However, compared to that time, Zhao Yuan no longer pretended to be a reclusive bookworm.
He became much more relaxed, as if he had completely shed his pretense, revealing his lazy yet slightly playful temperament.
The streetlights here are much brighter, making their shadows clearly visible.
Perhaps out of sheer boredom, Zhao Yuan actually lagged behind and started doing childish things like stepping on shadows.
After a while, he couldn't help himself and peeked at Qin Chu's face from behind: "Are you still angry?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you these things."
"I didn't mean to lie to you, I'm just not used to telling others." Zhao Yuan looked up at the streetlight. Of course, he had to admit that towards the end, he was indeed a little afraid that Qin Chu would find out.
Although that "boss" was just a nickname Yang and his gang called him, he hardly participated in the daily lives of those thugs, only chasing away some troublemakers who came to the school area to cause a disturbance when necessary.
"Why do you act differently at school?" Qin Chu finally glanced at him and stopped to ask.
"Why?" Zhao Yuan pondered for a while, but couldn't really think of a reason. He was just doing it subconsciously. But he wouldn't answer like that; he couldn't stand not being sarcastic for a day.
He chuckled and said, "It's just funny... that people call me a nerd while they're trembling in fear of the rumors about me."
"Do you need a beating?" Qin Chu reached out and grabbed Zhao Yuan by the collar.
The person had half-lifted the stray hairs that covered their eyes, revealing a pair of eyes that were somewhat cold, yet also lazy and mocking.
"Is what's happening outside more important, or what's happening at school? If there's a fight going on outside, would you give up even the most important exam?" Qin Chu's voice was cold.
Looking into Zhao Yuan's eyes, he suddenly understood.
Zhou Sisi's absence from the exam was because of Meng Bo, and Wang Peng's absence from the exam was because of Zhou Sisi.
But Zhao Yuan had no special reason; it was simply because he didn't care about school life or the college entrance examination.
Despite being stared at like that by Qin Chu, Zhao Yuan wasn't intimidated at all. Instead, he seriously considered it for a moment and said, "That depends on the specific situation. Why don't you try to persuade me, and I might consider it?"
This attitude made Qin Chu have no desire to talk to him. He pushed Zhao Yuan away, turned around and continued walking forward.
Zhao Yuan caught up with him instead and asked, "Are you talking about the college entrance exam, deskmate? Is the college entrance exam that important?"
He took two steps forward, walked backwards, and kept his eyes on Qin Chu.
Even before this, Zhao Yuan had noticed that his deskmate cared a lot about the college entrance examination. It was an unusual kind of care, as if the college entrance examination had other meanings besides what the teachers talked about.
"Isn't it important?" Qin Chu asked him in return.
Zhao Yuan suddenly lowered his head and laughed, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
He turned back to stand next to Qin Chu, still smiling: "Okay, that's important. We'll prepare diligently and take the exam as normal. And then what?"
Qin Chu stopped and turned his head to look over.
Zhao Yuan's eyes were bright and clear, and a hint of unspoken sarcasm played on his lips as he asked, "And then? Will our lives change?"
Qin Chu was unable to answer.
In that instant, he even felt that the boy beside him seemed to have seen through the essence of this world as nothing more than a virtual cage.
They busily prepared for the exams, but various strange reasons prevented them from taking them. Some took the exams but made no impact, while others simply didn't have the opportunity to take them at all.
It was as if a giant hand was constantly "correcting" all their efforts, imprisoning them permanently in this scene.
He saw through it all, but he simply hid himself, putting on a shell that perfectly blended into his environment, and watched it all with a mocking gaze.
Qin Chu did not answer and silently returned home.
He had a dream that night.
The environment in the dream was very familiar; it was the living quarters of the Imperial First Legion's flagship.
Two potted orchids sat before the simulated window, and beneath it was a leather sofa upon which rested a new type of energy gun awaiting assembly. Simulated sunlight streamed in through the window, allowing the soldiers, long adrift in the outer reaches of the star system, to enjoy a brief moment of sunbathing.
Qin Chu spent most of his life in this environment, and a small portion of his remaining life on a huge, dark, garbage planet.
Sitting on the sofa, fiddling with the accessories of the energy gun, Qin Chu thought that he was just too tired lately, so his brain was creating familiar scenes to soothe his emotions.
But after carefully examining the part numbers on the energy gun, he realized that this was probably just a scene from his memory.
With a "beep," the hatch opened, and the person who walked in further confirmed Qin Chu's guess.
The newcomer's hair was already gray. Although he looked only middle-aged, in an empire where the average age was over two hundred, this meant that the person was much older than one could imagine.
After entering, he took off his military cap and waved the red envelope in his hand at Qin Chu, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Tell me, why did you fight?"
Despite asking this question, the man's face showed no seriousness, but rather a gentle smile. The highest military rank of the empire on his shoulder reflected a soft light in the sunlight.
Qin Chu did not answer, and continued to assemble the things in his hands.
The middle-aged man wasn't in a hurry. He walked over and sat down, watching as the man successfully assembled the energy gun in just two minutes.
After Qin Chu finished what he was doing, he continued, "Darling, this is the third time you've been disciplined this month."
This time, Qin Chu spoke. He looked up at the middle-aged man, his tone as cold as before, but his voice much more immature. He said, "Don't call me 'darling'."
The middle-aged man shrugged helplessly and handed him the red envelope that represented a warning.
With the envelope shoved right in front of him, Qin Chu continued, "I did nothing wrong."
"Then why did the military academy discipline you?" the middle-aged man asked.
Unlike others who would explain why they fought to gain support, Qin Chu simply said, "I'm doing what I believe is right."
He simply refused to shoot at animals on the training field and clashed with his instructor.
"Is what you think is right truly right?" the middle-aged man asked again, his tone persuasive and encouraging.
"Who defines right and wrong? Is he always right?"
The young man on the sofa stood up, exuding an undeniable sharpness.
The dream abruptly ended there, as Qin Chu's powerful biological clock woke him up.
He opened his eyes and saw the slightly yellowed ceiling of Cheng Cheng's room.
Sitting up in bed, Qin Chu raised his hand and rubbed his temples.
Noah greeted him as usual: "Good morning, sir. According to our monitoring, your sleep quality wasn't good last night. Did you dream about the old marshal again?"
Qin Chu gave a soft "hmm" and, unusually, did not immediately go to wash up, but sat on the bed for a while.
He actually remembered what happened after that scene.
The old man said a long thing to him: "Look at you, your body is covered in thorns. These thorns are powerful, but they make you different from the people around you. Do you know what people in this world are best at? They are best at shaping others into the same shape as themselves."
"To protect your thorns, it's best to cover yourself with something, even if you're doing the right thing."
The old man even winked at him twice.
But to Qin Chu, these words were equivalent to "be more discreet when you cause trouble in the future. As long as you don't get caught, you can do whatever you want with me."
So when Qin Chu returned to school, he took advantage of the night to evade surveillance and released all the animals used for shooting practice on the training ground. As a result, the military academy the next day was in complete chaos.
Chapter 23, First Story (21)
He went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. Qin Chu looked up at himself in the mirror. He looked almost exactly like the boy he had in his dream, but his once sharp edge had been greatly diminished. Like a sword sheathed, he was less piercing, but now exuded a greater sense of unknown fear.
Perhaps Zhao Yuan's actions yesterday really gave him a headache, which is why he dreamed about things from so long ago last night.
It took him a long time to fully understand what the old man was saying, largely thanks to his battles of wits with the old fogies in the cabinet. But now, it seems some people are just naturally gifted.
Despite having the potential to soar to great heights, he knew how to put on a facade, acting as a well-behaved student at school and unrestricted as his boss outside of school.
Not only were they spared the teacher's nagging, but they were also exempted from the three monthly parent-teacher meetings.
After wiping his face, Qin Chu understood the situation.
No matter how you attack that camouflage, it's useless; if you're going to do something, you have to get serious.
Zhao Yuan was surprised that Qin Chu, who was so angry yesterday, would actually come to the store on his own initiative today.
When his parents downstairs said that a friend had come to see him, Zhao Yuan thought it was Yang Ge coming again. Just as he was about to shoo the person away, he saw the person standing across the street from the second-floor window.
At this hour, with people coming and going downstairs, Zhao Yuan still spotted Qin Chu very quickly. Even though there was a telephone pole right behind him, Qin Chu's back was ramrod straight, as if he were carrying a military knife.
He was still wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans, standing there with his phone in his hand. Zhao Yuan recognized this posture; he was definitely memorizing English vocabulary.
Zhao Yuan peered out the second-floor window for a while before leaping down the stairs in quick succession.
Given his deskmate's personality, he would never come looking for him unless there was a reason.
Upon meeting Zhao Yuan, Qin Chu did not explain his purpose. He led Zhao Yuan away from his family's shop, around two alleyways, and into the alley he had cleared out.
After surveying the alleyway, Qin Chu didn't stop. He easily scaled a wall and climbed onto a spacious platform on the third floor.
Zhao Yuan followed in his footsteps, climbed up, and sat down directly on the ground.
He rested his chin on his hand, looked up at Qin Chu who had already stood still, and asked with a smile, "You've run away, you've crawled, what do you want from me, deskmate?"
Zhao Yuan felt very strange when he asked that question.
He was somewhat nervous, and also felt a sense of unease, which he could only describe as a feeling of gain and loss. But he was also very clear that deep down, an uncontrollable excitement was rising within him.
This must be his truest feeling.
He was very curious about Qin Chu's plans.
His deskmate seemed like a disciplinary committee member, meticulous and exceptionally serious. But deep down, he was arrogant and unruly, and when he got into trouble, he was even worse than Qin Chu. But no matter how much trouble he caused, Qin Chu always had a protective instinct for those around him that seemed to be etched into his soul.
What would a person do if he discovered that his seemingly obedient and timid deskmate was actually a ruthless gangster?
Heartbroken? Utterly devastated?
Should I offer earnest and heartfelt advice, or sever all ties directly?
Zhao Yuan was incredibly curious.
This strange excitement even made him want to laugh uncontrollably.
When Zhao Yuan saw Qin Chu lower his eyes and give him a faint glance in response to his question, Zhao Yuan noticed that Qin Chu had lowered his eyes and was giving him a dismissive look.
Without any persuasion, reprimand, or even questioning like yesterday, the man simply walked up to him and said succinctly, "Nothing, I just wanted to chat with you."
Zhao Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Can't help but want to punch me, deskmate?"