Shabby and Strawberry

Chu Ci instinctively lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard. He lifted his gaze, staring straight at Ji Yanli.

In the plot of the original novel, there was never a mention of Ji Yanli being monitored. Given the discomfort the environment was causing him, Chu Ci didn’t dare think too hard about how many cameras might be pointed at him right now.

The youth before him didn’t react much to his words. He only lowered his lashes to look at him, then let out a somewhat helpless smile. “No.”

Chu Ci clearly didn’t believe him. He frowned. “Impossible. There must be cameras in your house.”

Ji Yanli blinked. “There are only Auntie Zhang and me here. Isn’t it normal to have cameras for security?”

Hearing this, Chu Ci was instantly choked up.

The scale of this villa was not small; it would be an easy target for those with ill intentions. So, what Ji Yanli said didn’t seem wrong.

But was it really just for that?

Chu Ci still felt uneasy all over. Ji Yanli told him he was just unaccustomed to the place and led him back inside. Standing behind Ji Yanli, Chu Ci watched the boy’s thin back, his furrowed brow refusing to smooth out.

‘I remember there was no such plot point in the original story.’

‘Ji Yanli’s parents loved him dearly; they basically raised him as a pampered child who got everything he wanted. Later, when Song Qichen returned, the author made Ji Yanli live at school and become Song Qichen’s roommate just to facilitate their romance.’

‘His life ended in love. There’s no reason for him to be monitored.’

‘Am I really overthinking it?’

Chu Ci bit his lower lip in conflict until Ji Yanli called his name, snapping him out of his thoughts. He complied and stepped into Ji Yanli’s room.

The door closed again. While Ji Yanli placed the dishes from the tray onto the table one by one, he glanced at the open workbook to the side. Then, as if seeing something, he shook his head with a mock expression of regret.

Seeing him like this, Chu Ci asked, puzzled, “What is it?”

Ji Yanli curled his lips. He tried to suppress it but ultimately couldn’t help but laugh. “I just think your answers are very interesting.”

Chu Ci let out an “En,” even more confused.

He didn’t know why Ji Yanli always said he was interesting.

Even his breathing was supposedly interesting.

Ji Yanli set the tray aside and picked up Chu Ci’s homework, softly reading the handwriting on the page: “Why did you write ‘Chinese people don’t learn foreign languages’ on your English homework?”

Only then did Chu Ci remember he had scribbled that earlier just to distract himself.

“Am I wrong?” Chu Ci was logically weak but spoke with confidence.

Ji Yanli ignored him, his gaze sliding down. When he saw the answer to the next question, his eyelid twitched.

He took a deep breath, set the homework aside, and pointed a finger at the clean paper.

Chu Ci looked at him blankly. He saw Ji Yanli looking like he was struggling to endure something, the corners of his mouth even trembling.

He walked over and looked down. Ji Yanli was pointing at a word—shabby.

And right after that word followed three characters—Ji Yanli.

Chu Ci’s eyes widened.

He had absolutely no memory of writing that.

Could it be that in his drowsy state, he had accidentally mistaken the word for its homophone “SB” (idiot)?!

God d*mn it. Even with eight hundred times the courage, he wouldn’t dare insult Ji Yanli to his face!

Chu Ci hurriedly snatched the workbook from under Ji Yanli’s hand and hid it behind his back. Then, he forced a stiff smile, showing Ji Yanli a rather ghoulish grin.

“Let me explain, it’s not what you think,” Chu Ci stammered, trying to fix the situation. “Actually, I thought that word was ‘strawberry.’ It means you’re as sweet as a strawberry.”

Ji Yanli stared at him expressionlessly, his sharp gaze landing on Chu Ci and making him feel uncomfortable all over. He was so guilty his eyes were darting everywhere; he was seconds away from shaking Xiao Ba out to double his “Deep Affection” buff!

Just as he was thinking this, Chu Ci suddenly felt his body go soft. A familiar sensation swept over him. He stepped forward, propping one hand on the desk, pinning Ji Yanli between himself and the furniture. Then, he lifted his head confidently, a smile curling on his lips.

With his back against the corner of the table, Ji Yanli looked down and locked eyes with Chu Ci. He saw the boy’s guilty expression vanish, replaced by a gaze swirling with turbulent love: “You must be a fine wine brewed from the grapes of Eden to make me so intoxicated. One look from you and I am mesmerized; two looks and I fall; three looks and I lose my mind…”

The surroundings were exceptionally quiet, leaving only Chu Ci’s affectionate voice echoing throughout the room.

When Chu Ci snapped back to reality, the first thing he saw was the look on Ji Yanli’s face—it was the expression of someone who had just swallowed a fly.

He didn’t even need to think to know what had happened.

Adhering to the banner of “as long as I disgust Ji Yanli first, I won’t be the one disgusted,” Chu Ci was about to continue speaking. But in the next second, Ji Yanli was quick and shoved a piece of apple into Chu Ci’s mouth.

He raised his hand, gently pushing Chu Ci away, then grabbed the back of Chu Ci’s neck and forced him to sit in the chair. “I think you’re just hungry. Use some food to plug that mouth.”

Chu Ci’s eyes were round and wide. With an apple stuffed in his mouth, he couldn’t say a word. Muffled humming sounds came from his throat as his upper teeth crunched into the fruit. The sweet juice slid down the corner of his mouth, wetting his chin.

Ji Yanli stared at his damp skin. After his eyelashes flickered twice, he looked away.

Chu Ci struggled to swallow that large chunk of apple; the inner walls of his mouth were rubbed until they felt faintly sore. He raised a hand to wipe his sticky chin and met Ji Yanli’s gaze with a look of deep resentment.

The latter still smiled with human-and-animal-harmless innocence, even asking Chu Ci tenderly, “Is it sweet?”

Chu Ci rolled his eyes wildly in his mind.

‘Sweet my a*!’*

‘This is attempted murder! Attempted murder!’

‘Just you wait. You’d better not sleep too soundly tonight.’

He rubbed his chin hard, leaving a startling patch of red on his fair skin. Ji Yanli watched Chu Ci’s movements silently. A few seconds later, he lowered his head, added some rice to one of the empty bowls, and pushed it toward Chu Ci.

“Eat first,” Ji Yanli said softly. “Stop messing around.”

“So childish.”

Chu Ci was thus inexplicably labeled as “childish.”

He closed his eyes, wanting to lash out, but the aroma of the food on the table made his stomach growl traitorously. He swallowed hard. Thinking he could pick a fight with Ji Yanli anytime, he compromised, opened his eyes, and started shoving rice into his mouth.

Compared to Chu Ci’s wolfish devouring, Ji Yanli appeared much more elegant. He didn’t even mix his side dishes with his rice, chewing each small bite for a long time. By the time Chu Ci had finished a clean bowl of rice, Ji Yanli hadn’t even finished a third.

Watching Ji Yanli’s sluggish eating speed made Chu Ci feel uneasy; he let out a disdainful snort.

‘Quite the poser.’

They didn’t speak much during the meal. Ji Yanli stopped eating halfway through and put down his chopsticks. Once Chu Ci was full, Ji Yanli took the initiative to clean up, carrying the tray downstairs before returning to sit beside Chu Ci.

“Are you full?” Ji Yanli asked.

Chu Ci patted his stomach. This meal had been truly satisfying. He hadn’t had a good meal since transmigrating; even if he could eat at the school cafeteria, everyone knows what that tastes like. Chu Ci felt that finishing a meal there was a form of respect for the cafeteria staff.

He leaned his head against the soft cushion of the chair, squinting his eyes as drowsiness set in. Suddenly, Ji Yanli reached out and forcibly pried Chu Ci’s eyelid open. Chu Ci swiped his hand away irritably. “What are you doing?”

“Your homework isn’t finished yet.” Ji Yanli pointed at the workbooks on the desk.

Chu Ci glanced at them indifferently. “Oh.”

Then he remained unmoved.

Ji Yanli tilted his head. “Aren’t you going to write?”

Chu Ci shook his head without hesitation. “No.”

He was here to complete a mission, not to complete homework.

The youth beside him couldn’t help but furrow his brows, like a ripple on a calm lake. Ji Yanli was likely so used to being a good student that he had never seen such a thick-skinned, poor student.

“No.” Ji Yanli forced Chu Ci to sit up and even shoved a pen into his hand. “Write.”

Chu Ci defiantly threw the pen away. Ji Yanli picked it up and shoved it back into his hand.

He shoved it back, Chu Ci threw it away. This repeated several times until Chu Ci got annoyed, but Ji Yanli seemed to have a mysterious source of patience, persistently jamming the pen back into Chu Ci’s grip.

“Your scores on the last monthly exam were very poor,” Ji Yanli said. “If you don’t take it seriously, the college entrance exam will be difficult.”

Hearing this, Chu Ci couldn’t help but wail internally.

‘Who in their right mind wants to experience a second college entrance exam?!’

‘I, Chu Ci, am standing here today! I’d rather jump from here than learn a single word!!’

He gripped the pen, the tip hovering over the workbook. Half a minute passed without a single stroke. Ji Yanli, sitting beside him, tilted his head to look at Chu Ci, who was staring at the paper as if trying to burn a hole in it. Then, Ji Yanli reached out, grabbed Chu Ci’s wrist, and pressed down firmly.

Just as the pen tip was about to touch the page, Chu Ci suddenly exerted force, lifting his wrist—refusing to write.

The two remained in a deadlock of upward and downward force.

Who knew what they were actually struggling over?

Chu Ci gritted his teeth, the veins in his temples throbbing. Ji Yanli, however, remained calm and composed, his other hand free to flip through a thick medical textbook. He glanced at the red-faced Chu Ci out of the corner of his eye and, seeing no sign of compromise, silently increased his strength.

‘No, is he sick in the head?!’

Chu Ci’s inner voice exploded.

‘If you’re so bored, you could have eaten a few more bites of rice!’

‘What did I do to you?! Where do you get all this endless bull-strength from?!’

Eventually, Chu Ci couldn’t match Ji Yanli’s strength. Admitting defeat, he asked for mercy: “Fine, fine, I’ll write, okay?”

Only then did Ji Yanli put down his medical textbook. He turned his head and stared seriously at Chu Ci for a long time. Once he was sure he wasn’t lying, he let go.

Chu Ci rubbed his wrist, which had been pinched red. He grumbled under his breath, glaring at the workbook as if it were Ji Yanli’s face, and made a harsh mark with the pen.

High school coursework was always heavy, and the teachers moved quickly. In less than half a semester, they had covered more than half the textbook. Students who didn’t work hard couldn’t keep up; someone like Chu Ci, who was neither hardworking nor clever, simply chose to rot.

He remembered the original owner used to have good grades. If he knew Chu Ci was like this, he’d probably come back to life out of pure rage.

Chu Ci couldn’t help it.

It was just that the feeling of knowledge not entering his brain was quite fascinating.

“If your grades continue to drop, the school has the right to revoke your student status.”

“Dummy.”

Suddenly, Ji Yanli’s voice drew close. Chu Ci was startled and reflexively turned his head.

The youth had leaned close to his ear at some point, his hair brushing against the side of Chu Ci’s face. When Chu Ci turned his head like that, his lips accidentally brushed against a patch of cool skin.

The delicate sensation was gone in an instant, but Chu Ci remembered the feeling clearly.

His eyes widened suddenly, and he covered his mouth in disbelief.

—He seemed to have just… kissed Ji Yanli.