Jiang Yao grabbed something soft and his mind went blank. He immediately blurted out, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't do it on purpose."
"What's happened?" Bai YuWei sitting opposite them looked over.
"I accidentally touched his hand."
In fact, it wasn't just touching, but actually holding it. After grabbing it, he'd thought that the tactile impression in his hand was incredibly delicate, so he'd squeezed it out of curiosity.
This time, I really am done for.
Jiang Yao braced himself to be kicked out of his chair any moment now, mind racing as he tried to think of how to prevent his deskmate from starting a fight in the middle of the shop,
I could make copies of homework for him? No, Yin Che doesn't care about that. Then what about taking care of all the purchasing of materials for the handicraft club? No, Yin Che has plenty of money.
After much deliberation, he came to the conclusion: This beating is unavoidable.
"We have to go outside to fight......"
Yin Che didn't pay him any mind, picking up the lettuce-wrapped barbecue on his tray and eating it, "Stop talking nonsense. Concentrate on eating."
"?"
I escaped the calamity just like that?
To be on the safe side, Jiang Yao apologized again, "I was really careless just now, I'm sorry."
"I get it, I'll spare you this time." Yin Che didn't look at him, staring at his own hot pot, stirring his chopsticks around in it absentmindedly, "But if that happens again...... I'll chop off your hand."
When Chen YingYing and Yang YiLe at the adjacent table heard that, they gasped.
"Jiang Yao really doesn't have it easy, I suddenly admire him a little more......"
"That Yin Che, is he serious......?"
"I'm not sure, I think he's the kind of person who stays true to his word."
The two of them discussed it in a low whisper, but then they heard Zhang Ke let out a long sigh of relief, "That's great."
Chen YingYing said, "Great, what great? Would you be happy to see Jiang Yao's hand get chopped off? It's like you have no sympathy in your heart."
"No, no, I'm just happy that my worldview hasn't been overthrown."
This brief incident was quickly tossed aside for some other topics.
Even when eating, Zhang Ke didn't forget to pay attention to the latest school gossip. He scrolled the forum, reviewing the latest top posts people were looking at.
As a result, he finally found a viral post that had just been posted today, "Fucking hell! Everybody, look! Isn't this that fucking Rong Wei??"
The mention of this name caught the attention of all the Class 1 students.
At the sports meet, many people saw Rong Wei trip Yin Che. Even after the achievements of Class 4 were withdrawn later, Rong Wei stuck to his story that he was just careless, so the teachers couldn't do anything more to catch him out. The incident had to be left unsettled and Class 1 had to choke down their complaints.
"What's up with him? Did he do something evil again?" Chen YingYing asked.
"You'll know when you see it!" Zhang Ke passed his phone over.
Chen YingYing laughed wildly after seeing the video clip, "Even he got his just deserts!"
Han Meng looked at it and then passed it to Yin Che next to him, "Hooray, hooray, great animosity is rewarded with vengeance."
Not understanding, Yin Che picked up the phone. He saw there was a post with a video, so he clicked play and Rong Wei's anguished wailing was broadcasted immediately:
"I really can't score 130 points, can't you just let me go...... Confess? But I haven't done anything wrong......
"Okay, okay, I'll confess...... I shouldn't have written a cheat sheet for the final exam last semester...... That's it, there's really nothing else!
"Alright, I admit that there was one other thing. When judging who were the most outstanding students in school, I asked some tongxue for money and then improved their class rankings...... But that wasn't just me, everyone else asks for that kind of thing!
"You're not talking about that? Then what thing do you all want to hear about!"
The post had been published by a little account that had never been seen before. The video only showed Rong Wei's face, swollen and bloody. His face was also completely covered with the letters for 'bastard' written in black ink. Everything below his neck was covered by the subtitles.
And that's right, the person who made the video even used subtitles, making it look like a crime story newsreel.
Jiang Yao leaned over to look at it with him, saying, "That's what I said earlier. Sooner or later, this kind of garbage will face retribution."
Yin Che didn't think it over too much. With his arrogant and despotic temperament, Rong Wei must have provoked many people, so it was normal for his enemies to take revenge against him.
Han Meng passed Zhang Ke's phone back and said, "He exposed so many secrets, I think that this time, the Four Guardians will have to be switched out."
Chen YingYing added, "They should've been changed a long time ago, none of them are any good."
Han Meng protested, "Hey, hey, I'm one of them now, don't insult me along with them."
"Oh, I'm sorry, you good-for-nothing."
"......"
The two foes once again met for a verbal battle. Bai YuWei listened along very happily and smiled like a flawless lily, "You tongxue are all so interesting."
At long last, Jiang Yao finally got his EQ loaded up, "Then later on, come join us often to play around."
"Mhm, remember to call me."
Yin Che forked the last piece of meat on his tray that Jiang Yao had roasted for him and put it in his mouth. He chewed it quietly for a long time until the taste was all gone, then he finally swallowed it.
The escape room opened in the afternoon and they were the first guests to go in to play.
The clerk first introduced the general background of the story to give them a sense of immersion.
Han Meng was already afraid before he even went in, "Mommy, this sounds terrible, Class monitor, protect me......"
Chen YingYing said boldly, "Fine, follow behind Jie. If gods block me, I'll kill the gods. If Buddhas block me, I'll kill the Buddhas."
Jiang Yao also asked Bai YuWei, "Are you afraid? You can follow behind me if you're afraid."
Bai YuWei shook her head, "I'm not afraid, it's all fake."
"Wow, so brave."
Yin Che thought to himself that the dumbfuck's reply wasn't too bad, but then in the next second, he heard Jiang Yao continue, "Then you go ahead with them to solve the puzzles. I'm going to look after my deskmate. His mental strength isn't very good, he's easily frightened."
Yin Che: "......"
Bai YuWei looked very confused, "Are you talking about......Yin Che?"
The whole school knew that Yin Che even dared to beat up alphas. Although he hadn't personally acted to spread that around, his fighting prowess had still spread far and wide.
The Yin Che that Jiang Yao was describing was definitely not the Yin Che that Bai YuWei had heard about in the rumors.
"Yeah, who else would I be calling my deskmate?"
Yin Che couldn't bear to keep listening. Before the clerk could finish speaking, he went into the escape room's waiting area.
Han Meng said, "......Fucking awesome, as expected of him."
When the escape room officially opened, the bags everyone was carrying had to be placed in the storage cabinets outside. Cell phones also couldn't be taken inside. Once they entered the escape room, the lights quickly dimmed, making it a bit difficult to make out the people around them.
Fortunately, there were cues given over the loudspeaker, saying what to do next, the first step was to solve a puzzle to find the power switch.
Yang YiLe was originally the least courageous of the group, but as soon as he encountered a problem he needed to use his brain to solve, he immediately focused on thinking, completely ignoring his own fears, so unexpectedly, he was calmer than the roaring paper tigers Han Meng and Zhang Ke.
Just as she'd said, Bai YuWei wasn't afraid at all, working together with Yang YiLe to solve the puzzle.
Chen YingYing said, "We few omegas are fearless, so aren't you alphas and betas ashamed to lose face like this?"
Zhang Ke and Han Meng hugged each other and shivered.
"I suddenly feel that I might have secret room phobia."
"I also think so, maybe I just developed it today."
Guo ZhiXiong added, "Are you feeling a gust of an evil wind? The hair on my legs is standing up......"
Jiang Yao turned his head from side to side to look around occasionally, but when he saw that his deskmate was perfectly fine, he relaxed a little.
"Found it!" Yang YiLe shouted, "According to the angle of this clock on the wall......45 degrees to the southwest! Yin Che, right behind you!"
"Mhm." Yin Che didn't say a word. He turned around immediately and felt along the wall. At one spot, he felt something where the texture was different from its surroundings. The surface was a bit rough. Depending on his intuition, he pressed it and, sure enough, something popped up.
The light was so weak that he could barely recognize it as a big electrical switch.
"There's a switch, can I just flip it?"
Yang YiLe replied, "That should work!"
Yin Che didn't think any further, gripping the handle of the switch and pulling it down.
A sudden intense flash of light and a crash made everyone jump as if they were shocked. Then, all the bright lights in the escape room turned on.
Han Meng patted his chest, still a little frightened, "Fuck, the sound and light effects are so realistic, I almost actually believed I was about to be electrocuted right then."
Yang YiLe was finally also afraid as well, "Fortunately, it was fake...... Yin Che, thanks."
The person standing in the corner didn't reply, back still turned to them, body stiff.
"......Yin Che?" Yang YiLe sensed that something wasn't right. He wanted to walk over and take a look.
"He told me just now that his stomach didn't feel good. He might've had too much to eat at lunch." Jiang Yao blocked Yang YiLe's path and said to the group, "You all keep playing, I'll escort him out."
"Ah? Oh...... Then I'll call for the clerk to open the door."
The clerk showed up quickly after receiving the request for help, opening the door to take the two of them out, then locking the door again, so that the escape room became an escape room again.
Zhang Ke muttered, "He just ate a few vegetables, can that be called eating too much? How small is his appetite......"
Jiang Yao pushed his deskmate, who was as stiff as a rock, towards the rest sofa outside, forcing him to sit down. Then, he went to the water dispenser to get a cup of hot water.
"Hold this, warm your hands up."
When Yin Che didn't respond, Jiang Yao pressed the cup to the back of his hands to ease the tension in his body.
"Why are you so afraid of electricity? Have you been electrocuted before?"
There were plenty of people who were afraid of electricity, but there weren't many who would be scared stiff, unable to move, after seeing a visual effect of an electric shock.
Yin Che's behavior was really too unusual.
After nearly three minutes, when the water in the cup had almost gone cold, Jiang Yao heard his deskmate open his mouth to speak: "......basically."
This reply could be taken one way or the other, obviously he didn't want to answer.
"I'm not saying this to pressure you, but, I think fears are something that should be faced and then overcome!" Jiang Yao searched his memory for a certain famous saying.
After searching for a long time, he couldn't find it, so he made one up on the spot, "As a famous philosopher once said: Fear makes up the stepping stones of human progress!"
"......" Yin Che finally laughed, "The hell do you understand."
Jiang Yao also laughed, "How can I understand if you don't tell me? Tell me, eh, why are you so afraid of electricity?"
Yin Che flung himself back, sinking into the soft sofa, and tilted his head up to the ceiling. He asked suddenly, "Has there ever been a time when you were afraid?"
"There has been. For example, when I thought I wouldn't be able to protect the person at my side."
"That's what comes to mind for you about being afraid? Then, you're really lucky."
Jiang Yao gazed at him for a moment, slowly dropping his smile. He asked firmly, "Brat, have you ever experienced something terrible?"
Yin Che absentmindedly replied, "My dad used to be a barrister, I've learned about all sorts of terrible things."
To learn about something is different from experiencing it, apparently he still doesn't want to talk about it.
Jiang Yao didn't expose Yin Che's sneaky change of phrase. It didn't matter one way or another, he just wanted to chat casually to calm him down, so he asked as a follow up, "For example?"
"For example...... homicide cases, rape cases, cases more terrible than you can even imagine."
"Is there anyone you remember strongly? Tell me about them."
"There is one, the criminal named Cheng."
"What did he do?"
"He......" Without realizing, Yin Che squeezed down on the plastic cup. The water spilled over onto the back of his hand and he suddenly snapped out of it. "It's nothing good to talk about. You go back in and play with them, I'll be fine, I'll wait for you all here."
Jiang Yao said, "How could I do that, won't you be lonely all by yourself out here."
Yin Che was stunned speechless. "Don't you want to actually chase after Bai YuWei? There are three single alphas in there, each and every one of them better than you."
"That's not necessarily true. I think I'm better than all of them. She'll definitely choose me."
"Where do you get your confidence from?"
"It's my nature." Jiang Yao smiled and asked tentatively, "Brat, if you find out one day that your Ge is amazing, won't you regret not hugging this thigh tight right now?"
"Are you dreaming?" Yin Che let out a low snort, as if to mock him, "No matter what sort of person you become, my attitude towards you won't change."
"Then that's your word, don't go back on it when the time comes."
"Impossible."
An unrequited love, how could a person so easily go back on it?
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Footnotes:
1. Lily (百合花): a pure, spotless person
2. God...buddha.... : a historical saying from a Buddhist master, saying nothing can stop you if you push forward through all difficulties
3. Hug the thigh (抱大腿): common slang, to fawn over someone, to curry favor with someone powerful
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Holy crap. That sounds horrible... I'm afraid to know what his past is