No one in the private room understood why things had suddenly taken this turn. Even Song Wangzhuo’s expression paused slightly. He couldn’t help but complain inwardly—what kind of move was this?
Back at the academy, where he had no background, he was always the amusement of these rich second-generation heirs. Song Wangzhuo had long learned how to deal with them. But the person in front of him—he couldn’t figure out what kind of act he was putting on.
Shen Yuqing tilted his chin.
“Go turn on the lights.”
The lighting around the sofa was dim, making people look like blurred shadows, let alone see what was written on the test papers.
After Shen Yuqing spoke, the others finally reacted. The person closest to the switch turned on all the lights, and in an instant, the room lit up as bright as daylight.
Shen Yuqing squinted, his eyes stung by the sudden brightness. After a few seconds of adjusting, he turned to look at Song Wangzhuo, who was still sitting beside him.
Song Wangzhuo stayed in the same position as before, but now his eyes held a few traces of curiosity as he looked at Shen Yuqing.
Shen Yuqing said,
“Still not writing? Do you need me to beg you?”
Song Wangzhuo opened his mouth slightly. His body still felt a bit hot, but he could feel strength slowly returning to him. He used his long, defined fingers to pick up the stack of papers in his lap.
Seeing that Song Wangzhuo still didn’t speak, Lin Sui grew impatient.
“Didn’t you hear?”
Now isn’t the time to fight, Song Wangzhuo thought. His expression stayed calm, but his body was still flushed with residual heat. He said hoarsely,
“I don’t have a pen.”
Shen Yuqing glanced into the bag. This stack of test papers was originally brought by the original host to show off and gain favor from his older brother so he could get his allowance back. Yet he brought the papers without even bringing a pen.
Shen Yuqing signaled to Lin Sui with a tilt of his chin.
Lin Sui said,
“Give him a pen.”
The group rummaged around and finally found a working pen.
Song Wangzhuo, eager to leave, immediately lowered his head and began writing quickly after receiving the pen.
The test was for the Mecha Department. He had just done one like it that afternoon before class ended, so he breezed through it now.
Shen Yuqing listened to the rustling sound of the papers beside him and couldn’t help but think:
As expected of the protagonist, his brain really works fast.
Lin Sui, sitting nearby, noticed Shen Yuqing staring at Song Wangzhuo and couldn’t help but say,
“I went through all this trouble to bring him to you, and you’re just making him write test papers?”
This was like taking off your pants only to find a top-notch website… that only plays Makka Pakka cartoons!
Not only did Lin Sui find it ridiculous, even the system was completely confused. It got stuck in Shen Yuqing’s mind for a long while before finally asking:
[Host, what are you doing?]
Wasn’t the plan to get Song Wangzhuo out of here and do some… stuff? What’s with the test papers?!
The system felt like it was about to scream.
But Shen Yuqing replied slowly:
[You don’t get it. I have my own rhythm.]
With that, he ignored the system and looked at Lin Sui.
“I’m not in the mood.”
Lin Sui understood and relaxed a bit.
“I knew it. That’s why I brought you some fun.”
Shen Yuqing didn’t respond. He slumped back into the sofa. But before he could relax completely, the private room door was pushed open again.
This time, it was the manager of the private club. He held a phone in his hand.
Shen Yuqing looked over and felt a bad premonition rise in his chest.
Sure enough, the manager walked straight toward him.
“Young Master Shen, it’s a call from President Shen.”
President Shen.
Shen Yuqing took the phone.
“Hello—”
Before he could say anything else, a sharp male voice barked through the phone.
“Shen Yuqing! What the hell are you doing?!”
Damn it, the original host’s older brother!
Shen Yuqing didn’t know why, but just hearing Shen Zhen’s voice made his scalp tingle.
He stammered,
“B-Brother…”
Shen Zhen was furious.
“You actually dared to drug someone?! Do you know—”
He paused for a second, as if holding back due to something, then growled,
“Get back here immediately!”
Then he hung up angrily.
Shen Yuqing handed the phone back to the manager, who smiled politely and walked off.
But Shen Yuqing shivered. He couldn’t help but ask:
[Didn’t they say the original host was spoiled? Why is he so scared of Shen Zhen?]
He wasn’t actually scared of Shen Zhen, but the moment he heard his voice, a shiver still ran through him.
The system explained:
[Because Shen Zhen controls the original host’s finances. Even though most of the time it’s just threats.]
Ah, got it—whoever gives you money is the boss.
Not far away, Song Wangzhuo’s pen paused for a second.
Shen Yuqing hadn’t taken the call in private, and in the noisy room, Song Wangzhuo still clearly heard what was said on the phone.
His eyes darkened.
Before Shen Yuqing could figure out how to deal with Shen Zhen once he got back, a notification pinged.
He glanced at the system—Song Wangzhuo’s favorability just dropped another five points.
…Seriously?
Shen Yuqing looked at the now -35 and winced.
Forget it. As long as the blackening value didn’t go up, it was fine.
Lin Sui asked,
“What’s wrong? Why do you look so pale?”
Shen Yuqing answered truthfully:
“My brother found out… about the drug you used. I’m taking the blame.”
Lin Sui choked. He hadn’t expected that. He looked at Shen Yuqing’s awful expression and said,
“How did he find out? Damn, we’ve got a snitch!”
Shen Yuqing didn’t care how he found out—but it gave him the perfect excuse. He had just been thinking of a way to get Song Wangzhuo out of here.
So he said,
“Party’s over. I’m leaving.”
Lin Sui didn’t dare upset Shen Yuqing any further. He had brought him here to relax, but it had made things worse.
“Qing-ge, don’t be mad. I’ll call Zhen-ge later—”
“You want to make it worse?” Shen Yuqing frowned.
“Go cool off somewhere else.”
He turned to look at Song Wangzhuo.
“Stop writing. You go home too.”
Then he reached out and shoved the test papers back into Song Wangzhuo’s bag without care.
Song Wangzhuo didn’t expect Shen Yuqing to let him go so easily. He frowned slightly and looked up at Shen Yuqing.
At that moment, Shen Yuqing was also looking at him.
Then he heard him say,
“Still not leaving? Planning to spend the night here?”
Song Wangzhuo suddenly stood up from the sofa. Only then did he realize that from struggling earlier, his shirt had come loose and was barely covering him.
He took a deep breath and didn’t care about that anymore. He quickly walked toward the door, ignoring the others’ teasing comments.
Shen Yuqing followed behind, holding his coat in one hand and a bag in the other. The two of them left the private room one after the other.
Shen Yuqing was only a few steps behind Song Wangzhuo, but by the time he got out, there was no sign of him.
Looks like he really wanted to run.
He strolled slowly to the entrance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure.
Song Wangzhuo was standing at the edge of the street, seemingly waiting for a ride. The wind blew his shirt slightly. A drunk passerby saw him and whistled.
Shen Yuqing pressed his lips together. He walked over to the security guard at the entrance and handed him his coat.
“Excuse me, could you give this coat to the man standing by the road?”
The guard nodded immediately and jogged off to deliver the coat.
Shen Yuqing, following the system’s prompt, found the Shen family’s driver and got in the car to head home.
—
Song Wangzhuo stood by the road, holding a worn-out phone and reading a message from his part-time manager.
It said that he had left his post without permission and was now fired.
They had already transferred the last few days of his pay.
Left without permission?
The chill around Song Wangzhuo grew stronger.
They must be afraid he’ll report what happened if he goes back.
“Excuse me.”
Someone interrupted his thoughts. Song Wangzhuo turned his head.
The security guard handed him a neatly folded coat.
“A gentleman asked me to give this to you.”
Song Wangzhuo asked warily,
“Who?”
The guard turned back toward the entrance.
“He already left,” he said as he passed the coat to Song Wangzhuo and returned to his post.
Song Wangzhuo looked down at the coat. It was clearly expensive. The night air was still cold, and he hadn’t worn much to begin with.
He looked around. Besides the guard, there was no one else.
Probably just someone who saw he looked pitiful and helped him out.
Song Wangzhuo pressed his lips together. In the end, he quietly put the coat on.
