Chapter 9: Yao Xing Academy 9 Part 1

Xun Ji’s helpful persona and hedonistic persona fought wildly in his mind, but in the end, he sighed helplessly. “Come in.”

Lu Zhou walked familiarly to the low table and sat down. He pulled out a Competition Tutoring Book, flipped to one of the chapters, and pointed at it for Xun Ji. “This section on geometric optics is a bit hard to understand.”

Xun Ji took the book and glanced at it. Lu Zhou had clearly studied diligently; the margins were filled with annotations. His foundation was solid, and his basic knowledge was strong. Through self-study, he had already grasped most of it. But evidently, to win a prize in the competition, this level of understanding was far from enough.

“Is this solution for the imaging principle something you came up with yourself?” Xun Ji pointed to one annotation and asked.

Lu Zhou nodded. “Is there a problem?”

“Actually, geometric optics is the simplest among all the test points.” Xun Ji picked up the nearby light remote control and pressed all the switches to turn them off.

“Compared to thinking about it, seeing it will be faster.”

The bedroom plunged into instant darkness. Lu Zhou instinctively tensed his body. “You…”

A faint light suddenly fell into his eyes, interrupting the question he was about to voice.

Xun Ji’s bedroom was very spacious. Right in the center stood a soft large bed covered with chocolate-colored bedding. To the left was a lounge area with a sofa and low table. To the right, an entire wall was draped with thick milky-apricot curtains, behind which was a full wall of floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading to a small balcony.

Xun Ji held the Glass Toy Ball that Luo Xunan had given to Xiao Ting in one hand and turned on the flashlight on his mobile phone with the other, letting the beam pass through the Glass Sphere and project onto the soft, heavy curtain wall.

“See, as long as you adjust the focal point and object distance like this, the imaging will change accordingly…” Xun Ji’s voice flowed slowly in the darkness. His two hands shifted the positions of the flashlight and the Glass Sphere. The colorful patterns on the Glass Sphere scattered like fireworks across the sky on the curtains with his movements, then gathered shyly like dewdrop buds.

The darkness spread like ink, enveloping Lu Zhou, yet it allowed him to see the brilliance in the room even more clearly. He could distinctly see the rainbow fragments of light dancing on soft golden hair, rolling down along the slender neck, completely immersing and surrounding that tall figure wrapped in dark pajamas.

“By swapping in containers of different shapes, you can see the principles of geometric imaging even more intuitively.” After finishing his explanation, Xun Ji suddenly leaned close to Lu Zhou and handed him the Glass Sphere. “Want to try it yourself?”

The deep brown eyes, filled with shattered light, were clear and transparent. Lu Zhou collided into them unexpectedly and forgot to dodge for a moment. His black pupils widened with effort, trying to probe the truth of that tiny black shadow in those eyes.

“Lu Zhou? Zoning out again.” Xun Ji turned on the remote light switch, and warm light instantly filled the entire bedroom.

Had he not explained clearly enough? Xun Ji rarely doubted himself.

“Should I explain it again?”

Lu Zhou suddenly stood up, snapped the Competition Tutoring Book shut with a “snap,” and said, “No need, I’m going to sleep.”

Xun Ji glanced at the time. It was only ten o’clock.

Lu Zhou hurried to the door and stiffly added, “Thank you, Young Master Xun.” Then, with a “bang,” he slammed the door shut.

Why was Lu Zhou acting so strangely today? Xun Ji puzzled over it for a moment, then leaped onto the bed.

Yay, helping others was over—next up was entertainment time!

In Lu Zhou’s bedroom, the teenager’s slender frame leaned against the door. He lowered his head and listened to his own heart pounding like a drum.

The moment the lights came on, he finally saw the black shadow in Xun Ji’s eyes clearly.

—It was himself, drowned in the river of brilliant light, unable to break free.

*

After eating Yan Qian’s Loving Bentos for several days straight, Xun Ji finally grew tired of them. He wandered with Lin Yule to the cafeteria for lunch.

“By the way, where’s that little dog of yours?” Lin Yule asked, gnawing on a chicken leg. “Haven’t seen him lately.”

“You mean Lu Zhou?” Xun Ji shook his head. “I haven’t seen him for a few days either.”

This wasn’t a lie. Though they lived together, Lu Zhou had been elusive these past few days—leaving before dawn in the morning and locking himself in his bedroom after school at night. He had quite the aura of a dark novel protagonist who kept strangers at bay.

Xun Ji enjoyed the peace, but after days without completing Daily Tasks, amid the System’s resentful nagging, he actually felt a twinge of guilt.

He must have been PUA’d by the Unlucky System. Xun Ji sighed inwardly and decided to find Lu Zhou when he had a chance today.

No sooner had he thought this than the opportunity delivered itself.

“Young Master Xun, please save Lu Zhou!” Luo Xunan rushed up to Xun Ji, sweating profusely, as if he had finally found his savior.

“What happened to Lu Zhou? Tell me slowly.” Xun Ji poured him a glass of water from a clean cup on the table.

Seeing no displeasure on Xun Ji’s face, Luo Xunan breathed a huge sigh of relief and hurriedly explained the situation.

“It was Yan Feng’s group. I saw them drag Lu Zhou to the Abandoned Warehouse!” Luo Xunan downed the water in one gulp, wiped his face, and continued, “The monthly exam results came out today, and Lu Zhou was first in the grade again. Every time Lu Zhou takes first place, they mess with him. This time, that’s probably part of it…”