The K-Brand PR responded very quickly.

This promotion was mainly to coincide with the May Day Grand Sale. The other party offered a straightforward price and gave a good discount for followers. Xie Lan and Mr. Wu communicated intermittently in the WeChat group for a day, and he received a clear expression of intent on his way home.

“He wants me to prepare a demo as soon as possible and ‘synchronize with legal’—what does that mean?”

Dou Sheng carefully read the contract template sent by the other party. “It means while you’re producing the demo, they’ll have their legal department prepare the formal contract simultaneously. This is the standard process for urgent commercial commissions.”

Xie Lan gave an “oh.” “Is there any problem with this contract template?”

“It’s signable, but the timing is a bit tight.” Dou Sheng paused. “PRs for big companies usually start contacting for promotions months in advance. It’s only a week until May Day; I suspect this is a ‘pick-up’ job.”

He glanced at Xie Lan. “A ‘pick-up’ job means they originally found another uploader, but the cooperation fell through, so they’re replacing them at the last minute.”

Xie Lan suddenly understood; he had heard of this during his time as a YouTuber.

Dou Sheng smiled again. “But it doesn’t matter. No need to act high and mighty—if it feels right, take it.”

The demo had been recorded long ago. Xie Lan’s theme for this period was “Childhood,” featuring a violin adaptation of the Digimon anime song “Butterfly.” The background guitar and drums had already been processed on the computer.

After returning home, he exported the guitar and drum parts, clipped a segment of the violin’s main melody and chorus, merged the tracks, and sent them to Wu Cheng.

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and closing came from downstairs. Wutong instantly bolted off the bed, pawing open the ajar door to slip out.

Xie Lan followed downstairs to find Zhao Wenying and Dou Sheng in the living room. Zhao Wenying looked travel-worn, with a rolling suitcase by her feet and several large paper bags piled on the floor.

She took off her windbreaker, draped it over the sofa armrest, and smoothed her long hair forward. “The flight exhausted me. Give your mom a shoulder rub.”

Dou Sheng massaged her shoulders while grumbling, “Why run so many businesses? You’re never home.”

Zhao Wenying was about to retort when she turned and saw Xie Lan. She immediately waved warmly. “Lan Lan! Come here, Auntie Zhao bought you lots of gifts.”

She brushed Dou Sheng’s hands off her shoulders and pulled items out of the bags one by one.

“I bought you two light hoodies, two T-shirts, a denim jacket, and two pairs of shoes. The seasons are changing; Lan Lan needs new clothes.”

Xie Lan was caught off guard, his arms suddenly full of clothes. He caught them hurriedly, his ears flushing red.

“Thank you, Auntie Zhao. It was too expensive (po qian).”

“A waste of money (po fei), thank you.” Dou Sheng pursed his lips and held out a hand to Zhao Wenying. “Where’s mine?”

Zhao Wenying’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? You have a whole closet of clothes and you dare ask for new ones?”

“I’m your biological son—couldn’t you at least get me something as a formality?” Dou Sheng’s eyes widened too.

Zhao Wenying angrily reached into the bag, rummaging for a long time before finally pulling out a pair of socks and slapping them into Dou Sheng’s hand.

Dou Sheng’s gaze turned cold. “Don’t tell me this is all you got me.”

Zhao Wenying sneered, flipped the tag over, and pointed to the “Free Gift” sticker. “Only a fool would buy you things! I’m too tired to even list all the trouble you’ve led Lan Lan into!”

Dou Sheng: “…”

Xie Lan stood awkwardly to the side. Zhao Wenying walked over, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a soft hug. “Lan Lan, studying is hard work. Oh right, Douzi told me about that incident. I can’t do much to the person who hit your arm, but I can guarantee he won’t bother you or your classmates again. Also, don’t mess around with Douzi so much. You must protect your violin-playing hands, understood?”

It took Xie Lan a long time to react.

Half a month had passed; he had almost forgotten the incident. He hadn’t expected Dou Sheng and Zhao Wenying to still remember.

He suddenly felt a wave of stinging emotion—not necessarily because he wanted revenge, but because of a long-lost feeling of being cherished and protected.

“Actually, it was a very small injury,” he explained softly, pausing before adding, “Thank you, Auntie Zhao.”

Zhao Wenying was exhausted; she kicked off her high heels and went to her room to rest. Xie Lan also returned to his room. Before bed, he went down for water and passed the master bedroom. The door was half-open. Zhao Wenying was lying in a massage chair in her pajamas, wearing a face mask while watching Dou Sheng’s river snail rice noodle video.

She wanted to laugh but didn’t dare move, her fingers desperately holding the mask in place, yet she still let out “he-he-he” chuckles.

Xie Lan stood in the dark corridor, watching the warm light from the room make the mask on Zhao Wenying’s face sparkle. Suddenly, he remembered his childhood: he would be practicing piano in his room, and Xiao Langjing would walk in with fruit while wearing a face mask. When Xie Lan turned around, he’d almost drop his violin in fright, and Xiao Langjing would laugh like that from under her mask.

While Xie Lan was lost in thought, Dou Sheng came out of his room and stood at the top of the stairs looking at him.

“What’s wrong?” Dou Sheng asked.

Xie Lan snapped out of it and walked up the steps. “Just getting water. Were you looking for me?”

Dou Sheng smiled and shook his phone. “Check the group. There’s something waiting for your nod.”

Xie Lan tapped into the group.

In the short time he hadn’t checked his phone, Yu Fei and the others had already picked a place for the May Day trip: Yichang, Hubei, to see the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Everyone in the small group was going, except for Wang Gou, who had to go back to his hometown to see his grandmother.

Xie Lan didn’t have strong feelings about Yichang, but he agreed immediately upon seeing “Three Gorges.”

-Feiyu: Then it’s settled. Liu Yixuan is going too; Dong Shuijing is TBD.

-Cherries: Yay! Otherwise, a trip with just guys would be too bland.

-Dai You: Is Liu Yixuan’s birthday coming up?

-Feiyu: Yeah. She has a birthday otaku dance she wants four guys and one girl to perform. She chose Dou Sheng, Xie Lan, you, and me.

-Cherries: I feel a hint of malice…

-Feiyu: Be good. Your height doesn’t coordinate with the others.

-Cherries: …I feel a billion hints of malice.

-Dai You: So embarrassing, yet I’m kind of eager to try.

-Feiyu: Just for fun.

-Cherries: I really can’t imagine you actually agreeing.

-Dai You: +1

Xie Lan caught up on the chat for a long time, feeling stunned.

“Otaku dance?” He was shocked. “We have to dance too?”

Dou Sheng hummed. “Want to join?”

Xie Lan immediately shook his head like a rattle. “No.”

“Is that so?” Dou Sheng’s tone held a hint of disappointment. “But I actually want to try. This kind of silly collaboration really gains followers. Ke Song showed me a demo before—no cross-dressing required. It’s the kind of dance that looks like radio calisthenics—a bit weird but stress-relieving.”

Xie Lan’s skin crawled. “Still no.”

Dou Sheng sighed, walked over, and patted his shoulder, saying earnestly, “Don’t live within so many boxes. You must dare to break yourself down.”

“…”

He didn’t need to break himself down by dancing.

---

The next morning, Xie Lan noticed the brand hadn’t replied about the demo yet, so he followed up.

As a result, during lunch, Wu Cheng posted in the group: “Sorry, I’ve been too busy today. We’ll listen to the demo first and confirm our intent later.”

Xie Lan didn’t think much of it, but Dou Sheng frowned. “Something’s not right.”

“Eh? What’s not right?”

Dou Sheng hissed. “The attitude is clearly different from yesterday.”

Was it?

Xie Lan scrolled up through yesterday’s conversation; he didn’t feel it.

Dou Sheng pondered for a while. “Let’s wait. If we haven’t heard by 5:00 PM, we’ll chase the contract.”

In the afternoon, Xie Lan stayed in his room doing homework. The class group was constantly discussing the mid-term exams, saying results would be out tonight.

Although Xie Lan felt he had performed well, he was still nervous. He feared that if anything went wrong, he would be moved out of the class.

Being moved out meant he couldn’t be in the same class as Dou Sheng.

The thought made his heart tighten. Honestly, he couldn’t define his feelings for Dou Sheng, but he was certain he didn’t want to be separated from him.

He tapped on WeChat, looking at his newly changed nickname.

Returning to the country was supposed to be a Renaissance, but in the end, I got sick.

He sighed deeply, closed WeChat, and habitually opened Bilibili.

A rather eye-catching name suddenly appeared at the top of his private message list.

Gongzi Yeshen.

The avatar was a little cartoon character with glasses holding an electric guitar, with a Yellow V—it was the real person.

Xie Lan was dazed for a moment but couldn’t help tapping it.

– Gongzi Yeshen: Student Xie Lan, I have a friendly tip for you.

– Gongzi Yeshen: A certain business looking for you recently was originally looking for the top violin uploader in the music section. The price offered was average, so they didn’t care for it. But your recent momentum is too strong; once they heard you ‘picked it up,’ they seem to have changed their minds.

– Gongzi Yeshen: You can check who it is yourself—it’s easy to find. I won’t name names. Please don’t screenshot and spread this, thanks.

The message was from half an hour ago.

Xie Lan read the lines several times before barely understanding the meaning. After a moment of hesitation, he sent a question mark.

Gongzi Yeshen replied quickly: I’m not here to pay a New Year’s visit to a chicken. After being cursed out in your livestream last time, I lost a bunch of fans. To this day, people say I can’t stand to see others doing well. I’m giving you this intel; if you’re kind-hearted, just give me a random like someday when you’re in a good mood. Don’t say a single word—just let everyone think we aren’t that bitter towards each other. I’d appreciate it.

A like?

Xie Lan replied instantly: That’s impossible.

This was the jerk who had been plagiarizing Dou Sheng’s topics for two whole years.

– Gongzi Yeshen: …Whatever, the word is out. Dou and I have a love-hate relationship spanning years. I didn’t mean to offend you last time, so consider this repayment. Suit yourself.

Xie Lan looked at it for a moment, then simply screenshot it and sent it to Dou Sheng.

Two seconds later, the neighboring door was burst open. Not only did Dou Sheng come over, but he also sent a “Metro Old Man Looking at Phone” emoji in the chat box.

“Love-hate relationship my ass! Is he a dog?”

As Dou Sheng spoke, he walked to Xie Lan’s side and took his phone without asking.

– Love-hate my foot, get lost.

– I am the peerlessly handsome Dou.

– Thanks for the intel, but please still get lost.

– Also, stay away from Xie Lan. Play your guitar, make your videos, copy other people’s topics, and get lost.

Xie Lan was stunned by this burst of output for a moment. “Is what he said true?”

“It’s true, but it’s not some secret Intel. News travels fast in the uploader business circles. I was just about to tell you.”

Dou Sheng dropped the phone and sighed. “The uploader with the most fans in the music section who also plays violin is called Vallerin Aze. Supposedly he didn’t like the business quote and rejected it. Yesterday, he heard from somewhere that the PR found you, and he ‘crawled back along the internet cable’ overnight.”

Xie Lan was shocked. “Crawled along the cable?”

“It’s a metaphor.” Dou Sheng snapped his fingers. “How heartless—fighting for a meal with a new uploader like you. He must be really ‘ji dan’ of you.”

Xie Lan was even more confused. “Chicken eggs (ji dan)?”

“Huh?” Dou Sheng looked back at him and suddenly laughed. “Jealous/Wary (ji dan). It means he feels threatened by your existence.”

“Oh, I see.”

Xie Lan looked up this Vallerin Aze. His output type was similar—mainly violin performances, including anime/movie themes and serious classical pieces. He had over 300 uploads, two million followers, and had won the “Power Up 100” for two consecutive years.

“You’re rising too fast.” Dou Sheng sighed. “This is a mess. I bet the brand is torn right now.”

Xie Lan felt a bit helpless. “Whatever. It’s not like I have to take this ad.”

He sat down and reopened his book. “We’ll wait until tomorrow morning, if…”

“No, we can’t just sit and wait for death.” Dou Sheng suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.

Xie Lan stiffened.

Every time Dou Sheng put a hand on his shoulder, several fingers would just happen to touch near his collarbone, and then he would unconsciously give it a little squeeze, making Xie Lan’s whole body go numb.

While squeezing, Dou Sheng said, “We can’t tolerate this kind of vicious competition. Let’s add some ‘flair’ to your video.”

Xie Lan hesitated. “Add flair?”

“Yeah. You’re playing ‘Butterfly,’ right? The peerlessly handsome Dou requests to join the battle. For the same price, they’ll be thrilled to death.”

As Dou Sheng spoke, he pulled out his phone. Xie Lan grabbed his hand.

Then he silently let go.

He cleared his throat. “This is an advertisement. A joint upload means you’re dragged into it too.”

“I know.” Dou Sheng’s brows were tightly knit. “No matter what, your first promotion cannot lose. I will definitely cover for you.”

Before Xie Lan could say more, Dou Sheng waved him off, grabbed his phone, and headed back to his room, calling out from a distance, “Don’t worry about it.”

How could he not worry?

Xie Lan picked up his phone in a daze, and soon the group started vibrating.

– Doctor Dou: @Wu Cheng Party A Dad, when will the contract be sent? Xie Lan and I are already starting our creation. Yesterday’s plan from Xie Lan was just a draft; we plan to make it a ‘hand-drawn video’ (PV) where real people enter the drawing to perform. I’ll draw the animation part—is that okay with you?

Xie Lan was stunned and raised his voice to ask, “You can draw too?”

“Self-taught for two years, just reached a professional amateur level,” Dou Sheng shouted from next door. “The style is fresh and healing, enough to stop a baby’s nighttime crying.”

“…”

Before thirty seconds passed, the “very busy” Party A suddenly came online.

– Wu Cheng: Aren’t you his manager?

– Doctor Dou: Huh? No, I’m the uploader living with him. My ID is Peerlessly_Handsome_Dou_dm.

Xie Lan was drinking water; when he saw the words “living with him,” he spat the water out. It trickled down his chin into his collar, leaving him in a mess.

Dou Sheng seemed not to hear the earth-shattering coughing next door and continued his diplomacy.

– Doctor Dou: Oh? Isn’t this a joint upload for both of us? Our business deals are currently tied together; I thought he told you.

– Wu Cheng: He didn’t!

Dou Sheng shouted from next door: “Say you forgot!”

Xie Lan opened his mouth and closed it, several times on the verge of speaking, but finally, he became a wooden puppet.

– Sick: I thought you knew.

– Wu Cheng: ??

The client was confused, and honestly, Xie Lan’s own head was a bit foggy.

The only one not confused was Dou Sheng, who was happily whistling in the next room. Xie Lan listened carefully—he was whistling “Butterfly.”

The brand only struggled for five minutes before directly citing yesterday’s quote.

– Wu Cheng: Just confirming the price with you both.

– Doctor Dou: Didn’t we already agree? No problem.

– Wu Cheng: Great. Electronic contract will be sent tonight. The violin will be mailed by noon tomorrow at the latest. Looking forward to your first video draft /handshake.

– Doctor Dou: /handshake

Xie Lan stared at the screen in shock for a good while until Dou Sheng shouted again: “Xie Lan?”

“Coming!”

Muddled, Xie Lan also sent an emoji.

– Sick: /handshake

---

News in the circle really does travel fast. On the way to school that evening, Dou Sheng suddenly bumped Xie Lan with his phone and showed him the screen.

– Gongzi Yeshen: Holy crap, are you crazy? Bundling two people for one promotion at the original price?

Xie Lan wondered, “How does he know everything?”

“This guy is a sharp one; there’s a reason he has his current success. When he was neck-and-neck with me, he stepped on me whenever he could. Now that we’ve ‘combined swords,’ he can’t catch up, so he changed strategy to suck up to us.” Dou Sheng snorted, his fingers flying across the keyboard in front of Xie Lan.

– None of your damn business, get lost.

– Can’t you be a bit more civilized? I’m serious, you’re losing big on this deal.

– I don’t need your input on how I protect my people. Get lost.

– Can you go three sentences without saying ‘get lost’??

– Get lost!

Dou Sheng finally sent a vomiting emoji, blocked him, and exhaled in relief.

Then he paused, placed his hand on Xie Lan’s head, and turned his head back to face forward.

“Good children shouldn’t learn such crude words.”

Xie Lan remained silent for a long time before pouting. “You type too fast; I don’t even have time to learn them.”

Xie Lan didn’t speak the whole way. When they reached the school corridor, he whispered, “We’ll split the promotion fee fifty-fifty.”

“No need.” Dou Sheng smiled. “Taking an ad is meaningless; only helping you brings me physical and mental pleasure.”

Just as Xie Lan was about to speak, Dou Sheng suddenly turned and gave him a mysterious wink.

“…” He had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Dou Sheng leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “How about you pass on this spirit of solidarity? Agree to Liu Yixuan’s request and come dance with me!”

Xie Lan’s expression vanished instantly. “No.”

Dou Sheng turned around and walked backward half a step in front of him. “Come on, please. We’ve lived together for two months and haven’t danced together once—is that reasonable?”

His tone was so righteous that Xie Lan was stunned for two seconds. “Is there even a rule like that?”

“Yes.” Dou Sheng raised an eyebrow. “The Chinese Co-habitation Law—haven’t you heard of it?”

Xie Lan stopped in his tracks and stared at Dou Sheng. Dou Sheng stared back, looking perfectly serious.

After a long time, Xie Lan sneered, bumped into his shoulder hard, and walked straight past.

“I don’t believe your nonsense.”

Dou Sheng laughed and chased after him from behind. “How did you learn that weird phrase too?”

Xie Lan didn’t say anything.

That bump just now was intentional, and it had some force behind it; it made half his shoulder ache.

But even the pain couldn’t hide the tension just before contact or the feeling of an electric current passing through his heart the moment they touched.

Sigh. I must definitely have some major illness.

---

Before the evening study bell rang, Xie Lan had just returned to his seat and pulled out his ancient poetry reading paper when he saw Che Ziming flying in from the front.

“Reporting! An edict from the Academic Affairs Office: the mid-term results are being posted tonight. All the new students in our class survived!”

The class erupted in a “whoosh.” Students in front turned around to congratulate Xie Lan; Wang Gou was also among those being congratulated. Dong Shuijing even treated him to a chocolate, making him nod his head repeatedly in joy.

Xie Lan also unconsciously curled his lips, then quickly pulled back his expression and raised an eyebrow at Dou Sheng.

Dou Sheng smiled. “Er-mao is so amazing, as expected of you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the corridor outside fell into a dead silence. Reflexively, Xie Lan turned his head down to look at his paper, uncapping his pen and scribbling a few unrelated Chinese characters.

Sure enough, two seconds later, the familiar sound of high heels echoed at the door. A wave of murderous intent swept the class, and everyone bowed their heads over their desks.

Hu Xiujie blew in like a gust of wind and slammed the door. “Let’s talk about the mid-term results.”

Xie Lan put down his pen and looked up, unexpectedly making eye contact with Hu Xiujie.

Hu Xiujie looked at him, her gaze suddenly becoming very gentle, which made Xie Lan’s skin crawl.

But immediately afterward, Hu Xiujie’s gaze naturally shifted to the side, instantly turning into a bone-stripping knife.

“…”

It was quite frightening.

Hu Xiujie took a deep breath. “Our class did okay as a whole this time; we met expectations. Of the thirty people, twenty are qualified for the ‘All-Subjects A’ class, and twenty-nine are qualified to stay in ‘Math-Science A.’ Of course, I’m just giving you a reference; these two items aren’t the standards for personnel movement.”

The students breathed a sigh of relief. Che Ziming even joked, “Who’s the unfortunate fellow being kicked out by our class standards? Hahaha.”

As soon as he finished, dark clouds gathered on Hu Xiujie’s face. The laughter stopped abruptly, and expressions vanished.

Che Ziming turned pale. “It won’t be me, will it?”

“Let’s not talk about that yet.” Hu Xiujie took a deep breath, tried to make her expression more amiable, and lowered the projector screen.

“I’ll project the transcript in a moment for you to see. Today, I especially want to praise Xie Lan. Xie Lan has made tremendous progress in every subject. I’ll read his scores.”

The students sat up straighter, giving face.

“Xie Lan. Chinese 59, Math 150, English 138, Physics 97, Chemistry 88, Biology 72. Total 604. Compared to the placement exam, he rose by 269 points. Math-Science rank: 1st in the grade. All-Subjects rank: 215th in the grade—an improvement of 255 places.”

A chorus of gasps filled the room. Che Ziming stared at Xie Lan with wide eyes for a long time, finally making two big thumbs-up gestures.

“Grandpa Niu!”

“Terrifyingly powerful!”

“Math and science were incredible; physics wasn’t easy this time.”

“There weren’t many long questions in physics this time; the god could finally understand the questions.”

“1st in the grade for Math-Science… crushed Douzi again?”

Xie Lan couldn’t help but let his lips curl up.

The progress was expected, but the rise in rank was more than he had anticipated. Although his Chinese score hadn’t improved much, the instances of not understanding science questions had clearly decreased; he was still very happy.

Hu Xiujie was uncharacteristically gentle. “Xie Lan is truly a fine example; every subject teacher likes you. Oh right, as per our class tradition, a small prize for the person with the most progress.”

A round of cheering erupted. Xie Lan was stunned and instinctively looked at Dou Sheng.

Dou Sheng was casually practicing drawing Digimon in a large white notebook, chuckling softly. “The Female Yama’s moment of warmth—enjoy it slowly.”

“?”

Hu Xiujie reached into her pocket. “Xie Lan, come to the front.”

Everyone turned to look at Xie Lan—some with schadenfreude, others with sincere envy.

Che Ziming’s expression was a weird mix of both. Yu Fei was different; there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

Xie Lan steeled himself and walked to the front, finally seeing what was in Hu Xiujie’s hand.

Two palm-sized, fluffy owl plushies standing next to a round plaque that had the word “Pride” written in cursive English.

Xie Lan’s vision began to blur.

Hu Xiujie handed one to him and put the other back in her pocket. “The owl is the symbol of Class 4. Do you have anything you want to say to everyone?”

Xie Lan: “…”

Can I say nothing?

He numbly stared at the “owls” below him. His brain stalled, and he once again lost his Chinese language ability.

The class chuckled. Dou Sheng sat in the back row, looking up at Xie Lan, a proud arc on his lips.

He couldn’t help but sigh several times, feeling a bit regretful.

What a pity—at this moment, he couldn’t find a single person to brag to about how outstanding Xie Lan was.

On stage, Xie Lan began to numbly recite templates from thank-you essays. Dou Sheng lowered his head and continued practicing the Digimon drawings for the “Butterfly” video.

But soon, he stopped his pen and looked up at the podium.

Hu Xiujie lowered the projection; Xie Lan stood to one side, the projector casting his silhouette onto the white screen.

He must have been a bit nervous; that shadow on the screen trembled slightly—slender and beautiful.

Just like years ago, yet more mature and resilient.

Dou Sheng watched for a while, his gaze gradually becoming calm and deep. He flipped the white notebook over and casually sketched the outline of the figure on the screen.

He didn’t really need to look up; he already knew what that shadow looked like in his subconscious.

In no time, he stopped his pen. Watching Xie Lan walk down, he quickly added a plane tree leaf beside the shadow, tore the paper out, crumpled it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

The classroom broke into a round of applause. Dou Sheng also put down his pen and clapped, smiling as Xie Lan returned.

Once Xie Lan was back in his seat, Hu Xiujie’s smile vanished. “Next, I’ll project everyone’s scores. They’re quite stable; most of you had no major fluctuations in any subject.”

As she spoke, she connected her computer and opened the transcript.

The moment the document popped up, the whole class gasped.

The person at the top was Dai You, followed by Dong Shuijing.

Scanning down the list, they couldn’t find Dou Sheng until the very end.

The several specialized students who had come in later were basically at the bottom of “Math-Science A.” Xie Lan had soared up the grade list but was still second to last in “Math-Science A.”

And the absolute last: Dou Sheng. Total 598, grade rank 239.

“Holy crap?”

“What happened?”

“Douzi got a 91 in Chinese? And what about the science comprehensive?”

Hu Xiujie’s face was icy. “Explain.”

Dou Sheng stood up of his own accord. “Teacher, I had a stomachache during the exam. I wasn’t in good condition. My apologies.”

Hu Xiujie sneered. “Stomachache for Chinese, fine for Math, stomachache again for Science, fine for English?”

Dou Sheng nodded. “Indeed.”

“Stop your nonsense!” Hu Xiujie said coldly. “During the lunch proctoring, I passed Room 1 and saw you finish one boxed lunch and start another!”

Xie Lan was shocked.

Those awful boxed lunches—he actually ate two?

Dou Sheng paused awkwardly. After a long time, he whispered, “I’m sorry. There were reasons, and I really didn’t feel well that day. It won’t happen next time.”

“You don’t have a next time.” Hu Xiujie sneered. “Teacher Qin said your essay could be a 48 or a 50; he gave you face by giving you a 50. I’m about to tell him to handle it strictly—essay 48, Chinese 89. You’ll be kicked right out of our class.”

The classroom fell into a dead silence. Everyone’s faces were masks of shock.

Dou Sheng stiffened too. Xie Lan vaguely felt that he was genuinely panicking.

“No way, teacher?” Dou Sheng looked speechless. “The scores are already out—you can change them to be lower? Please don’t joke around, I’m begging you.”

Hu Xiujie sneered. “Don’t want to leave? Fine.”

“Come out. We’re talking in the office.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Dou Sheng hopped out of his seat.

Xie Lan couldn’t help but whisper worriedly, “Use your specialty—say some soft words!”

“I know.” Dou Sheng brushed past him, then turned back to look at him.

The handsome guy’s face actually showed a hint of grievance.

“Repay me—you have to agree to dance with me!”

Xie Lan: “?”

---

Author’s Note

The one tapping on the keyboard coldly puts the “Dou-egg” into the egg carton: “I’m selling you off today for being such a show-off.”

The “Dou-egg” raises its hands in surrender: “I was wrong, I was wrong! Give this egg another chance.”

The one tapping on the keyboard: “No way! I’d rather have eighty cents than you!”

The “Lazy-egg” (Xie Lan) hesitates for a moment, then tugs on her sleeve.

The one tapping on the keyboard glances over: “Hmm?”

The “Lazy-egg” says in a small voice: “Eggs from the same nest are commercially bundled… sell me along with him.”

As it speaks, it hops into the egg carton, tries its best to lean against the “Dou-egg,” and gestures.

“The two of us together—eighty cents.”