Seeing the treacherous minister’s foolish expression, Qi Muyang moved even farther away from him in disdain. “I already said you wouldn’t understand, but you still keep asking!”
“…No, seriously, who could understand this?” The treacherous minister came back to himself and stared at him, dumbfounded. After a long while, he finally squeezed out, “Didn’t you say your parents have an insanely good relationship and are the model couple everyone envies?”
“Yeah.” At the mention of his parents, Qi Muyang’s eyes grew even gloomier.
Treacherous minister: “Then doesn’t that settle it? If their relationship is that good, how could they both cheat? Could you have misunderstood?”
With a tense face, Qi Muyang opened his phone gallery, searched through it, then tapped on a blurry photo. “This was taken when my parents were twenty-one. Do you still think I misunderstood?”
The treacherous minister craned his neck to look. When he saw the two people holding hands in the photo, his mouth dropped open in shock. “Th-this… even twins don’t look this alike!” The two people in the classroom were practically identical to the two in the photo, apart from not looking as mature.
“You think so too, right?” Qi Muyang took a deep breath and only barely restrained himself from throwing his phone away.
The treacherous minister pondered for three seconds. “Could they be your parents’ younger siblings? I heard that when the two-child policy opened up more than twenty years ago, lots of people had second children at an older age. Is it possible…”
“Impossible. Would you give your second child the same name as your eldest?” Qi Muyang interrupted him.
The treacherous minister froze. “What do you mean?”
“Those two just now—the girl is called Chu Qing, and the boy is called Qi Weichen.” Qi Muyang was silent for a moment after speaking, then added with a disgusted expression, “The same names as my parents.”
After he finished saying this, the rooftop fell silent. The sun at eight or nine in the morning had already begun showing its power, roasting the air and concrete ground until they were scorching hot.
“…So what you mean is, your parents gave their illegitimate children the same names as themselves?” the treacherous minister tried to summarise. After summing it up, he asked with a sincere face, “What exactly were your parents trying to achieve?”
“How would I know what they were trying to achieve?” Qi Muyang was a little impatient. “Maybe they felt guilty toward their illegitimate children, so they gave them their own names. Don’t people overseas do that all the time?”
“Your parents are really something… But it’s also possible they just wanted to disgust each other,” the treacherous minister added. After receiving Qi Muyang’s displeased glare, he immediately tried to fix it. “Of course, your parents’ relationship is already so good that they don’t mind each other cheating, so that one’s out.”
Qi Muyang shot him a sideways glance.
The treacherous minister smiled awkwardly and tried to lighten the mood. “Actually, there’s another possibility.”
“What?” Qi Muyang frowned.
The treacherous minister gathered his courage. “Your parents didn’t cheat. They just became young again, and are now waiting eagerly for you in the classroom. Look how alike they are…”
Noticing Qi Muyang’s death stare, his voice grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely. In his heart, he silently announced—
Attempt to lighten the mood: failed.
Qi Muyang’s face was wooden. Not only did he not want to speak, he also wanted to throw him off the rooftop.
Unaware that he had already died several times in Qi Muyang’s mind, the treacherous minister continued sighing beside him. After a long while, he suddenly thought of a question. “They sent their illegitimate children here at the same time, so it must have been arranged, right? They hid it from you your whole life, so why suddenly be so high-profile now?”
“They just happened to send them here while they’re in isolation. I don’t believe for a second that it’s a coincidence.” Qi Muyang felt stifled and irritated, like he had been set up. Those two must have calculated that he had no way to question them, so they chose this timing to reveal everything. They probably wanted him to figure it out himself, then take the initiative to acknowledge them.
The treacherous minister looked at him sympathetically. “Then what are you going to do?”
“Before they give me an explanation, don’t even think about getting me to acknowledge those two. From now on, I’ll just pretend I know nothing and treat them completely as ordinary classmates. I’ll deal with it when my parents explain it to me.” Qi Muyang ground his teeth, getting angrier the more he thought about it.
The treacherous minister nodded repeatedly, not knowing what else to say, and simply sat with him on the rooftop. But as the sun grew stronger and stronger, Qi Muyang’s expression grew worse and worse. In the end, the treacherous minister could not hold on anymore. “Boss, why don’t we go back to class?”
“No,” Qi Muyang refused decisively.
The treacherous minister groaned bitterly. “If we stay here any longer, we’ll be dried into human jerky. Besides, they’re the ones who came later. Why should we be the ones hiding from them?”
“Who said I’m hiding?!” Qi Muyang frowned.
The treacherous minister immediately said, “Exactly! We’re not hiding at all. We should go back and enjoy the air conditioning when we should. We have to let them know who the real boss here is!”
Qi Muyang looked at him thoughtfully. He instantly cowered. “W-what?”
“You make sense. Let’s go.” After saying this, Qi Muyang stood up and headed downstairs.
Treacherous minister: “…” If he had known it was this easy to coax him, he would have used this move from the start.
Qi Muyang walked back quickly. As soon as he reached the classroom door, he met Qi Weichen’s eyes. A faint, indistinct hum sounded in his throat. He strode past him, then went straight to the last row and arrogantly sat beside Chu Qing.
Chu Qing glanced at his sun-wilted turkey feathers, then at his handsome, sunny face with its well-defined features. She thought, what a waste of such good looks. Never mind that his brain wasn’t good—his taste was bad too.
Qi Muyang actually noticed that she was looking at him, but in order to carry out his decision, he kept a cold face and did not grant her even a single glance. Chu Qing was also too lazy to pay attention to this non-mainstream punk. As a result, the two of them did not speak to each other the whole morning.
At noon, when school ended, Qi Muyang simply slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and left. Chu Qing looked at him with disdain and waited until almost everyone had gone before slowly heading out. After taking only a few steps, she saw Qi Weichen. She paused, and an ominous premonition rose in her heart.
“Let’s go,” Qi Weichen said, looking at her.
Her premonition came true. Chu Qing smiled awkwardly. “I’m not going to the cafeteria. You go by yourself.”
Qi Weichen still looked at her quietly, showing no intention of leaving.
Chu Qing’s head hurt from being looked at like that. She glanced around and saw that no one was nearby, then walked over with her head lowered. “Um… although we’re in the same situation right now and should help each other, we’ve already broken up, after all. I think unless there’s a special circumstance, we shouldn’t be together too often.”
After all, she had only avoided becoming homeless thanks to forty-one-year-old Qi Weichen’s help, so when she said this, she actually had no confidence at all. If he insisted on staying with her… ah, that really would be hard to refuse. Even though she would pay him back once they travelled back, a favour was still a favour.
She did not dare look at his expression and simply lowered her head, worrying to herself. In the end, she waited for ages without hearing a response. She could only raise her head to look at him… Where was he? Chu Qing stared blankly at the empty corridor and laughed in anger.
The weather was too hot, and she did not have much appetite, so she went straight to the supermarket and bought yoghurt and a grilled sausage. She also took a big pile of snacks, then queued to pay with her identity card. Just as she placed the card on the machine and was about to enter the password, she saw that there was only one thousand yuan left on the card. She was instantly shocked.
If she remembered correctly, forty-one-year-old Qi Weichen had said this was her living expenses for an entire year, right?
She looked at the yoghurt that cost two yuan a pack, then at the grilled sausage that cost three yuan each, confirming that prices now were about the same as in 2019. Then, thinking of that tiny balance… she silently returned all the other snacks, only keeping the yoghurt and the half-eaten grilled sausage. While nibbling on it, she headed back to the dorm, her mind filled with the question of how this amount of money could possibly last her a whole year.
At this time, most students were still eating in the cafeteria. There were only a few scattered people on the road. She wandered along slowly, nibbling on her sausage. When she reached a shady area with fewer people, she suddenly sensed a malicious gaze. She frowned slightly, then continued walking forward.
It seemed that not many people were heading toward the dorms at this time. The closer she got to the dormitory area, the fewer people there were. And that gaze continued sticking to her unpleasantly. She pretended not to notice and continued walking lazily.
Not far from the road she was on, around a corner, several boys were sitting in the shade eating takeaway. Qi Muyang, who was facing that road, saw her and was just about to look away when he noticed the person following her. His brows immediately furrowed.
The treacherous minister beside him glanced at him, paused, then followed his gaze. He could not help but say in surprise, “Isn’t that Bad Monkey? The person he’s following is… Chu Qing?”
“Bad Monkey? Why does that name sound so familiar?” someone asked in confusion.
The treacherous minister glanced sideways at him. “That pervert who almost got expelled for harassing girls.”
“Him? What he did wasn’t just harassment. It was clearly attempted rape. Later, he settled it with money. He’s especially disgusting. Whoever gets tangled up with him is unlucky.” Another person who knew the situation spoke with disgust.
As they spoke, Chu Qing and Bad Monkey had already turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
The treacherous minister looked at Qi Muyang worriedly. “Boss…”
Qi Muyang really wanted to pretend he had not seen anything. Unfortunately, he could not endure for even three seconds before irritably putting down his takeaway box, getting up, and walking toward the dormitory area. Seeing this, the treacherous minister quickly called for the others to follow.
By the time they caught up, Chu Qing had already been blocked in a corner. She was still holding the grilled sausage with only two bites left, pressed against the wall as she stared at the unfamiliar boy getting closer and closer. “Don’t come over. Don’t come near me.”
Her voice was actually full of strong disgust, but in the ears of these boys, it became a helpless, weak, and pitiful plea. Add to that her pretty face, her watery eyes, her slightly furrowed brows, and her cherry-coloured lips pressed lightly together—it made anyone who saw her feel an endless urge to protect her.
Then they looked at Bad Monkey in front of her. As his name suggested, he looked like a monkey gone wrong—ugly and sleazy. Never mind if he was doing something bad; even if he were not doing anything bad, he made people want to beat him up. With such a comparison, the boys rolled up their sleeves, only waiting for Qi Muyang’s order to rush forward, save the beauty, and uphold justice.
Seeing Bad Monkey getting more and more excessive, Qi Muyang said coldly, “Chu Qing, come here.”
At his voice, the two people in the corner both looked over. When Bad Monkey saw him, he froze and immediately did not dare act recklessly anymore.
Chu Qing looked at him in confusion, then stuffed the rest of the grilled sausage into her mouth. “Do you need something?”
“…I told you to come here.” Qi Muyang had never seen someone so unable to read the situation. Suppressing his irritation, he repeated himself.
Chu Qing frowned and reluctantly replied, “Fine. Wait there. I still have something to deal with here.”
Qi Muyang was completely furious. “Can you fucking…”
He had only just cursed when he saw her punch Bad Monkey in the jaw. Then, while he was thrown backward by the force, she kicked him in the knee. Before Bad Monkey could react, he had already fallen flat on his back. Chu Qing followed with an elbow strike to his stomach. Her attacks were steady, accurate, and ruthless. Bad Monkey screamed and curled up on the ground like a giant shrimp, no longer able to fight back.
However, Chu Qing did not stop. She kicked him while cursing, “Didn’t I tell you not to come near me? You fucking refused to listen! Don’t you know how bad you stink?! Playing hooligan? With me? When your Master Chu was the boss, had you even been reincarnated yet?!”
Qi Muyang: “…”
The group of boys waiting to heroically save the beauty: “…”
By the time Chu Qing was tired from beating him, Bad Monkey had already become a dead monkey, curled up on the ground in a limp ball. He actually looked a little… pitiful. The children who witnessed this act of violence began reflecting on how they could possibly sympathise with trash like Bad Monkey.
After finishing the physical labour, Chu Qing was breathing a little quickly. She leaned lazily against the wall to rest for a moment, then looked at Qi Muyang and asked, “So what exactly did you call me over for?”
“…Nothing.” **Nomad: Like mother like son…**
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