When Zhai Yao stood at the entrance of 9th High School, a gust of cold wind happened to blow out from inside.
Looking at the small and dilapidated campus, where students were still wandering around, laughing and playing even when the class bell rang, it truly underscored the truth embedded in that one line of the hearsay—“Where immortals abound, big bosses are found at every turn.”
Zhai Yao tugged at his mask, pulling it up once again. Having been caught in the rain last night, he awoke with a sense of discomfort, along with a heavy-headedness and lightness in his feet as the first light touched his eyes.
His initial plan was to bury himself back under the covers and continue his sleep. Yet, his elder sister, Zhai Bing, forcibly lifted him, saying something about being late on the first day at a new school was inauspicious. Now even his bone joints were aching.
“I’m surnamed Hou, full name being Hou Tian, your homeroom teacher.” A petite man, sporting thick-lensed glasses, guided Zhai Yao through the path as he spoke, “You’re aware of our 9th High School. Being here, we aren’t asking for you to achieve grades high enough to get into a prestigious university. As long as you can make it through your studies smoothly and graduate in peace, that’d be a satisfactory accomplishment, wouldn’t it…?”
Zhai Yao offered no response and silently surveyed the squalid surroundings.
“You were from 8th High School, right? That’s great for you, too, since the teaching levels of 8th and 9th High School are comparable. You shouldn’t have any problem adjusting.” Hou Tian continued, “In the future, I’ll strive not to inconvenience you, and I hope you won’t cause any trouble for me either. Let’s understand and cooperate with each other, and everyone will be content, agreed…?”
The two of them walked along the corridor and arrived at the final classroom at the end. This room seldom saw the light of day. Even during the day, the fluorescent lights had to be switched on to illuminate the space.
On the wall, there were noticeable traces of haphazardly done whitewashing. Faintly discernible amidst the not-so-well-done strokes was the graffiti left behind by the skilled, great masters of past generations.
“Wait for me here,” instructed Hou Tian before entering the classroom.
Despite his role as a homeroom teacher, Hou Tian’s presence had no intimidating effect whatsoever, and he failed to command attention.
Everyone acted as if they couldn’t see him and was engrossed in different activities—playing cards, chess, chatting, or munching on steamed buns—everything except studying.
Seeming accustomed to this treatment, Hou Tian stood at the podium, cleared his throat, and began a self-directed monologue. “Um, we have a new student this semester. Moving forward, everyone should help each other, get along harmoniously, and most importantly, steer clear of trouble… *cough* Yeah?”
His voice drowned in the chaos, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he retrieved his teaching materials from under the podium. As he exited the class, he told Zhai Yao, “The first session is for self-study. You can introduce yourself to the class, and if you have any problems, come find me in the office around the corner.”
With that, he hummed a tune and left.
After Hou Tian left, Zhai Yao looked up at the class signboard again—
The rusty signboard had been knocked askew, hanging halfway in the air, creating a disconcerting effect as the light reflected off it.
The noise in the classroom at that instant was like countless flies constantly buzzing around Zhai Yao’s ears.
He sighed imperceptibly before stepping into the classroom, and only then did the class finally quiet down a bit.
“Who’s this? What’s he here for?”
“Didn’t Hou-ge mention something about a transfer student?”
“Hey bro, have you called out ‘reporting’ yet?!”
“Holy sh*t, he actually looks kinda handsome up close?”
“Are you for real, jie? You can tell even when he has a mask on?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
A girl with permed hair, brushing her eyelashes in front of a mirror, whistled as Zhai Yao passed by. “Handsome, masks aren’t allowed in our class, take it off!”
Even through the mask, Zhai Yao could catch a whiff of the perfume clinging to her. It tickled his senses, provoking a few coughs that left his eyes reddened, and his headache intensified.
“Hey, hey, why are you crying now?!”
“Give it up, Ning-jie. He’s probably crying ’cause he got frightened by you.”
“Yeah, just look at you and your ambitious and desirous eyes!”
“F*ck off!”
The group burst into laughter.
At that moment, Zhai Yao had no mental capacity for conversations. He felt extremely unwell and just wanted to quickly find a place to get some proper rest.
His eyes, hidden beneath the bangs on his forehead, casually scanned the entire classroom before finally settling on a corner seat by the wall at the back of it.
That spot would do.
Zhai Yao hoisted the backpack slung over his shoulder, adjusting it, and walked slowly towards the back of the classroom.
“Hey, you…” The female student wanted to stop him upon realizing where he was headed, but she realized it was too late.
After witnessing Zhai Yao’s trajectory, the class also collectively quieted down, heads turning in unison to fixate on him.
Standing before the corner seat with his eyes lowered, Zhai Yao silently stared at the person who had been engrossed in their reading during the entire period, ever since he had entered the classroom.
The person wore a neatly ironed snowy white shirt, meticulously buttoned to the top, with a pair of thin silver-rimmed half-frame glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
If this appearance were seen in any other school or class, he would undoubtedly be considered a well-mannered and excellent student. However, alas, this was the worst class in 9th High School. Among this group of misfits, the sudden appearance of such a rare and beautiful mountain flower seemed somewhat impertinent.
After standing for a while, Zhai Yao saw that the mountain flower still showed no reaction. He tapped on the desk with his fingers, seemingly completely unaware or, perhaps, indifferent about how the classroom had already fallen into a frightening silence.
The mountain flower turned a page of the book, and the faint rustle of the paper echoed, sounding particularly clear in this strange atmosphere. After a moment, without lifting his head, he asked, “Need something?”
His voice was low and deep, and it was hard to discern any emotion from it.
Zhai Yao shot a glance at the book in his hands, “How the Steel Was Tempered.” Apart from the book title and the author’s name on the cover, there was also a name scrawly written with a fountain pen. “Shen Xing, right?” He paused briefly, then coldly tilted his chin. “Move aside.”
The class immediately erupted into a series of exclamations: “God damn—!” Everyone was excited; who would have thought, after spending so much time in class, it was the first time they saw someone dare to act arrogantly in front of Boss Shen!
As expected, one could even witness such audacity once they had lived long enough.
Yet, the person reading the book remained unperturbed. Their eyes stayed fixed on the novel, not even blinking an eye to spare a single glance for Zhai Yao, let alone a move to the side per his demand. His lips lightly touched, and he corrected, “Shen Heng.”
Zhai Yao looked askance at him. Honestly, under normal circumstances, he would have grabbed this dude by now, dragging and pinning him on the floor. But at the present moment, with the scene in front of him fricking turning blurry due to the pounding headache, he decided to refrain from senselessly squandering time with him, at least for now.
Taking a deep breath, Zhai Yao exhaled and turned to pull the empty desk from beside Shen Heng, thinking of dragging it to another corner.
However, he couldn’t drag it away even after a few attempts.
In Zhai Yao’s mind, he thought: Must this body become so weak just because of a cold? It wasn’t until he turned his head that he discovered the other end of the desk was being pressed down by the opposite party’s hand.
“Don’t touch it,” Shen Heng said without looking at Zhai Yao, tossing an indifferent remark, “Piss off and go sit somewhere else.”
Zhai Yao was momentarily blanked out, then he immediately let out a low chuckle. Lightly poking his tongue in his cheek, he removed his backpack and slammed it onto the table.
He had to have this desk today no matter what!
Seeing that the newcomer not only refused to leave but also seemed determined to set up camp, Shen Heng’s brows finally furrowed slightly. He lifted his eyes. “Don’t you understand human language?”
In response to his question was a loud “clang” as Zhai Yao kicked the leg of the wooden stool that Shen Heng was sitting on.
The stool immediately flew out, crashing into the wall. Shen Heng swiftly leapt up, avoiding being thrown to the ground along with the stool.
His towering silhouette cast a lengthening shadow, looming before Zhai Yao.
Zhai Yao squinted. This guy is kinda damn tall, huh?
“Turn around, let me see how big of a butt you have that you must occupy two seats.” Zhai Yao raised his chin at Shen Heng.
At that very moment, the classroom fell into a deathly silence, as if even breathing were a sinful act.
Seated in the front row, the class monitor silently crossed himself, praying that the newcomer would swiftly attain bliss and refrain from choosing their class in the next life.
Shen Heng stood against the light, his face devoid of expression, and his pitch-black eyes seemingly bottomless. After a short pause, he walked over to Zhai Yao, gazing from the bottom and stopping on the other party’s face before shifting to the backpack on the desk.
“Don’t know where to sit, right?”
Suddenly, Shen Heng lifted Zhai Yao’s backpack, throwing it behind him. The bag traced a graceful parabola in the air and landed with a “plop” into the rubbish bin in the corner.
“I’ll pick for you.”
…
Even with the rubbish bin emptied every day during the summer, there still lingered a sour and rancid odour. Moreover, the students in this class were quite extravagant with their food, almost to the extent of bringing a hot pot to cook. So, Zhai Yao’s backpack would inevitably pick up some dirty residue lying in the rubbish bin.
He approached the rubbish bin in silence, looking at his bag lying amidst the refuse. After a moment’s hesitation, he bent down and retrieved it.
The bag, now stained with the Old Tan pickled cabbage-flavoured instant noodle soup, continued dripping soup onto the floor as Zhai Yao lifted it.
Just when everyone thought the newcomer was just showing off and had picked the wrong target, Zhai Yao swung his backpack directly at Shen Heng’s face.
The whole class: ?!!!!!!!!
Shen Heng’s eyes darkened, turned his body and dodged, but the instant noodle soup still unavoidably splattered onto his pristine white shirt.
Without giving him a chance to react, Zhai Yao stepped forward, intending to grab Shen Heng’s collar. Shen Heng sidestepped, seizing Zhai Yao’s neck and pressing him down on the desk with a forceful thud.
“I dare you to try showing your attitude again?”
Shen Heng’s knuckles tightened gradually, with his thumb firmly pressing on Zhai Yao’s Adam’s apple.
Zhai Yao felt his already murky brain becoming even more oxygen-deprived. His mouth under the mask had no choice but to open slightly to avoid suffocation. Yet, even so, his hands were still firmly clutching Shen Heng’s collar without any intention of letting go.
This was exactly the scene that welcomed Hou Tian upon returning to the classroom, having received the report from the class monitor.
He let out a bellow of rage, “Stop!” taking big strides forward in a hurried manner, attempting to separate the two. Simultaneously, he yelled at the others in the class, “What are you still looking at? Come and help!”
The whole class: “……” Thanks for the invitation, but we dare not.
Seeing that persuasion was ineffective, Hou Tian quickly came up with an idea and said to Shen Heng, “The hospital just called. Quickly, come with me to the office!”
This statement worked like a charm. Shen Heng’s gaze deepened, and he slowly released his grip on Zhai Yao’s neck.
As a rush of oxygen flooded in, Zhai Yao gulped and coughed a couple of times.
“You too, Zhai Yao! Just look at what you’ve done to his clothes?!” Hou Tian spoke while trying to pry Zhai Yao’s hands off.
Zhai Yao cast a cold glance at Shen Heng, slowly loosening his grip.
Hou Tian led Shen Heng away, and the atmosphere in the class exploded in apparent suppression.
“Holy… Holy sh*t! Who did Hou-ge just call? Zhai Yao?!”
“He said he’s Zhai Yao?!”
“The ‘Zhai Yao’ I know?”
“You don’t say, who else if not him has the guts to challenge Boss Shen so boldly!”
“I fricking have lived long enough to witness everything today!!”
“Wait, who’s Zhai Yao?”
“The former boss of 8th High School! Fought ten against one at Flying Dragon Skating Rink and left the opponents half-destroyed!”
“He actually transferred to our school? This will be interesting!”
The buzzing discussions from all directions echoed around Zhai Yao, creating a cacophony that seemed to be muffled or distorted, as if separated by a thin layer of membrane. He raised his hand to touch his throat, feeling a stinging sensation; his skin must have been scraped.
Zhai Yao didn’t care about his backpack anymore, casually tossing it on the ground before sitting in Shen Heng’s seat. Pulling down his hood, he went to sleep.
This time, no one dared to say a word.
…
From Yunz:
A new commercialized artwork of Zhai Yao and Shen Heng shared by the author. May contain a tinnnnnny spoiler of a future certain scene, so be warned! Here’s also an artwork of transfer student Zhai Yao on his first day of school posted by the author~
ALSO!!
The author shared that TSYAA is signed for a simplified CN physical release in its country of origin (AKA Mainland China). I’m sooooooooo happy and excited, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it already ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻) More information about it will be shared by the author in the future, which I’ll then share here, so please look forward to it!
Reading this first chapter I like it ! And the artwork is pretty ❤️ Thx dear translator 😽
Ooh awesome story and premise!
Thanks for translating
Thank you for the chapter!