Getting Rich Legally 4

"Your class is really something else right now. It's only been two weeks since school started, and already so many people aren't handing in their homework."

The physics teacher slammed his hand forcefully on the desk, "Lin Qi!"

Called by name, Lin Qi stood up tremblingly.

"Class monitor, not setting a good example. Go stand at the back to listen to the class!" The physics teacher pointed vigorously toward the back of the classroom.

Lin Qi listlessly pushed his stool away, picked up his physics book and the test paper he hadn't done last night, and went to stand at the very back of the classroom.

As soon as he stood still, a pair of shoes covered in mud stains slowly stretched out right under Lin Qi's eyelids. Moving upwards was a long leg that seemed to have no end within Lin Qi's lowered line of sight.

Taking advantage of the physics teacher spitting everywhere while scolding students up front, Meng Hui lay on his desk, his profile facing Lin Qi, and said in a low, smiling voice, "Top ten in the class?"

Lin Qi: ...He just didn't do his homework this one time. He could get top three in the class on every exam! What right did a high school dropout have to laugh at him!

Meng Hui's action of stretching his legs and dangling them under Lin Qi's eyelids still drew the physics teacher's attention. "The one in the back, the new guy, stand up for me!"

Lin Qi was overjoyed. Let this hooligan Meng Hui laugh at him now.

Meng Hui lazily stood up.

After the physics teacher finished a freestyle rap performance, he delivered the final judgment: "...Not listening carefully in class. Go stand at the back!"

Lin Qi: "..."

Without a word, Meng Hui immediately went to stand next to Lin Qi. His slender arms brushed against Lin Qi seemingly inadvertently, and Lin Qi shrank back uncomfortably.

"What are you sticking so close for?" The physics teacher couldn't stand it. "Stand apart!"

Lin Qi: 'Well said, teacher!'

"Teacher, I just arrived today. I don't have a test paper, so I'm looking at his." Meng Hui's reason was fully justified, and even the physics teacher couldn't refute it. He waved his hand, taking it as tacit consent.

Seeing how shameless Meng Hui was, actually using studying as an excuse to take advantage, Lin Qi immediately raised his vigilance a hundred and twenty thousand percent. He had to guard his chastity well and absolutely could not let Du Chengying down!

The two of them each pulled one side of the large test paper. Lin Qi looked at the test paper with a wooden face, and Meng Hui was also looking at the test paper, only glancing at Lin Qi from the corner of his eye.

His eyes were really beautiful, with long eyelashes and large pupils, blinking and letting light through. It was a pity that later, when pressed down by a pair of glasses, they looked a bit distant.

Meng Hui pulled the test paper, dragging it a bit further away from his line of sight.

Lin Qi's current body was slightly nearsighted. Once it was pulled further away, he had to squint and struggle to read. He turned his face wanting to glare at Meng Hui, but he was afraid this veteran hooligan would do something he couldn't handle, so the act of 'glaring' was simplified into 'peeking'. When it landed on Meng Hui, it was just a light, cute little look.

Being punished to stand as a good student was embarrassing enough. Lin Qi didn't want to cause any more trouble. Enduring humiliation and bearing the burden, he squinted at the test paper for an entire class. As soon as class ended, he flung his hand away and went back to his seat to lie down on his desk.

His eyes hurt.

Meng Hui stood in place holding the lonely corner of the test paper in his hand, laughing dumbly. 'Childish temper.'

When it was time for lunch, the classmates went to the cafeteria in twos and threes. Lin Qi sat alone in his seat, writing furiously to make up for the large test paper.

"Go eat," a deep voice came from above his head.

Lin Qi didn't even lift his head and said, "I'm not hungry."

"If you're not hungry, then accompany me to eat."

Lin Qi's hand gripping the pen paused, wishing he could lift the pen and poke Meng Hui's arm twice. They were both male leads, both people who had scored 'double one hundred points', so how come this Meng Hui had a natural, highly punchable vibe about him? He surprisingly hadn't even noticed it before.

"I didn't bring lunch," Lin Qi raised his head, throwing caution to the wind as he said, "And I didn't bring money either."

......

On the snack street at the entrance of No. 3 Middle School, the most popular place was a spicy hotpot stall. The boss set up the pot at the door, and the spicy aroma could drift very far in the hot summer wind, attracting countless students who sneaked out at noon to treat themselves.

Ge Jianjun alone occupied two seats. No one dared to share a table with him. He was eating a bowl of extra-spicy hotpot, vigorously slurping the noodles while taking in sharp breaths from the spice.

"Knock, knock." Clean and forceful knuckles tapped twice on his table.

Ge Jianjun looked up, just about to curse, but met Meng Hui's calm face. He was so frightened that the noodles in his mouth slid down his throat.

Meng Hui frowned in disgust and jerked his thumb backward, "You're done eating."

Ge Jianjun didn't dare to retort and stood up tremblingly.

"Wait," Meng Hui said indifferently, "Take the bowl away and wipe the table clean."

Ge Jianjun said softly, "Brother, can I pack it to go?"

Meng Hui lightly glanced at him.

"I'll clean it right away!" Ge Jianjun, with an ashen face, held the bowl in one hand and pulled out napkins from the table with the other, nimbly wiping away the oil spots on the table.

"Brother Hui, can we not eat this..." Lin Qi's words stopped when he saw Ge Jianjun. The two stared at each other, wide-eyed, both freezing in place.

"What are you looking at?" The moment Meng Hui spoke, Ge Jianjun immediately tucked his tail between his legs, threw the napkins in his hand into the bowl, and prepared to leave.

As they brushed past each other, Lin Qi noticed Ge Jianjun glaring viciously at him. Having endured anger for half the day, a bit of petty mischief finally popped out of him. He quickly walked to Meng Hui's side and whispered, "He called you a little bastard today."

At that moment, it was no exaggeration to say that fireworks crackled and bloomed in Meng Hui's heart.

If he watched a little entertainment news or TV, he would know how to describe this feeling—he was struck by overwhelming cuteness.

The normally serious, strictly-business Lin Qi had shrunk down a size... secretly tattling to him.

Meng Hui didn't show anything on his face. He slightly lowered his head, "I'll beat him up tonight."

At first, Lin Qi had rejected the spicy hotpot, but after actually taking the first bite, Lin Qi magically discovered his appetite had returned.

The spicy taste stimulated his nasal cavity and eyes. Physiological tears welled up in his eyes; his tongue hurt, and his nose choked, but for some reason, he felt very refreshed.

Perhaps it was because the accumulated sorrow in his heart had never truly dissipated. After entering the small world, his longing for Du Chengying grew stronger and stronger with nowhere to vent. Lin Qi sniffled, put down his chopsticks, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and awkwardly covered it up by saying, "It's so spicy."

"Sit here and wait." Meng Hui didn't expose Lin Qi; he stood up and walked out.

Lin Qi lowered his hand and turned his head to look at the tall, hunched figure at the door. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he vaguely felt that Meng Hui, at certain moments, gave him a feeling slightly similar to Du Chengying. It was probably because he missed Du Chengying too much. Seeing Meng Hui walking back, he hurriedly turned his face away and continued to sniffle.

A moment later, a cold touch pressed against his cheek, and Lin Qi looked up.

"Keep this in your mouth, it won't be so spicy." Meng Hui was very tall. Standing in front of him, he looked like a mountain that would never fall.

Lin Qi took down the popsicle from his cheek and softly said, "Thank you."

Although the two of them came late, because they had 'robbed' Ge Jianjun's seat and skipped the queuing time, they left quite early.

In the small grove at the school gate, Lin Qi grabbed his school uniform collar tightly in alertness.

Meng Hui said with a half-smile, "Take off your clothes."

Lin Qi's heart was filled with desolation, extremely missing the Meng Hui who changed girlfriends faster than changing clothes. An arm couldn't twist a thigh, but he still had to struggle a bit, "I'm not taking them off."

Meng Hui raised his eyebrows, "Suit yourself." He lifted his hand and took off his own school uniform jacket.

A slightly yellowed tank top wrapped around a body full of well-developed muscles. The muscle lines on his arms bulged, just right without being overly exaggerated. A youth's greenness was gradually transforming into a young adult's vigor. The mottled shadows of the trees fell on him, serving as the simplest decoration of youth.

His slender arms forcefully swung the school uniform. Lin Qi couldn't understand what he was doing, but seeing that he had no other intentions, he let go of the hand gripping his uniform collar.

"Heh."

A low laugh rang out, and Lin Qi's face immediately burned up, suddenly feeling that he was being a bit full of himself.

......

"Who ran out to eat spicy hotpot at noon?" Director Zhang, who came to patrol at noon, frowned. With his hands behind his back and a hunched waist, his nose twitched as he sniffed around the classroom.

Lin Qi's forehead dropped all the way to the desk.

Director Zhang immediately noticed that this smell was coming from his class monitor.

Obviously, the whole class had noticed too.

Director Zhang had already heard about Lin Qi being punished to stand for not doing his physics homework. After all, he was the class monitor he had handpicked himself, so he still had to save him some face. For now, he just pretended not to know and shouted loudly, "Open the windows wider. Running out to eat is unhygienic, it's all gutter oil. Such a strong smell affects other students' studies. This is the first and last time. If I catch you again, I won't be polite!"

Lin Qi finally knew what Meng Hui was doing in the small grove. It turned out to be airing out the smell. Meng Hui hadn't explained it to him; he just deliberately waited to see him make a fool of himself.

Lin Qi's heart grew even more grief-stricken and indignant. He didn't believe that such a Meng Hui actually had a 100% favorability rating towards him. Thus, he called out to the System again, asking if it had made a mistake.

System: "It wouldn't be wrong. If there are any fluctuations in these two indicators, I will notify you."

Lin Qi said gloomily, "Then why is he bullying me like this?"

System: "..." Synthetic Humans really still have simple minds. Before, he didn't understand love, and now, he thought love only had one mode. "I don't want to explain it to you, not because I can't explain it, but because I want to continue watching my movie."

Lin Qi: "Just go. Anyway, your favorability towards me must be very low too."

The System fell silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Do you want to know my favorability towards you?"

Curiosity instantly gained the upper hand. Lin Qi: "Yes."

System: "It's 250, you idiot. The System doesn't have a favorability module for the Moderator, thank you."

Lin Qi: "..."

After the lunch break ended, Director Zhang still called Lin Qi to the office. He reprimanded Lin Qi privately for a bit, and then out of concern asked if he had any special circumstances recently, since he seemed a bit off.

Lin Qi lowered his head and said, "Teacher, I'm fine, it's just... some family matters."

Regarding family matters, it was inconvenient for Director Zhang to ask further. He comforted Lin Qi with a few words, and finally instructed him—"As the class monitor, you should help and care for the new students more."

Lin Qi: "..."

Lin Qi walked out of Director Zhang's office depressed. Passing the corner of the corridor, he bumped headfirst into a hard embrace. Slender and strong arms steadied him, "You always like to walk without looking where you're going."

Lin Qi wasn't about to say that he had seen him; he had just wanted to use all his strength to knock Meng Hui off his feet.

He just didn't expect Meng Hui's chest to be so hard, practically harder than his own head. The impact bumped Lin Qi's own forehead until it hurt.

Meng Hui pulled Lin Qi's arm, walking to a secluded spot at the end of the corridor before stopping.

Lin Qi kept his head lowered the whole time, neither resisting nor speaking.

"Are you angry?" Meng Hui lowered his head and said.

Lin Qi thought to himself that he must not fear power and authority, he had to hold it in.

"I told you to take them off, but you weren't willing, and I didn't force you. So why are you angry with me now?" Meng Hui said in a low voice, his tone carrying an obvious tease. It was very clearly intentional.

Lin Qi didn't fall for his goading. "I'm not angry."

"If you're not angry, then lift your head."

"..."

The person in front of him kept his head lowered, revealing a small hair whorl on the top of his head. His soft hair covered the tips of his ears, stubbornly and silently expressing his dissatisfaction. Meng Hui also felt that he was being very awful. In truth, he was already a thirty-five-year-old man, but when he saw Lin Qi, he involuntarily reverted back to being a rash young boy, wanting to tease him, bully him, and then... try every means possible to coax him into smiling again.