Rush-order air conditioning and an all-English "classic"

Chen Ziang pushed open the door.

Han Dong looked over at him expectantly.

"Boss Chen, how did it go?"

Chen Ziang managed a confident smile.

He leaned back in his chair, doing his best to relax his shoulders and strike the casual pose of a young master.

"I pulled some strings."

He casually tossed his phone onto the desk.

"Our building's too old, and the wiring can't handle it. But my family put pressure on the logistics office and got special approval for a wall-mounted unit just for room 504."

Han Dong sprang out of his chair.

"Holy shit! They actually approved it?!"

Chen Ziang discreetly wiped his sweaty palm on his pant leg.

"They did, but there's still some paperwork to go through."

He picked up his phone again.

"I'll hurry them along and have them send someone over to install it."

With that, he turned his back on his roommates and worked furiously on his phone.

He opened a local services app, searched for appliance installation, and went straight to the most expensive, top-of-the-line wall-mounted unit. Then he selected the priciest service: "Rush home visit and installation within two hours."

He muted the payment confirmation chime.

Just like that, twenty thousand yuan was gone.

Chen Ziang's heart was dripping blood, but at least he had saved face.

A little over an hour later.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Two workers in uniforms from an outside appliance contractor rushed into room 504, drenched in sweat and carrying the indoor and outdoor units.

"Room 504, right? Rush order!"

A vigorous clamor of hammering and clanging followed.

The new air conditioner went up on the wall.

The worker pressed the remote with a beep.

A powerful blast of cold air gushed out, carrying the clean scent peculiar to a new machine and sweeping away the dorm's sticky, oppressive heat in an instant.

Han Dong stood beneath the vent, so comfortable he nearly cried out.

"Oh man, I'm alive again."

He turned to look at Chen Ziang, ready to drop to his knees and kowtow right then and there.

"Boss Chen, you're fucking awesome! Here in Jiangcheng, you can cover the sky with one hand!"

The workers finished up and left.

The dorm door closed again.

Han Dong stood shirtless in the cold air, scratching the back of his head. As the cool breeze blew over him, his usually straight-line thinking suddenly took a turn.

"Wait a minute, Ziang."

Han Dong turned around, his face full of puzzlement.

"If the school logistics office gave special approval, how come the workers were wearing uniforms from an outside appliance store?"

"They didn't even have school ID badges?"

He scratched his head.

"And it's the middle of the night. The school logistics office is working overtime to bring us an air conditioner?"

The moment those words came out.

Chen Ziang felt the cold air that had just been blowing against his back turn into a cold sweat.

His back stiffened abruptly.

His mind went blank.

I'm screwed.

When he had made up the excuse, he had been so busy thinking about how to make himself look impressive that he had completely forgotten about the contractors' uniforms and the time of their visit.

Chen Ziang stammered, his throat dry.

"Uh... well..."

His palms were soaked with sweat, but even after a long moment, he couldn't squeeze out a complete sentence.

Zhao Yifan sat in the corner and quietly turned a page. His eyes had long since seen through everything, but he had no intention of speaking up.

Lu Chuan took a leisurely sip from his cup.

He set it down.

"The school outsources its procurement orders anyway."

His voice was calm and matter-of-fact.

Han Dong turned to look at him.

Lu Chuan wore a natural expression.

"With a specially approved order, there's no way they'd have time to go through the school warehouse. The logistics office probably sent a rush order straight to one of their outside partners."

He looked at Chen Ziang and spoke casually.

"Getting a partner to send people over with a unit in the middle of the night—that's still thanks to Boss Chen's family having connections."

Chen Ziang felt as though he had been granted a full pardon.

He drew a sharp breath.

"Right, yes, exactly!"

He hurriedly took the way out offered to him, nodding like a pestle pounding garlic.

"It was an outside partner. The logistics office specifically arranged the rush service."

Realization dawned on Han Dong.

"So that's how it is. Boss Chen's family really does have clout."

Chen Ziang was drenched in cold sweat.

He stole a glance at Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan didn't even look at him, leafing through a book on the desk. Chen Ziang was filled with mixed feelings. His earlier urge to compete had vanished completely, leaving only complicated feelings and gratitude.

If Lu Chuan hadn't said that, he would have lost face all the way to his grandmother's house today.

The incident finally passed without disaster.

Lu Chuan stood up and picked up his towel.

"All right."

"We've got air conditioning now, so everyone hurry up, wash up, and get to bed."

He glanced at Han Dong.

"Tomorrow morning we still have to go stand at military attention in the sun on the sports field."

Those words hit far too hard.

What little excitement Han Dong had left instantly collapsed. He let out a wail and climbed into bed, complaining bitterly the whole way.

"I hate military training!"

Chen Ziang was relieved too. He hurriedly picked up his washbasin and headed for the washroom, afraid Han Dong might find another fatal hole in his story.

With cool air blowing through it, the dorm finally quieted down.

After washing up.

Lu Chuan came out of the washroom, drying his hair.

The dorm's main light was already off.

Only the desk lamp on Zhao Yifan's desk in the corner was still on.

Zhao Yifan sat upright in his chair.

His back was ramrod straight.

His expression was serious and aloof, with even a trace of scholarly concentration.

He held a thick original-edition English book in his hands.

Lu Chuan was getting ready for bed and passed behind Zhao Yifan.

Out of the corner of his eye, he happened to catch the subtle pattern on the book's cover and the words on its open pages.

Lu Chuan, who had frequented all kinds of high-end gatherings in his previous life and possessed an extensive English vocabulary and a wealth of experience, froze at the sight.

The ornate English words on those pages.

They were no part of a monumental work on macroeconomics or Western philosophy.

It was an authentic, all-English smut novel depicting a forbidden love affair in the Victorian era.

Lu Chuan cursed viciously in his heart.

He looked at Zhao Yifan.

The eldest young master of the Zhao family of Ji Province wore an aloof, unapproachable expression, as though he were contemplating the fate of humanity.

Yet his eyes were fixed without blinking on the page after page of English words that could make a person blush.

His brow was even slightly furrowed.

The corner of Lu Chuan's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He silently climbed into bed.

And lay down on his pillow.

In their previous life, they had lived under the same roof for a full four years.

Yet he had somehow never discovered that this thick-browed, wide-eyed scion of a prominent family, whose thoughts ran unfathomably deep, was a first-rate closet pervert at heart-one who even read dirty books in the original English.

In the darkness, Lu Chuan turned over.

With his back to the dorm.

His shoulders trembled slightly as he stifled his laughter.