PSWHNC CH6

Chapter 6 Better Safe Than Sorry?

The alpha male students who were watching the entire scene gasped.

A boy on the third floor said, “Back in our physiology class, the teacher said pheromones were important. I didn’t believe it then, but I do now. People with 0% compatibility really can’t coexist peacefully.”

Second floor: “I thought a 0% compatibility just meant parting ways and avoiding each other. Turns out, in real life, it’s jumping around, causing chaos, and disturbing everyone.”

Fifth floor: “Who was it that said they wanted to pursue Luo Zhiyu a few days ago? Luo Zhiyu’s a legend!”

Fifth floor’s east wing: “Not pursuing, not pursuing. I don’t want to get hit with a broom. I’m fine just watching.”

Second floor’s west wing: “You never know, so don’t give up yet. He might only hit Xiao Yan with a broom.”

Fourth floor: “The campus heartthrob has crashed and burned, hahaha! This is one for the books.”

First floor: “No laughing! Yan-ge is the face of our dorm.”

At the base of the dorm building, near the wall—

Xiao Yan: “……”

Director Wu: “……”

Director Wu had just suffered the first major setback of his moral education career. A second-year male student in a blue-and-white school uniform had been sprayed in the face with soda. His hair dripped steadily, and his uniform was soaked through. The air was filled with the fresh scent of peach soda.

The culprit blinked, the corner of his lips twitching, wanting to laugh but forcefully holding it back. His eyes darted away, and after a moment, he slowly raised his hand to pluck a small leaf off the top of Xiao Yan’s head.

Luo Zhiyu looked a little regretful as he brought the can to his lips and licked off the last trace of soda from the rim. “Where’d you buy this? It tastes pretty good.”

“Luo Zhiyu, are you still doing military training tomorrow?” Xiao Yan wiped the corner of his mouth with one hand. “If you are, I’ll get you another one.”

Sweet but not cloying, the taste was indeed good.

Luo Zhiyu wasn’t clueless. He caught the meaning behind Xiao Yan’s words right away. His eyes drifted past him to the broom beside Director Wu, weighing whether he could get in a couple more hits.

“Alright, alright,” Director Wu said, his peacemaking efforts quite dramatic, hiding the broom behind him. “No more arguing. It’s nothing serious, let’s just all calm down.”

Fan Yue, who had just finished eating at the canteen and was walking back, had witnessed the entire ‘Peach Soda Incident.’

“Hello, Director,” Fan Yue greeted politely, then turned to the two troublemakers. “It’s almost one o’clock. You two should eat lunch.”

“Don’t worry, Director. They’re just goofing around. It’s nothing serious,” Fan Yue said quickly, thinking Director Wu might punish them. “They’re actually… pretty united and friendly.”

Even Fan Yue didn’t sound convinced by his own words, so he added, “Xiao Yan measured Luo Zhiyu’s uniform size yesterday, gave him the clothes, and even lent him his meal card just now.”

“That’s good to hear,” Director Wu said, clearly relieved.

Luo Zhiyu, carrying the broom and the lunch he’d bought with Xiao Yan’s card, left the scene with Director Wu.

In Room 109 of Building 1, the scent of peach soda lingered in the air. Fresh out of the shower, Xiao Yan sat at his desk, towel-drying his hair. His freshly washed school uniform was hanging on the balcony.

Zhang Shu and Tang Yuan were making the most of their time reviewing for the placement exams. Meanwhile, Fan Yue was organizing the student council’s new member registration forms. There was less than an hour left before afternoon classes. Xiao Yan slumped over his desk, planning to rest his eyes for a bit.

“Luo Zhi…… le?” Fan Yue frowned at a form in his hand. “What’s his relationship to Luo Zhiyu?”

Xiao Yan reached out to take the form. The culprit who’d sprayed him with peach soda was smiling at him from the ID photo. The answers filled in on the form were in Luo Zhiyu’s messy handwriting, making them hard to decipher.

“That’s Luo Zhiyu,” Xiao Yan said as he handed the form back. He pulled an English test paper from the shelf and glanced over it with half-lidded eyes. “Take it from someone with experience. Don’t ever call him ‘Luo Zhile’ to his face.”

Fan Yue: “……”

In the hallway of Dorm 101 in Building 3, Jing Ximing stared blankly at the extra broom that had appeared.

“Where did this come from?” he asked.

“Found it on the sports field,” Luo Zhiyu said as he downed a glass of water. “It’s pretty handy.”

“I thought so too,” Jing Ximing nodded.

There was an unspoken pecking order to all things, and the second-year students definitely knew the canteen well. Luo Zhiyu felt that this lunch, bought with Xiao Yan’s meal card, tasted exceptionally good. Luo Zhiyu took out his phone, snapped a photo of the boxed lunch in front of him, and sent it to Xiao Yan.

[Not Zhile]: I forgive you. [photo]

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: frowning fairy.jpg

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: I don’t forgive you.

[Not Zhile]: you turd.jpg See you next round.

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: No need to wait.

[Not Zhile]: Huh?

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: If you get caught fighting, you’ll have to sweep the sports field for two days. You’re not trying to run away, are you? frowning fairy.jpg

[Not Zhile]: It wasn’t a fight. I was just hitting you.

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Bring your broom after class. Meet me on the field, or I’ll dock your credits.

[Not Zhile]: Annoying.

“Zhiyu!” Jing Ximing called from in front of the washing machine. “I’m doing laundry. Want to throw in your military training uniform too? The teacher said that since you just finished differentiating, it’s better if you skip training for a few days.”

No. 1 High School’s military training uniform was navy blue. It looked good, but the material was mediocre. After chasing Xiao Yan across half the campus and hauling a broom around, Luo Zhiyu’s clothes were covered in dust and dirt, with a faint peach scent.

“Coming!” Luo Zhiyu walked over, carrying the clothes he had just changed out of, and threw them all into the washing machine. “Might as well wash my uniform too.”

At No. 1 High, students weren’t allowed to walk around campus without wearing their uniforms. There were two autumn sets, just enough for one to wear while the other was being washed. Luo Zhiyu threw the set he wore on the opening ceremony into the machine and changed into the other set.

“No. 1’s uniforms are ugly as hell.” The machine was a bit full, so Jing Ximing turned the broom upside down and used it to push their clothes deeper into the drum before closing the lid. “I nominate these for the ugliest school uniform in the country.”

The uniform actually wasn’t that bad. The white background with red trim for the first-year uniforms had a very athletic feel, giving off a vibrant, youthful impression when worn by students. They were neat and proper, which teachers and parents liked, but students didn’t.

Since he didn’t have to go to the military training, Luo Zhiyu napped straight through the afternoon in the dorm. He was woken by a voice call from Xiao Yan.

“Where are you?” came a thoroughly punchable voice from the other end of the line.

Luo Zhiyu had just woken up and couldn’t quite remember where he was. He accidentally tapped on the video call button, and was startled by the sight of his own bedhead in the camera.

The person on the other end paused for a moment, then turned on his video as well.

“I’ve done half,” Xiao Yan said, casually filming the field with his phone while no one was around. “I left the other half for you. Hurry up.”

“Fine.” Jing Ximing was still asleep. Luo Zhiyu grabbed the big broom by the door and headed toward the sports field under the golden evening sun.

Just as expected, Xiao Yan had already swept half the field. He stood near the podium, waiting, a vocabulary book in hand.

Luo Zhiyu stopped in front of him, broom on his shoulder. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you that studying like this isn’t efficient?”

Xiao Yan leaned against the podium, broom in the other hand. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you that studying like this looks good to teachers?”

Only then did Luo Zhiyu notice that the book was upside down. He wasn’t studying at all, just putting on a show.

“What a show-off.”

The two who had been fighting that morning were now each holding a broom, sweeping the field. Under the setting sun, they’d entered a brief truce.

Luo Zhiyu swept once. Xiao Yan trailed behind him, lazily giving two half-hearted sweeps. Somehow, they managed to finish the whole field, except for the flowerbeds along the edges. The beds were lined with shrubs and coated with dust, making them harder to clean.

Luo Zhiyu had been feeling that something was off about Xiao Yan, and now he figured it out. He had changed uniforms. The one he was wearing now was the same style and color as Luo Zhiyu’s. Even the name tag sewn onto it looked nearly identical.

0301 — Xiao Yan.

0301 — Luo Zhiyu.

“You’re wearing a first-year school uniform?” Luo Zhiyu paused mid-step.

“Yup,” Xiao Yan said. “My mistake. I only brought one set of the second-year uniform. I can’t exactly go around without clothes.”

Going without it would mean losing credit.

“And whose fault is that?” Xiao Yan lightly tapped Luo Zhiyu’s hand with the broom handle.

The shrub area was particularly hard to sweep. While chatting, Luo Zhiyu followed Xiao Yan up onto the flowerbed.

“You’re the one who was careless. Don’t blame me,” Luo Zhiyu said, waving his broom. “Accidents always come out of nowhere. You should always have two sets of school uniforms ready. People, you know, should plan ahead and be prepared for anything.”

In just a few words, he’d spun the entire peach soda incident into an accident and washed his hands of it completely.

The shrubs were wild and overgrown. Luo Zhiyu was too busy taunting Xiao Yan to notice where he was stepping. Just as he finished speaking, both of them heard the unmistakable sound of fabric tearing.

Xiao Yan: “?”

Luo Zhiyu: “……”

The back of his uniform had been torn wide open by a sharp branch.

Xiao Yan immediately took a step back, distancing himself from the scene, and threw out a sarcastic comment, “Accidents always come out of nowhere.”

“Good thing I brought two uniforms,” Luo Zhiyu said fearlessly. “As long as I’ve got something to wear, it’s fine.”

Getting a new uniform would take a week at least. It’d be a hassle to keep it clean, but he wasn’t going to be left without clothes.

He tied the ripped jacket around his waist, and the two of them finished sweeping the field, goofing around as they worked. Just as they reached their dorm room and were about to open the door, they heard Jing Ximing let out a miserable shriek.

Luo Zhiyu’s right hand twitched as he pushed open the door. “What happened?”

Jing Ximing stood in front of the washing machine, staring at the drum with a sorrowful expression.

“Stay calm in the face of trouble. Don’t freak out,” Luo Zhiyu said, peeling off his torn uniform jacket as he walked over.

Luo Zhiyu: “……” Choking.

The two first-time boarders stared dumbfounded at the washing machine. Luo Zhiyu’s navy blue military uniform had bled dye, turning everything inside a murky shade of blue.

Now, both Jing Ximing’s white shirt and Luo Zhiyu’s red and white school uniform were completely blue.

Luo Zhiyu, the excellent first-year student representative, had lost all his school uniforms just three days into the new semester.