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Gu Chen fished all the ingredients out of the clear broth pot.

With their stomachs full and the time about right, the group paid the bill and left. Huo Mingzhang's two childhood friends sidled up to Gu Chen with grins. "Master, how did you train your three-pointers and fadeaway jumpers? Could you teach us sometime?"

"We'll be your disciples. We'll cover all your water and snacks this semester."

"Not interested." Gu Chen rejected them coldly.

The two rubbed their noses awkwardly. Gu Chen was indeed good at basketball, but his temper was way too foul. It would have been perfect if they could combine him with his younger brother.

The group made it back to the dorm building before lights-out. As they went upstairs, Gu Xiu lightly tugged on Gu Chen's sleeve and said cautiously, "Bro, walk slower. I'm scared of the dark."

Gu Chen gave a slight tug and shook off Gu Xiu's hand. "Aren't there motion-sensor lights in the hallway?"

"That light barely gives off any brightness. Everything looks shadowy and vague. It's even scarier, okay?" Gu Xiu sniffled aggrievedly. "Bro, are you still mad? How about you just beat me up? I only said one wrong thing. Did you have to stay angry for this long?"

Gu Chen was helpless. Seeing that Gu Chen did not react, Gu Xiu stepped forward and walked beside him. "Is this okay, then?"

The two rustled their way back to the dorm. Xia Tian and Wang Miao were already lying down. Gu Chen washed up in the dark, then went to his bunk. The moment he sat down, he noticed something was wrong—the bed was wet.

Gu Chen stood up and asked in a low voice, "Who got my bed wet?"

Xia Tian and Wang Miao said nothing. Gu Xiu asked, "Bro, what happened to your bed?"

Gu Chen asked again, "Who got my bed wet?"

Still, no one made a sound.

With a livid expression, Gu Chen went into the bathroom, filled a basin with water, and flung it toward the bed on the right.

Wang Miao, who had been lying stiff as a corpse in bed, sprang up drenched from head to toe. "Fuck, Gu Chen, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"

"Fuck, Gu Chen—"

Gu Chen grabbed Wang Miao by the collar and hauled him out of bed. "I asked who got my bed wet."

"Fuck, let me go!" Wang Miao instinctively threw a punch at Gu Chen's face, but Gu Chen caught his arm and twisted it behind his back. "Ah! It hurts! It hurts! Gu Chen, let go! Let go! My arm's broken, let go already!"

Gu Xiu's face went pale with fright. Standing to one side, he tried to break them up. "Bro, don't fight. Stop fighting, both of you. I'm scared!"

Gu Chen said nothing. He stared expressionlessly at Wang Miao. Cold moonlight streamed in through the window, making Gu Chen's face look even more grim.

"We didn't do it on purpose. We were messing around and accidentally spilled water on your bed." Wang Miao's heart lurched in fear, and he no longer dared to talk tough. "Sorry."

Gu Chen gave him a hard shove and let him go.

Clutching his arm, Wang Miao watched in lingering shock as Gu Chen tossed his soaked bedding onto Xia Tian's bed, then moved Xia Tian's bedding onto his own.

Xia Tian, who had hidden in the corner without daring to say a word after being frightened by Gu Chen's outburst, asked weakly, "G-Gu Chen, what are you doing?"

"Don't you have another set of unused sheets and bedding?" Gu Chen made the bed, stripped off the mattress cover, and asked Xia Tian, "Bring it over."

Xia Tian's eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean? Your bed got wet, so you're going to sleep in mine?"

Gu Chen asked in return, "Who got my bed wet?"

Xia Tian fell silent. Reluctantly, he opened his locker and threw his unused sheets and bedding to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen fixed up the bed by the moonlight. Without saying a word, he climbed into bed and went to sleep.

Xia Tian and Wang Miao looked at each other. Then they glanced at Gu Xiu, who had been cowering and trembling in the corner the whole time. They felt utterly humiliated.

The next morning, when Gu Chen woke up, Xia Tian, Wang Miao, and Gu Xiu were all gone from the dorm. After folding his blanket and washing up, Gu Chen went to the cafeteria alone.

As expected, whenever he lined up to get food, he could hear the students in line whispering about him. Words like "hitting people," "violent maniac," and "pouring water on someone's bed" drifted into his ears from time to time.

Gu Chen remained expressionless. Carrying his tray, he found a seat by himself and ate breakfast.

The two students at the next table immediately picked up their trays and left.

The scattered whispers continued without end. Gu Chen silently finished his meal and went to the field. Gu Xiu was surrounded by most of the boys in his class, chatting and laughing with them. When he saw Gu Chen approaching, Gu Xiu's smile vanished. He ran over and said hesitantly, "Um, I treated Wang Miao and Xia Tian to breakfast this morning. They promised they wouldn't be mad at you."

Gu Chen gave a mocking laugh. He walked past Gu Xiu and went straight to Xia Tian and Wang Miao. "If you dare get water on my bed again, I'll shove your heads directly into the sink."

Seeing Gu Chen's dead-faced expression, Xia Tian and Wang Miao instinctively took a step back. Lacking confidence, they argued, "Gu Chen, don't go too far. We didn't do it on purpose."

"Really?" Gu Chen tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed directly on Xia Tian and Wang Miao. "But I did it on purpose."

Intimidated by the aura Gu Chen gave off, the field, which had still been somewhat noisy, abruptly fell silent. The students who had just been gathered together condemning Gu Chen looked at each other and suddenly found it all rather pointless. They sheepishly went to stand in their respective formation spots.

During a break in military training, Huo Mingzhang and his friends wandered over again. Huo Mingzhang handed Gu Xiu a black plastic bag and said with a suggestive wiggle of his brows, "Here. Good stuff."

"What is it?" Gu Xiu took it with a confused look. The moment he opened it, his delicate little face flushed red with anger. He forcefully threw it back into Huo Mingzhang's arms. "Pervert!"

"How am I a pervert?" Holding the black plastic bag, Huo Mingzhang smiled slyly. "You don't understand. This is advice from someone who's been through it. If you don't want your feet to suffer, you need to put these in your shoes."

"What is it?" Drawn in by their conversation, some nearby students came over. A girl asked Huo Mingzhang with a smile, "What good thing is it? Senior, can you show us?"

The pretty younger student called him Senior in a sweet, soft voice. Huo Mingzhang was unaffected, but his two childhood friends could not hold out first. "It's actually nothing. Just that thing you girls use every month. Put it in your shoes, and your feet won't hurt even if you stand all day."