MNL Chapter 42
by VolareThe school bell rang, and most of the class rushed out to get back to the dorms to shower, leaving only those studying in the classroom and the two day students moving slowly, appearing out of place.
The two had just left the classroom when a familiar shout came from behind.
“Shen Yan, wait up.”
Xu Jing reacted even faster than Shen Yan upon hearing the voice.
“What are you doing here?”
Zhang Dong avoided Xu Jing’s direct gaze, his head lowered. He seemed like a different person, the inexplicable confidence and arrogance from before completely gone.
Shen Yan showed no expression and said, “What is it?”
“I want to talk to you alone.”
Shen Yan turned to leave.
“Please!” Zhang Dong’s voice was tinged with a sob. He gritted his teeth and ran forward, pleading, “Just five minutes.”
With many people in and out of the classroom, Xu Jing knew Shen Yan would stop, so he said nothing.
Around the corner was a classroom used to store old desks and chairs. Zhang Dong continued to walk inside. Shen Yan, losing patience, said, “Say what you have to say here.”
Zhang Dong looked around, making sure no one was nearby before slowly speaking, “Can you ask your dad to let us go?”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yan’s voice turned cold, “What do you mean?”
“You don’t know?” Zhang Dong clearly didn’t expect this, his tone becoming agitated. “How could you not know?”
Seeing Shen Yan’s cold expression, Zhang Dong was confused.
He knew early on that his hospitalization was a result of his family’s issues, but he couldn’t swallow his anger at the time and lied to the police, saying Shen Yan did it. By the time he realized the seriousness of the situation, someone had already come to their door.
Zhang Dong’s parents ran a sizable business with some reputation in the market, but Shen Linzhi used unknown means to cause Zhang Dong’s father’s company to lose millions in one night.
The reason was simple: your son shouldn’t have provoked my son.
Zhang Dong was terribly frightened. Although scared, he had to go back to the police, but strangely, the police didn’t investigate further. Zhang Dong was young and didn’t understand, but Zhang Dong’s father was perceptive and knew that Shen Linzhi was powerful and not to be trifled with. However, despite all their pleas, Shen Yan was released from the police station, but Shen Linzhi still showed no intention of letting them off.
With his family nearing bankruptcy, Zhang Dong finally realized he had made a huge mistake.
“Shen Yan, I know I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have spread rumors about you out of jealousy, nor should I have framed you to get you into the police station. You can do whatever you want to me. I’ll let you hit me; you can find a place and beat me to death. But I beg you, ask your dad to let my family go.”
Shen Yan’s eyes were as cold as ice, causing Zhang Dong’s legs to tremble and his breathing to become labored. But there was no other way; otherwise, his parents’ lifelong efforts would be ruined.
Zhang Dong’s eyes stung, but just as tears were about to fall, he heard a deep reply.
“I understand.”
Watching Shen Yan’s departing figure, regret and helplessness finally erupted. Zhang Dong punched the white wall, tears soaking his face.
Shen Yan returned on time. Xu Jing slung his bag over his shoulder, and the two walked out together.
“What did he want from you?”
“Nothing, just an apology, a bunch of nonsense.”
“Really?”
Shen Yan hummed in agreement, “Really.”
Hearing the other’s affirmative tone, Xu Jing, though doubtful, didn’t press further.
Both were silent on the way back, but after exiting the elevator, they both subconsciously paused.
Clearly, what Shen Yan said earlier had a significant impact.
“Did you bring back the book Li Qin gave you?”
“Brought it—” As if thinking of something, Xu Jing quickly changed his tune, “Let me check.”
After a moment, he continued, “I brought it.”
Shen Yan raised an eyebrow, watching Xu Jing pretend to rummage through his bag, unable to help but smile. In fact, he had seen the person next to him put the book in his bag while packing up after school. Now, asking was just to see how Xu Jing would react.
This serious, pretending-to-be-dumb look made Shen Yan feel inexplicably that it was somewhat cute.
And so, Xu Jing entered Shen Yan’s home again, just like the previous times: everything that should be there was, and nothing that shouldn’t was, clean and tidy to the point that even a cleanliness freak like him couldn’t find fault.
Except—
Xu Jing’s gaze settled on the two pothos plants on the table.
Shen Yan followed his gaze and explained, “Bored, just growing them for fun.”
Xu Jing nodded, thinking, “That’s really boring.”
“Write the first two pages first; I’ll correct them for you later.”
Shen Yan sat on the sofa, and Xu Jing, without standing on ceremony, grabbed the book and sat next to him.
But at the moment of opening the book, someone couldn’t help but blurt out a curse word.
Pages and pages of English, densely packed, almost triggered his trypophobia. Xu Jing instantly became irritable, frowning and about to speak when he felt a hand reach over, half on his shoulder and half touching his neck.
The cool fingertips seemed to have magic, and with just a light tap, Xu Jing felt the agitation about to boil over in his heart suppressed by more than half.
“This grammar isn’t difficult; try it first.”
Xu Jing subconsciously looked up at Shen Yan, but didn’t expect him to be so close. The dense eyelashes were distinct and countable, a pair of slender peach blossom eyes with slightly upturned tails, carrying a hint of sparkling playfulness, the slightly reddish lips unusually sensual.
Fuck.
Xu Jing felt his heart was about to explode.
“Move over a bit.”
Shen Yan didn’t move, only saying, “Hurry up and write.”
Xu Jing didn’t want to reveal any weakness and could only pretend to be calm and look at the questions, but his mind was uneasy, and he couldn’t even remember the meaning of the simplest words.
After a few minutes, Xu Jing gave up struggling. He felt that Shen Yan was definitely doing it on purpose: being so close, touching his neck, and even leaning his face close to stare at him while he wrote.
Shen Yan’s low voice came over, “What’s wrong?”
What’s wrong?
He could actually calmly ask what was wrong. Xu Jing suddenly threw the pen in his hand, and Shen Yan heard the sound of the book falling to the ground, followed by a figure pressing down on him, completely blocking his view.
“Shen Yan.” Xu Jing stared directly at the face in front of him, from eyes to lips, he gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s fight.”
“Huh?” Shen Yan’s gaze shifted, seeing the veins bulging on Xu Jing’s exposed arm.
“…”
Shen Yan licked his lips, his voice with a hint of a smile, “Just because I asked you to do your homework?”
Xu Jing couldn’t tell that the other was joking. He only felt warm breath on his face, and those sensual lips opening and closing. As for the rest, he had long thrown it all, along with his sanity, to the back of his mind.
Shen Yan in the backlight was like a porcelain doll carved out, with no flaws to be found from any angle. Xu Jing’s fingers crumpled the sofa. He knew he was in a mess. If he went any further, there would be no turning back.
“Shen Yan.”
Xu Jing called out again. Shen Yan’s expression finally became serious. He looked at the face so close, as if the little boy in his memory had reappeared before his eyes, the similar eyebrows and familiar feeling constantly emerging in his mind, clashing with his nerves.
And just as the ambiguous atmosphere climbed to its peak, a sudden phone ring instantly brought the two back to reality.
Xu Jing’s limbs were almost limp when he got up, but fortunately, his core strength was strong enough to keep him from falling back down.
Shen Yan reached for his phone, but Xu Jing had already grabbed his bag and ran out the door, his slender figure quickly disappearing from sight, while the tutoring book lay alone on the ground.
Shen Yan frowned and answered the phone.
“Hello, Xiao Yan.”
Hearing the voice instantly soured Shen Yan’s mood.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Yan, why aren’t you talking?”
Shen Yan bent down to pick up the book from the ground, and without further ado, went straight to the point, “Is this interesting?”
Shen Linzhi on the other end was silent for a moment, then said, “I think so.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me; I just want to make up for the mistakes I made before.” Shen Linzhi paused, “Did he come looking for you?”
Shen Yan sneered, “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
He knew Shen Linzhi’s character better than anyone. Shen Linzhi always used the most high-sounding ways to get what he wanted, so he knew that as long as he kept putting pressure on the Zhang family, Zhang Dong would eventually come to him. If this person really had no other request, why deliberately expose his identity and their relationship?
It was obvious that Shen Linzhi had ulterior motives.
Shen Linzhi was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in a five-star hotel. He wasn’t embarrassed or angry at being exposed, but took a sip of the Lafite in his glass, praising, “You’re very smart.”
The young man’s cold voice came over, “Stop talking nonsense.”
“Come abroad with me.”
“Just for this?”
“No, of course not.” Shen Linzhi said seriously, “You can name any condition within my power.”
Shen Yan said decisively, “I won’t go abroad with you.”
Shen Linzhi quietly listened for what was to come.
“But if you have any conscience left, stop now.”
After a long while, Shen Linzhi’s calm voice came over, “I promise you.”
Shen Yan felt something was wrong, but the phone had already been hung up. He picked up the tutoring book from the ground and walked out of the room, and when he saw that the door to 601 was tightly closed, Shen Yan’s footsteps suddenly stopped.
Gusts of cold wind kept blowing into the corridor, and Shen Yan’s reason was slowly returning. The book in his hand was crumpled from being held too tightly. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the paper folding that Shen Yan let go, turned around, and walked back into the room.
·
[Guy]: What are you doing?
[Philosopher God]: Playing games, Jing-ge, I’m busy, let’s talk later, losing streak.
At two in the morning, Xu Jing got up, drank some water, and walked around the house a couple of times, becoming even more agitated.
[Guy]: Something’s up.
[Philosopher God]: Tell me.
Lying in bed, Xu Jing stared at the ceiling for almost ten minutes before finally turning over, picking up his phone, and laboriously typing a sentence.
[Guy]: I think I have someone I like.
Yan Zhe, who was playing games at the internet cafe, had just looked at his phone when he fell off his chair in the next second.
Lin Jiayu next to him looked down and laughed, “Out of practice?”
Yan Zhe couldn’t speak, his expression like he had seen a ghost.
Lin Jiayu frowned, “What is it?”
“Jing, Jing, Jing-ge said that he, he—”
“Did you break your language system from falling?”
Yan Zhe got up from the ground and checked the message content several times before daring to say it, “He said he has someone he likes.”
Lin Jiayu was also stunned after hearing this, but didn’t react as strongly as Yan Zhe.
“I thought it was something important. Jing-ge is also a person, not a god. Why can’t he have a girl he likes?”
Yan Zhe thought, you haven’t seen him reject girls. He’s just like a monk in a temple.
But seeing Lin Jiayu so calm, Yan Zhe sat down and thought about it calmly, feeling that what he said wasn’t without reason. He immediately replied with three exclamation marks and several cheering emoticons.
“Awesome, Jing-ge, go after her if you like her.”
“Remember to introduce her to us when it’s done.”
“Brothers, I’m waiting for good news!”
Yan Zhe put his phone aside, and to recover his image, immediately said to Lin Jiayu, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”
Lin Jiayu gently hummed, and Yan Zhe’s phone lit up again while waiting to be matched. He also subconsciously looked at it.
One look and he was dumbfounded.
“What are you doing, Lin Jiayu, get ready.”
“… Wait.”
“Wait for what? If you don’t get ready—”
Lin Jiayu’s voice sounded like he had aged ten years, “Take a look at Jing-ge’s reply first.”
Yan Zhe mocked Lin Jiayu’s tone just now, “Making a fuss over nothing.”
However, at the moment of picking up the phone, Yan Zhe fell to the ground again.
Only to see a sentence flashing in the middle of the screen, like a thunderbolt from the blue, scaring the two into silence.
[Guy]: It’s him.