Chapter 8: Yaoxing Academy 8 Part 2

Xun Ji treated Luo Xunan differently. Lu Zhou vaguely sensed it—Xun Ji couldn’t even be bothered to remember other people’s names, yet he paid special attention to Luo Xunan. Right after they met, he took him on a Sea Island vacation, where the other lackeys underwent devilish training while Luo Xunan stayed by his side every day. When he wanted to move into the school Dormitory to live with Luo Xunan, Xun Ji flatly refused. And now, Xun Ji was snatching away the gift from Luo Xunan…

An unwanted thought bubbled up. Could Xun Ji have feelings for Luo Xunan…?

“Ding-dong—ding-dong—” The doorbell rang.

“What about Luo Xunan?” Xun Ji asked.

Lu Zhou concealed the look in his eyes. “Nothing. I’ll get the door.”

“Lu Zhou, you really live with Young Master Xun?!” Luo Xunan stood at the door, stunned.

Lu Zhou frowned imperceptibly. “How did you find this place?”

“They said you were living with Young Master Xun. I didn’t believe it, so I came to check.” Luo Xunan was still full of surprise. “When you asked about the dorms before, I thought you were moving in with me. Why are you living with Young Master Xun?”

“He helped me out.”

“With Xiao Ting’s matter? Does Xiao Ting live here too?” Luo Xunan lowered his voice.

“Yeah. I don’t want word of me and Xiao Ting living here to spread.”

“I get it, I get it.” Luo Xunan nodded repeatedly. “I always said Young Master Xun isn’t as bad as the rumors make him out to be. He might actually be a good guy.”

Lu Zhou hung his head. “Maybe.”

Luo Xunan pointed at an apartment building. “I live there—not far away. Now that you’re living on campus, we can study together after school.”

He said excitedly, “And since you live here, doesn’t that mean I could tour Young Master Xun’s villa…?”

“Luo Xunan,” Lu Zhou interrupted him, “you should know Young Master Xun doesn’t like being disturbed.”

Luo Xunan fell silent.

“Don’t come here unless it’s important.” Lu Zhou looked at him. “I don’t want to upset Young Master Xun.”

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Luo Xunan’s face. He stammered, “S-Sorry, I didn’t think it through. Given your situation now… I get it. I won’t come looking for you here anymore.”

Lu Zhou returned to the living room, where Xun Ji was sharing the sweet, juicy strawberries with Brother Wang and Uncle Li.

“Delicious, right? I’ll have Yan Qian send some over regularly from now on.”

Seeing him return, Xun Ji casually asked, “Who was it?”

“…A milk salesman.”

[Host, the Protagonist is lying! There’s no milk salesman in the school Dormitory—it was clearly Luo Xunan just now.] The System quickly tattled and relayed their conversation to Xun Ji.

Xun Ji didn’t mind Lu Zhou lying. On the contrary, he was quite pleased that Lu Zhou had taken the initiative to send Luo Xunan away. He had no desire to deal with another Tasker.

“You really won’t try these strawberries? They’re delicious.” Xun Ji was in a good mood.

“Treating him with such care while accepting everyone else’s affections wholesale… Heh, as expected of Young Master Xun.”

Lu Zhou tossed out the words and dashed upstairs.

Uncle Li asked, “Young Master, who is ‘he’?”

Brother Wang asked, “Young Master, who are ‘others’?”

Xun Ji asked, “Why another ‘heh’?”

[Uh, uh… maybe, rebellious phase?] The System couldn’t come up with anything better.

“Rebellious phase, huh.” Xun Ji came to a realization. “No wonder his moods swing so much. Yesterday he was so obedient while I tutored him, but today he’s all sarcastic.”

[The Host’s persona is a dumb School Bully. You shouldn’t be tutoring the Protagonist.] The System admonished.

“No OOC punishment now, so what’s to fear?” Xun Ji didn’t care.

The matter traced back to the previous evening.

Before bed the night before, Xun Ji still had one last dose of medicine left. Lu Zhou brought porridge and the medicine to his room as usual.

Xun Ji sat at the low table in his room, dawdling as he played on his mobile phone and sipped the porridge, savoring his last bits of leisure time. Lu Zhou didn’t rush him and quietly pulled out a test paper to work on his own. When Xun Ji’s character died in the game and he waited idly for respawn, he inadvertently glanced at Lu Zhou’s paper.

It was a high school Physics Competition mock exam.

Xun Ji recalled Lin Yule mentioning that the school required Lu Zhou to participate in the national Physics Competition, or they’d reclaim the advance Scholarship they’d given him.

He glanced down a bit further… Tsk tsk, riddled with mistakes.

“You can’t solve competition problems with the mindset of regular exams.” Xun Ji blurted out subconsciously.

Lu Zhou paused and looked up at him. “You can do it?”

Xun Ji wanted to say no, but faced with those eager, knowledge-thirsty eyes, his helpful DNA activated.

“Finish the rest first. I’ll teach you after this round.”

Lu Zhou thought he was just saying it offhand, but twenty minutes later, Xun Ji had graded the entire paper and began explaining each mistake one by one.

“Got it?” It had been a long time since Xun Ji had focused like that on problems. He rubbed his sore shoulders.

In his previous life, he studied engineering all the way to grad school with top grades. He’d participated in plenty of national competitions and won countless awards. High school competition problems were a breeze for him, even after years away.

“You…” Lu Zhou looked at him with complex emotions. Xun Ji’s explanations were crystal clear in logic. Several points that Lu Zhou had puzzled over on his own suddenly made perfect sense.

But he’d clearly heard that Xun Ji never paid attention in class, skipped homework, turned in blank exams—a total slacker that even teachers didn’t dare handle. Why was he hiding his abilities?

Thinking of the colossal Xun Conglomerate, Lu Zhou had a vague guess. Perhaps the Little Young Master had his own hardships and hid his true self for protection.

Completely unaware that Lu Zhou’s thoughts had veered off track, Xun Ji said, “What are you spacing out for? If no more questions, I’m going to sleep.”

Lu Zhou hesitated before speaking. “If I don’t understand something next time, can I come ask you?”

“We’ll see next time.” Xun Ji lay down on the bed, brushing him off casually.

Helping others is important, but nighttime gaming time is precious too.

Xun Ji thought Lu Zhou’s pride wouldn’t let him come asking repeatedly, but he clearly underestimated Lu Zhou’s determination for the Physics Competition.

The same guy who’d snarked at him twice during the day took a shower as if washing away those memories and stood silently obedient outside his bedroom door.

“I have some problems I don’t get. Is Young Master Xun convenient to explain them?”