After school on Friday, Lu Heyang was packing up his textbooks when He Wei came in through the back door. He leaned against Lu Heyang’s desk and asked, “After dinner tonight, should I take you home?”
“You’re being unusually well-behaved today.” Lu Heyyang looked up at him.
He Wei had been restless lately. There was basically no such thing as going home after dinner.
“Not exactly. I’m going to the west side of the city,” He Wei said. “I figured you didn’t seem to like that place.”
“I never said I didn’t like it.”
Lu Heyang pushed his chair under the desk.
“You like it? You actually like it?” Seeing Lu Heyang head outside, He Wei put an arm around his shoulder and grinned. “I was just worried that a young master like you wouldn’t be used to a place like that. Besides, I’ve never seen you really like anything since we were kids. I honestly can’t figure you out.”
“Then don’t try to figure me out,” Lu Heyang said. “If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have gone with you.”
He Wei happily whistled. “All right. I’ll have someone add another seat.”
They left the classroom and crossed the skybridge. Quite a few students were gradually returning to their classes after PE, carrying rackets or jump ropes.
Lu Heyang and He Wei walked through the crowd and saw Xu Ze at the very back.
He was still alone.
He looked as though he didn’t belong to any particular class group, or even to the preparatory school itself. There was an especially strong sense of detachment about him. He was quiet and silent, his gaze slightly lowered as he walked, never looking anywhere else. He seemed to be thinking about something, yet at the same time, he also looked lost in thought.
Here’s the English translation:
An omega came running over from behind. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and patted Xu Ze on the shoulder, saying something to him.
Xu Ze stopped and turned his head to look at him. He seemed not to have heard what the other person had said, so he bent down slightly. This only made the omega even more embarrassed. He shoved a bottle of drink into Xu Ze’s hand, then turned around and ran off.
Xu Ze was left standing there, staring at the drink in his hand. Two seconds later, he seemed to finally realize what had happened and turned around to look at the omega, who had already disappeared.
When he turned around, the white suppressor patch on the back of his neck was exposed.
“Do you think he’s genuinely innocent or just slow?” He Wei asked Lu Heyang with a laugh. Then he added, “That kind of personality is pretty rare at the Preparatory School.”
His excessive curiosity was acting up again. Lu Heyang chose to keep his mouth shut, lest he give He Wei even more reason to start discussing it.
Xu Ze stood there holding the drink for a while longer before continuing forward. The moment he looked up, he saw Lu Heyang and He Wei two meters away.
For that brief instant, the dazed look on his face and the stiffness of his body were quite obvious. He Wei saw it all clearly.
“It’s true.” He Wei lowered his voice. “He really does seem pretty afraid of you.”
“Why couldn’t he be afraid of you?” Lu Heyang finally asked.
He Wei looked innocent. “I’m a new transfer student. Why would he be afraid of me? That doesn’t make any sense.”
To prove that he was friendly and harmless, when He Wei reached Xu Ze, he greeted him.
“Hi.”
Xu Ze looked at him without saying anything, merely nodding once before walking past them.
“So cold. So cold.” He Wei exaggeratedly shuddered. “He’s definitely not afraid of me.”
“You’d find it strange too if someone you weren’t familiar with suddenly greeted you,” Lu Heyang said. “Stop looking for trouble when there’s none.”
He Wei suddenly gave an impish smile. “I feel like if Xu Ze were in our circle, you two might actually get along pretty well… You both have that sexually indifferent face that says you’ve sworn off sex.”
Lu Heyang asked, “So you’re saying you and I don’t get along?”
“How could that be!” He Wei immediately hooked an arm around his shoulders and laughed. “If we didn’t get along, how could we have been friends for more than ten years~?”
A little after eight that evening, Lu Heyang, He Wei, and Gu Yunchi went to the western part of the city together.
The club was still crowded and chaotic, filled with all kinds of smells. The three of them were far too conspicuous, and the moment they stepped out of the elevator, they attracted attention. At some point, someone had even slipped a purple chip into Gu Yunchi’s hand.
The alpha who had given him the chip winked at them suggestively.
“A gift. Go on, have some fun.”
Gu Yunchi didn’t even look at it. He simply tossed it back into the man’s hand.
“Don’t need it.”
“Wow, you really have no sense of occasion. Our Young Master Gu is worth hundreds of billions. How could he possibly care about this little bit of money?” He Wei bumped Gu Yunchi’s shoulder. “Right?”
Gu Yunchi glanced at him.
“Last time I heard about this alpha—what was his name again? He was from the Preparatory School too. He lost this much at the casino in a single night.”
As He Wei spoke, he held up his fingers to indicate a number.
Lu Heyang asked, “Eight hundred?”
“Yeah.” He Wei nodded. “Later, his dad sent people to drag him back. Apparently, he got beaten up and ended up in the hospital. He didn’t come to class for three days.”
“Sounds like something that would happen to you,” Gu Yunchi commented.
“What are you talking about? What’s so fun about gambling? I could’ve bought a new car with those eight million.”
As soon as cars were mentioned, an expression of disgust appeared on Gu Yunchi’s face.
“You even had the interior done in pink. I don’t know what kind of person would actually sit in your car.”
“Heyang rides in it every day,” He Wei said calmly.
Gu Yunchi then asked Lu Heyang, “Don’t you feel uncomfortable sitting in there?”
“Can’t be helped. I’m not worth hundreds of billions, so I can only hitch a ride in someone else’s car,” Lu Heyang replied.
He Wei slapped his shoulder and burst out laughing. Gu Yunchi turned his expressionless face away, too lazy to say anything more.
Once they entered the venue, He Wei had booked seats in the second row this time.
The large screen was lit up. Lu Heyang raised his head to look at the fighters’ names. He Wei followed his gaze, then suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, the guy who sold me the tickets said Number 17 might not fight tonight.”
Lu Heyang’s movement paused for the briefest moment. He said nothing and sat down in his seat.
After several bouts, the mat inside the octagonal cage was already splattered with blood. The spectators were wildly excited, their shouts shaking the entire venue.
Only Lu Heyang remained quietly seated. He glanced at his wristband—it was still set at the lowest level and hadn’t been adjusted since they entered.
Another match ended. The large screen went blank, no longer displaying the fighters’ names or the betting information.
It was time for the intermission.
He Wei had shouted himself hoarse. He sat down to drink some water while checking his phone.
Lu Heyang rested his chin on his hand, his eyes half-lowered, his gaze fixed somewhere no one could tell.
Gu Yunchi turned his head toward him.
“You don’t look like you have much energy.”
“I’m a little tired.” Lu Heyang lowered his hand. “I’m going out—”
The end of his sentence was drowned out by a sudden scream.
Lu Heyang looked up.
A crew-cut alpha walked out from the fighters’ entrance. He had a fierce-looking face, with a scar running from the left side of his forehead all the way down to his right jaw, cutting across his entire face.
Lu Heyang’s gaze swept over him, then he tilted his head slightly and looked behind the crew-cut alpha.
Number 17.
Just like last week, the upper half of Number 17’s face was painted with greasepaint. He wore a cheap pair of black athletic shorts that reached his knees. Today, he was wearing fingerless MMA gloves, which also looked quite worn.
“Number 17 is fighting. MMA tonight.” He Wei excitedly nudged Lu Heyang with his elbow and held his phone out in front of him and Gu Yunchi.
On the screen was a message the alpha who sold him the tickets had sent ten minutes earlier. It said that Number 17 would fight during the intermission.
Because Number 17 had left too early last week, the fight hadn’t been bloody enough. So tonight, he had been punished by being made to fight an exhibition match without any prize money.
The alpha had also said that Number 17 was punished almost every so often, and there was always only one reason—
He would leave as soon as he won, and he simply wasn’t vicious enough with his attacks.
“I can understand that.” He Wei put his phone away and watched the two alphas enter the octagonal cage. “He’s only in his teens. Keeping his hands clean is a good thing.”
Number 17 stood in the center of the cage and lowered his head to adjust the strap on his gloves.
The referee sitting on the cage railing called out to him, and Number 17 turned his head.
When he turned around, the white suppressor patch on the back of his neck was exposed.
Someone else started shouting, “Number 17!” Number 17 looked up toward the audience, his expression still very calm. Since this was an exhibition match during the intermission, the atmosphere was relatively relaxed, and Number 17’s gaze lingered over the audience a little longer than last time—about two seconds.
During those two seconds, Number 17’s gaze happened to land on the second row. At a certain moment, it was very obvious that his entire body suddenly froze for an instant. Only after staring blankly for a moment did he look away and lower his head to stare at the rubber mat beneath his feet.
The opening bell rang. The crew-cut alpha opposite him had already assumed his stance, but Number 17 was still standing there with his arms hanging loosely at his sides, looking somewhat dazed.
It wasn’t until the crew-cut alpha’s fist came flying straight at his face that he finally reacted. He quickly raised his arm to block it, barely managing to avoid the blow.
He Wei immediately hissed. “Number 17 isn’t focused today.”
He had barely finished speaking when Number 17 took a punch to the jaw. His entire body slammed backward into the wire fence, and he nearly lost his balance and fell.
After just a few exchanges of punches, the atmosphere had already heated up again.
Lu Heyang raised the setting on his wristband. He leaned slightly forward, rested his elbows on his knees, interlocked his fingers, and lightly pressed them against his chin.
Gu Yunchi glanced at him.
Lu Heyang was staring at the octagonal cage. The slight fatigue he had shown two minutes earlier seemed to have suddenly disappeared.
17: ⊙_⊙