Chapter 50.2
Editor: SimoB
Zhuo Junli wanted to dissuade him, but Shi Qing was all like ‘you don’t need to be embarra.s.sed, this measly sum is nothing to this young master’. He generously went to find Tong Xinyu right after first period.
When she saw Shi Qing coming towards her, she was very excited.
She nodded furiously after Shi Qing asked her to bake more cookies for them: “No problem, no problem at all! If you guys like them so much I’ll bake them for you everyday!”
Her deskmate whispered to her after Shi Qing had left: “Didn’t you tell me that your current male G.o.d is Shi Qing? You’re not mad that Zhuo Junli ate the cookies too?”
“Why would I be mad?”
Tong Xinyu was still flushed with excitement. She sprawled out across her desk and chatted with her friend: “Even though my current first male G.o.d is Shi Qing, Zhuo Junli’s still number two. I’m a very single-minded person. Even if I like them both, I’ll only be good to my first male G.o.d.”
But if the two of them asked her together, then that’s perfectly fine with her too hehehehehe.
The girl, who was immersed in her longing for the male G.o.ds, sighed indulgently: “Shi Qing already has a crush on me. Now that I’m so good to him he’ll definitely confess soon. Sigh. But I still feel a bit guilty. Although I like Shi Qing the most right now, I still have feelings for Zhuo Junli. I wouldn’t be able to choose between them if I had the chance.”
Hmmm. Should she go with Shi Qing who could protect her and make her feel safe?
Or the warm Zhuo Junli that made others feel at peace?
It was really hard to choose.
Her deskmate, who hadn’t fallen in love even once, was shocked: “Xinyu, you’re such a flirt!”
Tong Xinyu was even more embarra.s.sed. She covered her face with one hand and pushed her friend with the other: “That’s not true. I just have more male G.o.ds than the average person. It doesn’t take long to bake cookies anyway, so I’ll just send cookies everyday and keep my options open. I wonder who’ll confess to me first hehehe.”
Deskmate: “Why don’t you confess instead?”
“I’m shy, okay! Besides, a girl like me should be a little more reserved. I’m telling you, when I went to deliver the cookies, Zhuo Junli seemed to be in a bad mood. He’s probably jealous hehehehe. I told you, he definitely likes me.”
Tong Xinyu was proud, shy and a little hopeful: “What should a girl like me do when both of my male G.o.ds are chasing after me? Ahhh life’s so hard!”
Zhuo Junli couldn’t hear what the two girls were talking about, but he could see from his seat in the front how Tong Xinyu smiled shyly at Shi Qing before jabbering with her little friend after he left.
Zhuo Junli closed his eyes. Memories of Tong Xinyu’s usual behaviour flashed through his mind along with her expression and actions when she delivered the cookies and her friendship with her deskmate.
There was an 80% chance that she was talking about Shi Qing with her deskmate.
And a 60% chance of the discussion being about romance.
He could eat all the cookies that Tong Xinyu had given Shi Qing, but he couldn’t outright stop the two from dating.
He could take the cookies, but he couldn’t change Shi Qing’s affection for those little rabbits.
The youth opened his eyes. His hands were blazing through math problems, but his heart was filled with an inexplicable hostility.
“Yo!” Shi Qing leaned over and tutted at how his hand was flying across the page:“Are you a ninja or something? I can almost see afterimages.”
–Pop.
Zhuo Junli’s movements suddenly came to a halt. He turned to look at Shi Qing and asked seriously: “Why did Tong Xinyu’s att.i.tude towards you change so fast?”
The formerly relaxed school bully immediately tensed up: “Why do you ask? I’m warning you, if you dare to think about Tong Xinyu again, I won’t let you off! Don’t think I can’t toss and turn and keep you up all night!”
His possessiveness made Zhuo Junli’s face thaw a bit: “I really don’t have any interest in Tong Xinyu. I was just curious.”
“Hmph. Fine.”
After confirming again and again that Zhuo Junli’s eyes held no hint of affection for Tong Xinyu, Shi Qing leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he explained what happened yesterday with a ‘look at how bada.s.s I am’ expression on his face.
Then he said: “Those punks were in the same school as me before. They watched too many movies and formed a gang. Every break, they guard that alleyway and rob students that pa.s.s through there.”
This school bully expressed great disdain for such behavior. He snorted, his words filled with contempt: “They robbed one of my boys before, so I got some people together and beat them up. They straightened up after that, but it seems like they’re up to old tricks again now that I’ve transferred. Hmph. They might be trash that bully the weak, but I guess even they have a bottom line. They’re only after the cash and nothing more. But a cute girl like Tong Xinyu would’ve been in trouble if I hadn’t arrived then. Hmph.”
He was quite proud of himself.
Shi Qing: “Before, Tong Xingyu wouldn’t even glance at me, but look at how well she’s treating me today! She even gave me cookies! These are more than just cookies, they’re a badge of honour!”
Shi Qing: “That little girl was so vicious to me before, but she was about to cry in front of those guys. She still needed someone like me to protect her.
Shi Qing: “She was pretty obnoxious before, but it seems that she knows how to thank people. Hmph. She’s kinda cute I guess.”
Zhuo Junli looked at the smug Shi Qing silently.
Before, he was sure that Shi Qing only felt irritation towards Tong Xinyu and a desire to s.n.a.t.c.h him from her.
But now, Shi Qing had actually started to think that Tong Xinyu was cute.
After carefully observing Shi Qing’s facial expressions and body movements, he came to a conclusion.
Shi Qing liked to protect the weak.
That was probably why he liked rabbits.
After a.n.a.lyzing the situation, the youth looked at Shi Qing. His light brown eyes, that usually appeared weak, shone with a hint of anxiety: “I’m going to get last month’s paycheck this afternoon. Will I run into them too?”
As expected, the school bully’s back straightened: “It’s fine. If you run into them, just tell them you’re with me.”
Zhuo Junli blinked his eyes slowly, like a little rabbit that was utterly incapable of defending itself.
“What if they don’t care? That money is all my income for the month.”
The school bully snorted. He was still very full of himself: “Don’t worry, they’ll definitely care. If those brats insist on giving you trouble, just come and find me. I’ll teach them a lesson they won’t forget!”
Zhuo Junli nodded, seeming like he was rea.s.sured by Shi Qing’s words.
At the end of the school day, the youth did go outside.
After he received his paycheck, he deliberately took a detour to the alley that Shi Qing talked about. However, he waited there for quite some time without encountering a soul.
Zhuo Junli wandered around for a while before he saw a group of people wearing uniforms, cheerfully eating kebabs on another street.
He watched them for a while and made sure they weren’t going to leave anytime soon. Then he found a store and borrowed their telephone.
Shi Qing picked up quickly on the other end.
He heard Zhuo Junli’s voice, that was as weak as a little rabbit: “Shi Qing, I saw those people you mentioned on my way back. I’m kind of scared, so can you come pick me up?”
[Tsk…]
Shi Qing, who had a lollipop in his mouth, couldn’t help but slurp as he daydreamed about pushing this person onto the bed again.
Shi Qing: [I really like it when he pretends to be weak like this. He’s just like me right now and it’s so cute.]
System: [Huh?]
Shi Qing: [Even if he’s faking it, he’ll keep up this charade forever if it helps him keep my eyes on him alone.]
[What beach houses, treadmill and floor-to-ceiling windows? He definitely won’t reject me.]
System: [???]
What’s all this about?
System: [Then are we still going Host?]
Shi Qing got up right away: [Of course!]
When the school bully replied affirmatively, Zhuo Junli glanced down at his watch.
The school was about ten minutes away from his location, and Shi Qing should be at the dormitory. Counting the five minutes from there to the school entrance, it would take him fifteen minutes to get here.
He kept track of the time. When there was about three minutes to go, he put his bag back on and walked towards the BBQ stand.
When the people eating BBQ saw Zhuo Junli coming over, one of the younger boys poked their leader: “Ge look, there’s a student.”
“Perfect timing. Let’s ask him nicely to pay for our meal. We can go play at the arcade tonight if there’s still money left over.”
He just got up when the leader dragged him back down and slapped the back of his head: “Are you stupid?! Can’t you see he’s wearing Chang Yin’s school uniform?!! Are you trying to summon that demon Shi Qing again and get us all beat up?!!!”
The boy just realized this: “Ah, you’re right!”
So, the group of people eating BBQ pretended they were blind and ignored Zhuo Junli as he walked by them.
Because he had prepared several plans beforehand, Zhuo Junli wasn’t worried.
He had confirmed one thing while he was waiting just now.
There were no cameras around.
The youth paused and made sure only these delinquents were looking at him. Then he took off his backpack and rifled through it like he was looking for something.
A few sheets of red paper drifted to the ground, but their owner closed his bag like he didn’t notice and continued walking.
The people at the barbecue stand stared at the red tickets on the ground: “…”
One of the boys: “Ge, should we tell him?”
–Pa!
He got another slap.
“Are you braindead?! Why would you give away free money?!!”
The leader ran straight over and picked up the money. He counted it; there was exactly $500.
He was overjoyed: “What kind of G.o.dly luck is this! We didn’t even need to lift a finger and the money came to us on its own!”
“…Ge! Ge!! Ge!!!”
One of the boys pulled urgently on his sleeve.
“What?!”
Lackey: “…Is that Shi Qing coming towards us?”
The leader squinted. It was indeed Shi Qing.
The school bully, who was still wearing his Chang Yin uniform, looked furious as he listened to what the student that had just pa.s.sed them was saying. The youth turned and pointed at them.
Leader: “……”
Why do I have a really bad feeling about this…
He soon found out.
Uncaring of their wary gazes, Shi Qing stormed over with Zhuo Junli in tow.
The youth was holding Shi Qing by the arm. His voice was so timid that others felt the need to protect him.
“They robbed me when I pa.s.sed by just now.”
The group in question: “???”
“I said I was with you, and they still took all my money…”
The group in question: “?????”
“They took the five hundred dollars I got for my part-time job last month.”
The group in question: “………”
They were shocked.
“No! It wasn’t like that! Shi Qing, listen to me, we didn’t-”
The school bully was like the devil incarnate. He barked out: “What’s that in your hand?!”
The leader delinquent blankly looked down at the $500 in his hand: “…$500.”
Shi Qing: “Is this money yours?”
“No… But I can explain! Really! He came through here earlier, and then we…”
Shi Qing: “Cut the c.r.a.p! Fight me already!”
Ten minutes later, Zhuo Junli looked at the mighty Shi Qing, who overcame the advantage of numbers and crushed his opponents for him. His light brown eyes brightened.
[Ding! Zhuo Junli’s animosity value: 59]
Fifteen minutes later.
Shi Qing walked out of the battlefield and put on the school jacket that Zhuo Junli handed over. Then he pulled Zhuo Junli over by the shoulder to his side.
Taking the youth with him, he swaggered past the people slumped against the wall and collapsed on the floor.
“What a bunch of losers. How dare you bully one of my people. Don’t let me see you again, or else I’ll beat you up again!”
The thugs who were already beaten up again: “…”
Delinquent: “I’m going to tell your school that you’re setting us up…ow!!!”
A miserable howl could be heard.
Zhuo Junli innocently lifted the foot that had landed on the speaker’s leg: “Ah, sorry.”
Delinquent: “……”
Shi Qing snorted: “Why are you apologizing to the people that robbed you? They’re just a bunch of good-for-nothings that bully and rob students that can’t fight back all day! They take all of students’ measly allowance for the week, and they even took the money you got from your part-time job! What despicable sc.u.ms!”
Delinquents: “…”
As they watched Shi Qing guiding Zhuo Junli away by his shoulders while badmouthing them, those wronged couldn’t hold back their grievances any longer.
“Who the h.e.l.l robbed him?! This shameless b.a.s.t.a.r.d is deliberately messing with us!!!”
“This is entrapment, ahhhhh!!!”