NH chapter 004

Chapter 04 Bad Boys

The September days in Lanjing are truly too hot.

The summer heat makes people irritable, even causing discomfort in the chest, with a feeling as if wisps of white smoke are rising from the top of one’s head.

“…” Shen Tingyu’s eyes were dark and heavy, his lips pressed together, suddenly raising his chin a bit as he walked over as if lowering himself to approach.

He stopped at the back seat.

Perhaps he also felt that his entire demeanor screamed “young master,” which was certainly not related to the battered, dilapidated Wuling Hongguang in front of him that seemed like it wouldn’t even be worth a few coins to sell as scrap if he wasn’t trying to catch a cab; this was a vehicle he could never have imagined sitting in.

However, fate had other plans, and today he had no choice but to sit in it.

Shen Tingyu took a deep breath, opened the back door, and was about to sit down when he suddenly slammed to a halt—

Because this Wuling Hongguang! Actually! Had no back seat!!

Aside from the driver’s seat and the passenger seat, all five other seats had been completely removed, piled up with goods and cardboard boxes, filled with the smell of rotting vegetable leaves, the stench of frozen meat’s blood, and various awful, foul-smelling foods that seemed to have been left to ferment somewhere in the heat.

Shen Tingyu’s face turned ashen, the expression on his face resembling that of a lost princess who stumbled into an old witch’s wooden cabin, suddenly catching a whiff of a dark dish boiling in a large iron pot that possibly contained human flesh.

But to Huo Ye, this was just the smell of a summer kitchen, something he had grown accustomed to, completely desensitized to it.

He found Shen Tingyu’s reaction funny and novel, feeling no sense of inferiority whatsoever.

“Where are you going?” Huo Ye said. “Don’t look; there’s no room in the back. Please sit in the passenger seat.”

Shen Tingyu closed his eyes, then opened them again, slamming the door with a “bang” and sulking over to the passenger seat.

Huo Ye felt a tingling in his ears and said with a pained smile: “Classmate, although my car isn’t as expensive as yours, it’s an old buddy. Next time, please close the door gently, okay? Don’t be so rough.”

Shen Tingyu thought he was trying to get chummy, and responded flatly.

“Who said we’re classmates?”

Huo Ye raised his eyebrows, a smile in his eyes as he casually unzipped his black jacket, slowly peeling off the matching school uniform underneath, with a nameplate embroidered in small letters on the left chest.

— Grade 2 Class A, Huo Ye.

Shen Tingyu: “…”

Not only that, but they were actually in the same class.

Shen Tingyu’s gaze moved from the nameplate up to meet Huo Ye’s rebellious, flirtatious peach blossom eyes, his attitude shifting from arrogance to confusion.

He really should feel confused.

In past years, students who could enter Lanjing Private High School #2 not only needed good grades but also a wealthy background. But this person looked as if he came from a wealthy family, and yet, it seemed he was down on his luck.

“Not down on my luck; I know what you’re thinking. My family has been farming for generations, we’ve never been rich.” Huo Ye said, unreservedly.

Shen Tingyu: “…”

You just said that without any hesitation?

Shen Tingyu stared at Huo Ye, and Huo Ye looked back at him.

Huo Ye blinked innocently and said, “What are you looking at me for? Put on your seatbelt, young master. Do you want me to do it for you?”

“… No need!” Shen Tingyu’s voice turned cold, the heat above his head turning to a chill as he yanked the seatbelt and buckled it.

Huo Ye glanced at him and praised, “Hmm, you’re a bit more obedient than my sister.” He started the car, slowly released the clutch, and added, “By the way, my sister just started second grade this year.”

Shen Tingyu: “Get lost.”

The Wuling Hongguang drove somewhat smoothly on the road, but it wasn’t as comfortable as riding in a Maybach. Every time they hit a pothole or small stones, the car would jolt violently, making one’s backside sore after a while.

With the windows wide open, the wind rushed in, creating a loud whooshing sound. Shen Tingyu’s face remained cold, and he silently endured; he didn’t expect this autumn mountain car god to have air conditioning.

For a while, no one spoke; the atmosphere briefly quieted.

After a while, while waiting at a traffic light at an intersection, Shen Tingyu suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, “Do you have a driver’s license?”

With sixty seconds left of the red light, Huo Ye pulled up the handbrake, relaxed his body, and lazily replied, “Isn’t it a bit late to be asking now?”

The sunlight was blinding, forcing Shen Tingyu to squint his eyes, noticing Huo Ye glaring at him as if he were a tiger in a zoo that had its fur pulled out by tourists and couldn’t vent its anger. Huo Ye kindly raised his hand, helping him pull down the sun visor over the passenger seat.

“If I say I don’t have one, would you jump out of the car and take bus 11 to school?”

“Where’s bus 11?” Shen Tingyu gripped the door handle.

Huo Ye patted his long legs.

“It’s everywhere.”

Shen Tingyu wanted to kick him.

Arriving at school, Huo Ye had just parked the car when Shen Tingyu could no longer contain his frustration, slamming the door open and storming off without looking back.

Clearly, he never wanted to see him again.

Huo Ye didn’t mind, after all, this young master was beautiful enough to make one overlook his bad temper, and he was a wealthy one at that.

Free car repairs, and he also makes money.

Huo Ye felt joyful inside.

Lanjing Private High School #2 is located on the outskirts of the city, in a serene and secluded environment, with advanced and new facilities, considered one of the top schools in the province, with a history of over a hundred years.

The school features picturesque garden-style architecture, surrounded by greenery that encloses the teaching and living areas. The main road has wide, winding cypress paths, providing convenient access for cars. Lined on either side are clusters of trees that shade the area from the blazing sun, with students often seen passing through to seek some relief.

At dusk, it feels particularly eerie here; the small woods next to the piano practice rooms often carry strange sounds, whispering secrets back and forth along with the music from the piano.

—What? Oh, of course, it’s not haunted. At such times, the disciplinary director comes looking for people with a flashlight, and they behave themselves.

Huo Ye’s grade has twenty classes; Classes 1 to 4 are the top classes, commonly referred to as A, B, C, and D classes. The next ten classes, from 5 to 18, are equivalent parallel classes, while the last two are dedicated to art examination preparations.

They continue the new college entrance examination model of 3+1+2, which includes three main subjects: Chinese, Math, and English, and one choice between Physics and History, and finally choose two from Politics, Geography, Chemistry, and Biology to form their subjects. There is no separation into arts and sciences, just different combinations.

There are a total of twelve combinations, with varying numbers of students opting for them. The few must yield to the many; if many people want a class, they form a group, and if the number is too low, they hold a vote. If the votes are insufficient, it’s simply canceled — straightforward and ruthless.

For example, if you want to choose a particular combination but too few students choose it, that combination class cannot be formed, which means you might face subjects in the college entrance exam that you dislike or aren’t good at.

Classes A, B, and C are all Physics classes, and only Class D opts for History, located on the fourth floor of the western wing of the teaching building. Below them are several parallel classes, and beneath that are the first-year freshmen.

Next year’s seniors will not move classrooms; they will spend the remainder of their high school life here.

After the class placement tests at the end of last semester, the books and junk in the classrooms had basically been moved out, and whatever didn’t get moved was dealt with by those who came to collect scrap during the summer vacation.

Today is just Sunday, so there’s plenty of time for everyone to slowly move their dorms and classrooms and get familiar with the new faces along the way.

Three events.

Any one of them is a big project.

Huo Ye looked at the crowd at the school entrance, feeling inexplicably annoyed. He wasn’t in a hurry to enter; instead, he leaned against the car door digging in his black jacket pockets. He wanted to light a cigarette, having already bitten down on it, but after searching all over himself, couldn’t find a lighter.

“…” What an incredible day to be alive.

Huo Ye was confused; he clearly had left it here.

At that moment, his phone buzzed, vibrating insistently, so Huo Ye had to remove the cigarette and shield his screen from glare under the tree’s shade to look.

His WeChat list was packed full of unread messages, each trying to outdo the other, leaving him unsure of which one to read first. At the top, there was a pinned group chat, yet despite being pinned, it was set to do not disturb.

The group’s name was “Barbie’s Charming Princess Academy,” though in reality, it was mostly full of big guys. They named it that after Huo Yan had snuck onto his phone when he wasn’t paying attention and changed it. When the others in the group discovered it, they laughed hysterically, but no one changed it back, often bringing it up in jest.

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

Are you guys at school yet?

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

Damn, is it already this late? You guys not awake yet? There are only ten or so people in class, we can’t even gather enough for three tables of mahjong!

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

I thought I was late enough; I didn’t expect you guys to be worse. I’m gonna bite you all, I’m chomp chomp chomp.

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

Not here yet?

…

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

Can someone just respond to me?

…

【Woohoo _ Wen Shiyi】:

Just woke up, will head over soon. Please help me grab the textbooks.

【AAA Eagle-like Man _ Xiong Ying】:

Help me grab one too.

【Gugu _ Bai Feiyu】:

Same here.

【Pull Your Bunny Tail _ Xia Zhiyao】:

Same here.

…

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

??????

【Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus _ Zhao Yue】:

Damn it.

…

As Huo Ye read on, he couldn’t help but smile, visions of his past classmates filling his mind, as if everyone hadn’t changed at all.

In the eyes of students at Lanjing Private High School #2, the 18th class had always been a special group. Like every other private high school, no matter how prosperous or superior, there will always be a few bad fish swimming in the mix. And these bad fish often appeared here not solely because of their abilities, but rather due to fortuitous circumstances, their backgrounds, and interconnected networks.

This was the unregulated gray zone of the school, a gathering place for most of the problematic students who gave teachers headaches, consistently sitting at the bottom of the overall average scores. They might be kings in a vocational high school but would forever be at the bottom here.

They would scale walls, skip classes, and fight; from the perspective of teachers and other students, they were a typical example of “bad kids.”

Among them, Huo Ye was considered the leading figure of the “bad kids” during his freshman year.

Everyone thought Huo Ye would, like his predecessors, just fall down this path, coasting through his entire high school life before heading off to some unknown junior college, ultimately fading into obscurity.

Even before the class placement exams, even the students in the 18th class thought so. — Until the scores were released.

The results.

The one assigned to Class A was none other than the delinquent king himself, Huo Ye.

Upon hearing the news, the entire school was shocked.