexing's hand. "A return gift for the bread and milk."

Lan Yexing blinked at the white chocolate in his palm, identical to the last time. "Thank you?"

Qiao You elegantly and casually waved his hand at him, and Lan Yexing turned to leave.

The young man watched Lan Yexing's back disappear behind the door with a vague, unreadable expression. Only when the sound of the door closing came did he withdraw his gaze and look down at the open notebook on his lap with a blank expression:

"Ode to the Boy and the Lark"

This was a poem written by an ancient poet from this country. After it was passed down, everyone said that whoever read this poet's poems would feel happiness.

The young man read the notes word by word, and a certain arrogant, indifferent, and disdainful expression slowly appeared in his green eyes behind the lenses:

How could that be true?

However, when his fingertips accidentally touched the words the young man had carefully written one by one, Qiao You's movements paused, and a subtle hint of bewilderment appeared on his face.

He closed the notebook, picked up the pudding bread next to him, and slowly tore open the packaging, not knowing what he was feeling.

...

After leaving the lounge, Lan Yexing went to the football field's assembly area.

Perhaps due to Su Lou's incident, or because the players needed to clear the field for other students' classes, there were few people left on the green field.

The system's voice came through at this moment: "5 points accumulated, with 1 extra point. This time, the Host has unlocked the 'Freeze' mental power for us."

Lan Yexing lowered his gaze: "Good." After a pause, he softly asked, "What about you, Xiao Song? Have you remembered anything about yourself?"

The system's mechanical voice carried a hint of confusion: "I seem to have seen in my data stream... an endless green grassland and white, soft sheep like clouds. The wind is free and light..."

System: "Sorry, I can't recall more information for now."

Lan Yexing gently and patiently repeated what he had said last time: "No need to apologize, Xiao Song. You are already very, very good."

The system's naive voice carried a faint happiness. "Okay."

Lan Yexing placed his hand on the dial to comfort it, but a hint of coolness emerged from the depths of his eyes: grassland... sea of lights grassland...

Wool merchants on the sea of lights grassland...

The answer seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, yet it was obscured by layers of mist.

Lan Yexing took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions surging from his heart—when thinking, only by stripping away emotions as much as possible would the results be accurate.

He closed his eyes, sorting through the information.

...

Not long after, other students attending class arrived at the assembly area intermittently, and Jian Si and Li Long also came.

Su Lou seemed to be very famous. What had happened on this football field not long ago had already spread everywhere. Everyone gathered in small groups, gloatingly discussing the possible outcomes of this incident.

"I heard that the people he provoked this afternoon are all untouchable, especially that Teacher Qi—"

"Ah? There's a teacher involved too?"

"Yes, Teacher Qi is the youngest lecturer in the School of Engineering! I heard he's a genius in mechanical design! He seems to have a good temper on the surface, but his students all say he's quite terrifying, sigh. He also has a strange habit: he tries everything three times—"

"Gives up after three tries?"

"No way, he uses extreme measures after three tries—for example, I heard he once tried to tame a lark three times without success, and he just threw that lark to its death!"

"It's this kind of person who has already sent Su Lou to the academic affairs office, so Su Lou might be expelled, hehe."

...

Lan Yexing listened with his head slightly bowed, his eyes quiet and cold, without speaking.

Li Long also stood silently beside Jian Si, his gaze fixed only on Jian Si.

Jian Si, however, smiled when he heard these remarks and offered his opinion. "The royal family values its reputation greatly. Even when facing people like us, they would never allow their adopted child to be expelled."

Lan Yexing looked at him.

Jian Si shrugged: "Maybe we'll soon see Prince Leon of the royal family on campus."

Lan Yexing's mind immediately conjured the image of the brown-haired, freckled man who had met his gaze in the car when he first came to school that day. He pursed his lips, still saying nothing.

...

The football class finished smoothly this time. Lan Yexing and his group had already taken turns tidying up the equipment, so the teacher found other students.

It was already evening. After having dinner with Jian Si and Li Long, Lan Yexing bid them farewell and routinely climbed over the wall to feed the cats.

It was past seven in the evening when he climbed back into school. Lan Yexing walked towards his dormitory, but his mind couldn't stop thinking about Qi Zhong.

That Teacher Qi, who, according to his classmates, would resort to extreme measures after three attempts, had already sent roses to Qiao You three times, and each time had failed without exception...

At this moment, Lan Yexing had already arrived at the central plaza, and he couldn't help but stop...

The beautiful and grand sculptural fountain beside him sprayed splashing water as usual—this was where he first arrived on campus and completed his first task.

Logically, Qiao You should be in the library at this time—he had said that he needed to go to Library 1 to consult materials for two consecutive weeks, and he was still within those two weeks.

With so many students there, Qi Zhong shouldn't act directly.

Lan Yexing frowned slightly: But... many of those nobles are crazy, and Qi Zhong might even be the one who helped Duan Chen imprison Zhou Yanqiu.

He took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, and was about to text Qiao You to confirm his safety when the system's mechanical, indifferent voice sounded: "Qiao You is currently at the school hospital for a follow-up check on his hand. Qi Zhong plans to take advantage of Qiao You being at the school hospital to imprison him in a different space."

"Qi Zhong is already at the entrance of the school hospital. Please, Host, prevent this capture event from happening."

System: "Also, Xiao Xing, be careful."

Lan Yexing's eyes widened suddenly, and he strode towards the school hospital without hesitation.