Xi Siyan had been delayed on the way.
The reason was that, just as he was leaving the office building, he happened to run into a surprise inspection by officials from the Education Bureau.
A group of school administrators accompanied several Education Bureau officials as they walked around the campus, chatting.
When the conversation turned to teaching staff and the campus environment, the administrator in charge of commercial partnerships for the logistics department immediately stepped forward and said, “Our No. 1 High School was fortunate enough to receive financial support last year for campus renovations and the expansion of our teaching staff. As a key high school in Sui City, our figures for college admissions and student recruitment have continued to rise year after year.”
The Education Bureau official responded in a formal, official tone to this sort of self-promotion. “It’s a blessing when society gives strong support to education. Our job is to nurture every student properly. We shouldn’t look only at academic performance. Students need to develop comprehensively in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics.”
“Absolutely, absolutely,” the people around him echoed.
As they were speaking, someone noticed Xi Siyan.
The moment the school administrators recognized him, they could barely suppress their smiles.
In the end, Director Lai from the second-year level was the one who beckoned Xi Siyan over. He introduced him to the Education Bureau officials, saying, “What a coincidence! This student is practically the pride and public face of our No. 1 High School. He’s in the experimental class in his second year of high school, his grades are outstanding, and his abilities in other areas are equally impressive.”
Faced with so many senior officials, the young man, who looked exceptionally talented and distinguished, like a beautiful sight on campus, showed not the slightest trace of nervousness. After greeting them, he briefly explained why he was still outside even though classes had already begun.
The leading Education Bureau official listened as one of his assistants leaned over and whispered something in his ear. When he looked at Xi Siyan again, the aloofness and official formality he had displayed during the inspection had disappeared. He smiled warmly.
“So this is the young man from the Xi family?”
“Yes, yes.” Someone from the school immediately responded. “Those two teaching buildings we constructed last year were also made possible thanks to the Xi family’s connections. This young man is very modest.”
The Education Bureau official nodded. “Very good.”
Then, as though the thought had just occurred to him, he added, “I met Jianyu last year. He mentioned that he had a nephew studying at No. 1 High School, but he never told me the boy was this handsome.”
Xi Siyan concealed the faint, ambiguous trace of amusement in his eyes.
Maintaining his polite expression, he played along with the deliberately familiar tone. “My second uncle often mentions you. He says that most people in the education system are dedicated individuals who shoulder heavy responsibilities because of their beliefs. That’s why he has always strongly supported education and devoted himself to the field.”
In reality, Xi Siyan’s second uncle, Xi Jianyu, was considered the most wayward member of the family, someone who never took his responsibilities seriously. Back in school, he had been a notorious troublemaker. After finally graduating from a prestigious university on the strength of his intelligence, he had no interest in politics or business. His entry into the field of education had been more a matter of circumstance than deliberate choice.
When he donated the teaching buildings to the school in the family’s name, he had been sitting on the sofa at home when he remarked, “Those old fellows at the Education Bureau are the most hidebound people imaginable. They judge people based on what they can get out of them. Their mouths are full of righteousness, but inside, they’re rotten to the core. A-Yan, our family may not have anything else, but we have money. Why are you trying so hard to be the school’s star student? Isn’t being part of the Xi family enough to let you do whatever you want at school?”
He had immediately received a slap from Madam Xi.
Madam Xi’s favorite was this grandson of hers, and she glared at her rebellious son in annoyance.
“You never teach him anything good! All you do is teach him those disgraceful tricks you use to flirt with women outside. A-Yan is such a good boy, well-behaved and sensible since childhood, always so thoughtful and considerate.”
Xi Jianyu had collapsed dramatically on the spot, rolling his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared.
“I’m telling you, Old Madam, even failing eyesight has its limits! Well-behaved and sensible? That boy has a black heart!”
The wayward second uncle then launched into a detailed list of his nephew’s misdeeds.
When he was as young as three, he once knocked over Old Master Xi’s inkstone and fabricated false evidence pointing to his own father, nearly getting the eldest son of the Xi family beaten by the old master even though he was already over thirty. Then, when he was thirteen or fourteen, all the boys around his age in the branch families began having puppy love relationships. He collected stacks of pink envelopes and sealed them away in boxes. During the New Year celebrations, someone maliciously dug them out, only for them to discover that the boxes were full of trophies and awards instead, making him the target of everyone’s anger.
Xi Jianyu couldn’t resist shouting loudly, “Big matters reveal one’s methods, but it’s the little things that reveal one’s character! Our Xi family’s little smiling Buddha is a thoroughly cunning one. He’s been following Old Master around since he was a child, so of course he’s no good!”
Even so, Xi Siyen never forgot to defend his second uncle’s reputation in public.
Truly, they were family.
One of the school administrators suggested, “Since we’re already here, why don’t we take a look at the experimental class together?”
The suggestion received unanimous approval.
One administrator asked, “Siyan, what subject are you having this period?”
“Chinese.” Xi Siyen led the way at the front and took the opportunity to introduce the teacher. “Mr. Jiang is a veteran teacher, well-read and knowledgeable. His teaching style is witty and humorous, and the students quite like him.”
The school administrator chimed in, “Exactly, exactly. I’ve sat in on Mr. Jiang’s classes before. The students are very engaged. And this is our experimental class, after all. They’re all self-disciplined top students, so the academic atmosphere is excellent. Just look…”
The school administrator stood at the back door of the classroom. But the words that were supposed to follow “Just look…” abruptly died in his throat.
And for no other reason than this:
The person standing lazily at the back of the classroom, looking somewhat sleepy, had a handsome face, but what came out of his mouth made the administrator wish he could sew the boy’s lips shut.
“Sorry, teacher, but your way of reciting is really putting me to sleep. How about I go stand outside the classroom as punishment?”
After Chen Mo said this, he noticed how unusually quiet everything around him had become.
He blinked his still-heavy eyelids and followed the direction in which most of his classmates had turned their heads, squinting as he looked over.
There was a school administrator whose face had turned green.
Director Lai, wearing an expression of utter disbelief.
And then there was a certain class monitor who, after initially seeming surprised by the ridiculous scene, appeared unable to suppress a smile. He deliberately pressed the back of his fist against the tip of his nose.
“Chen Mo!” Director Lai finally spoke. “Come outside.”
Chen Mo casually pushed his chair aside and walked out without a care.
The other administrators, being quick-witted, immediately took the people from the Education Bureau elsewhere. Only the stern grade director, Chen Mo, and Xi Siyen, who hadn’t entered the classroom, remained.
Director Lai didn’t immediately reprimand him. Instead, he even seemed inclined to reason with him, appealing to his feelings.
“Chen Mo, didn’t get enough sleep last night?”
“Pretty good, Director.” Chen Mo glanced at the other person standing nearby, then looked away. He wasn’t planning to provoke Lai Xianfu, so after thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ve been inexplicably sleepy lately. Maybe I’ve developed narcolepsy.”
“Stop fooling around!”
The few sheets of paper rolled into a cylinder in Director Lai’s hand suddenly smacked Chen Mo on the head.
“Give me a proper answer!”
Chen Mo rubbed his head and sighed. “Fine, I admit it. The Yang family paid to get me admitted here. I can’t keep up with the experimental class’s pace, and I don’t understand the lessons. Can I transfer to another class?”
“No.”
Director Lai immediately rejected him, genuinely angry this time.
“I know people at school have been saying unpleasant things, but I’ve looked at your previous academic records. They weren’t bad.”
Chen Mo laughed. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what level of school my previous high school was? Forget getting into the experimental class. Even if you put me in an ordinary class, maintaining an average ranking would be like winning the national top scholar title in my previous life.”
He hadn’t actually won the top scholar title in his previous life.
The price of staying in the experimental class had been countless nights spent studying by lamplight until dawn, along with stacks upon stacks of exercises and exam papers that could have buried him alive. Although, for certain reasons, he ultimately failed to perform as hoped in the college entrance examination and missed out on the university he had wanted to attend, every single one of those days had been real.
It wasn’t as though he had forgotten everything he had learned.
But when it came to starting over and vowing to use that knowledge to achieve glory once again, he wasn’t particularly interested.
“That’s not quite true.”
Xi Siyen suddenly spoke from beside them.
Chen Mo was taken aback. He hadn’t expected him to say anything, so he looked over.
“What isn’t?”
“Your grades aren’t so bad that you could only rank around the middle of an ordinary class.” Xi Siyen stood there with his hands in his pockets. “I looked at your entrance examination. You can still make it into the lower ranks of the experimental class.”
Chen Mo said, “Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix’?”
“Do you really want to be the head of a chicken?” Xi Siyen said. “Just so you know, even if you transfer to an ordinary class, openly sleeping through lessons will still be out of the question.”
Director Lai immediately nodded. “Chen Mo, don’t be so defeatist. I’ll find a way to deal with this.”
Chen Mo really wanted to ask: How exactly was he being defeatist?
He simply didn’t like the atmosphere in the experimental class right now. Having someone like Yang Shule around was already more than enough to put up with. He had plenty of money at his disposal now, and even had an investment plan in place through someone he’d hired without going through the Yang family.
After graduating from high school and completely cutting off his financial ties with the Yang family, attending a university that wasn’t outstanding but was still reasonably good would be just right. Was he really giving up on himself just because he’d accidentally fallen asleep once?
Then he looked at that certain fellow who was so relaxed and carefree.
What was this guy’s deal?
Was being class monitor suddenly making him feel all friendly toward his classmates?
By the third period, physics class, Chen Mo finally understood what Director Lai had meant when he’d said he would handle the matter.
As soon as the homeroom teacher, Xiang Shenglong, entered the classroom, he swept his gaze around the room and said, “Xi Siyen, move your desk next to Chen Mo’s.”
Everyone: “…”
Xi Siyen’s concern was rather different from everyone else’s.
“Why can’t he move over here instead?”
“Because you’re blocking the door, all right?” Xiang Shenglong said. “You two are the experimental class’s guardians, one on the left and one on the right. Chen Mo hasn’t been here long, so as the class monitor, you should help him with his studies more often.”
The class immediately broke into whispers again.
Xiang Shenglong said just one word: “Quiet!”
And the lesson began.
The entire class was packed with material. Chen Mo didn’t get any sleep, and even took a few notes.
His physics grades had been pretty good in the past, which also had something to do with this homeroom teacher’s distinctive teaching style.
By the time class ended, the classroom had become noisy and lively.
Quite a few people turned to look toward the corner where Xi Siyen was beginning to move his desk.
Chen Mo could feel one particularly intense gaze among them. He didn’t even need to guess who it belonged to.
Then he looked at the person who had lifted his desk with one hand and moved it beside his own. Sitting in his seat, Chen Mo asked, “Are you deliberately getting back at me?”
Xi Siyen set the desk down and began arranging his books. His tone was indifferent. “What do you have that would make me want to get back at you?”
Chen Mo lifted his chin toward the front.
Xi Siyen followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow.
“Yang Shule?”
“Who else?”
Xi Siyen stopped what he was doing and lowered his head to look at him. “I remember you’ve asked me this question twice already. Give me a reason.”
Chen Mo also remembered getting into his car that Friday night.
At this point, he couldn’t even be bothered to explain again. “Considering my relationship with him, isn’t that reason enough?”
Xi Siyen seemed to give it some thought before finally understanding what he meant.
At first, he found it amusing.
“You think I like him?”
Fortunately, it was break time, and the classroom was noisy. The students in the first two rows had all gone to the restroom. Probably no one had heard them.
Chen Mo was still surprised by how bluntly he’d said it. He looked Xi Siyen up and down.
“Class Monitor Xi, you’ve certainly got some nerve. A model student like you talks about liking someone as casually as breathing.”
Xi Siyen gave an incredulous laugh, a cold, indifferent look in his eyes.
“Who told you I like men?”
This time, it was Chen Mo’s turn to freeze.
In his memories of high school, whenever he could see Xi Siyen, Yang Shule was always by his side. At home, Yang Shule mentioned Xi Siyen constantly, and their parents were always encouraging the two of them to spend more time together and maintain a good relationship.
Chen Mo then remembered that, indeed, the time he’d caught Yang Shule confessing to Xi Siyen had been in the second semester of their second year of high school, not now.
Although the two of them hadn’t made their feelings official, surely that didn’t mean Xi Siyen hadn’t even figured out whether he liked men or women?
Chen Mo recalled the rumors about Xi Siyen secretly coming out many years later.
Could this guy actually be deep in the closet?
“Brother Yan.”
As luck would have it, one of Xi Siyen’s good buddies, Qi Lin, who would later become a famous top in Suicheng’s gay circle, came over. He draped an arm over Xi Siyen’s shoulder and looked around.
“This is a pretty good spot. It’s just not as secluded as the previous one.”
Xi Siyen casually removed his arm. “It’s all right.”
After saying that, he turned and met Chen Mo’s gaze.
A dangerous look appeared in Xi Siyen’s eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’d advise you not to.”
Qi Lin was bewildered. “Not to what? What are you two talking about? Oh, right, I came to find you because we’re one person short. By the way…” He noticed Chen Mo. “Hey, you’re Chen Mo, right? You’re pretty tall, too. We’re playing basketball at noon. You in?”
“No.”
“Huh? Why not?”
Chen Mo smiled serenely. “I’m afraid the other team will be traumatized after getting beaten.”
“Damn! That’s some confidence!” Qi Lin immediately got excited.
Chen Mo pulled out the textbook he’d need for the next class, instantly extinguishing that little burst of enthusiasm.
“I’m busy at noon. Moving dorms.”