“Xie Ci said we were being affectionate at the school gate?”

Gu Yufeng nodded nonchalantly, directly admitting, “Yeah, what’s the problem?”

This attitude infuriated Xiang Haibin: “What problem? What do you mean, what problem?! You and Xie Ci are both boys, and minors! How can you do such intimate things at a place like the school gate?! Do you know what kind of bad influence this could bring?!”

Gu Yufeng replied, “Then we just won’t do it at the school gate next time.”

“Is that the point?!”

Xiang Haibin was so angry that he lectured Gu Yufeng for half an hour, only letting him go back when the first class was about to start.

On the first day back at school, Gu Yufeng didn’t have time to do anything before he was handed a thousand-word reflection.

In Class One, when Xie Ci saw Gu Yufeng come in through the back door, he casually asked, “Did you explain things clearly to Old Xiang?”

“I did.”

Gu Yufeng took out his notebook, opened the cap of his pen, and started practicing his writing.

[Regarding my and my deskmate Xie Ci’s affectionate behavior at the school gate, which caused a bad influence on other students, I deeply reflect…]

Xie Ci glanced over and had a bad feeling.

“How did you explain it?”

Gu Yufeng wrote while saying, “We were being affectionate at the school gate, everyone saw it. If I deny it now, wouldn’t that make me a scumbag?”

Xie Ci: “……”

You really are something.

He originally wanted Old Xiang to educate this kid and make him tone it down, but it seemed impossible now.

This kid can’t be controlled by anyone.

The surrounding students all had expressions like they were watching a show.

What happened yesterday afternoon had already spread throughout the school. The two most good-looking boys in the first high school were caught getting cozy at the school gate, and even got reported by a parent.

However, one of the main characters was Gu Yufeng, who had publicly “confessed” to Xie Ci on his first day of transferring. Most students in Class One believed it was definitely a misunderstanding, thinking they were just greeting each other closely, but who would have thought he would actually admit it?

Zhang Ruochuan and the others were laughing so hard they could die, explaining to the classmates who came over to ask about it one by one.

Fang Sizhe: “You can tell from Old Gu’s fearless look that he’s just joking.”

Zhang Ruochuan: “Who would dare to admit to early love in front of Old Ban? Besides, Old Gu and Old Xie are both straight guys.”

Jiang Chenyu: “You guys should stop making a fuss. How could Old Xie possibly like guys? He doesn’t even like girls.”

Over there, Yang He, Xu Chao, and a group of people were also discussing.

“Even if they’re not gay, isn’t it disgusting for two boys to be so close?”

Xu Chao didn’t bother to lower his voice, and the whole classroom could hear him.

His deskmate Yang He scoffed: “Haven’t they done this a few times before? I heard there are a lot of gay people among foreigners!”

The other boys nearby made disgusted sounds.

“I’ve only heard about it before; I didn’t expect gay people to be so close to me.”

“That’s really gross. If someone came to get close to my face, I’d throw up!”

“Looks like I need to stay away from those foreigners in the future. What if I get attacked while walking down the street? That would be so uncomfortable.”

“What if I suddenly get kissed while passing by? My first kiss goes to a guy; that would be a lifelong nightmare, hahahaha.”

A group of people got excited talking about homosexuality, laughing and chatting without any worries.

Unintentionally looking up, Yang He saw Xie Ci standing right next to his seat, looking down at him, and he was so startled that he forgot what he was going to say next.

The other guys also gradually noticed and fell silent.

At that moment, the pressure emanating from Xie Ci became palpable.

Xie Ci: “You guys haven’t suddenly been kissed by a girl, so you don’t need to worry about being suddenly kissed by a boy. Everyone’s gaze is the same.”

A few girls nearby caught the meaning of his words and laughed out loud.

Xu Chao and the others immediately lost their smiles.

Yang He: “But he’s gay! How can it be the same? A gay person isn’t normal; he’s a freak!”

“Let’s not talk about whether he’s gay or not.”

Xie Ci’s expression was indifferent, his tone casual, “Even if he is, how desperate would he have to be to attack you guys? I’m not worried, so what do you have to worry about?”

A few boys were humiliated but couldn’t find words to retort.

Xie Ci excelled in both academics and sports, and he had enough merit to say such things.

A group of boys watched as Xie Ci walked to the front row, placed his homework on the podium lightly, and turned back to his seat, not daring to continue the previous topic.

Since Xie Ci had said that, if they kept talking, it would only make them look foolish.

Moreover, Xie Ci still looked as cold as usual, and although his tone wasn’t heavy, they could feel that he was angry.

Gu Yufeng sat in his seat, watching someone who defended him come back, twirling the pen in his fingers, feeling a bit giddy.

When Xie Ci sat down, Gu Yufeng turned to him: “That line ‘I’m not worried’ is quite arrogant.”

Xie Ci flipped through the textbook for the next class: “Is it?”

Gu Yufeng dragged his voice and said leisurely, “Can I take that to mean you’re very aware of how much attraction you have over me?”

Xie Ci certainly knew, after all, in his previous life, he had painstakingly pursued Gu Yufeng and was smoothly accepted by him.

Thinking this in his heart, Xie Ci replied, “Don’t take my words too seriously.”

“But you’re not wrong.”

Gu Yufeng leaned closer, wrapping Xie Ci between the wall and himself, “I’ve said before, I really like you.”

Seeing the surrounding students quietly looking over, Xie Ci felt a bit overwhelmed.

“Do you have to stir up trouble at a time like this?”

Gu Yufeng: “I’m just expressing my opinion about you. What do you mean by stirring up trouble?”

Xie Ci pushed him away, but Gu Yufeng wouldn’t budge.

“Gu Yufeng.” Xie Ci’s tone carried a warning, “Be honest.”

The classroom suddenly fell silent.

Xie Ci saw Fang Sizhe over there giving him a look, then turned to look out the window, where Xiang Haibin was standing outside, glaring at them with a dark expression.

“Everyone go stand in the hallway!”

The class bell rang, and Xie Ci and Gu Yufeng stood side by side in the hallway, feeling the cold wind.

Seeing Gu Yufeng laughing carefreely, Xie Ci realized.

This kid was deliberately stirring up trouble to get back at him.

“Are you happy now?” Xie Ci’s voice was cooler than the wind blowing through the hallway.

Gu Yufeng: “Deskmates should support each other, as you said, how can I be the only one writing a reflection?”

From the classroom came Xiang Haibin’s furious roar: “You dare to chat while standing? Each of you write another five hundred words of reflection!”

The two of them immediately became obedient.

Xiang Haibin sighed deeply, leaning against the podium and looking at everyone in the classroom: “The monthly exam results are out.”

With that one sentence, everyone forgot about the gossip and became tense, their scalps tingling.

Xiang Haibin picked up the list beside him: “This time, the first place in the monthly exam is Xie Ci.”

Whoa—!

The entire class gasped.

The top spot had changed hands, and Fang Sizhe’s two-year record was broken by Xie Ci!

Jiang Chenyu excitedly raised his hand to speak: “Old Ban, what’s his ranking in the grade?!”

Xiang Haibin replied in a tone that implied it was obvious: “Of course, he’s also first in the grade. How could the first in the grade give way to other classes?”

Whoa—!

Another round of gasps.

After Xie Ci scored full marks in the small test, they were all looking forward to the ranking of this monthly exam. Although they had thought about this result, when it was actually presented before them, it was still shocking.

The top ten in the grade were no pushovers; each one was someone they looked up to. They never expected Xie Ci to rise to the top in one fell swoop, completing a perfect turnaround from being a poor student to a top student with just one monthly exam.

Jiang Chenyu shouted out the window: “Old Xie, did you hear? You got first in the grade!”

Xie Ci responded with a flat “Mm,” looking not particularly happy.

The others came back to their senses and suddenly found it funny that the top student was being punished standing outside.

Xiang Haibin looked at Xie Ci and asked blandly, “Now that you’ve taken first place, do you have any insights or suggestions for the other classmates?”

Xie Ci, being watched by an entire class of students through the window, thought for a moment and said with a serious expression: “The facts prove that early love doesn’t affect studies; everyone can rest assured about early love.”

The entire space fell into a dead silence.

Someone couldn’t help but laugh, and the others couldn’t hold back either, the classroom erupted in laughter.

“Get over to the office door and stand there! Stand until class is over!” Xiang Haibin roared, grabbing a piece of chalk and throwing it over.

Xie Ci and Gu Yufeng went together to stand at the office door.

This spot didn’t get any wind, which was comfortable.

Gu Yufeng: “Was that intentional?”

To anger Xiang Haibin and get them a better spot for standing.

Xie Ci didn’t bother to respond.

Gu Yufeng, however, didn’t care: “How many lessons did it take to accumulate this experience? It seems you’ve made Old Xiang angry quite a bit in the past.”

Xie Ci: “So now I’m getting my comeuppance.”

Gu Yufeng pretended not to hear the sarcasm in his words: “In the past, you stood alone; now you have me with you. Isn’t that better?”

At first glance, this sounded warm and made one feel cozy, but upon closer inspection, it was completely the opposite.

Xie Ci looked at him with a hint of gloom: “I’m being punished for standing, and it seems to be because of you?”

Gu Yufeng tilted his head to meet his gaze: “If you hadn’t been talking nonsense last night, I wouldn’t have to write a reflection.”

Once the monthly exam results were announced, the whole school was in an uproar.

The first in the senior year had changed to Xie Ci, and the speed at which this news spread was incomparable to the previous small test. Even students who usually didn’t care about gossip knew that the once-silent top student had returned.

Almost every teacher in every class used Xie Ci as a positive example to motivate students with poor grades during class.

Meanwhile, the main character of this case was being caught by Xiang Haibin in the office, discussing life.

When Xie Ci was about to leave the office, the door opened from the outside, and a boy about 1.75 meters tall with a gloomy expression walked in.

As they brushed past each other, the boy shot Xie Ci a fierce glare.

Xie Ci was baffled by the glare but didn’t bother to investigate.

Boys at this age are always a bit neurotic, just like Gu Yufeng, who could go crazy at any moment.

Xiang Haibin was talking until his throat was dry, took a sip from his thermos, and the phone on the desk suddenly rang. He picked it up casually: “Hello, Director Qian? … Xie Ci? He did quite well this time; based on the difficulty of the paper, his results exceeded my expectations…”

Xiang Haibin’s expression changed from earlier to one with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Director Qian sighed: “It seems that his foster family really has issues. The principal came to find me earlier and expressed some guilt about Xie Ci’s situation, saying that the school didn’t investigate thoroughly back then, which led him down the wrong path.”

When Xie Ci’s grades plummeted after he enrolled, the school leadership had organized a meeting to analyze the reasons and even called Xie Ci’s relatives to talk, but it ultimately came to nothing.

“Fortunately, the discovery was timely; it’s not too late now. The child is working hard, and there should be time to make up for it.”

Xiang Haibin said, then asked, “I heard that the lawsuit regarding his relatives has already been filed? How is it going now? Is there hope for winning?”

Director Qian: “The lawyer hired by his family came yesterday; I received them. The principal means to cooperate fully and will never tolerate domestic violence against minors.”

Xiang Haibin: “Let me know if you need my cooperation.”

As he was about to hang up, Director Qian suddenly remembered something: “The reporter from the education channel contacted me this morning, saying they want to do a special interview with Xie Ci. Can you ask the kid if he’s available?”

Since middle school, Xie Ci had been a hot topic, a favorite news material for major media outlets, especially after his fall from grace and now returning to the top.

Such good news material had reporters flocking to it.

Xiang Haibin had initially agreed, but suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said: “I think his grades aren’t stable yet, and with the family issues unresolved, it’s better not to distract him for now!”

Director Qian: “Okay, I’ll help him decline.”

After hanging up the phone, Xiang Haibin felt very complicated.

He had no objections to Xie Ci accepting an interview, but that kid looked stable, yet his personality was rebellious and unpredictable. If he said something ridiculous in front of the media, it would be a problem.

Those media wouldn’t care about Xie Ci’s feelings; they would twist the truth however they wanted, turning the dead into the living and white into black.

Xie Ci had finally managed to settle down to study; he couldn’t afford to cause any more trouble.

In the classroom, Zhang Ruochuan and the others gathered around Xie Ci’s desk, discussing where to go for dinner that night to celebrate Xie Ci getting first place.

“No need to go through so much trouble,” Xie Ci said.

“The sense of ceremony can’t be lacking.”

Jiang Chenyu disagreed, “Every time Old Fang gets first place, we have a dinner; we can’t let that tradition die with you.”

Hearing this, Zhang Ruochuan patted Fang Sizhe and teased, “Old Fang, you’re second this time; do you want to cry?”

Fang Sizhe, leaning against the desk in the next row, adjusted his glasses and said, “I’ve already secretly gone to the bathroom to cry once.”

This made everyone laugh.

In the end, they decided on Lao Li’s stir-fry.

Gu Yufeng suddenly realized while eating skewers that what Xie Ci had said on the morning they went hiking made sense.

Some things aren’t loved that much, but if you haven’t had them for a while, you’ll miss them.

Some people are the same.

Seeing Gu Yufeng turn to look at him, Xie Ci raised an eyebrow: “What do you want to do again?”

Gu Yufeng was amused by his cautious tone: “Don’t be so nervous; I won’t suddenly kiss you.”

Xie Ci: “That’s hard to say.”

Gu Yufeng: “Are you looking forward to it?”

Xie Ci silently shut his mouth.

If they continued chatting, the topic would definitely veer into directions he didn’t want to discuss.

Zhang Ruochuan and Fang Sizhe exchanged glances, both understanding each other’s expressions.

They felt that the atmosphere between Old Xie and Old Gu was becoming increasingly subtle.

As they talked about the class reunion on Saturday night, Zhang Ruochuan asked, “What gifts are you guys planning to bring? I haven’t thought of anything yet.”

Gu Yufeng: “No need to bring anything; just showing up is enough.”

“That won’t do; how can you go empty-handed?”

Zhang Ruochuan turned to Jiang Chenyu, “You have a lot of ideas; have you thought of anything?”

Jiang Chenyu stroked his chin and thought for a moment: “A week’s worth of new socks, that way I can bring back a week’s worth of smelly socks to wash.”

A few boys laughed out loud.

Zhang Ruochuan: “That’s a good idea, but if you give socks, I can’t just give underwear, right?”

Fang Sizhe: “If you all give something, what should I give?”

Jiang Chenyu: “Shoe insoles?”

Fang Sizhe: “… That’s a terrible idea.”

Zhang Ruochuan laughed and asked Xie Ci: “Old Xie, what about you? What are you giving?”

Jiang Chenyu: “Bro, I’ve thought of it for you; just give a foot soak package.”

Gu Yufeng was speechless: “Can I refuse to accept it?”

Xie Ci finished the grilled meat in his mouth and casually said, “I’ve already prepared a gift.”

Everyone at the table looked at him curiously, even Gu Yufeng became interested.

In his previous life, every time there were various holidays and anniversaries, Xie Ci would prepare gifts for him, usually luxury items or sports cars. But now that Xie Ci was broke, Gu Yufeng was really curious about what kind of gift he could prepare.

Gu Yufeng couldn’t help but ask, “What did you prepare?”

Xie Ci: “You’ll know when the time comes.”

Everyone at the table: “……”

He really knows how to keep people in suspense!

On Saturday afternoon, Xie Ci changed into his outing clothes, glanced at the messages jumping around in the group, and went downstairs to leave with Xie Qian, who was waiting.

He arrived at the agreed meeting place first, got out of the passenger seat, and opened the back door to take out the wrapped painting.

“Xiao Ci.”

Xie Qian called out to him worriedly, “If anything happens, contact me immediately.”

Xie Ci replied, “Drive slowly on the way back.”

Xie Ci waited for a moment in a corner of the square, and soon Zhang Ruochuan and Fang Sizhe arrived one after another.

Before long, a business car drove over and stopped in front of him, the window rolled down, revealing Jiang Chenyu’s face.

“Brothers, get in!”

A group of people was excited to the max, chattering non-stop on the way.

Jiang Chenyu noticed the item Xie Ci had placed by his feet and felt it looked familiar, curiously asking, “Old Xie, is this the gift you prepared? It’s so big.”

Xie Ci: “Yeah, it’s a painting.”

Jiang Chenyu’s expression went blank: “… Huh?!”

Zhang Ruochuan was a bit surprised: “Right! You can give a painting! It’s way more elegant than giving socks! Old Xie, you’re too sneaky; you didn’t tell us.”

Fang Sizhe: “Good thing I didn’t actually buy shoe insoles.”

Jiang Chenyu stared at the painting, his eyelids twitching, blood pressure skyrocketing, and his mind buzzing, completely unable to joke around.

Jiang Chenyu pointed at the painting, stunned, and asked Xie Ci: “Old Xie, this painting… it can’t be…?”

Xie Ci replied flatly: “Yeah.”

Jiang Chenyu: “Holy crap!”

Last Sunday, when Xie Ci sold the uncle painting, he mentioned that Gu Yongnian had a similar oil painting, but he didn’t expect that painting was still in his hands and hadn’t been given away!

So that day, Xie Ci had completely tricked him into a million dollars just by talking!