Getting Rich Legally 8

The results of the monthly exam were published the day after the test. The report card was posted at the very front of the classroom. Lin Qi was not tall, so he couldn't see clearly even after standing on his tiptoes for a long time. After squeezing through the crowd for a while, he finally managed to get in. Seeing his own name at the number one spot, he felt relieved, and then hurriedly started looking for Meng Hui's name.

"Haha, only forty-seventh place!" Lin Qi couldn't help but laugh out loud. He was laughing so happily that he didn't even notice the classmates around him had long since scattered.

His cheek was lightly poked. Lin Qi subconsciously turned his head, and a handsome, expressionless face was right in front of him. Lin Qi's smile instantly froze on his face.

The students of Class Seven watched helplessly as their class's ace good student was carried out by the older returning student by the back collar of his school uniform. Farewell, Class Monitor.

Lin Qi didn't dare make a sound, silently letting Meng Hui haul him to a secluded corner of the school corridor.

Tall shrubs hung down, their dark green leaves neatly trimmed. Lin Qi held onto his hands, lowering his head, not daring to speak. Meng Hui stood beside him, his tall figure exuding an immense sense of oppression even without saying a word. Lin Qi braced himself and whispered, "I didn't do it on purpose just now."

"Didn't do what on purpose?" Meng Hui said indifferently.

Lin Qi: Alright, he was doing it on purpose.

Who asked Meng Hui to always like teasing him? Wasn't he allowed to secretly have a little fun like this? Every time the future President Meng suffered a setback, it planted seeds of happiness in his heart.

Thinking back to how Meng Hui looked with toilet paper stuffed in his nose still made him want to laugh a little.

Seeing Lin Qi not answering but instead showing a smile on his face, Meng Hui couldn't keep a straight face either. He forcefully hooked his arm around Lin Qi's neck. Lin Qi, who had been secretly laughing, was caught off guard and 'captured' again. He raised his hands to grab Meng Hui's arm, begging for mercy: "I was wrong, I shouldn't have laughed at you."

"Who am I to you?" Meng Hui looked down with a faint smile.

Lin Qi froze, asking cautiously, "Brother Hui?"

Meng Hui stared at him with a fixed gaze. His eyes were like a wild beast's, always emitting a light that captured people's hearts. Being stared at by him truly felt like being targeted by a ferocious beast, as if he would be swallowed whole in the next second. Lin Qi's heart uncontrollably pounded with nervousness. Just as he was panicking and wanting to run away, Meng Hui let go. "Good that you remember."

Lin Qi immediately jumped far away. "S-Sorry, Brother Hui." He then darted past Meng Hui's side.

Meng Hui didn't chase after him. He stood in place, his gaze falling on the corner where Lin Qi's figure had disappeared.

He felt that Lin Qi was a bit guarded against him, sometimes avoiding him. It didn't seem like pure cowardice or shyness; rather, it was as if he had seen through his thoughts.

Of course, he hadn't deliberately tried to hide his thoughts either.

What could a sixteen or seventeen-year-old kid like Lin Qi understand? That was what Meng Hui thought.

But judging from Lin Qi's various behaviors, not only did Lin Qi understand, but he understood thoroughly.

He even knew to avoid him when going to the restroom.

Meng Hui folded his arms, his gaze growing profound as he recalled his previous life.

Lin Qi had never had a girlfriend.

He seemed to have a natural aversion to intimate relationships. Aside from barely having a bit of brotherly affection for Meng Hui, he didn't care about any other men or women.

Meng Hui could feel that he was special in Lin Qi's heart.

It wasn't that he hadn't tested the waters, but the results of those repeated probes always left him disappointed. Meng Hui even hired his own secretary to get engaged to him.

He still couldn't forget the wild ecstasy that surged in his heart the moment Lin Qi appeared backstage at the engagement ceremony, which intertwined with the immense grief he felt when he later received the police's call, forming an emotion called 'despair'.

If he hadn't deliberately tried to test Lin Qi, and if, when Lin Qi spoke to him about the company project, he hadn't been so caught up in his own disappointment and intentionally spoken harshly, then... would Lin Qi not have died?

"Forty-seventh place," Meng Hui murmured to himself, the corners of his lips hooking up. "...That is indeed too outrageous."

Unprecedentedly, Meng Hui didn't walk Lin Qi home that night, just telling him to be careful on his way.

While Lin Qi felt a bit unaccustomed to this, he also secretly worried if Meng Hui was going to do something that violated the rules of a law-abiding society. "Do you have something to do?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it blindly." Meng Hui rubbed his short hair and left straight away.

Lin Qi slowly exhaled, blinking his eyes as he cast a few lingering glances, but ultimately didn't probe further and just went back first.

......

For a whole month after that, Meng Hui didn't walk Lin Qi home, nor did he come to wait for Lin Qi in the morning. He acted fairly normal at school, occasionally coming over to tease Lin Qi after class or dragging him to the restroom together, but it was a far cry from how inseparable they had been before.

Although Lin Qi had doubts in his heart, he thought it was quite good to maintain this distance from Meng Hui, so he happily adapted to it.

The weather turned cool, and the school announced it would be holding a sports meet. As high school students under immense academic pressure, the opportunity to relax for a day without studying put everyone in high spirits.

The Sports Representative went around everywhere press-ganging people into signing up. However, despite all his efforts, there was still a huge shortage of participants, so he set his sights on Lin Qi.

"Me?" The pen in Lin Qi's hand paused, and he looked surprised. "What can I do?"

This body's athletic talent was approximately zero. Whether it was running or the long jump, he could only be described as 'useless'. He said in a panic, "I can't do it." He even hid behind the stack of books on his desk.

"You can't..." The Sports Representative lowered his head, gesturing backward with the corner of his eye. "But someone else can."

Lin Qi followed his gaze and looked back. It was Meng Hui's empty seat.

"You want Meng Hui to go?" Lin Qi pulled his face back and waved his hand. "Forget it, he won't go."

President Meng returning to school was already a miracle. Expecting him to participate in a sports meet and play house with a bunch of kids was truly a bit whimsical.

"Hey, how do you know he's unwilling to go if you don't ask?" the Sports Representative said anxiously.

Lin Qi blinked. "Why don't you go ask?"

The Sports Representative said self-righteously, "Aren't you two the closest?"

Lin Qi lowered his head. "I'm not going."

"Class Monitor~~" The tall and burly Sports Representative pulled on Lin Qi's thin arm, twisting and turning coquettishly. Lin Qi's expression instantly became indescribable. "Go talk to him yourself... stop shaking me... no, absolutely not..."

"Oh come on, good Class Monitor, just do me a favor." The Sports Representative twisted himself into a pretzel, his voice becoming increasingly whiny and sweet, making Lin Qi's head throb.

Just as the Sports Representative was shaking him vigorously, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Instinctively sensing danger, he let go of Lin Qi's hand and said to Lin Qi, "Think about it again." He then quickly slipped away without even turning his head.

Lin Qi turned to Meng Hui, who had just returned, and asked, "Did you hear all that?"

"I heard," Meng Hui said, flipping through a book on Lin Qi's desk. "Do you want me to participate?"

Lin Qi hurriedly distanced himself, saying, "No, no, I respect your own opinion."

"And what if I want to consult your opinion?" Meng Hui said.

Lin Qi gripped his pen and lowered his head evasively. "My opinion is that I have no opinion."

Meng Hui rested his arm on Lin Qi's stack of books, his entire shadow enveloping Lin Qi. He quietly watched Lin Qi scribble furiously for a while before leaving silently.

Only then did Lin Qi let out the breath he had been holding.

Having gradually gotten used to the current distance, Lin Qi felt that things were good like this. Not too far, not too close—just ordinary friends at school. It was perfect.

......

When the day of the actual sports meet arrived, Meng Hui stopped Lin Qi as soon as he entered the classroom. "Come here."

"What is it?" Lin Qi put down his schoolbag and walked over.

Meng Hui took off his school uniform jacket, revealing a black short-sleeved shirt underneath. The weather was gradually cooling down, but Meng Hui still didn't wear much. The school uniform jacket was semi-permanent for him, though he had finally stopped wearing tank tops. He wore the two short-sleeved shirts given out by the arcade all day long. Today's short-sleeved shirt had 'Invincible Hegemony' printed on it, which was the name of a currently popular game.

"Stick this on me." Meng Hui turned around and pulled a number tag out of his desk drawer.

Lin Qi blanked for a moment, taking the number tag. "You signed up?"

"Mn," Meng Hui replied lightly.

Lin Qi peeled off the adhesive paper on the back of the number tag and stuck it smoothly onto Meng Hui's back. Even though Meng Hui wore little, his body temperature was not low; his back was burning hot. Lin Qi whispered, "I thought you didn't like these kinds of activities."

Meng Hui picked up his school jacket from the side and put it on, rubbing the top of Lin Qi's head. "For class honor."

Hearing such words come out of Meng Hui's mouth felt incredibly out of place. After staring blankly for a moment, Lin Qi watched Meng Hui's back as he jogged out, finding it rather funny, and couldn't help but start laughing.

After the opening ceremony ended, the first event was the men's 50-meter dash. Sitting in the bleachers, Lin Qi looked at the athletes lined up side by side. Seeing that conspicuous black T-shirt and exceptionally tall figure, he felt like he was dreaming.

To think that the reborn Meng Hui actually had the leisure and mood to stand together with a bunch of youngsters and run.

The more Lin Qi looked, the more amusing he found it, his eyes narrowing as he smiled.

At that moment, Meng Hui, who was stretching his limbs, suddenly cast his gaze toward the bleachers, accurately locking onto the amused Lin Qi among the crowd.

As soon as his eyes were caught, Lin Qi felt a bit guilty and wanted to look away. Meng Hui seemed to see through his intention and shifted his gaze away first.

Instead, Lin Qi was left stunned.

Meng Hui seemed to have become a different person recently, intentionally keeping his distance from Lin Qi.

The starting gun fired, pulling Lin Qi's thoughts back. The classmates around him were all screaming themselves hoarse, cheering for Meng Hui. Lin Qi wondered in confusion when his classmates had gotten so close to Meng Hui.

Amidst the sea of shouts, Lin Qi also joined in and cheered a few times.

Unsurprisingly, Meng Hui took first place in his heat. He was already a year or two older than the others in the same grade, and his innate physical fitness was strong. After finishing the run, he slowly strolled back to the class's bleachers, not looking the least bit strained.

Sitting on the third tier of the bleachers, Lin Qi quietly watched as the female classmates scrambled over each other to offer Meng Hui water.

Meng Hui raised a hand to decline and took a bottle of mineral water from the class's box to drink.

The teenager's handsome, sweat-drenched face exuded hormones under the sunlight. Meng Hui was no longer as unapproachable as he was when he first enrolled. His hair had grown a bit longer, making him look more like a typical student, which naturally attracted the gazes of countless girls.

Lin Qi propped up his chin, thinking that this was the Meng Hui he knew. Surrounded by beauties and full of charm—it was truly quite nice.

"Hey." His shoulder was lightly bumped. Lin Qi turned his head and saw the Sports Representative. He put his hand down. "What's wrong?"

"Aren't you going to bring a bottle of water to your good bro?" the Sports Representative asked, winking and making faces.

Lin Qi glanced down at the bottom of the bleachers again; Meng Hui had already gone down to prepare for the semi-finals.

Lin Qi said, "He has water."

The Sports Representative said, "He's winning glory for our class. As the Class Monitor, aren't you going to show some appreciation?"

Lin Qi was totally baffled. "Isn't everyone winning glory for the class?"

The Sports Representative said, "You don't know?"

Lin Qi was dumbfounded.

"When I really couldn't get enough people to sign up, I went to find him alone. Without a word, he..." The Sports Representative paused, grinning at Lin Qi. "...rejected me."

"So I told him that this is for class honor, and when it comes time for the awards ceremony, the Class Monitor has to go up on stage to accept the prize. We can't let our class lose face," the Sports Representative raised his eyebrows. "Get it now?"