Page 2

Gu Xiu was getting impatient and was about to speak when someone honked. A flippant whistle came from beside them. "You're pretty cute. What department are you in? Give your bro a smile, and I'll drive you to registration."

Gu Xiu whipped around and looked at the Ferrari parked by the curb. "Who are you talking about?"

The buzz-cut guy sitting in the sports car raised an eyebrow and grinned roguishly. "Whoever answers."

"Are you sick or something?" Gu Xiu had been adopted by the Gu Family, but because he was good-looking and well-behaved, the family had doted on him since childhood. It was no wonder he'd grown a little spoiled. "Do I know you?"

The buzz-cut guy seemed unaccustomed to being insulted like that. His grin only widened. "You know me now, don't you? I'm Huo Mingzhang. What's your name, pretty boy?"

"You're the pretty boy! Your whole family is pretty!" Gu Xiu had never been teased like this before, and he was shaking with anger.

Imitating Gu Xiu's tone, Huo Mingzhang grinned cheekily. "I'm a handsome guy. You're the pretty boy. Handsome guy and pretty boy—we're a perfect match, huh?"

"You—" Gu Xiu was so choked up he couldn't get a word out. He turned and jabbed Gu Chen in the side with his elbow. "Say something! Mom and Dad told you to look after me before we came. You're my brother. You're just going to watch me get bullied?"

Gu Chen was in a daze. Looking at Gu Xiu and Huo Mingzhang, who seemed inexplicably youthful, then at the scene around them where new students were being welcomed, he slowly accepted that he had apparently been reborn ten years in the past, to the year he'd just gotten into college.

"Stop it." Gu Chen was dispirited and eager to find somewhere quiet to clear his head. "Let's go register."

"Gu Chen, what's that supposed to mean?" Gu Xiu stared at him in disbelief. "You watched me get bullied and didn't even say a word."

What was there to say? Besides, Huo Mingzhang wasn't wrong. Those two would end up together, flirting and bickering like this every day. Gu Chen gave Huo Mingzhang a lifeless look. "I can't afford to mess with him."

Huo Mingzhang hadn't noticed that the pretty boy had a bodyguard standing beside him. He gave Gu Chen a curious once-over. The guy wasn't bad-looking, either. He wasn't as delicate and pretty as Gu Xiu, but he had open features and a gentle face. He looked like an easygoing sort. He just seemed a little gloomy, with none of the vigor you'd expect from a young man.

Huo Mingzhang snorted and taunted him with his assessment. "Chicken."

Gu Chen said nothing. He slung the two duffel bags over his shoulders and headed off to find the Management Department registration desk. Gu Xiu followed behind him, clearly displeased, his lips puckered as if he could hang an oil bottle from them. "What's with you, Gu Chen? What do you mean, you can't afford to mess with him? Why can't you?"

Of course he couldn't. Huo Mingzhang was the young master of the Huo Group and one of the biggest playboys in A City. Who could afford to mess with him? Gu Chen still remembered how, in his previous life, he'd stood up for Gu Xiu, only to have Huo Mingzhang and his friends corner him on the basketball court. Under the pretense of playing a friendly game, they'd slammed into him over and over until he was battered and bruised, crawling all over the court. Yet the very next day, Gu Xiu had gone out to eat at a roadside food stall with that crowd.

Having lived another life, Gu Chen didn't want to get mixed up in Gu Xiu and Huo Mingzhang's crowd's mess again. He'd just have to take a little less of a beating.

As Gu Chen thought about it, he suddenly felt a dull ache spreading through his body. He smiled bitterly. So he really had been reborn—even his body's memories had come along.

Gu Chen gritted his teeth through the soreness and helped Gu Xiu complete their freshman registration. They were both in the Management Department, and even shared the same dorm room. He'd spent four years at A University, after all, and still remembered where the dorm was. He led Gu Xiu back there along a familiar route. Gu Xiu asked curiously, "How do you know where the dorm is?"

Gu Chen put the two duffel bags down in the room and brushed him off. "I looked it up at an internet café before we came."

Gu Xiu said, "Oh," and seemed inexplicably unhappy.

Gu Chen couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him. He forced himself to make the bed, then immediately collapsed onto it.

Gu Xiu was so annoyed he nudged the bed leg with his foot. "Gu Chen, you made your own bed. What about mine?"

"Make it yourself." Gu Chen kept his eyes closed, cold sweat breaking out all over from the pain.

Gu Xiu noticed something was wrong, too. He came closer and asked, "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

"I don't know." Gu Chen pressed his lips together. "Everything hurts."

Gu Xiu frowned and looked down at Gu Chen in the lower bunk with a hint of disdain. "You can't just lie down on the bed like that! You're so dirty."

Gu Chen curled up and said nothing.

Gu Xiu thought for a moment. "Just lie there for now. I'll go ask where we can get hot water. You can drink some."

Gu Chen kept his eyes closed and didn't respond. Gu Xiu took the new thermos and went out. The dorm was quiet, not a sound to be heard. Gu Chen drifted in and out, as if dreaming that he was living inside a book. The main character was Gu Xiu, who had been stolen at birth by his biological father's mistress and thrown into a river. Swept downstream, he was found by Gu Chen's mother and became the Gu Family's adopted son. Eighteen years later, he got into A University, where he became a bickering couple with the university's heartthrob and campus bully. Many people adored and doted on him, and in the end, he reunited with his birth family and inherited their business. It was an uplifting story. And Gu Chen was nothing more than a minor character in the book.

After who knew how long, Gu Chen suddenly felt someone shake him by the shoulder. "Hey, chicken, where's that pretty boy from your family?"

Gu Chen opened his eyes, still dazed. Huo Mingzhang stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the bed rail. Looking at Gu Chen's face, slick with cold sweat, he raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you? All that just to register, and now you're so weak you can't even get it up?"

Gu Chen listlessly turned away, too tired to deal with Huo Mingzhang.

Huo Mingzhang gave a cold laugh and simply hauled Gu Chen upright. "Come on. I'm feeling charitable today, so I'll take you to the campus clinic."

"No need." Gu Chen struggled weakly. "I'm not going."

"Stop moving!" Huo Mingzhang smacked Gu Chen on the back. "I haven't even complained that you're dirty. You'd better not get the grime on you all over me. You couldn't afford to replace these clothes."

They were designer clothes, a limited edition costing tens of thousands. Gu Chen really couldn't afford to replace them. He immediately stopped moving.

Huo Mingzhang snorted again and carried Gu Chen off to the infirmary with a look of disgust. As they walked, he asked, "What's your name? Where are you from? What are you to the pretty boy?"