YMW CH 6

Brother, you smell so good

Cen Wu couldn’t afford to argue with Lu Wang. He was afraid that if he waited any longer, the iron fist of the law would strike him down.

He quickly checked the original owner’s bank account. There was still over six million on the card. He paid back Lu Wang seventy thousand, including interest, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

No one had warned him that jumping into a book would also mean serving time.

“Why are you acting like this?” Lu Wang said in frustration, plopping down beside him. “The person I’m closest to, besides my parents and my little brother, is you. My parents both have money, so they don’t need any from me. Doesn’t that mean my money is just for you to spend?”

This was something the original owner had taught him.

Cen Wu: “…”

How devious.

“I… I was short on money before, so I borrowed some from you,” Cen Wu explained. “Now that I have money, I’m paying it all back. Otherwise, if you give me money, what will you spend yourself?”

Lu Wang sniffled. He wasn’t convinced and instead felt like Cen Wu was looking down on him. He said, confused, “But I have so much money. I can’t spend it all.”

Cen Wu: “…”

Can you hear yourself?

But he couldn’t argue with Lu Wang. Lu Wang barely started speaking at three years old, and when the Lu family took him to the hospital, they found out he wasn’t very smart—his intelligence was below average.

The original owner had an innocent and pure face, so the Lu family believed that the two of them had a good relationship. They arranged for them to be in the same class since elementary school, hoping Cen Wu would take care of Lu Wang at school.

But the original owner was full of resentment and actually looked down on this fool. How could someone so stupid even be a child of the Lu family, while his biological mother was a hostess?

Cen Wu tried every way to appease Lu Wang and finally managed to calm him down.

Even in a key class, the noise in the morning persisted until the bell for early self-study rang and the classroom finally quieted down. Cen Wu turned around and suddenly noticed that Xie Guilan hadn’t come to school yet.

---

Xie Guilan left the Cen family and first went to the hospital. Six months ago, Song Lingwei had been diagnosed with a malignant stomach tumor, and Xie’s father had arranged for multiple experts to conduct consultations and perform surgery.

The prognosis was good, but Song Lingwei had a history of stomach ulcers, and the aftermath was severe, with frequent vomiting.

Every day before school, Xie Guilan would go to the hospital to take care of her, making sure she took her medicine before heading to class.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, Song Lingwei had already woken up, and the nurse was checking her blood pressure.

After the surgery, Song Lingwei had lost a lot of weight, down to only about eighty pounds. Her skin was pale, her long black hair hung by her neck, and she looked frail and sickly, but there was still a kind of fragile beauty to her, like a parasitic flower.

At first, the doctors couldn’t believe that Xie Guilan was her son because she looked at most in her early thirties.

Xie Guilan set a bowl of lean meat porridge on the table. When Song Lingwei saw him, she lifted her head and smiled, but her eyes froze when she saw the bruise on his neck, where the marks from a whip were dark purple.

Song Lingwei didn’t speak, but the nurse, startled, asked, “Xie Guilan, what happened to your neck?”

Even in a fight, it would be hard to end up with such marks.

Xie Guilan lowered his long lashes, cold and silent, not saying anything. He picked up Song Lingwei’s test results and scanned them.

Song Lingwei had spent most of the past decade in the hospital, and had been in the oncology ward for several months. The nurses knew Xie Guilan well enough to understand his quiet demeanor.

Not asking further, the nurse finished her checkup and left the room.

The room fell into silence.

“…Xiao Lan,” Song Lingwei forced a smile and said gently, “If you’re very busy, you don’t need to come every day. The nurses here are fine…”

Xie Guilan’s lips remained cold and tightly pressed, still not speaking. Song Lingwei had many underlying health issues, and she had to take a large number of medications daily. Xie Guilan carefully prepared them for her.

Her fingers clenched the blanket, and she continued softly, “Mom doesn’t… doesn’t mean to stop you from coming. Your father will have someone come check on me, and the surgery is done. I don’t want to delay your studies, you…”

Xie Guilan’s hand suddenly placed the cup of water next to her with a heavy sound, startling her into silence.

Without saying another word, he stayed silent the whole time, waiting for her to finish her medicine before picking up his backpack and leaving.

The hospital was not far from Huai Jing No. 1 High School, just a half-hour bus ride. On the bus, Xie Guilan received a message from his homeroom teacher. After arriving at school, he headed straight to the office.

The homeroom teacher, Meng Liangping, was in his forties and wore a typical middle-aged teacher’s blue sweater. When he saw Xie Guilan, he waved him over. “Come sit.”

Xie Guilan didn’t sit down, instead standing beside him, making the small office feel even more cramped with his tall, nearly 1.9-meter frame.

Homeroom teacher: “…”

“Chen Wu said you were sick and asked for a sick leave for you,” the teacher said, tilting his head to talk to Xie Guilan. “Why aren’t you resting at home? Your health is more important.”

Xie Guilan: “I’m not sick.”

Homeroom teacher: “Was there something urgent last night when you left school? Do you need any help from the teacher?”

Xie Guilan: “Nothing.”

Homeroom teacher: “Is there some conflict between you and Chen Wu? If you need help, I can assist you. But your injuries…”

Xie Guilan: “No.”

Homeroom teacher: “…”

Three refusals in a row left the teacher at a loss for words.

Huai Jing No. 1 High School was a key school in the city, known for its difficult exams that often surpassed the difficulty of the national college entrance exam. The top scores were usually around 730.

But Xie Guilan broke that norm. He was consistently ranked first in the grade with a score of 745, unless he missed an exam. His scores were often far ahead of his peers.

His family background wasn’t good, which made teachers like Meng Liangping more concerned about him.

Although he was just an ordinary teacher and didn’t have access to the power of families like the Cen family, he knew that Xie Guilan had a seriously ill mother and was at odds with some of the wealthy students.

The sudden half-day sick leave request from Chen Wu last night made the teacher uneasy, and seeing Xie Guilan’s injuries made him even more worried.

But high school students had strong pride, and Xie Guilan was cold and independent, not allowing anyone to interfere. Even if the teacher wanted to help, he didn’t know how to ask.

Xie Guilan’s eyes were deep-set, and his black, cold gaze resembled dark beast’s eyes. For the first time in his years as a homeroom teacher, Meng Liangping felt uneasy meeting his gaze.

Even though Xie Guilan remained polite to the teacher, when their eyes met, the teacher felt like he was hearing him say:

“Old man, what are you still not satisfied with?”

Homeroom teacher: “…”

“If nothing’s wrong, then it’s fine,” the teacher wiped the sweat from his forehead and waved his hand. “Go to class now, the morning self-study session is almost over. By the way, here’s the registration form for the chemistry competition.”

“Thanks, teacher.”

Xie Guilan took the form and walked to the classroom. The rain was falling lightly, and the weather was gloomy. His clothes stuck to his body as he walked in, expressionless. He reached the back door of the classroom, and his eyes suddenly froze when he saw his desk.

The desk was spotless, with no trash or spills, and even reflected light. His papers were neatly stacked, and there was a faint fragrance of lychees in the air as he got close.

Xie Guilan paused for a few seconds before walking over, pulling out the chair, and sitting down. Yet, nothing unusual happened.

Chen Wu had planned to catch up on homework during the self-study session, but he had discovered that the original owner hadn’t even done any of it last night. He was so tired that as soon as he opened his papers, he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept so soundly, his ears turned red, his neck smooth and pale, with a small red birthmark behind his ear, resembling a shrinking red dwarf star.

Xie Guilan’s gaze lingered on the desk, then, almost instinctively, he lifted his eyes to stare at the tiny red mark on Chen Wu’s ear.

His lips pressed into a thin line.

It was indeed Chen Wu who had taken care of him last night, but it was hard to believe that this desk had anything to do with him.

---

Chen Wu woke up when the class bell rang. He rubbed his eyes, realizing he hadn’t written a single word of homework. But the class representative had gotten used to not collecting his homework, effectively letting him off the hook.

Meanwhile, Lu Wang, although not understanding the questions, worked diligently on his homework every day.

Suddenly, Chen Wu remembered something. When he turned, he happened to catch Xie Guilan’s eyes, which were locked onto him as he looked up at the formulas on the board. He froze, startled.

“…”

How did this person come in so silently?

He quickly handed Xie Guilan the pancake and soy milk he had bought before the morning session, whispering, “You… you haven’t had breakfast, right? It’s still warm, the pancake has… two eggs added.”

Xie’s father had only given Song Lingwei the medical expenses but hadn’t provided living expenses or paid for a caregiver.

To save money for the caregiver, Xie Guilan didn’t eat breakfast.

Chen Wu decided to use the six million the original owner had saved for running away to support Xie Guilan. As for the money for escaping, he would figure it out later. He didn’t want to keep using money from the Cen family.

The original owner owed too much to the Cen family, and he couldn’t repay it, but he didn’t want to owe them any more. One, because the original owner was gone, and he had taken his place. Two, because the more he owed, the harder it would be to escape unscathed in the future.

Xie Guilan didn’t take the food and didn’t say anything. Chen Wu, feeling frustrated, set it down next to Xie Guilan and sighed.

It was so difficult.

But he couldn’t rush things. He planned to haunt Xie Guilan like a ghost, while avoiding Xie Shangjing like he was a demon. Eventually, Xie Guilan would believe that he genuinely wanted to turn over a new leaf.

“You… you should eat while it’s hot,” Chen Wu said, shifting his position, then turning back to his seat.

Xie Guilan stared at the bag for a while before placing it in the desk drawer, leaving it untouched until it completely cooled.

After the morning self-study session, the class monitor began handing out the papers from the previous week’s test. It was already the second week of the semester, and at Huaijing No. 1 High School, they held weekly tests starting from the second year.

Not every subject was tested each week; only two subjects were chosen, and practice papers were done during self-study periods.

Cen Wu felt reluctant to take the paper. The original owner had always been second to last in the class, with Lu Wang being last.

He even suspected the seating arrangement—placing him and Lu Wang in front of Xie Guilan—was meant to balance out the intelligence in the back row.

Since he was already here, he decided to glance at the paper. To his surprise, the original owner had fallen to last place?!

Some subjects he could accept, but English was a different story. Scoring just 12 points felt like a slap in the face—it might as well have been better to throw the paper on the floor and step on it.

“I… wasn’t I second to last?” Cen Wu muttered, “How did I end up last?”

His voice was quiet, almost to himself, but Lu Wang overheard. He immediately lowered his head in guilt. “It’s my fault. I had diarrhea last week and missed the exam.”

He had grown used to his stable position at the bottom of the rankings, and Cen Wu at second to last, so it didn’t seem like a big deal. If he had shown up, Cen Wu would likely still be second to last.

Cen Wu: “……”

Genuine sincerity can be quite disarming.

Cen Wu was quickly defeated. Before he could respond, Xie Guilan suddenly moved his desk back.

Xie Guilan’s movements were calm, and his voice remained quiet, but Cen Wu sensed the subtle sarcasm.

As a director, Cen Wu understood that every action has a reason behind it. If it were in a movie, Xie Guilan moving his desk would surely symbolize something.

It felt as though Xie Guilan had been dumbfounded, or more accurately, he had no animosity toward Lu Wang but had been stunned by him.

Cen Wu: “……”

In his frustration, Cen Wu grabbed a chemistry paper, determined to redo it. It was just an exam, after all.

Ten minutes later.

Cen Wu: sigh qwq

Apologies, but none of this is familiar.

Feeling defeated, Cen Wu opened his textbook, planning to learn what he could understand.

Though a humanities student, he had chosen science, and he could barely recall half of the periodic table.

Cen Wu began memorizing definitions and formulas, and Lu Wang, seeing him study, also picked up his book and began studying too.

At that moment, several boys entered through the back door. One of them pinched his nose and made a loud gagging sound as though struck by a sudden illness.

“That stinks,” he muttered as he walked by, slamming into Xie Guilan’s desk. Then, he turned to his friend, speaking with sarcastic mockery, “How unlucky—having to be in the same class as him.”

Xie Guilan, in the middle of his test, had his pen dragged across the paper by the impact.

But he was used to such disruptions. He gripped his pen, silently adjusted his desk, and his high nose bridge caught the dim light of the rainy day. Only half of his face was illuminated. In the shadow, his dark almond eyes seemed to sink into the darkness.

Cen Wu lowered his head, feeling equally frustrated. He glanced down and, in a moment of irritation, stuck out his leg to trip the boy.

Xie Guilan froze for a moment.

The boy stumbled, falling flat onto the floor. Many in the class saw it and struggled to suppress their laughter.

“Haha, Zhou Ye, you’ve got a small brain, huh? How do you trip on flat ground?”

“This fall—perfect timing for the second young master to bow.”

“Shit!” Zhou Ye cursed, quickly getting up and about to shout. But when he saw it was Cen Wu who tripped him, his expression changed immediately. He forced a smile. “Second Young Master, what can I do for you?”

“Just… stop talking so much.”

“Huh?” Zhou Ye didn’t understand, but still patted his mouth a few times with an ingratiating smile, “I talk too much, I talk too much. I’ll stop now, Second Young Master, I hope I didn’t disturb you?”

“What’s that smell?” Cen Wu’s beautiful brows furrowed in a cold mist. He leaned back in his chair, sniffing the air and speaking disdainfully, “I don’t smell anything. Your breath stinks.”

Who was he insulting? He had woken up at 5:30, wiped down his desk for over half an hour.

He even bought a lychee-scented air freshener, placing it on the desk for a few minutes. Worried that Xie Guilan wouldn’t like it, he bought one with a cool, subtle fragrance most people could tolerate.

“You…!!!”

Even though Zhou Ye was trying to be obsequious, he couldn’t maintain his composure after Cen Wu’s words. His neck bulged with veins, but he could only grit his teeth and swallow the insult.

Cen Wu didn’t pay attention to his angry departure. He turned to Xie Guilan, winking and comforting, “Don’t mind him. He has a problem with his nose. It actually smells really nice.”

Besides, Xie Guilan’s clothes were already faded, his skin cold, and there was a faint cold scent on him, whether from his body wash or detergent. Either way, it smelled sharp but pleasant.

“……” Xie Guilan raised his dark eyes, staring at Cen Wu for a few seconds. After a long pause, he said nothing, crumpled the paper he had ruined, and tossed it aside, reaching for a new one.

Cen Wu wasn’t sure if Xie Guilan didn’t care or if he was silently plotting revenge, but he suspected it was the latter.

Given Xie Guilan’s vengeful nature, Cen Wu had no doubt that Zhou Ye’s fate would involve being silenced and disposed of in a dark alley.

“Really,” Cen Wu began, feeling anxious. He didn’t want Xie Guilan’s pride to be hurt or his dark side to emerge, “Why would I lie to you?”

The novel was full of morally ambiguous characters, and even the male lead wasn’t a good person. He was colder, more ruthless, and more dangerous than the villains. Saving someone like him wasn’t easy.

Cen Wu had no doubt that, if it weren’t for the law, Xie Guilan would’ve already taken matters into his own hands.

Cen Wu’s long lashes trembled with anxiety. His face flushed with worry that Xie Guilan might lash out at him.

But he didn’t give up. Despite his nerves, he bravely said, “Brother… you really smell great.”

Xie Guilan: “…………”