WMR | Chapter 4

In the morning, Lu Qingci stood at the school gate as usual, checking discipline, lifting his head now and then to look outside. When he saw a familiar car slowly pull in, a trace of warmth flashed through the boy’s dark, cold eyes.

He watched the boy regain his spirits and hop lightly out of the car in a neat school uniform. The boy’s delicate, fair face was brushed by the morning sun, and the bright, pleasing eyes that held an easy smile walked toward him. As he passed, he carried a gust of wind that stirred the heart.

He wore his school tie today. So obedient.

Looking at the boy’s slim, long figure, Lu Qingci’s indifferent eyes flickered with a touch of gentleness.

“Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu!”

Zhou Nan came running over in a rush, flinging an arm around Jiang Baiyu’s shoulders. His tall body bumped the boy so hard that he stumbled forward a few steps.

Jiang Baiyu finally steadied himself and smiled as he elbowed Zhou Nan.

The two boys walked into campus just like that, arms around each other.

Even knowing they were friends, Lu Qingci’s expression still turned cold.

In the five years that had passed, he had had so many chances to get together with Jiang Baiyu, but because of his own twisted nature, he and Jiang Baiyu had never done anything that intimate.

Jiang Baiyu was very good-looking, the kind of boy both girls and boys would like. His personality was gentle too, not quick to anger, able to get along with anyone. There were actually many people around him who liked him.

But back then, he had been unable to see any of Jiang Baiyu’s good points.

----

After the routine inspection ended, Lu Qingci hurried back to the classroom.

Because he knew that once Jiang Baiyu and he became deskmates, Jiang Baiyu would bring him all kinds of breakfasts and snacks every day.

Back then, he never touched any of it.

When he got annoyed, he would even throw the whole thing, breakfast box and all, straight into the trash can in front of the boy. Watching the boy look hurt and aggrieved while not daring to defy him gave him a sense of being high above everything.

Back then, he had been utterly despicable.

Today, he would eat every bite of breakfast clean, then say thank you to Jiang Baiyu. In return, he would give Jiang Baiyu a cup of juice.

He hoped that this way, their relationship could naturally grow a little closer.

In the classroom, Jiang Baiyu was opening a set of mock math exam questions.

Lu Qingci slowed his steps and walked calmly to his seat.

As expected, there was a neatly folded paper bag on the desk. When he opened it, inside were a sandwich breakfast and a bottle of drink.

The breakfast Jiang Baiyu had given him.

Even though he had expected it, Lu Qingci still couldn’t help his heartbeat speeding up a little.

He glanced at the boy’s lowered head as he worked on the problems, and the indifferent corners of his lips curved ever so slightly.

Class was about to start, so he didn’t have time to eat the sandwich. He only took out the drink. After that, he carefully folded up the paper bag and put it into the desk drawer. He deliberately moved very slowly, looking as if he cherished it seriously, as if he really liked this breakfast.

That surprised Jiang Baiyu.

He secretly glanced sideways, and when he saw Lu Qingci turn back to look at him, he quickly lowered his head to avoid meeting his gaze.

This nervous, shy-looking reaction made Lu Qingci even more certain that the breakfast had been given by Jiang Baiyu.

In order not to reveal anything in front of the boy, he pretended not to know.

He deliberately turned back and tapped Zhou Nan’s desk, saying, “Can you help me tell the person who sent the breakfast thank you? Also, give this to him.”

As he spoke, he put a bottle of juice on Zhou Nan’s desk.

Zhou Nan gave him a sideways look, took the juice, and turned to the girl in the back row. “Xu Ying, the class monitor says thank you for the breakfast, and he says to give you this juice to drink.”

Lu Qingci’s hand, just about to twist open the drink bottle, abruptly froze. A layer of chill then covered his clear eyes.

He whipped around and called coldly, “Xu Ying.”

Xu Ying had just taken the milk from Zhou Nan’s hand, surprise flashing in her eyes. Looking up, she saw Lu Qingci’s cold, intimidating gaze, with a hint of anger hidden within it.

Lu Qingci quickly stood up, put the paper bag and the drink together on the girl’s desk, and took the bottle of juice from her hand. In a low voice, he warned, “Please don’t send this again in the future.”

Xu Ying looked awkwardly at the paper bag, her face red as she sat there. The emotional whiplash made her want to cry.

Zhou Nan looked at Lu Qingci’s sudden change from beginning to end, speechless, and asked, “Class monitor, so you asked me like that just to trick me into telling you who sent it? What kind of move is that?”

Lu Qingci was used to this. “Don’t let anyone else put things on my desk in the future.”

“What’s that got to do with me.”

Zhou Nan snorted, then turned back to comfort the girl. “Anyway, if you want to give something later, just change the recipient. For example, Xiaoyu, he actually needs the nutrition.”

Jiang Baiyu: ...

Jiang Baiyu glanced sideways at Xu Ying, who looked close to tears, as if he were seeing his former self.

Just like Xu Ying, in his previous life he had been treated by Lu Qingci like this countless times, with not a shred of mercy. And he still hadn’t learned his lesson, thinking that if he sent things a few more times he could move Lu Qingci’s heart. Again and again, he was humiliated by Lu Qingci.

He had practically been asking to be abused.

Thinking this, Jiang Baiyu shrank a little farther inward, putting several centimeters between himself and Lu Qingci.

Lu Qingci noticed the boy’s tiny movement, and the space between his brows tightened even more.

Jiang Baiyu was very obedient, and very careful. But after treating Xu Ying like that just now, had he frightened Jiang Baiyu, making him too scared to send him breakfast again in the future?

Still, forget it.

Lu Qingci thought to himself, from now on he would be the one sending Jiang Baiyu breakfast and snacks, the one taking the initiative.

What he needed to do now was figure out how to get close to Jiang Baiyu naturally. Lu Qingci kept looking for an opportunity.

At last, during math self-study, he found one.

Jiang Baiyu was working on a math problem, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t find the solution.

He turned around with his paper and asked Zhou Nan, “Zhou Nan, let me see how you did this problem.”

Zhou Nan glanced at it and directly pulled a worksheet from a stack of textbooks, saying, “It’s all here, just copy it.”

Lu Qingci casually turned back, looked at the paper in the boy’s hand, and said lightly, “It’s wrong.”

Zhou Nan: ???

“How do you know it’s wrong?”

Lu Qingci said, “It’s wrong. The whole paper didn’t even reach a passing score.”

You didn’t even look at it and you’re saying I failed.

Zhou Nan was indignant, but he didn’t have the confidence to argue.

After all, Lu Qingci was a genuine top student. In his second year of high school, he took part in the national joint exam and ranked first in the city among all college entrance exam students. As soon as senior year started, he was directly admitted early to A University. Not only could he get full marks in math and science, he could even solve the last free points questions. He was ridiculously, absurdly good.

Zhou Nan said, “Then tell me where it’s wrong?”

Lu Qingci pushed his own paper over to Jiang Baiyu’s desk.

Jiang Baiyu froze for a moment.

“It’s not hard.”

Lu Qingci took up his pen and, on the solution space for the problem Jiang Baiyu had asked about, wrote out the steps with a shush, shush, shush, explaining them one by one. He didn’t say much, but every sentence hit the key point.

Clear and concise, extremely easy to understand.

Jiang Baiyu suddenly understood, and said in surprise, “So it’s this simple. I made it too complicated.”

Lu Qingci used a red pen to write a line of formula on a blank part of the paper, saying, “Just remember this formula, and problems like this can all be solved.”

Jiang Baiyu kept nodding. “Then I’ll try the next one.”

Lu Qingci merely glanced at it and said, “The next one needs a different formula.”

Jiang Baiyu was a little confused, and couldn’t help turning back to ask him, “Different? Which one?”

Their eyes met. Lu Qingci saw curiosity flashing in the boy’s bright pupils, the question gathering between his handsome brows, his delicate features fully falling into his sight.

Very obedient, very cute.

Lu Qingci’s indifferent lips curved up almost imperceptibly. “Do it first. Ask me if you don’t understand.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

Jiang Baiyu only cared about taking back his paper and solving the problem, and ignored the softness in Lu Qingci’s tone.

In the back row, Zhou Nan was still clawing at his hair, thinking hard. “Which step did I get wrong? I didn’t get it wrong.”

Forced to, he flipped through the solution. After seeing the answer, he stared in disbelief and questioned, “Class monitor, I didn’t get this problem wrong!”

“I didn’t say this problem was wrong.”

Lu Qingci’s tone was calm, as if there were no scheme or calculation in it at all.

“You!”

Zhou Nan was furious at his matter-of-fact expression and was about to reason with him when he heard Lu Qingci let out a mocking laugh. “You got more than half the other problems wrong.”

Zhou Nan: ...

Suddenly, several girls by the window leaned out to look outside, excitedly discussing:

“Oh my god, is that Yan Jinzhou? He’s so handsome.”

“I heard the Yan family handed this year’s school celebration planning over to him. Amazing!”

“What’s so amazing about that? He joined the management level of Yan Group while he was still in college.”

...

Seeing the commotion, the other students in the class gathered over one after another. “Where? Where? Let me see, let me see.”

Yan Jinzhou?

After hearing that name, Jiang Baiyu immediately stopped writing.

It was exactly Yan Jinzhou, who had saved him yesterday.

And this person was also his future marriage partner.

Curious, Jiang Baiyu stood up and said, “Zhou Nan, come on, let’s go take a look too.”

But Lu Qingci was sitting at his seat blocking the way, his body completely unmoving, steady as a mountain.

Jiang Baiyu lifted a leg, then put it down again, awkwardly scratching the fine hair by his ear. “Class monitor, I want to go out.”

Lu Qingci nodded at his chin coldly and asked in a faint voice, “Did you finish the problem just now?”

Jiang Baiyu said, “I’ll do it when I come back.”

“You’ll forget it.”

Lu Qingci raised his eyes and looked at the boy who was anxiously trying to get out. His dark eyes were like a deep pool, his voice as clear as water. “The homeroom teacher said you asked to sit with me so I could help you study.”

Jiang Baiyu: ...

Zhou Nan was still worrying over his failing paper and said without even looking up, “It’s just a man, what’s there to look at? I’m not going.”

Jiang Baiyu glanced outside the classroom and had no choice but to sit back down.

Forget it, there would be plenty of chances to see Yan Jinzhou later.