Chapter 39

Lu Ping muddled through the entire weekend in a daze.

The only thing he felt grateful for now was that Partner had no read receipts for private messages, and he hadn’t posted a single update all weekend. He could completely pretend he hadn’t logged into the app or seen that message.

But deep down, he knew all too well—he could dodge it for a moment, but not forever. The other person already knew Shen Yuze’s real identity and could easily storm into his class on Monday to confront him! At that point, Lu Ping’s theft of Shen Yuze’s identity would be completely exposed.

Just thinking about it made Lu Ping’s heart tremble.

That person’s account was named @ash, with a profile picture of a koi fish. Lu Ping checked their posts, which were mostly reposts of superstitious prayers like “pass every exam,” occasionally complaining about how bad the school cafeteria food was.

He couldn’t glean any useful information from it.

But since they had accurately stated picking up Shen Yuze’s student ID on the sports field, that proved they were a student at No. 1 High School.

Who could it be?

Just who could it be?

Someone from their class, or another class? A guy he’d brushed past, or a girl secretly crushing on Shen Yuze?

Lu Ping’s mind filled with all sorts of guesses, leaving him sleepless for three nights straight. The moment he dozed off, nightmares jolted him awake.

He dreamed he stood on a tall stage, dressed in Victorian-era prince attire, his face caked in exaggerated makeup, performing a one-man show with all his might. He sang, danced, and acted, giving his best performance to delight the audience below. But suddenly, the music stopped, the lights went out, and the applause vanished… He looked around in confusion, unsure what had happened, when an rotten egg flew from nowhere and splattered at his feet.

He looked utterly wretched. The glamorous costume lost its shine, the crown on his head weighed him down so he couldn’t lift it, and the greasepaint on his face melted, dripping down his cheeks like silent tears.

A crowd surrounded him.

Classmates watching the spectacle, fans pointing and whispering, disappointed parents…

Someone jeered his nickname mockingly: “Does the Niangao Prince even deserve to be a prince?”

Someone spat in fury: “Pah, you liar—who’d want to be your fan?”

Someone shook their head with a sigh: “Pingping, how could you lie like that?”

Everything Lu Ping had done was exposed. Under everyone’s gaze, he faced their judgment. He wanted to explain, but his throat felt blocked; he couldn’t utter a word.

Then, a figure slowly emerged from the crowd behind. A beam of light followed him—or rather, he was the light itself.

The light stopped in front of Lu Ping.

Lu Ping looked up in panic and saw Shen Yuze standing in the glow.

Shen Yuze gazed down at him imperiously, his eyes devoid of their usual warmth, only the initial cold strangeness remained.

“Lu Ping,” he said, “you really disgust me.”

…

Lu Ping jolted awake from the dream, dried tear tracks on his face.

While washing up, he noticed his eyes were red and puffy; his already faint double eyelids had swollen into single ones, making him look utterly listless. He secretly used his mom’s eye cream—Lu Mom’s eye cream was something Lu Ping had snagged from a livestream with his New Year’s money for her birthday. She’d scolded him for wasting money but happily accepted it, using it sparingly, just a dab each time. Half a year later, there was still half a bottle left.

Lu Ping ruthlessly scooped out a big glob and massaged it around his eyes. Three circles left, three right—it actually reduced the swelling quite a bit.

Luckily, Lu Mom had gone out to set up her stall early that morning and didn’t notice her son’s odd behavior.

Lu Ping dawdled at home until he was almost late, then strode out the door with the grim resolve of “the winds blew fiercely as he left the easy waters cold.”

On the swaying bus, the drums of retreat pounded in his heart without cease.

Maybe he shouldn’t go to school today…

Maybe he should transfer schools…

Maybe go back to studying in North Shore…

Maybe just leave Earth altogether!

Lu Ping knew his personality was too negative; when problems arose, he didn’t think of solutions but of escape. But he really had no idea how to deal with that mysterious @ash to stop them from exposing his secret to Shen Yuze!

Though his heart rebelled against returning to school, the bus dutifully dropped him at the stop by the school gate right on time.

Lu Ping dragged his heavy steps into the school. He usually walked with his head down, silently watching the road, but today he kept his head up, eyes vigilantly scanning the classmates passing by.

Was it him? Her? Them?

Lu Ping felt like a paranoid third-rate detective; everyone looked suspicious.

When he entered the classroom, he scrutinized his classmates even more closely.

Unexpectedly, as he looked at them, they looked back! Some even burst out laughing after glancing at him.

Lu Ping: “…?”

What was going on? Was there something on his face?

He touched his face—strange, nothing there.

Bewildered, he returned to his seat in the back row and pulled out his textbook for morning self-study. Throughout the entire period, he was restless, the book stuck on the first page; he couldn’t focus on anything.

He glanced at the book one moment, then at the classroom door the next, terrified a stranger might burst in waving Shen Yuze’s student ID.

The torturous morning self-study finally ended. When the bell rang, Lu Ping slumped in his seat, burying his head in his arms to hide his expression.

The kind Lu Ping and devilish Lu Ping in his mind started fighting again.

Kind Lu Ping said: Why not just confess to Shen Yuze? Tell him the whole truth! The lies are snowballing—it’ll cause trouble!

Devil Lu Ping said: No way! If you do, you’ll lose Shen Yuze! You’ve finally made a friend—do you want to go back to being all alone?

As Lu Ping lay there pondering life, a hand suddenly landed on his head, ruffling his hair gently.

That familiar pressure made Lu Ping shoot upright.

Sure enough, Shen Yuze stood by his seat, smiling faintly at him. Shen Yuze always had the “skip morning self-study” privilege; he only arrived after it ended.

“Lu Ping, didn’t you sleep well last night? Why were you lying on the desk?” Shen Yuze asked.

“N-No, I’m fine…” Lu Ping didn’t dare tell the truth and mumbled, “I was just feeling lazy.”

He spoke without meeting Shen Yuze’s eyes, his gaze drifting elsewhere.

Shen Yuze set down his bag and sat, then suddenly leaned in close.

Lu Ping startled and instinctively pulled back, but Shen Yuze grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t move.” Shen Yuze frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on Lu Ping’s face. So close, Lu Ping could even see his distinct lashes. “There’s something on your eye.”

“What?” Lu Ping blurted out. “Something pretty?”

“…” Shen Yuze, unaccustomed to such cheesy lines, was thoroughly choked. After a few seconds, he said, “Yeah, it’s pretty ‘nice-looking.'”

With that, Shen Yuze pulled out a tissue and wiped the spot by Lu Ping’s eye.

The gesture was so intimate, yet for some reason, Lu Ping had no urge to dodge. Instead, he obediently closed his eyes, letting Shen Yuze clean it off. He was perfectly still, full of trust.

Luckily, they sat in the back row; no one else noticed the intimate moment.

“All done, wiped clean.” Shen Yuze said.

Lu Ping’s lashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes. He looked at the tissue in Shen Yuze’s hand—a plain white tissue dotted with pale yellow, greasy-looking stuff. At first glance, it looked just like eye gunk!

Lu Ping: “？!”

Shen Yuze teased him: “Didn’t you wash your face this morning?”

“O-Of course I did!”

“Washed? Then what’s this?”

Lu Ping fell silent—if he wasn’t wrong, it was the eye cream he’d secretly used from his mom that morning, not rubbed in evenly, leaving residue at the corner of his eye.

Now he understood why someone had snickered at him when he entered the classroom—they were laughing at his “eye gunk”!

But admitting a guy like him used eye cream… that sounded even weirder!

Eye gunk or eye cream—which to choose?

After agonizing deliberation, Lu Ping could only claim it was eye gunk…

He awkwardly took the tissue from Shen Yuze, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the little trash bag hanging between their desks.

“You could’ve just told me and let me wipe it myself,” Lu Ping said. “It’s so dirty.”

Shen Yuze, who was such a neat freak—once glaring fiercely at a classmate for putting a hand on his desk—was now personally wiping Lu Ping’s eye gunk (though it wasn’t really)…

“What’s dirty about it?” Shen Yuze said nonchalantly. “You’re different from others.”

Lu Ping: “…”

He badly wanted to ask what made him different, but in the end, he didn’t.

He thought he knew the answer—because in Shen Yuze’s mind, Lu Ping was his friend. And for a friend, of course he’d wipe the dirt off their face.

A sudden impulse rose in Lu Ping’s heart: Should he take a gamble? Bet on how much he mattered to Shen Yuze? Since Shen Yuze saw him as a friend, if he came clean, apologized sincerely, maybe Shen Yuze would forgive him!!

With that thought, Lu Ping mustered his courage: “Shen Yuze, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Shen Yuze raised a brow, waiting for him to continue.

Lu Ping: “Actually, I…”

“—Shen Yuze, look here!” At that moment, the Class Monitor in the front row turned around, interrupting them abruptly. He raised his phone, aimed at Shen Yuze, and snapped a photo with a click.

After taking it, the Class Monitor spun back around and started typing furiously on his phone, like he was chatting with someone.

Shen Yuze’s eyes sharpened as he reached out and gripped the Class Monitor’s shoulder.

Shen Yuze: “Why did you take my photo?”

The Class Monitor looked righteous: “Oh, Teacher Wu asked me to collect personal photos of everyone in the class. You’re the last one.”

“Do I look that easy to fool?” Shen Yuze said coldly. “I advise you to tell the truth—what are you doing with my photo?”

The Class Monitor: “Uh…”

Shen Yuze: “Cat got your tongue? Thinking up excuses?”

Shen Yuze’s stern expression was terrifying. Spooked, the Class Monitor stammered out the truth.

It turned out the Class Monitor had recently gotten into a game and joined a guild. The guild was full of peers, and the group chat was lively every day. He’d privately added one of the girls as a friend, and gradually… he’d developed feelings for her.

The Class Monitor’s pimple-covered face was full of longing for youth. “Although she’s not from the same city as me, I want to date her online! If things go well, we can meet up after my college entrance exams!”

Shen Yuze: “Date online?”

“That’s net dating,” Lu Ping explained to him. “Early romance over the internet.”

Shen Yuze found it amusing. “Across the internet cable, the image she presents could very well be fabricated. Why would you like someone fake?”

Lu Ping, who had inexplicably taken a bullet: “…”

Having the girl he liked badmouthed for no reason, the Class Monitor naturally couldn’t tolerate it.

Class Monitor: “Who said she’s fake?! She sent me her photo!!”

With that, the Class Monitor opened their chat history and showed them the girl’s picture.

The girl in the photo was pretty and demure, with neat short hair and wearing some school’s uniform. She sat quietly in front of a flower bed.

Their chat history had stopped just a few minutes ago. After the girl sent her photo, she had asked the Class Monitor for his.

Lu Ping: “…”

Shen Yuze: “…”

They knew exactly what the Class Monitor was up to.

With his face full of acne, he naturally didn’t dare show it to the girl he liked, so he had set his sights on Shen Yuze, wanting to use his photo to carry on the online romance!

Shen Yuze sneered coldly. “So, you want to use my photo to deceive someone?”

“Uh… Dating online like this, how can you call it deceiving? I really like her. I’ve even mailed her snacks several times!” The Class Monitor said awkwardly. “Shen Yuze, just help me out, okay? Don’t worry, she’s from Deep City. It won’t backfire.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’m not agreeing,” Shen Yuze replied, unmoved even after the Class Monitor’s pleading. “First off, no matter your intentions, it doesn’t wash away your motive to deceive.”

Lu Ping, who had only wanted to watch the drama, was precisely shot in the knee by this arrow, causing him to kneel with a thud.

“Secondly, that girl is innocent. What would she think if she found out the person she likes is a liar?”

The first arrow hadn’t even landed fully when the second one came, this time straight to Lu Ping’s heart.

“Finally, and most importantly—” Shen Yuze’s icy gaze fixed on the Class Monitor, his voice sinking extremely low, “—I hate most being used by others.”

The third arrow struck true, piercing from a hundred paces, sealing the throat!!

Struck by Shen Yuze’s three consecutive remarks until he lost all face, the Class Monitor’s expression turned extremely ugly. But he wouldn’t look for faults in himself; instead, he felt Shen Yuze was too heartless.

He muttered, “It’s just a small favor. If you won’t help, fine. Why make it such a big deal?” He awkwardly turned back around, and as for the photo he’d just taken, he deleted it too. Hmph, if he didn’t need it, so be it. He wasn’t desperate anyway.

With the major trouble of the Class Monitor resolved, Shen Yuze’s expression finally cleared up.

Shen Yuze had always been a hypocrite when it came to people.

If someone else’s hand touched his desk, he found it dirty; but if there was dirt by Lu Ping’s eye, he wiped it off personally. If others wanted to use his photo for online dating, he found it disgusting; but when Lu Ping donned the cloak of @fake-diaond, he thought it was interesting.

In short—whatever Pingping did was right!

Shen Yuze turned to look at Lu Ping, his gaze warming again as he continued their earlier interrupted topic. “You said earlier you had something to tell me. What was it?”

Lu Ping, covering himself with arrows stuck all over, squeezed out a shaky smile. “It’s nothing big. I’ve already forgotten…”

After hearing Shen Yuze’s words just now, how could Lu Ping dare reveal the truth?

If he didn’t want to lose Shen Yuze as a friend, he absolutely could not expose his identity in front of him!!

As for that mysterious @ash, he had to find some way to stop them from meeting…