55: Three Yuan
You Jia had only meant to catch up to the boy and ask a question, yet the route kept drifting closer and closer to the school he was transferring to. He hadn’t expected that boy to be going to the same school as him.
By the time they finally reached the school gate, the boy stopped. Only then did You Jia step forward and pinch the corner of his clothes.
Feeling the tug, Ke Minghuai turned around and saw a delicate-looking Omega with sweet features holding onto him. He stopped in place. The Omega seemed to come with a soft-focus filter, and even the gloomy gray clouds overhead looked like they’d drifted away, letting sunlight leak through.
Right then, the discipline director called out to him, telling him to hurry up and switch Shen Jin out.
Shen Jin…
Ke Minghuai’s frozen gaze snapped awake when he heard those two words. He looked toward Shen Jin again.
For the first time, panic rose in Ke Minghuai. The scene of Shen Jin dismantling him word by word still felt painfully vivid.
He yanked his clothes free from the Omega’s grip and didn’t say a single word to the flustered You Jia.
Ke Minghuai hadn’t done any lab work all night. It was the first time in his life he’d experienced what it meant to feel frantic and unsettled.
The novelty of this new emotion fascinated him. It also terrified him more, because he could feel the door Shen Jin had once opened to him shutting tight again.
After parking his bike, he walked over. Shen Jin handed him the duty armband.
Ke Minghuai explained, “I really don’t know him.”
Shen Jin had already let it go the moment he saw the scene earlier. “Huai-ge doesn’t need to explain anything to me. Tie or no tie, you’re still the Huai-ge I know.”
Ke Minghuai had no obligation to take responsibility for him. The decision to end the engagement had been Shen Jin’s choice.
Over the years, Ke Minghuai really had done what he could to take care of him. Shen Jin had always been grateful for that.
If things hadn’t ended on such a sour note, Shen Jin might not be trying so hard now to avoid running into him.
They were still at the school gate, and the discipline director had already looked over this way several times. After making his stance clear, Shen Jin headed straight for the print room to get the agreement printed.
Watching Shen Jin’s breezy retreating figure, Yu Pingling’s heart sank.
“What does Ice God mean by that? What do you mean no tie? You two can’t…” He swallowed the rest. Don’t tell me the engagement got called off?
Only yesterday, Yu Pingling had been thinking that the crown prince really lived up to the title. Even stealing someone else’s corner came with that kind of brazen confidence. Did he even care about basic ethics? The background behind that crown prince ran deep, not someone ordinary people could provoke, so Yu Pingling could only complain in private.
Ke Minghuai didn’t answer. He grabbed a student who wasn’t wearing a uniform. Under the other’s pleading gaze, he wrote the name down anyway, without the slightest bit of leniency.
People quickly realized that Ke Minghuai, usually the easiest to talk to, was so cold today that it felt like he had been replaced.
You Jia parked his bike and saw the ice-cold beauty not far away. He felt thrilled and hesitant at the same time.
Shen Jin looked like the ideal version of himself, independent and confident. He didn’t look overbearing at all, yet there was an unmistakable presence that made it impossible for anyone to underestimate him.
You Jia sniffed his own clothes, unsure whether he smelled like salted fish.
He’d scooped out filthy water all night. He’d changed clothes, yet it still might’ve clung to him.
“Um… classmate, which way is the second-year office?” He didn’t dare get too close.
“That way.” Shen Jin looked at You Jia with mild surprise and pointed out a direction.
Following Shen Jin’s gesture, You Jia found the teachers’ office.
Normally, Nanhu didn’t accept transfer students, and with the private-school transfers earlier, the whole student body was already full.
You Jia, however, was a poverty-aid scholarship student, a key assistance case.
When You Jia’s mother first tried to process the transfer, they rejected it. The real reason was that You Jia’s grades were terrible. Just how terrible? He was nowhere near the school’s minimum cutoff line.
Nanhu was a top-tier high school. Students here were admitted through the entrance exam.
Even Qian Kun and the others had come through the placement test, meeting the grade requirements before the transfer became official. Nobody had special privileges.
When You Jia’s mother produced the official extreme-poverty certification, the school leadership fell silent.
If they refused his transfer and word got out, it could easily turn into a public online backlash, accusing the school of treating students unequally. Similar situations had happened before.
So You Jia, with no special talents at all, entered Nanhu on the strength of that document alone.
The school even held a meeting to decide which class to assign him to. Class Nine, which had recently outperformed other classes by a lot on the monthly exam, became the obvious target.
If you asked Hu Shengqiang how he felt, don’t. The answer was regret.
Why had he shown off so hard in the office back then?
When You Jia came to report in, Hu Shengqiang remembered that this student hadn’t taken any of their exams. He pulled out the full set of placement test papers and had You Jia start writing them in the office. Finishing everything would probably take until the afternoon.
Students came and went. You Jia stayed focused, barely affected by the traffic around him.
“Report.”
A slightly casual voice drifted into his ears, warm yet sharp like the early autumn wind.
The boy’s presence made You Jia almost hold his breath as he stared.
It was him.
They met again!
At the office door stood a boy in a white shirt and black pants. The ordinary autumn uniform looked unusually crisp on him, making him appear even more upright and striking.
The boy had pale, glassy eyes, always carrying a lazy sense of distance, like nothing in the world mattered much.
When Qian Kun spotted You Jia, a flash of harshness flickered through his eyes and vanished. He lowered his gaze, letting a faint shadow fall.
He’d come because the English teacher had complained about him disturbing his deskmate in class. Hu Shengqiang had told him to come receive a lecture.
“Well, there were things he didn’t understand, so I gave him a little guidance,” Qian Kun explained after being questioned.
“Not during class. Can’t you wait until break?”
“Old Hu, you’re the one who says questions should be asked when they come up. My spoken English is Level Eight. He asked the right person.” Qian Kun smiled. The logic sounded airtight, yet his attitude looked even more arrogant than the teacher’s.
“Call me Teacher Hu, and since when is there a Level Eight for spoken English?”
“There isn’t?” Qian Kun sounded mildly surprised. “If there were, I’d definitely be it.”
Watching how impossible he was, Hu Shengqiang finally realized that Qian Kun’s so-called gentlemanliness and manners were only a surface layer.
They argued for a while. Hu Shengqiang felt the topic getting dragged farther and farther off track, so he could only warn him verbally. “Go back. Don’t disturb other students during class.”
Qian Kun answered politely. From start to finish, he didn’t look at You Jia even once.
Once he left the office, the relaxed expression dropped from his face.
The earlier investigation had shown that You Jia would transfer again. There were plenty of schools he could go to, and they hadn’t confirmed which one yet.
At the time, Qian Kun had planned to send him out of the city quietly and arrange a better future for his family. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get You Jia and his mother to leave.
When he realized it was useless, he understood that some force was preventing it from happening.
Fine, then. He stopped resisting.
He wanted to see for himself whether this person would come to Nanhu High School no matter what, and whether he would inevitably end up in Class Nine.
After seeing You Jia in the office, Qian Kun thought, so he really came.
He’d been mentally prepared this time, so he wasn’t surprised.
He returned to the classroom and saw his newly promoted fake boyfriend sitting at his desk, organizing his things. Only then did he realize there had been a heavy, dirty weight stuck in his chest the whole time.
The moment he saw Shen Jin, the weight vanished. Even his eyes felt cleansed.
Qian Kun returned to his seat with faint delight. He’d finally become a fake boyfriend. Before such a joyous event, a mere You Jia wasn’t enough to ruin his mood.
His smile disappeared very quickly.
Shen Jin placed a relationship agreement in front of him. “Look over these clauses first. If there’s anything you want changed, we can fix it right away. If you think it’s fine, sign it?”
In the agreement, Party A was Shen Jin, Party B was Qian Kun. The contents were as follows:
1. Party B agrees, under equal and voluntary conditions, to become Party A’s contract boyfriend. During this period, Party A must not coerce Party B into overly intimate acts, including but not limited to holding hands, hugging, kissing, and so on.
2. During the agreement period, any unexpected situations will be handled entirely by Party A, who will also manage all aftermath.
3. If any rumors harmful to Party B arise, Party A should stop them in time and clarify in person.
4. Party A should proactively pay Party B a fee for acting as a fake boyfriend: ____ yuan, to be settled monthly.
5. Both parties have the right to terminate the agreement at any time.
…
Altogether there were over a dozen clauses. Shen Jin had considered Party B from every possible angle.
Qian Kun skimmed it at a glance, ten lines at a time, and almost laughed from anger. There wasn’t a single clause that benefited Shen Jin. Every one of them favored him.
If some scumbag saw a contract like this, how badly would Shen Jin get bullied?
Qian Kun was annoyed. He wanted to teach the kid a lesson with real actions so Shen Jin would understand how dangerous it was to offer an Alpha conditions that generous.
Did he have any sense of precaution at all?
He was so annoyed. He really wanted to discipline him.
While Shen Jin waited tensely, Qian Kun moved slowly instead. He poured his deskmate a cup of warm water, then flicked Liu Qimai back when he leaned over with a curious face.
Liu Qimai protested. “What are you two doing all sneaky like that?”
Qian Kun said, “Turn back and shut your mouth.”
Liu Qimai shrank back, feeling a little intimidated. Wuwuwu. Ice God, hurry up and teach this beast a lesson.
Ice God didn’t hear him. Ice God was currently being interrogated by a certain someone.
Qian Kun pointed lazily at Clause Four, the blank line for the fee. “How much do you want me to fill in?”
Shen Jin felt lost. That was exactly why he’d left it blank. Any number would feel like shortchanging him, and Qian Kun obviously didn’t lack money. Still, leaving it at zero felt wrong too.
Shen Jin also felt he himself was a little benefactor after all.
A benefactor should have a benefactor’s boldness.
Shen Jin waved his hand grandly. “Write whatever you want.”
Qian Kun tapped the paper lightly with his pen, slow and idle. “You sure you can afford it?”
Shen Jin calculated his little stash. Aside from the money he’d earned streaming homework sessions, there was also the allowance investment his cousin Xie Ling had given him. Supposedly it had already multiplied several times over. He wasn’t sure if it was enough.
If it wasn’t enough, maybe he could ask his older cousin for credit. He wasn’t sure if that would work.
Shen Jin nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”
Go ahead and write boldly.
Qian Kun smiled, the corners of his eyes lifting.
The agreement was in duplicate. He signed his name on both copies with a sharp, decisive hand, not gentle in the slightest.
Only then did he write a number on the fee line.
Shen Jin took the paper, pretending to stay calm. The moment he saw the number, his eyes widened.
Three yuan.
Not three thousand. Not thirty thousand. Just three yuan.
Qian Kun tucked his copy away, folded neatly into his backpack. Ink was ink. There was no taking it back.
He opened a calculator app, tapped quickly, then shoved the screen in front of his deskmate.
Leaning close to Shen Jin’s ear, Qian Kun laughed softly. “I ran the numbers. Considering I barely have to do anything, and after cutting out unnecessary spending, counting it as 0.1 yuan a day already makes me feel guilty.”
During the next PE class, the boys dragged Qian Kun off to play soccer. Shen Jin watched the crowd swallow him up, then looked down at the three yuan on the agreement.
He suddenly wanted to perform a stunt where you smash a boulder on your chest.
For one brief moment, he’d been charmed by the other’s husky trailing tone.
*
During lunch break, Shen Jin received a message on his phone.
[Practice? Meet in the little grove.]
Practice what?
Of course practice what that fake boyfriend said last night, starting with holding hands.
Behind the dorms, the school had a small grove. It was a common date spot for campus couples.
The grove wasn’t large. When Shen Jin arrived, everything around him was quiet. The ground was damp from the past two days of rain, soft underfoot.
Sunlight pushed through thick clouds, casting mottled shadows. Leaves rustled with the breeze.
Shen Jin wandered near the edge of the grove. He suddenly noticed Ke Minghuai walking this way.
He didn’t want to run into him right now, so he tried to find a hidden spot. A familiar large hand seized him and pulled him behind a big tree.
Shen Jin’s back bumped the trunk. The movement was gentle, leaving him only briefly dizzy.
The familiar scent of flowing water and wood surrounded him. Shen Jin’s nose nearly brushed the other’s collarbone.
He was trapped between the tree and the person in front of him, nowhere to advance, nowhere to retreat.
Qian Kun had arrived a little late because he’d gone to the shop to buy anti-humidity spray. He didn’t usually have sweaty palms. It only happened when his emotions ran extremely high.
Before coming, he’d bought a bottle just in case. It was expensive. The owner insisted it was imported, yet the label was full of Chinese characters.
Qian Kun was in a hurry and didn’t argue. He paid a price several times higher than the original, then left to the owner’s friendly “Come again next time.”
Shen Jin looked up. Qian Kun pressed a finger to his lips in a hush gesture.
Shen Jin shifted uncomfortably. The grip around his waist tightened, warning him to stay still.
After that warning, Qian Kun withdrew his hand. When it wasn’t necessary, physical contact between them was almost zero.
Ke Minghuai arrived ahead. He seemed to have arranged to meet someone here. Before long, a female Omega appeared, stylishly dressed with two high ponytails.
“Ke Minghuai, I asked you out because I want to tell you I’ve always liked you. Every time I see you standing on the awards stage, I keep thinking, someone that dazzling, what kind of person gets to stand beside you?”
“I joined the math olympiad class too. My results aren’t great yet, but I’ll keep working hard. We graduate next year. I thought if I don’t say it now, it might be too late, so I came.”
She spoke shyly and lowered her head after she finished. Ke Minghuai listened patiently to her confession.
“I’m sorry.”
She’d heard before coming that Ke Minghuai was in a bad mood today. She could see it now. On a normal day, he would’ve offered more comfort. Now there were only those two words. Nothing else followed, making him seem restless.
“Can I know why?” she asked. “If you don’t have someone you like, we can start as friends.”
Ke Minghuai fell silent for a moment, then slowly spoke a secret he’d kept buried for a long time.
“I have a fiancée.”
Behind the tree, Shen Jin instantly felt Qian Kun’s emotional change.
There was no pheromone release, yet the sheer force of suppressed emotion made Shen Jin’s breathing tighten.
Qian Kun’s fist clenched, nearly slamming into the trunk. Anger filled his chest in an instant, and the pheromones in his body began to boil.
His gaze sharpened like a hawk’s, locking onto Ke Minghuai.
How dare you.
Shen Jin immediately hooked his arms around Qian Kun’s neck, rose onto his toes, and breathed lightly near his Adam’s apple. “Don’t mind him.”
Qian Kun froze. He lowered his head and saw Shen Jin’s soft hair swirl, and the snow-white ear, flushed red from their position.
He could feel that warm, soft contact hanging on his neck.
Qian Kun had no spare mind left for whoever was outside.
There was only the person in front of him.
F*ck.
Author’s Note:
Can’t handle it.
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