Chapter 6: Idiot, Get Out

Chapter 6: Dumbass, Get Lost

Pei Luo's lips quirked upward, initially completely at ease.

Seeing Song Yuqing turn to look at him, Pei Luo’s breathing grew somewhat erratic, his chest pounding and heaving.

Pushing down that odd feeling inside him, he raised an eyebrow and held up the lunchbox toward Song Yuqing from across the way.

"Eat."

Song Yuqing: "..."

Without a backward glance, Song Yuqing turned and walked away.

But Pei Luo, who had suddenly run over, grabbed his wrist. "Why are you running?"

"I’m not sent by Pei Huai to bully you."

Song Yuqing coldly glanced at the streak of Klein blue dyed at the end of Pei Luo’s hair. "Let go. I won’t eat."

Pei Luo had eagerly brought food over for Song Yuqing, but not only did Song Yuqing refuse it, he also spoke coldly to him. This made Pei Luo a little angry.

"Fine, if you won’t eat, I’ll feed it to the dogs." His tone was sharp, venting his dissatisfaction.

Song Yuqing’s fair face remained taut as he gave a slight nod. "Sure."

The rustling leaves carried Song Yuqing’s indifferent response to Pei Luo’s ears.

Pei Luo laughed in exasperation again, then remembered how Song Yuqing had nearly been swamped by lunchboxes earlier, how Pei Huai had pinned his wrist against the desk and bullied him.

Yet he hadn’t backed down at all.

Pei Luo didn’t understand why Song Yuqing couldn't be a little softer, why he refused to accept help from others.

A stubborn, rigid, inflexible fool of a beta.

Song Yuqing stood there, glancing down at his captured wrist again.

Behind him was a darkness that seemed to devour everything.

Strangler fig vines tightly coiled around the tree trunks, and moonlight filtered through the gaps, casting a pure, bright glow.

The air was damp and heavy, carrying a faint scent of decay.

The flowers of the strangler fig emitted a sweet yet eerie fragrance.

Song Yuqing quickly twisted his wrist toward Pei Luo’s thumb and forcefully yanked his arm free from Pei Luo’s grasp.

Suddenly empty-handed, Pei Luo’s thoughts snapped back to reality.

An idea flashed through Pei Luo’s mind.

Song Yuqing wasn’t a dodder plant; he was a strangler fig, coiling and competing until he eventually strangled his host.

Pei Luo stared fixedly at Song Yuqing’s cold, weary face, his breathing growing heavier.

"I didn’t mean it like that. You haven’t eaten—have a little, okay?" His tone was no longer his usual flippant arrogance, carrying a hint of barely noticeable pleading.

Pei Luo held out the lunchbox. "I’m not like those who mess with you or toy with you. I wouldn’t give you leftovers."

He opened the lunchbox, revealing a variety of dishes, but...

Seeing the food inside, Song Yuqing frowned slightly, a physiological disgust rising in him.

"I won’t eat."

"Go back to class."

Pei Luo remained standing there, insisting, "If you don’t eat, you’ll get hungry."

Song Yuqing: "..."

Annoying.

"You eat." His voice was like snow falling on pine needles, a silent, heavy snowfall that nonetheless soaked Pei Luo’s entire life. "Be good, Pei Luo."

Be good.

After the snow, the clear sky was soft and mild.

It struck the alpha’s heart heavily. Be good—he had been good, but... Song Yuqing had never given him any reward.

"If I’m good, will you reward me?"

The alpha’s tall frame almost enveloped Song Yuqing, but his head was bowed low, his gaze glued to Song Yuqing’s slightly drooping eyelids.

Song Yuqing looked down at Lan Balun, who had appeared at some point, and that tail of his that resembled a withered green onion.

The beta’s amber eyes were like solidified honey, cold yet with a contradictory warmth.

The night wind cut like a knife, bitterly cold.

"No."

The night was ink-black, with dim yellow lights blurring into the mist.

Wind chimes tinkled softly, and a few glowing fireflies traced gentle blue-green arcs around them, like falling stars in the night sky.

Most shops on campus were self-checkout, but this one, tucked in the farthest corner, still had a human attendant.

Song Yuqing entered to buy nutrient supplements.

This was perhaps the one thing he appreciated most about this world—he didn’t necessarily have to eat meals; nutrient supplements were an option.

The shop attendant was drowsy.

In the corner of the shop, an alpha sat on a high stool, long legs crossed. His uniform had been professionally ironed and maintained, every crease perfectly in place. Behind silver-framed glasses, his gray eyes watched a post on the computer with keen interest.

The name "Song Yuqing" appeared frequently, almost flooding the campus forum.

The alpha tapped lightly on the keyboard, then looked up at the beta in the shop who was grabbing an entire box of nutrient supplements.

Song Yuqing?

The alpha’s lips curled into a meaningful, ambiguous smile.

Song Yuqing carried a box of apple-flavored nutrient supplements to the checkout counter.

He scanned his payment code, but it emitted a prompt—insufficient balance, payment failed.

Song Yuqing: "…"

The store employee looked up, startled, at the customer buying nutrient packs upon hearing the "Insufficient balance, payment failed" alert.

Was there really someone at Victor United High School who couldn't afford nutrient packs?

Looking up, they saw a pale, weary face, ashen as paper, with only the lips showing a faint pink hue—like an ink wash painting.

He was strikingly handsome… and that made it even more strange that he couldn’t afford nutrient packs.

After all, beauty could be exchanged for resources at this school.

Especially beauty of this caliber.

If they had money, they wouldn’t have the heart to let such a beauty live in such dire straits—they would never allow someone like this to rely on nutrient packs for sustenance.

Basic nutrient packs like these were only meant to stave off hunger. Ordinary people only bought them when too busy to eat properly, and bulk purchases were typically made only by those from the slums of District 5.

For a young man like this to buy nutrient packs—and even lack the money—was practically unheard of.

Song Yuqing remained expressionless as he picked out a single-serving packet of nutrient supplements.

He scanned it.

—Insufficient balance, payment failed.

Song Yuqing: "Fa Fa, I'm poor."

A matter-of-fact statement, carrying a faint sense of hopelessness.

88 replied sheepishly, clearly feeling guilty about the identity it had given Song Yuqing. "Yes, you're poor."

"To survive, I need to find a job, right?" Song Yuqing's face remained impassive.

88 comforted him: "Even though you have no money, your expenses in the cafeteria, hospital, and for books are all charged to Qi Zhengqing’s account."

Song Yuqing: "Mm."

Song Yuqing returned the nutrient pack to the shelf.

The store employee watched Song Yuqing's whole interaction, feeling sorry for him—a student truly in need who couldn’t even afford a cheap nutrient pack.

Employee: "Hey, uh… classmate?"

Song Yuqing had already reached the door when he heard the employee seemingly speaking to him.

He turned his head slightly, half his face blurred in the light and shadow, long eyelashes casting a faint shadow under his eyes.

They were extremely beautiful eyes, each lash distinct and delicate like the tail of a swallowtail butterfly, amber irises resembling glass beads touched by frost.

Just being gazed upon by those eyes was intoxicating.

The employee, caught off guard, was stunned once again by his beauty and stammered out the unfinished sentence: "Take this nutrient pack. It’s on me."

But the words were as faint as a mosquito’s hum.

Song Yuqing lowered his eyes and said softly, "Thank you, but no need."

Boom—

The school’s clock tower soared into the clouds, its spire piercing the sky, with exquisite patterns and the school emblem carved into its stone walls.

It chimed precisely at nine.

The deep, resonant sound of the bell spread throughout the campus.

The store employee was snapped out of it.

When they came to their senses, it felt like experiencing a vivid dream—only a hint of a cold, faint scent remained as proof that Song Yuqing had been there.

An alpha who had been sitting in the corner of the store for who knows how long stood up. His perfectly fitted school uniform was most notable for the family emblem on it.

A silver ginkgo leaf, edged with gold thread, signifying that the alpha was the next in line to lead Silver Leaf Pharmaceutical.

In this school, family status outweighed the school itself.

The alpha wore a faint smile, his tone pitying. "How pathetic."

The employee agreed: "Yes, very pitiful."

Alpha: "That poor little beta, tricked into marriage while still in high school, yet unloved by his husband—not even given money to buy nutrient packs."

The employee was shocked.

Shocked that the cold, quiet, poor young man was a beta.

Even more shocked that he was already married, someone’s wife, and unloved by his husband. What kind of cold-hearted alpha would treat such a beautiful spouse like this?

The alpha’s tone was casual but pointed: "There are many posts about him on the forum. If you want to know more, you can take a look."

Before the alpha had even left, the beta employee couldn’t wait to enter the school forum.

An overwhelming amount of creepy voyeurism, warped but careful fixations, and posts reveling in fantasies for a minute before being taken down—the forum was filled with such content.

He finally learned Song Yuqing’s name.

The beta didn’t overthink it; he simply felt sorry for Song Yuqing.

He made his first post.

OP: How can his alpha husband let him not even afford the cheapest nutrient pack? Is this powerful alpha planning to use him up completely?

The tone was full of indignation, every word spoken in defense of Song Yuqing.

The alpha, who had already left the store, saw the new post, his gentle, pitying expression vanished.

He simply put away his phone and began following—not too close, not too far—that beta who had been dominating the school forum since yesterday.

Like a predator tracking prey, he followed the beta from a distance.

Song Yuqing extended his hand.

A white mouse with its ears cut off, forelimbs brutally torn off, blood oozing from its mutilated ears and broken limbs.

The mangled stumps.

Its white fur was stained a dark red, horrifyingly vivid.

The kind of white mice used in laboratories are cruelly tortured to death.

Brutally tortured, yet left barely alive.

That's how things work at this school.

Those chosen become like these white mice—subjected to physical and psychological torment, broken, stripped of the will to resist or even the ability to seek death, left only to linger as prey.

It could be Qi Ran, or it could be him.

Song Yuqing lowered his gaze, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.

Song Yuqing reached out his hand. Lan Balun, coiled around Song Yuqing’s arm like a sly snake, bit into the white mouse’s neck. With just one wrap, he completely ended the small creature's suffering.

Lan Balun, still feeling guilty about what he had done the night before, reluctant but obliged, did as Song Yuqing asked.

Song Yuqing remained crouched in place when suddenly a hand reached toward him, followed by a voice as warm and inviting as a spring breeze, “What are you doing? Trying to save it? You’re so kind. Do you need my help?”

The alpha stared fixedly at Song Yuqing’s pale, slender wrist, the skin almost translucent, as if the blue veins beneath were visible.

The palm was stained with bright blood.

A cool fragrance seeped through the flesh, a quiet allure.

The alpha’s tongue discreetly ran over his teeth. His movements were slow and deliberate, carrying a nearly wild elegance.

“Well, it’s dead now. Make sure to bury it,” Song Yuqing said coldly.

Song Yuqing placed the white mouse in the alpha’s palm.

“You…” Song Yuqing lifted his gaze slightly, his eyes shifting slowly, sweeping over the tall, appearing gentle and harmless alpha before him.

Song Yuqing’s gaze was icy, lacking any warmth, merely a dismissive glance at the ginkgo leaf-shaped brooch on the alpha’s clothes. “You’re also very kind.”

Dead.

Buried.

He’s also very kind.

Something seemed to leap in Tan Shu’s chest, an almost perverse excitement surging within him. His pupils narrowed slightly, like a beast locking onto its prey in the dark.

The alpha lowered his eyes to stare at Song Yuqing. Tan Shu’s appearance and manners were nearly perfect, giving off the impression of a gentle, refined noble.

Polite and mindful of social boundaries, Tan Shu had always been highly regarded in the school.

“You’re the most special person I’ve met at this school. You’re different from everyone else,” Tan Shu said gently.

Song Yuqing responded robotically, engaging in empty compliments. “…You’re also very special.”

Idiot.

Get lost.

System 88: “…”

Outwardly, you're a kind, good child.

In your heart: Idiot. Get lost.

Tan Shu: “Really?”

Song Yuqing’s long eyelashes lowered slightly. “Mm.”

Idiot.

Song Yuqing said politely, “Goodbye.”

Never see you again, idiot.

Grey, lifeless eyes watched Song Yuqing’s retreating figure until it completely disappeared. Only then did one of the still eyes slowly shift.

An irrepressible excitement surged within him. Slowly, he raised his fingers to his lips and gently licked the tip that had brushed against the beta’s hand.

Tan Shu closed his eyes, reveling in this thrilling sensation.

In his palm was the dead mouse, killed by Song Yuqing.

How entertaining, nothing like what he had imagined.

How he wanted to toy with him until he breaks.

Tan Shu still held the dead mouse. He should have tossed it aside casually.

Instead, he patiently dug a hole and buried the poor white mouse in the soil.

In the hospital room,

Qi Ran scrolled through his phone.

The post criticizing his father for mistreating Song Yuqing had already gotten many responses.

The post seemed to defend Song Yuqing, but in reality, it signaled that Song Yuqing was not valued.

Once again, it pushed Song Yuqing into the spotlight of public opinion, allowing twisted and dirty ideas to surface.

Many would harass Song Yuqing.

Thinking about how Qi Zhengqing was also so stingy toward Song Yuqing, Qi Ran felt an inexplicable discomfort welling up inside him.

Qi Ran pulled up his contacts, intending to send some money to Song Yuqing.

After all, Song Yuqing was the first person to reach out to him and take him away.

But Qi Ran realized he didn’t have Song Yuqing’s contact information.

Little did Qi Ran know, the very person he was thinking about was in the hospital.

“Hello, I’d like a box of nutrient packs.”

His voice was crisp and melodic, like snow dusting pine branches.

The night-shift nurse was momentarily taken aback, first mesmerized by Song Yuqing’s voice, then confused by what he asked for.

In this world, nutrient supplements serve as the most accessible food source for humans living in slums.

They are also a multi-purpose medical item, used in hospitals as an important treatment and supportive resource.

When patients are injured or ill and unable to eat, nutrient supplements can rapidly supply essential nutrients.

The hospital had hoarded a large quantity of nutritional supplements. If Song Yuqing hadn’t come today, no one would even have remembered these supplies.

88: "..."

It was just the kind of solution Song Yuqing would come up with.

Nurse: "Please register your name and your guardian's payment card number."

Song Yuqing wrote down his own name. As for the card number for the fee deduction, he had memorized it while going through Qi Zhengqing’s records.

He remembered all of Qi Zhengqing’s card numbers.

He could secretly deduct money from Qi Zhengqing’s accounts whenever he wanted.

Song Yuqing thought that with Qi Zhengqing having so many cards and so much money, he probably wouldn’t even notice if some fees were deducted.

The alpha’s broad shoulders filled out a dark gray custom-tailored suit. The fabric clung to his well-defined musculature, not overly flashy but hinting subtly at his power.

His cuffs were slightly rolled up, revealing a section of solid forearm. Beneath the skin, the faint outline of bulging, explosive veins silently declared his strength.

Ding! Victor United High School infirmary deducted 3,000 New Coins.

Deduction item: One case of nutrient supplements.

Payment registered under: Your wife, Song Yuqing.

Author’s note:

"Qingqing: If only the old geezer could die today, I’d inherit all his assets."

"Qi Ran: If only the old geezer could die today, I’d inherit his wife."