Chapter 122 School Starts

Chapter 122: The Semester Begins

This was Yan Zhoubai's first direct encounter with the vast disparity in identity and background—or perhaps personality—between himself and Zhan Jiayu.

During yesterday's argument, his family had repeatedly stressed that Zhan Jiayu was different from him, that they weren't suited for each other. If their relationship ever faltered, he would inevitably be the one hurt, being the more vulnerable party.

But Yan Zhoubai couldn't envision such a scenario. Ever since he met Zhan Jiayu, he had only ever seen his gentle side. He didn’t want others’ words to sway his judgment of their relationship, especially given the subtle tensions he knew existed between his family and Zhan Jiayu.

Yet, Zhan Jiayu’s recent words and demeanor seemed to echo his family’s warnings.

He was the head of the Zhan family, a man who had "fought his way" to the top—not someone who was gentle at all times.

“Xiao Chuaner,” Zhan Jiayu sighed, “I knew saying that would startle you.”

Zhan Jiayu didn’t miss the surprise and slight tremble in Yan Zhoubai’s eyes. He rose, moved from across the table to sit beside Yan Zhoubai, pulled him into an embrace, and rested his chin on his head.

Yan Zhoubai was still a bit reluctant, struggling faintly.

“I knew saying that would startle you, but as we talked, it just came up. I don’t want to lie to you. I could choose not to tell you these cold, harsh-sounding things, but I want you to know my true thoughts.”

“But you’re my partner. You don’t need to do anything for me or be of any benefit to me. Because what I love is you—just you as a person, and nothing else.”

These were Zhan Jiayu’s heartfelt words, though he hadn’t expected to utter them under such circumstances. Still, it was for the best. Without this opportune moment, he might never have shared these thoughts with Yan Zhoubai.

“Hmph, cut it out.”

Yan Zhoubai admitted he was somewhat mollified by Zhan Jiayu’s words, but he still felt the need to appear difficult to appease.

Zhan Jiayu’s recent remarks also served as a wake-up call for himself—to remain vigilant and not get too consumed by romance.

“Alright, Jasmine can’t afford to be idle, but you can. I could support you even if you did nothing.”

Zhan Jiayu gently stroked Yan Zhoubai’s earlobe. It was thick, soft to the touch, and felt wonderfully pleasant. He knew the old saying that people with large earlobes were blessed, and he certainly believed it—Yan Zhoubai was definitely a blessed person.

Hearing this, Yan Zhoubai pushed Zhan Jiayu away. “Don’t even think about it. I can’t just do nothing. I don’t need you to support me—I have money.”

Joking aside, he was a man destined to reach the pinnacle of life—how could he possibly rely on Zhan Jiayu for support? Absolutely not!

“System, system, are you there? Tell me, isn’t that right? I’m going to reach the peak of life—I don’t need Zhan Jiayu to support me!”

Zhan Jiayu’s revealed nature and his words about supporting Yan Zhoubai made Yan Zhoubai instinctively uneasy, so he urgently sought confirmation from the system, eager to prove he wasn’t someone who wanted to simply coast through life.

“Of course not! We’ll make tons of money by then! Baby, you’re the best!”

This time, the system responded without delay.

“Hey, you’re here? But when I called you last night, you didn’t seem to respond?” Yan Zhoubai was a bit puzzled.

“Last night? I didn’t hear you call me last night. And I felt like I was blocked or something—I couldn’t perceive any outside information until around noon today. I don’t know what happened. Did something happen to you last night?”

The system genuinely had no idea—it was the first time it had experienced being blocked.

“No, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

As soon as Yan Zhoubai heard the word “blocked” and recalled what he and Zhan Jiayu had done last night, he immediately guessed what had happened.

It must have been because last night’s situation wasn’t suitable for the system to know, so it was directly blocked.

So embarrassing.

“Alright, alright, you have money, you have money. I won’t say things like that anymore.”

Zhan Jiayu held Yan Zhoubai close, nuzzling him as if cuddling a little kitten.

And just like that, the topic was dropped.

“According to you, Qi Hua just wants to coast through life, but I don’t think that’s her personality. Also, I think her relationship with that man is unusual—they even came on vacation together.”

Yan Zhoubai circled back to the topic of Lin Qihua, as Zhan Jiayu’s explanation of her intentions had been too shocking—he never thought things could be like that.

“It’s Jasmine who wants to coast, not her. Didn’t I say? She still wants to be the one calling the shots in the Lin family. She just doesn’t want to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Lin Group, but the future direction of the Lin Group still has to be decided by her.” Zhan Jiayu continued to explain.

“As for that man, he’s clearly her new boyfriend. Coming on vacation together and recommending a couples’ hot spring—how could they just be ordinary friends?”

Zhan Jiayu had guessed the relationship between the two as soon as he saw them in the restaurant, but such information wasn’t particularly useful to him, so he didn’t pay it much mind.

“Really? Look, that man really is a minor celebrity—he’s acted in a few web dramas. He’s actually quite good-looking.”

While Zhan Jiayu was speaking, Yan Zhoubai had already taken out his phone to look it up, as he later felt the man looked familiar.

Zhan Jiayu’s face darkened. He was in the middle of explaining, and Yan Zhoubai was looking up some minor celebrity?

“How good-looking?” Zhan Jiayu snorted coldly.

“Just okay, I guess…”

Yan Zhoubai hadn’t noticed that Zhan Jiayu was jealous again, his eyes still fixed on the phone screen.

The next second, Zhan Jiayu directly took the phone from him.

Yan Zhoubai was about to ask why he took his phone, but one look at Zhan Jiayu’s half-smiling, half-serious expression made him realize immediately.

“Alright, he’s actually not that good-looking. You’re the handsomest.”

…

Yan Zhoubai and Zhan Jiayu stayed at the hot spring resort in Fengqing County for five days in total. Lin Qihua and her companion left before them.

Before they left, Yan Zhoubai finally met the friend Lin Qihua had mentioned who was interested in Taoist culture—Zhang Ruoyan.

But the scenario Yan Zhoubai had imagined, of the two of them chatting happily, didn’t happen. Miss Zhang seemed unwilling to interact with strangers.

Even with Lin Qihua as an intermediary, she still appeared reluctant to talk much with Yan Zhoubai. The reason Yan Zhoubai hadn’t seen her earlier was that she genuinely spent most of her time in her room, rarely coming out during her vacation.

Later, Lin Qihua mentioned that she had brought Zhang Ruoyan along precisely because she was too reclusive, hoping to get her out. But even on vacation, Zhang Ruoyan still stayed alone in the hotel.

To be honest, Yan Zhoubai was somewhat disappointed. He had approached Zhang Ruoyan hoping to make a like-minded friend, but he hadn’t expected her to be so aloof.

Zhan Jiayu had initially been unhappy that Yan Zhoubai insisted on meeting this Zhang Ruoyan, but when he saw Yan Zhoubai feeling down because they hadn’t connected, he felt a bit sorry for him.

Friendships depend on fate. Just because two people share similar interests doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily become friends.

However, Yan Zhoubai’s moods came and went quickly. Over the next two days, he forgot all about that unpleasant encounter and enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Besides the main attraction of the hot springs, the resort’s natural environment was excellent—perfect for camping and hiking, an ideal place to get close to nature.

Moreover, since the resort had only recently been fully completed, large-scale marketing hadn’t yet begun, so there weren’t too many tourists. Everyone had a great experience.

During these days at the hot spring resort, the Yan family members had been messaging him quite a bit, but Yan Zhoubai simply read them without replying, acting like he hadn't seen them.

He wasn't going to reply anytime soon; he'd wait until he was in a better mood to respond later.

After returning from the hot spring hotel, Yan Zhoubai went back to interning at the company with Zhan Jiayu. On weekends, he had considered setting up a stand on Nantian Street, but given that the last incident needed more time to blow over and he was about to start school soon, he ultimately gave up on the idea.

Yes, Yan Zhoubai was about to start college—he was going to become a real college student.

He was ultimately admitted to the philosophy major at Wutong University. Many people thought philosophy was a poor choice, that it would be hard to find a job after graduation, but Yan Zhoubai felt it was a good fit for him.

……

“But I want to live on campus. I want to experience dorm life—I’ve never had that before.”

Yan Zhoubai was lying on Zhan Jiayu’s lap, eating fries while watching cartoons on TV.

“The dorm conditions at school can’t compare to home, and our home isn’t far from campus anyway. If you have early morning classes, I can drive you there. It won’t make you late.”

Zhan Jiayu let Yan Zhoubai lie on his lap, not minding when he occasionally got grease from his hands on Zhan Jiayu’s lounge pants. He quietly continued reading reports on his tablet.

“The accommodation at our school isn’t bad—look, I’ll show you.”

Yan Zhoubai set aside the fries, wiped his hands with a tissue, and picked up his phone to show Zhan Jiayu the dorm conditions at Wutong University.

“I’ve checked online—it’s pretty good.”

“It’s true that your school has a few new dormitory buildings built in the last couple of years, and they're pretty nice. But what makes you so sure you’ll be assigned to one of the new dorms? I’ve heard the old dormitories are quite poor, especially since your school has a long history.”

Zhan Jiayu didn’t look up, speaking calmly. Since Yan Zhoubai was going to college, he had naturally investigated every aspect of Wutong University well in advance.

“But the admission letter said they’ll try to assign new students to the new dormitory buildings.”

Yan Zhoubai’s tone softened, losing some of his earlier confidence. This possibility was something he hadn’t considered.

Wait, so it was possible to be assigned to an old dormitory? He'd just assumed everyone got the new dorms.

“Even if they assign you to a new dormitory, so what? How nice could a four-person dorm really be?”

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Author’s note: Xiao Chuaner is heading off to university! [Let me see that!]