For who?
Sheng Yan wondered if he’d gone deaf. He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
Leaning casually against the wall, Qin Zigui added lightly, “At least part of the reason was for you.”
Part…?
“And the other part?” Sheng Yan asked.
Qin Zigui’s expression didn’t change. “For justice.”
Sheng Yan: “…”
Well, that’s certainly a grand answer.
But “for justice” was barely understandable, what nonsense was “for you” supposed to mean?
Thinking back to Qin Zigui’s divine-level acting just moments ago, Sheng Yan grew alert. “What does this have to do with me?”
“Didn’t you say I’m someone you look after?” Qin Zigui lowered his gaze toward Sheng Yan. “So I can’t just stand there and watch you get bullied.”
Only then did Sheng Yan remember that Qin Zigui had overheard his entire conversation with Fu Yun earlier.
“No one’s looking after you. I only said that to scare them a bit don’t get the wrong idea. And those blond idiots were beaten so badly by me that they were crying for their parents. Who was bullying who? Figure that out before you jump in blindly.” Sheng Yan kept his face stern, turning his head away, his tone far from pleasant.
He paused, then awkwardly tossed out, “Fu Yun’s been jealous of you for ages. Just pretend you didn’t hear the crap they said. Don’t take it to heart otherwise it’ll dirty your brain.”
He actually wasn’t sure whether Qin Zigui’s performance in front of Huang Shuliang earlier had been pure acting or if he’d really been a little upset.
But when he saw Qin Zigui like that, for some reason, he recalled the way Qin Zigui used to sit alone on the steps downstairs when they were kids, staring blankly into the distance.
He couldn’t explain the feeling clearly just that something in his chest felt stuffy.
But Qin Zigui himself didn’t seem bothered. He was as calm and rational as usual. “Some of the things they said weren’t wrong. I really am someone with no parents, living under someone else’s roof.”
Hearing that, Sheng Yan instantly snapped back, furious. He turned around and scolded, “Living under whose roof?! Has Aunt Qin or Uncle Jiang ever treated you badly? Have my grandparents? Even my mom praises you and yells at me every day. Ever since we were kids, was there anything I liked that I didn’t share with you? You, the young master of the Qin family what exactly is so uncomfortable about your life? Whose face did you ever have to watch? Which part of their bullshit was even remotely true?!”
Seeing Sheng Yan genuinely angry and flustered, Qin Zigui couldn’t help it, he lowered his head, lips curving slightly.
Sheng Yan, mid-rant, suddenly saw him smiling. He immediately became even more confused. “What are you laughing at?! Don’t laugh!”
“Alright. I won’t.” Qin Zigui suppressed his smile and looked at him seriously. “That’s why I said I went after those blond idiots because of you. Because I promised you when we were kids, if anyone bullies you, I’ll bully them back. I can’t just go back on my word.”
His tone was light, but when Sheng Yan met his eyes, it felt like a muted punch landed straight in his chest.
So Qin Zigui didn’t abandon friends for romance at all.
Not only did he not abandon him, he remembered their childhood promise, and that was why, the moment he learned Sheng Yan’s injury was caused by those blond idiots, he went straight to settle the score.
So that’s how it was.
But he himself had thrown such a big tantrum yesterday.
Suddenly, Sheng Yan felt a little guilty.
But he didn’t think it was completely his fault—because the things Qin Zigui said a year ago were indeed hurtful.
And over the past year, he had tried obviously and secretly to reach out and soften things, but Qin Zigui ignored all of it, treating him with coldness across the board. Even the day before his birthday, Qin Zigui had been extremely distant.
Sheng Yan still minded.
This had nothing to do with whether Qin Zigui apologized or not, he just felt that Qin Zigui must be hiding something from him, and if things were brushed over like this, he would feel uncomfortable, like a stone stuck in his chest.
So he was guilty, but also genuinely angry. He didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so he just stood there stiffly, saying nothing.
Qin Zigui, as if sensing his thoughts, said quietly, “One thing has nothing to do with another. The past is still my fault. It’s fine if you don’t want to forgive me.”
His tone and expression were as calm and indifferent as always, like nothing ever touched him. But for some reason, Sheng Yan could clearly see the faint, unintentional trace of disappointment and hurt on that expressionless face.
And then he felt even more guilty.
Was he being too harsh on Qin Zigui?
Was he being too petty?
Was Qin Zigui actually hurt?
Maybe… maybe he should forgive him first?
While Sheng Yan was having an internal spiritual war and hadn’t reached a conclusion, the sharp, shrill bell for morning study crashed right into his eardrums, making him frown instinctively.
Qin Zigui straightened up. “Let’s go back to class. I’ll help you move the desk.”
Sheng Yan: “?”
Move what desk?
“…”
Oh.
That desk.
“!!!”
That desk!!
Only then did Sheng Yan suddenly remember, love and friendship weren’t the important part here. The important part was that he was about to face at least a month-long imprisonment in that feng-shui death trap surrounded on three sides with nowhere to run!
He reacted instantly. “No—don’t move it yet! I’ll go back myself. Give me one morning self-study period to say goodbye to Zhu Peng and Gou You.”
And then he rushed back to Class Six. The moment he sat down, he began frantically rummaging through his desk drawer for his phone.
His movements were so sudden that Zhu Peng, who had just had his steamed bun scared out of his hands, got shocked again and dropped his cookie this time.
Even Gou You beside him couldn’t watch anymore. “Yan-ge, what are you scrambling for?”
Sheng Yan didn’t look up. “If you had to sit for a month with grade rank No. 3 in front, grade rank No. 2 beside you, grade rank No. 1 behind you, one the Discipline Committee head, one the Student Council president, and the last side is exactly where Huang Shuliang always passes by to spy on people… what would you do?”
Gou You answered instantly, “Either depression or death.”
Sheng Yan wasn’t surprised. “Exactly.”
But he was still young. He still wanted to live. He had promised Aunt Xu (Madam Xu) that this year he would continue being kind, brave, joyful, and happy—so he had to save himself.
Sheng Yan quickly pulled out his phone, opened the “Heart’s Wish Fulfilled” app, and made a wish:
[Hope Huang Shuliang takes back his genius idea about that feng-shui death seat.]
Then he anxiously waited.
But strangely, the white circle kept spinning for a long time without responding, neither approval nor rejection.
Sheng Yan pressed his lips together, fingers tapping nervously on the screen.
He was visibly anxious.
Gou You finally couldn’t help it. “Yan-ge, what’s going on? Are you waiting for someone’s message?”
Waiting for the message of a god.
Of course, he couldn’t say that, or Gou You would think he’d gone insane. So he replied without even looking up, “Do you believe there’s really a wish-making system in this world?”
Gou You didn’t even hesitate. “Of course I do.”
Front-row Zhu Peng also turned around to join the fuss: “I believe it too.”
Sheng Yan looked up and raised an eyebrow.
Gou You said seriously, “Only by believing in the existence of the wishing system can I believe in the existence of Hogwarts. Then next year I won’t have to take the college entrance exam.”
Zhu Peng said with a sacred expression, “And we must believe in the light.”
A brief pause, then he added, “Quoted from Ultraman Tiga.”
Sheng Yan: “……”
Two lunatics.
But being surrounded by lunatics was still better than being surrounded by a prison warden. Thinking of Qin Zigui’s face, no different from an enforcement AI staring at him for fifteen hours a day from behind, Sheng Yan felt life had become unlivable.
Fortunately, after tapping his phone screen who knows how many times, the interface froze for a moment. The white loading circle finally stopped spinning, and four big words appeared: [Wish Approved].
Good. He still had this thing to save himself.
At least he wouldn’t actually be locked up in that prison.
Sheng Yan let out a long breath, finally relaxing. He lazily opened the task, ready to welcome the dawn of his new life then in the next second, his half-relaxed body suddenly stiffened.
On the screen, a large line of text read:
[Wish Task: Pass All Subjects in the Next Mock Exam]
“……”
All subjects?
Pass?
If he had that ability, would he have been thrown by that damned weasel into that cursed place where no human should ever live?
What kind of garbage system was this?!
Could it not think properly from the host’s perspective for once?!
Fuming, Sheng Yan was about to make another wish—[I wish to pass all subjects in the next exam]—only for the system to coldly inform him: [This week’s wish quota has been used. Please come back next week.]
Sheng Yan angrily threw his phone into the desk compartment, leaned back hard against his chair, and let his arms hang limp, his eyes empty like a man about to march to the execution ground.
Gou You and Zhu Peng couldn’t hold back their curiosity any longer:
“Yan-ge, what happened? You went to the bathroom and came back soulless.”
Sheng Yan slumped against the chair back, face stiff, not wanting to move anything except his mouth:
“I just ran into the weasel in the bathroom.”
“And then?”
“He said I set a five-year record low for the science class in this exam.”
“And so?”
“So he’s preparing a special treatment for me.”
“What treatment?”
“That place I just told you about, the one surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on the other.”
“……”
Sheng Yan felt that the moment he finished speaking, every living creature within hearing distance looked at him with the mournful gaze reserved for a warrior going to his death.
And sympathy.
Naked, undisguised, deep and sorrowful sympathy.
“Yan-ge, take care. The road ahead is long, but your brothers can only accompany you this far.” Zhu Peng, painfully solemn, placed the little biscuit that had fallen to the floor onto Sheng Yan’s Chinese textbook with both hands.
Sheng Yan genuinely wanted to fling it away.
Gou You at least had a bit of humanity and tried to comfort him:
“Yan-ge, it’s okay. Maybe it’s not as terrifying as we think. You know Lin Qian, her personality is pretty good, right? And Qin Zigui isn’t truly some heartless, unfeeling ice-cold demon. He has some loyalty in him. It might not be as unbearable as you imagine.”
“Yeah, Yan-ge, don’t overthink it. They’re good people.”
Zhu Peng nodded along.
Sheng Yan: “?”
Weren’t these two always the most afraid of Qin Zigui? They talked about him like he was the grim reaper every day. Why were they suddenly speaking up for him?
He frowned at Gou You.
Gou You blinked, then suddenly reacted:
“Yan-ge, you haven’t checked the vocational school forum yet, have you?”
Sheng Yan’s expression cooled a little. “Zhu Peng told me.”
“Not that one.” Gou You handed him his phone. “There’s a new update. Lin Qian spoke up personally to clear Qin Zigui’s name. Public opinion has shifted back.”
On the phone screen was a post.
Title: Regarding the Incident Between Our School’s Qin Zigui and Your School’s Student Huang XX — Official Explanation
Posted by: Lin Qian
The post read (long text):
[About the rumor spreading on your school forum claiming that our school’s Qin Zigui beat up your school’s Huang XX and others over jealousy, as the person involved, I have something to say.
First, Qin Zigui did not start trouble without reason. Your school’s Huang XX and his gang verbally and physically harassed me at our school back gate on the nights of July 1st and July 3rd, and insulted me on noon and evening of July 6th (there are witnesses and evidence see below).
So as my classmate, my back-desk, the man in Class 1 with the strongest sense of justice, Qin Zigui took necessary measures to make Huang XX and his morally rotten, constantly borderline-criminal gang realize their mistakes and promise never to repeat them.
This was an act of justice, helping the weak, standing up against wrongdoing, respecting women, and defending the innocent! Absolutely not the “provoking trouble” that the rumors claim (along with their confessions attached below).
Second, Qin Zigui and I are simply classmates. Yes, I’m beautiful and he’s absurdly handsome, but I only want to get into Tsinghua, and he only wants to get into Peking University. So we have no thoughts toward each other beyond being academic rivals. Chat screenshots below:
[Lin Qian: Qin Zigui, I heard you like me~
Qin Zigui: I don’t like~
Qin Zigui: Using your phone during morning study. Conduct score minus three.
Lin Qian: ???]
If anyone can still claim he likes me after seeing this, please go see a psychologist.
Third, in conclusion: Qin Zigui loves studying, obeys the law, is full of justice, courageous, and has no ambiguous or unclear behavior. Meanwhile, your vocational school students—are you guys bored? Your total scores across six subjects don’t even match his score in one, yet you have the audacity to gossip and spread rumors all day long. Even if your brains look like intestines, they’re not supposed to function like intestines. So stop causing trouble, or you’ll be crushed both intellectually and physically, become permanently socially withdrawn, and increase society’s burden.]
Below the post were the full chat records in which the blond punks honestly confessed everything. Even if the vocational school students wanted to argue back, they had no reasoning to stand on and no momentum left.
On top of that, Gou You and their whole group, each using a small alt account, swarmed in to praise Qin Zigui to the heavens while trampling the blond punks like they were society’s scum. And so, this utterly boring farce came to an end, for now with a crushing victory.
As for why Lin Qian posted something like this, she clearly didn’t do it for herself. She was a good girl; she could’ve just disappeared from sight and ignored everything.
She must’ve heard those rumors, wanted to thank Qin Zigui, and felt indignant that he was being slandered for helping her. So she stepped out to clarify the truth.
Seen this way, she really did seem like someone easy to get along with.
As for Qin Zigui…
Just as Sheng Yan was thinking about it, Gou You clicked his tongue twice.
“To be honest, I really couldn’t tell Qin Zigui had such a righteous, hot-blooded side. I always thought he was a cold-blooded creature.”
“Exactly. And think about it he catches us with our phones all the time, but he’s never actually confiscated them.” Zhu Peng said, half-mumbling as he ate a biscuit.
Gou You thought for a moment.
“True. He deducts a lot of small points here and there, but he’s never tattled behind anyone’s back. Even early relationship stuff, he pretends not to see it.”
“Yeah, and those iodine swabs Chen Yubai brought for Yan-ge last time were also bought by him.”
The moment Zhu Peng said that, Sheng Yan lifted his eyes toward him.
“He bought them?”
Zhu Peng chewed his biscuit with an innocent face.
“Yeah, those iodine bottles and cotton swabs. I was playing games with Chen Yubai last night, and he mentioned it casually. What, Yan-ge, you didn’t know?”
He didn’t know.
Sheng Yan froze for a second.
So that day, after seeing him injured, Qin Zigui didn’t actually ignore him. Not only did he help him fight, he even had someone send medicine, he just didn’t say anything because they were in a cold war.
Yesterday he even bought him durian mille-crêpe and apologized.
Today he even spoke up for him.
Meanwhile, from beginning to end, Sheng Yan hadn’t given him a single pleasant expression.
For a moment, Sheng Yan forgot how upset he’d been a year ago when he was suddenly told their friendship was over. He forgot all the times this past year he swallowed his pride to make peace, only to receive coldness in return. All he felt now was a tight, sour ache in his chest.
Before he could figure out why it felt so sour, a calm voice came from behind him:
“Morning self-study is ending soon. Huang Shuliang asked me to help you move your desk.”
Sheng Yan turned his head. He saw Qin Zigui standing at the back door, composed and unhurried.
He forgot what he was supposed to say and only gave a quiet “Oh.”
Then Qin Zigui walked in with practiced ease, picked up the schoolbag that had fallen on the floor, and carefully placed the items on the desk into it one by one.
That elegant, pale, slender hand moved back and forth right in front of Sheng Yan’s eyes. And the dark red scratch across the back of that hand kept stabbing at his vision.
It wasn’t deep, but it was long—stretching diagonally across the whole hand. It stood out sharply against a hand that looked perfect enough to be a work of art.
This was the hand Qin Zigui used to play violin, type code, and write a test paper that ranked first in the entire city.
Sheng Yan pressed his lips together.
“Does it hurt?”
Qin Zigui’s expression didn’t change.
“It’s fine. I’m not used to fighting since I’ve hardly done it. Getting a bit injured is normal.”
True.
A model student like Qin Zigui would never fight. If it weren’t for him, he definitely wouldn’t have done something like this.
And it had been one against several. He must’ve been beaten by those blond punks. Besides his hand, there were probably other injuries Sheng Yan couldn’t see.
Yet last night he’d only focused on being mad, not showing any concern at all.
He really was awful.
Sheng Yan felt a pang of guilt and discomfort, hesitated for a long time, then finally spoke awkwardly:
“Uh… do you drink milk tea?”
Qin Zigui paused what he was doing and looked at him.
Not wanting Qin Zigui to see his guilt or awkwardness, Sheng Yan immediately straightened his back and spoke righteously:
“I mean—I’ll probably end up buying an extra cup at lunch. If you drink it, I’ll give it to you. That’s all. No other meaning.”
Qin Zigui met his bright, guilty eyes. Three seconds passed. He paused, lowered his lashes, and said softly:
“Okay. I drink it. I like sweet ones.”
Author’s Note:
Qin “Tea-Art, Pure-White-Flower” Zigui: I really am bad at fighting. As long as my wife believes me, that’s enough.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152