YMW CH 24

Burning

After the disciplinary director handled Zhou Ye and the others, Meng Liangping went back to the classroom. He waved at Xie Guilan from the back door, signaling him to step outside.

“Xie, here’s the deal,” Meng Liangping said. “Our school just set up a new scholarship. There’s one for each grade, and the top scorer in the final exams gets it.”

“You were the top scorer last semester, right? You should receive five thousand yuan soon. It should appear in your account these days.”

“Scholarship?” Xie Guilan raised his eyes, surprised.

“Yeah,” Meng Liangping said, sounding sincere. He patted Xie Guilan’s shoulder encouragingly. “Do well this semester, too.”

The scholarship at Huaijing No. 1 High School had a strong reputation. Many alumni sponsored awards, and some were even more generous than university scholarships. If Song Lingwei hadn’t fallen ill, Xie Guilan would have had an easier life than most high school students.

But this scholarship, even with back-pay for last semester, was a first.

Xie Guilan didn’t respond further and headed back to the classroom.

It was already September, and next week evening self-study sessions would begin. The weather had been especially rainy in Huaijing this year, likely due to the typhoon. Outside, the sky appeared dim and gray.

Inside the classroom, students groaned in unison. Since the semester began, it had rained almost every day, and they hadn’t had a single outdoor sports class.

“I just want to go outside,” Lu Wang said, staring at the rain.

However, Cen Wu liked the rain. It allowed him to stay in class without drawing attention. The sports field felt too crowded, and he didn’t like how he felt—his body seemed weak and numb, making it hard to move.

Lu Wang couldn’t understand him and thought Cen Wu resembled a cat, trying to avoid getting its fur wet.

Since the sports class became a study session, Cen Wu took out his first-year math book and began reviewing. His math scores weren’t great, and he only scored 102 points on the last test, the lowest of all his subjects.

He had forgotten most of it. After half a month of cramming formulas, he figured he could barely score 60 or 70, still not passing.

He struggled with a function problem for twenty minutes, but couldn’t solve it. He almost wanted to ask Xie Guilan for help.

Just then, his phone rang.

Cen Wu didn’t intend to check, but when he saw it was Chu Zijian, he decided to look.

【Chu Zijian: “Second Young Master, it’s Wang Yue’s birthday tonight. He asked me to go to Blue Night for drinks. Should I go?”】

Wang Yue wouldn’t dare invite Cen Wu, thinking he was out of his league, but Chu Zijian’s family was just average among the rich kids, though he and Wang Yue were close.

Cen Wu had just exposed Wang Yue, so he had to think about his boss’s feelings. He couldn’t betray Xie Guilan.

Cen Wu: “…”

It suddenly dawned on Cen Wu: in the original story, this was always Xie Guilan’s lowest point in high school.

Things never went as planned.

The provincial chemistry competition was coming up in two days. It was relentless, and it felt like everyone was trying to stop Xie Guilan from participating.

Though the plot in the original story could be changed, since that first night after arriving in the book, he hadn’t been controlled by the original anymore. But this world was already quite hostile to Xie Guilan. Without the plot’s interference, many things would still lead to the same outcome.

It was just a chemistry competition, wasn’t it?

He didn’t believe Xie Guilan wouldn’t be able to go.

Wang Yue’s birthday could be celebrated anywhere. Huaijing had many bars, not just Blue Night, which had the most beautiful people, but there were plenty of other places too.

If they insisted on going to Blue Night, it was clearly about getting back at Xie Guilan.

Cen Wu wasn’t going to let this slide. He was going to show these people that even cotton could burn when angered!

He sent a message to Chu Zijian.

【Cen Wu: “Wait for me, I’m coming too.”】

【Chu Zijian: “???”】

Chu Zijian immediately realized this might not end well. Cen Wu was definitely planning to ruin the event. But no matter what, he had to follow his boss, even if it meant going to ruin Wang Yue’s birthday.

Blue Night was crowded tonight, and Xie Guilan left half an hour earlier than usual.

The last class of the evening was chemistry with Hou Zhong. In his eyes, there were only two types of students: the rich and the poor. Cen Wu couldn’t help but feel disgusted with himself. He had been bad, but at least he didn’t sneak out. He simply grabbed his bag and left the classroom.

Anyway, Hou Zhong wouldn’t dare stop him.

Chu Zijian was waiting for him at the entrance of Blue Night, accompanied by someone else. With company, Cen Wu didn’t mind the bar as much.

Wang Yue had reserved a private room on the top floor of Blue Night. The higher you went, the more exclusive the rooms, though the top floor wasn’t even the highest—those who wanted to access the basement levels with casinos had a much harder time.

Only Cen Wu had heard of it all, not even Xie Shuangjing might have known about it.

The top floor’s corridor was bathed in a dim blue light, with gold-etched wall lamps that added to the decadence of the place, a shadowy reminder of indulgence beneath the glitzy surface.

Cen Wu didn’t greet anyone. Without hesitation, he pushed open the door to the private room. A crowd of people had already gathered inside. Wang Yue sat in the center, surrounded by a group of beautiful girls.

Everyone turned to look up at him in unison.

Several servers were present, and Xie Guilan and Ji Changyu were there too, along with a few girls. Their faces looked off, as if something had happened earlier.

When Ji Changyu saw Cen Wu, his heart skipped a beat. He knew how much Cen Wu disliked Xie Guilan, and he hoped Cen Wu wouldn’t lose control now that Xie Guilan was present.

He tried to pull Xie Guilan to his side, but Xie Guilan didn’t move. His eyes, caught in the dim blue glow, locked onto Cen Wu.

Cen Wu didn’t acknowledge him. As he walked by, he lightly brushed Xie Guilan’s wrist.

“…”

He touched him again.

The skin on Xie Guilan’s wrist felt unnervingly sensitive, sending an inexplicable wave of irritation through him.

When Wang Yue saw Cen Wu’s face, a hint of malice flashed in his eyes, though he quickly masked it with a smile. He was about to ask Cen Wu why he bothered to show up at this place.

But Cen Wu had already picked up a glass. His beautiful, misty eyes curving, he raised his glass and said, “Tonight, we’re here to celebrate Brother Yue’s birthday, wishing him a future full of… no, glowing success.”

Cen Wu wasn’t bad with alcohol. As a director, he had to handle his share of social drinking. His body also held its own, and after one glass, his expression remained unchanged.

Wang Yue’s muscles twitched uncontrollably. He had just had three stitches on his head and was still recovering when Cen Wu showed up.

What was he trying to do?!

Wang Yue glared at Cen Wu for a few seconds before suddenly clapping his hands and laughing. He told Cen Wu, “The Second Young Master is actually willing to drink my birthday toast. My ancestors must be smiling down on me.”

Cen Wu wasn’t going to humor him.

Wang Yue was drunk from all the socializing, and his breath reeked.

Cen Wu sat down on the sofa, making sure not to sit near Wang Yue. He purposely chose a spot as far away as possible.

Wang Yue stiffened his arm in mid-air, then lowered it, impatiently telling one of the girls, “Go on, quickly pour some more wine for the Second Young Master.”

The girl hurriedly stood up.

Cen Wu raised his hand to block the glass, showing no respect for him. But with so many people around, his throat tightened. “I… I’m done drinking. What’s the point of having all these people gathered here? Everyone should leave.”

He turned his gaze toward Xie Guilan.

Xie Guilan looked at him across the crowd, then grabbed Ji Changyu’s arm to leave, but Wang Yue suddenly spoke up.

“Wait.”

Wang Yue was targeting Xie Guilan. Last time, he hadn’t been able to teach him a lesson and ended up getting beaten and humiliated.

Now, he wanted to regain some face.

He hadn’t expected Cen Wu to follow them.

But he couldn’t let it go. Wang Yue narrowed his eyes and said to Xie Guilan, “Don’t leave yet. It’s been a long night. Let’s stay here, drink some more, and play a game.”

He had someone bring out a roulette wheel and ten glasses of strong whiskey.

“Well, it’s my birthday,” Wang Yue said to Xie Guilan, his tone almost pleading. “Give me some face, I’ll take a turn for you.”

Wang Yue didn’t wait for Xie Guilan to respond. He spun the wheel, which had various game options on it.

Some were harmless, like truth or dare, counting to seven, or simple physical challenges.

Others were much more suggestive.

The wheel stopped quickly.

Wang Yue let out an exaggerated “Oh!” and said, “It’s the card-passing game, clockwise… What a coincidence, the next player is Second Young Master.”

Xie Guilan didn’t move.

“Pass the card,” Wang Yue said with a smirk. “Haven’t played before? The kind where lips meet lips.”