“How was today? Are you getting used to military training?” Si Ye stood with a massive floor-to-ceiling window behind him, the neon lights flickering outside.
“It’s alright. Uncle Si, are you still at the company?” Chen Xu looked at the view behind Si Ye, which suggested he was still in the office.
“Mm, I still have some work to finish.” Si Ye took a sip of coffee.
Chen Xu frowned and said, “Uncle Si, don’t drink coffee so late. Work never really ends—you should go home and rest earlier.”
Hearing Chen Xu’s words, Si Ye’s gaze softened. “Thank you for your concern, Xiao Xu. I’ll head back once I finish this bit of work.”
Chen Xu nodded seriously and said, “I’ll have Secretary Jiang supervise you.”
“When did Secretary Jiang betray me and switch to your side?” Si Ye teased.
Standing on the balcony, Chen Xu glanced around and lowered his voice, saying, “Don’t give Secretary Jiang a hard time. Right now, I’m the lady of the house, so he wouldn’t dare go against me.”
Hearing the words “lady of the house,” Si Ye’s smile deepened. “You’re quite self-aware, little one.”
Chen Xu rubbed his burning ears and said nothing.
After chatting for a while, Chen Xu urged Si Ye to hurry up with his work so he could rest sooner.
Si Ye helplessly chuckled. “Alright, you’re really taking on the role of Mrs. Si.”
Chen Xu suddenly felt his face heat up, his fair cheeks turning rosy like a ripe peach, tempting enough to take a bite.
“I’m not talking to you anymore. Good night.” Chen Xu quickly hung up the video call, then stood on the balcony for a while, letting the cool night breeze calm him before heading back to his dorm.
Tang Zhen was about to take a shower, carrying his change of clothes, when he saw Chen Xu walk in.
“Wow, Chen Xu, your face is practically glowing with love. Your relationship with your boyfriend must be amazing~”
Tang Zhen waggled his eyebrows teasingly, but Chen Xu was utterly confused. “What? I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Oh…I get it, I get it. Don’t worry, I’m not a gossip. I won’t tell anyone,” Tang Zhen gave him a knowing smile before pushing open the bathroom door and heading in.
Leaving Chen Xu standing outside, unable to defend himself.
—
The next day, the weather was bad. It started raining before dawn, and by morning, the rain had only gotten heavier. Unsurprisingly, military training was canceled. As soon as Chen Xu opened the class group chat and saw the announcement, the whole dormitory building erupted in cheers.
It seemed no one really wanted to do military training.
With the rain keeping them indoors, Chen Xu and his dormmates had nothing to do and stayed in their room.
Wu Bin was diligently studying, Zhu Yao Yuan was playing games with his headphones on, Tang Zhen lay on his bed scrolling through his phone, and Chen Xu sat at his desk sketching.
In his past life, Chen Xu had studied fashion design and won several awards during his four years at university. He had even planned to start his own fashion brand after graduation, but unfortunately, his untimely death had cut everything short.
In this life, though he chose to major in economics, he still had a passion for fashion design. Whenever inspiration struck, he would sketch his ideas.
Suddenly, Tang Zhen shot up from his bed. “Holy crap! Chen Xu, you’ve gone viral again!”
Wu Bin frowned in irritation, biting his nails and scribbling aimless circles in his notebook.
“What happened?” Chen Xu took off his headphones and looked at Tang Zhen.
Tang Zhen, who slept diagonally across from him—by the door while Chen Xu was by the window—hopped off his bed like an agile monkey and shoved his phone in front of Chen Xu.
Taking a closer look, Chen Xu saw multiple trending forum posts about him and Si Yichen.
The most popular post even had several pictures of the two of them in a heated argument, seemingly disputing something.
“Rich kid throwing his weight around, but the top scorer refuses to bow to power…”
Chen Xu read the title and felt speechless. If these people ever found out about his real relationship with Si Yichen, they’d probably tear him apart.
“Did he actually hit you that day?” Tang Zhen asked curiously.
Chen Xu shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t win against me.”
Tang Zhen burst into laughter. “Chen Xu, you’re really good at bragging.” Looking at Chen Xu’s slim figure, he found it hard to believe he could win against Si Yichen.
“So, is it true? Did this Si Yichen guy really try to use his connections to take your place as the freshman representative?”
“Something like that. But the principal is a fair person, so I was the one who got to speak in the end.” Chen Xu answered calmly, showing no signs of having been bullied.
“That’s so despicable. If you’re not good enough, you shouldn’t be trying to steal other people’s opportunities! Do rich people think they can get anything they want?” Tang Zhen raged.
Chen Xu stayed quiet—probably best not to tell Tang Zhen that he was also quite rich.
—
The forum post stayed trending all morning but then mysteriously disappeared around noon. Not a single related post could be found anymore.
1L: Tsk, tsk, tsk. The power of money is truly terrifying.
2L: Bro, your account is gone.
3L: No surprise. If Young Master wants something, we commoners can only hand it over obediently. Who dares to go against the rich?
4L: SYC definitely paid for his test scores. With money, anything is possible. Poor school heartthrob.
5L: Who’s the school heartthrob? YX?
6L: YX is old news. The new school heartthrob is obviously CX!
7L: CX is really insanely good-looking and smart. No wonder SYC hates him. With CX around, who even notices SYC?
Si Yichen scrolled through the comments, every single one stabbing into his heart. He was so furious that he was practically fuming.
Chen Xu. Chen Xu. Why is he everywhere?!
He had earned his test scores fair and square, yet people were accusing him of buying his way in!
At the start of the semester, Si Yichen had already gained a reputation as an arrogant rich kid who abused his privilege, a label that all of A University’s students quickly attached to him. The more posts that got deleted, the more people believed he was using his power to cover things up.
To prove himself, Si Yichen worked hard in his courses, but even then, people whispered that he had hired someone to do his work for him, doubting that he had any real talent at all.
Si Yichen was so furious that he was practically jumping in rage, but there was nothing he could do about the gossip. After all, people had mouths, and he couldn’t shut every one of them up.
After half a month of military training, everyone in the dorm had gotten tanned—except for Chen Xu. Tang Zhen looked at Chen Xu’s fair and smooth face, feeling so envious it was as if he had swallowed an entire lemon tree.
Zhu Yaoyuan, having gotten slightly darker, looked even more bright and handsome. In fact, after military training ended, he received several love letters, and he was so happy he grinned all day long.
However, both Zhu Yaoyuan and Tang Zhen received even more letters meant for Chen Xu. After receiving them, Chen Xu returned them one by one and firmly told them not to deliver any more for others.
Love letters were troublesome for Chen Xu. Throwing them in the trash seemed disrespectful, but keeping them took up space. Plus, if someone accidentally saw them, it would be embarrassing for the sender. So, he simply returned them to their original owners—whoever wrote them could keep them.
Unexpectedly, this action won him the admiration of many girls, who praised him for being cold on the outside but warm on the inside, calling him a “sweetheart.”
Chen Xu, however, didn’t think he was a sweetheart at all. He had no hesitation when rejecting confessions face-to-face.
—
Not long after starting freshman courses, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.
Since Zhu Yaoyuan and Chen Xu were both locals, they planned to return home, leaving only Tang Zhen and Wu Bin in the dormitory. With only a three-day holiday, neither of them wanted to go back. Tang Zhen found a part-time job at a bakery.
“I’m heading out first. I’ll bring back some mooncakes for you guys,” Zhu Yaoyuan said enthusiastically, rushing off with his luggage right after class in the afternoon.
Chen Xu wasn’t in a hurry to leave since he still needed to stop by the library. Apart from some study materials, he didn’t have much to pack. After gathering his essentials, he grabbed his phone and left for the library.
The moment he stepped out, he heard a commotion at the entrance—it turned out Si Yichen’s luxury car had arrived to pick him up.
Even though most of their classmates didn’t think much of Si Yichen’s character, he was still rich. Naturally, some people still flocked to him, hoping to curry favor.
Si Yichen got into the car with an air of arrogance. The chauffeur considerately closed the door and then asked whether they should wait for Chen Xu. The moment Si Yichen heard Chen Xu’s name, his face turned ice-cold.
“Drive.”
The chauffeur felt a chill run down his spine and quickly started the car, leaving the school gate. It seemed that Young Master Si and Young Master Xu’s silent war had escalated once again.
—
“Did you see the car Si Yichen was in just now? That’s the first time I’ve seen such a ridiculously expensive car in real life. His chauffeur even called him ‘young master’—it was like something out of a drama!”
“Well, he is a rich second generation. His family has money and power, so that car probably means nothing to him. Honestly, Chen Xu got lucky. If I were Si Yichen, with that much money, I’d be walking all over the school. Who cares about some Chen Xu? Even the principal, I’d find a way to force him into retirement.”
“Hahaha, keep dreaming. But it’s weird, isn’t it? Ever since that incident, Si Yichen hasn’t caused any more trouble for Chen Xu. If he wanted to, he could make things difficult for him in a heartbeat.”
“Maybe Chen Xu is actually a rich second-generation kid too, haha…”
“Come on, how many rich kids can there be? Are they all gathering at our school or something? Besides, look at Chen Xu—he’s the top scorer and ridiculously good-looking. If he were also a rich second-gen, how would we ordinary people even survive?”
—
Chen Xu was completely unaware of his classmates’ discussions. He stayed in the library researching until eight in the evening. It wasn’t until Si Ye called him that he snapped out of it, realizing how late it had gotten.
“Still at school?”
Hearing Si Ye’s question, Chen Xu suddenly felt a bit guilty. “Yeah, I’m at the library.”
“Have you had dinner?” Si Ye asked.
“Yes,” Chen Xu answered without hesitation.
“Hmm?”
Si Ye’s short response was enough to make Chen Xu feel nervous—he had clearly seen through the lie.
“…No,” Chen Xu admitted reluctantly, just as his stomach let out an untimely growl.
Si Ye must have heard it because his voice carried a hint of laughter as he said, “Wait there for me. I’ll come pick you up and take you to eat something.”
Chen Xu rubbed his burning ears. “Okay, Uncle Si.”
—
Since he hadn’t finished reading, Chen Xu decided to borrow the books to continue later. Before heading out, he returned to the dorm.
The room was completely dark. Assuming no one was inside, he reached out to turn on the lights. The moment the light came on, he saw Wu Bin standing sneakily near his desk. The second Wu Bin saw him, he visibly flinched.
Chen Xu frowned and walked over. “Why didn’t you turn on the lights?”
Wu Bin hurried back to his own seat, muttering in a low voice, “I could see just fine. No need to waste electricity—it’s expensive.”
It wasn’t that Chen Xu didn’t understand hardship—saving money when necessary was important. But the sky was already dark, and refusing to turn on the light could lead to tripping and getting injured. A single hospital visit would cost far more than an electricity bill.
Without saying more, Chen Xu grabbed his packed items and quickly left the dorm. On his way out, he took out his phone and sent a message to Tang Zhen.
Chen Xu: _Remember to lock your cabinet before you go out._
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