TWSITAOCP Chapter 29.2

Yan Xiu lowered his gaze. “What is it?”

“… I need to think for a moment.” Yu Sui lowered his head to dry his hair, and a few drops of water splashing onto Yan Xiu’s hand, cool to the touch.

After a moment, he remembered and said slowly, “Although you’re that kind of person…”

Yan Xiu held the doorknob, not moving.

Yu Sui paused. “But I don’t need an older brother. Do you understand?”

The young master’s voice carried a hint of exhaustion, a result of having played too hard, but he was serious. Afraid of being misunderstood, he lowered his voice and explained, “You don’t need to treat me like a younger brother. Just treat me the same way you treat your classmates.”

After saying that, he removed the towel and looked at Yan Xiu.

Yan Xiu’s face was deceptively unreadable, like a safe—ordinary people couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression.

Usually, Yu Sui could at least make a guess. But now, exhausted, his mind wasn’t as sharp as during the day, and he really couldn’t tell.

Growing impatiently, he reached out and poked Yan Xiu. “Do you understand, Minister?”

Then, Yan Xiu grabbed his finger, and Yu Sui struggled twice but couldn’t pull it away.

Yan Xiu didn’t say yes or no. In a calm voice, he said: “I don’t see you as a younger brother.”

With that, he turned Yu Sui around and pushed him all the way back to his room.

Having resolved the matter weighing on his mind, Yu Sui fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed.

But having drinks that much, he couldn’t sleep well. He woke up several times during the night, only to be jolted awake again before dawn.

He laid there for five minutes, still grumpy from being woken up, before finally falling back asleep. This time, he slept until noon, waking up to find Yan Xiu had already left.

Yuan Yu had come to wake Yu Sui in the morning, hoping he would see Yan Xiu off.

But when Yu Sui was in a deep sleep, nothing could rouse him. Although the noise outside woke him, he quickly pulled the covers over his head and went back to sleep.

These past few days had been cold, and staying in bed had become an endless temptation.

Yu Sui sat alone in bed for a while, then picked up his phone and belatedly remembered that Yan Xiu had been in the room next door last night.

The guest room looked as if no one had been there at all—the only change was that Yu Sui was missing a set of clothes.

The head of the disciplinary committee had transformed into a wealthy family’s older brother. If word got out, certainly there would be a lot of drama. Yu Sui thought.

Even without knowing this, the CP thread was still buzzing with activity.

During the recent Class 3 gathering, some girls posted group photos. And every picture of Yu Sui and Yan Xiu side-by-side was screenshotted and posted together in the CP thread.

Yang Feiwen, who had recently been teased himself, was dragged into the fray again, and the commotion had reached Yu Sui’s ears.

Normally, Yang Feiwen would have been the first to jump out and complain, but this time, he didn’t mention it to Yu Sui until the hype had almost died down.

Feeling puzzled, Yu Sui messaged Yang Feiwen: [A-wen, what are you up to?]

Gossip Wen: [Up to?]

Gossip Wen: [I’m not planning anything. My mom thinks I’m too idle, so she sent me out to pull weeds.]

After saying that, he sent a picture of overgrown grass.

So he’s really dropping out of the gossip?

Yu Sui found it strange.

That day happened to be when Yan Xiu’s group went to Cui’e Mountain for fieldwork. Yu Sui overslept and was waiting by the front door for Uncle Doli to back the car out.

He rarely played games with Yang Feiwen, so he asked him bluntly: [You don’t browse the forum anymore?]

Gossip Wen: [I still browse.]

Yang Feiwen caught on after sending the message. He was genuinely busy weeding and found typing inconvenient, so he quickly sent a voice call: “I’ve had a crisis of conscience and don’t want to stir things up between you and Minister.”

Yu Sui chuckled, “Since when do you have a conscience?”

“Hush,” Yang Feiwen said. “Sui’er, don’t you think something’s a little off?”

Yu Sui raised an eyebrow.

Yang Feiwen’s deliberately teasing voice suddenly grew close to the phone, asking, “Remember that day our class went out? I mean, that day—I was drunk, but even after sobering up, I still feel like we went too far.”

It had been several days, and Yang Feiwen was only bringing this up now.

Just then, Uncle Doli finished backing the car out. And Yu Sui climbed into the back seat, switching to Yan Xiu’s chat interface to tell him that he was on his way. He casually said to Yang Feiwen, “Good that you realize it.”

Yang Feiwen’s tone abruptly changed: “But you didn’t even turn around and leave.”

“…”

His message to Yan Xiu was trying to be delivered, indicating there was no network connection. In that brief pause, hearing Yang Feiwen’s words, Yu Sui lowered his gaze to the screen, his heart skipping a beat.

Though Yu Sui had left late, thanks to the driver, he arrived earlier than many of his classmates.

Yan Xiu looked up after receiving a concise “arrived” message and saw Yu Sui walking over.

The young master was wearing a graffiti hoodie today, looking quite charming. With a crisp, casual wave, several classmates in the group, who knew him, whistled and waved back.

Yu Sui’s gaze fell on Yan Xiu, seeming to pause for a moment before smiling as if nothing was out of ordinary.

The young master was dressed lightly, his hair probably styled early in the morning—looking undeniably handsome and attracting the attention of the group. Yan Xiu followed everyone’s gaze, letting his eyes briefly rest on Yu Sui without moving a muscle.

Perhaps because of that “don’t treat me like a younger brother,” Yu Sui didn’t even feel the need to say something like, “You’re dressed so lightly, you’ll be cold going up later.”

The trip was led by a young teacher, who counted heads and added Yu Sui’s name to the end. He then used a megaphone to guide them up the mountain.

Cui’e Mountain was located in the distant outskirts of Yandu. During the holiday, the number of tourists increased slightly. A new path had been constructed up on the mountain, with railings leading all the way to the summit. The path was decorated with colorful lights, creating a vibrant scene after dark.

Logically, with all this renovation, the risk of injuries to tourists should have been greatly reduced. However, just as they reached the mountainside, a middle-aged man suddenly fell and tumbled down the slope.

Yu Sui happened to be walking behind him and reached out to stop him.

He managed to stop the man, but the sudden impact caused Yu Sui to hit the railing, twisting his ankle. The extent of the injury on his leg was temporarily hidden by his trousers.

His ankle swelled up rapidly. Yu Sui was helped to a rest area, where he sat down, frowning as he stared at his swollen “hoof”. The pain from the area radiated to the surrounding skin and flesh, and his shoes felt uncomfortably tight.

The teacher stood anxiously beside him.

The other students were carrying a lot of gear, making it difficult to move, so they scattered nearby to wait.

Among them were five students from Class 3, including Yan Xiu. Since they were familiar with Yu Sui, they gathered around him.

Yu Sui had only joined the trip under special circumstances and didn’t want to delay their progress because of his own situation. So, he shook his head and smiled, urging them to go ahead.

Cui’e Mountain wasn’t particularly high; it takes an average person less than half an hour to walk up.

The teacher glanced around and thought it wasn’t ideal to leave the students waiting idly. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll take the group up, and come down to take you to the hospital. Let’s find someone to stay with you first.”

Before he finished speaking, Yan Xiu, who was squatting nearby, spoke up: “I’ll stay.”

His voice, carrying the distinctive cool tone of a young man, drew attention. One of the female students giggled and let out a soft “Oh,” only to be nudged by a classmate who sensed the awkwardness of the situation.

Yu Sui awkwardly touched his nose. “No need. I can wait here by myself. I won’t get lost.”

Yan Xiu grabbed his badly swollen ankle and removed his shoe. Hearing this, he looked up, and Yu Sui immediately fell silent.

The teacher saw no issue with the arrangement. He remembered that this fair-skinned, clean-cut young man had been brought along by Yan Xiu. Nodding, he said, “Then I’ll leave this to you, Yan Xiu.”

This teacher was even considerate of his student’s feelings. As he left, he lightly pointed at Yu Sui and gave a thumbs up: “That was a quick act of bravery. When we get back, I’ll have Director Chen write you a week’s worth of commendations.”

Yu Sui felt deeply embarrassed and remained silent, too proud to respond.

Once the group had left, the area around Yu Sui and Yan Xiu felt much emptier.

The administrators on Cui’e Mountain approached, but most attention was on the middle-aged man who had fallen. They were waiting for the ambulance and couldn’t attend to Yu Sui just yet.

Yu Sui had one foot in Yan Xiu’s hand and tried several times to pull it back but failed: “Didn’t you say this trip was about teaching the key places?” Recalling what he’d overheard from other students.

Yan Xiu’s thin eyelids drooped, as he gave a perfunctory “Hmm.”

Yu Sui: “Then, why did you stay?”

“…”

Yan Xiu gave him an expression that clearly said, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?” and replied calmly, “Then go to the hospital yourself. Are you planning to hop off all the way down from here or just roll down to get there faster?”

The young master’s face turned pale instantly.

Truth to be told, he was in pain—he didn’t want to show it earlier in front of the crowd to save face.

In reality, Yu Sui had been grumbling for a long time. He had secretly sent countless messages to Yan Wuyan on his phone, asking him to calculate whether it was a bad day for him to go out. 

From the beginning, Yu Sui had no intention of waiting for the teacher to come down. For one thing, the teacher had his own students to look after, and for another, with such a back-and-forth process, Young master Yu felt that, at this rate, he might freeze to death even faster.

He planned to slip away quietly, and only send a message to the group leader afterward, saying he had gone to the hospital.

But he didn’t expect there was someone here who didn’t play by the rules.

Yan Xiu tapped a few times on his phone, calling a fast car that could drive up the mountain.

Yu Sui sat idly, bored out of his mind, and turned his head to glance sullenly at the treasured shoes Yan Xiu had placed beside him.

Noticing this out of the corner of his eye, Yan Xiu said without looking up, “They won’t fit.”

Yu Sui was taken aback: “What?”

Two seconds later, he understood. Looking at his swollen feet, he reached for Yan Xiu’s neck: “If you hadn’t taken my shoes off earlier, they’d still be on my feet…”

With his limited mobility, Yan Xiu easily caught his wrist. Annoyed by his fussing, Yan Xiu pinned his hand down on his leg, but he used too much force, causing Yu Sui to yelp in pain.

When boys are being mischievous, they accidentally hit sensitive spots. Usually, they just laugh it off with a few silly remarks.

However, Yan Xiu wasn’t one to say silly things and Yu Sui didn’t often either—so the situation became tense.

He glared at Yan Xiu for a long time: “Let go.”

Yan Xiu pulled his hand away, and the two abruptly looked away.

 

Author’s Note: So sleepy, I’m going to sleep.