Chapter 5

He Shen woke up from the heat.

He'd turned on the air conditioner before going to sleep. Why was he still hot?

Opening his eyes, he discovered an extra quilt covering him.

The solid-blue quilt wasn't particularly thick, but for someone who slept naked even with the air conditioner on, the heat was simply unbearable.

He threw off the quilt, his expression dark.

Everyone knew God He was chronically sleep-deprived and therefore extremely cranky when woken up—especially when his attempt to catch up on sleep was thwarted.

Right now, he radiated menace as he looked around to see which little bastard had disturbed his sleep.

He Shen immediately spotted the "Little Shrimp Ball" on the neighboring bed.

He couldn't be blamed for thinking that. The poor thing curled up in a tight little ball really did look exactly like a peeled shrimp.

—Just how insecure did someone have to feel to sleep like that?

At that thought, most of He Shen's irritation evaporated.

Riiing...

The wake-up bell rang, signaling the end of the midday break.

Before He Shen could say anything, the Little Shrimp Ball sprang open and sat up, his short hair all fluffy.

Now He Shen could see his face clearly: small, delicate features, three parts childishness to seven parts bewilderment, and a build as slight as a little girl's.

"Middle Schooler?" He Shen recognized him, and the name slipped right out.

Qiao Shao's sleep-fogged brain started working. Looking up, he saw a boy standing against the light.

The midday sun was brilliant, spilling freely through the dorm room, but the tall figure before him blocked it now. Fine strands of sunlight seemed to struggle to climb past him, peeking around his hair and shoulders and weaving a faint halo.

With a jolt, Qiao Shao was wide awake!

"What are you doing here?" He Shen asked next.

But Qiao Shao latched on to his previous remark. "Who are you calling a middle schooler?" Don't think he hadn't heard that. He'd heard perfectly clearly: Lou Xiao had called him a middle schooler.

He Shen looked down at the kid sitting cross-legged on the bed, bristling like an angry cat...

He said nothing, merely reached out and pressed down on that fluffy head.

No need for words. The gesture said it all—if he wasn't a middle schooler, why was he so short?

Qiao Shao: "..."

Amused by his expression, He Shen's lips curved slightly.

When had Qiao Shao ever suffered such humiliation? He smacked He Shen's arm away and jumped off the bed to face him. "I go to East High." And I'm a year older than you, little brother! Of course, that involved a bit of a complication, so Qiao Shao held back from mentioning it.

"What year?" He Shen asked lazily.

Qiao Shao said, "First year!"

He Shen already knew, but he still said, "Never seen you. You're lying."

Qiao Shao blurted out, "I'm a transfer student. I just started here today." Only afterward did it hit him: bullshit! There were seventeen first-year classes. Could Lou Xiao possibly remember everyone?

Of course He Shen couldn't remember everyone, but someone as distinctive as Qiao Shao? Even one meeting would have been enough to make him unforgettable.

"You're really a first-year?" He Shen asked, deliberately sounding skeptical. "Which class?"

Unable to stand that doubting tone, Qiao Shao was about to shout out Class 1 to establish his credentials as a high school student.

At the last second, he caught himself. This guy was obviously fishing for information. He wasn't about to give everything away!

Which classroom was farthest from the international class again?

Qiao Shao said, "Class 6."

He Shen asked another question. "What's your name?"

Only an idiot would tell you!

Qiao Shao said, "Class is starting. Bye."

With that, he put on his shoes and shot out of the dorm room.

When he reached the first floor, Qiao Shao ran into Chen Su, who had just turned in the dorm inspection records.

Seeing him out of breath, Chen Su asked, "What's wrong?"

Qiao Shao thought for a moment. "I might have offended the School Tyrant."

Normally, he would have had nothing to fear. Forget one School Tyrant—even hundreds or thousands of them wouldn't scare Brother Shao.

But now he'd come to East High to study hard. If he got into trouble on his very first day, he was afraid his dad would seize on the excuse to haul him back home.

Chen Su knew nothing of these convoluted thoughts. Surprised, he asked, "Lou Xiao came back to the dorm?"

"Yeah!" Just picturing the scene filled Qiao Shao with worry. "He was already sleeping there when I got back."

Chen Su was quite puzzled. "He never comes back to sleep in the dorm."

He did think of He Shen, Room 516's part-time roommate, but never in a million years would it have occurred to him that Qiao Shao couldn't tell He Shen and Lou Xiao apart.

After all, those two were seatmates. Who could have imagined that two people who had sat together all morning hadn't even seen each other's faces, all because of a certain someone's sleeping position?

Qiao Shao said, "Well, he went back for a nap today, anyway."

Chen Su said, "Lou Xiao may be scary, but as long as you don't mess with him, he won't do anything to you."

Qiao Shao said gloomily, "I nearly smothered him to death. Does that count as messing with him?"

Chen Su jumped. "What did you do?"

Qiao Shao said, "I just turned off his air conditioner." Oh, and covered him with a quilt while he was at it.

Recovering, Chen Su smiled. "It's fine. He's probably not that petty. Um, don't worry. He hardly ever comes back to the dorm, so you won't see him much. Just do your best to avoid him."

Qiao Shao thought about how he'd given a fake class and hadn't revealed his name. It should be fine, right?

Whatever. He'd deal with whatever came his way. No matter what, he was staying at East High to study hard and improve every day!

That afternoon, his underachieving seatmate outright skipped class.

With him out of sight, Qiao Shao's heart was free to roam, and he listened even more attentively.

During a break, Song Yixu, who sat in front of him, looked at the empty half of Qiao Shao's desk and sighed. "I'm so jealous of Brother Shen. He comes and goes whenever he wants, free as the wind."

Qiao Shao was thoroughly scornful. "He doesn't act like a student at all."

"That's true," Song Yixu said. "Of all the students I've ever met, he's the least student-like..." good student.

The bell swallowed Song Yixu's last few words, and so Qiao Shao missed another perfect opportunity to recognize the Academic God for who he was.

At dinner, Qiao Shao found a quiet spot to call his family.

He made three calls, but their contents were essentially identical.

Everything Qiao Shao said could be summed up in one word: "Good!"

Whatever the person on the other end asked, his answer was always the same: good.

To settle down at East High in peace and earn good grades through his own ability, Qiao Shao was really "swallowing his grievances"!

After evening study hall, Qiao Shao returned to the dorm. He was still a little apprehensive before opening the door, not wanting to run straight into Lou Xiao again.

Fortunately, Chen Su had been right. Lou Xiao really did rarely return to the dorm. His midday nap had been an extraordinary occurrence, something that happened only a handful of times a semester.

Qiao Shao pushed open the door and went inside. No one was there.

Chen Su was on cleaning duty today and would be back late. As for Blue Hair... who knew where that kid had gone? The important thing was that Lou Xiao wasn't there!

In an excellent mood, Qiao Shao hurried to shower while no one was around and climbed into bed early.

Just before lights-out, Chen Su came back, looking a little tired.

Qiao Shao poked his head out to look at him. "What took you so long?" There were four students on cleaning duty. They should have finished pretty quickly.

Chen Su paused, then said, "After cleaning, I stayed in the classroom to memorize vocabulary for a while."

Qiao Shao's eyes lit up, and he made a mental note.

Now that was a good student, seizing every spare moment to study!

Blue Hair came back just as the bedtime bell rang.

He didn't make a fuss after returning, either. He took a shower and went to bed.

The teacher checking the dorms heard the noise but only knocked on the door and said, "Come back earlier next time." Then the teacher left without coming inside.

Lying in bed, Qiao Shao thought back over his day at school, feeling thoroughly pleased.

Although he'd had the misfortune of ending up with a School Tyrant for a roommate and an underachiever for a seatmate, Qiao Shao had also met proper classmates like Chen Su and Song Yixu.

Chen Su, especially, was practically his role model at East High!

He kept a low profile, focused on his studies, and had very good grades. A top student, without a doubt!

From now on, he would learn from Chen Su, follow closely in his footsteps, and be a good student.

Dreaming of a bright future, Qiao Shao fell asleep.

At five thirty the next morning, the merciless wake-up bell roused the sleeping boy.

Qiao Shao sat on his bed in a daze. Chen Su was already washing up. "Hurry. They take attendance at morning exercises."

Oh, right. Boarding students had to go running...

Qiao Shao desperately wanted to flop back down and sleep a little longer, but...

Gritting his teeth, Qiao Shao got up!

He'd fought tooth and nail to live on campus. How could he go down on the very first day!

He washed up in a daze, went downstairs in a daze, lined up in a daze, and started running in a daze.

As luck would have it, there was also thick fog that day. The consequence of Qiao Shao's absentmindedness was that he fell before he'd even run half a lap.

Old Tang accompanied them for morning exercises every day. Seeing Qiao Shao fall, he immediately came over and asked, "How are you?"

Qiao Shao's ankle hurt as if it had snapped, but his pride made him say, "I-it's nothing."

Sweat was rolling down his forehead. He definitely wasn't faking.

"Step out of line for now," Tang Yu said.

Qiao Shao was in the last row. If he stayed there any longer, the class behind them would catch up, so he had no choice but to hop out on one foot.

Old Tang examined his ankle and said, "It's a little sprained, but it hasn't swollen up. The school doctor isn't here this early. I'll take you back to the dorm first."

The boys' dorm was very close to the athletic field. Going back was better than sitting helplessly on the sidelines.

"You don't have to, sir... I'll be fine in a minute," Qiao Shao said.

"Absolutely not," Tang Yu said. "It's not bad yet. Let's get some ice on it right away and keep the swelling down."

Qiao Shao was also afraid it might get worse and alarm his dad, so he stopped trying to tough it out. "Sorry for the trouble, sir."

Tang Yu helped him up, and the two headed toward the boys' dorm.

They had just reached the dorm building when they ran into He Shen, arriving at school through the thick morning fog.

At first, Tang Yu couldn't make out who it was. Seeing such a tall figure, he assumed it was a staff member and said, "Hello, could you lend a hand?"

They had to get up to the fifth floor, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to manage Qiao Shao.

He Shen came forward. "You should get back to morning exercises, sir. I'll take him upstairs."

Tang Yu recognized him the moment he heard his voice. He was about to say his name when He Shen added, "The stairs are narrow. Two people trying to help would be awkward. I can manage on my own."

Tang Yu had complete confidence in He Shen, so he said, "Then remember to put some ice on it. Come get me if it's still bad."

He Shen acknowledged him and took hold of Qiao Shao.

Qiao Shao had also recognized the voice. Seeing that face up close only plunged him further into despair.

He was done for...

He'd actually fallen into the School Tyrant's hands!

Seeing how pale he was, He Shen asked, "Does it hurt a lot?"

Qiao Shao could only play pitiful, hoping to stir what remained of the School Tyrant's conscience. "It hurts..."

He Shen's brow furrowed slightly. As they headed up the stairs, he scooped Qiao Shao into his arms.

Qiao Shao: "!!!"

Author's Note: Next chapter, they'll find out they're not just in the same class—they're seatmates! Hahahahahahaha!

Today, let's celebrate Brother Shen getting to hold his—at such a tender age (Qiao Shao: Get lost, get lost, get lost)... Ahem. To spare our Young Master's pride, let's keep quiet and celebrate in secret~