AS CH 9

Chapter 9

Wearing his school uniform, Lü Chenyue arrived at school. The moment he stepped into the classroom, the other students looked at him as if he were some kind of anomaly. Their eyes followed him until he sat down at his desk—only then did they finally look away.

Lü Chenyue had disappeared the entire day before without notifying the school or applying for leave. Then he suddenly reappeared today. No one knew what had happened to him, nor did anyone really care. However, Lü Chenyue had always been a loner, which made him stand out and easily become the subject of gossip.

Just then, Xu Wenhao entered the classroom and happened to see Lü Chenyue already there. Noticing the healthy color returned to his face, Xu finally felt a bit relieved.

Sensing someone’s gaze on him, Lü Chenyue looked up and met Xu Wenhao’s eyes. Startled, he quickly averted his gaze, his heart skipping a beat for no reason.

The bell signaling the start of class rang, and the students returned to their seats. The female math teacher walked into the room and began the lesson.

Lü Chenyue had no interest in the lecture at all. He didn’t hear a single word of the teacher’s detailed explanation of formulas or past exam questions. Bored, he looked around the classroom and saw everyone focusing intently on the lesson. His gaze drifted to the window, where he lost himself in the scenery outside.

Like that, period after period passed. Every time the break bell rang, he could feel Xu Wenhao’s eyes constantly fixed on him. Sometimes, Xu even seemed like he wanted to come over. That’s why Lü Chenyue deliberately avoided him—he didn’t want the other students to notice Xu Wenhao’s attempts to approach him and spark any unpleasant rumors. After all, Xu was the class monitor.

Xu Wenhao, of course, realized that Lü Chenyue was deliberately avoiding him. He just hadn’t found the right opportunity to get close.

All he wanted was to ask how Lü Chenyue was feeling—if he was doing better.

By the time the dismissal bell rang, Lü Chenyue casually approached one of his classmates. Expressionless, he stood in front of the boy and said in a flat voice:

“Yuqi, I’d like to borrow all of your notes. I took a sick day yesterday, and I couldn’t understand anything the teachers said today. Is that okay?”

Xiao Yuqi was a little surprised that Lü Chenyue had approached him, let alone asked to borrow his notes. He froze for a moment, then pulled out his notebooks from his bag and handed them over.

“Thanks,” Lü Chenyue said plainly as he took them.

“N-No problem,” Xiao Yuqi replied, still stunned. It was the first time Lü Chenyue had ever asked him for anything. They had never interacted before, so it felt strange.

“I’ll need a few days. Once I’ve copied them, I’ll return them,” Lü Chenyue said with his usual blank expression.

“I-It’s fine,” Xiao Yuqi mumbled softly.

After giving a slight nod, Lü Chenyue turned around—only to find Xu Wenhao standing behind him, watching him closely.

Lü Chenyue’s expression turned cold. He averted his gaze and walked past Xu Wenhao without a word, heading out of the classroom.

Xu Wenhao clenched his fists tightly as he watched that proud, distant figure disappear from view.

***

Lü Chenyue didn’t go to the bar today. He gave himself another day off to stay home and properly organize the notes he borrowed from Xiao Yuqi. He had no idea how much time had passed as he focused on sorting them.

When he finally looked up at the clock on the wall, he was shocked to see it was already past 9 PM. Had he really forgotten to eat all day? He closed the notebook on the desk, grabbed his keys, and stood up, planning to head to the convenience store to buy something to eat. He hadn’t eaten for quite a while, and besides, he could continue copying the notes afterward.

But just as Lü Chenyue opened the door to leave, he was startled by a familiar figure standing in front of him. His eyes widened as he stared at the person in front of him—Xu Wenhao.

“What are you doing here?” Lü Chenyue finally found his voice after a long pause.

“I just got out of cram school and bought some late-night snacks. Want to eat together?” Xu Wenhao shook the bag of freshly bought <em>luwei</em> ^[1]in his hand.

Lü Chenyue stiffened for a moment, then turned his head away and muttered, “N-No need. You can eat by yourself.”

“Where are you going?” Xu Wenhao asked curiously.

Seeing that Lü Chenyue seemed ready to head out, Xu glanced into the apartment. Living alone, it was clear Lü Chenyue wasn’t great at taking care of himself. He suspected Lü Chenyue hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

“None of your business!” Lü Chenyue snapped coldly, not even sparing him a glance as he moved aside to leave. He had no intention of dealing with Xu Wenhao and that ever-so-irritating smile on his face.

Xu Wenhao didn’t hesitate to block his path. Without warning, he grabbed Lü Chenyue’s wrist and pulled him back inside, closing the door behind them with practiced ease.

Lü Chenyue was stunned. How could this guy be so overbearing? This was his house! How could an outsider barge into someone else’s home without permission?

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Lü Chenyue shouted in surprise, struggling to shake off the grip. But Xu Wenhao was far too strong—there was no escaping that firm hold. All he could do was let himself be dragged along.

“Eat with me,” Xu Wenhao said simply, leading the way.

This guy was unbelievable. Not only did he break into someone’s house, he even had the nerve to act like it was totally normal!

So this man really was that shameless. Lü Chenyue was truly witnessing it firsthand.

“Who wants to eat with you?! Let go of me!”

Lü Chenyue tried to protest, but Xu Wenhao had already dragged him into the room and forced him to sit down. Then Xu went into the kitchen, grabbed a plate and two sets of chopsticks, and came back.

He emptied the luwei onto the plate, handed one set of chopsticks to Lü Chenyue, and then suddenly slapped his own forehead as if remembering something.

“Damn! I forgot to buy rice. It would’ve been perfect with some rice.” He sighed, then picked up a piece of rice blood cake ^[2]and popped it into his mouth, urging the stunned Lü Chenyue beside him, “Eat! Why aren’t you eating? It’s really good!”

Lü Chenyue sat there with a scowl on his face. Even if he starved, he wouldn’t eat anything brought by Xu Wenhao. But at that very moment, the aroma of the food hit his nose and stirred up a response from his stomach, which betrayed him by growling loudly.

(To be continued…)