By eight that evening, the sky had already darkened.
September in City A was still sweltering.
It was still lively at this hour. A University's campus was brightly lit, with youthful students coming and going.
Elsewhere, almost none of the classrooms in the old teaching building had their lights on, and the corridors were dark too.
Chu Xingye turned on his phone's flashlight, found the corridor light switch, and flipped it on.
A faint sting came from his forearm. With a smack, Chu Xingye slapped it, instantly turning the bloodsucking mosquito into a corpse and leaving a little blood on his palm.
He frowned in disgust and silently cursed, Fuck.
If I weren't worried something had happened to Lin Jian, I wouldn't come to this godforsaken place.
Chu Xingye went into the nearby restroom to wash his hands, then casually swept back his bangs, revealing a handsome face with striking features that still held a trace of boyish youth.
He continued upstairs. Before he even reached the third floor, he heard a chorus of ghastly wailing.
The teaching building was dim and empty, eerie and terrifying.
Young Master Chu feared nothing in heaven or earth-except for his cold, unsmiling maternal uncle and, most of all, ghosts.
"Fuck!" Chu Xingye rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and kept walking.
Then he saw several people charging down the corridor from the other end, running for their lives as though a vengeful ghost were chasing them.
"Stay away! Aaaah!"
"I was wrong, I was wrong! Put that fucking mop down!!"
Zhou Ruicheng and his lackeys raced past Chu Xingye in a gust of wind and fled downstairs, vanishing in moments, their piercing screams still seeming to echo in his ears.
Before Chu Xingye could recover, he saw another figure running close behind them, holding some unidentified object aloft like a murder weapon.
Scenes from horror movies flashed through his mind. Chu Xingye instantly stumbled three steps backward and screamed, "Aah!"
With a click, the corridor light flickered twice and came on.
With the mop resting on his shoulder, Jiang Xun stared expressionlessly at the terrified, howling Chu Xingye across from him.
Chu Xingye's pupils widened sharply. Once he recognized the person in front of him, his contorted expression gradually returned to normal, and he looked at Jiang Xun with undisguised loathing and disdain.
"Country bumpkin, why is it you again?"
"I already told you I'm not interested. Stop fucking bothering me!"
"Know your fucking place. I'm never getting engaged to you. Don't even dream of it!"
Jiang Xun silently studied the young man opposite him. He wore jeans and a loose T-shirt whose brands weren't apparent and had to be about six foot one. His tall, straight frame retained a little youthful slenderness, but his shoulders were broad and his waist narrow, and there were probably six-pack abs beneath that thin T-shirt.
His face was even more outstanding.
Combined with what he had just heard, Jiang Xun was almost certain this was Lin Jian's canonical love interest in the novel-the male lead and top.
Chu Xingye.
Jiang Xun's gaze lingered on Chu Xingye for too long. Chu Xingye rubbed the goosebumps on his arms again, this time out of disgust.
"Stop staring at me like some fucking pervert!"
Jiang Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, then wordlessly hurled the mop from his shoulder toward Chu Xingye and headed downstairs without looking back.
Chu Xingye caught the mop instinctively, then threw it aside with a dark expression. Just as he was about to hurl a few more insults at the bumpkin's retreating back, Lin Jian's voice reached him.
"Chu? What are you doing here?"
"Have you seen Jiang Xun? He just chased Zhou Ruicheng and the others out... There are so many of them. I'm afraid they'll bully him."
Lin Jian was still dripping wet. His dark eyes were rimmed with red, and together with his delicate features and slight frame, he looked utterly pitiful.
Remembering the sight of Jiang Xun chasing people with a mop over his shoulder, Chu Xingye thought, Who could possibly bully him?
But why did that bumpkin seem like a completely different person?
Usually, whenever he saw Chu Xingye, he was shy and timid, keeping his head lowered and not even daring to look him in the eye.
Chu Xingye sneered inwardly. He must have simply changed tactics to get his attention.
"Chu?"
Chu Xingye reined in his emotions, softening his tone slightly as he answered Lin Jian's earlier question. "He's fine. He's already left."
"You're soaked through. I'll take you back to your dorm."
Lin Jian lowered his eyes and bit his lip, hesitating a little. "Then... all right."
"Stay away from that Jiang guy from now on. He has no good intentions toward you."
"Jiang Xun isn't that kind of person..."
Zhou Ruicheng and the others had long since disappeared. Jiang Xun felt his way into the restroom in the dark and washed his hands. His clothes clung to his skin, and being drenched all over was deeply uncomfortable.
After he finished washing his hands, something in his pocket suddenly began vibrating.
Jiang Xun took it out and discovered it was a phone. The caller ID on its lit screen read: Older brother.
Another rush of memories flooded his mind, and Jiang Xun frowned in discomfort.
The moment he answered, a cold voice laced with impatience traveled through the phone into his right ear. "I'm downstairs outside your dorm. You have five minutes."
It was Friday, and the original owner's older brother, Jiang Huaijin, had come to take him home.
With a blank expression, Jiang Xun said, "Oh," then hung up. Following the original owner's memories, he walked leisurely toward the dorm building, in no hurry whatsoever.
Five minutes later, Jiang Huaijin called again to hurry him up.
Jiang Xun agreed halfheartedly, but his pace did not quicken.
Only after more than ten minutes did he reach the dorm building. A Maserati was parked in the open space outside the ground floor, its conspicuous trident badge attracting the attention of passing students.
Jiang Xun was unperturbed. Ignoring the fact that he was still wet, he opened the passenger door and got straight in.
"Fourteen minutes. Next time, I won't wait for you."
Sitting in the driver's seat, Jiang Huaijin glanced down at his watch, his handsome face cold. If his mother hadn't told him to pick Jiang Xun up, he wouldn't have wasted his time coming.
Catching sight of the soaking-wet Jiang Xun from the corner of his eye, Jiang Huaijin furrowed his strong brows almost imperceptibly, a trace of aversion showing in his eyes.
"Jiang Xun, what are you trying to pull this time?"
Jiang Xun resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Folding his arms, he cast a sidelong glance at his so-called older brother, then pitched his voice higher and mockingly imitated Jiang Huaijin. "Jiang Xun, what are you trying to pull this time?"
His tone practically begged for a punch.
"You!" Jiang Huaijin's expression instantly darkened. He restrained himself from stooping to his younger brother's level and started the car with a cold face.
Neither spoke again. The air conditioning was on, and with his clothes soaked, Jiang Xun felt rather cold in the draft.
He folded his arms and closed his eyes, finally finding time to sort out his chaotic thoughts.
His sudden death, the inexplicable collapse system, his transmigration into the world of a boys' love novel-and into the body of a cannon-fodder character everyone hated, no less.