75L: ……
76L: ……
77L: ……
78L: ……
79L: …So the OP has stopped pretending and admitted the “friend” is actually himself?
80L: I get it—good friends, socialist brotherhood! I understand!
Lu Jingcheng: …You understand my ass!
Lu Jingcheng was so angry he almost smashed his phone.
But the thread only got more lively.
81L: Hahaha, the more OP explains, the darker it gets.
82L: I weirdly feel like OP is kind of cute. Go for it, OP! Bring your brother home soon!
83L: Tell us more about yourself, OP. Are your grades good? From the way you talk, you sound rich. Sigh… why don’t I have rich friends?
84L: Yeah, say more! Is your brother good-looking? Does he treat you well?
Good-looking. Treats me well. Got a problem with that?
Lu Jingcheng silently replied to them all in his head. After scrolling for a long time, he finally saw one suggestion that seemed workable.
131L: Not sure how OP’s grades are, but if they’re average, you could tell your brother you’ve decided to study hard but lack self-discipline. Ask him to supervise you. Then you can give him a small payment every day or buy him things as compensation. He probably won’t insist on refusing that.
That could work.
But if he did that… wouldn’t he be sacrificing himself?
Just thinking about studying gave Lu Jingcheng a headache.
He firmly supported the idea that every student should study hard—except himself.
Lu Jingcheng frowned, hesitating. Was this a case of you can’t catch the wolf without sacrificing the kid? Except here it was more like you can’t catch Ye Qingyang without sacrificing yourself.
This was way too good of a deal for Ye Qingyang.
Lu Jingcheng sighed. It was basically good fortune falling from the sky.
Ye Qingyang would probably be overjoyed.
Radiant with happiness!
Beaming with excitement!
Jumping with delight!
So thrilled he’d dance around!
He’d probably run around telling everyone!
No, that would not do, Lu Jingcheng thought. This had to stay secret. If other people found out, things would get troublesome.
Sigh… he really treated Ye Qingyang too well.
He felt like his conscience was practically glowing with brilliance.
What Ye Qingyang did not know was that in the span of one afternoon, Lu Jingcheng’s plan for him had evolved from getting him to move out to the two of them living together.
And Lu Jingcheng was remarkably patient. To prevent Ye Qingyang from “running around announcing it,” he held back the whole day and waited until they were lying in bed that night before bringing it up.
In the dark, while massaging Ye Qingyang’s shoulder, Lu Jingcheng said, “Ye Qingyang, that thing you said before—about studying hard. Does that still count?”
“Of course,” Ye Qingyang nodded.
There was no way he could maintain the persona of a failing student forever. He still planned to get first place in the college entrance exam eventually.
That was exactly the answer Lu Jingcheng had been waiting for.
“I thought about it today. If a failing student like you can work hard, then I can’t keep wasting away like this.”
Ye Qingyang: ????????
Something about that sentence felt very wrong.
This was not Lu Jingcheng’s character setting. Lu Jingcheng was not bad at studying—he was just lazy. He did not like thinking and did not want to work hard.
Unless the female lead supervised him, encouraged him, and motivated him. Only then would he reluctantly use his noble brain a little—for her sake.
But Yu Wan had not even properly met Lu Jingcheng yet.
So why was Lu Jingcheng suddenly deciding to become diligent ahead of schedule?
“Why did you suddenly think of this?” Ye Qingyang asked.
“People should strive upward, like water flows downward,” Lu Jingcheng declared confidently.
“Learning is like rowing upstream—if you don’t move forward, you fall behind.”
“Where there is diligence, there is a road through the mountain of books.”
“Youth that doesn’t study early will regret it in old age.”
Ye Qingyang: …
He could not help interrupting. “That’s enough, bro. Your reasons are already very convincing.”
So please stop showing off!
We get it—you’re good at Chinese. But you don’t have to start reciting poetry every time you talk!
Lu Jingcheng said proudly, “Right? I thought so too.”
Still kneading his shoulder, he added thoughtfully, “But I have a flaw.”
“You have flaws?”
You think you have flaws? Isn’t the version of yourself in your own head perfect and unbeatable?
Hearing that, Lu Jingcheng thought, This silly kid.
Did he really think Lu Jingcheng was flawless and full of nothing but virtues?
Sure enough—beauty is in the eye of the lover.
Love had blinded him!
“Of course I do,” Lu Jingcheng said softly. “I lack self-control.”
That part was true. In the original story, the female lead had to watch him do homework every day.
Ye Qingyang nodded firmly.
“So I was thinking,” Lu Jingcheng continued, “I should find someone to supervise me.”
Ye Qingyang’s eyes lit up.
I know! Yu Wan!
He was just about to tactfully recommend her when Lu Jingcheng spoke again behind him.
“Since we both decided to study hard and improve every day, how about you supervise me? I’ll supervise you too. We can push each other.”
Ye Qingyang, who had entered power-saving mode and had zero interest in working hard: …
“I already planned it,” Lu Jingcheng continued. “After military training ends, we’ll move into the school dorms. Find a double room. Perfect.”
Ye Qingyang, who absolutely did not want to work hard: …
“What do you think?” Lu Jingcheng turned his shoulder.
I think I can improve my grades just fine. You could even make me first in the grade. But I still want to play around for another year!
Ye Qingyang had already planned everything.
This was only the second year of high school. He wanted to relax for a year—no endless practice papers, no grinding problems. He would just control his progress so his scores improved slightly each exam.
Then in the third year, he would start studying seriously.
But if he lived with Lu Jingcheng and they supervised each other… how could he slack off?
Lu Jingcheng would definitely watch him do homework!
Ye Qingyang felt like crying. “Forget it. I can’t afford dorm fees.”
“I can,” Lu Jingcheng said. “You supervise my studying, and I’ll pay you a salary. Enough to cover your dorm fees.”
“That doesn’t feel right.”
“What’s worse—this, or me falling behind in my studies?”
Ye Qingyang: …
Lu Jingcheng sighed. “Ye Qingyang, do you really want to see me stay a failing student forever?”
No, bro. That’s literally your character setting! Why did you suddenly change settings?! This is not scientific!
Ye Qingyang felt overwhelmed.
If Lu Jingcheng suddenly improved his grades now, what would Yu Wan be for?
Wasn’t that ruining someone’s destined relationship?
But he could not say that.
He definitely could not say: Lu-ge, according to my calculations, if you become diligent now, you’ll grow distant from your future wife.
Even if he said it, Lu Jingcheng would never believe him.
Ye Qingyang wanted to refuse, but he had no idea how.
He could not use Yu Wan as an excuse. Other excuses were even worse.
Was there anything more important than a student’s studies?
No.
If he refused without a good reason, it would not only betray Lu Jingcheng’s pure friendship—it might also hurt the rare spark of academic motivation in his heart.
That would be too cruel.
And Ye Qingyang could not say it.
Lu Jingcheng was the person he liked most in this world, and the one who treated him best.
He liked seeing Lu Jingcheng happy—even smug.
He did not want him to feel sad.
Especially not because of him.
Ye Qingyang sighed silently in his heart. Lu Jingcheng really knew how to give him difficult problems.
He knew exactly how to make Ye Qingyang agree.
It was practically calculated!
“Are you trying to make me move out, so you came up with all this?” Ye Qingyang asked. He had not forgotten what Lu Jingcheng said last night.
“Studying is just an excuse. Moving out is the real goal, right?”
Lu Jingcheng refused to admit it. “What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?”
You absolutely are, Ye Qingyang complained silently.
Lu Jingcheng casually wrapped an arm around him.
“I just think we should study. Don’t you want to study hard? You do, I do. So studying together is perfect.”
Ye Qingyang covered his face.
He did not want to.
He really did not want to.
Lu Jingcheng smiled. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as agreement.”
“Why don’t you think about it a bit more?”
“No need,” Lu Jingcheng declared firmly. “A gentleman’s word cannot be taken back. It’s settled.”
Ye Qingyang: …
“Once we get back, I’ll take you to see the dorm,” Lu Jingcheng planned.
What else could Ye Qingyang say?
“All decisions rest with Your Majesty.”
Lu Jingcheng happily patted his head. “Good.”
He knew it. As long as he was willing to sacrifice himself, he could easily capture this little sheep called Ye Qingyang.
After all, in Ye Qingyang’s heart, he was unique. One of a kind. Irreplaceable.
On the fourth day of military training, it rained at the base.
Instructor Xu used the time to make the students practice folding their blankets into the famous “tofu blocks.”
Lu Jingcheng and Ye Qingyang did not bother.
One of them did not know how.
The other did not need to.
They lay comfortably on Lu Jingcheng’s bed and took a nap.
Only when the instructor came by their dorm for inspection did Ye Qingyang groggily get up and fold the blanket.
Instructor Xu could not do much about him.
And since the final dorm inspection during military training did not require students to fold blankets in front of instructors anyway, he just turned a blind eye.
Seven days of training were already halfway done. Only two days remained until the final parade.
Seeing that the students were doing well, Instructor Xu decided to take them on a field march.
In reality, it was just hiking up a mountain—a bit of fresh air for the students.
Class Ten was ecstatic. Everyone was excited, some looking like they could sprint straight to the summit.
Several other companies were going along as well.
The instructors led the way while the students followed behind. When they ran into others, they chatted a bit. The atmosphere was relaxed for once.
Ye Qingyang spotted Yu Wan immediately.
She looked uncomfortable and was being supported by her friend as she walked at the back.
Ye Qingyang nudged Lu Jingcheng. “Doesn’t she look unwell?”
Lu Jingcheng glanced over lazily. “Who knows.”
What kind of tone is that? That’s your future wife. Be a little gentle.
“Should we help her?” Ye Qingyang suggested.
Lu Jingcheng thought it unnecessary. “She’s not even in our class.”
“But we’re schoolmates.”
“Ma Tianrui is also our schoolmate. I hit him every time I see him.”
Ye Qingyang: …
Ye Qingyang felt like the situation was hopeless.
The male lead had absolutely no interest in the female lead. Even the matchmaker could not fix that.
Seeing his regretful look, Lu Jingcheng asked, “What, you want to help her?”
“Helping others is a traditional virtue,” Ye Qingyang said.
“That doesn’t mean you help every random person you see. She has classmates with her—why are you worrying?”
As he spoke, Lu Jingcheng switched places with him, letting Ye Qingyang walk on the inside of the mountain path while he walked on the outer side.
Letting this guy keep looking at things he shouldn’t look at… What was he staring at?
Wasn’t looking at him better?
He was this handsome—why look at girls?
Girls were something straight guys should care about. Ye Qingyang was so bent he was basically a curly frog, yet he was still worrying about girls.
That was misleading innocent girls!
Completely condemnable!
“Don’t think about things you shouldn’t,” Lu Jingcheng warned. “What if you help her and she falls for you?”
Ye Qingyang: !!!!
I would be guilty beyond redemption!
You never steal your friend’s wife!
“No way…”
“What if?” Lu Jingcheng glanced sideways at him. “Would you date her then?”
Ye Qingyang shook his head like a rattle drum.
In broad daylight, please don’t say such terrifying things. Stealing someone else’s wife was more than he could handle.
Lu Jingcheng draped an arm across his shoulders.
“Exactly. If you’re not interested, then don’t show too much concern.”
Ye Qingyang: …Alright.
Seeing him fall silent, Lu Jingcheng slowly smiled.
He knew it.
Other than him, Ye Qingyang did not care about anyone else.
See? One word from him and Ye Qingyang stopped.
But then Lu Jingcheng thought about what he had just said.
Ye Qingyang cared so much about him—clearly he really liked him.
Sigh.
Such heavy love.