EPISODE 14

Xie Guilan didn’t accept his money transfer. Cen Wu sent several more, but in the end, Xie Guilan only took thirty yuan from him.

Cen Wu: "..."

He's really hard to handle.

Cen Wu stayed at the Xie family’s estate for two days without seeing Xie Guilan again. He could only hang out with Xie Shangjing and the others.

Xie Guilan’s father wasn’t home, and Xie Shangjing’s mother, Zhou Li, lived separately in a small building behind the estate. She rarely came out and didn’t get involved in anything. Xie Shangjing often brought people over to the estate.

Cen Wu didn’t want to hang out with them and kept to himself. Xie Shangjing thought he was still angry and didn’t bother him, expecting Cen Wu to calm down and make up with him on his own.

It always played out the same way.

He didn’t know that the original person in Cen Wu’s body was particularly uneasy about taking someone else’s place and thus didn’t dare to argue with him. Xie Shangjing simply thought Cen Wu loved him too much to be angry with him.

Cen Wu: "..."

Man, you...

There were also a few horses kept at the Xie estate, and there was a grass field by the lake. Although it wasn’t as large as a dedicated racecourse, it was enough for a few laps. When Xie Shangjing and Chu Zijian went horseback riding, Cen Wu secretly messaged Xie Guilan.

"Cen Wu: sudden appearance.jpg"

"Cen Wu: What time are you going to school the day after tomorrow? I want to go with you. Consider it me paying you for accompanying me on a car ride."

"Cen Wu: Transferring 3000 yuan to you."

Xie Guilan still didn’t respond, but Cen Wu wasn’t giving up. He didn’t believe he couldn’t give the money away.

"Cen Wu: I can’t believe I’m resorting to this. Tearful.jpg"

"Cen Wu: Transferring 5000 yuan to you."

Xie Guilan: "..."

The hospital was already bustling early in the morning. Xie Guilan was in line to get Song Lingwei’s test results when his phone kept buzzing. He picked it up to find Cen Wu spamming him with messages again.

Cen Wu didn’t directly say, "I want to give you money," nor did he imply that Xie Guilan was poor and in need of it. Instead, he made it so that there was no sense of shame in receiving it.

Whether Xie Guilan refused or accepted, neither side would feel awkward.

But no matter what, Xie Guilan could never take anyone’s money. His dark peach blossom eyes looked down as he stared at the last kitten bowing emoji that Cen Wu had sent.

Then he coldly turned off his phone.

Cen Wu didn’t receive a message from Xie Guilan. Xie Guilan left the Xie family’s estate on Sunday evening. After some hesitation, Cen Wu confirmed that Xie Guilan had left and went home to sleep.

On Monday, when he arrived at class, the class committee member walked into the classroom holding the exam results. "Everyone, the weekly exam scores are out. I’ve posted them in the usual place. Come and take a look if you want."

There were already a dozen or so students in the classroom, all rushing to crowd around. Lu Wang also peeked.

Then he returned to his seat, dejected, sniffed, and said, "You were actually secretly studying."

Cen Wu scored 139 in English, ranking third, but only 39 in Chemistry, putting him near the bottom.

"I told you, but you didn’t believe me," Cen Wu stuttered.

Lou Wang wasn't unhappy that Chen Wu had good grades, but he felt that he told Chen Wu everything, yet Chen Wu secretly studied behind his back. He treated his friend like a brother, but his friend left him in the dust.

When fewer people were around the podium, Chen Wu went over to take a look, snapping a photo to show Xie Guilan later—this was evidence of his reform.

The boy sitting in front of Chen Wu turned around, asking excitedly, "Second Young Master, how did you study? When did you do it?"

No one suspected Chen Wu of cheating. After all, everyone around him scored lower in English, including Xie Guilan, who didn’t write the essay. His weekly exam scores were always in the middle of the class.

"I... I," Chen Wu was startled by the question and became a bit nervous, stammering, "I... I studied in another life."

The boy: “……”

"Mr. Hou is coming!" someone shouted outside the classroom. The students gathered around the score sheet quickly returned to their seats as the morning self-study bell rang.

Each day, a different teacher supervised the morning study session. Today, it was chemistry teacher Hou Zhong, in his forties, carrying a briefcase, with a naturally stern face.

Hou Zhong was strict in teaching, and few dared to offend him in class. Chemistry homework was always handed in the most promptly.

Hou Zhong had already reached the podium when Xie Guilan entered the classroom through the back door, carrying his schoolbag. Hou Zhong's mouth twitched downwards in displeasure—he had never liked Xie Guilan.

In his eyes, good grades didn’t mean much. No matter how many top ranks Xie Guilan earned, he could never match the status of the Chen family.

If it weren’t for the grade director assigning him to be in charge of this year’s chemistry competition, he wouldn’t even consider tutoring Xie Guilan.

"Good grades now don’t mean good grades in the future," Hou Zhong snorted coldly. "Some students think just because they score high on a few tests, they can skip school and not hand in homework."

He shared an office with Meng Liangping and knew a bit about Xie Guilan’s situation, aware that Xie had to go to the hospital every day before coming to school.

But he didn’t care—what did that have to do with him? Should he be responsible just because a student’s parent was critically ill?

Xie Guilan’s eyes were downcast, his long lashes casting a cold shadow. When Hou Zhong met those eyes, he felt even more displeased. What kind of attitude was that? No respect for authority!

"You..." Hou Zhong cleared his throat, intending to lecture Xie Guilan some more, wanting to teach him a lesson about knowing his place.

But then a cold, pale arm trembling rose into the air.

Chen Wu, trembling but rebellious, interrupted, "Teacher, I... I didn’t... didn’t hand in my homework either."

"Are you crazy?" Lu Wang widened his eyes, whispering, "Didn’t I just help you hand it in?"

Chen Wu stubbornly insisted, "I... I just didn’t hand it in."

Hou Zhong was taken aback. Why was Chen Wu suddenly speaking up?!

If he didn’t hand it in, he didn’t hand it in. Was he supposed to call Chen Wu’s parents?!

But with the whole class watching, he couldn’t scold Xie Guilan and let Chen Wu off the hook.

That would make it look like he was singling out Xie Guilan.

"Everyone out!" Hou Zhong waved his hand irritably. "Stand outside and reflect on your actions!"

Xie Guilan didn’t say anything. He put down his schoolbag, grabbed a test paper, and left the classroom.

Chen Wu followed closely behind him.

Outside, Xie Guilan started working on the test paper, and Chen Wu also took out a middle school chemistry paper to work on. He couldn’t help but glance at Xie Guilan’s paper. When Xie Guilan’s eyes, shaded with indifference, glanced over, Chen Wu quickly backed off a few steps.

Cen Wu’s eyes were icy and striking, with dark, full pupils and long lashes that looked like a mountain sparrow ready to take flight.

But her lips were pressed together, red and moist, her demeanor shy as she often kept her head down, as if lost in thought.

Xie Guilan: “……”

Xie Guilan suppressed the cold ferocity and irritation in his eyes. He felt he could no longer continue like this with Cen Wu. This pampered good-for-nothing was willing to stand in punishment just to be with him.

Cen Wu could have helped him in other ways without getting punished.

Besides, he didn’t need Cen Wu’s help, whether it was money or anything else. It didn’t matter if Cen Wu liked him or had other intentions; he didn’t need it.

Cen Wu picked a balancing question to work on, but his eyes went blank, unable to understand anything. He had no choice but to gently tug on Xie Guilan’s sleeve. “Can… can you teach me this?”

Xie Guilan took his paper; the first ten multiple-choice questions had eight wrong, and the other two were marked: guessed.

Xie Guilan: “……”

Xie Guilan sighed very lowly, and Cen Wu shrank back at the sound of his sigh, but before he could say anything, a sudden furious voice from the head teacher rang out from downstairs.

“Kissing! Kissing! Kissing!” the head teacher shouted. “Can you stop kissing?! Last night I caught you two in the grove, I let it slide because it was late, but now again?!”

Teenage romance.

Cen Wu couldn’t resist peeking out. In front of the head teacher stood a boy and a girl, both bowing their heads as they were scolded.

Xie Guilan suddenly called him, “Young Master.”

“Hmm?” Cen Wu turned around, surprised that Xie Guilan had initiated a conversation with him.

But Xie Guilan suddenly asked, “Do you know what Rule 13 says?”

Cen Wu was taken aback.

Of course, Cen Wu didn’t know. Who actually memorizes the school rules? He pursed his lips, confused as to why Xie Guilan brought this up. He wondered if Xie Guilan was just trying to show off by knowing the rules by heart, while he felt like a fool for not knowing them.

“School rules!” the head teacher grew angrier. “Do you know what Rule 13 says? A strict ban on teenage romance!”

The boy was crying, the girl was crying, and in the end, they were sobbing in each other’s arms, only to be angrily pulled apart by the head teacher.

They clung to each other, creating a chaotic scene.

Xie Guilan turned his head, his cold, thin eyelids lowering, staring at the chaos below, his voice cold, making a side comment, “Young Master, do you see anything?”

This is what happens when you mess around with teenage romance. If you want to stay out of trouble, avoid getting involved.

Cen Wu was confused, but he thought that since Xie Guilan had just been scolded by the teacher, he probably wasn’t happy with the teacher. He should stand by Xie Guilan’s side. So after thinking for a moment, he said regretfully, “What a tragic pair.”

Xie Guilan: “……”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***