After reading Xie Tao's message, Yan Chi remained silent for a moment before speaking up for Shen Mingsu: [Actually, our principal is quite handsome. He doesn't have a beer belly, his hair is thick, and he's a very gentlemanly person.]
Xie Tao: […？？？]
Afraid he wouldn't believe him, Yan Chi searched through the photo album and found a picture of Shen Mingsu.
In the photo, Shen Mingsu leaned against the lakeside railing, his face sharply defined, his gaze fixed on a certain spot, his thin lips slightly curved, and green willow branches drooping beside his face.
Shen Mingsu was watching Lin Heng fish when Yan Chi happened to be there. He turned and saw the scene, deeply impressed, and then secretly snapped a picture.
Of course, Shen Mingsu's handsome composure only lasted a few seconds. He immediately began to mock Lin Heng, saying that if he didn't like the fish, he shouldn't approach them, and that being a simp never ends well.
This angered Lin Heng, who hit him with his fishing rod.
The picture on Yan Chi's phone was beautiful in both composition and lighting; he couldn't bear to delete it and had kept it until now.
After Yan Chi posted the picture, Xie Tao sent a speechless emoji: "Xiao Chi, tell me the truth, you actually really love it, right?"
Yan Chi: "I don't!"
"Heh, you can fool others, but can you fool me?" Xie Tao and Yan Chi grew up together and knew his little hobbies inside and out. "Just tell me straight, you haven't had a single thought about your handsome principal? You're not interested in his face at all?"
Yan Chi: "..."
Damn it, he couldn't deny it.
Seeing he didn't reply, Xie Tao knew he'd been caught red-handed and continued: "I was wondering why you hadn't sent me any pictures of Yu Yunyi lately. Turns out you found someone even better-looking and switched allegiances."
Yu Yunyi was a celebrity Yan Chi really liked before he started working. He was handsome and rugged, and very popular. Back then, Yan Chi would watch his dramas every day.
But now, if Xie Tao hadn't reminded him, Yan Chi would have almost forgotten about him.
Yan Chi knew perfectly well he was a sucker for good looks, but he just couldn't help focusing on other people's faces.
Yan Chi sighed: "So what should I do now?"
[Is your principal married?]
[It seems not.]
[Does he have a girlfriend or boyfriend?]
[Probably not, I've never heard him mention it.]
Xie Tao made the final decision: [Then why not date him? You're both single anyway, he's pursuing you, and you like his looks, so just get together!]
Yan Chi still had an aversion to overly intimate relationships. He said, "Let's talk about it later," and stopped discussing the topic.
Xie Tao knew his personality and didn't pressure him.
In the studio on the 25th floor, everyone had a cup of coffee in front of them. After talking with Yan Chi, Xie Tao continued typing on his keyboard.
A colleague tapped on his desk. "Xie Tao, the boss wants to see you."
Xie Tao stood up. His colleague whispered, "Someone snitched to the boss that you're using your phone during work hours. Watch out."
Upon hearing this, Xie Tao's anger flared instantly. His murderous gaze swept over his colleagues, but each face clearly showed indifference, ignoring him completely.
Xie Tao laughed angrily. "Some people only dare to be malicious behind my back. What, you don't dare say it to my face? I'll rip your tongue out and use it for pickling! You'd better hide well, or I'll find out."
Silence fell over the room. No one spoke.
Having uttered that harsh remark, Xie Tao walked towards the boss's office.
The water in his glass swayed slightly, a barely perceptible tremor. Xie Tao felt the floor beneath his feet tremble, and the window began to shake.
"Did you...did anyone feel the tremors?"
"Holy crap! Earthquake! Run!"
"No way, we're not in an earthquake zone..."
"The whole building is shaking, if you don't run, I will!"
"..."
Everyone rushed towards the door in a panic. Xie Tao was also frantic. A glimpse out of the corner of his eye made him stop. Looking out the window, he saw the building's surroundings had collapsed, a bottomless black hole swallowing the behemoth.
Even if they ran downstairs, they wouldn't be able to get out.
Death was imminent. Xie Tao's mind went blank, and even the strength to run vanished. In an instant, he thought of Yan Chi. Yan Chi had finally found someone he liked, and he was even planning to try it out. Was he going to die now?
...
Yan Chi stared at their chat history, which ended abruptly with Xie Tao saying he wanted to visit Shen Mingsu sometime, and then there was no further communication.
After waiting for a while, Xie Tao still hadn't sent a message. Yan Chi was a little puzzled and uneasy, but thinking it was Xie Tao's work time, he figured he might be busy with something important and hadn't had time to reply.
This had happened often before.
Yan Chi got up, poured himself a glass of water, and gazed out the window, lost in thought.
"Ding~"
A message notification sounded. Yan Chi quickly picked up his phone, but it wasn't from Xie Tao.
[Get lost: The shopping street opens tomorrow, wanna go shopping together?]
It was from Shen Mingsu.
Yan Chi hesitated. He had originally planned to go with Shen Mingsu, but now that he understood Shen Mingsu's intentions, he felt awkward shopping with him.
But he had promised, and keeping his word was important.
Yan Chi: [Okay.]
[Get lost: Um, Teacher Xiao Chi, can I ask you one more question?]
[Gulu: Go ahead.]
[Get lost: Do you dislike me? Golden Retriever wiping tears.jpg]
Yan Chi looked at the crying puppy, his heart softening. [No, I don't dislike you.]
[Get lost: Really? But why don't you message me? I wait for your messages every day, but after you added me as a friend, you only messaged me once… and it was about someone else.]
Yan Chi looked at this message and could almost see Shen Mingsu holding his phone, expectantly waiting for his message, then looking disappointed and pitiful as he put it down.
It was so pitiful.
Yan Chi sincerely apologized. [Sorry, I was worried you'd be busy, and messaging you would bother you.]
Shen Mingsu's profile picture and nickname were just too off-putting; even looking at them felt like being insulted.
Shen Mingsu cheered up again, and pressed his advantage. [Then can I get good morning and good night messages tonight and tomorrow morning?]
It was only two words, and Yan Chi readily agreed, "Sure."
Before going to sleep that night, Yan Chi, still half-asleep, sent Shen Mingsu a "Goodnight" message, along with a bunny sleeping in bed emoji. He then placed his phone on the bedside table, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
The screen's notification light flashed a few times before settling back to normal.
The next morning, Yan Chi woke up promptly at 7:30. After washing up, he went downstairs to make breakfast. There was no rush; the steamed buns and soy milk tasted especially delicious.
Right, he hadn't said "Good morning" to Shen Mingsu yet.
Yan Chi took half a steamed bun upstairs and turned on his phone. Shen Mingsu's message popped up at the same time.
After Yan Chi said "Goodnight," Shen Mingsu also said "Goodnight," followed by a retracted message, then a sleeping emoji. At 7:00 AM, Shen Mingsu promptly sent a "Good morning" greeting.
[Gulu: Good morning.]
[Kiss: Have you had breakfast? When are we leaving?]
Yan Chi then noticed that Shen Mingsu's nickname and profile picture had changed to "Kiss."
Yan Chi's eyelashes trembled. It was hard not to think about it, but he also felt that Shen Mingsu was just being presumptuous. His heart was in turmoil.
Having agreed to leave at eight o'clock with Shen Mingsu, Yan Chi began to pack his things. He grabbed a small bag, a cup of kumquat lemonade, and a few packs of tissues.
As soon as Yan Chi stepped outside, he saw Shen Mingsu already waiting for him at the door.
The moment Shen Mingsu saw Yan Chi, his eyes seemed to light up, and he smiled, "Teacher Chi."
Ever since Shen Mingsu heard Yan Chi's students call him that, he had also started using that title. Yan Chi had corrected him many times to no avail, so he simply let him be.
Yan Chi walked up to him, and Shen Mingsu naturally took the bag from his hand. "What's inside?"
"Water and tissues."
After saying that, Yan Chi realized something was wrong. Looking at the bag in Shen Mingsu's hand, he wanted to take it back but didn't know how to ask.
The newly opened commercial street outside the school had already caused a sensation among the students. There were very few places to have fun in Yunzhou. The students had initially petitioned the school to build more entertainment venues, but the principal had directly rejected the request.
Of course, this wasn't without room for negotiation. Shen Mingsu said bluntly, "If you want it, fine. There's plenty of open space outside the school. If you want a shopping mall and amusement park, go and build them yourselves. I won't stop you."
The students: "..."
So, after Shen Mingsu changed his mind and built the commercial street on campus, the students were the happiest.
The commercial street was built directly opposite the school. On its opening day, excited students could be seen everywhere, and shopkeepers were bustling about in their shops.
Yan Chi encountered several of his classmates along the way. Li Huai and Feng Wang were having a pottery workshop, engrossed in sculpting clay and unaware that Yan Chi and Shen Mingsu were passing by.
Sethia and Tan Mo were eating hot pot at a restaurant. Sethia was enjoying his meal, while Tan Mo, sweating profusely from the spiciness, simply put down his chopsticks and watched him eat.
"They have hot pot this early..." Yan Chi was surprised that these two would go out for hot pot while everyone else was having breakfast, and that the restaurant would even provide it for them—both sides were quite powerful.
Seeing Sethia enjoying his meal, Shen Mingsu suggested, "Why don't we try it too?"
The owner of this hot pot restaurant was someone they had finally managed to find. He was originally a cow, trapped in a B-level loop dungeon, and was later killed, turning into beef slices in the hot pot.
When the world restarted, he too transformed from a slice of beef back into a cow, then back into a slice of beef, in a never-ending cycle.
The cow, enraged, transformed into a poisonous beef roll, infecting all the other beef rolls and ultimately killing the players eating hot pot and the dungeon boss, becoming the new dungeon boss.
This outrageous incident attracted many players to visit the dungeon, figuring they wouldn't die unless they ate the beef rolls.
Finally, the principal brought the beef roll out of the dungeon and put him as the owner of the hot pot restaurant, since he was the only boss who knew how to make the hot pot broth.
Yan Chi shook his head at Shen Mingsu's suggestion; he wasn't used to eating strong-flavored food in the morning.
At this moment, the burly owner came out from the kitchen, serving Sethia and his group a plate of lamb rolls, his voice gruff, "Enjoy your meal, sir."
Sethia called out to him, "Boss, I'd like a plate of beef rolls."
The owner stared at him coldly, his arm muscles bulging.
Sethia remained unfazed, radiating the imposing aura of a high-level boss, meeting his gaze.
"Okay, I'm going right now, but you'll have to wait a bit~" The shop owner immediately backed down, adding a cute interjection, before turning back to the kitchen to sharpen his knives at his fellow shopkeepers.
Yan Chi, who had witnessed this scene, was somewhat frightened by the shop owner's physique—a physique capable of killing with a single punch—and worriedly remarked, "This owner looks so fierce..."
Shen Mingsu naturally took his hand and led him forward, saying, "Don't worry, they won't dare cause trouble. Yunzhou is my territory."
Yan Chi nodded, following Shen Mingsu for a while. Suddenly, he looked down and saw their hands tightly clasped together, Shen Mingsu's warmth emanating from their touching hands.
Yan Chi was comfortable with affectionate hugs and other contact with children, but with someone his own age, he felt more awkward and uncomfortable, reminding him, "You...you're holding my hand."
Judging from his tone, it seemed as if Shen Mingsu had accidentally taken his hand.
"Hmm?" Shen Mingsu stopped, not letting go but instead gripping his hand tightly, and smiled. "I know, because I like you."
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