I'm the one pursuing you

152l: ... +1

153l: I fucking thought this was going to be a face-slapping power fantasy where Brother Yu shut the haters up with his grades. Instead, I got none of the satisfaction and dragged myself into it :)

154l: Too brutal.

155l: qaq I'm going home to tell my mom to stop burning incense and praying to Buddha for me. Pray to Brother Yu instead.

The lurkers watching the drama on the forum were all dumbfounded by this reversal. What else could they say? Nothing but 666. Awesome, fucking awesome.

Sure enough, not just anyone could be laughed at so easily, especially a man like Song Yu, who already stirred up so much controversy.

The monthly exam crematorium-the haters' crematorium.

By now, they probably wanted Song Yu to do well on the monthly exams more than anyone else did.

The monthly exams were approaching.

Song Yu no longer spent all his time buried in test papers.

Xie Sui had planned out his schedule, clearly laying out when he should memorize vocabulary, classical poems and prose, and chemical equations.

He was also forced to correct his mistakes. He had done every physics problem three times before he thoroughly understood it.

It was the same for math. A single unit practice paper was printed out repeatedly, and he completed it several times.

Xie Sui graded it himself. The first time, he wrote more in red pen than Song Yu had written in his answers.

Xie Sui's assessment was very honest, his tone cool. "Stop inventing formulas in flashes of inspiration. Usually, anything you're uncertain about is wrong."

Song Yu said, "...Oh, okay."

But he had to admit that Xie Sui had straightened out a lot of the jumbled thinking in his head this way.

He focused only on functions, mechanics, and the periodic table.

The monthly exams didn't seem particularly difficult anymore.

To save time, Song Yu started eating in the cafeteria during the final week too.

Ma Xiaoding wasn't the least bit nervous about the coming monthly exams. He climbed out of school to have fun at an internet cafe every day. Busy with his own affairs, Song Yu couldn't be bothered to manage him.

Only he and Xi Bowen ate together.

Sitting behind him, Xi Bowen had watched Song Yu study diligently for an entire week. At meals, he practically wanted to give Song Yu all the meat in his own bowl. His eyes held the concern of an old father looking at his child. "Brother Yu, eat more. Don't wear yourself out."

Song Yu looked at the extra ribs in his bowl with an extremely strange expression.

He gave him an odd look but said nothing.

Xi Bowen sighed inwardly. He'd had the privilege of seeing a few of Song Yu's test papers and had come to understand that the teaching materials in City A and Jing City really were very different.

Brother Yu making the top hundred was a little uncertain. It would depend on how God Xie taught him.

"Brother Yu, are you studying so hard because you want to get into University A?"

Xi Bowen sounded him out.

Song Yu ate a mouthful of greens and thought about it.

University A was actually the university Xie Sui had attended in the original novel. It was also where he had met the second scum gong, that idiotic CEO who had treated him as a substitute.

But Wang Ci was gone, and Grandma Chen hadn't had an accident during his final year of high school. It was hard to say how the butterfly effect would change what happened afterward.

"I'll give it a try."

Song Yu didn't have much anticipation about which university he would attend.

He felt as though he'd come into this novel just for Xie Sui.

He chewed his rice.

Something suddenly occurred to Song Yu's brain, a little tired from studying for so long, but it vanished in an instant before he could grasp it.

Just then, a small commotion broke out in the cafeteria.

Xi Bowen looked up, froze, and whispered to Song Yu, "Brother Yu, I think that's No. 1 High School's school belle."

Song Yu swallowed his rice and looked up.

He saw a girl walk in through the entrance, surrounded by people like stars around the moon. With everyone else in uniform, she looked particularly conspicuous. She probably favored the innocent look too, with black hair reaching her waist and an expensive sleeveless white dress.

Ignoring everyone's gazes, she walked toward them.

Xi Bowen's mouth fell open. He was practically frightened.

Whispers drifted over from the people nearby.

"Is that Bai Xuexin?"

"Doesn't she always have a chauffeur pick her up and drop her off? She never comes to the cafeteria."

"Hey, hey, she's heading over there."

"Looking for someone? Who's the lucky guy?"

Song Yu only glanced at her before continuing to eat.

Until a figure sat down across from him.

The girl smiled and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Hello, my name is Bai Xuexin."

Song Yu's romantic partner had long since become studying. He lifted his eyes to give her a bland glance, his answer displaying the full extent of his straight-guy nature. "Oh, go ahead and sit. No one's sitting there."

Xi Bowen: "..."

Having said that, he focused on eating and paid her no further attention.

Bai Xuexin took a deep breath and barely maintained her smile. She had been pretty since she was little and knew how to use her looks, as well as what kind of personality boys liked.

Inside, she was incredibly irritated. How had Xie Sui ended up hanging around with someone so rude and ill-bred?

But she still kept up appearances, tapping the table with a finger, sounding both annoyed and amused, with a slightly coquettish tone.

"Brother Yu, could you look at me? I came here especially to see you."

Song Yu treated his fellow students quite normally and offered her a suggestion. "Well, you've seen me. Is there anything else you want to do? This is a cafeteria. You can eat."

"..."

Bai Xuexin.

Bai Xuexin was about to die of anger.

Xi Bowen swallowed and tugged Song Yu's sleeve under the table, whispering, "Brother Yu, she might like you. Don't shut her down so completely. I think she's about to go mad with anger."

Song Yu had finished eating. He idly prodded the remaining rice with his chopsticks and scoffed.

Oh, please. One look at her eyes and you could tell she definitely didn't like him.

Her purpose was unclear.

But he still did Xi Bowen the favor.

He looked up and asked her.

"Do you need something?"

Bai Xuexin didn't have nearly as much patience for Song Yu as she did for Xie Sui. Her expression turned frosty, her smile gone, leaving the cool arrogance she usually wore at school. "Nothing much. I just wanted to ask you about Xie Sui."

This time, Song Yu didn't speak.

Xi Bowen muttered in displeasure first. "Why come to Brother Yu to ask about God Xie instead of going to him?"

Bai Xuexin smiled at Song Yu. "I'm just a little curious. Although Xie Sui and I aren't related by blood, my aunt married into his mother's family, so in a sense, we're relatives too. I wanted to see how he was doing."

Relatives?

Xi Bowen froze. If he remembered correctly, Bai Xuexin came from a very wealthy family.

So God Xie was actually a young nobleman hiding his identity?

Hearing this, Song Yu's hand holding his chopsticks also paused, his gaze turning slightly cold.

"All right. Ask."

Bai Xuexin curled her lips in satisfaction. "In all of No. 1 High School, you seem to be the only person who's particularly close to him. Song Yu, you transferred here, didn't you? You weren't his classmate in middle school either. I'm quite curious about what happened before school started that made someone like him treat you so well."

Xi Bowen was utterly confused. The bookworm turned his head toward Song Yu in bewilderment. "Brother Yu, what's she asking?"

Song Yu said blandly, "She's asking how I got close to Xie Sui."

Xi Bowen: "...Huh?"

He said it so bluntly that even Bai Xuexin froze, then smiled awkwardly through gritted teeth without denying it.

"Yes."

Song Yu glanced at her. His eyelids were thin, his irises pale. He said casually, "Who knows? Maybe we just felt like old friends at first sight."

Bai Xuexin raised her eyebrows and repeated his words. "Old friends at first sight?"

Song Yu said, "The moment we met, it felt like we'd known each other for years. Something like that. So I'm good to him, and he's good to me. There's no particular reason."

Song Yu was only willing to listen to her because of the information in her words. He frowned slightly, a trace of coldness entering his gaze.

"Xie Sui doesn't want to go back to that family. I hope you won't go talking about it everywhere."

Even after they left the cafeteria, Xi Bowen still felt as though he were dreaming. It took him a long time to sort out the logic. The school belle wanted to pursue God Xie, so she'd come to Brother Yu, the person closest to God Xie in the entire school, to ask how?

"...Every step makes sense, but when I put it all together, it feels completely wrong. Why would a girl pursuing a guy ask his buddy how to get along with him? How are friendship and romance the same thing?"

Song Yu said, "Ignore her. She's nuts."

That evening, it began to rain. Jing City's September weather was unpredictable.

Perhaps it was because the monthly exams were approaching.

Song Yu was especially serious too. After all, he genuinely wanted to improve his studies. After evening self-study, he went straight to Xie Sui's place to do his homework.

Xie Sui had specifically cleared out a room in the apartment to use as a study.

Sitting at the desk under the desk lamp, Song Yu bit his pen as he battled a function problem he had gotten wrong countless times, his brows tightly furrowed.

Xie Sui sat beside him, dimmed the desk lamp a little, and asked, "How long are you going to keep working?"

Outside, the rain pattered.

For some reason, Song Yu became particularly sleepy whenever it rained. His eyelids were already fighting to close, but he stubbornly wanted to solve this problem.

"Wait, I'm about to work out what a is. I just need to plug the numbers into a few formulas."

Xie Sui glanced at the problem and said, "a is five. Go home and sleep." Did this kid know staying up late was bad for his health?

Song Yu said listlessly, "There's no point if you tell me. I just need to solve another linear equation in two variables, and I'll have it."

Tired from working, he simply slumped over the desk and calculated on scratch paper with his pen. Since it was very basic arithmetic, Song Yu was especially sleepy, his head feeling heavy and muddled. He casually brought up a topic, mumbling, "The school belle seems to be planning to pursue you. She came to me to ask about it."

Xie Sui closed the book he was reading. He didn't care in the slightest, but he still responded.

He said mildly, "Really?"

The sound of rain seemed to have become the best lullaby. Song Yu's vision gradually blurred, and even his handwriting began to go crooked. His voice grew softer and softer, as though he were talking to himself.

"Yeah. I think she's nuts. What method do you need to pursue someone? Just be good to them. Whether you succeed is another matter, but you should at least do that, right?"

"Besides, why ask me? I'm not pursuing you."

Hearing this, Xie Sui felt a slight tickle in his throat and wanted to laugh. He spoke softly.

"Yes, you're not pursuing me."

Song Yu's eyes kept opening and closing. At the end of his linear equation in two variables, he scrawled out a crooked five. The mental drive sustaining him vanished at once, and he fell asleep on the desk in satisfaction.

The desk lamp cast a warm light over the boy's face. His skin was smooth and milky white, his eyelashes casting shadows. His breathing rose and fell, his sleeping face quiet and docile.

Outside, it was raining, and the weather was slowly turning toward autumn.

Xie Sui set down his book and glanced outside.

The gloomy night, the endless rain-it was clearly weather he hated, yet at this moment, his heart was exceptionally soft.

He turned his head, leaned down close to Song Yu's ear, and smiled, calling softly, "Yuyu?"

The boy didn't answer him.

Xie Sui lowered his eyes. His dark eyes seemed to hold a smile, like a sunken river of stars.

His cool, clear voice lowered, carrying a gentleness that blended into the night.

"You're not pursuing me. I'm the one pursuing you."

In fact, that woman had gotten cause and effect wrong from the very beginning.

It wasn't that he liked Song Yu because Song Yu was good to him.

Rather, he allowed that kindness because he liked Song Yu.

Perhaps it counted as love at first sight too.

Author's note: Thank you to the little angels who sent me overlord tickets or watered me with nutrient solution~

Thank you to the little angel who sent [Rocket Launchers]: Shuiyuan Shanyao, 1;

Thank you to the little angels who sent [Land Mines]: crab,, Shuiyuan Shanyao, Chali, The Server Is a Potato, ??, hehe, I don't know..., Zi Buyu, demeter, 1 each;

Thank you to the little angels who watered me with [Nutrient Solution]:

Lemon, 60 bottles; Hezhi, 30 bottles; Claws, Yunzi, reta, 20 bottles each; Shuiyuan Shanyao, 18 bottles; A Crispy Biscuit, 15 bottles; Jiqian, 13 bottles; scoiopi, Want to Quit Every Day, Chu Xi, I'm Super Handsome, An Muyan, Qingshui Yi, 10 bottles each; Li Huaiye, Stay-at-Home Kid, 8 bottles each; Mo Linlin, 6 bottles; Li Yumo, Ah Qiqiqiqi, No Ying Here, Fanfan, Want to Sleep with Beauty Shen, Sakurai Momoko, 5 bottles each; Evening Rain over the Xiang, alskdwyc, 37704717, Huashen, Studying Makes Me Happy, doyizi^, Xi Jiuming, Fengsang, Formalin, Cutie, Little Love, 1 bottle each;

Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!