Leaving the office, Xiang Han’s heart and steps grew heavy.
Reaching the stairs, he exchanged a look with Shen Ze and they leaned against the wall at the same time, sighing.
Half a moment passed before Xiang Han muttered, “I wonder what’s the result. I didn’t dare ask.”
Was there any need? Didn’t you know you were gay a long time ago? Hearing his words, Shen Ze frowned silently.
“Right, here’s your love letter.” Xiang Han was filled with disdain, shoving the ‘criminal’ to him.
Shen Ze lowered his head to look at him. Disregarding the letter, he turned around and stood before Xiang Han with one hand on his shoulder and the other one pressed against the wall. He took his time to lean in and whispered, “What I said just now, everything is true.”
Xiang Han’s gaze flickered. At that moment, he was unsure of what sort of reaction he should have and only after a second, he deliberately asked, “The one where you said you were just kidding?”
Shen Ze’s gaze sunk and the hand gripping Xiang Han’s shoulders unconsciously tightened. Xiang Han panicked, “I- I understand, but… I’m a bit confused now. About that, I still need some time to think…”
“What’s there to think about? Why are you still here?” Principal Zhang suddenly appeared, glaring at them furiously.
Both of them separated in an instant. One fixed his sleeves while the other fiddled with his clothes, feigning a ‘nothing is wrong’ attitude.
Principal Zhang came closer with a dark expression, “You’ve already forgotten what I said after you left my room? Do you need me to call your parents right now?”
Xiang Han, “No…”
Shen Ze said, “There was a hair strand on his collar, I was only helping him brush it off.”
Xiang Han was instantly filled with admiration. This sort of bullshitting ability was too beautiful.
The principal was angered to the point of laughter, “Where’s the hair strand?”
“I threw it on the ground.”
Shen Ze continued bullshiting, causing Xiang Han to feel amazed once again and secretly raised a thumb in his heart
The principal laughed once more and simply went along with his nonsense. He nodded, “Okay then, find it for me.”
Shen Ze fell silent. After a short struggle, he said, “It’s too small. Perhaps, it has already been stepped upon.”
“Then take off your shoes and find it.” The principal didn’t have any intention of letting him off and even muttered to himself, “I don’t believe I can’t fix you.”
Xiang Han couldn’t resist and nearly burst out laughing, enduring until his face turned red.
Coincidentally, Principal Zhang caught it and immediately glared at him, “What are you laughing for? You too, look for it. If you can’t find it, you two don’t need to go back.”
Xiang Han’s expression stiffened and Shen Ze glanced at him before saying self-righteously, “Principal Zhang, I think you may also have stepped on it. I’ll have to trouble you to… take your shoes off, too.”
Principal Zhang, “…”
Of course he knew Shen Ze was bullshitting. There wasn’t any hair strand, it was most likely these two rascals were just fooling around.
Principal Zhang’s face became extremely dark. In the end, he only huffed, “I want you to finish sweeping this floor’s stairs by today.”
Saying so, he left in long strides to go and find the form teachers of their respective classes.
Principal Zhang’s view on young love was just like that; as long as it didn’t affect their studies, he wouldn’t take drastic measures. There were times where an adult’s interference only served to worsen the problem. If he ignored it, there was a chance it would blow over in time. However, these two rascals had just left his office and already forgot how to keep themselves in check. Did they treat his words as fart?
The Principal felt he had really lost face. After finding the form teachers of their classes and learning that they shared a bunk, he immediately decided to separate their dorms. As for classes…
“Why don’t we put Shen Ze into Class 5, or transfer Shen Han to Class 6?” Principal Zhang suggested.
The teachers of both classes refused. What a joke, they were both on the top of their classes. In 23rd High, after segregating the students according to their streams, they were arranged into classes according to their ranks. What if they got first place during the nation’s gaokao, wasn’t that akin to pushing the golden egg into somebody else’s nest?
Seeing this, the principal sighed, “Then, you need to watch over them. Don’t let them stay together if there’s nothing.”
“Did something happen? They’re usually good students.” The form teacher of Class 2 taught languages in Class 1 and couldn’t help but speak up for the two of them.
Principal Zhang endured for half a day before throwing down a word as he left, “Not studying properly.”
The teachers of both classes froze and exchanged a glance. Two nerds staying together, what else could they be doing if not studying?
Sneezing, Shen Ze finally finished sweeping the floor and when he returned to the dorm, he was stunned to see that his bunk had been changed.
“What happened?” Xiang Han followed after him. Seeing him stop, he followed Shen Ze’s line of sight and asked in surprise, “Eh, where’s your stuff?”
The brother staying on the top bunk coincidentally came back from retrieving hot water and saw them staring at his bunk. He scratched his head and walked over, “Shen Ze, your bunk has been moved to 305, it was the form teacher who helped you move.”
Shen Ze suddenly understood. Packing up the remainder of his things, he abruptly pulled Xiang Han out of the door before he left and grabbed his wrist, “Think about it carefully. I’m not in a rush, but your answer…”
Saying so, he paused for a moment before gnashing his teeth and lowered his voice, “You’re not allowed to disappoint me.”
Xiang Han was speechless. Then, what did he have to think about?
After that incident, from time to time, the principal would watch them like a hawk. Shen Ze was extremely disciplined and never crossed the line in the slightest.
After receiving his confession, whenever he saw Shen Ze, Xiang Han found himself unable to speak to him calmly, not to mention, develop any sort of brotherly love.
According to the original plot, he’d thought the brotherly love route would be easier than romantic love. Who would have thought…
Could it be because Shen Ze didn’t blacken, so their brotherly love developed too fast? Or was it that no matter which route he chose, it would ultimately end up as the lover’s route when it came to him?
Xiang Han fell into deep thought and was depressed for a few days but then, found that Shen Ze remained extremely calm, as if nothing had changed. He couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Had he received a fake confession?
Observing Shen Ze for a period of time, Xiang Han discovered that after the other person confessed to him, there weren’t any changes in his behaviour at all, it was as if he had completely forgotten about it. It was fine if it was just school where they had to avoid others, but even when they were home during term break, Shen Ze was acting completely normal.
Xiang Han felt depressed. Why was he the only one tangled up over this matter?
After mulling over it, he pretended to be calm. His mission needn’t be completed in a hurry and if everything followed their current progress rate, he estimated there’d be another sixty to seventy years left. Let’s see, who could remain more calm?
What he didn’t know was that although Shen Ze appeared to be calm on the surface, his inner heart was in turmoil. Every day, he not only needed to study, he also had to earn and save money for the sake of their future.
The most obvious way would be how frequently he requested money from Shen Zheng Duo. Each time he asked for a sum that wasn’t small and over time, Shen Zheng Duo couldn’t help but become suspicious.
“Why do you need to buy materials every day? Little Han, he…”
“He doesn’t dare ask from you,” Shen Ze immediately cut him off.
Shen Zheng Duo seemed to come to a realisation and from then on, whenever Shen Ze asked him for money, he would give double the amount.
In the blink of an eye, it was the second semester of their third year. Shen Zheng Duo rented an apartment near their school and specially hired a caretaker to cook nutritious food for them.
Once the principal got to know of them moving out, he instantly grew depressed. After knowing it was their families who rented the flat for them, he was flabbergasted and secretly thought, their parents were actually… more open than them?
He planned to let the form teachers of their class pay them a visit. When he learned these two students were from the same family, his face became colorful.
“His father is Shen Zheng Duo, the CEO of Hong Ze. Last year, he donated experimental equipment to our school,” The teacher of Class 1 reminded him.
“CEO Shen? Didn’t he only have one son?”
“Shen Han is his step son,” The teacher of Class 2 told him before sighing, “Although they’re step brothers, their relationship is quite good.”
“Too good,” The principal muttered. “It’s still better if you pay them a visit and remind CEO Shen to be not too focused on results. It’s important to pay attention to the children’s mental health.”
“U-Understood,” The two teachers nodded. The stress from the gaokao examination was not a small problem.
After he left, Principal Zhang felt both of them probably didn’t get it. However, it was nearly the national examinations, the student’s minds couldn’t afford to be distracted. It wasn’t too good if he went to find them now, so he decided to observe them carefully.
After living together, Xiang Han and Shen Ze began to have more interactions
23rd High was a well-known school and a month before the gaokao, many esteemed universities came over to promote their respective institutions.
Many students clutched onto their pamphlets as they pondered over it and Xiang Han, who was infected by the atmosphere, couldn’t help thinking about his own reality too.
The Federation’s Military school back in his world had always been his dream. However, his spiritual force was lacking. He wondered just how much his spiritual force would be able to increase through his experiences in these virtual worlds. Would it be sufficient for him to barely make it in from the bottom?
Over the weekend, they returned to the Shen villa. Shen Ze asked him, “Do you have any opinions on which university you’re going to?”
“Nope, anywhere is fine.” Xiang Han was uninterested since this was all fake anyhow.
Shen Ze sat by the side and replied in all seriousness, “I want to be in the same city as you.”
Xiang Han paused in surprise. So, his brother actually remembered he’d confessed before?
He also grew solemn, “This… isn’t up to me, right? We need to wait for the results to be out.”
Glancing at him, Shen Ze’s tone was particularly deep as he said, “When that time comes, let’s discuss and fill in the form together.”
Seeing how confident Shen Ze was, Xiang Han’s brows furrowed. In the original story, Shen Ze had been schemed by the original host and Chang Yu Chi and was, thus, unable to take part in the national gaokao.
Having thought of this, he reminded, “On that day, you must definitely take care of yourself. Don’t walk in secluded areas and remember to set your alarm clock properly. Make sure you have all your stationery, watch out when you’re crossing the road, you must… mmf.”
Shen Ze abruptly blocked his mouth, his face dark. “Although I know you’re concerned for me… you can just do it in your heart. No need to say it out loud.”
Xiang Han hurriedly nodded and took a big gulp of air after he was released before saying, “Don’t worry, there’s still a month left. During this time, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“So you know you have a crow’s beak?” Shen Ze glared at him furiously.
Xiang Han was speechless. Not only did he know, he even figured out the rules for it.
“Since this is the case, let’s settle some debts,” Shen Ze suddenly said.
Leaving the office, Xiang Han’s heart and steps grew heavy.
Reaching the stairs, he exchanged a look with Shen Ze and they leaned against the wall at the same time, sighing.
Half a moment passed before Xiang Han muttered, “I wonder what’s the result. I didn’t dare ask.”
Was there any need? Didn’t you know you were gay a long time ago? Hearing his words, Shen Ze frowned silently.
“Right, here’s your love letter.” Xiang Han was filled with disdain, shoving the ‘criminal’ to him.
Shen Ze lowered his head to look at him. Disregarding the letter, he turned around and stood before Xiang Han with one hand on his shoulder and the other one pressed against the wall. He took his time to lean in and whispered, “What I said just now, everything is true.”
Xiang Han’s gaze flickered. At that moment, he was unsure of what sort of reaction he should have and only after a second, he deliberately asked, “The one where you said you were just kidding?”
Shen Ze’s gaze sunk and the hand gripping Xiang Han’s shoulders unconsciously tightened. Xiang Han panicked, “I- I understand, but… I’m a bit confused now. About that, I still need some time to think…”
“What’s there to think about? Why are you still here?” Principal Zhang suddenly appeared, glaring at them furiously.
Both of them separated in an instant. One fixed his sleeves while the other fiddled with his clothes, feigning a ‘nothing is wrong’ attitude.
Principal Zhang came closer with a dark expression, “You’ve already forgotten what I said after you left my room? Do you need me to call your parents right now?”
Xiang Han, “No…”
Shen Ze said, “There was a hair strand on his collar, I was only helping him brush it off.”
Xiang Han was instantly filled with admiration. This sort of bullshitting ability was too beautiful.
The principal was angered to the point of laughter, “Where’s the hair strand?”
“I threw it on the ground.”
Shen Ze continued bullshiting, causing Xiang Han to feel amazed once again and secretly raised a thumb in his heart
The principal laughed once more and simply went along with his nonsense. He nodded, “Okay then, find it for me.”
Shen Ze fell silent. After a short struggle, he said, “It’s too small. Perhaps, it has already been stepped upon.”
“Then take off your shoes and find it.” The principal didn’t have any intention of letting him off and even muttered to himself, “I don’t believe I can’t fix you.”
Xiang Han couldn’t resist and nearly burst out laughing, enduring until his face turned red.
Coincidentally, Principal Zhang caught it and immediately glared at him, “What are you laughing for? You too, look for it. If you can’t find it, you two don’t need to go back.”
Xiang Han’s expression stiffened and Shen Ze glanced at him before saying self-righteously, “Principal Zhang, I think you may also have stepped on it. I’ll have to trouble you to… take your shoes off, too.”
Principal Zhang, “…”
Of course he knew Shen Ze was bullshitting. There wasn’t any hair strand, it was most likely these two rascals were just fooling around.
Principal Zhang’s face became extremely dark. In the end, he only huffed, “I want you to finish sweeping this floor’s stairs by today.”
Saying so, he left in long strides to go and find the form teachers of their respective classes.
Principal Zhang’s view on young love was just like that; as long as it didn’t affect their studies, he wouldn’t take drastic measures. There were times where an adult’s interference only served to worsen the problem. If he ignored it, there was a chance it would blow over in time. However, these two rascals had just left his office and already forgot how to keep themselves in check. Did they treat his words as fart?
The Principal felt he had really lost face. After finding the form teachers of their classes and learning that they shared a bunk, he immediately decided to separate their dorms. As for classes…
“Why don’t we put Shen Ze into Class 5, or transfer Shen Han to Class 6?” Principal Zhang suggested.
The teachers of both classes refused. What a joke, they were both on the top of their classes. In 23rd High, after segregating the students according to their streams, they were arranged into classes according to their ranks. What if they got first place during the nation’s gaokao, wasn’t that akin to pushing the golden egg into somebody else’s nest?
Seeing this, the principal sighed, “Then, you need to watch over them. Don’t let them stay together if there’s nothing.”
“Did something happen? They’re usually good students.” The form teacher of Class 2 taught languages in Class 1 and couldn’t help but speak up for the two of them.
Principal Zhang endured for half a day before throwing down a word as he left, “Not studying properly.”
The teachers of both classes froze and exchanged a glance. Two nerds staying together, what else could they be doing if not studying?
Sneezing, Shen Ze finally finished sweeping the floor and when he returned to the dorm, he was stunned to see that his bunk had been changed.
“What happened?” Xiang Han followed after him. Seeing him stop, he followed Shen Ze’s line of sight and asked in surprise, “Eh, where’s your stuff?”
The brother staying on the top bunk coincidentally came back from retrieving hot water and saw them staring at his bunk. He scratched his head and walked over, “Shen Ze, your bunk has been moved to 305, it was the form teacher who helped you move.”
Shen Ze suddenly understood. Packing up the remainder of his things, he abruptly pulled Xiang Han out of the door before he left and grabbed his wrist, “Think about it carefully. I’m not in a rush, but your answer…”
Saying so, he paused for a moment before gnashing his teeth and lowered his voice, “You’re not allowed to disappoint me.”
Xiang Han was speechless. Then, what did he have to think about?
After that incident, from time to time, the principal would watch them like a hawk. Shen Ze was extremely disciplined and never crossed the line in the slightest.
After receiving his confession, whenever he saw Shen Ze, Xiang Han found himself unable to speak to him calmly, not to mention, develop any sort of brotherly love.
According to the original plot, he’d thought the brotherly love route would be easier than romantic love. Who would have thought…
Could it be because Shen Ze didn’t blacken, so their brotherly love developed too fast? Or was it that no matter which route he chose, it would ultimately end up as the lover’s route when it came to him?
Xiang Han fell into deep thought and was depressed for a few days but then, found that Shen Ze remained extremely calm, as if nothing had changed. He couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Had he received a fake confession?
Observing Shen Ze for a period of time, Xiang Han discovered that after the other person confessed to him, there weren’t any changes in his behaviour at all, it was as if he had completely forgotten about it. It was fine if it was just school where they had to avoid others, but even when they were home during term break, Shen Ze was acting completely normal.
Xiang Han felt depressed. Why was he the only one tangled up over this matter?
After mulling over it, he pretended to be calm. His mission needn’t be completed in a hurry and if everything followed their current progress rate, he estimated there’d be another sixty to seventy years left. Let’s see, who could remain more calm?
What he didn’t know was that although Shen Ze appeared to be calm on the surface, his inner heart was in turmoil. Every day, he not only needed to study, he also had to earn and save money for the sake of their future.
The most obvious way would be how frequently he requested money from Shen Zheng Duo. Each time he asked for a sum that wasn’t small and over time, Shen Zheng Duo couldn’t help but become suspicious.
“Why do you need to buy materials every day? Little Han, he…”
“He doesn’t dare ask from you,” Shen Ze immediately cut him off.
Shen Zheng Duo seemed to come to a realisation and from then on, whenever Shen Ze asked him for money, he would give double the amount.
In the blink of an eye, it was the second semester of their third year. Shen Zheng Duo rented an apartment near their school and specially hired a caretaker to cook nutritious food for them.
Once the principal got to know of them moving out, he instantly grew depressed. After knowing it was their families who rented the flat for them, he was flabbergasted and secretly thought, their parents were actually… more open than them?
He planned to let the form teachers of their class pay them a visit. When he learned these two students were from the same family, his face became colorful.
“His father is Shen Zheng Duo, the CEO of Hong Ze. Last year, he donated experimental equipment to our school,” The teacher of Class 1 reminded him.
“CEO Shen? Didn’t he only have one son?”
“Shen Han is his step son,” The teacher of Class 2 told him before sighing, “Although they’re step brothers, their relationship is quite good.”
“Too good,” The principal muttered. “It’s still better if you pay them a visit and remind CEO Shen to be not too focused on results. It’s important to pay attention to the children’s mental health.”
“U-Understood,” The two teachers nodded. The stress from the gaokao examination was not a small problem.
After he left, Principal Zhang felt both of them probably didn’t get it. However, it was nearly the national examinations, the student’s minds couldn’t afford to be distracted. It wasn’t too good if he went to find them now, so he decided to observe them carefully.
After living together, Xiang Han and Shen Ze began to have more interactions
23rd High was a well-known school and a month before the gaokao, many esteemed universities came over to promote their respective institutions.
Many students clutched onto their pamphlets as they pondered over it and Xiang Han, who was infected by the atmosphere, couldn’t help thinking about his own reality too.
The Federation’s Military school back in his world had always been his dream. However, his spiritual force was lacking. He wondered just how much his spiritual force would be able to increase through his experiences in these virtual worlds. Would it be sufficient for him to barely make it in from the bottom?
Over the weekend, they returned to the Shen villa. Shen Ze asked him, “Do you have any opinions on which university you’re going to?”
“Nope, anywhere is fine.” Xiang Han was uninterested since this was all fake anyhow.
Shen Ze sat by the side and replied in all seriousness, “I want to be in the same city as you.”
Xiang Han paused in surprise. So, his brother actually remembered he’d confessed before?
He also grew solemn, “This… isn’t up to me, right? We need to wait for the results to be out.”
Glancing at him, Shen Ze’s tone was particularly deep as he said, “When that time comes, let’s discuss and fill in the form together.”
Seeing how confident Shen Ze was, Xiang Han’s brows furrowed. In the original story, Shen Ze had been schemed by the original host and Chang Yu Chi and was, thus, unable to take part in the national gaokao.
Having thought of this, he reminded, “On that day, you must definitely take care of yourself. Don’t walk in secluded areas and remember to set your alarm clock properly. Make sure you have all your stationery, watch out when you’re crossing the road, you must… mmf.”
Shen Ze abruptly blocked his mouth, his face dark. “Although I know you’re concerned for me… you can just do it in your heart. No need to say it out loud.”
Xiang Han hurriedly nodded and took a big gulp of air after he was released before saying, “Don’t worry, there’s still a month left. During this time, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“So you know you have a crow’s beak?” Shen Ze glared at him furiously.
Xiang Han was speechless. Not only did he know, he even figured out the rules for it.
“Since this is the case, let’s settle some debts,” Shen Ze suddenly said.
