MCFEM C34

Chapter 34 – What, Is Gu Yang Some Kind of Precious Flower?

“Why’s that guy surnamed Song going to Gu Yang again? And this time he even dragged him off?” Yu Bai was still muttering.

He turned to gossip with the others: “What do you think they’re doing?”

“Are you the neighborhood watch grandpa now?” Xie Wu couldn’t hold back and roasted him. “Even my mom doesn’t ask what I’m doing every time I go out with someone.”

“You forgot?” Yu Bai said in exasperation. “Don’t you remember the filthy wolfish things Gu Yang once secretly thought?”

“Oh, that.” Xie Wu scratched his head. “Actually, I’ve been wondering… maybe we heard it wrong? Don’t you think with Gu Yang’s half-dead personality, there’s no way he’d actually—”

Halfway through, he fell silent.

Maybe it wasn’t impossible after all.

“No, I’ve gotta ask him.” The more Yu Bai thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He pulled out his phone and poked Gu Yang, asking what he was doing.

On the other end, Gu Yang—so dizzy from reading he thought his head would explode—saw the message, picked up the phone, and replied:

“Song Yinxing brought me into a room.”

“He—”

Before he could finish typing, Song Yinxing had already taken the phone from his hand, switched it off, and set it face-down on the table.

Gu Yang stared, dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe he was being treated like this.

Song Yinxing: “……”

He had just been thinking over the problem in the book, how to explain it in a way Gu Yang could understand, and how best to test him. His mind short-circuited, and he ended up treating Gu Yang the same way he usually handled his little brother.

Song Yinxing opened his mouth but couldn’t figure out what to say. In the end, he could only push the phone back silently.

The ding ding ding of incoming messages kept popping up.

But Gu Yang just turned his head away, slumping against the desk, completely drained in body and soul.

Yu Bai: ?

Bro, what’s going on? Say something!

He stubbornly kept sending messages, but with no reply, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

He sucked in a sharp breath and silently showed the chat log to the person next to him.

Xie Wu’s expression also shifted. “Uh… this?”

Yu Bai asked cautiously, “Do you think… are they… right now…?”

“Hm?” Sitting across from them, He Ming’an set down his menu with a smiling squint.

For some reason, in the warmly heated restaurant, Yu Bai felt a chill crawl over his skin. He hurriedly shut his mouth.

“You two have been chatting nonstop—aren’t you going to look at what you want to eat?”

He Ming’an slid the menu across to them.

Yu Bai awkwardly took it and shared it with Xie Wu.

“Class rep, uh…” Yu Bai’s expression hid behind the menu, hesitant.

“Two high schoolers. What exactly do you have in that head of yours?” He Ming’an interlaced his fingers, resting his chin lightly on them, smiling as he said, “Hurry up and order. This one’s on me.”

“Class rep, you’re generous.” Yu Bai jumped on the lifeline to change the subject.

And it wasn’t just polite words—He Ming’an often treated them, even gave out gifts on holidays.

After ordering, Yu Bai scrolled through his phone.

Xie Wu caught a glimpse of his screen and leaned in: “Isn’t that the influencer from the next class? You actually follow her?”

Yu Bai instinctively pulled the phone back. “Why’re you snooping through my phone?”

“I just saw it by accident, don’t be stingy.” Xie Wu nudged him with his elbow, narrowing his eyes slyly. “What’s with the overreaction? You like her?”

Yu Bai, usually quick-tongued, stumbled: “Don’t spout nonsense.”

Seeing his guilty look, Xie Wu had basically confirmed it. He pressed on with the gossip: “So how’d you meet her?”

“Well… my family’s company held an event. Met her once there.”

Thinking of that first encounter, Yu Bai turned his head away, fingers pressing to his lips, his ears turning red.

“Then that’s perfect. If you like her, go for it—you’ve even got an advantage.”

Xie Wu couldn’t stand how slow his buddy was. “Strike first, you know? She’s obviously not short of suitors. If you just sit there, you’ll end up watching her date someone else while you chew your sleeve.”

“But we barely spoke that day. I’m worried she won’t even remember me…”

Xie Wu, always loyal, rushed to hype him up, practically coaxing Yu Bai into a fetus.

“Then—I’ll try later?” Yu Bai said sheepishly.

The words had barely left his mouth when the air around him suddenly felt icy cold.

“No dating in high school.”

He Ming’an’s smile was as gentle as ever, but Yu Bai was overwhelmed with dread.

No wonder he was known as the walking disciplinary committee of their class. Yu Bai immediately slid to his knees: “…I was dreaming just now. I’ll carve your teaching into my heart, Class Rep.”

The food they ordered arrived.

“Mm, eat,” He Ming’an said warmly.

Seeing he wasn’t pressing further, Yu Bai gratefully picked up his chopsticks and dug in.

Xie Wu, meanwhile, looked thoughtful. But catching He Ming’an’s glance, he quickly picked up his chopsticks too and casually said, “I was chatting with Qi Lecheng last night. He’s back in the country—should be at the airport now.”

Hearing that, He Ming’an’s expression paused slightly.

“Is that so?” Yu Bai muttered. He wasn’t close to the guy, so hadn’t felt anything.

Then he suddenly remembered—Qi Lecheng, too, had that buff of hearing Gu Yang’s inner voice.

“The international photo exhibition isn’t even over yet, but he’s rushing back. Must’ve seen the messages in our group chat. He even reached out to me yesterday to fish for news.”

Xie Wu shrugged. He was the type to chat with everyone in class—even Nie Ying.

Yu Bai didn’t know what to say. “Sure enough, he can’t miss a single…”

Things were already messy enough. Now another one was about to show up.

Thinking of how that person treated Gu Yang, Yu Bai quickly shoved the thought away, purging his mind, and stabbed his chopsticks into the nearest dish.

—

“So you really spent all last night studying with Song Yinxing?”

The next day, Yu Bai asked in disbelief.

Gu Yang nodded weakly, draped in a soft cashmere coat, sprawled bonelessly over the desk as if melting.

“No wonder he’s a genius scholar. Truly… a model for us all.” The last four words Yu Bai said with awe, inwardly cursing his own filthy thoughts.

This kind of top student’s realm was just different.

He Ming’an turned his head away, and Yu Bai realized he was holding back laughter.

“He even asked me if I had time today.” It was the first time Yu Bai heard Gu Yang speak with practically gritted teeth. It was invigorating.

“That’s pure ingratitude repaid with kindness.” Yu Bai nodded solemnly. “Didn’t you resist at all?”

“I finished and slapped the workbook onto his face. He just took it down, looked it over, and said I did it wrong—told me to rewrite it.”

Yu Bai marveled at his composure. “So are you going again today?”

“No way.” Gu Yang said without hesitation.

Yu Bai couldn’t help blurting: “You’re rejecting one-on-one tutoring from the top student in the grade? Don’t know a blessing when you see it.”

“Then you take it.” Gu Yang’s tone had returned to its usual low-energy drawl.

“Haha, no thanks. I couldn’t handle it.” Yu Bai quickly surrendered.

At that moment, Lu Ran walked in.

This time, he wasn’t alone. Madam Lu had escorted him.

It was the first time the class had seen such a scene, and everyone looked up.

Scanning the room, Madam Lu spotted He Ming’an and smiled gently at him.

“Ran Ran’s health hasn’t been great these days. I couldn’t rest easy, so I thought I’d bring him in.”

He Ming’an stood up, his smile warm. “We all know about his health. Truly, you’ve worked hard to come yourself.”

That morning, Ran Ran had pouted and asked her to drop him off. She couldn’t refuse. Since she was there, she also wanted to ask the He family boy to help take care of him.

Still, no matter how considerate, he wasn’t family. He couldn’t cover everything. As she left, Madam Lu was still thinking about transferring Lu Ji into Class Eleven.

Ye Chen fanned the flames from the front: “Our little young master’s illness really is extraordinary. He can’t even come to school without an adult escort now.”

Lu Ran shot him an angry glare.

He had done this only to prove that, even if he wasn’t the Lu family’s biological son, it wouldn’t change anything.

But the mocking looks from his classmates only deepened.

Fuming, yet unable to lash out, he stomped over to Gu Yang.

“Gu Yang, come out. I have something to ask you.”

The atmosphere froze.

Lu Ran’s temper was notoriously volatile. If he lost it, he might even blurt out the secret of Gu Yang hearing inner voices.

But surprisingly, the first to step up was Ye Chen.

Though usually just a troublemaker with words, he had never actually acted before.

“You think you can just summon him? What an ego.” Ye Chen leaned on Gu Yang’s desk, a smile slowly spreading. “What, you still think you’re the Lu family’s young master?”

Lu Ran’s face drained of color.

Being stomped on with no mercy was one thing. But Ye Chen, of all people…

Whenever he faced Ye Chen, there was this inexplicable guilt.

Looking at that eerily similar face, he couldn’t help but think of Madam Ye—and that nightmare he could never shake.

“What’s it to you if I want to talk to Gu Yang?”

“How is it not my business?” Ye Chen sneered. “We’re classmates. Whatever you want to say, why not say it here? Leave you two alone outside, and I’d be worried you’d lose it and hit him.”

Hearing “classmates,” a few recalled Ye Chen’s past misdeeds and exchanged odd looks. But in the end, they nodded, siding with him.

Lu Ran let out a cold laugh. He pointed at himself, then at Gu Yang.

Him hit Gu Yang? What a joke.

Could he even win?

Besides, was Gu Yang some kind of delicate flower the whole class had to shield like this?

Now he was stuck—couldn’t advance, couldn’t retreat. After all, what he had to say couldn’t be spoken in public.

Gu Yang glanced at them listlessly.

He didn’t understand why, when Lu Ran had called him out, Ye Chen was the one dancing and shouting.

He just sat there, listening to them bicker, with others chiming in now and then, and couldn’t fathom what they were on about.

His lashes lowered. Out of sight, his eyes darkened with gloom and weariness.

【Hahaha. Ye Chen and Lu Ran really are something. Such a deep karmic tie, born of the same sin. Rotten pot meets cracked lid—what a pair.】

Lu Ran fell silent mid-sentence. He glanced at Gu Yang with disgust and confusion, then back at Ye Chen, unable to parse what Gu Yang meant.

But opposite him, Ye Chen’s hand clenched tight on the edge of the desk. His face was expressionless as he lowered his head toward the boy behind him.

That day at the restaurant, Gu Yang’s inner voice echoed faintly again in his ears.