System: Tsk tsk, he's a nice guy.
Xiang Yu: "..." Where did you come from?
-System: Just came from another constellation.
The system's response lacked a certain spark, sounding more like that of a weary traveler.
System: Your place is still the quietest. I'll be online later. Call me if you need anything.
Before he could ask any further questions, the system went into standby mode.
There is very little communication between the two.
The breakfast at the No. 1 Middle School cafeteria is quite plentiful. There are five or six kinds of porridge alone at the window. Xiangyu ordered three servings of preserved egg and lean pork porridge, three baskets of soup dumplings, and three egg-filled sesame seed cakes.
"Wow, you ate so much?"
Gu Chen sized up the person in front of him. He was not short, probably over 180 cm, but his build was a bit thin and slender, especially his waist.
A gust of wind blew on their way to the cafeteria, causing Xiang Yu's short-sleeved shirt to stick tightly to his body. When Gu Chen tried to shield him from the wind, he put his arm around Xiang Yu's waist. Although the wind did not reach him, Gu Chen noticed that Xiang Yu's waist was ridiculously thin.
Tsk.
“Eat more, you’re too thin.” Gu Chen thought to himself, his hand unconsciously touching the other’s side to measure.
A pair of hands reached out without warning. The man in front of him, who was holding a plate, staggered, and some of the porridge in his bowl spilled out. He was so angry that he turned around, glared at the culprit, and shoved the plate into the other person's hands.
He carried another plate to an empty seat, telling himself that it wasn't worth getting angry with this idiot over such a small matter; nothing this idiot did was particularly surprising.
Erque Gu Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing. On the contrary, he was very happy to be treated to a meal. He carried the tray and followed along happily.
"Who are you taking this with you?" Gu Chen asked, sitting across from him and biting into a sesame seed cake.
She ate her porridge with her eyes downcast, not even glancing at him.
It's obvious that she's angry because of what just happened.
Gu Chen, unaware of the situation, pressed on, "Boy or girl? Friends? Did you know each other before or just met? You brought me food right after we met? You're such a nice person, classmate!"
Feeling annoyed at being given the "friend zone" card for no reason, Xiang Yu looked up at the other person, swallowed the mouthful of porridge, and said, "One should not talk while eating." After saying that, he continued to eat with his head down.
These words clearly stumped Gu Chen. The other person paused for a moment, then obediently lowered his head and started eating. As he ate, he began to laugh, and couldn't stop laughing out loud.
Xiang Yu's scalp tingled. He thought to himself, "Eat quickly, finish eating, and leave quickly, ignoring this guy."
The truth is, no matter how fast Xiangyu rushed, he couldn't eat as quickly as Gu Chen.
Now, Gu Chen waited for him to speak, but the other person started talking non-stop.
After the meal, Xiang Yu was exhausted.
As soon as they stepped out of the cafeteria, Gu Chen pressed himself against him again, putting his arm around his neck and saying, "I'll shield you from the wind, you're welcome."
Hold.
Xiang Yu couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.
The teaching area consists of three parallel buildings, housing the first, second, and third-year students in order from the outside in. They are named Qihang, Lihang, and Yuanhang. Xiangyu and his classmates are on the third floor of Lihang Building. The first floor houses various offices for the grade level, and the second floor contains two sports classes and two art classes.
When Li Yifan first started school, he specifically told him to hurry up when he got to the second floor. There were quite a few troublemakers in their sports class who dominated the campus. Fortunately, the grade office was downstairs, so they were relatively restrained on campus. But it was a different story off campus. It was said that a few reckless guys in the sports class had cracked open the skulls of some people from other schools.
It's hard to tell what's true or false, but it's always better to stay away.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu nodded outwardly, but inwardly he only hoped that more people like him would come.
After all, these are walking moral standards for him.
"So who exactly did you bring this breakfast for?" Gu Chen leaned his entire weight on Xiang Yu's shoulder, like a clingy large dog, with a hint of coquetry.
They were almost at the stairwell. Xiang Yu hadn't said a word the whole way, but now that he didn't want to be held any longer, he said, "Let go of me, I'll tell you."
"Hey, little classmate, you've actually started bargaining. You've gone bad." Gu Chen said this, but the corners of his mouth never left his lips, and he cooperated by letting go of his arm.
Xiang Yu felt a lightness on his shoulder. "Cousin." He rubbed his neck, where the warmth was still there, and he was still a little unaccustomed to the sudden disappearance of his human scarf.
Gu Chen: "Are they also in our grade?"
Xiang Yu: "Hmm."
Gu Chen: Which class?
The two climbed the stairs together. When Xiang Yu was asked which class he was in, he thought for a moment. Li Yifan never said which class he was in. He learned this information from his aunt when she was handling his transfer. At that time, his aunt said that his cousin was a year younger than him, but they were in the same grade, in the science class 13.
“Reason 13.” Xiang Yu replied to Gu Chen, but the other man’s gaze was not on him. He just frowned slightly, pulled him to a stop, and stared intently ahead.
Xiang Yu followed his gaze and saw two familiar faces.
If we're talking about the many troublemakers in this year's Grade 11 sports class, Liu Hu is definitely a notable figure among them.
He's a rich second-generation heir; his family is in real estate. All the school district properties around the high school belong to his family. He's wealthy, an athlete, and has a muscular physique. No matter the season, he always wears a loose T-shirt. When playing basketball or running, regardless of whether he's sweating or not, he always lifts up his shirt to show off his eight-pack abs. Plus, he's a tough guy, so he's a school bully in terms of looks. Many girls are attracted to him.
Girls kept coming into his life one after another. Some approached him on their own, while others were pursued by this young master who spent money to save face. In short, as long as the young master spared no expense, there was no one he couldn't win over.
Unless you meet someone who's rich.
Coincidentally, Xu Youqing was one of them.
Xu Youqing refused very decisively at the time.
You're not my type.
Unfortunately, the young master couldn't bring himself to refuse. He had never been rejected and had Xu Youqing completely under his thumb during the school term, cornering her several times. When Xu Youqing's leg was fine, she could avoid him, but now that she was lame, she had no choice but to accept her fate.
The siblings were blocked in the stairwell by Liu Hu and two others. Xu Youqing was using a cane with one hand and holding Xu Youluo's hand with the other.
Judging from Xu Youluo's eyes, she wished she could devour Liu Hu alive.
Liu Hu pretended not to see it, staring at Xu Youqing with a smile, his tone both ambiguous and intimate, "Youqing, is your leg feeling better? Can you walk by yourself?"
Xu Youluo said irritably, "Are you blind? If you hadn't stopped me, my sister would already be sitting in the classroom by now."
Xu Youqing remained calm: "Thank you for your concern, my leg is fine."
Liu Hu was clearly not satisfied with this, and smiled, "Is Li 13 on the fifth floor? It's too far, it's not good for your legs. I'll take you up." As he spoke, he reached out to pull Xu Youqing up, and it seemed that his next move was to directly hug her.
Xu Youlu blocked Liu Hu from touching her, but was separated from him by two people brought by Liu Hu.
They play the rogue game, they won't touch you, they'll just annoy you, and if you do anything, it's your fault, since they didn't do anything.
Xu Youluo was so angry she wanted to hit him, but Xu Youqing stopped her with a warning look.
It won't cost you anything.
"Alright then." Xu Youqing stared at Liu Hu, her eyes completely expressionless. "Then I'll trouble you to escort me upstairs."
Xiang Yu stood not far away, frowning as he considered punching Liu Hu, but the system warned him as soon as the idea took hold.
-System: The system has detected that the other party has no malicious intent. If you take action, your morality index will be deducted. Your morality index is 60 points.
Hold.
This feeling of powerlessness isn't new. Last night, I gained 10 points to my moral compass, so let it go.
Xiang Yu, his face dark with anger, rushed toward Liu Hu.
At worst, we can just return what we got from whoever we took it from.
[Author's Note: Xiang Yu: I'm starting to get angry.]
Actually, they've already started giving hints. There are some small details that hint at the plot, so feel free to guess!
I won't give any hints here; I feel like even a slight hint would be enough to guess the idea, haha.
Finally, please favorite and comment! Mwah~
Chapter Nine: It's Strange That You End Up in the Corner, You're the Strangest
Chapter Nine: Cornering the Corner: Strange, You're the Strangest
"Don't make a move. They haven't done anything. If you make the first move, it will only make things more complicated," Gu Chen said, grabbing Xiang Yu's wrist.
He could tell what was going on with these people. Liu Hu was just there to harass them, not with any malicious intent, just a lustful man. His deskmate was too rough with his punch, and if it got to Old Tang, things would get messy.
The Lihang Building has two staircases, one on the east and one on the west. Many people go up and down these stairs, but few dare to intervene. Students coming and going only glance at this side briefly before rushing to their next stop. Only a few dare to stand at the entrance of the third floor and look down.
In no time, the entrance to the third floor was filled with people.
Because there were so many people, no one noticed Gu Chen standing in the corner.
Gu Chen patted Xiang Yu on the shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay, I'll take care of it."
Xiang Yu didn't know what he was up to. Just as she was about to ask, she saw the other man walk over openly, look at Liu Hu who was about to carry Xu Youqing in a princess carry, grin, and say loudly, "This classmate is really a good person, always ready to help others!"
Liu Hu didn't look at him directly, thinking to himself that this person looked familiar, but without thinking too much about it, he casually replied, "Do you need to tell me?"
Gu Chen: "Hey, but I'm not saying this to be mean, classmate, this might be your first time. Actually, there's a proper way to help others." Before Liu Hu's two henchmen could react, he pulled Xu Youluo out of the encirclement and brought her to Xu Youqing, continuing: "For example, right now, this female classmate has difficulty walking, but her younger brother is here, so she obviously doesn't need to trouble anyone else to help her."
Xu Youluo reacted quickly, squeezing between Liu Hu and Xu Youqing to separate them. She then picked up her sister around the waist and said, "Yes, if my sister hadn't been so brave, I would have carried her up already. I don't need your help." After saying that, she was about to leave.
Liu Hu understood that this person was calling him a busybody, and with a livid face, he tried to stop Xu Youluo, but Gu Chen moved aside to block him.
Xu Youluo carried his sister and scrambled up the stairs, running incredibly fast.
The duck that was about to be eaten flew away.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" Liu Hu cursed, shouting without hesitation. Looking at Gu Chen's grinning face, he grabbed the other's collar and threatened, "Helping others is your pleasure, right? What class are you in? I'll come find you and talk about this sometime."
The two were about the same height. Gu Chen was held by the collar but did not move at all, his lower body was very stable.
Yu Guang glanced at his deskmate coming this way, gestured to stop him, and smiled brightly at Liu Hu, whose face was black with anger, and said, "Okay, Gu Chen from Class 2 of Literature, welcome to come and discuss with me." As he spoke, he pried open the fingers on his collar one by one.
Liu Hu's face was obviously ugly. Others might not have thought anything of it, but only he knew that he had used all his strength, but the man's strength in prying open his fingers was frightening, and he had done it almost effortlessly.
"Gu Chen, right? That sounds familiar. Where are you from?" Liu Hu almost remembered the name. He could recall that the name appeared frequently, but he couldn't remember exactly where. Influenced by the other person's fearless personality, he was certain that he had heard the name when he was out in the world.
Gu Chen was busy straightening the collar of the clothes he had just rescued. It was 100% cotton and couldn't be pulled like that, or it would wrinkle easily. Hearing this, he glanced at Liu Hu and looked at him with a questioning expression.
One of the two followers, a short guy with a buzz cut, had felt that Gu Chen looked familiar since he first saw him. Now that he remembered, he wanted to whisper in Liu Hu's ear to remind him, but Liu Hu, being tall, refused to bend down to listen. So he raised his voice and said, "Brother Hu, isn't this Gu Chen, the one who tops the list of good deeds on the north wall in our class's cleaning area? You even complained about it when the class monitor punished you by making you wipe the list, saying how long it would take for the dust to accumulate on that name."
The students watching from the third-floor entrance heard everything clearly and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, I thought he was a mob boss, but he turned out to be a philanthropist."
"Which gang do you belong to? What? The Good Deeds and Honors Gang? Never mind then."
"Gu Chen, the top student in the grade who almost persuaded the entire second-year high school class to drop out and repeat the year at the opening ceremony, and they don't even recognize him?"