Chapter 31: Mercenary Fake Rich Young Master 31

Early the next morning, just as the sky barely began to lighten, Zhou Xu, who had kept his eyes closed all night but failed to sleep a wink, decisively shook Su Wenyu awake.

He didn’t know the other two’s schedules or what time they woke up in the morning. He had to get Su Wenyu back to his own bed before they got up.

Otherwise, if they saw Su Wenyu had been sleeping in his arms all night, would he have any purity left?! Zhou “Extremely Protective of Male Virtue” Xu could not allow such a misunderstanding to occur.

Su Wenyu was shaken dizzy. Half-asleep, he hugged Zhou Xu tighter, brow furrowed with a slight case of morning grumpiness. “Don’t mess around… what time even is it.”

“The sun’s already up!” Zhou Xu gritted his teeth. Who was messing around here?!

Afraid their noise would wake the roommates across the way, Zhou Xu glanced over guiltily. Seeing no movement from them, he finally relaxed.

“Hurry up. Keep making trouble and don’t blame me for not being polite.” Zhou Xu said.

Su Wenyu thought to himself, What can you do that’s so impolite? At most you’ll spank my butt. That little pain isn’t unbearable.

Su Wenyu reluctantly opened his eyes. Groggily propping himself up over Zhou Xu, he glanced out the window.

The dorm curtains blocked people’s view but not the light. He could see it was indeed getting light outside, though the room itself was still dim.

At the same time, the system judged that the night was over. 520’s voice rang out in his mind: [Congratulations, Host Su Wenyu! Mission complete!]

Hearing the success notification, Su Wenyu perked up a bit and smiled happily.

Zhou Xu was baffled: “What are you smiling about?”

Was sleeping in his arms all night really that happy?

“Nothing.” Su Wenyu controlled the smile at the corner of his lips. He braced himself, sat up, and prepared to crawl back to his own side.

After crawling two steps, Su Wenyu paused, turned his head to look at Zhou Xu, and whispered, “By the way, you were a bit strange last night.”

Zhou Xu blanked: “What?”

“You were too hard. It wasn’t normal. I didn’t sleep well last night.” Su Wenyu complained disdainfully, then turned his head and crawled back to his own bed.

He had absolutely no idea how much of a stir that one sentence caused within the dorm.

Too hard?

What was too hard?

Xia Yehang’s eyes suddenly flew open. Shen Yi’s fingers curled sharply over his body.

Even the person involved, Zhou Xu, looked shocked and slandered, wanting nothing more than to grab Su Wenyu back and make him clarify exactly what was too hard.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Zhou Xu’s voice was so angry he could barely keep it down.

Slander.

This was absolute slander!!

520 notified Su Wenyu that the Villain Value was rising again. Su Wenyu found it somewhat baffling.

[Doesn’t like it when I don’t hold him to sleep either?]

Su Wenyu felt that Zhou Xu’s moods were truly hard to guess. Sleep with him, no good. Not sleep with him, also no good. Harder to please than a child.

Whatever. At any rate, Villain Value increasing was a good thing for him. Let Zhou Xu think whatever he wants.

Su Wenyu genuinely hadn’t slept well that night. Mainly because Zhou Xu’s body was too hard.

Normally, human muscles should be soft when not flexed. Who knows why Zhou Xu was so strange, stiff and hard all night. Totally abnormal. Holding him to sleep wasn’t comfortable at all.

If he knew Su Wenyu’s thoughts, Zhou Xu would definitely explode with a curse.

Who, exactly, was the reason he’d been tense all night!

Unfortunately, Zhou Xu didn’t know. He could only sit on his own bed right now, questioning his life.

And Su Wenyu, hugging his soft blanket, had finally found a comfortable sleeping position. His eyes closed, and he was asleep again.

For a moment, the dorm was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Zhou Xu sat on his bed for a while. He felt like he was thinking about many things, but when he came back to himself, he realized he hadn’t thought about anything at all.

Staying up all night rusted the brain, making it run like an old, nearly broken computer.

Since lying back down was impossible to fall asleep anyway, Zhou Xu simply gave up on sleeping. He got down, changed his clothes, and went outside for a walk to clear his head.

About ten minutes after Zhou Xu left, Xia Yehang threw off his blanket, got out of bed quietly, and went into the bathroom to wash up, closing the door.

Shen Yi opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and bright, without a trace of drowsiness.

Once the sounds of washing in the bathroom stopped, Shen Yi sat up in bed. He glanced towards Su Wenyu’s direction, then restrained himself and looked away. He got down to change clothes.

Both Xia Yehang and Shen Yi moved very quietly. Su Wenyu was a deep sleeper and wasn’t disturbed at all.

It wasn’t until around 6:40, when Zhou Xu—after walking around the area and adjusting his mood with his formidable emotional regulation skills—returned to the dorm feeling at peace and woke Su Wenyu up.

“No little tricycle today. Get up early.” Zhou Xu said.

Su Wenyu yawned. He rolled back and forth half a turn on the bed, pressed against the innermost wall for a while to gather himself, and before Zhou Xu could call him a second time, he wisely sat up.

Seeing everyone else in the dorm already awake, he was a little surprised: “You all get up so early?”

Xia Yehang and Shen Yi simultaneously fell silent.

In the end, Shen Yi had the stronger mental fortitude. Putting last night’s events aside for now, he nodded and said, “There’s also a class meeting this morning.”

There was a lot going on for new students. Last night was just a temporary gathering in the classroom to recognize faces. Today was the official class meeting, where they’d receive their new books and discuss the upcoming military training schedule.

After the morning’s tasks were done, the afternoon would probably be free.

Tomorrow began freshman military training, which would last until just before the National Day holiday.

Su Wenyu had a sudden look of understanding, though what exactly he understood was anyone’s guess. In any case, he wore an expression of total comprehension.

“Where’s my bro? Bro, help me get down.” Last night’s willfulness was met with today’s obedient sweetness.

Su Wenyu put on a fawning expression, smiling ingratiatingly at Zhou Xu.

Zhou Xu internally sneered. If not for the two other roommates present, he’d definitely make Su Wenyu properly reflect on his behavior from last night, admit his mistake, apologize, and then help him down.

Now, in front of others, he could only control his emotions. Expression neutral, he supported Su Wenyu’s waist and helped him down.

Su Wenyu shuffled into his slippers, went to the bathroom, used the toilet, and then washed up.

After washing, Su Wenyu didn’t waste time. He came out, casually picked a pink short-sleeved shirt and light-colored casual jeans from the clothes hanging above his wardrobe, and started changing.

The other guys in the dorm turned around, only to see Su Wenyu taking off his top, his upper body bare.

Not a hint of modesty.

They could even clearly see those two pink little things on his chest.

If they were all straight men, seeing a guy shirtless, of course, no one would have any thoughts.

Like Zhou Xu—back when he lived in the dorms as a freshman, on hot days the whole dorm would be shirtless under the AC. When he was extremely hot, he’d also just wear pants in the dorm.

But the key question was: were they all straight?

Right now, in this dorm, there were two people very clear about their own orientation—they were gay. And one person who insisted he wasn’t gay—but actually was.

Facing this sudden, direct temptation, Xia Yehang instantly covered his nose, afraid of a nosebleed.

Zhou Xu took a soft breath, wanting to stop him, yet feeling this was normal in a male dorm. He forcibly held back, not daring to say a word.

Only Su Wenyu, completely naive, stood there changing clothes bare-chested under the gaze of three wolves, like a simple little lamb.

When Su Wenyu finally pulled on that pink T-shirt, the other three men in the dorm let out imperceptible sighs of relief.

Then, in the next second, Su Wenyu bent over and took off his pants.

The three: “…”

Xia Yehang looked at the light blue boxer briefs with little stars dotting them, hugging perfectly rounded curves, and those long, fair legs. He silently grabbed a few tissues and held them to his nose.

Spicy.

Too spicy.

So spicy it gave him a nosebleed.

Shen Yi’s gaze paused for a moment. He instinctively looked away, but then pressed his thin lips together and couldn’t help but glance over a few more times, despite himself.

Zhou Xu appeared calm as he stood to the side, but in reality, his soul had already left his body.

Just like that, right in front of everyone, he changed his pants?

Could he not have a little bit of self-awareness as a gay person?!

Zhou Xu’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but he was afraid his reaction would reveal Su Wenyu’s sexual orientation. If the roommates ostracized him because of it, Su Wenyu might be very upset.

So Zhou Xu ultimately endured it. His hands at his sides clenched into tight fists. By the time Su Wenyu finished putting on his pants, his palms were marked by a row of crescent-shaped nail indents.

“I’m ready. Want to go eat together at the cafeteria?” Su Wenyu, now dressed, put on socks and shoes, then slung his white crossbody bag holding his books over his shoulder, looking at them with an obedient expression.

“Wait, hold on.” Xia Yehang, covering his nose, quickly darted into the bathroom to wash his face.

Luckily, the nosebleed was just a few drops. If it hadn’t stopped, it would have been embarrassing.

After dealing with the nosebleed issue, Xia Yehang looked at his blushing face in the mirror and slapped himself twice hard. Pap! Pap! The sound startled Su Wenyu outside.

“What’s wrong?” Su Wenyu asked with concern.

“Nothing. Just felt like I didn’t wake up properly. Slapped myself twice to sober up.” Xia Yehang said casually.

Su Wenyu looked at his reddened face from the slaps and naively believed him.

–

The freshman dorm building was lively. On their first day of dorm life, most new students were excited and didn’t sleep in.

When Su Wenyu stepped out, he was almost bumped into by someone running past their dorm door. Zhou Xu, quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbed him, frowning in warning: “Slow down. They don’t have eyes and don’t watch where they’re going. You don’t watch either?”

Zhou Xu didn’t lower his voice at all. The person who had just run past heard it and turned back, cursing irritably, “Who the hell are you saying has no eyes, your grandpa?”

Then this guy’s gaze met the three tall, imposing human background walls standing behind Su Wenyu.

The guy: “…My grandpa said I have no eyes.”

Looking at the three guys whose stares were like bandits, the guy decisively apologized and then fled at a sprint.

Su Wenyu tilted his head in confusion, turned back to look at Zhou Xu, and said, “He ran away.”

Xia Yehang snorted in disdain, mocking the guy: “What a wimp.”

Shen Yi’s expression remained indifferent, saying nothing. He just felt the guy was lucky—lucky he ran fast.

Zhou Xu made Su Wenyu walk on the inside, his tone stern as he warned, “Walk inside. Your ankle just healed. Don’t twist it again.”

Su Wenyu replied with an “Oh,” grabbed the shoulder straps of his bag with both hands, and obediently walked between them.

Xia Yehang walked in the very front, Zhou Xu walked beside Su Wenyu, and Shen Yi followed behind Su Wenyu.

Three guys with an average height of 189.33 cm surrounded Su Wenyu, who was only 177 cm tall, so tightly that only a sliver of pink top could be seen through the gaps between them.

In a rather peculiar harmony, the four headed to the cafeteria together for breakfast.

Then that very morning, photos of the four walking together exploded across various student chat groups.

The campus confession wall also had posts trying to find them, with a picture of Su Wenyu’s side profile and the three distinctly different yet handsome guys surrounding him.

The post read: [Wall, met four handsome guys on my way to class. Want to ask what school they’re in and if they have partners. Anonymous please.]

There weren’t many upperclassmen in the freshman groups, so it was mostly excited new students gossiping about which school these handsome guys belonged to.

Some even lamented that handsome guys really did hang out with other handsome guys.

On the campus wall, however, there were plenty of upperclassmen watching. Many recognized Su Wenyu in the photo almost instantly, and a long string of ellipses appeared in the comments.

New students, not understanding, asked what all the ellipses meant.

A helpful senior thoughtfully provided a forum link: [Keywords: real and fake young master, swy, zx. Go search it yourselves.]

The extremely curious new students went and searched, and then were abruptly smacked with a huge piece of drama.

[Ah, I know about this real vs. fake young master thing. Saw it on the trending searches before…]

[But what’s the big deal? Doesn’t stop them from being handsome. So do they have partners or not?]

[To the person above, suggest you understand swy’s reputation before being a love-struck fool. He’s not exactly easy to get along with.]

[He looks pretty well-behaved though. Are you guys just jealous he’s good-looking?]

[…]

… …

The upperclassmen tried to explain, but the new students wouldn’t listen. They could only express speechlessness and let them be.

Anyway, once they actually interacted with Su Wenyu, they’d understand what a nasty personality this fake young master had.

The waves on the campus forum and confession wall continued endlessly.

Some posts confessed that they were handsome. Some posts dug up Su Wenyu’s scandals.

Su Wenyu didn’t browse the forum nor had he added the campus wall, so he remained completely oblivious to all of this.

Since his last ‘kinda gay’ post, Zhou Xu had also quit the freshman group and rarely checked the forum. He’d long gotten used to people’s stares on the street and had little reaction.

Xia Yehang and Shen Yi, however, found it a bit strange. There were way too many stares directed at them. As they walked towards the academic buildings after breakfast, several people deliberately jogged past them and then turned back to look.

Xia Yehang thought it was odd, but didn’t dwell on it.

After all, because of his decent looks, people often glanced at him. He was used to it.

Shen Yi’s observational skills were sharper. Noticing some people looking at their phones and then at them, he immediately thought someone might have posted their pictures online.

“I need to turn right here. Let’s split up.” At a main road intersection, Su Wenyu was the first to stop, waving at them and reminding, “Be safe on the way.”

Zhou Xu frowned: “You just make sure you’re safe.”

Walking with his head down, looking at who-knows-what, and he’s the one telling others to be safe?

Su Wenyu grinned, immediately indicating he’d walk on the innermost part of the sidewalk. He waved to them again and headed towards the academic building for his school.

Su Wenyu’s academic building was the closest to the male dorms, so even walking a bit slowly, he had enough time.

Xia Yehang checked the time and said, “I’m going left to catch a campus bus. You guys?”

Zhou Xu: “I’m going straight.”

Shen Yi: “Straight.”

“Alright then.” Xia Yehang had already known last night that Shen Yi’s school wasn’t on his route. He casually waved and went to the left-side stop to wait for the campus bus.

Shen Yi and Zhou Xu crossed the crosswalk and continued straight.

Shen Yi lagged half a step behind Zhou Xu, scrolling through his phone, seeing the various posts now pinned at the very top.

About ten minutes later, they reached another main road intersection.

Zhou Xu stopped to let a car pass, then continued straight towards his own academic building.

Shen Yi, however, suddenly called out to him: “Zhou Xu.”

Zhou Xu stopped, turning back: “?”

Shen Yi was a very direct person. Without the slightest euphemism, he said: “You and Su Wenyu are not biological brothers.”

A declarative statement. It made Zhou Xu inexplicably irritated.

“Yeah. So what?” Zhou Xu shot back.

“Then do you like him?” Shen Yi asked.

Zhou Xu: “?”

He felt it was probably the lack of sleep making his ears malfunction. “What?”

Shen Yi slowed down and repeated the question again: “Do you like Su Wenyu?”

Zhou Xu was shocked and instinctively retorted: “How is that possible.”

“Good.” Shen Yi nodded, his heart at ease. “Then I have a chance.”

Zhou Xu: “???”

What?!

Before Zhou Xu could ask for clarification, Shen Yi politely nodded to him, turned around, and left.

Leaving Zhou Xu standing there alone, rooted to the spot, completely crashed.