Chapter 30

"Qin Yi, have you finished the test paper?" Li Moran, the math teacher who had only just graduated and begun teaching, watched Qin Yi's noisy antics. A gentle, refined smile curled his lips, and the light reflected from his glasses flashed, concealing the dissatisfaction deep in his eyes.

"Uh... more or less." Seeing Li Moran's standard fur-bristling expression, Qin Yi instinctively shrank back into his chair. He shifted awkwardly and answered in a low voice.

"What does 'more or less' mean? Have you finished it, or haven't you?"

"Uh... I finished the ones I knew, and left the ones I didn't know blank—or got them wrong." Qin Yi thought for a moment before answering carefully. He had no idea why, but every time he faced this mild-mannered math teacher, his scalp tingled.

"But I've taught all these points of knowledge. Are there still things Qin Yi doesn't understand? Did I not explain them well?" Li Moran frowned slightly as he spoke, a trace of puzzlement surfacing on his handsome face.

"It's not your fault. I'm just too stupid." Qin Yi answered as though he were on the verge of tears. He had been busy memorizing history lately—where would he find time to look at math problems?

"Since you've admitted that you're stupid, you should work harder. Don't be so greedy for play, or how will you keep up with everyone else's progress?" Li Moran immediately offered a sentence full of concern.

"..." Qin Yi pursed his lips helplessly, then turned to look at Qin Rong, who was silently struggling to hold back his laughter. He let out a resentful sigh.

"Class dismissed. Hand in your papers!" Seeing that Qin Yi had completely lost the ability to resist, Li Moran's mood immediately soared. After briskly giving the order, he opened the classroom door and walked out.

The atmosphere in the classroom immediately came alive.

"Hey! Why do you always come out worse for wear under Teacher Li?" Yang Mingmi poked Qin Yi's arm with her ballpoint pen, looking as though she hated iron for not becoming steel. "Can't you just keep quiet for a while? The second class ends, all I hear is you making a racket."

"How was I supposed to know he had so much to say?" Qin Yi retorted indignantly. "He's completely hormonally unbalanced. Acting all yin and yang every day. Why doesn't he change his name to Li Mochou?"

"You can't put it that way." Lin Xiaohan, seated behind them, immediately picked up the thread. "Li Mochou graduated from a top university. I heard he was originally supposed to be assigned to the provincial education committee, but somehow offended someone and got sent to our school instead. He's already got a bellyful of frustration, so stop throwing yourself at the muzzle of his gun. Besides, to be fair, Li Mochou's teaching is pretty good."

"I never said he taught badly." Qin Yi rolled his eyes helplessly. In truth, whether Li Mochou taught well or poorly had nothing to do with him. He had not come to this school to study in the first place. "I just think he makes too much fuss. Class is already over—why does he have to make such a big deal out of everything?"

Nie Haotian, seated in front of him, calmly turned around and gave Qin Yi a thorough once-over.

"What?" Qin Yi asked irritably.

"Idiot!" Nie Haotian lightly tossed out the word, then swayed to his feet and wandered out of the classroom. His arrogant attitude successfully made Qin Yi's fur stand on end.

"You're the idiot! Your whole family is made of idiots!"

Behind him, Yang Mingmi and Lin Xiaohan exchanged a silent glance and shook their heads helplessly. The other students in the class also watched this daily source of amusement with cheerful smiles.

"Oh, right. Our class has to put on a performance at Saturday's welcome party. Qin Yi, why don't you support us with one?" Yang Mingmi leaned against Qin Yi and said with a grin.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't do anything." Qin Yi said, playing dumb.

"Don't be like that. I only just became vice class monitor! How can you stand by with your arms folded? Even if you don't care about me, you should help your brother!" The class monitor was Qin Rong, after all—the nation's only top scorer with a perfect score.

"Fine, I'll see." Qin Yi answered helplessly. Performing singing, dancing, or playing instruments in front of a bunch of little turnips—no matter how he thought about it, it was beneath him.

"Don't just see! Last time, I saw you playing the piano at a café! How about a piano solo?"

"A piano solo?" Qin Yi neither confirmed nor denied it. "I don't care, as long as you can figure out how to carry a piano up there."

"Then violin! Something like The Butterfly Lovers would be nice too." Yang Mingmi immediately changed the plan.

"Whatever." Qin Yi shook his head and said indifferently.

"Then it's settled! I'll go downstairs to the teachers' office and submit the program list first. It'll all depend on you then." As Yang Mingmi spoke, she immediately stood and headed for the door. When she reached it, she stuck her head out, then turned back.

"Don't forget what my boyfriend told you."

...Who was your boyfriend? Qin Yi stared at the now-empty doorway and swallowed the words with a wry smile.

"Come on, let's head downstairs too!" Lin Xiaohan reached out and patted Qin Yi's head. Qin Yi's hair was soft and silky, and felt wonderful beneath his hand. It gave him the illusion of petting a large animal. The fluffy sensation against his palm made Lin Xiaohan squint his eyes in pleasure. Qin Rong found the sight glaringly unpleasant. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and smacked Lin Xiaohan's hand away with a slap, coolly tossing out one sentence—

"Did you wash your hands after using the bathroom?"

Then he draped an arm around Qin Yi and drifted away.

"Huh?" Lin Xiaohan, unable to make heads or tails of the situation, blankly watched their retreating backs. Only after a long while did realization dawn on him—

"When did I use the bathroom?"

In the corridor, Qin Yi and Qin Rong followed the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd downstairs. As they walked, Qin Yi continued complaining.

"Isn't that Nie Haotian sick in the head? I wasn't even paying attention to him, but he still came looking for trouble. Does he have to force this young master to show him some color..."

"Qin Yi, have you thought over what I told you last time?" Just as Qin Yi was speaking, a voice from behind suddenly interrupted him.

"Huh, you are..." Qin Yi turned around and looked blankly at the person before him. He looked about fifteen or sixteen, handsome and well-proportioned. His perfectly fitted school uniform made him appear even more sunny and energetic. At this moment, this bright young man was looking at Qin Yi with great friendliness.

"No way! Just like Yang Mingmi said—you really forgot!" The boy before him helplessly raised his brows. It was clearly a rather inelegant gesture, yet it added a few more touches of sunny handsomeness to him.

"My name is Cheng Sihao. I'm a student in Class Two, Year One. A few of us are planning to form a band. I heard you're pretty good with piano, violin, and guitar. Would you be interested in joining us?"

"Ah! I remember now." Qin Yi slapped his forehead as realization struck. Yang Mingmi had indeed mentioned this to him a few days ago. He had just been in a hurry to use the bathroom at the time, so he had forgotten all about it. "I'm really sorry! I've been too busy these past few days, and it completely slipped my mind. Besides, I haven't had much time to rehearse lately, so sorry."

"It's nothing. I was only asking casually." Cheng Sihao readily replied. "Isn't the welcome event this Saturday? A few of us were thinking of putting on a performance at the party. Mingmi said you were preparing something too. Interested? How about we practice together after school?"

"This..." Hearing that, Qin Yi instinctively glanced at Qin Rong.

"Not tonight. Didn't Grandpa say we had to go to the main residence for dinner tonight?" Qin Rong frowned slightly and spoke.

"Ah, then it really won't work. How about another day?" Qin Yi immediately said to Cheng Sihao.

"...All right." Cheng Sihao hesitated before nodding. However, his gaze circled Qin Rong's face twice, and his expression grew somewhat uncertain. In the end, he said nothing more. He nodded and went downstairs with his classmates.

"When did you meet him?" Qin Rong asked with an indifferent expression.

"I wouldn't say we know each other. Mingmi told me about it a few days ago." Qin Yi answered casually. He had only gone to a café for a drink and happened to run into Yang Mingmi.

"Oh?" Qin Rong gave Qin Yi a smile that was not quite a smile. "But how did Yang Mingmi find out that you can play the piano?"

"Ah!" Qin Yi waved his hand carelessly. "Didn't I go to that café with them last week? The time you couldn't come because you had something to do. A classmate happened to be celebrating a birthday that day, and on a whim, I played a piece for her."

"Whose birthday was it?"

"Chen Liping. The arts committee member in our class." Qin Yi said absentmindedly as he looked at the long legs beneath the miniskirts in front of them.

"The pretty girl?" Qin Rong continued asking.

"She's all right." Qin Yi answered unconsciously.

"You like her?" Qin Rong lowered his head, concealing the obscure darkness that had leaked into his eyes as he asked in a deep voice.

"Not especially. I think she isn't even as pretty as Mingmi!" Qin Yi answered. Yet he felt somewhat guilty saying it. Yang Mingmi had delicate features and fair skin, but at most, she was an undeveloped little beauty. Chen Liping, on the other hand, had bright eyes, white teeth, and lovely features—a true beauty in the making. Unfortunately, Qin Yi had seen too many beauties in his previous life and had grown somewhat numb to them. Coupled with the Qin family's inherited tendency to protect their own, that was why he thought Yang Mingmi was better.

"Oh!" Qin Rong nodded without betraying anything and said no more.

After a while, Qin Yi sensed that something was off. He gave Qin Rong a puzzled look. "Brother, why do I feel like something's a little off with you today?"

"When is it?" Qin Rong's eyes darkened as he lowered his head and replied.

"Is that so?" Qin Yi looked at Qin Rong in confusion. No matter how he looked, the atmosphere felt wrong. Still, the exceptionally slow-witted Qin Yi did notice that beneath Qin Rong's calm exterior, he was not in a particularly good mood. He wisely shut his mouth.

Let's just say Brother's hormones are out of balance! There are always a few days like that every month.

Author's note: ╭(╯3╰)╮

Give me some encouragement~~

Time for thanks~~

Youyue Huanzishuang threw a landmine. Shi Wuliang threw a landmine. suyang0613 threw a landmine.

Grandma's Chores

Chapter 30

High school life had always been simple and pure. Class, dismissal, meals, school letting out. Such simple, mechanical motions had to be repeated for three years, so they always felt dull and tedious while one was living through them.

At long last, school was over. Qin Yi stood at the school gate with his backpack, waiting. Because it was rush hour, people came and went in an endlessly crowded stream. Qin Yi and Qin Rong dodged through the flow of people again and again, finally finding a quiet corner near the school gate where they could stand for a while. Their eyes remained fixed on the entrance. Around ten minutes later, Qin Dingbang's extravagantly luxurious, eye-catching BMW finally arrived late.

Qin Yi took Qin Rong's hand and pushed through the surging crowd to the car door. After knocking on the black windshield, the door opened with a click. Qin Yi took off his backpack and was just about to bend down to get in when the scene inside made him freeze—

On the spacious, comfortable seats sat two boys around eleven or twelve years old, side by side. They were two identical little boys with red lips and white teeth. Wearing the uniforms of J City No. 2 High School, they looked at the two of them with bitter, resentful expressions. Traces of jealousy occasionally flashed through their exquisite, beautiful eyes.

"These are your eldest uncle's sons, and your cousins as well—Qin Feng and Qin Yu. Qin Feng, Qin Yu, call them Brother." Seeing the awkward way they stared at one another, Qin Dingbang smiled and explained.