Fang Chen gulped, quickly averting his gaze. He buried his face in the soda can and drank more than half of it in one go.

Seeing that the man was about to say something, Fang Chen quickly spoke first, afraid that Seth would say something he couldn’t respond to.

“The people you caught today, they’re the ones selling fake tickets, right? Are they part of a gang?”

Seth nodded.

In reality, these few people were likely just underlings of the “oil rat,” but by following this lead, they could probably dig out that damned rat.

“You’ve been a great help,” the man said, looking at him seriously. “How should I thank you?”

Fang Chen quickly shook his head. “No need, you already transferred a lot of money to me last time.”

“But… a friend of mine was scammed and bought a lot of fake tickets…”

Fang Chen felt a little guilty that Jamin had been deceived. If only he had found out sooner.

Seth nodded. “The club will handle it. Your friend won’t suffer any losses.”

Fang Chen let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “Thank you so much! Seth.”

Seth stared at his smiling face for a few seconds before slowly looking away. “Don’t go back to your dorm too late recently. There were several fights near the school a few days ago. I’m worried about your safety.”

Fang Chen silently compared his own body size to Seth’s.

Alright.

It was indeed quite unsafe.

He nodded obediently. “Okay.”

“But it’s also very late right now.”

Seth said casually, “It’s fine when you’re with me.”

Huh?

Fang Chen blinked, then nodded again. “True, you’re a great fighter, and very strong.”

Strong enough to send someone flying with a single kick.

“Does it scare you?”

Fang Chen quickly shook his head. “Of course not. My courage is… okay, my courage is pretty small, but your fists aren’t aimed at me, right?”

Seth’s lips curled into a slight smile. “They never will be.”

The young man cheerfully raised his soda can. “Cheers!”

For a rare day, Fang Chen and Jamin’s class schedules matched, so they went to the cafeteria together after class.

Fang Chen ordered a fried pork cutlet and crunched on it loudly. Across from him, Jamin wore a pained expression as he poked at the salad in his bowl.

“Are you on a diet?”

Jamin sighed. “I have no appetite.”

Fang Chen took a sip of his Coke, his voice muffled by the straw he was chewing on. “Didn’t the club transfer the money to you?”

“They did,” Jamin said mournfully. “It’s so rare to find someone so compatible in bed, but he turned out to be a scammer.”

“…” So that’s what this was about.

Fang Chen could only offer a dry platitude. “Don’t think about it. you’ll meet someone even more compatible.”

Jamin let out another deep sigh.

But not two minutes later, his spirits lifted again. “Did you see it? That video of Seth fighting.”

Please! Don’t drop such “explosive” news when he’s drinking.

Fang Chen almost choked, coughing violently twice until tears welled up in his eyes. “What?”

“You don’t know? Everyone’s talking about it. There are even posts online saying Seth has violent tendencies.”

The young man’s face fell. “Isn’t that just nonsense? Seth beat up scammers, does he deserve to be criticized for that?”

Jamin shrugged. “That’s how people are on the internet.”

“But— you’re quite protective of him.”

Fang Chen guiltily looked away. “No, I’m just being righteous.”

“Alright, my little angel of justice.” Jamin put his hands together. “Could you take pity on a heartbroken soul like me and go to the club activity for me tomorrow night? I can change the name in the system to yours, and you can get the credits.”

It was called a club activity, but it was really just volunteer labor to earn credits.

Fang Chen’s face was expressionless. “What did you get assigned?”

“Beach cleanup. Oh! What a meaningful activity.”

“It’s picking up trash!” Fang Chen said fiercely. “You have such rotten luck!”

Despite his words, he couldn’t resist Jamin’s pleading and went to the beach in his place that evening.

It was just at sunset, and the entire beach was bathed in a golden hue. The sea surface reflected a reddish light, which, along with the coconut trees on the shore, looked like a high-definition wallpaper.

“So beautiful.”

Fang Chen was a bit surprised to suddenly hear a sentence in Chinese. He turned his head and saw a boy with glasses smiling at him. “My name is Chen Fang. I’ve seen you in class before, Fang Chen.”

Fang Chen had no impression of him and nodded awkwardly.

“But it seems like you never participate in the international students’ group activities. I didn’t see you at the last dinner gathering.”

Fang Chen mumbled, “I’m busy with part-time jobs, no time.”

Chen Fang fell silent for a moment. Most students studying abroad came from well-off families, but accidents happened, and it wasn’t unheard of for financial support to be cut off.

“Are you from S City? Or B City?”

Fang Chen didn’t want to talk much with him about things back in China, since he wasn’t a native of this world. He simply raised the bag in his hand. “I have to go pick up trash, there’s a lot to do.”

But Chen Fang seemed completely oblivious to Fang Chen’s polite refusal and walked over with him. “Let’s do it together. I was assigned this activity today too.”

.

“Another one!”

“How come Seth isn’t coming over for a drink?”

Joey turned to look at the man sitting outside the tent and spread his hands. “Why don’t you go persuade him?”

The person who had just made the suggestion immediately shut up.

But in the next second, they saw the man who had been lazily sitting in the chair suddenly stand up and walk away.

“Hey! Seth! Where are you going?”

The man ignored him completely and strode toward the figure ahead.

Fang Chen was getting seriously annoyed.

This Chen Fang seemed incapable of reading social cues. Even though he had been putting on his sternest face and not speaking, Chen Fang still stuck by his side.

Damn it!

He shouldn’t have done this favor for Jamin.

Fang Chen was filled with regret and just wanted to finish picking up the trash and go home quickly.

“Fang Chen.”

Suddenly hearing his name called by a man, the young man was startled. He looked up and was surprised to see Seth standing right in front of him, looking down at him. “What are you doing here?”

Fang Chen was stunned and subconsciously raised the bag in his hand. “Volunteer labor.”

Seth completely ignored the person next to Fang Chen, not even sparing him a glance. He reached out a large hand and took the bag from Fang Chen. “I’ll do it.”

“No, no, you don’t have to!” Fang Chen quickly tried to snatch the bag back, but Seth held the bag with one hand and pressed the other on top of Fang Chen’s head, preventing him from getting closer to grab it.

Under the man’s hand, Fang Chen was like a fluttering little bird, his arms flailing but unable to touch Seth at all.

A complete height advantage!

“I’ll do it,” Seth repeated. Perhaps feeling his tone was too harsh, he softened it. “You go rest.”

Watching the man actually take the bag and start picking up trash, Fang Chen was dumbfounded. To make matters worse, Chen Fang tugged on his arm at that moment. “Oh my god, am I seeing things? Is that Seth? What’s going on with you two?”

Fang Chen’s tone became completely cold. “That has nothing to do with you, does it?”

He had only just met this person a few hours ago, and he had absolutely no sense of boundaries.

Not wanting to say another word to this baffling person, Fang Chen ran in Seth’s direction.

“Give me the bag.”

He followed beside Seth, watching him use a grabber to spear a can and toss it into the bag.

Seth’s tone was light. “I’ll help you. You can go chat with your friend.”

Fang Chen was utterly confused by this. “He’s not my friend.”

Seth’s movements paused, but his tone remained cool. “Isn’t he? You’re from the same country. I thought you were having a pleasant conversation just now.”

Fang Chen’s eyes widened.

Seriously!

Where did he get the idea that it was pleasant?

“No!” Fang Chen’s voice was a bit stiff. “I don’t even know him.”

He was slightly annoyed.

What was with today?

First, he ran into a weirdo, and now Seth was saying such strange things.

He stood in front of Seth with his hands on his hips, tilting his head up to look at the man, his tone unfriendly. “The bag! Give it to me!”

Seth’s thin lips pressed together. After a two-second standoff, he put the bag down.

Fang Chen angrily grabbed the bag and walked away.

The eco-friendly trash bag wasn’t small. In the man’s hands, it could be carried lightly, but for Fang Chen, he could only drag it, making it look like a large tail on the beach.

Seth caught up in a few steps. “Are you angry?”

Fang Chen pressed his lips together and didn’t say a word.

“I didn’t mean anything else,” the man said in a low voice. “Sorry, I made you unhappy.”

Hearing Seth say that, Fang Chen actually felt a bit embarrassed, feeling like he was in a bad mood and had taken it out on Seth.

He said in a small voice, “It’s okay now.”

“I’ll help you. It’ll be faster with two people.”

“…Okay.”

“God! Am I blind?”

“Is Seth picking up trash?”

“Who’s that cute kid with him?”

“Damn it, you stepped on my foot! Move aside! I can’t see clearly.”

Another water bottle. Fang Chen ran over in small steps and stomped on it to flatten it. Beside him, Seth deftly speared it with the grabber and threw it into the bag.

“Are you here at the beach for fun?”

“The competition is soon. The club came for a gathering, said we should relax.”

Fang Chen tilted his head up and asked him, “Are you nervous?”

Not really.

Seth had been through too many competitions. For him, boxing was even a relaxing activity, both when he was throwing punches and when others’ fists landed on him.

But facing Fang Chen, he gave a different answer. “A little.”

Fang Chen immediately spoke up. “Relax, I heard you’re amazing at boxing. You’ll definitely win.”

Then he felt that wasn’t right, like he was putting pressure on the man. “It’s okay if you lose, too. Um… of course, I’m not saying you’ll lose, I mean…”

He stammered, his mind growing more jumbled as he spoke, his limited linguistic system completely crashing.

Seth looked up, his gaze deep and calm, resting entirely on Fang Chen. “I know. Don’t worry, of course I’ll win.”

“Fang Chen.”

“You’ll come to my match, right?”

“Of course.”

Fang Chen’s eyes curved into a smile. He clenched his fist and held it out toward Seth.

The man paused for a moment, then also held out his hand.

Two fists, one large and one small, bumped together.

“I’ll be there to cheer you on! I wish you success in your match in advance!”