Over twenty years ago, Yandu had developed rapidly, becoming a major city with a growing population. Educational resources had quickly followed suit, leading to a surge in the number of schools in the city over the past decade. However, Yandu was small, and many elementary and middle schools were separated by just a single street.
Not far from No. 26 High School stood a small clinic. Yan Xiu passed by without even glancing at it.
At the high school section of the Shenghuang Yandu Branch Campus, Yan Ying heard a commotion and turned to see Yan Xiu standing outside the railing.
“Gege!” Yan Ying quickly reached out and took a bag of milk tea from Yan Xiu, her eyes sparkling with emotion. “Thank you, ge!”
Her two friends crowded around her.
Yan Xiu pulled up a handwritten draft on his phone and swiped it, revealing a photo.
The boy in the photo had a round face, thick lips, and a hairy mole at the corner of his mouth.
“Which class is he in?” Yan Xiu asked.
Yan Ying and two classmates peered closely, identifying him: “Class 11 B.”
The high school department at the Shenghuang Yandu branch had four to five times fewer students than typical high schools. Sometimes, there were only six classes per grade. With fewer students, it was easier to remember faces.
Yan Ying remembered this person; she hadn’t expected a casual mention of him would actually bring Yan Xiu here.
Fortunately, the school was small to begin with, and this boy wasn’t a secretive person in his grade. Even Yan Ying knew where he usually hung out and who he was with.
“Ge, what do you want from them?” Yan Ying asked.
Yan Xiu put away his phone and said calmly, “Nothing.”
Yeah, right.
Two days later, the Director of the Moral Education Department suddenly withdrew his attention on Yu Sui. No disciplinary action was taken, and no self-criticism was required.
News spread like wildfire among the students, with a dozen new stories every day.
A few days had passed since the incident involving Yu Sui, and the only people still thinking about it were the students in Class 3 Arts.
“Why the sudden change?” everyone wondered, utterly confused.
Young Master Yu’s self-criticism had only written three words. Upon hearing the news, he tore off the page, and for some reason, glanced at the empty seat beside him.
It all felt too coincidental.
The Director said nothing about the incident. Yu Sui’s roommate, lying in his dorm, spoke up for him: “He threatened to put it on your record, then said he’d call your parents, and now it’s all just dropped without any explanation?”
“Isn’t it better that he didn’t bring it up again?” Yang Feiwen said. “Who the hell wants to be subjected to gossip every day?”
Yu Sui sat at his desk, scooping ointment from a green jar.
Yan Xiu had said this ointment healed wounds quickly and left no scars.
The ointment looked quite sophisticated and had a fresh scent, exactly like the one on Yan Xiu’s bed.
Young Master Yu was very satisfied and didn’t plan to return it after accepting it.
Yang Feiwen walked over, clutching his phone, and sat across from Yu Sui. “But I’m still pissed! Sui’er, why don’t you take out that Doraemon of yours and pray to it again? Maybe this time, those three thugs from outside school will get dragged into the alley and beaten up again this time.”
“…I’ve already put it away,” Yu Sui said. “But maybe it really could work.”
The young master smeared the ointment thickly on the corners of his mouth. Yang Feiwen looked up from his phone and was startled. “Dude, are you taking ointment?”
“Get lost,” Yu Sui said, not even looking up. “I’m just worried our class might lose a handsome guy.”
Yang Feiwen’s eyes twitched, and he made a gagging gesture.
Soon, it was the last day of the week again. Yan XIu left the classroom early—off to another meeting. Zheng Zi’an and Hu Fan were already waiting for him outside, so it seemed he really was attending a meeting.
Uncle Dolly had been waiting outside the school since early morning. After sending a voice message in reply, Yu Sui also slipped out of the classroom ahead of time.
“How was your week?” Uncle Dolly asked as usual.
Yu Sui huddled in the back seat, clutching his phone and backpack, and muttered, “It was exactly how a week before exams should be.”
Uncle Dolly paused for a moment, then laughed. “Another exam already…”
Yu Sui tapped away on WeChat. It seemed like Miss Yu Zhen had gotten off work early today and was in an unusually leisurely mood, prying into her younger brother’s school life and subtly asking if anything had happened to him lately.
Yu Sui found two emojis and sent them over.
As one of the two women in the Yu family, Yu Zhen, no matter how decisive she was, was more perceptive than Yu Jingyuan and the others. When Yu Sui was younger, Yu Zhen was still in school, and she would regularly check on him. Back then, the young master wasn’t as slick as he is today, his flaws easily exposed with just a few words.
But now, Yu Sui had evolved to match Yu Zhen’s level. Not only could he manage to fool people flawlessly, but he’s also perceptive enough to sense that Yu Zhen seemed to know something.
Perhaps it was the unanswered call from the Director of the Moral Education Department that caught her attention.
But that day felt like a lifetime ago.
Yu Sui pursed his lips lightly, his mind racing. He thought lazily that he might have overlooked something very important.
A new message popped up at the top of his phone—this time, a new friend request.
The person’s profile picture was a snake, though Yu Sui had a strong feeling it was actually an earthworm.
[Didn’t expect you to fucking delete me again. What’s wrong? Got the guts to pull strings but not the guts to admit it?]
Yu Sui stared at it for two seconds, and the interface refreshed again.
Earthworm said, [We’re waiting for you at the usual spot. We’ll run into each other at G7 anyway. If you don’t show, don’t blame us for exposing you.]
G7 was the name of the next semester’s art exhibition.
When Yu Sui had seen the earthworm and the other two at school, he hadn’t initially remembered who they were, but he did recall that mole.
Before transferring to No. 26 High School, Yu Sui followed the path Yu Jingyuan laid out for him: Shenghuang Yandu Affiliated Kindergarten, Shenghuang Yandu Affiliated Elementary School, and Shenghuang Yandu Affiliated Junior High School.
The earthworm was from the class next door. His family owned a theater, so he was naturally drawn to that world. It was inevitable that his path with Yu Sui would cross.
The two of them had no connection initially, though they might have recognized each other from passing in the hallway over time.
Later, during a chance encounter at a theater performance—this time a Peking Opera—Yu Sui, who knew nothing about the genre, was pulled in to guest-perform as an erhu player. By sheer luck, a teacher in the audience who had come to watch the play took a liking to him.
The teacher praised him to his school, and that year, when the art exhibition suddenly needed younger assistants to assist the experts, the school sent him in.
From start to finish, Yu Sui never found out who “Earthworm” was.
That holiday, Earthworm added him and then sent him a bunch of curses. Yu Sui deleted him without even looking. Only later did he hear that a guy from the drama club had been preparing for this opportunity for a long time, only to have it snatched away by someone who pulled strings.
This had nothing to do with Yu Sui.
When the young master’s laziness kicked in, he didn’t even bother remembering the guy’s face.
But being cornered for no reason had left him simmering with anger, and he’d been thinking about when to pay the guy a visit.
The “old haunt” was slang at Shenghuang High School, referring to an internet cafe area that catered to students.
Yu Sui got off the car on a whim, but before he even reached the place, he got a latest scoop from his well-informed buddy.
This time, Yang Feiwen sent him a link.
[Check the class group chat. I’m off to fulfill my vow first.]
Fish Can: [What vow?]
Yang Feiwen quickly replied.
[That Doraemon of yours! Didn’t I drag it out for worship last night? Guess what?]
[Those three losers actually got caught!]
[I didn’t see the snake tattoo on his neck, but that mole is definitely there! It must be those bastards!]
[Didn’t expect that, huh? Damn, the school uniform was borrowed from Mai Dayong!]
Yu Sui, bewildered, entered the class group chat.
It had already exploded, with messages flooding the chat.
Yu Sui scrolled for a while before finally finding the video. It showed a group of people being escorted out of the internet cafe. The first one was Earthworm, and the next three had the same hairstyle Yu Sui described: like the hairdressing mannequins they put out at a barber shop.
They looked somewhat dazed, with varying degrees of injuries on their faces.
Right behind Earthworms and his two friends were familiar faces: Mai Dayong and Shen Ji.
A passerby filmed this video and posted it online. Since they were in the same area, someone from Class 3 saw it. They recognized Mai Dayong and Shen Ji and immediately shared it with the class.
After hearing Yu Sui’s description of the three men, Yang Feiwen immediately noticed the three in front.
[Is that right?]
[It’s them, isn’t it? Look, they’re even injured! It must have been the same guy from last time. They got beaten up, and it’s not even completely dark yet. How arrogant!]
[There’s video footage this time, Sui’er. You can’t forget it again!]
Yu Sui didn’t have time to reply.
He broke into a sprint, knowing in less than three minutes, he’d be at the scene and witness them being arrested and taken away.
For once, the young master wasn’t lazy. He ran over just in time to see the scene unfold.
A slightly chubby middle-aged man, with a grim face, made gestures next to the police, while a line of people queued up to get into the police van.
Because there were so many of them, they had to wait for the next one.
That’s when Yu Sui spotted Earthworm.
“Earthworm,” Yu Sui called him.
Earthworm didn’t notice him at first, but when he saw Yu Sui, his eyes widened. “What Earthworm?”
“Isn’t your profile picture an earthworm?” Yu Sui curled his eyes and said softly. “How come you ended up like this before I even got here?”
Earthworm and his friends were furious, but they didn’t dare move under the police’s watch.
The officer on guard noticed their agitation and barked at them, keeping a stricter watch on their watch.
“Then I’ll just have to wait for you at G7,” Yu Sui said calmly. “If you can still make it, that is.”
Adding insult to injury, Earthworm cursed: “Fuck you, you…”
The officer next to him shouted even louder: “Fuck me? You haven’t even grown all your hair yet, and you dare act tough? Get in!”
“…”
Yu Sui didn’t pause his steps, pulling out his camera to take a picture of them entering. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced toward the alley entrance and drifted over.
For a young master like him to evade the disciplinary committee for so long without a trace, it took more than just a little skill.
Sure enough, he cornered someone here.
The person was quite tall, carrying a shoulder bag, and exuded an aloof, pretentious vibe. He seemed startled by Yu Sui’s sudden appearance, his expression completely blank.
Yu Sui raised his head: “I’ve got you.”
Author’s note: Another little update, just a tiny bit.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152