TWSITAOCP Chapter 36

Yu Sui: “…”

Yan Xiu possessed the ability to utter words brimming with playful mockery in a calm, understated tone. 

Yu Sui wanted to laugh, but suddenly he felt it was all rather pointless.

He felt a pang of heartache, and a twinge of regret, overturning the sour tenderness that filled his heart.

Yan Xiu knew nothing—why should he tolerate Yu Sui’s inexplicable tantrums?

Yu Sui was fully aware of the awful thing he had done. If it were Yang Feiwen, he would have exploded the moment he sensed being distanced, determined to get to the bottom of it. But Yan Xiu wouldn’t. Yan Xiu might gradually drift away, or he might maintain contact with him due to family pressure, just not as intimately as before.

Yu Sui’s gaze lingered on the protective charm for a long time. Reason told him he could pretend not to understand, but that would truly mean the end for him and Yan Xiu.

He suddenly remembered the hot milk that had been left on his desk that day. It was milk that had been hastily prepared with milk powder, which Yan Xiu had specifically asked the female teacher in the office for.

He simply couldn’t imagine what Yan Xiu looked like asking the female teacher for powdered milk, nor could he picture how Yan Xiu had logged onto the school forum, screenshotting those images one by one. 

Yan Xiu must have sensed something, but he wasn’t sure, and he had no proof. He could only rely on others’ eyes to piece together these subtle details.

He wasn’t even here to confront him. He was there to make peace.

He was just here to appease a certain temperamental young master.

The moment Yu Sui thought of this, heart palpitations and shame intertwined, tearing at his confused yet inexperienced heart without distinction. Yu Sui remained motionless for a long time, until his fingertips grew slightly cold, and he abruptly snapped back to reality. 

In the end, Yu Sui couldn’t bear to play dumb. He reached out and lightly tapped the protective charm, his voice low and hoarse: “Yes.”

“Of course, it can.” His voice grew even softer. “You’re so good, how could it not protect you?”

The latter sentence was so faint it was almost inaudible, the words mumbled and unclear, as if deliberately meant not to be heard. Yu Sui understood now. Yan Xiu deliberately posted the “protective charm”. He wanted everyone to know they shared the same one, that they were still the official CP, and that they hadn’t drifted far.

Minister Yan had finally shown some consideration for others. He was so gentle and adorable.

Holding onto the sour tenderness in his heart, Yu Sui fished his keychain from his desk drawer, gave it a light shake, and said half-jokingly, “If it doesn’t work, then let Yu Sui-ge protect you instead.” 

Yan Xiu was a few months older than Yu Sui, which was why Yan Wuyan had once called him “your elder brother from another noble family,” and why people often teased him into calling Yan Xiu “gege”. However, Yan Xiu wasn’t affected by Yu Sui’s rebellious attitude. His gaze was clear and focused entirely on Yu Sui, as if assessing the credibility of his words.

When Yan Xiu remained silent, Yu Sui simply stared at him aimlessly. 

After a long while, Yan Xiu finally responded: “Alright.” 

He seemed to raise an eyebrow slightly and added softly, “You said it.” 

Yu Sui: “…”

Yan Xiu’s hands were beautiful, with clearly defined knuckles and neatly trimmed nails. These hands, once holding a notepad and pen, had captivated countless girls’ hearts, and now, facing the scheming Yu Sui, he extended a warm invitation once more.

Young Master Yu moved his hand, grasping Yan Xiu’s hand over the protective charm, holding it tightly before letting go—like a tacit handshake between brothers. He looked away and said, “Don’t kneel. I can’t bear that.”

People came and went through the back door of the classroom, but no one noticed the deafening heartbeat of the boy in the corner.

The pre-class bell startled everyone awake.

The long break between classes lasted twenty minutes, during which many students would slump down and sleep, perhaps even having a half-dreaming session. That was why this pre-class bell was especially startling.

“…Damn, it’s like summoning spirits every time.” Even the students who weren’t asleep were startled.

Yi Tian, who was waiting by the door to call everyone back to class, suddenly saw a row of student council members rushing past at the far end of the hallway. They were easy to spot—always carrying notebooks, wearing their school badges properly, and running in a line, clearly hurrying back to class after a meeting.

Out of habit, Yi Tian peeked out to wait for the student council members from Class 3 Arts, but didn’t see the Minister. She glanced abruptly into a corner.

That place had returned to a quiet area. The Minister, as usual, had left early from the student council meeting. When Yi Tian turned around, he had already been standing next to his seat for a while, just pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Yi Tian paused, feeling as if something she couldn’t quite grasp had flashed by in that place. She didn’t dwell on it, merely thinking to herself that their class’s discipline committee didn’t seem very disciplined.

The subject teacher arrived late, clutching lesson plans, causing a stir among the students.

The class was lively. But halfway through, Yu Sui suddenly made eye contact with the teacher, realizing he’d been zoning out for half the period.

Fortunately, the teacher’s question wasn’t difficult. Yu Sui answered and sat down, reaching into his desk and touching the hard edge.

He glanced at the person beside him, his expression unchanged as he broke the resolve he had maintained since the start of the semester. 

Yu Sui slightly turned to the side, using Yan Xiu’s body to shield his movements. Right in front of Yan Xiu, he went to the school forum, found the pinned thread for the official CP, and scrolled to the very bottom.

The bottom post had been published before the class bell rang.

[@Unremarkable House Repairman Master Yan, the great Minister, do you see this flourishing world as you wished? Do you see it?]

Above it, people had already imagined thousands of words or love and hate, with pent-up fanfiction pouring out all at once.

Yu Sui lightly tapped the screen, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of Yan Xiu’s shoulder.

He wanted to ask Yan Xiu if he even knew what it meant when people shipped them as a CP? Otherwise, why could he so openly say he didn’t want “green grass”?

So openly that it gave Yu Sui the illusion that no matter what he did, Yan Xiu would indulge him.

And so, this person, while slacking off in class, didn’t forget to bother his deskmate.

He slipped his phone under the other’s desk and whispered, “Hey—”

Yan Xiu turned to look at him.

“Look at the phone,” Yu Sui mouthed.

Yan Xiu glanced down at the screen.

Yu Sui had deliberately enlarged the font, and the teasing comment was glaringly obvious. 

Yu Sui said, “Should I reply?” 

“…” Yan Xiu said, “Mm. 

This was blatant indulgence. Yu Sui pulled his phone back, silently scolding himself. He tapped on the screen, carefully typing out a reply. 

After replying, he switched back to his WeChat, scrolling aimlessly for a while before stopping at Yan Xiu’s once-in-a-century WeChat Moments post. 

Then he tilted his phone slightly, secretly took a screenshot of the interface, and saved it into a locked album. 

Just then, the back of his neck was suddenly lightly ruffled. 

After Yu Sui had his hair cut, this spot was left with only fine, soft strands, boldly exposed without any cover. 

He startled slightly, turning his head a little. Yan Xiu, holding a pen, noticed the movement and glanced at him. 

Yu Sui wasn’t sure if his actions had been seen. He hesitated briefly, then turned his phone sideways and pulled up two photos from his album that he had received from Yan Xiu during the Lunar New Year break.

The distant show was bold and handsome, the kind of style boys his age would like. He, however, chose the close-up sketch of the boy’s face. And then, imitating Yan Xiu, typed a period, then a question mark, and clicked send.

After class, the official CP thread was buzzing again because someone had replied to a post during class using the ID “Fish Can.”¹if you remember, before the Lunar break, this was Yu Sui’s WeChat ID, “魚閑罐頭” /yú xián guàntóu/

Fish Can: [Reply: @Unremarkable House Repairman Master Yan, the great Minister, do you see this flourishing world as you wished? Do you see it? | He saw it]

Next was the WeChat Moments post this person made during class. A sketch on white paper, the boy in the drawing dreamlike and ethereal, with a signature in the bottom right corner that the entire No. 26 High School recognized 

Because every month, when the art gallery outside the school’s sports field updated its display, this person’s works were always featured—ten pieces at a time. Sometimes, if there weren’t enough, his teacher would even use the drafts he casually discarded to fill the number.

“It’s Yan Xiu, isn’t it?” Yang Feiwen said.

A moment of silence ensued.

Two seconds later, someone cursed, “Damn!”

The students from Class 3 Arts turned to glare at the two, but the two seemed to be under an invisible barrier—one reading a book, the other wearing headphones and playing on their phone.

Yu Sui was back to being lazy, though it was unclear whether that was a good or bad thing.

Specifically, his inexplicable insomnia had vanished. For a while, he seemed to have a grudge against his bed, tossing and turning as soon as he lay down.

Those close to him knew to some extent that Yu Sui hadn’t been sleeping well during that period, but his three roommates felt it most deeply. Before bed, they would see Yu Sui drifting around the dorm like a ghost, and in the early morning, still half-asleep, they’d catch him sitting on the balcony with a toothbrush in his mouth, contemplating life. On the most extreme day, Yu Sui’s total sleep time had barely reached three hours, yet he could still bounce around energetically in the morning. 

The three of them had already discussed taking Yu Sui to the hospital; or else, they felt it was just a final burst of energy before he collapsed again.

But suddenly, Yu Sui could sleep again.

Yang Feiwen called out to him from below a few times but got no response. Peering up at the bed, he realized Yu Sui had fallen asleep. 

With Yu Sui asleep, the three roommates collectively sighed in relief. Little did they know they weren’t the only ones concerned—someone was waiting at the door 

Minister Yan came personally to deliver the milk. The three exchanged glances, silently kicked their used water bottle into the shoe cabinet, and then respectfully said, “Yan-ge, he’s asleep.”

Only then did Yan Xiu put down the milk and leave.

“Isn’t this a bit strange?” His roommate, holding a glass of milk, asked with a worried expression. “What’s going on? My heart can’t take it!”

Yang Feiwen glanced at him, unconcerned: “Strange? Not strange at all. What was strange was when Yan-ge had someone else bring things over.”

His roommate shrugged: “I was just saying…”

These past few days, the door to Class 3 Arts was nearly trampled down to pieces by the enthusiastic boys and girls who couldn’t resist to block the classroom. Even Tang Bohu and Liang Wen sitting on chairs at the door couldn’t scare them away, severely affecting the normal class and break time for the students.

A boy who was delivering homework for Yu Sui was mistaken for Yu Sui when he stepped out and almost had his pants pulled off. Yi Tian finally couldn’t take it anymore and stood in front of Yu Sui’s desk, stiffening his neck as he said, “Sui, you two need to think of something.” 

Yu Sui nudged Yan Xiu with his elbow, “Minister, think of something.” 

Yan Xiu looked utterly speechless. 

Yu Sui, always eager for drama, said, “Go ahead, see your glorious day.”

He was particularly fond for this kind of subtle teasing lately.

Originally, he was afraid that these people would end up dragging him into their rumors, and one day his own feelings would be exposed amidst their careless jokes. 

The young master valued his pride and couldn’t stand such embarrassment. 

But this time, it was Yan Xiu who made the first move. Yu Sui thought shamelessly, I dodged it once, but you were the one who came chasing after me. 

“……” Yan Xiu glanced at him and walked out with his notebook in hand. 

Question: What do you do when the CP you’re shipping is the head of the disciplinary committee? 

Answer: You’ll always be at risk of having your name recorded and made to run laps.

Yan Xiu could choose not to report their names, but they absolutely had to run laps.

Unfortunately, several cases have occurred outside the school in the past few days, leading the school to strengthen access control and require every student to carry a school ID badge. The regular student badge is a card that is hung with a dark blue ribbon, with the student’s name, class, and photo printed on it in extra large size. Basically, they can catch anyone red-handed.

The student council members originally had their own badges, but now they were replaced with red lanyards, making them particularly eye-catching.

These past few days, an unusually large number of students had been running downstrains, many of them unfamiliar faces. The Director of the Moral Education passed by the playground and was startled by the sight of students running in formation. He asked in shock, “Which classes are these? I’ve seen them run several laps already. They can’t just run during PE class and do nothing else!”

“Sir, those are punishment runs for violating discipline,” a panting girl nearby said. “They violated the rule against blocking other classes.” 

Director: “So many? Who caught them?”

“Minister Yan,” the girl said, then panting as she joined the group for her run.

Director: “…”

After several days of punishment, the issue of blocking the doorway finally came to an end. However, Young Master Yu seemed to think this wasn’t enough. One day, his WeChat profile picture suddenly changed from the original one to a golden-haired kitten with green eyes and a small ponytail. 

That afternoon, Old Gu suddenly called ten students to the office to discuss the G7 candidate selections for this semester. Class 3 in the Arts stream had three spots. Although only those three could accompany the professor to G7, all ten candidates could participate in the preliminary training together. 

Lao Gu gave them a lot of instructions and handed each of them a notice, telling them to prepare well. By the time he finished, the teaching building was empty, and the cafeteria food was probably already sold out.

Lao Gu gave them his teacher’s cafeteria card so they could eat there.

To get into the teacher’s cafeteria, they had to sneak past the student cafeteria and go downstairs from the Yuanyang Building.

The stairs were difficult to navigate, so the ten of them lined up in a row, with Yu Sui strolling along at the very end.

Yan Xiu was replying to a message from Tang Ying when he suddenly caught sight of a certain young master’s profile picture.

Young Master Yu’s name had recently changed from “Fish Not Idle”²This is Yu Sui’s ID after the lunar new year: 魚不閑 /yú bù xián/. to “Fish Can,” and his profile picture had changed frequently too. Today, the cat even had a little tuft of hair on it; he wondered who had drawn it.

Usually, such frequent changes were a sign that the person’s inner thoughts were also shifting rapidly. 

Yan Xiu paused, then went into Yu Sui’s profile and zoomed in on the profile picture. The person who drew the cat must have been incredibly meticulous, even noticing Yu Sui’s mole.

Then he exited, about to ask Yu Sui where he got the picture, when the chat interface suddenly refreshed. The cat disappeared instantly, replaced by a solid white square on the other end.

“……”

Yan Xiu suddenly stopped. Yu Sui bumped right into his back.

The young master didn’t even pause his steps. After bumping into him, he simply grabbed Yan Xiu’s shoulder, half-hugging and half-pushing him forward, dragging out his words as he said, “Minister, traffic jam—” 

The young master’s body was cold in winter and hot in summer, truly annoying. Right now, he was as warm as a furnace, pressed against Yan Xiu’s back. 

Yan Xiu glanced back at Yu Sui, gave a low hum in response, and continued walking. 

He exited the chat interface and, without hesitation, tapped into the No. 26 High School forum. With practiced ease, he found the popular pinned post about the official CP, scrolled all the way down, and sure enough, discovered a newly posted pair of cat-themed fan art at the bottom. 

 

Author’s Note: Good morning!

 

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