It wasn’t even after school yet, and classrooms were buzzing with discussions about the incident.

“Can you believe it? It wasn’t Xie Ci who got expelled, but his cousin? Did they get it wrong somewhere?”

“You think the school leaders at our high school are clueless? They wouldn’t mess up something this serious!”

“The announcement was still pretty conservative. It only mentioned that Chen Zhanpeng was looking for thugs from the sports school to borrow money for internet access. But I just found out that when he couldn’t pay it back, he sent those thugs to ask Xie Ci for money. No wonder Xie Ci is always fighting with them.”

“What the heck? That’s so unfair to Xie Ci! What kind of pocket money do we poor high school students have to pay off someone else’s debts?”

“Still, it’s high-interest loans! This has crossed the line. If Chen Zhanpeng isn’t expelled, who will be? Our school can’t possibly tolerate him.”

“Xie Ci would rather be seen as a bully than report his cousin. He’s really loyal.”

“These things have long been open secrets. Anyone who pays a little attention to Xie Ci knows. It’s just you guys who are kept in the dark, shouting for Xie Ci to be punished. What a good basketball team player has been demonized into!”

“Bad people will eventually get their comeuppance. That idiot Chen Zhanpeng finally got what he deserved. From now on, Xie Team won’t have to deal with those thugs and can focus on playing ball.”

In Class One of the senior year.

As soon as school was out, Zhang Ruochuan and a few others gathered together, excitedly discussing where to go for a meal to celebrate their captain’s new lease on life.

Xie Ci understood that the meal was just an excuse; they were worried he might face difficulties at home and wanted to keep him company to pass the time.

Jiang Chenyu said, “How about we go to Old Li’s for some stir-fry? It’s been ages since I’ve had his grilled skewers and spicy snails. Ugh, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.”

“Alright, let’s go to Old Li’s.”

Zhang Ruochuan looked at Gu Yufeng, who was tidying up the desk. “Old Gu, are you coming? Join us.”

Gu Yufeng recalled the cold noodles he had eaten by the roadside that day, and his stomach churned a bit. He felt a bit off.

“Are we eating sitting down this time or standing up?”

Jiang Chenyu chuckled, remembering how Old Xie had tricked him into something. “This time, there will be seats. It’ll definitely be better than a roadside stall.”

“Fine, I won’t expect too much.” Gu Yufeng slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed them out of the classroom.

His tone was light, and he seemed to be in a good mood. The button of his shirt was casually undone, revealing a smooth neck and a slightly prominent Adam’s apple. The zipper of his school jacket was only pulled up to his chest, and because of his upright posture, he didn’t look sloppy at all. Every gesture exuded youthful exuberance and carefree spirit.

In contrast, Xie Ci walked beside him, as always, with the zipper of his school jacket pulled all the way up. He was tall and had a cold expression, radiating an aura of “keep your distance,” making people only dare to admire him from afar.

Many students in the hallway secretly watched them leave.

Xie Ci could stand on the basketball court and be a source of absolute security, but in the school, brushing past each other, they felt a constant fear of being attacked at any moment.

However, after reading that announcement, looking at Xie Ci again didn’t seem as terrifying as before.

A group of them chatted and laughed as they walked out of the teaching building. Xie Ci and Gu Yufeng lagged behind, and when they spotted a Land Rover parked at the school gate, Xie Ci said with some concern, “You really shouldn’t waste your time. Just go home and eat. Do you want to visit the emergency room again?”

Gu Yufeng replied, “I’m not made of paper. Am I that fragile? Just because you can eat, doesn’t mean I can’t!”

Xie Ci shot back, “Do you really think you can handle it?”

“Are you trying to exclude me?”

Gu Yufeng tilted his head to look at him. “My mental state is even weaker than my physical state. If you say one more word, I might just get depressed.”

“……” Xie Ci’s words were sharp. “Depression is still better than acute gastroenteritis. At least you won’t be throwing up in the bathroom until you can’t move.”

Gu Yufeng retorted, “You really are hard to please, huh?”

Just then, Zhang Ruochuan, who was walking ahead, stepped back to Xie Ci’s side and pointed in a direction with his chin. “Xie Team, over there!”

Xie Ci looked in that direction and immediately felt overwhelmed.

Two girls were waiting by the school gate, looking over eagerly. One of them was the girl who had supposedly just confessed to him, the one he had casually helped up.

“Go on, don’t make the girls feel awkward.”

Zhang Ruochuan nudged Xie Ci with his elbow, urging him on.

Jiang Chenyu couldn’t help but chime in, “Are you a spy sent by the enemy? Why are you siding with the girls?”

Fang Sizhe adjusted his glasses. “That’s why he has a girlfriend, and you don’t.”

That one sentence left Jiang Chenyu speechless.

Xie Ci instinctively glanced at Gu Yufeng.

Gu Yufeng was observing the girls over there, and when he noticed Xie Ci’s gaze, he asked in confusion, “What are you looking at me for? You brought this on yourself; go deal with it.”

Xie Ci: “……”

The girls over there couldn’t help but take a few steps toward them. Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Xie Ci steeled himself and walked over.

Gu Yufeng, along with Zhang Ruochuan and the others, instinctively retreated to the shade of a tree about ten meters away, watching the scene unfold.

“Is Xie Ci really popular at school?” Zhang Ruochuan asked, nodding.

“He’s the first crush for so many girls. Whenever he’s playing basketball, as long as he’s there, the area outside the court is always packed with girls.”

Gu Yufeng looked at Fang Sizhe, who was holding a pocket-sized vocabulary book and reciting words while walking, and tentatively asked, “If Old Xie is this popular, don’t you feel jealous?”

Fang Sizhe paused, forgetting the words he had just memorized, as if he had lost his ability to articulate. After a long moment, he finally managed to stammer out a word.

“……Ah?”

Zhang Ruochuan and Jiang Chenyu turned to Fang Sizhe, their expressions saying, “What are you two hiding from me?”

Fang Sizhe felt a chill down his spine, glancing between the two of them and then at Gu Yufeng. “Why would I be jealous?”

Gu Yufeng observed his reaction and said slowly, “A good friend being taken away by a girl, wouldn’t you feel jealous?”

Fang Sizhe let out a huge sigh of relief.

“No, I’m not his dad. I can’t control who he dates. No matter who he dates, our relationship won’t change.”

Gu Yufeng pondered this, recalling that winter night when he had trouble sleeping because Xie Ci had called out “Xiao Fang” in his sleep.

He had thought that he and Xie Ci were the same kind of people, that they had no emotional needs, and had already stepped away from the realm of normal people.

Two weirdos huddling together for warmth, in a way, they were each other’s only.

People like them could never fall in love with anyone else; all interpersonal relationships could only be tools for profit. So they never inquired about each other’s whereabouts. Even if someone spread rumors that Xie Ci was fooling around outside, he wouldn’t care. To him, that was just a means for Xie Ci to achieve his goals.

But that one “Xiao Fang” in Xie Ci’s dream had kept him awake all night.

It was a tone he had never heard before—gentle, restrained, and patient, as if the other person were something fragile, not even daring to raise his voice for fear of disturbing them.

Xie Ci had someone he liked, completely disregarding his feelings, heartlessly leaving him behind and returning to the world of normal people.

He felt utterly betrayed.

Since then, he had been curious about who that “Xiao Fang” was.

Now it seemed, at least it wasn’t Fang Sizhe.

Xie Ci quickly returned, and when faced with Zhang Ruochuan and the others’ inquiries, he simply said he had clearly rejected her.

Zhang Ruochuan asked curiously, “How did you reject her? Was it polite enough?”

Xie Ci replied nonchalantly, “I said I don’t like any humanoid beings.”

Zhang Ruochuan: “… As expected of you.”

Jiang Chenyu laughed uncontrollably, “That girl falling for you must be the worst luck ever.”

Not liking humanoid beings?

Gu Yufeng fell into deep thought.

What on earth was that “Xiao Fang”?

Seeing Gu Yufeng silent, Xie Ci, worried he might not be feeling well, asked, “Not feeling well?”

Gu Yufeng looked him up and down, his expression very subtle. “Maybe I was wrong. We might actually be different kinds of weirdos.”

Xie Ci: “……”

How did he come to that conclusion?

Old Li’s stir-fry was just a street away from the high school, a ten-minute walk. The shopfront was old and unremarkable among the many stir-fry places on the street, but the business was good.

The stove was right at the entrance, and the owner was a burly middle-aged man named Li, who was flipping a pan while calling for them to find a seat.

Four boys from the high school soccer team had just arrived. Jiang Chenyu recognized them, so the nine of them squeezed around a big round table.

After ordering food and sitting down, they quickly became familiar with each other.

The four boys from the soccer team kept glancing at Gu Yufeng, intrigued.

They had heard about a foreign transfer student in Class One, but today was the first time they saw him. He was indeed mixed-race and incredibly handsome. They had worried he might not speak Chinese well, but to their surprise, he spoke fluent Mandarin without any communication barriers, just like them.

Since they were all underage, they couldn’t drink alcohol, so Jiang Chenyu and Zhang Ruochuan went to grab a bunch of drinks.

Jiang Chenyu held up a bottle of Beibingyang, stood up, and said to everyone, “Let’s toast to our Old Xie finally getting rid of that idiot, clearing his name, and getting some satisfaction!”

Boys at this age loved to make a fuss. Under the eager gazes of a group of young boys, Xie Ci helplessly raised his bottle and clinked it with theirs.

“Thanks.”

The food arrived quickly. Xie Ci ordered a few relatively light dishes and specifically told Old Li not to add chili, fearing Gu Yufeng might end up in the hospital again.

From a distance, Jiang Chenyu saw Old Li bickering with his wife. When Old Li came to serve the dishes, he teased, “Uncle Li, are you arguing with your wife again?”

Old Li glanced at the door and muttered in a low voice, “She used to say I was the cutest. Now everything I do annoys her. Does love just disappear?”

His pitiful expression made the table of boys burst into laughter.

Gu Yufeng picked up a piece of dry pot cabbage and casually said, “You don’t need love to maintain a marriage.”

Seeing him so serious, Zhang Ruochuan asked curiously, “Then what do you rely on?”

Gu Yufeng replied nonchalantly, “Timely and effective communication, not draining each other, supporting each other’s work and lifestyle, giving enough space and time, and having a harmonious and enjoyable sex life. If you can do these things, a marriage can last well and long, and love doesn’t matter at all.”

The mention of “sex life” made the entire table of teenage boys blush, and they were left speechless for a long time.

The soccer player sitting next to Jiang Chenyu choked on his soda and coughed violently, hurriedly wiping his mouth and leaning over to Jiang Chenyu to ask quietly, “Do you guys usually talk about such explosive topics?”

Jiang Chenyu, his ears red, opened his mouth and tried to act calm. “Old Gu is just a foreigner; he’s different from us. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

The boy: “……”

It seemed there really was a difference between them and the locals.

Only Xie Ci remained calm at the table, eating without saying a word, accustomed to Gu Yufeng’s outrageous comments.

In his heart, he couldn’t help but compare Gu Yufeng’s standards to their previous marriage, confirming that this guy was just talking nonsense.

He had done all that, yet still got dumped.

So, not having love was still not okay.

One of the soccer players raised his hand and asked Gu Yufeng, “Dude, do you have experience?”

Gu Yufeng finished the cabbage in his mouth and saw the table full of people looking both shy and curious, waiting for his answer. He found it a bit funny. “After all that, you guys only heard the words ‘sex life’?”

Another boy raised his hand. “I also heard ‘harmonious.'”

A boy next to him said, “I heard ‘enjoyable.'”

Gu Yufeng: “……”

The two boys high-fived each other for their mutual understanding, while the others couldn’t help but laugh.

Gu Yufeng looked at Xie Ci, who was focused on his food. “If we’re talking about experience, he’s the most likely to have it among us. He has a face that appeals to all ages, and he’s the captain of the basketball team—he’s the ideal type for so many girls’ first crushes.”

Feeling the heat on himself, Xie Ci faced the curious gazes of the entire table and calmly said, “The law states that minors are not allowed to have a sex life. You think too highly of me.”

Gu Yufeng leaned in a bit closer. “So, does that mean you’re still—”

“Let’s talk about something healthy at the dinner table.” Xie Ci interrupted him, placing a skewer of lamb in front of Gu Yufeng.

Gu Yufeng: “Are you—”

Xie Ci: “Isn’t this pile of food enough to keep your mouth busy?”

Gu Yufeng: “……”

After finishing their meal, it was already dark outside.

The four boys from the soccer team had other plans and said their goodbyes at the door.

Jiang Chenyu and Fang Sizhe had cars waiting to pick them up, while Gu Yufeng was going to drop Xie Ci off at home, taking Zhang Ruochuan along the way.

After dropping Zhang Ruochuan off at his apartment building, the car started up again.

The car was quiet. Roberson glanced at the little boss and his cold, taciturn classmate in the rearview mirror, wondering about the enmity between the two.

He had never seen the little boss care so much about anyone.

The car stopped outside a bustling neighborhood where outside vehicles weren’t allowed in.

Just before getting out, Xie Ci suddenly spoke, “You made arrangements regarding Chen Zhanpeng’s punishment, right?”

From the incident to the expulsion announcement, only three days had passed. It was impossible for the normal process to be that quick. Plus, with Chen Xinhong and his wife trying to pull strings to save their son, he had thought it would take a long time.

Gu Yufeng replied, “I’m just a high school student. What arrangements could I make? He brought this on himself.”

Xie Ci opened the car door, stepped out with his long legs, hesitated for a moment, and still said thank you.

Gu Yufeng was in a good mood and teased him casually, “If you really want to thank me, then tell me if you’re—”

With a bang, the car door closed, and Xie Ci walked away without looking back.

Gu Yufeng: “……”