Chapter 9

A 90-minute class felt unbelievably long for two people disinterested in studying.

He Yuxuan tried listening for a while, but being away from the classroom for so long, he truly couldn’t understand. So, he felt even more justified in zoning out.

Chu Ci was slightly more attentive than him. After all, this major was somewhat beneficial to him, though not by much.

Throughout the class, He Yuxuan had his eye on a certain Celine necklace. Oh, he couldn’t afford it.

This was their only class for the morning. After the professor left, students packed their bags in twos and threes. If not for Chu Ci’s presence, perhaps some bolder students might have tried to get to know He Yuxuan. Ordinary students were quite embarrassed to proactively interact with a top-tier Rich Second Generation like Chu Ci.

Unfortunately, not only was he there, but he stayed right by He Yuxuan’s side the whole time. So, nothing happened.

His roommate wore a new kind of melancholy expression, one Chu Ci hadn’t seen before. His empathy wasn’t very strong, so he couldn’t quite guess what He Yuxuan was unhappy about.

He could only methodically rule things out in his mind.

His spirit seemed fine, so he probably slept well. He’d even praised his arrangements that morning, so things seemed fine until before class.

However, during class, his roommate had glanced multiple times at the front-row student’s desk. When Chu Ci noticed this, a secret displeasure simmered within him—a feeling of his attention being stolen.

After all, he and his roommate were starting to get to know each other; everyone else was a stranger. And they’d been together all morning, yet He Yuxuan still focused his attention on someone else.

But that feeling was fleeting. Chu Ci didn’t dwell on it much, too lazy to grasp it.

He’d always acted solo before. This was his first time being with someone else, so he mistook this feeling for something normal.

But he did recognize the person sitting in front of He Yuxuan—he’d heard the name countless times and had seen him before.

Oh, it was because his roommate couldn’t take notes but found out someone else could.

Chu Ci understood now.

“Do you want today’s class notes?” He tilted his head and asked He Yuxuan.

“Huh?” He Yuxuan didn’t get the Young Master’s train of thought.

He was still sitting because Chu Ci outside was blocking his way. And Tang Yi in front had just finished asking the professor a question and returned. The situation was pretty clear; he was just watching the show.

Chu Ci glanced at Tang Yi, then got up and walked over to him.

This was the second direct confrontation between the protagonist Gong and Shou.

For some reason, He Yuxuan felt a bit of excitement watching this. Right now, he didn’t see the Young Master as a bad person, and the Academic God was even more so—a hardworking, positive kid. Were sparks about to fly? He Yuxuan started to understand the feelings of certain CP fans.

He didn’t ship people unrelated to him, but for those right beside him, he’d pay some attention.

“Tang Yi, I want to buy your notes. Name your price.” Chu Ci spoke without any pause, as if this was a perfectly normal thing.

Uh…? Young Master, what are you doing?

He Yuxuan felt the situation was going off-track. He watched helplessly as the other male lead’s expression changed slightly, the tips of his ears reddening a bit, but Tang Yi bowed his head, continuing to organize his things without speaking.

Actually, if this were him right now, He Yuxuan would have gladly agreed. That necklace cost five figures; the Young Master was definitely generous! It would help his dream, and it was a legitimate transaction.

But the Academic God was a completely different kid. Connecting to the description of Tang Yi’s persona in the book, He Yuxuan knew Tang Yi definitely felt insulted right now.

The Academic God’s family background wasn’t good, so he was even more self-reliant, thinking of changing his fate through studying, making him more sensitive to money matters.

And Chu Ci was straightforward; if something could be solved with money, he’d generally use money.

He Yuxuan was starting to see why the two protagonists would eventually end up in a situation of mutual misunderstanding.

At the start of his transmigration, He Yuxuan, a dignified male celebrity, never thought of interfering in these kids’ affairs, thinking it was probably just child’s play.

Now, he wasn’t so much a male celebrity anymore. He accepted his role as a background roommate. It was hard for him not to care about the people around him. Wasn’t his original role to be a wingman? So he’d just be the wingman.

“Chu Ci, my family is poor. Don’t say things like that when helping me borrow notes. Academic God, how about I bring you lunch today, and you let me copy your notes? We forgot our books today.”

Tang Yi’s gaze shifted to He Yuxuan’s face, the frustration in his heart gradually dissipating.

Tang Yi hadn’t planned on making friends after school started. His life was packed with studying and tutoring. He wasn’t unfamiliar with Chu Ci’s reputation and thus felt even more they were from different worlds, with no chance of interacting.

Besides, this other roommate hadn’t left a good impression on him before either. As far as Tang Yi knew, He Yuxuan’s family was only slightly better off than his own, but ever since school started, he’d been hanging out with questionable friends at bars. His behavior was very frivolous.

He hadn’t expected that after not seeing him for a month, not only had the other’s appearance completely changed, but even his temperament had become gentler, at least not irritating.

“Fine.” He agreed to He Yuxuan’s words and handed him the notes.

He didn’t respond to Chu Ci, but his expression wasn’t unpleasant anymore. He probably understood the Young Master’s usual style was just like that.

Tang Yi quickly and efficiently went off to the library again. He Yuxuan watched his retreating figure; he remembered the protagonist Gong ultimately became a professor at Jinghai University, achieving his dream.

He Yuxuan actually admired kids who were good at studying.

Only the Young Master stood to the side, his mood a bit low.

Not because of Tang Yi’s reaction, but because He Yuxuan had quite obviously ignored him just now. And he hadn’t wanted to make the other feel burdened anyway.

Now he thought he was stingy.

“Mutual favors build roommate bonds better, and we have an Academic God roommate, you know.” He Yuxuan raised an eyebrow at him.

“You did that because his grades are good, not for some other reason?” Chu Ci watched He Yuxuan with his dark, intense eyes, and asked.

He Yuxuan didn’t get it. What other reason could there be? The Young Master’s thinking was quite erratic.

Seeing the clarity in his eyes and hearing him use the word ‘we,’ Chu Ci wasn’t so unhappy anymore. After all, his poor grades were a sore spot.

As for ‘roommate bonds,’ he didn’t take it to heart. In Chu Ci’s dictionary, the term ‘getting along with others’ didn’t exist.

But Chu Ci had just noticed Tang Yi’s displeasure, and while he didn’t understand it, he was too lazy to ponder. Probably just didn’t mesh; communication was a hassle.

Now, Chu Ci had completely lost any curiosity about Tang Yi. Yet he felt a sliver of jealousy towards He Yuxuan’s friendliness, jealousy he couldn’t quite dissect.

Their department didn’t have mandatory evening self-study sessions, but tonight they had one. The counselor had informed the large group chat in advance, telling everyone to prepare self-introductions to be done one by one according to student numbers.

The Academic God remained a loner, sitting by himself in a corner. Next to him were two female students who had crushes on him.

At noon, He Yuxuan brought him tomato scrambled eggs and green pepper stir-fried pork. His original intention was that Tang Yi didn’t need to pay him back; it wasn’t a big deal. Having that extra ten-odd yuan wouldn’t buy him the necklace anyway.

He Yuxuan was still a bit loose with his spending and quite generous to those around him, provided he had it.

But Tang Yi wasn’t the type to accept that. In order to transfer the money to He Yuxuan, he proactively added He Yuxuan on WeChat.

In that moment, the male star, who had experienced far more in his past life, felt a budding sense of being moved.

The two protagonists, notoriously hard to approach in the story, had both proactively added him. Seemed like his star power was bigger!

But He Yuxuan’s self-hype lasted less than a minute before he calmed down.

Chu Ci, for some unknown reason, didn’t come to school in the afternoon. The Young Master was elusive; it was totally normal, and He Yuxuan wasn’t questioning it.

He didn’t go early, finding himself a seat. A male classmate was already sitting next to him.

“You’re He Yuxuan?” The other guy was super surprised to learn this.

He Yuxuan smiled softly and nodded in response. Truthfully, he wished this storm would pass quickly; for the first time, he was afraid of fame.

He really hadn’t harassed any female classmates.

His previous Moments posts for publicity seemed to have had some effect, but somewhat strangely, a few more people had added him as a contact.

So He Yuxuan didn’t know exactly how it worked.

He was now a member of the Photography Club, so thinking of this, he diligently accepted all requests. For the first time being customer service, for the first time speaking with enthusiasm to people he didn’t know.

“Little brother, is your club recruiting now?”

“Yes, welcome to sign up. The deadline is October 1st.”

“Do you need to see my work? My portfolio is on my Moments.”

He Yuxuan tapped open the person’s Moments.

It was a girl with a slim waist, long legs, and a fresh, pretty face. Why would a reserved person like him notice that? Because the female classmate’s works were all self-portraits.

But they met the requirements.

“You can submit your work and registration info to this email address: [email protected].”

“Little brother, can you help me pick one to submit?”

He Yuxuan paused briefly, then had to continue browsing her Moments, scrolling through one by one.

A strange but inexplicable feeling enveloped him. He was now an 18-year-old university student, sitting in a classroom, busy with a club matter.

The young girl chatting with him wasn’t his fan, just a student signing up. Her tone was a cute, peer-to-peer one.

She posted on Moments frequently. Among the posts were several pictures and videos of her practicing the cello, serene and beautiful.

He Yuxuan had practiced the cello for many years. He could tell at a glance that although she was a beginner, the cello she bought was a decent-quality handmade one, though naturally, it couldn’t compare to his personal instrument.

“I wanted to ask, did you just start learning the cello?” Thinking of his own program, He Yuxuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes yes yes, are there lots of mistakes, wuwuwu~” She seemed super happy to chat with He Yuxuan.

So He Yuxuan earnestly shared some tips based on his experience before finally asking.

“Um, can your cello be loaned out? I need to borrow one for an audition.” Then, He Yuxuan shyly indicated he had a few hundred RMB on hand to pay a rental fee.

“No problem! We’re schoolmates, no need to be so polite. Just let me know when you’re free to come pick it up.”

He Yuxuan was moved once again. Why were kids these days all so nice?

Then he diligently returned to scrolling through her Moments, choosing a work for her with his unprofessional eye.

“Who is she?”

Suddenly, a questioning voice came from above. The Young Master, absent for half the day, had appeared out of nowhere.

Why was he always popping up so silently, without a sound? He Yuxuan couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

“A classmate signing up for the Photography Club, seems like a local,” He Yuxuan explained. Her accent was kinda similar to Chu Ci’s.

Chu Ci had somehow got the person next to He Yuxuan to give up their seat and then sat down himself.

“Then why are you staring at her Moments?”

The girl was pretty. A perfectly normal thing, yet Chu Ci, who’d spent the whole afternoon sorting out his feelings, felt unhappy again.

The Young Master was gay, but he hadn’t planned on developing any improper relationship with his roommate, nor had he asked He Yuxuan’s sexual orientation.

A romantic relationship was too fantastical for Chu Ci, who’d never been in love, and a purely physical one was too dirty.

But he was just unhappy.

And by his aesthetic standards, this girl’s looks were only average. She just had a literary girl’s aura. Her life seemed quite curated; her family background was probably okay.

“She hoped I’d help her pick a work,” He Yuxuan didn’t notice, as he thought the Young Master was always cold.

“Heh.” Chu Ci crossed his arms and watched He Yuxuan swipe through the Moments.

He Yuxuan chose a picture of her on the grass in a floral dress, thinking the composition and such were alright.

But Chu Ci could only see that hyper-feminine floral dress. His face was stony.

So inexperienced, fascinated so quickly by just any random girl?

During the later self-introduction session, there were too many classmates for He Yuxuan to remember. He just noted Tang Yi was concise as ever, and the Young Master was coolly domineering as ever.

“Chu Ci. Those who should know, already know. Those who don’t, go and do a search.” The king of acting cool was none other than him.

Actually, this last part was aimed at He Yuxuan. The Young Master didn’t always posture. He just thought He Yuxuan was naive, only valuing that the girl was a local, not knowing his own roommate’s credentials.

When it was He Yuxuan’s turn, he absolutely couldn’t use his real-life experiences. He could only cobble together an introduction using his memories and Baidu.

“Hi everyone, my name is He Yuxuan, I’m from Hui’an County, Xicen City…”

Listening to this, Chu Ci’s anger subsided somewhat, but a different unpleasant feeling stirred in his heart.

Hui’an County was a well-known impoverished county. His roommate, though a bit naive, was genuinely simple and kind-hearted. Coming to Jinghai for university, being dazzled was perfectly normal.

He Yuxuan was good-looking and naturally had many admirers. The conditions here were all things he’d never seen before; it was easy to be seduced, unable to distinguish good from bad, and unwittingly end up with someone unworthy.

Chu Ci felt that if he kept an eye on him, there’d be no problem. No need to take his anger out on his roommate.

“Don’t worry. From now on, I’ve got your back,” the Young Master, feeling touched by a stirring within, whispered in He Yuxuan’s ear.