An Anomaly in the Net Cafe

The bite mark on Lu Huaizhi’s forearm had originally scabbed over, but due to the impact, the edges of the wound had torn. Fresh blood seeped out, mixed with dirty dust from the wall.

In the high summer heat, it would easily become infected if not treated immediately.

Lu Huaizhi allowed Shi Sui to hold him, keeping his eyes lowered as he watched their joined hands.

Shi Sui’s hands were very pale, his fingertips cool, and there was still a trace of un-wiped cigarette ash on his index finger.

He hadn’t known Shi Sui smoked. The boy’s posture earlier had looked very practiced.

Lu Huaizhi lowered his gaze. “I’m fine. It just hurts a little.”

The sky had grown dark, and the high walls of the alley blocked most of the light. Lu Huaizhi’s face was hidden in the shadows, blurring his sharp features and making him look quiet and soft. Combined with his low murmur, he actually looked somewhat pitiful.

Shi Sui gave a frustrated click of his tongue. “Acting tough when you’re this weak.”

He let go of the other boy’s hand. “There’s a barbecue shop up ahead. It has a restroom.” Without waiting to see if Lu Huaizhi could find it, he turned and left.

When Wang Cheng saw Shi Sui return, he handed him a freshly grilled mutton skewer. “What took you so long?”

Shi Sui: “Ran into a bit of trouble.” But shortly after he sat down, he saw Wang Cheng look behind him with a shocked expression. “Top student?”

The others at the table had clearly heard of the transfer student. “Shi Sui, did you bring him?” Someone even moved to leave a seat open for Lu Huaizhi right next to Shi Sui.

“Wait.” Shi Sui used his foot to hook the empty stool back, preventing Lu Huaizhi from sitting. “What are you doing here?”

He had told Lu Huaizhi to come to the shop to wash his wound. Why the f*ck did he follow him to the table?

Before Lu Huaizhi could answer, Wang Cheng slapped his own forehead. “Sh*t, I forgot! I invited him!”

When Lu Huaizhi had let him copy the physics homework, he had extended a polite invitation, but he hadn’t expected Lu Huaizhi to actually show up.

Wang Cheng snatched the stool back from under Shi Sui’s foot and patted it. “Top student, sit here.” He even moved the skewers he had just given Shi Sui over to Lu Huaizhi.

Shi Sui: “…” Since when did this guy get better treatment than him?

Lu Huaizhi set his backpack aside and sat down. “Shi Sui just helped me out a lot. Tonight is on me.” He then asked the waiter to add more food and drinks to the order.

At those words, the atmosphere at the table instantly livened up.

“Top student is awesome!” Wang Cheng handed Lu Huaizhi a beer. “But what did Shi Sui help you with?”

“Someone was extorting me just now.” Lu Huaizhi inconspicuously pushed the mutton skewers toward Shi Sui’s side. “Shi Sui helped drive them away.”

“Whoa, I just asked if we should go meet those guys, and Brother Shi said he was too lazy to mind other people’s business…” One of the boys at the table winked at Shi Sui. “Brother Shi, you’re too biased!”

Shi Sui expressionlessly chewed on a skewer.

“By the way, weren’t you at Qinghe before? That school is top-tier. Why did you transfer to An Cheng No. 1 High?”

Lu Huaizhi explained: “My health isn’t great. My family sent me here to recover.”

Shi Sui took a gulp of ice-cold beer. A pampered young master from the city.

Wang Cheng nodded in agreement. “An Cheng definitely has a better environment than those big cities.”

With the question-and-answer session, Lu Huaizhi actually managed to blend in harmoniously. After the barbecue, the group even insisted on taking Lu Huaizhi to the internet cafe where Shi Sui worked.

Wang Cheng and the others got a private booth, while Lu Huaizhi took his usual spot in front of the counter, closest to Shi Sui. He opened his backpack and prepared to do practice problems.

Shi Sui looked at the bright Five-Three workbook and curled his lip. He couldn’t figure out how this bookworm had managed to charm Wang Cheng and the others so thoroughly.

As he was thinking, he saw Lu Huaizhi suddenly tilt his head and look over.

Their eyes met, and Shi Sui instinctively looked down, pretending to play with his phone. He stared at the black screen for a while before realizing—wait, why was he hiding?

So, Shi Sui stubbornly raised his head, only to find the person was gone.

Lu Huaizhi had stepped out of the internet cafe. He ordered five cups of milk tea. As he took them from the delivery rider, he caught a glimpse of a conspicuous head of red hair.

It was one of the men who had tried to extort him in the alley.

“I found the place where that kid works. I’ll send you the location in a bit. Get everyone over here!” Red-hair sneered. If they caused a big scene, the cafe would have to close eventually.

But before he could finish, the phone was snatched from his hand. With a beep, the call was disconnected.

Lu Huaizhi looked up. “This isn’t a place you should be coming to.”

“It’s you!” Red-hair thought he had been caught by Shi Sui. Seeing it was the weakling he had shoved earlier, he immediately relaxed. “What, want to play hero for someone?”

He flippantly reached out to shove Lu Huaizhi’s shoulder, but before he could touch him, his wrist was grabbed and twisted downward. Crack.

It was the sound of a wrist dislocating.

Red-hair didn’t react at first, then let out a sharp gasp. The intense pain hit him instantly. He clutched his hand and crouched down, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. The pain was so extreme he couldn’t even manage a scream.

Lu Huaizhi leaned over, stuffed the phone into the man’s shirt pocket, and lowered his eyelids expressionlessly. “There won’t be a next time.”

He looked down at Red-hair’s dislocated wrist. “Otherwise, it won’t just be your hand.”

The cold light from the streetlamp fell from the side, making his pupils look pitch black and his aura cold and detached.

Red-hair’s body gave an imperceptible shiver. When facing the violent Shi Sui, he still had the guts to resist, but he was truly terrified of this person.

The guy’s expression hadn’t changed once throughout the process. His movements were clean and decisive—a completely different person from the fragile student seen in the alley that afternoon.

A deep sense of dread rose in Red-hair’s heart. Once the other had left, he seemed to snap out of it, clutching his hand and scrambling away in a panic.

Inside the internet cafe.

Shi Sui was looking down at Happy Pop. When he saw someone enter, he instinctively looked up. Seeing it was Lu Huaizhi, he frowned.

“Where did you go?” Lu Huaizhi’s expression seemed off.

Lu Huaizhi hadn’t expected Shi Sui to be so perceptive. He let the corners of his mouth curve slightly. “I went to get you milk tea.”

The slight curve of his lips dissipated the remaining coldness in his aura.

“Fifty percent sugar, just how you like it.” Lu Huaizhi placed five cups of milk tea in front of him. “There’s Cheese Strawberry, Mango Sago, Succulent Grape…” “Thank you for saving me tonight.”

Shi Sui glanced over and noticed the labels all said fifty percent sugar.

“Pick one. I’ll take the rest to Wang Cheng and the others.” Lu Huaizhi’s tone was natural, clearly not thinking there was anything wrong with letting Shi Sui choose first, even if he had willfully ordered all of them with fifty percent sugar.

If Wang Cheng found out, his heart would probably break.

Shi Sui kept a wooden face. “I’m not drinking.” If he initiated a conversation with Lu Huaizhi again, he was a dog!

Lu Huaizhi acted as if he didn’t hear the refusal. “Don’t like any of them? Then I’ll go buy them all again.”

Shi Sui: “…” In the end, Shi Sui chose the Cheese Strawberry. He didn’t want to see the counter piled high with milk tea.

Lu Huaizhi picked a cup of the same flavor as Shi Sui’s before taking the rest to Wang Cheng’s booth. Shi Sui could hear the cheers from the booth all the way at the counter. A bunch of spineless idiots, getting that happy over a cup of milk tea.

It was Saturday, so the cafe was crowded. Shi Sui constantly saw people hovering in front of him. They weren’t there to renew their time; they were there to hit on Lu Huaizhi.

Shi Sui took a sip of his milk tea and muttered to himself, “Truly a spotlight hog.”

Lu Huaizhi was still wearing that stiff school uniform. Holding a pen in his right hand with his head down, the half of his profile visible was clean and sharp. His eyes were focused, and his uniform gave him a gentle aura that made him look like an outsider in the noisy cafe. Yet, he was exceptionally eye-catching.

“Do you know that guy? He’s so handsome!” A regular at the cafe leaned over to ask Shi Sui. “But he’s so cold. Look, not a single person could get his contact info.”

At first, Lu Huaizhi would look up and refuse, but as more people came, his expression turned noticeably cold. Eventually, he didn’t even stop his pen, only saying a brief “Sorry.”

Shi Sui’s face was cold. “Don’t know him.” In just this short time, the number of people hitting on the kid was more than the love letters Shi Sui had received in a year.

Half an hour later.

Lu Huaizhi was working on the final problem of a math worksheet when someone tapped on his desk. He frowned. “Sor—” The word “sorry” was cut short as he saw the hand on the table.

The fingers were long and slender, with distinct joints. Lu Huaizhi quickly looked up.

Shi Sui took the backpack off his chair and shoved it into his arms. “Go write in Wang Cheng’s booth. It’s quiet there.”

Lu Huaizhi remembered the noise he heard when he delivered the milk tea and paused. “Okay.”

After he left, people finally stopped hovering in front of Shi Sui. The corners of his lips curved slightly as he went back to Happy Pop.

Time passed quickly. The relief shift arrived, and Shi Sui’s shift ended. He didn’t go home but went to Wang Cheng’s booth, planning to play a few games with them. Tomorrow was Sunday; they could pull an all-nighter.

As soon as he opened the door, a heavy smell of smoke hit him. The room was filled with smoke, and everyone except Lu Huaizhi had a cigarette in their mouth.

Shi Sui covered his nose. “Are you guys trying to become immortals?”

Wang Cheng was in the middle of a team fight and explained offhandedly, “The AC ventilation has some issues. We haven’t been smoking for long.”

“I’ll tell Sister Lulu later.” Shi Sui sat in the empty seat next to Lu Huaizhi. “How much longer? I’ll join the next round.”

“Great! You can carry us.” Wang Cheng was more than happy. “We’ve lost several in a row.”

Seeing they still had a while, Shi Sui pulled a cigarette from his pocket to pass the time. Just as he lit it, a cough came from beside him.

Shi Sui turned his head.

“Don’t mind me.” Lu Huaizhi was coughing so hard his face turned pale. He covered his lips and said softly, “I’m fine.” He followed it with another choking cough.

Wang Cheng and the others instinctively put out their cigarettes. “Top student, are you okay? Weren’t you fine just now?”

When Shi Sui came in, he had specifically left the door open for ventilation; the smell should have been better than before.

“I don’t know, cough cough…” Lu Huaizhi’s ears turned red from coughing. He looked very uncomfortable.

Shi Sui had the cigarette at his lips, but as Lu Huaizhi coughed heart-wrenchingly, the boy’s eyes would occasionally drift to the cigarette in Shi Sui’s hand.

? Isn’t the intent a bit too obvious?

“Shi Sui! Can’t you look out for the top student?” Wang Cheng was the first to lose his patience. He stopped playing and turned to scold Shi Sui. “You’re sitting right next to him; the smoke is drifting right toward him.”

“It’s okay.” Lu Huaizhi took a difficult breath. “Sorry, I’m the one spoiling your fun.”

It would have been better if he hadn’t said that. Once he did, the other three pairs of eyes in the booth all stared at Shi Sui.

“Put that cigarette out!” they said with righteous indignation.

Shi Sui: “…”

He looked at Lu Huaizhi and expressionlessly extinguished the cigarette. You’re good.