When Ye Qingyang woke up the next day, he was a little surprised to see Lu Jingcheng still lying beside him. It took him a few seconds to process before remembering—last night, Lu Jingcheng had climbed into his bed in the middle of the night.
Ye Qingyang sat up, carefully climbed down, washed up, and then went back up the ladder to wake Lu Jingcheng.
Normally, Lu Jingcheng would already be up at this hour for school, so it was rare that he didn’t sleep in. Instead, he sighed in satisfaction. “If I’d known boarding school meant I could sleep this much longer, I would’ve started boarding back in elementary school!”
No, Ye Qingyang thought, with your love of sleeping in, you should’ve started boarding in kindergarten.
Then again… Lu Jingcheng’s kindergarten probably wasn’t like his. A private, elite kindergarten might not even require waking up early, so boarding wouldn’t be necessary at all.
He silently marveled at the life of the rich and said nothing, just yawned lazily.
The two of them bought breakfast at the school gate and walked in together.
Chen Wei and the others had already arrived. As soon as Lu Jingcheng sat down, they eagerly asked, “So how’s boarding school?”
“Amazing!” Lu Jingcheng stuck a straw into his yogurt. “I don’t have to suffer from waking up early anymore.”
“Oh yeah? I thought it was because you’re living together with Ye Qingyang now,” Bai Le teased.
Lu Jingcheng nearly choked on his yogurt. Was this guy crazy? It wasn’t like he was Ye Qingyang—why would he feel happy about something like that?
If anything, Ye Qingyang should be the one thrilled and overjoyed to be living together with him!
His heart racing!
Overwhelmed with excitement!
Secretly delighted!
Sigh… what a bargain for Ye Qingyang. Lu Jingcheng sighed inwardly. Well, whatever. He was just too kind-hearted.
The previous night, Ye Qingyang had been forced by Lu Jingcheng to sit properly at his desk and study for the entire evening. Now that he’d finally escaped that supervision, he completely let loose—reading novels, sleeping, scrolling through Weibo. The day flew by in a blur; he closed his eyes and opened them, and it was already over.
When the dismissal bell rang, Ye Qingyang’s heart shattered.
School felt like heaven; going home felt like prison. He was about to return to being watched by the “warden” at his desk again.
Who would’ve thought that one day, the end-of-school bell would feel this painful?
With tears in his heart, Ye Qingyang packed his bag and left the classroom with Lu Jingcheng.
“What do you want for dinner?” Lu Jingcheng asked. “Are you hungry?”
“Of course I am. What do you want to eat?”
“We had stir-fry yesterday. I don’t feel like that today.”
“Then what?”
Lu Jingcheng thought for a moment. “Steak. My treat.”
“Again?” Ye Qingyang felt like he was being treated way too often.
“Or you paying?” Lu Jingcheng sized him up. “Might be a bit expensive for you.”
Ye Qingyang: …
“Can’t we just eat something cheap?”
“Like what?”
“Skewers?”
“…Fine.”
Lu Jingcheng remembered a place he’d been to before. “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere.”
“It’s not going to be like eighty per skewer, right?” Ye Qingyang asked nervously.
Lu Jingcheng rolled his eyes. “Fifty cents per skewer. Meat or vegetables, same price. That okay?”
“Okay, that works.” Ye Qingyang relaxed and followed him.
The skewer shop was a bit far, and there wasn’t a convenient ride, so they had to walk. Fortunately, neither of them was in a hurry to get back and do homework, so neither minded.
As they passed through an alley, Ye Qingyang suddenly caught the sound of a girl’s frightened voice.
He stopped and gestured to Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng paused too. He heard it—a trembling voice, soft and cautious, like the girl was afraid of provoking whoever she was facing.
They exchanged a glance and followed the sound. In a nearby alley, Yu Wan was being cornered.
Ye Qingyang instinctively looked at Lu Jingcheng.
Holy crap—just like the male and female leads. This was straight out of a novel: the classic “hero saves the damsel” scene!
He whispered, “Lu-ge, I think she’s from our school.”
Lu Jingcheng recognized her too—not because of anything else, but because Ye Qingyang had glanced at her a few times during military training.
Tch. Of all people, it had to be her.
What a troublesome fate.
He looked at Ye Qingyang. “What, you want to play the hero?”
Ye Qingyang looked at him in disapproval. “How could it be me? This kind of thing has to be you! You’re the hero! You’re the main character!”
Go, male lead! Go save your female lead!
Descend like a god, start your pure young romance!
With sparkling eyes, he cheered, “Go, Lu-ge! You can do it! You’re the best!”
Seeing the admiration in Ye Qingyang’s eyes, Lu Jingcheng’s annoyance faded, replaced by a faint embarrassment.
Why could this guy never hold back? Calling him a hero, saying he was the main character… wasn’t that embarrassing?
Didn’t Ye Qingyang feel any shame at all?
Sigh… love really was terrifying. It could strip a person of their sense of shame.
Lu Jingcheng said helplessly, almost indulgently, “You’re such a handful.”
He handed his backpack to Ye Qingyang. “Hold this.”
Like he had no choice but to indulge him.
Ye Qingyang chuckled, thinking: stop acting tsundere. I’m helping you win your future girlfriend. One day you’ll realize what this moment means and thank me properly.
He took the bag as Lu Jingcheng swaggered forward, hands in his pockets.
“Well, well. Quite lively here. What’s going on?” Lu Jingcheng tilted his head with a smirk, sharp and arrogant.
Yu Wan looked up in desperate relief. Her school’s campus heartthrob stood there, looking down at the thugs with disdain.
Her eyes instantly filled with hope.
The thugs didn’t recognize Lu Jingcheng and sneered, “Kid, mind your own business. Unless you’ve got a death wish, get lost.”
Lu Jingcheng scoffed. Thinking of Ye Qingyang watching him with shining eyes behind him, he leaned even harder into the act—like some overpowered protagonist straight out of a web novel.
He swiftly knocked them all down and warned coldly, “Try bullying people again, and I’ll break your hands.”
Then, with the air of a boss-level figure, he took Yu Wan’s hand and led her out of the alley.
Yu Wan stole a glance at him, her heart pounding wildly.
Watching them approach together, Ye Qingyang felt like setting off fireworks.
The male and female leads finally interacted!!! This was monumental! He absolutely deserved credit as the ultimate wingman!
Lu Jingcheng let go of Yu Wan once they reached him, took back his bag, and walked out of the alley with her.
“Thank you,” Yu Wan said sincerely.
“Do you want to call the police?” Lu Jingcheng asked. “When I went to help you, I had Ye Qingyang record videos and take photos. He’s got evidence on his phone.”
Yu Wan froze, thought for a while, then shook her head. “Forget it.”
She was only seventeen—still immature, soft-hearted. She was afraid that if she reported them, they might retaliate after being released.
“I don’t know them… I don’t know why they targeted me,” she said quietly. “I’m scared they’ll come after me again.”
“Then avoid this route. Stick to busier streets,” Lu Jingcheng said flatly.
She nodded.
Lu Jingcheng flagged down a taxi for her. “Get in. Go home early.”
“Thank you.” She bowed slightly, then added, “My name is Yu Wan. You’re Lu Jingcheng, right?”
“Mm.” He showed no surprise—after all, he was the campus heartthrob.
“If you ever need help, you can come to Class One to find me,” she said gently.
“Oh.” He responded indifferently.
She gave him one last look, smiled at Ye Qingyang, and got into the car.
Once the car left, Lu Jingcheng turned to Ye Qingyang—only to find him staring with shining, emotional eyes.
“…What kind of look is that?”
Excitement!
Emotion!
“My bro is about to fall in love” energy!
This was a historic day. The hero saved the heroine, her heart stirred, and the seed of fate had just been planted.
An absolutely beautiful romance—ship it, ship it hard!
“Nothing,” Ye Qingyang said, trying to suppress his excitement while continuing to play wingman. “She’s in Class One? That’s the top class. If you don’t understand something, you could ask her. She even said you could go to her for help.”
Lu Jingcheng frowned. “Don’t you know I hate those top students from Class One the most?”
Look at that—what a perfect setup for future reversal.
“This girl seems different. She looks pretty gentle,” Ye Qingyang tried.
Lu Jingcheng raised an eyebrow. “You observed her pretty closely, huh?”
Observed? I know her entire character setting!
“Not really. Just feels like she’s gentle. But she’s kind of unlucky… Do you think those guys might bother her again? Should we help her? Like walking her to and from school this week?”
Lu Jingcheng narrowed his eyes and stepped closer.
“You want to walk her to school together?”
Not me—you!
Ye Qingyang felt a headache coming on. How could someone be this dense?
“I mean you,” he said helplessly. “Aren’t you worried she might run into them again? You know, help her all the way—see it through.”
Lu Jingcheng gave a cold laugh. “And what does that have to do with me?”
“I helped her once out of basic decency. I asked if she wanted to call the police, had you collect evidence. She chose not to report it—that means she’s prepared to handle it herself. She can ask her family or friends for help.”
“There’s no rule that doing one good deed means you’re responsible for someone forever.”
He placed a hand on Ye Qingyang’s shoulder and leaned slightly closer.
“You, on the other hand… seem pretty concerned.”