On Sunday afternoon, after lunch break, Lian Jun went to the school to see Shi Jin off.

"I'll come pick you up next Friday," Lian Jun said, holding Shi Jin's hand and twirling the ring on his finger. His brow was furrowed. "I'll text you the results of your medical examination. Don't worry too much. And make sure you eat well at school. Absolutely no staying up late."

Shi Jin squeezed his hand back and smiled. "Actually, it should be me reminding you. The police academy has a strict lights-out policy every night. I can't stay up even if I wanted to. But you, without me watching over you, you'll definitely be picky with your food and stay up late again."

"I won't," Lian Jun promised.

Shi Jin looked at him skeptically.

Lian Jun couldn't help but laugh at his expression. His mood improved a little and he held Shi Jin's hand without saying anything. Shi Jin didn't say anything and lazily leaned against him, occasionally rubbing him for comfort without a word.

The journey of over an hour wasn't far, and the two of them seemed to just quietly lean on each other for a while before the car stopped at the entrance of the police academy.

Lian Jun carefully looked through the car window at the gate of the police academy, his eyes filled with regret: "It's a pity I can't personally send you in and see what your dormitory looks like."

Shi Jin thought of his six-person dormitory without an independent bathroom and the completely exposed public bath at the end of the floor, silently sweating in his heart and dryly said, "There will be opportunities, university is four years long..."

He heard that after their third year, they could move to a four-person dorm with a bathroom, so it should be better to let Lian Jun see the dormitory then. When Lian Jun heard this, his expression faded and he said, "Yes, four years is too long to study."

Shi Jin thought to himself, "Uh oh, it seems like I've stirred up a hornet's nest."

"Absolutely no failing allowed in the final exams," Lian Jun suddenly turned his head to look at him, his tone heavy, "If you fail, you'll have to take a makeup exam, which means even more time spent in school. I absolutely won't allow it!"

Shi Jin sat up straight, loudly replying, "No problem, Young Master Jun, I will work hard!"

Lian Jun's serious expression couldn't hold up, and he was amused by him again. He reached out and lightly pinched his face, wanting to say something, but his mouth opened and closed before finally sighing lightly. He leaned in and kissed him.

Shi Jin closed his eyes and returned the kiss, reaching out to comfort him and holding him close. After their kiss, Lian Jun rubbed his lips and said, "Go on, if you delay any longer, you won't have time to tidy up your dorm and go to the counselor's office to submit your report. Remember to have a good dinner and call me when you have time."

Shi Jin nodded, picked up his backpack, and reluctantly kissed Lian Jun's cheek again before getting out of the car. He stood by the car and gestured for Number One, the driver, to start the car.

But Number One didn't move and turned back to look at Lian Jun.

Lian Jun lowered the car window to look at Shi Jin.

"It's impossible, I won't let you see my back as I leave," Shi Jin said seriously, reciting sweet nothings.

Lian Jun's unspoken question was blocked by Shi Jin's words. His eyes softened, and he reminded Shi Jin to have a good meal before reluctantly signalling Number One to go and slowly raising the car window.

As the car drove away, Shi Jin kept his gaze fixed on it until it turned the corner and disappeared from sight. He then slung his backpack over his shoulder and prepared to cross the road to enter the school gates. However, as he looked towards the pedestrian crossing, he locked eyes with Luo Donghao and Liu Yong, who were staring straight at him.

Shi Jin's expression froze, but he quickly tried to act nonchalant and raised his hand in a friendly greeting. "What a coincidence, you guys are also returning to school at this time," he said.

The atmosphere was tense, and Liu Yong suddenly shouted in disbelief, pointing at Shi Jin. "He's here! The audacious one who skipped classes for over a month, Shi Jin, has appeared!"

The surrounding students all turned their heads towards the source of the loud shout, and then followed Liu Yong's pointing finger to focus their gaze on Shi Jin. Their eyes swept over him in a flurry of curiosity and surprise.

As soon as Shi Jin's eyebrows twitched, he knew for sure that in the nearly two months he had been gone, there must have been new rumors about him circulating around the school. Otherwise, the students around him wouldn't have such a creepy reaction when they heard his name.

Seeing this, Luo Donghao quickly came to his senses and reached out to push Liu Yong's finger, which was pointing at Shi Jin, down. He then pulled Liu Yong over to stand in front of Shi Jin, blocking the view of the others. Frowning, he asked, "Where did you go? After military training ended, you disappeared. Everyone thought you dropped out."

"Well...it's a long story. Anyway, I had a reason for leaving, and the school knew and allowed it," Shi Jin reassured them. Then, taking the lead, he said, "Let's go to school first. This isn't a good place to talk."

Luo Donghao and Liu Yong also realized that, so they quickly suppressed their emotions and walked towards the school with him.

......

Shi Jin went back to the dormitory to pack his things. Luckily, none of his roommates were there, but he didn't mind. He took out his bedding from the cabinet and was about to lay it on the bed.

Luo Donghao quickly grabbed his arm and frowned, saying, "Are you stupid? It's almost winter. Why are you using a thin summer blanket? Go to the dormitory supervisor and get a winter blanket and uniform first."

Shi Jin finally realized his mistake and slapped his forehead, saying, "I'm so stupid. If I need to find the residential counselor, I might as well go see the academic counselor first. I don't even know if the academic counselor is in the office at this time." With that, he threw his blanket onto the bed and grabbed his backpack.

Liu Yong couldn't hold back his curiosity and leaned in, asking, "Why are you looking for the academic counselor? Are you writing a reflection for skipping class? Come on, confess. What have you been doing all this time skipping class?"

"What skipping class or not, I went to do a task. Now that the task is done, they updated my file and I have to report to the counselor," Shi Jin replied with a smile. He pulled the two shocked roommates out of the dormitory and locked the door behind them. As they walked, he continued, "I'll explain everything in detail after I see the counselor. You guys go sit in the cafeteria for a while, I'll find you after I'm done."

Despite struggling together, Luo Donghao and Liu Yong couldn't overpower him and could only reluctantly accept his arrangement.

......

The process of meeting with the counselor went smoothly. Only a few high-level officials knew that Shi Jin had used the excuse of a task to suspend his studies.

The counselor was unaware of the truth and truly believed that Shi Jin had gone on a mission. After reading Shi Jin's report, the counselor not only praised him but also reassured him that the missed classes would be made up by the class committee sending him course materials to help him catch up.

Shi Jin felt both proud and guilty from the counselor's praise and quickly humbly thanked him for arranging the makeup classes.

After meeting with the counselor, Shi Jin went straight to the cafeteria tea bar where he found Luo Donghao and Liu Yong. He briefly told them about his whereabouts for the past month, sharing some mission stories that sounded both true and false. Then, he took the two of them to the dormitory counselor's office to collect their autumn and winter living supplies.

On the way back to his dorm, Liu Yong was filled with excitement. He grew up inland and had heard that for this mission, they not only used a sniper rifle but also took a boat out to sea. He was so envious and jealous.

"I wish I could go on a mission like you did. I've never even seen the sea," he sighed. He really wanted to ask for more details about the mission, but he remembered the confidentiality agreement that Shi Jin had mentioned earlier and suppressed his curiosity. Instead, he asked about something else that had piqued his interest.

"Hey, Shi Jin, who was the person that drove you to school today? Although I only saw a glimpse of their profile, their features, the shine of their hair, their fair skin, their rosy lips, and their contradictory cold yet gentle aura... Ah! Luo Donghao, why did you hit me?" Luo Donghao wished he could cover his mouth and frowned, gesturing for Shi Jin to walk ahead of them.

Liu Yong looked at Shi Jin in confusion.

Shi Jin was looking at him with a cold expression and said, "The person who brought me to school today is my boyfriend. Why are you praising him? Do you have any thoughts about him?"

There was a murderous aura!

Liu Yong trembled and took a step back, shaking his head frantically. "N-no thoughts, I was just praising him. I wanted to express how good your taste is. He's really great, your boyfriend."

Shi Jin immediately smiled brightly and said, "He really is great. If there's a chance, I'll introduce you guys. He's amazing."

Liu Yong nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and silently moved closer to Luo Donghao. As they approached the dormitory building, Luo Donghao cast a disdainful glance at him.

He hesitated for a moment before walking up to Shi Jin and lowering his voice to remind him, "Shi Jin, you've been absent from class for over a month now, and there are all sorts of rumors going around. If you hear anything unpleasant, please stay calm and don't get into fights or cause trouble. You'll only get punished. Besides, all of our classmates who went through military training with you know that you're not the person those rumors make you out to be. Everything will be fine."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin felt a twinge in his heart and looked towards the direction of the dormitory building. He nodded to show that he understood.

......

When he returned to his dorm room, Shi Jin understood the reason why Luo Donghao had suddenly urged him. To his surprise, all of his roommates were there, and it seemed like they had gone out to play basketball together, all wearing the same color jerseys.

As soon as they saw Shi Jin come in, they stopped talking and gave him a strange look, scanning his school uniform that he hadn't had a chance to change out of yet. The atmosphere became awkward, and they all went about their own business without greeting Shi Jin.

Luo Donghao and Liu Yong frowned at the situation, and Shi Jin withdrew his hand that was about to greet his roommates. Liu Yong stepped forward to say something, but Shi Jin quickly turned around and reassuringly placed his hand on his shoulder, gesturing to Luo Donghao to put down their bedding and other items before they both pulled Liu Yong out of the room.

"Damn, what kind of attitude is that? Who do they think they are!" Liu Yong couldn't help but exclaim as he left the dormitory, looking at Shi Jin. "And you, why did you drag me along... How unlucky can you be to end up alone? None of your roommates are in the same class as you, it must be so uncomfortable."

This year, all the new students at the police academy were assigned to different dorms, unlike previous years where they were grouped by class. Unfortunately, Shi Jin was the only one in his dorm from his class, while the rest were from classes two and three.

"It's okay, they were probably influenced by rumors. I'll talk to them and everything will be fine," Shi Jin reassured them, patting both Liu Yong and Luo Donghao on the shoulder. "Go back to your own dorms for now, I'll come find you guys during dinner. Don't eat too early."

Liu Yong wanted to say something, but he was held back by Luo Donghao.

"We'll go first, call us if you need anything," Luo Donghao said.