"Give My Things Back. To. Me!"

Fu Huai's minute reaction did not escape Gu Xiao's eyes.

He chuckled, the smile not reaching his eyes. "A-Huai, that reaction of yours... do you recognize this gemstone?"

"It's exactly the same color as A-Xiao's eyes," Feng Ji couldn't help marveling, then asked suspiciously, "Who gave it to you? Surely not A-Chuan."

If A-Chuan had given it to him, A-Xiao wouldn't have taken it out specifically to question them.

Feng Ji suddenly laughed and teased, "A-Huai, this thing looks more valuable than your little treasure. With that clarity and color, it would be worth twice as much if it hadn't been made into a brooch. Even so, it's still worth more than the one you gave him."

Fu Huai's expression was ugly. That brat Feng Ji was doing it on purpose.

"So, you recognize it?" Gu Xiao toyed with the gemstone, still smiling. "Who owns it?"

Fu Huai lowered his eyes, then looked calmly at Gu Xiao. "A-Xiao, it should belong to you now."

"Heh," Gu Xiao said inscrutably. "An ownerless thing, and now he wants me to be his owner?"

Gu Xiao raised the brooch, gemstone and all.

His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it drew everyone's attention.

"This is tonight's return gift. Whoever grabs it gets to keep it."

The moment Gu Xiao finished speaking, silence fell over the venue for a few seconds before cheers quickly erupted.

"Thank you, Young Master Gu!"

"What a beautiful brooch!"

"Oh my god, that gemstone..."

Those exclamations didn't sound particularly like an act.

After all, this was a "return gift" from Gu Xiao. Its price was secondary; what mattered was that it was "Gu Xiao's return gift."

Whoever got it would be honored!

Only after those voices had quieted for a while did Gu Xiao casually toss it away, then take out a handkerchief and slowly wipe his hands.

He paid no attention to the frenzy behind him.

"A-Xiao, you..." Fu Huai's expression was unreadable. "Don't you like that gemstone?"

Gu Xiao said indifferently, "It's just some carbon and impurities. What do I need so many for? The one you gave me is enough."

Fu Huai's heart, which had been hanging in midair, gently settled back down.

Comforted, soothed, warm and swelling.

Was A-Xiao deliberately trying to seduce him by saying that?

"But you deserve the best." Fu Huai's expression was complicated as he sighed. "Sorry. I didn't know back then that gemstones of this quality existed. If I'd known, I would have obtained it at any cost and given it to you."

Gu Xiao gave Fu Huai an odd look, utterly baffled.

"There's no need." Gu Xiao was speechless. "There are so many best things in the world. Can you get every single one of them for me?"

Before Fu Huai could speak, Feng Ji answered first. "Of course! As long as you like them, A-Xiao. A-Huai is right. You deserve the best! Those inferior things a grade below don't deserve you."

Gu Xiao: "...heh."

He felt that "Gu Xiao's" arrogant, conceited, supremely self-important personality wasn't just down to himself; it was also a result of all the flattery from those around him.

But Feng Ji's and Fu Huai's gazes were both serious.

They genuinely believed that "Gu Xiao" deserved the best.

These two were quite loyal to "Gu Xiao."

Yet neither these two nor Ji Chuan had recognized that he was no longer that "Gu Xiao."

He was Gu Xiao from the apocalypse, not the "Gu Xiao" they knew.

Could even bonds like these not let them recognize the person?

Gu Xiao felt that the relationships within F4 were quite thought-provoking, too.

Interesting.

"All right, don't worry about any of that. Since those people have fought over and touched that gray gemstone, it's no longer the best," Feng Ji said with a chuckle. "A-Xiao, go cut the cake!"

The birthday banquet ended uneventfully. Gu Xiao only found it terribly boring.

Apart from He Shuyu causing a bit of a stir, everyone else had been as quiet as chickens.

The forum.

Topic: Did any of you notice? His hair was messed up today.

Who on earth did it? Doesn't he forbid anyone from getting close? Even the other three young masters are rarely allowed to put an arm around his shoulders.

I'm offering ten million!

Wanted: whoever dared to ruffle his hair!

Post 1: Haha, are you trying to fob off a beggar with ten million? Who doesn't have ten million? I'm offering thirty million!

Post 2: His hair really looks so soft.

I. Want. To. Touch. It. Too!

Post 3: Is the person in post 2 asking to die? You think you're worthy of touching it?

Post 4: Speaking of which, how did that bastard He Shuyu sneak in? I heard there are even fans of his at our school?

Post 5: A man who sells smiles dares to say he likes him?

Post 6: Even if you hate He Shuyu, you wouldn't dare confront him to his face, would you? He's an alpha with S-rank mental power. If the He family hadn't gone bankrupt, heh...

Post 7: Wow, there really are fans. Didn't you see He Shuyu pass out under the pressure of his mental power? He's incredible.

Post 8: I'm not qualified to enter the clubhouse, but just hearing about it got me wet. I'm so pretty. When will he notice me?

Post 38: So many clucking hens here, haha. Does no one care about him anymore?

Post 39: Could one of those two have ruffled it? Young Master Ji is out of the question. He seems to have his eye on the scholarship student.

Post 40: Person above, are you saying he's gotten together with them?

Post 89: Stop talking. I'm already flooding.

Post 90: I want his legs wrapped around my waist so badly. I want him to give me a red card, to step on my chest with his foot.

Post 120: So, who got his return gift?

Deep in the night, at three in the morning.

Room 2508, twenty-fifth floor of alpha dormitory building thirteen, Aisili's north campus.

The glittering gray gemstone shimmered with color beneath the light.

Lynch Leslie couldn't sleep. Whenever he thought of that beautiful Eastern face, his heart pounded uncontrollably.

He was an alpha with B+-rank mental power. With his family background and looks, he had always been a favored son of heaven, but at Aisili Noble Academy, he faded into the crowd. This time, he had only managed to obtain admission to Young Master Gu's birthday banquet through luck.

He hadn't expected to be even luckier and get Young Master Gu's return gift!

There was still a long, fresh scar on his arm, where someone else had accidentally scratched him during the scramble for the gemstone.

Although it could easily have been healed, Lin Qi had left it on his arm.

This was his medal.

Lin Qi gazed at the gemstone that resembled Young Master Gu's eyes and brought it to his lips, wanting to kiss it-

With a whoosh, an arrow shot into Lin Qi's bed. With a crash, the crystal chandelier on the ceiling fell straight down between his legs, missing by just a little...

"Who's there?!"

Lin Qi was shocked. How could security at Aisili Noble Academy possibly be this poor?!

With another bang, the power went out in room 2508.

Lin Qi heard a gloomy voice like a ghost's-

"Give my things back. To. Me!"