At dinner that evening, Ye Qingyang brought up his plan to move into the school dorm.
Ye Hong frowned. “Where did you get the money?”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “Auntie, you don’t need to worry about that.”
“You didn’t steal it from somewhere, did you?”
“Where would I even steal from? Why don’t you point me in the right direction?” Ye Qingyang shot back.
“Then where did it come from?” Wang Yue looked at him. “And why suddenly decide to move out?”
Ye Qingyang sighed. “Fine. We’re family after all—it’s not right to keep things from you. I recently met a friend and made a little money. I think he’s pretty impressive, so I want to spend more time around him. He happens to live on campus, and his dorm is short one roommate. He asked if I wanted to move in.”
“So I agreed.”
Wang Yue frowned. “How did you make that money?”
“That… I can’t say.”
“Ye Qingyang, your aunt and I are your guardians. We have the right to know what you’re doing. What if you get scammed?”
“Yeah, Yangyang, is this friend reliable? What if he’s a con artist?”
“He’s not.” Ye Qingyang said proudly. “My friend’s family is very wealthy—they’re in finance. They’re really sharp when it comes to making money. You don’t need to worry.”
Ye Hong and Wang Yue exchanged a glance. “It’s not illegal, right?”
“Of course not. It’s just investment and financial management.”
Right after saying that, Ye Qingyang gave a little “oops,” as if he had let something slip, then shrugged as though giving up the pretense. “Well, since I’ve already said it, I won’t hide it anymore. He’s been helping me manage my money.”
Seeing their confused expressions, along with Wang Hui’s, Ye Qingyang explained, “Before, didn’t I go to the class monitor’s place to eat leftovers? The class monitor felt bad for me and told him about my situation, asked him to help me. So he told me to give him a hundred, and he’d manage it for me—said he could definitely add another zero.”
“I didn’t want to at first—after all, that’s a hundred.”
“But my class monitor covered it for me, said if it was lost I wouldn’t have to pay it back. So I agreed.”
“And he actually made me a thousand. I paid the class monitor back, and the remaining nine hundred is just enough for the dorm fee.”
“There’s someone that capable in your class?” Ye Hong didn’t believe it. “How come I’ve never heard of him?”
“I didn’t know either before. But it makes sense—our school is full of rich kids, more than you can count.”
That, at least, sounded reasonable. Ye Hong thought so to herself.
She glanced at Wang Yue, who stayed silent.
“So you’re moving into the dorm just to live with him?”
“Yeah. I want to build a good relationship so he’ll keep helping me make money,” Ye Qingyang said openly.
“It’s not that easy. If money were so easy to make, why would everyone still be working so hard?” Ye Hong lectured.
Ye Qingyang didn’t care. “Doesn’t matter to me. I didn’t have any money to begin with anyway.”
Ye Hong looked at him but said nothing.
After dinner, Ye Qingyang packed his things and went to bed.
He didn’t have much—just a small suitcase was enough.
Looking at it, he recalled the half-believing, half-doubting expressions on Ye Hong and Wang Yue’s faces and couldn’t help but smile.
His lie wasn’t particularly clever, but it fit the original host’s identity perfectly—and, more importantly, it appealed to what Ye Hong’s family wanted most.
Most successful lies didn’t need to be brilliant. They only needed to target what the other party desired most.
Ye Hong’s family was greedy—they wanted to take advantage of everything. As long as they saw him with more and more money, wearing better clothes, using higher-end things, they would naturally believe him.
Besides, the original host had endured in silence for far too long. Ye Hong looked down on him from the bottom of her heart—she wouldn’t suspect him.
Before driving Ye Hong’s family out, he would first reclaim everything they owed the original host.
Fifty thousand. Not a cent less.
The next day, Ye Qingyang went to school dragging his suitcase. Lu Jingcheng didn’t—Young Master Lu had a private car that would bring his things later.
After a week of military training, Li Lan and the others had grown much closer to him. Seeing the suitcase, they asked curiously, “What’s in there? Snacks?”
“No.”
“Then why bring such a big suitcase?”
“It’s for something.”
“For what?”
Ye Qingyang thought for a moment. Since moving into the dorm wasn’t exactly a secret, he said frankly, “I’m moving into the dorm.”
“Why?”
“To study hard and improve every day, of course.”
Li Lan and Liu Ning burst out laughing.
“Have you picked a dorm? I’ve got a friend with an empty bed—he’s a top student, could help you,” Liu Ning suggested.
“No need. I’m staying with Lu Jingcheng,” Ye Qingyang said.
Li Lan: !!!
He grabbed Ye Qingyang’s hand dramatically. “Your Highness, you’re flying off with His Majesty!”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “Yep. Without you.”
Li Lan fake-cried. “This humble servant can’t bear to part with you.”
Ye Qingyang patted his head. “Be good~”
Chen Wei and Bai Le came back from the restroom and saw them holding hands tearfully. “What are you talking about?”
Li Lan wiped imaginary tears. “His Majesty and the Empress are moving in together.”
Bai Le: !!!
Chen Wei: ???
“What do you mean?”
“They’re moving into the dorm,” Liu Ning said.
“Same room,” Li Lan added.
Bai Le: …
He felt there was nothing more to say. On such a joyous wedding occasion, he might as well wish the newlyweds a happy marriage and many children.
Oh right—they couldn’t have kids. Then fine—may they grow old together and… well, never mind.
When Lu Jingcheng returned to the classroom after one class break, he immediately felt something was off about the way his friends were looking at him.
“What’s with that look?” he asked Chen Wei.
“Appearances deceive! You can’t judge a person by their face!”
“Speak normally.”
“You value love over friendship!”
Lu Jingcheng: …
“I treat everyone equally.”
“Yeah right! You’re moving in with Ye Qingyang—why not move in with me?!”
Lu Jingcheng: !!!
He shot Ye Qingyang a glare.
He knew it!
That guy couldn’t keep anything to himself—especially something like this!
Of course he’d go around bragging about it, like beating drums for the whole world to hear!
Lu Jingcheng sighed. He really knew how to declare his claim—grabbing every chance to do it.
No shame at all.
Such a jealous little thing.
Such a clingy little rice cake.
Lu Jingcheng felt like he could hardly face the world anymore.
Chen Wei snorted. “No explanation, huh? You just favor him.”
“That’s not it,” Lu Jingcheng explained. “His family situation is bad. He has to do chores at home and gets mistreated by his aunt. That’s why I wanted him to move into the dorm.”
“Then why are you moving in too?”
“Well, if I don’t go, he won’t go either. You know how much he likes me—he won’t share a room with anyone else unless it’s me.”
Chen Wei: “…Is that so?”
“Of course!”
Lu Jingcheng patted his shoulder. “If I don’t step into hell, who will? Back in the day, the Buddha cut his own flesh to feed an eagle. I’m just sacrificing the small self to achieve the greater good.”
“Your ‘greater good’ is Ye Qingyang?”
Lu Jingcheng: …
“My greater good is improving my grades!”
Chen Wei: …Yeah right.
Whether he believed it or not, Lu Jingcheng acted like he did. After school, he and Ye Qingyang went to the dorms together.
After hearing their request, the dorm supervisor showed them several available rooms.
They discussed it and chose a sunny two-person room on the third floor.
The room was fairly clean. After tidying up and changing the bedding, they went to eat.
This was their first day living together. Lu Jingcheng still remembered his mission to supervise studying, so after dinner, he urged Ye Qingyang to do homework.
Ye Qingyang’s head hurt—he didn’t want to, but couldn’t refuse. So he dragged Lu Jingcheng into doing it together.
Now both of them had headaches.
The room had a loft-bed setup with desks underneath. Sitting back-to-back, they agreed to check each other’s progress after an hour and a half.
Lu Jingcheng stared at his math problems. What formula was this? Which one should I use?
This is exhausting. I don’t want to do this.
He secretly turned to look at Ye Qingyang, who sat upright, head lowered, looking very serious.
Ye Qingyang was indeed very focused—on his novel. It had gotten so good that he sat even straighter.
He glanced at the mirror on his desk, confirming that Lu Jingcheng was still facing away, working.
Perfect.
For the first time in his life, the “genius” Ye Qingyang experienced what it felt like to be a bad student secretly reading novels in class—constantly alert, afraid of getting caught.
Honestly, even the college entrance exam hadn’t made him this nervous.
After about an hour, he finally put his phone away, did a few random questions, then went back to reading.
Only when Lu Jingcheng stood up did he push his phone aside.
They compared their papers.
Lu Jingcheng sighed like a true struggling student: With so much I don’t understand, how am I supposed to improve?
Ye Qingyang sighed like a fake struggling student: With so much I don’t understand, how am I supposed to improve?
The two looked at each other, both deeply worried—for the other.
After finishing homework, they washed up and went to bed.
Watching Ye Qingyang climb up to his own bunk so nimbly, Lu Jingcheng was stunned.
He wasn’t even going to sleep with him?
Would he really give up such a good opportunity?
Or was this some kind of playing hard to get?
Did he think Lu Jingcheng would indulge him?
Yeah right.
Lu Jingcheng huffed, turned off the lights, and got into his own bed.
“Good night, Lu-ge,” Ye Qingyang said.
“Good night,” Lu Jingcheng replied irritably.
One minute passed. Two minutes. Ten minutes. Half an hour.
Lu Jingcheng tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Why can’t I fall asleep again?!
Was it really true that he could only sleep while holding Ye Qingyang?
He refused to believe it and tried to force himself to sleep.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes helplessly and looked toward Ye Qingyang’s bed.
He turned on a flashlight, climbed down, and then climbed up to Ye Qingyang’s bunk.
Sensing movement, Ye Qingyang groggily opened his eyes.
“Why are you here?” he mumbled sleepily.
“My blanket’s damp. It’s uncomfortable,” Lu Jingcheng said, nudging him inward and slipping under the covers. “I’m borrowing yours.”
Used to sleeping together, Ye Qingyang didn’t mind. He even moved further in.
Lu Jingcheng lay down, turned off the flashlight, and casually wrapped an arm around him. “Alright, go to sleep.”
Ye Qingyang closed his eyes again. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Lu Jingcheng said.
He smiled silently, tightened his arms around the person in his embrace, and finally closed his eyes.
A peaceful night.