Chapter 22: Yaoxing Academy 22 Part 3

Before he could finish, a force pressed him downward hard. Caught off guard, Xun Ji lost balance and fell fully onto Lu Zhou, pressed tight.

Lu Zhou’s hands gripped his waist firmly. His head emerged from Xun Ji’s neck side, against his ear, voice low like a murmur.

“Young Master Xun has so many tricks—not wearing clothes properly and groping around on others.”

Xun Ji: “?”

【Host! The Protagonist’s gone mad! He’s harassing you! And turning the tables!】 The System blared sharply. 【Aaaah, stinky rogue! Waaah, poor Host!】

Xun Ji: “…”

Looking at the Protagonist pressed tightly against him, he didn’t know how things had gotten so weird just from changing clothes.

It was probably just an accident… right?

He patted the paws on his waist. “Let go of me first.”

Lu Zhou didn’t budge. “My wound hurts too much. I can’t move.”

Xun Ji: “…Uncle Li, help pull him off me.”

Uncle Li? Lu Zhou stiffened and looked toward the door. The butler stood there smiling, goodness knows how long he’d been watching.

“First time I’ve seen Lu Zhou act spoiled.” Uncle Li teased. “Always silent through injuries, like he doesn’t feel pain. Turns out he’s just vocal about it in front of Young Master.”

Lu Zhou slowly released his hands, wriggled out like a molting cicada, stood up, and calmly straightened his wrinkled clothes.

“Not acting spoiled.” He emphasized coldly.

If not for his entire neck flushed red, Xun Ji might have believed his cool facade.

Xun Ji sat cross-legged on the floor, somewhat coming to his senses.

So he was acting spoiled.

Rubbing against his neck chaotically at the Old Seaside Wharf, and hugging his waist chaotically today—it was because he felt aggrieved and injured, so he acted spoiled.

Just like a drowning puppy whimpering to please the first person who dried its fur and wrapped it in a warm blanket.

“Lu Zhou.” Xun Ji beckoned him.

Lu Zhou stood ramrod straight with hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the wardrobe ahead as if studying it intently, mouth replying coldly, “What?”

“Lu Zhou.” Xun Ji beckoned again.

Lu Zhou clenched his fists in his pockets, took a few steps forward, and looked down at Xun Ji on the floor.

“What?”

“Lean down a bit,” Xun Ji said. “I can’t reach.”

A flicker of confusion passed through Lu Zhou’s eyes, but he obediently squatted by Xun Ji’s leg.

His black hair was messy from the earlier tussle, with a tuft sticking up at the back of his head. Xun Ji reached out to ruffle it, then threaded his fingers through to comb it carefully.

“Good boy.” Xun Ji grinned at Lu Zhou’s stunned expression and added, “Good Little Dog.”

Lu Zhou finally snapped out of it, flustered as he swatted away the hand on his head and stumbled back to the floor. From the moment he’d taken advantage of Xun Ji in a daze earlier, his heart had raced wildly; now it pounded like it would burst from his chest, turning his mind to mush.

“Be careful—your wounds aren’t fully healed.” Uncle Li chuckled as he came forward to help Lu Zhou up.

Lu Zhou instinctively swatted his hand away. A delicate box tumbled from Uncle Li’s hand onto the floor.

“Ah, Young Master’s item!” Uncle Li hurriedly picked it up. “My fault for being careless.”

Lu Zhou’s gaze paused—the box looked familiar.

Uncle Li dusted non-existent specks off the box and handed it to Xun Ji. “Young Master, is this it?”

Xun Ji opened the box, took out the contents, and put them on his ear.

He lifted his chin to show Lu Zhou. “How’s it look? Suitable?”

Lu Zhou stared unblinking at the simple yet elegant earrings on Xun Ji’s ear, throat as if blocked.

It was the birthday gift he had planned for Xun Ji, the one he had thrown away.

Lu Zhou had imagined countless times what Xun Ji would look like wearing them.

Now seeing it firsthand, Xun Ji suited them perfectly. Any thought that they were a bit expensive vanished—Xun Ji deserved the most expensive, the best.

But how? Why was Xun Ji wearing them?

“What’s wrong? Don’t they look good?” Xun Ji saw Lu Zhou staring blankly, touched his ear, and moved to remove them.

Lu Zhou grabbed his hand. “They look good… really good. Don’t take them off.”

Uncle Li praised too, “They suit Young Master perfectly. Good thing I fished it out of the trash.”

Lu Zhou’s heart skipped. “Trash?”

“Yeah,” Uncle Li nodded. “Young Master got a pile of birthday gifts. During break, he finally bothered to open them but found it troublesome, so he haphazardly opened some and tossed the rest half-unwrapped into the trash. Luckily, I carefully dug through and found several expensive ones.”

Lu Zhou’s throat bobbed. From seeing Xun Ji on the fishing boat, a surging impulse he could barely suppress welled up again, drowning him from head to toe.

His luck had always been poor, so he never believed in it. But if—if this was a chance bestowed by heaven…

“I’ve never seen you wear earrings,” he said. “Why did you decide to wear them?”

Xun Ji hadn’t had piercings before; after arriving in this world, he’d tried some family earrings out of novelty, but they jingled annoyingly, so he discarded them.

That day, seeing them lying quietly among trash, shining beautifully, Xun Ji suddenly felt moved.

“Didn’t like the others, so no.” He answered. “I like these.”

Lu Zhou’s voice trembled slightly but stayed soft, as if afraid to startle Xun Ji.

“You like these?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Xun Ji nodded. “I like them.”

Lu Zhou gripped Xun Ji’s hand tightly, struggling to steady his breathing. “Xun Ji, actually I…”

“Knock knock.” The door was knocked twice, and Brother Wang poked his head in.

“Young Master, the Eldest Young Master is waiting for you downstairs. It’s time to set off.”

“I’m coming right now.” Xun Ji pried Lu Zhou’s hand away and swiftly picked up a shirt to wear under his suit.

“Xun Ji…” Lu Zhou’s hand gripped his again.

“Why is your hand so hot? Could the wound really be acting up?” Xun Ji was hurriedly tidying himself up and couldn’t free his hands, so he pressed his forehead against Lu Zhou’s.