In front of Class 1 classroom, Yan Chi and Shen Chang Le parted ways. Before entering the office, Yan Chi glanced back at the backpack on Shen Chang Le's back, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Why had he never seen Chang Le carry a backpack before?
But this small matter wasn't enough for Yan Chi to call Chang Le over for questioning. He went into the office to prepare the material for the next class.
After Shen Chang Le's gaze disappeared from his sight, he slowly loosened his clenched hands. He let out a sigh of relief, picked up the backpack, hugged it to his chest, and walked straight back to his seat, placing the backpack on his lap.
"Why are you carrying a bag today?" Xingluo asked, sipping his soy milk and peering into the bag. "Tell me, did you bring something you shouldn't have in class?"
Shen Chang Le glanced at him, knowing he couldn't hide it anymore, and decided not to bother with pretense. "It's a secret."
"Of course!" Xingluo became even more excited. Shen Chang Le, usually such a well-behaved student, was actually breaking school rules. He wanted to see what was in that bag.
As the backpack zipper slowly opened, a delicately carved little doll lay inside. It stared at Shen Chang Le and Xingluo with wide eyes, tilting its head.
Xingluo was stunned. He stared blankly at the child, looking into the little guy's distinctive dark green eyes, a trait unique to the Shen family. He stammered, "Shen Chang Le, you're the one who does things quietly! You dared to secretly bring Teacher Chi's child to class? Aren't you afraid your uncle will beat you?"
Shen Chang Le took his younger brother out of his schoolbag. To avoid being discovered, he simply placed him on his lap and covered his head with a book.
“My uncle definitely can’t take good care of the child. It’s better for me to bring him to school than to leave him with him.” Shen Chang Le then corrected him, “He’s not Teacher Xiao Chi’s child; he’s my younger brother.”
Xingluo asked naturally, “Right, what’s the difference?”
“…” Shen Chang Le choked on his words. “Do you know that Teacher Xiao Chi isn’t my mother?”
“Are you out of your mind? Teacher Xiao Chi is…” Xingluo suddenly realized something, his voice trailing off as he smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, I forgot Teacher Xiao Chi isn’t your mother.”
Shen Chang Le: “…It’s okay.”
The atmosphere became quite awkward. Xingluo tried to ease the tension by casually changing the subject, “Then what if you secretly bring your brother to school? What if he suddenly cries in class?”
“No, he’s very well-behaved.”
“But children can’t control themselves at all.” Xingluo, who had attended Yan Chi's previous training class, wondered, "What if he gets hungry, sleepy, or needs to poop, and cries in class and Teacher Chi finds out?"
Shen Chang Le reassured Xingluo, "It's okay, my little brother is a fake baby."
Xingluo: "..."
Lian Deng, just across the aisle, saw the two whispering to each other, wondering what they were doing. Curious, he glanced down and saw a tiny, white foot vaguely visible through Shen Chang Le and Xingluo's obstruction.
Lian Deng rubbed his eyes, then looked again. The baby's foot was still there. Shocked, he shook Ning Zhu awake.
Ning Zhu, annoyed at being disturbed, said, "You'd better have something to say."
"Look!" Lian Deng pressed Ning Zhu's head down. "There's a child's leg over there by Chang Le, do you see it?"
Ning Zhu, about to get angry with his head being pressed, turned his head and, sure enough, saw a baby's leg.
Ning Zhu exclaimed in surprise, "Where did this child come from?"
"What child?" Feng Wang, who was in front of him, turned around and asked. Then, Li Huai also looked over curiously.
After Shen Chang Le and Xingluo had discussed how to perfectly hide the baby from Yan Chi's sight and, incidentally, the other classmates, they looked up to find everyone in the class standing around them.
Shen Chang Le and Xingluo remained silent.
Shen Changyao craned his neck to see what was happening, but Shen Chang Le ruthlessly pressed him back down.
Ning Zhu said lazily, "Don't hide anymore, we all saw it."
"This child is so cute." Lian Deng, who adored all babies, looked at Shen Chang Le with sparkling eyes. "Is he Teacher Xiao Chi's child?"
"No."
Faced with the curious gazes of her classmates, Shen Chang Le finally gave up resisting and hugged Shen Changyao, allowing them to see the child's entire face.
The classroom was rarely fun; sometimes even a single strand of hair could provide a long-lasting amusement. The sudden appearance of a small baby almost instantly captured everyone's attention, especially since this fake baby didn't cry or fuss.
However, every now and then, when Shen Chang Le's gaze shifted away, the little baby would give the person who was teasing him a disdainful look.
Sethia deliberately waved a cotton candy in front of the little guy, then asked Tan Mo, "Was he looking down on me just now?"
Just then, the bell rang for class, and Tan Mo dragged him back to his seat. "Teacher Xiao Chi is coming."
The students immediately dispersed, and Shen Chang Le put Shen Changyao back in his schoolbag, placing him in a spot on the inside so that Yan Chi wouldn't notice.
The moment Yan Chi walked into the classroom with his books, he sensed something was amiss. Looking at his classmates, sitting upright and focused intently on him, he found it quite unusual. "Are you all being so well-behaved today?"
The children's quietness meant something was definitely up.
Yan Chi glanced at the entire class. "You guys...have you been secretly doing something naughty behind my back?"
Everyone fell silent, heads bowed to avoid his gaze, further confirming Yan Chi's suspicions. But no one was willing to speak, and Yan Chi didn't want to waste any more class time. "I hope someone will tell me after class. Let's begin."
"Everyone, turn to page 32..."
The rustling of pages filled the air. Seeing that Yan Chi wasn't pressing the issue, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Chang Le furtively opened his bag, patted his younger brother's head, and then focused on the lesson.
Shen Changyao, bored, fiddled with the zipper of his schoolbag. After half a class, he finally couldn't sit still any longer. His eyes darted around, finally settling on Lian Deng's little monsters, and he crawled out of his bag.
Because Yan Chi had explicitly forbidden Lian Deng from putting the box containing the little monsters on the table, Lian Deng had no choice but to place it on the floor. The three little monsters were munching on half a tomato when suddenly a shadow fell over them.
The little monsters looked up, and a strange little face appeared in their sight. They immediately dropped the tomato, assumed an attack stance, and warily eyed the baby.
Shen Changyao glanced at the tomato, sniffed it, and uninterestedly returned it to them. His gaze quickly fell on the stick insect, a look of doubt flashing in his eyes.
He had never seen this creature before, so he thought of picking it up to examine it.
The stick insect dodged Shen Changyao's hand in time. It arched its body, threatening him to back away, but knowing that Shen Changyao was the younger brother of Deng Deng's friend, it didn't harm him.
But it has a temper too!
Stubborn as ever, Shen Changyao reached out again to grab it. Seeing it couldn't scare him, the stick insect jumped out of the box and ran away. Shen Changyao pursed his lips, his competitive spirit at its peak; he had to catch it!
Sethia was resting his chin on his hand, staring blankly at something when something brushed against his calf. He turned to Mingcai and asked, "What's wrong?"
Mingcai was puzzled. "Nothing."
It must have been an accident, Sethia thought to himself. The next second, something else bumped into his calf with considerable force.
Sethia finally looked down and saw a baby lying under his stool, the child intently watching the stick insect in the distance.
Sethia was startled and instinctively looked up at Yan Chi.
Seeing his strange expression, Yan Chi asked, "Sethia, is something wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Sethia shook his head vigorously, one hand tightly gripping Mingcai's sleeve. Mingcai felt confused. When Yan Chi turned around to write on the blackboard, she whispered, "What's wrong with you today?"
Sethia pointed under the chair, his eyes filled with terror.
Mingcai bent down to look, then immediately sat up. "Mommy, how did he get here?"
This child had crawled across most of the classroom.
Shen Changyao was completely unaware of the fright he had caused. He was intently staring at the stick insect, his hind legs gathering strength for the next attack. Before he could strike again, a hand grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him out from under the chair.
Mingcai wrapped him in her school uniform, placed him on her lap, then leaned on the table and said to Sethia, "Quickly think of a way to get him back!"
"Okay, I'm thinking." Sethia hurriedly turned to look at Shen Chang Le. His gaze was too intense. Shen Chang Le finally looked at him, and Sethia mouthed: Baby!
Baby?
Shen Chang Le frowned. Why was he being called so affectionately? Suddenly, he realized something and hurriedly looked down. His schoolbag was empty. Shen Changyao had run... crawled away!
Sethia successfully connected with Shen Chang Le's mind. In front of Yan Chi, transporting Shen Changyao required extra caution.
Sethia turned to look at Tan Mo and gently tapped his desk. "Give me your hand."
Tan Mo looked up at him, obediently placing his hand on the side of the desk, waiting for him to give him something.
While wary of Yan Chi turning around, Sethia, holding Shen Changyao, quickly handed him to Tan Mo. Tan Mo, feeling the weight in his hands, paused, startled.
Sethia whispered, "Pass him to Chang Le."
Tan Mo looked at Shen Changyao, who was obediently nestled on his lap, sighed, and began looking for another opportunity to send the child away.
Strange…
Yan Chi heard the rustling behind him, his brows furrowing. He suddenly turned around, placed his hands on the podium, and scanned every student in the classroom with sharp eyes. "What are you all doing?"
As expected, in that instant, every student adopted their most obedient posture.
But Yan Chi still found a clue. "Lian Deng, what are you secretly hiding?"
Lian Deng trembled when he heard his name called. "N-nothing."
Yan Chi deliberately feigned anger, his face stern. "Lian Deng, don't make me say it twice. I'll count to three."
"One, two..."
"I'm sorry, Teacher Chi." Shen Chang Le stood up and admitted his mistake.
Under Yan Chi's shocked gaze, Shen Chang Le took Shen Changyao from Lian Deng. He lowered his head and said sorry again, "I was really worried, so I brought my little brother along."
Everyone pleaded for Chang Le.
"This baby is very well-behaved, Teacher Chi, please let him stay here."
"Yes, yes, he won't bother our studies anyway, and he can keep us company, isn't that great?"
"Mmm! The baby listens much more attentively than I do in class."
"He can even teach me math."
The others all looked at Sethia, who had spoken last, hoping he wouldn't go too far.
Sethia weakly protested, "I'm telling the truth."
But unfortunately, no one believed him.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Yan Chi let out a deep breath. It was too late to blame Chang Le now. "Give me Changyao."
Chang Le, knowing he had done wrong, obediently handed over Changyao.
"Chang Le, let's just let this go, but there absolutely can't be a next time, okay?" Yan Chi still wanted to reason with Chang Le. "Changyao is still a baby. Bringing him into the classroom is restricting his nature; he'll feel uncomfortable."
Chang Le glanced at Changyao, nestled obediently in Yan Chi's arms, looking energetic, and apologized.
Yan Chi gently advised, "Next time, you must discuss any decisions with me and your uncle first."
Otherwise, something unexpected might really scare him to death.
Shen Chang Le agreed. Before Yan Chi carried Shen Changyao back, Shen Chang Le went to get his backpack. "Here's his formula and bottle."
Yan Chi opened it and saw that almost everything from the house had been packed. He had to admit, the child was quite well-prepared.
At least his younger brother wouldn't go hungry.
Shen Chang Le carried the bag and followed Yan Chi to the office, where Shen Mingsu was already waiting for them.
Shen Mingsu sneered, "You really are a master of keeping quiet, Shen Chang Le, daring to secretly bring your baby brother, only a few months old, to class."
Facing his uncle, Shen Chang Le retorted, "What else could I do? Let my brother stay with you; what if he starves to death?"
"Am I really that unreliable?"
Shen Chang Le: "Yes, utterly unreliable."
"Alright, alright," Yan Chi interrupted their argument, "If you want to argue, please leave. Don't argue in my office."
Shen Chang Le and Shen Mingsu finally stopped arguing.
Yan Chi picked up his backpack and rummaged through it, pulling out a brand-new set of clothes. Shen Changyao's clothes were filthy from crawling on the floor, so Yan Chi simply stripped him naked, wiped his body with a wet wipe, and changed him into the new clothes.
The dirty child was transformed in Yan Chi's hands.
Shen Chang Le pursed his lips in shame; it was all his fault for not taking good care of his brother.
“It’s alright, go to class,” Yan Chi said to Shen Chang Le. “Let’s go home for lunch together; we’ll wait for you in the office.”
“…Okay.”
After Shen Chang Le left, Shen Mingsu immediately rushed to Yan Chi, complaining, “Did you see how this child treated me? I’m his uncle, and he looks at me like that, thinking I can’t even take care of a child properly!”
“Then he’ll be in your care.” Upon hearing this, Yan Chi immediately shoved Shen Changyao into Shen Mingsu’s arms.
Shen Changyao was still nestled in Yan Chi’s embrace when, in the blink of an eye, he was in a completely different person. His little face instantly fell, and he stared blankly at Shen Mingsu.
Shen Changyao craned his neck to look at Yan Chi, "Can I not have him?"
Yan Chi glanced at Shen Mingsu, who, receiving his command, coldly told Shen Changyao, "No."
Shen Changyao pursed his lips, trying to evoke Yan Chi's sympathy, "Really, can't you hug me? He's holding me and I feel uncomfortable. I want you to hug me. You know, I've never had a mother since I was little..."
Shen Mingsu: "Be rational. Shen Ruoqin isn't your biological mother. You don't have a mother at all."
Shen Changyao: "..."
What an annoying adult.
Yan Chi had two classes back-to-back today. While he was at class, Shen Changyao would have to stay in the office to be looked after by Shen Mingsu, so he didn't plan to interfere in this conflict between the two.
As the school bell rang again, Yan Chi earnestly instructed Shen Mingsu and Shen Changyao before heading to the classroom, "Stay here obediently and don't cause me any trouble. I'm referring to the two of you."
Shen Mingsu and Shen Changyao exchanged a glance, then looked away with mutual disdain.
As it turns out, a talent for taking care of children can be cultivated. After countless moments of wanting to strangle the kid, Shen Mingsu finally managed to calmly interact with Shen Changyao.
Similarly, only Shen Mingsu could handle Shen Changyao's unforgiving tongue.
The weather grew colder day by day, and as the winter snow fell, Yunzhou welcomed its winter break.
The students had no winter break homework or so-called winter break practical training. When Yan Chi announced the end of the semester, the students in Class 1 behaved as usual.
Yan Chi, who was very sensitive to the cold, wore a thick down jacket and an apricot-colored scarf. He found the students' reactions strange. "Aren't you...happy?"
This was a holiday lasting over a month, how could they react so calmly?
Mingcai rested her chin on her hands. "Because my mom and I are planning to spend the winter break at school. It's not lively back home."
Sethia: "My dad and I think so too."
Ahui: "Don't want to go home, it's too much trouble."
"..."
Except for Feng Wang and Li Huai, who were going back to be with Feng Yun, everyone else decided to stay at school.
Yan Chi had originally planned to stay at school, so this winter break seemed no different from a regular holiday. "Hmm...that's fine too, everyone can celebrate the New Year together."
Yan Chi didn't feel any attachment to his previous world, but he still intended to go back, because that world held his concerns—his orphanage mother.
If his orphanage mother was willing to come to school with him, then when his father and Xie Tao returned, everyone Yan Chi cared about would be in Yunzhou.
"Celebrating the New Year? That seems to be a human custom."
"I've never experienced it, but I've heard it's quite fun, and there's lots of food."
"Will the school provide us with food? What if we go hungry?"
"Then we can just go to the shopping street to buy food."
Hearing the students discussing the topic of "celebrating the New Year," Yan Chi realized that the custom of celebrating the New Year didn't exist in the Infinite World.
Ultimately, they weren't even human, so how could they celebrate human holidays?
Yan Chi watched the students' enthusiastic discussion and chuckled, "It seems this is everyone's first time celebrating the New Year. It's an honor to participate in your first New Year."
After the last class, Yan Chi walked out of the office with his thermos. Looking at the campus now covered in pure white snow, he was filled with emotion.
He had only been at this school for half a year, but recalling his previous life there gave him a surreal feeling.
Just then, several people unexpectedly appeared on the playground. To be precise, Ding Yang and Zheng Yu were chasing two termite players with knives. These days, they frequently lured termite players to Yunzhou and then killed them on campus.
It wasn't for any other reason than concern that the termite players might have reinforcements outside. Once they entered Yunzhou, it was the headquarters of various high-level bosses. With them as their backers, Ding Yang and Zheng Yu had no worries about them encountering any trouble in Yunzhou.
In just a few minutes, Ding Yang's knife flashed, staining the snow crimson with blood. Zheng Yu also easily dispatched another victim. At that moment, Zhu Ge Yun and Zhou Yan came running up with small, quick steps.
In that short distance, Zhu Ge Yun slipped and fell three or four times, even tripping Zhou Yan once. He gave an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry, the ground is just too slippery."
Ding Yang and Zheng Yu were already used to this and could watch Zhu Ge Yun's antics without batting an eye.
Soon, Zhu Ge Yun and Zhou Yan began cleaning up the mess. Zhu Ge Yun, bundled up like a ball, carefully wrapped a corpse's leg with a tissue, only to slip and fall after a few steps.
"Is your cerebellum damaged?"
Zhou Yan mocked without any politeness. She recognized the two corpses at a glance, shook her head with a sigh, and said, "You hated me so much, I guess I'll be the one cleaning up after you're dead. It'll make you two idiots furious."
She cheerfully dragged her former colleagues' corpses towards the botanical garden. These people had committed countless atrocities before their deaths; their greatest use in life was probably as fertilizer for the plants after they died.
Soon, heavy snow covered the bloodstains on the playground. Yan Chi stood upstairs watching the four of them until their figures disappeared into the snow.
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