Chapter 28: The Vicious Fake Young Master of a Wealthy Family · 28 Part 1

When Su Wenyu came out after washing his face, Zhou Xu was sitting at his own desk, looking down at his phone. Xia Yehang and Shen Yi were standing outside the bathroom door, presumably waiting for him.

“All set? Head to the cafeteria now?” Xia Yehang asked for his opinion.

Su Wenyu instinctively glanced in Zhou Xu’s direction, but saw that he remained motionless in his seat, not even sparing him a glance.

Could he still be mad about him telling others he was his brother?

Looking at Zhou Xu, Su Wenyu felt a bit conflicted about whether to go through with this mission.

The mission was simple in concept, yet also difficult, mainly due to Su Wenyu’s own psychological hurdle.

Ever since he injured his ankle, Zhou Xu had been taking care of him—applying medicine, bringing him meals, carrying him on his back to class—never once leaving him behind.

Even today, when going to the cafeteria to eat, Su Wenyu walked incredibly slowly, yet Zhou Xu still matched his pace. In such blazing hot weather, Zhou Xu hadn’t suggested just going back to the dorm first himself.

And now the system was issuing a mission for Su Wenyu to ditch Zhou Xu right now and only eat with Xia Yehang and Shen Yi…

Even Su Wenyu himself felt this was far too heartless.

But if he didn’t complete a mission once it was issued, there would be punishment.

If it were just points deducted, he could just work harder next time to earn them back.

But the electric shocks…

Su Wenyu had never experienced any, but he’d seen news stories on TV about people dying from accidental electrocution. So, he was still a little afraid of the idea.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Su Wenyu looked at Zhou Xu’s back, hardened his heart, and decided to do the mission.

He’d bound himself to this system specifically to complete various villain missions, precisely to earn enough points to keep himself alive.

If he couldn’t even manage leaving Zhou Xu out of dinner now, what would he do when more excessive villain missions came later? Would he refuse to do any of them?

If he refused them all and the points kept getting deducted, did he even want to live?

Su Wenyu’s career-driven brain kicked in, deciding his life was more important. He immediately called out to Zhou Xu: “Bro, I’m heading to the cafeteria to eat with them first. What do you want to eat? I’ll pack something and bring it back for you.”

Even while doing the mission, Su Wenyu didn’t forget to leave himself some leeway. I’m not taking you to dinner, but look, I’m thinking of bringing food back for you.

Zhou Xu put down his phone and met Su Wenyu’s gaze with a light laugh: “Bring me food?”

Su Wenyu nodded repeatedly, making his excuse sound high-minded: “It’s way too hot outside today. You just showered at noon; you’ll just get sweaty again if you go out. Let me bring it back for you, okay?”

Xia Yehang listened from the side, a bit envious: “You’re so good to your brother.”

Su Wenyu laughed sheepishly.

Zhou Xu looked at him, then scanned his eyes over the other two, nodding: “Fine.”

Su Wenyu couldn’t tell from Zhou Xu’s expression whether he was angry or not.

But based on the prompt from 520 that the Villain Value had increased again, Zhou Xu was definitely angry; he just wasn’t showing it on his face.

Not daring to meet Zhou Xu’s eyes any longer, Su Wenyu grabbed his phone and IC card and immediately urged Xia Yehang and Shen Yi out the door.

The instant the dorm door closed, 520 prompted that the mission was complete and twenty points were earned.

Simultaneously, 520 congratulated him: the Villain Value had surged. Combined with what he’d accumulated before, the points now exceeded one thousand in exchange value!

It had been just over eight hundred just a few days ago. How much time had passed since then…

Su Wenyu felt vaguely that the higher his Villain Points climbed, the more tragic his ending in this world would be.

He could only hope that when he left this world, at least he’d leave behind a whole corpse. Su Wenyu sighed inwardly.

Xia Yehang and Shen Yi walked on either side of him. Going downstairs, Shen Yi looked down at his ankle and asked, “Can you handle the stairs?”

Su Wenyu snapped back to reality and quickly said, “I can, just a bit slow.”

“Mhm, safety first.” Shen Yi nodded and walked ahead of him down the stairs.

Xia Yehang followed behind Su Wenyu to avoid blocking others’ way since they weren’t walking side-by-side.

Today was freshman move-in day. The dorm building was nearly full of students, every floor bustling with noise, and people frequently went up and down the stairs.

Su Wenyu held the railing, still hopping down step by step on his uninjured foot.

Behind him, Xia Yehang wanted to help support him but felt it wasn’t appropriate to just touch him directly. He asked, “Should I help you down?”

Su Wenyu was hopping with great effort and shook his head in refusal: “No need, I can manage.”

But the exertion of going down the stairs just about drained Su Wenyu’s stamina. On the way to the cafeteria, he could only limp along, slow as could be.

Xia Yehang and Shen Yi knew his foot was injured and didn’t rush him to walk faster. Both very patiently stayed beside him, strolling leisurely as if out for a walk in the park, heading towards the cafeteria.

On the way, Su Wenyu asked out of curiosity: “Did you two know each other before?”

When they’d arrived at the dorm together, their interaction hadn’t seemed like that of people who’d just met.

Su Wenyu just hadn’t felt comfortable asking directly at the time. Now, making small talk on the road, he finally asked.

Xia Yehang nodded: “You could say we’ve known each other since we were kids. Just happened to test into the same university.”

Su Wenyu let out an “Oh” of understanding and said, “So you two were fated to meet as well, ending up in the same dorm room.”

Xia Yehang shrugged. He felt their being in the same dorm was more likely the result of some maneuvering by their parents, but he didn’t elaborate.

Arriving at the cafeteria, Su Wenyu took in the vast sea of people, so drastically different from its morning emptiness, and his eyes widened in shock. “Why are there so many people…”

“By this time, the freshmen have basically all moved in. It’s mealtime now, so the cafeteria near the dorms gets crowded,” Xia Yehang explained.

“Should we just eat outside? There are lots of restaurants if you go out the North Gate,” Xia Yehang suggested after a moment’s thought.

Shen Yi checked the time: “We have a class meeting at seven. We won’t make it back if we go out. There are still a lot of new students and parents today, so the places outside are crowded too.”

Su Wenyu hurriedly said, “Let’s eat here at the cafeteria. The lines move pretty fast.”

Shen Yi scanned the room, finding practically no empty seats together, and said, “You two get in line first. I’ll go find us a spot.”

Su Wenyu thoughtfully asked, “What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”

Shen Yi paused mid-step, handed him his IC card, and said, “Just get me whatever you’re having. Thanks.”

Su Wenyu took the card and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Okay.”

Five minutes later, Shen Yi had secured a four-person table tucked away in a corner and waited for them to bring the food over.

Another ten minutes later, Su Wenyu and Xia Yehang had finally gotten through the line and bought their dinners. Carefully avoiding the surrounding students, they carried their trays over.

Su Wenyu had ordered a BBQ chicken cutlet rice bowl for dinner. He bought the regular portion for Shen Yi, but for himself, he got an extra portion of BBQ meat and chicken cutlet on top of it.

Shen Yi looked at the portion on his tray, slightly surprised. “Can you finish all that?”

Su Wenyu sat down across from him and nodded repeatedly. “Don’t let how skinny I am fool you. I’ve got a huge appetite.”

Shen Yi glanced at his build. It indeed didn’t look like he could eat that much. This appetite was practically on par with Xia Yehang, the sports student.

Su Wenyu didn’t talk much while eating, because he always took very big bites.

Xia Yehang and Shen Yi occasionally chatted about the class meeting they had to attend that evening or the military training that was rumored to start the day after tomorrow.

Su Wenyu swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, “How long is your military training?”

“Probably until the end of the month, right before the National Day holiday,” Xia Yehang said. “The specifics depend on what they say at the class meeting tonight.”

Su Wenyu nodded and asked another question: “Is military training very tiring?”

Xia Yehang looked at him. “Didn’t you go through military training in your freshman year?”

Su Wenyu shook his head.

He’d never even attended school before, let alone military training.

As for the original host’s memories, the original ‘Su Wenyu’ had taken sick leave to skip every single military training session and had never participated. So, his impression of it was limited to some campus dramas.

Xia Yehang was a bit curious: “Why didn’t you do it?”

Su Wenyu came up with a universal explanation: “I wasn’t in good health.”

Xia Yehang recalled that the first time he’d seen him was at the hospital, and the second time, he had an ankle injury. His health did seem somewhat poor. He explained, “S University’s military training is supposedly tougher compared to other schools. When the time comes, if you’re free, you can come and watch us.”

Su Wenyu was surprised: “You can watch?”

“Yes, I heard every year, some seniors deliberately bring iced watermelon to eat while they watch the training,” Xia Yehang said.

Su Wenyu’s face took on an expression of having learned something new.

Shen Yi cautioned, “Try not to do that. People will curse you out.”

Su Wenyu’s expression turned serious. “I wouldn’t do that.”

Just a moment’s thought made it clear how infuriating that behavior would be. If he were standing under the blazing sun while someone deliberately sat in front of him eating iced watermelon, he’d definitely be unhappy too.

He was already bound to a Villain System. It was enough to only provoke Zhou Xu; better not to incur the wrath of others.

Otherwise, with his foot injury not yet healed, if the freshmen came after him to beat him up, he wouldn’t even be able to run.

After finishing dinner conscientiously, Xia Yehang and Shen Yi checked the time and said they planned to head directly from the cafeteria to their respective college buildings for the class meetings, rather than go back to the dorm.

Su Wenyu placed his tray in the return area and said, “I still need to pack a dinner for my brother. If you’re in a hurry, go ahead. The campus is big; it’s best to take the campus bus.”

Xia Yehang hadn’t expected dinner to take so long, which made the timing a bit tight.

“Then be careful on your way back. Your foot isn’t healed yet, take it slow going up the stairs,” Xia Yehang reminded him.

Su Wenyu thanked him for his concern and watched the two leave. Turning around, he went back into the cafeteria, stood in line to pack a fast-food meal for Zhou Xu.

The route back to the dorm from the cafeteria passed the milk tea shop. Unable to resist the lure of milk tea, Su Wenyu went and bought two cups, bringing one back for Zhou Xu.

The sky had already completely darkened on his way back, but there were still quite a few students about.

Since starting at the university, it was the first time Su Wenyu walked alone along the tree-lined campus path under the streetlights, listening to the chirping of cicadas from the trees. In a daze, he felt as if he’d returned to a summer three years ago, back in the real world.

Su Wenyu remembered it clearly. At that time, his rare disease had flared up. Although it hadn’t directly killed him, he’d still had a brush with death. After getting out of the ICU, he spent over a month in the hospital before being transferred back to the sanatorium to recuperate.

His physical condition back then wasn’t great. Even just wanting to go to the courtyard for a bit to lift his spirits required sitting in a wheelchair. He also had two caregivers watching over him around the clock in shifts.

Due to the long hospitalization and the lack of effective treatment, Su Wenyu’s emotions were somewhat low. After the caregiver followed him downstairs, he just wanted some time alone. He asked the caregiver to keep some distance and give him a little personal space. He then controlled his wheelchair and moved along a shaded path towards the rear garden.

The weather and time of day were very similar to now, the sound of cicadas unceasing.

He sat in his wheelchair, looking down at his own shadow on the ground, watching it flicker between light and dark as he passed under the streetlights, like a candle burning through the last of its life.