CH 57

Winter break came to an end, and Lin Yuxing hurriedly moved back to the dormitory.

When Gu Zhongyi parked the car at the entrance of the North Building dormitory and got out to help Lin Yuxing with his luggage, many classmates stood around them stunned.

One classmate even dropped the pancake he was holding onto the ground in surprise, perfectly expressing his astonishment, “Damn, there goes my dinner!”

Classmate 1: “Am I seeing things? Are they living together?”

Classmate 2: “No, wait. I remember Lin Yuxing applied to stay in the school dormitory during winter break…”

Classmate 3: “Could they have been cohabitating during the holidays?!”

…

Lin Yuxing wasn’t oblivious; he naturally noticed the gossiping expressions of his classmates. He had originally planned to show some affection with Gu Zhongyi before parting ways, but now it seemed impossible.

He took the luggage from Gu Zhongyi’s hand and urged him eagerly, “I’m going in, you should leave quickly.”

Lin Yuxing turned and hurried towards the entrance of the dormitory building.

Gu Zhongyi quickly grabbed his hand, ignoring the onlookers, and gently rubbed Lin Yuxing’s slightly warm ear while saying, “I’ll come to pick you up on Friday evening.”

“What?”

“We’ll spend the weekend at my place.” Gu Zhongyi said, “We agreed on it.”

Lin Yuxing widened his eyes slightly as he tried to remember, “When did I agree to that?”

“We can agree now.”

“…”

Lin Yuxing wanted to pull his hand away, but he couldn’t. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Gu Zhongyi’s eyes were filled with a playful smile. Lin Yuxing said with a hint of unwillingness, “I’d rather not.”

Gu Zhongyi fell silent, using his pheromones to convey his hurt feelings.

Lin Yuxing, enticed by the bittersweet orange scent emanating from Gu Zhongyi, stared at him holding his hand and lowered his voice, shyly stuttering, “Unless you… you agree to something too. If you stop acting like that all the time at night I’ll stay over on weekends…”

Gu Zhongyi lowered his voice in response, “Like what?”

Lin Yuxing furrowed his brows and playfully scolded, “Don’t push it too far.”

In Gu Zhongyi’s eyes, it was oddly adorable.

Lowering his head, Lin Yuxing said, “If you don’t agree, I won’t agree to come over on the weekend.” He had an attitude of following through with his words.

Seeing Lin Yuxing’s face growing redder, his ears getting hot, Gu Zhongyi decided not to tease him further. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

But this “alright” was merely said in passing.

Having experienced a passionate encounter, Gu Zhongyi was quite satisfied with his youthful body. It turned out that sometimes when the body couldn’t be controlled by the mind, it was a blissful and wonderful thing.

Lin Yuxing asked, “Why don’t you let go then? Look, all these classmates watching won’t leave…”

Gu Zhongyi replied, “Can you send me your class schedule for this semester?”

Lin Yuxing was a bit puzzled.

Gu Zhongyi gave a reasonable explanation, “My boyfriend is shy and doesn’t want to live with me. So I need to know his schedule to make it convenient for me to arrange dates with him.”

Lin Yuxing met Gu Zhongyi’s gaze, feeling a tingling sensation in his heart, and glanced around, whispering shyly, “Then I want yours too, let’s exchange.”

They were no longer in a work relationship, and he could also ask for Gu Zhongyi’s class schedule too.

“Of course.”

Gu Zhongyi had been waiting for Lin Yuxing to say that.

Feeling happy inside, Lin Yuxing’s lips curved up secretly. But soon, he restrained himself and lightly pulled his hand away.

“I really have to go in now.”

Gu Zhongyi let go accordingly and said, “Okay, sleep early tonight.”

As soon as he let go, Lin Yuxing, carrying his luggage, rushed into the dormitory without looking back.

Gu Zhongyi watched Lin Yuxing quickly escape and chuckled to himself.

The campus online forum had another hot topic that day.

Title: [Lin Yuxing, already living sweetly with the handsome school heartthrob, Gu Zhongyi, in less than four months of dating!]”

The first comment was a photo of them holding hands, with Lin Yuxing looking shyly down and Gu Zhongyi smiling sweetly. Their visible luggage provided solid evidence.

Within seconds, five comments appeared.

Second comment: “Oh my, some people are really in love and living the life, while some of us can’t even go on a single date!”

Third comment: “What’s going on with this forum? Is it the Diary of Gu? Can we have something else to talk about…”

Fourth comment: “If you want to see something else, go to another section. This is the gossip area. Mind your own business and stop talking nonsense.”

Fifth comment: “The first comment is so casual, I don’t see anything suspicious, even classmates are closer.”

Sixth comment: “Too bad the flowers are planted in manure…”

Seventh comment: “Envious, they’re quite compatible and look good together.”

Comments five and six were quickly deleted.

Next, eighth and ninth, eleventh and fourteenth…

The person responsible for deleting negative comments, Yang Qing, looked at the message sent by Gu Zhongyi on his phone, shook his head, not understanding what was going on in the Alpha’s head.

Yang Qing was tired of deleting comments: “[Zhongyi, should I just delete this post?]”

Gu Zhongyi: “[Hmm.]”

Yang Qing was about to delete the post when two new comments appeared.

Fifty-eighth comment: “Look closely, Lin Yuxing is actually quite good-looking. I remember before winter break, an Alpha in our class even asked me for his contact information, but I told him that he was already with Gu, and that Alpha immediately backed off.”

Fifty-ninth comment: “The person above, your profile is showing, haha. You’ve exposed the Alpha in your class.”

Gu Zhongyi immediately called: “Yang Qing, how about leaving the post for a couple of days?”

Yang Qing: “?”

Gu Zhongyi: “Leave it for a week.”

Yang Qing: “…”

Gu Zhongyi replied, “There are too many people interested in pursuing Yuxing.”

There was previously Xu Xiangchi, and now there was an unknown Alpha.

There were simply too many.

Yang Qing, who didn’t understand the situation, said helplessly, “Can’t you have more confidence in yourself? Which other Alpha in this school can compare to you?”

Gu Zhongyi wasn’t lacking in confidence, nor did he lack trust in Lin Yuxing.

He was just petty.

After careful consideration, he said, “I still hope that the whole school will know that Yuxing and I are dating.”

He was afraid of missing out on anyone, and he was also afraid of anyone misunderstanding their relationship. He wanted everyone to see that post, to know that Lin Yuxing and he had a sweet healthy relationship and had already lived together for a while.

The more widely known, the better..

Yang Qing complained about him for the first time, jokingly saying, “Zhongyi, why don’t you just take a megaphone and shout it out at school, it would be more direct and much easier than deleting comments back and forth.”

Gu Zhongyi responded seriously, “Yuxing wouldn’t be happy about it.”

Implying that he would have done it long ago if he could.

Yang Qing was stunned. Was this still the Gu Zhongyi he knew? Was this still the “grass” on the high hill, cold as ice?

Silent for a while, Yang Qing replied, “How about I give you the authority to delete it yourself? Wouldn’t that be better than us going back and forth like this? It’s a waste of time.”

Gu Zhongyi slid his index finger on the forum page on the screen, repeatedly looking at the secretly taken photo, feeling pleased, and saving it in passing.

He said, “Okay, thank you.”

The authority of managing the forum fell into the hands of ID789.

That was equivalent to giving the power of life and death on the forum to a “dictator.”

That night, all the negative or slightly unfriendly comments towards Lin Yuxing were ruthlessly deleted by ID789.

From then on, the school forum had a widely-known “secret”: Gu Zhongyi had been completely captivated by the Omega, Lin Yuxing!

However, Lin Yuxing had no idea about the “bloody storm” that took place that night.

He hadn’t lived with Su Li for a long time, and they excitedly chatted into the late hours of the night. When he woke up, all the posts on the forum were filled with praise.

Su Li immediately caught onto what was happening but didn’t expose it, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

The new semester began amidst Lin Yuxing’s busy schedule. Every day, he either attended classes or worked part-time at the bakery, or occasionally took on some meager errands.

On Saturdays, he continued to tutor Zhang Yuanyuan.

However, because Zhang Yuanyuan was still young, Lin Yuxing’s knowledge range was limited, and he couldn’t teach too far ahead, so most of the time, he simply helped Zhang Yuanyuan with his homework.

To ease his conscience, he discussed the matter with Manager Zhang and how to reduce the fees.

Manager Zhang had a way with words, he expressed his gratitude, saying, “My son, Yuanyuan, had average grades before, but this time, he ranked first in his grade. Teacher Lin, don’t be so polite to us. These tutoring fees are only right!”

Lin Yuxing believed that Manager Zhang’s family was well-off, without any suspicions.

Unfortunately, in the second week after their conversation…

When Lin Yuxing and Gu Zhongyi went to the restaurant for dinner, they coincidentally ran into Manager Zhang. It was then that Lin Yuxing found out that Zhang Yuanyuan’s father had been an employee of Gu Zhongyi’s all along.

There’s a saying, “One who eats people’s food is bound to speak their language.” Lin Yuxing worried that he would unnecessarily trouble Gu Zhongyi with obligations, so he made the decisive decision to resign.

Manager Zhang anxiously stopped him from resigning, trying to persuade him and finally lowering the hourly wage to keep him.

To be honest, that was the first time Manager Zhang had encountered a bargaining scene like that.

Manager Zhang: “380.”

Lin Yuxing: “still high.”

Manager Zhang: “330?”

Lin Yuxing frowned, convinced that Manager Zhang had ulterior motives.

Manager Zhang’s wife, Fang Mei, being a logical person, quickly searched the internet for information and came back with a suggestion, saying, “Teacher Lin, it says online that the market rate for tutoring by C University students is between 150 and 200 yuan per hour. How about we compromise and set it at 180?”

Fang Mei added, “But I believe 180 isn’t high and you teach so well, the price shouldn’t be this low.”

As she spoke, she discreetly patted her son’s back, indicating for Zhang Yuanyuan to help say something positive.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Yuanyuan extended three fingers to Fang Mei, with each finger representing a Transformers character.

Fang Mei’s face darkened as she held up two fingers.

Zhang Yuanyuan knew not to push his luck and compromised.

He immediately stepped forward and hugged Lin Yuxing’s arm, sadly lowering his head. His performance was three parts dramatic and seven parts genuine emotion as he said, “Teacher Lin, if you leave, my studies will be affected.” His adorable face displayed a hint of pity as he rattled on, “Then I won’t be able to attend a good middle school, and I won’t be able to go to a good high school. Eventually, I’ll miss the opportunity to attend C University, and our country will lose a talent. It’s such a pity!”

Lin Yuxing: “…”

Manager Zhang & Fang Mei: Uh.

Zhang Yuanyuan went all out for Transformers. He held his hand to his heart and said, “Teacher Lin! If you leave, I’m afraid I won’t be able to eat and will lose ten pounds…”

Lin Yuxing thought that wasn’t a bad thing. “You’ve gained weight recently. Losing some wouldn’t hurt.”

Zhang Yuanyuan plopped down on the ground, putting on a show with his entire body, shedding fake tears and imploring, “Teacher Lin, don’t go—”

Even Fang Mei couldn’t bear to watch, finding it too fake.

But surprisingly, Lin Yuxing didn’t expose it. It seemed like he genuinely cared for Zhang Yuanyuan.

Lin Yuxing was someone who responded to kindness rather than force, and he found himself in a dilemma due to Zhang’s triple attack.

Seeing Zhang Yuanyuan’s teary eyes, Lin Yuxing reconsidered, “Mr. Zhang, I don’t want you to spend all this money because of… Gu Zhongyi.”

Manager Zhang wiped his forehead in relief and defended himself, saying, “Teacher Lin, my son needs a tutor, whether or not Gu Boss is involved. Gu Boss only saw that I couldn’t find a suitable tutor and helped connect us. That’s all.” He spoke with wide eyes, telling a white lie. “Please don’t misunderstand me.”

With Manager Zhang’s affirmative reply, Lin Yuxing felt at ease and accepted the part-time job again.

That night, after discussing it with his wife, Manager Zhang privately contacted Gu Zhongyi.

They both believed that Lin Yuxing was an excellent teacher, and their child was willing to listen to him. Therefore, after much consideration, Fang Mei didn’t want to lose such a qualified private tutor.

Starting from that week, they hoped to pay 180 yuan per hour for private tutoring.

Gu Zhongyi had truly become a simple matchmaker.