Chapter 27

Gu Jing Yuan left sullenly, leaving the puzzled servant behind.

Before returning to his room, he stood at the door casting sidelong glances at hers.

A ringtone suddenly rang in the quiet corridor. He subconsciously pressed the answer button and quickly connected the call.

“Who?”

“God Yuan, are you free? Let’s play one round~”

Ah Zhao’s club insisted on having him play a round together to practice their team cooperation.

It was not enough to just keep playing. At present, the strongest, most well-known team was the Koreans. If they wanted to play in the International Tournaments, they still needed to hone their skills.

Gu Jing Yuan would occasionally enter the Korean serve to play. In fact, he managed to knock out several top Korean players on his own. He then became famous for his ruthless skills in the Korean circle. 

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The club would also accept some endorsements without compromising on their players’ daily training and downtime. But they spent the majority of their efforts on recruiting skilled players. The stronger their team, the more endorsements they get, and the more they earned, they were very clear about this. 

Gu Jing Yuan even made a small sum from his shares.

It was just that the club did not spare him. Even if he was not a member, they still tried to squeeze him for everything he was worth. Tsk. 

The club originally thought that they would be tortured to death by Gu Jing Yuan. Who would have expected that they were evenly matched in the end!

Although they still lost, they were ecstatic!

After the end of the game, in high spirits, the excited team wanted to examine how they could defeat God Yuan the next time around! 

Ah Zhao chuckled and rejected his teammate’s invitation.

[Brother Yuan, I heard that you improved by more than 300 positions in the last exam! Awesome!]

[It was okay.]

What was so awesome about that? The truly awesome one was the one next door.  

[Brother Yuan is so humble! Is your school a place ordinary people can attend?]

[Not trying to be modest.]

He had self-awareness. If it was not for her, he really would not have been able to improve so quickly.

[Alright, alright. Brother Yuan, are you coming out to play this weekend? After I won the group tournament last round, the club gave me a bonus. I want to invite everyone to get together.]

[OK.]

After chatting a few more sentences, he took a glance at the time. It was past twelve o’clock.

[I’m going offline first.]

[Okay. Oh yes, if your sister is free, you can bring her along too.] 

[What are you planning?]

[Sister could join and unwind together with us.]

Gu Jing Yuan, ‘Something’s fishy about you.’ 

[Let’s discuss again.]

[Okay, then Brother Yuan have an early rest.]

He could feel Ah Zhao’s excitement from the other side of the screen. 

Tch, Tao Yi Xi sure knew how to… seduce people.

The weather was drier in autumn, causing him to feel thirsty that night.

He went to the kitchen for a drink and was met with a familiar scene.

Under the dim light, her long hair was loosely tied behind her head. With a hand over her mouth, she released a yawn. Her eyes were a little dazed, but she did not forget to stir the thing in her mug.

The rich aroma of instant coffee permeated the small space. Inside the clean rubbish bin were three empty sachets of coffee packets. 

Such a familiar scene, but his mood underwent a subtle change.

In his opinion, instant coffee was the worst. Some of them contained artificial non-dairy creamer which was rumored to be very harmful to the body.  

Last time, some people from the club drank it frequently. Then one day, one of them suffered from arrhythmia after drinking it, scaring everyone.

Although this was the only example, it does not rule out the possible dangers it could cause.

From the way he saw it, she was frantically trying to test its dangers and probability.

The long teaspoon lightly tapped against the side of the ceramic mug twice creating a crisp clink, signaling the end of its job.

She was about to leave with the mug in hand. However, when she turned around, she spotted a person who stood behind for who knew how long.

She was startled, and her action of bringing the mug to her lips paused.  

“Good evening, Ge-ge,” she greeted as usual.

It was originally a simple encounter, but he took the initiative to start a conversation with her.

“Have you eaten your dinner?”

“En?” She was momentarily stunned before replying, “not yet.”

Burning midnight oil, not eating her meals, and triple dose of instant coffee.    

Gu Jing Yuan took a deep breath, feeling inexplicably angry. 

She was really trying to destroy herself, really.

This time, he would not let her go just like the last time.

Looking at her mug, he asked in a low voice, “still have?”

“Still have what?”

“Coffee.”

“There’s still a little.”

“Give it to me.”

“Hm?” Tao Yi Xi was baffled, unsure of what he was planning to do.

Could he be craving her low-grade coffee?

Her newly opened box of coffee was already half finished. She wanted to give him a few sachets from the remaining half box, but he took the whole thing away.

“Is there more?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

He nodded. Before raising his chin, “I want to drink that.”

“En?”

As her voice was soft, he thought she consented.

He immediately took her mug and downed the whole thing in one breath. 

His action was smooth like flowing water, catching her off guard. 

Tao Yixi, “???” 

He scrunched his brows as he returned the empty mug to her hands.

“It tastes horrible.”

“…” So why did you drink it?

“Going to sleep.” The person who said the drink was unpalatable left with her box of coffee in his hand.

Tao Yi Xi was confused she looked at the dark brown residue left on the bottom of the mug. She went back to the kitchen to wash the mug.

The coffee stain on the rim of the mug suddenly jolted her.

He drank from her mug just now!

Gu Jing Yuan touched his lips as he finally reacted as well.

Just now, he used her mug.

Was it disgusting?

No.

It was a very different feeling. He could not pinpoint exactly what it was, but he knew very well that it was not repulsion.

He pressed his lips tightly together before he shook his head to get rid of the strange thoughts circulating in his mind.

However, it was doomed to be a sleepless night for him.

He laid in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

He even picked up the sleep-inducing English book she gave. But the more he read, the more awake he felt.

f*ck!

He doesn’t buy it!

The next morning, only when the morning light rose and faintly shone on the desk through the gaps in the curtains, did he faintly feel somewhat sleepy.

In a trance, he stared at the ten or more pages of questions in front of him.

He was actually forced to proactively study all night.

He was so tired and wanted to sleep.

Then, the alarm went off.

“Tch.”

He rubbed his eyes and forced himself to get up although he barely laid down. He put on a random set of clothes and stepped out of the room.

“Good morning, Ge-ge.”

Tao Yi Xi was startled when she spotted the conspicuous dark circles under his eyes and softly sighed.

She drank too much and became immune to caffeine, the effects only lasted for two to three hours.

On the other hand, he, whom she had never seen drink caffeinated beverages, consumed double the amount in one breath. It was no wonder it kept him energized all night.

Consequently, his mental state now would be very sluggish.

She was not dense. On the contrary, she was overly sensitive. She was able to understand the twist and turns of the situation very clearly. 

His concern was expressed very clumsily. Somewhat silly, but also a little cute.

In a rare moment of soft-heartedness, she suggested, “Ge-ge, why not take leave today?”

“No need.”

Can she still go to school in peace if he asked for leave? Is she stupid?

Gu Jing Yuan laid on the backrest of the car, mentally exhausted and dazed that he did not notice her slowly approaching figure. 

A pair of cool fingers rested on his collar and gently brushed against the skin on the side of his neck. Only then, did he glance at her in a trance.

She had her eyes lowered, her thick eyelashes were clearly defined, and with a look of concentration, she helped him tidy his collar. 

“It’s messy.”

Her hand went around the back of his neck, turning over the collar and straightening it. As if her actions were just a simple matter.

She was always like this, her every action was planned precisely.

It seemed like a provocative but others were uncertain.

She gave him a small smile. Her pure face always gave the illusion of innocence.

But he knew that she was full of tricks. Her voice was soft and tender, even when she jokingly addressed him as ‘Ge-ge’, he could not find it within himself to be angry at her. 

When she called him that while she was unwell, it turned people’s hearts to mush.

She always had a way, little by little, to force him to retreat. 

Gu Jing Yuan observed her delicate face. He grabbed her retracting slender wrist. As if it could be easily snapped in two with just the slightest force. Would her eyes then redden while she cried out?

He murmured, “so naughty.”

“Huh?” His words were too soft for her to catch.

“I said that you’re really thin.”

“…”

He released her wrist. The soft texture of her skin lingered on his fingertips, causing him to secretly clenched his fist.

**

Gu Jing Yuan could not hold on and fell asleep in Chinese class. Tao Yi Xi did not disturb him as she secretly did her own revision.

As he did not allow her to drink the cup of coffee yesterday, it did not take long for her to feel sleepy. 

She managed to get more sleep last night, allowing her mental state to be better. However, it was at the cost of using other lessons to make up for the lost time.

She helplessly glanced at the person in deep sleep. His breathing was even and when he was sleeping, his face looked innocent, lacking his usual arrogance. In fact, it was rather pleasing to the eye. 

Usually, he always had this arrogant and obstinate temperament, making it seem like he was extremely difficult to get along with. Yet, only she knew that his heart was kinder than most. 

In the end, he was a young master who had not experienced hardships and was constantly protected by others. He was really innocent.

**

Gu Jing Yuan slept for two classes, and when he woke up, she was still attempting questions.

How much did she have to do? It feels like her question bank is endless.

Seated at the desk behind, Qi Yue poked Gu Jing Yuan in the back, “Brother Yuan, something happened again.”

Gu Jing Yuan leaned back as Qi Yue whispered, “take a look.”

Title: First in level, only amount to this?

LZ: Look at this first-hand information I just took in the teacher’s office. Sticker.JPG. Letting everyone have a feel for themselves.

1L: Is these the results from the math competition screening? And here I thought she was so powerful, but she’s only third.

2L: Sure enough, Chen Ze is the strongest. This round of exams must be just a lapse.

32L: I’ve also secretly attached the screening paper. Let everyone have a sense of how scary Study God is.

33L: f*ck, this isn’t normal standards.

45L: Coming from a sub-urban city, still a bit lacking.

47L: This is lacking? 45L, please go sit for the paper yourself and see how much you score.

55L: Those above, why are your words so peculiar and sharp? Why the discrimination and smearing?

56L: Discussing and stating facts is also wrong?

The development of the later posts gradually became crooked. Many were just waiting for the moment Tao Yi Xi argued back.

“These people are so disgusting,” Qi Yue unhappily swiped his phone.

Gu Jing Yuan frowned, his face darkened the more he read.

“Sooner or later, Sister Yi Xi will smash their faces in. Humph!”

Upon vaguely hearing her name, Tao Yi Xi raised her head from her paper.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Qi Yue immediately put away his phone. He was so flustered that it was as good as having the word ‘something’s wrong’ slapped on his face.

Gu Jing Yuan was speechless. With how astute Tao Yi Xi was, it was impossible for her not to realize something was up.

She, of course, guessed it. She temporarily stopped her revision and entered the school forum. 

An hour had passed but the post was still on top of the homepage.

Tao Yi Xi clicked on the image. She was ranked third.

The second spot was occupied by a third-year senior, with 0.5 points higher than her. The first place was Chen Ze, with 12 points more than the second place.

They were right, she was indeed lacking.

Gu Jing Yuan flipped through his book. His gaze drifted towards her from the corner of his eyes.

Her expression did not change. She remained indifferent as if the protagonist being targeted in the post was not herself. 

He watched as she turn off her phone and immersed herself in her books again.

She was always like this. Others were never able to get a read on her.