“No way, it wasn’t you? Who was it, then? Even you don’t know?” Zheng Zi’an, holding his cold drink, exclaimed.
Yan Xiu took a sip of water and glanced at Zheng Zi’an.
Zheng Zi’an used several subtle words in rows, almost cementing the idea that he and Yu Sui were on good terms.
“You’re talking a lot today,” Yan Xiu said.
“I genuinely find it strange,” Zheng Zi’an replied, his tone tinged with a hint of teasing before he chuckled. “Aren’t you two the official couple?”
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Yan Xiu’s lips.
Zheng Zi’an hadn’t always been like this.
Back then, everyone in the Discipline Inspection Department, from top to bottom, was extremely serious, like someone entering a government office. They all spoke with the tone of “The school hasn’t issued an official statement yet, students, please don’t spread rumors.”
They never cared about the arguments on the school’s online forum, let alone shipping their Minister with someone.
That would have been like asking for trouble—like taking your own head off just to roast it.
When did they all start assuming they were dating?
As they talked, they quickly finished two bottles of water.
Yan Xiu swung his arm lightly, and the empty bottle traced an arc through the air, landing squarely in a distant trash can.
Zheng Zi’an glanced at the distance and didn’t try to show off. He walked over to throw it away, “It was right for the Dean to bring you into the disciplinary department. If he hadn’t, who knows who would have been the leader of our No. 26 High School later.”
Unfortunately, Yan Xiu wasn’t interested in being the leader and turned away.
In the afternoon, there was a combination of PE and GE classes, so the classroom for Class 3 Arts was deserted all afternoon. Many students skipped evening self-study, so the classroom was always particularly short on people at times like this.
Lao Gu usually turned a blind eye to this situation. He knew that most students finished their GE classes late. And after that, they still had to eat dinner, digest it, and some athletes even went back to their dorms to shower. Time was always tight. So as long as they returned before the school leaders made their rounds, Lao Gu was quite lenient.
Today was a little excessive. After the bell rang, there were hardly any students in the classroom. Only the two lights at the front were on; the two lights at the back were off.
They naturally divided the classroom into two sections. A few students were already doing their homework in the front row, while the back, dimly lit, was reserved for those catching up on sleep.
Yu Sui didn’t go to the front. His head rested against the wall, a book covering his face, with black earphone wires peeking out from under the book and trailing down into his desk drawer.
He wasn’t actually asleep.
Ever since the first day of school, he’d shamelessly clung to Yan Xiu, causing the CP thread on the school’s forum to trend again for days. Yu Sui had been reluctant to doze off in front of Yan Xiu again.
But since the start of the semester, his sleep quality hadn’t been great. He often suffered from insomnia at night but woke up early in the morning. For several days in a row, he woke up even before the dormitory’s wake-up music started playing, his nerves buzzing with an inexplicable excitement as he lay there with his eyes closed, waiting impatiently for the other three roommates to wake up.
He was sleepy during the day, but strangely alert, like he’d drunk a full cup of coffee. He knew he hadn’t had enough rest, and his eyes were sore, so he tried to take a short nap while Yan Xiu was away.
The back door of the classroom opened and closed again, letting in a barely perceptible breeze.
Then Yu Sui felt someone approaching and placed something on his desk.
Yu Sui initially thought it was Yang Feiwen returning from his shower, but he quickly smelled the faint herbal scent that belonged to his deskmate.
His deskmate had probably also just showered. The herbal scent was strong, along with a milky fragrance. The herbal and milky scents seeped through the pages of his book, mingling with the scent of the book itself.
“……”
The young master’s eyelashes trembled, and his entire facial nerve tensed.
The book pressed against his face was particularly heavy; it was a pale green book. It rested precariously on his face solely due to the height of Yu Sui’s nose and the angle of his head, beyond his conscious control.
Yu Sui remained motionless, his face tense as he tried to stabilize the book.
The next second, Yan Xiu reached out and pulled the book away.
Yan Xiu casually picked up a piece of paper from the table, then folded it in half. He used it as a bookmark and placed it between the pages. Then, he closed the book and put it back on the table.
His gaze swept across the young master’s face from the corner of his eye.
Yu Sui’s eyes were closed, his sleeping posture appearing natural. He was famously handsome, good-looking in every way. Even upon closer inspection, his eyebrows were finely shaped, and the creases of his eyelids fell in just the right places. His lips were slightly open, his chest rising and falling gently and rhythmically. Thin dark circles under his eyes were hidden in shadow, barely noticeable.
“Stop pretending.” Yan Xiu’s voice was low and barely audible, barely a whisper.
Yu Sui snapped his eyes open, meeting Yan Xiu’s gaze directly: “…”
The classroom was so quiet that even the slightest sound seemed like a disturbance.
“Ugh—” Yu Sui quickly averted his gaze, muttering under his breath. “I’d fall asleep if you didn’t bother me.”
Yan Xiu said, “How can you fall asleep with your neck that stiff?”
“… Maybe I could’ve.” Yu Sui didn’t want to continue this topic. He went to find the book, his eyes catching sight of an extra paper cup on the table.
That strange milky smell was coming from inside.
Yu Sui picked up the paper cup and found it was still warm.
A sudden, light flutter stirred through the young master’s heart, like a cat gently retracting its claws and giving a soft kick.
He glanced sideways at Yan Xiu and said in a muffled voice, “Thanks.”
But then, he remembered Yan Xiu’s earlier teasing and swallowed the rest of his words. He thought for a moment, then took something out of his bag and placed it on Yan Xiu’s desk: “Your Aunt Yuan asked me to give this to you.”
After saying that, Yu Sui, with the warm milk in his mouth, grabbed two test papers from the table and went to the front row under the guise of freeloading.
They were deskmates, their elbows almost touching. Yu Sui couldn’t possibly draw a line on the desk, nor could he brazenly confront Lao Gu to separate them.
He just wanted to find a place to calm his restless feelings; he didn’t want to push Yan Xiu away.
But Yu Sui was too naive. Even with his extremely casual attitude, Yan Xiu couldn’t possibly be unaware of his subtle attempts to distance himself.
Yan Xiu initially thought Yu Sui was annoyed, like those sudden tantrums during cold weather, simply disliking the title of “Elder brother from another prominent family” and finding the disciplinary committee’s constant oversight bothersome.
But Yu Sui wasn’t crossing any lines anymore. He truly seemed to have turned over a new leaf, behaving so well that he lived up to his New Year’s post.
They exchanged polite and reserved pleasantries, as if an invisible eraser had wiped away the past six months, pretending it never happened. Though autumn had turned to spring, they still sat apart, as distant as strangers.
Even hot milk couldn’t keep him around anymore.
On the table lay a protective charm labeled “From Aunt Yuan.
Yan Xiu remembered seeing the exact same one on Yu Sui’s keychain. The Yan family didn’t believe in such things and had never made one.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, and Yan Xiu took it out before tapping it a few times. The screen quickly displayed a notification of a successful transfer.
Across from him, Boss Yan Ying, thrilled with their first successful transaction, messaged: [Gege, if you have any more questions, just ask me—I know everything— ]
Yan Xiu didn’t respond this time.
A while ago, he asked Yan Ying what Yu Sui liked, and Yan Ying answered him without reservation. But no matter how valuable others’ experiences were, they were still just that— others’ experiences. In the end, you had to win someone back on your own.
Thinking of Minister Yan slamming his phone down and tossing it into his bag, he attached his protective charm to his keychain and glanced at the back of the head slumped on the desk in the front row.
That night, Yu Sui, as usual, climbed into bed early.
Yang Feiwen returned from the balcony with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He peeked into Yu Sui’s bed, then quickly retreated to stub out his cigarette before heading to the sink to brush his teeth and wash his face.
After finishing his routine, he stood by Yu Sui’s bed. After a moment, Yu Sui opened his eyes, looking at him expressionlessly.
As expected, he hadn’t been asleep.
Yang Feiwen: “What’s the point of climbing into bed so early if you can’t sleep anyway.”
Yu Sui grabbed his blanket and rolled over, turning his back to him.
Another roommate walked over and said, “What’s going on, Sui? It’s been like this several times this week. I hear you tossing and turning every time I get up at night.”
The person in bed drawled weakly, “I don’t know—”
Yang Feiwen was just about to suggest getting a sick note and going to the hospital for a check-up when there was a knock on the dormitory door.
He went to answer it and found an unfamiliar person outside.
The person handed him a bag, saying, “Yan Xiu asked me to give this to Yu Sui.” “
“Huh?” Yang Feiwen fumbled with the bag. “Oh.”
Turning around, he saw that the person who had seemed listless just moments before was now sitting cross-legged on the bed, staring intently at the bag in his hand like a Buddha. “What’s this?”
“Haven’t looked at it yet,” Yang Feiwen said, untying the bag and taking out two bottles. “A bottle of milk, the other is melatonin. This stuff helps you sleep… I told you those two things under your eyes are getting darker. Look, even Yan-ge can’t stand it anymore.”
Yu Sui didn’t say anything, just sat on the bed, looking a little dazed.
He felt incredibly guilty right now. He regretted it when he went to the front row with his homework today, acting like he was isolating Yan Xiu.
He didn’t want things to be this way.
Yang Feiwen took out a pill from the bottle and gave it to him: “Take one first. Let me take a picture of the bottle.”
“Taking pictures again?” Yu Sui said.
Yang Feiwen pulled out his phone. “Yeah, it’s a sweet moment. Yan-ge sent medicine to the poor little thing—” Yu Sui held the capsule between his lips, mumbling, “Why don’t you post this sugar in our CP fan forum?”
“Whose?” Yang Feiwen didn’t understand.
Yu Sui pointed at himself, then at Feiwen: “The two of us.”
“…”
Yang Feiwen looked completely bewildered, as if struck by lightning. For a moment, a chill ran down his spine. He looked at Yu Sui with horror and panic, stammering, “No, no, no… Sui, I think you need to think about this more clearly…”
The misunderstanding came like a sudden storm. Yu Sui calmly and clearly said, “Get lost.”
Recently, the school’s online forum has been anything but peaceful. Besides Yu Sui and Yan Xiu’s stable presence in trending topics, several other pairings have emerged.
Yu Sui and Yang Feiwen, Yu Sui and Xu Zi, Yu Sui and Liang Wen…
Yu Sui was extremely popular. Almost every well-known figure has been linked to him in some way. While not as hyped as the official pairings, they are still real connections.
With just a quick scroll, he could see the pattern: a few photos, two people placed side by side, some snippets of daily life, and a new pairing would easily shoot up in popularity.
And then Yu Sui had gone and registered an account under his real name, picking and choosing a couple of posts to reply to.
It was only then that Yang Feiwen remembered—Yu Sui had been logging into the forum much more frequently lately.
His WeChat Moments these past few days have mostly come from the forum, often consisting of screenshots of one or two particularly funny jokes he’d come across.
Those posts all came from various fan threads, dedicated to Yu Sui’s numerous pairings.
Nothing is more thrilling than seeing the actual person fueling the ship. A niche supporters were over the moon, backing in their newfound glory.
“What are you after?” Yang Feiwen asked.
Yu Sui had already climbed out of bed to drink his milk and even retrieved the melatonin, preventing Yang Feiwen from giving it to him. He strolled over to close the dormitory door, glancing at the bottle of melatonin on the table.
What was he after?
The noisy environment to hide his guilty conscience.
But Yu Sui wouldn’t tell Yang Feiwen that. After finishing his milk, he reached for his toothbrush again and casually said, “This emperor just wants to give you a proper title.”
“Oh, then I thank you,” Yang Feiwen shook his head. “But this humble servant can’t accept it. I’ll be happy if you and Minister Yan have a long and happy marriage.”
Yu Sui: “…”
Young Master Yu’s favor had swept in with unstoppable force, disrupting the official CP’s momentum on the forum.
In the main thread dedicated to the official pairing, everyone waited patiently with their hands in their pockets, hoping that Young Master Yu would grace them with his presence sometime.
But for a long time, not only did he not show up, but a flood of random, sarcastic comments from other pairings also poured in, mocking the official ship.
Floor #5679: [Coming from the A-Wen thread next door. Seems like love at first sight can’t compare to the companionship of a slow-burn relationship. A-Wen has been around longer, after all]
Floor #5680: [The official pairings haven’t been giving us any sweet moments lately.]
5681 floor: [Forget slow-burn—I’m starting to think the one from Class 3 who can recite the school rules by heart would be a great match for our dear Sui too.]
5682 floor: [I don’t want to hear it! The official pairing are still desk mates. They see each other every day.]
5683 floor: [They’re just deskmates.]
5684 floor: [A-Wen shared a dorm with Yu Sui.]
5685 floor: [When have you ever seen the Minister call Sui’er “Sui’er”?]
5686 floor: [Isn’t it sweet to use full names?]
Floor #5687: [Yeah, sure. Next time during the flag-raising ceremony when the Minister calls your name in full for a public reprimand, that’ll be really sweet.]
Floor #5688: [Don’t get too excited, everyone. Look, Sui’er hasn’t come to our side either, but our Yi Tiantian and Sui’er are trending. Hmm, maybe the official pairing needs to reflect on itself, right?]
Yi Tian herself logged onto the forum and saw this floor. She turned pale with fright and immediately revealed her identity as the main host of the official pairing.
However, the students from No. 26 High School were just there to mess around; there wasn’t any real fighting or controversy.
Most of them shipped several pairings at once, and a large number of them temporarily switched sides and slipped over to the neighboring thread.
Yang Feiwen, as one of the head moderators of the official pairing, felt especially guilty and turned to Yu Sui, saying, “Sui’er, look in the mirror.”]
It was during the long break between classes. Yu Sui was listening to music while doing his homework, one hand holding the earphone cord and the other gripping a pen. He didn’t hear what Yang Feiwen said.
Yang Feiwen snatched one of his earphones and repeated himself.
Yu Sui didn’t even look up. “Why should I look in the mirror?”
Yang Feiwen: “To see what you look like right now.”
Yu Sui: “What do I look like?”
Yang Feiwen gritted his teeth. “A jerk. A total jerk.”
He spoke with such venom that Yu Sui choked, instinctively glancing towards the door.
Yan Xiu had been called to the student council and hadn’t returned yet.
Yu Sui put down his pen, took out his phone, and browsed the online forum. It was far livelier than he had expected.
The official pairing thread was a complete disaster, pitifully dropping from the top three trending spots to tenth.
Yu Sui stared at the tenth spot, tapping his phone case lightly with his finger.
Even though he was the one who caused this situation, he wasn’t particularly happy about it now.
Don’t be like this. Yu Sui thought to himself, then aimlessly glanced at the others.
Ninth place, unusually, didn’t include his name. It was listed as Yan Xiu and the Student Council President, Chen Zhanni. The President was nearing retirement and wanted Yan Xiu to succeed her, so the two had been in frequent contact lately.
Yu Sui knew this too. After all, he was his deskmate, and he had been the one to relay messages when Chen Zhanni came to see Yan Xiu a few times.
He clicked his tongue softly.
He had intended to leave the forum, but somehow he pressed something, causing the page to refresh and trending order to change.
The official CP thread, which had been pitifully stuck at tenth place, suddenly surged to the top again.
Yu Sui: “???”
In the student council office, three people were sharing a computer, reviewing the presentation slides Chen Zhanni had sent over.
Every year, there was a similar session like this, and some of the bolder students would secretly open another tab to browse other things.
On Yan Xiu’s side, he, the Head of the Communications Department, and Zheng Zi’an were sharing a computer.
These three were bold enough to openly open the backend of No. 26 High School’s campus forum.
“Look, if you don’t agree to Zhanni’s request soon, she might push this topic about you two into the top five,” the head of the communications department said, pointing to the ninth spot. “Originally, no one dared to ship you two, but now everyone’s saying Zhanni is chasing after her junior.”
Besides this post, the other top trending topics were all about Yu Sui.
The official CP was buried at the very bottom, barely hanging on.
“Gosh. That’s so green,1perverted” Zheng Zi’an blurted out, immediately receiving a cold glare. He quickly spat and said, “Sorry, I was just shocked.”
“Why is this happening?” Yan Xiu asked.
The Head of Communications Department, thinking he was asking about Chen Zhanni’s thread and chuckled, “Of course, more interaction means it goes up.”
Yan Xiu paused, “What kind of interactions?”
“Something that doesn’t happen usually, something rare,” the Communications Department said. “It’s alright, Zhanni only has one year left in the school year, so no one dares to mess with her. Once she’s busy, she won’t have time to contact you, so there will be less interaction, and the buzz will die down. After all, everyone has classes. We can’t just sit around doing nothing all day.
Yan Xiu seemed lost in thought, his hand in his pocket rubbing against the edge of the protective charm.
Ten seconds later, every student council member secretly playing on their phones in the office refreshed their feeds to see a new post from the Discipline Inspection Department head.
They all looked up in unison to look at Yan Xiu—their first thought being that his WeChat had been hacked. After all, over the years, they had come to believe that Minister Yan’s WeChat only had two functions: sending notifications and receiving them.
Yan Xiu leaned back in his chair, looking slightly lazy, his left hand holding his phone and his right hand dangling a keychain, openly slacking off during the meeting.
Everyone was startled again, then looked down to refresh the post.
Ren Mu: [ 。]
The accompanying image was of a keychain.
At first, no one noticed anything amiss. They only knew that the Minister was slacking off, simply to show off their keychains.
Everyone had one of those dorm keychains, and they all looked pretty much the same.
The only difference was the charm attached to the ring—an ordinary-looking charm.
A moment later, someone secretly shared another photo in a small group chat. The photo was taken on the sports field, with a boy’s hand visible in the frame. The boy had a red longevity lock tied to his wrist, and his long, slender fingers were hooked onto a keychain with a protective charm hanging from it.
The group was even more bewildered: “…”
Damn, protective charms can come in pairs?
The official CP thread was buzzing with excitement again, adorned with a row of red lanterns.
Floor #5999: [The Minister is here to fix the house]
Floor #6000: [The Minister’s protective charm brought us back to the top. This is impressive!]
Floor #6001: [The Minister saw our house collapsed, so he rushed to fix it, right?]
Floor #6002: [Good thing he came! I’m relieved! The official pairing still has hope.]
Floor #6003: [How could he not come? He’s got a whole green hat on his head2頭頂一片青青草原 /tóu dǐng yī piàn qīng qīng cǎo yuán/ or Wearing a green hat is used to describe a man whose partner is cheating.. I even drew a picture!]
Floor #6004: [Is that the green-haired Minister? It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?]
Yu Sui ignored the row of comments about green-themed comments and followed their lead to find Yan Xiu’s Moments, where he gave it a like.
He hadn’t expected Yan Xiu to post it, but since it was a gift from his mother, he felt he had to show his appreciation as the giver.
Messages popped up in his chat list instantly.
Ren Mu: [Want some dried salted fish?]
What kind of fish?
Yu Sui stared at it for two seconds. He suspected Yan Xiu was subtly mocking him, but he had no proof.
Fish Not Idle: [Just say what you want to say. I’m not going to hit you.]
Yan Xiu sent him a picture: a packet of dried salted fish.
There really was salted fish.
Yu Sui’s lips twitched, taking a long time before typing a reply.
Fish Not Idle: [Don’t you have anything else?]
Ren Mu: [Wait a minute]
This time, there was another pause.
Yu Sui waited patiently. A moment later, several screenshots were sent to him. The young master pursed his lips, his eyes flickered slightly as he nearly dropped his phone.
The screenshots were all evidence of Yu Sui’s flirtatious interactions on the forum, along with chibi-style drawing from the official CP thread teasing Yan Xiu about the “green grass”3in 頭頂一片青青草原, the “青青草” means green grass over his head.
The noise outside the classroom suddenly intensified, then abruptly died down. A figure appeared at the doorway, walking straight towards Yu Sui through the bustling crowd.
Yu Sui lowered his gaze, his wrist pressed against his forehead, not wanting to look at him.
He felt a little awkward, as if his carefully maintained distance had been exposed and laid bare.
Yan Xiu stood in front of him for a moment, then suddenly squatted down, tilting his head slightly to meet Yu Sui’s lowered gaze.
“This,” Yan Xiu held out his hand, revealing the protective charm that had caused the CP thread to skyrocket in popularity, “What’s it for?”
Yu Sui glanced at it, then looked at Yan Xiu: “…To bless you with peace and good fortune.”
Yan Xiu nodded.
Tang Ying had once said that he was terrible at handling relationships, an infuriating person who was better off not speaking at all.
But he suddenly realized that if he didn’t say anything, Yu Sui would truly retreat to the sidelines on his own. And he instinctively didn’t want to see that happen.
“Then can it…” Yan Xiu paused, “… can it protect me from being cheated on?”
TN: arf arf I’m hyperventilating and AAAAH I’M GETTING EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTERS!!!! Please also consider donating kofi ^o^ Thank you!
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152