He Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, though it was so soft it was almost inaudible.

The other party touched his forehead, looking a little stunned. He Yuan simply walked past him and sat down several rows away with his back to Xiao An.

He Xinyang, who was sitting diagonally across from Xiao An, knocked on the table next to him with a pen and asked in a low voice, “Why is Brother He here?”

Xiao An didn’t answer. The shock had completely woken him up, and he lowered his head to continue reading his textbook.

The whole library was quiet. Everyone was busy reviewing, the only sounds being the flipping of book pages and the barely audible DJ sound of a mouse scrolling.

The heating was just right—not too warm to make people sleepy.

He Yuan and Xu Zhaoyuan spent the whole afternoon in the Medical University library. At 5:30, the sky outside the window began to darken, and people started leaving one after another.

“Are you leaving?” Xu Zhaoyuan nudged He Yuan with his elbow.

“Yeah.” He Yuan capped his pen, packed up his things, and stood up.

As they walked back, they saw Xiao An and his friends also getting ready to leave.

He Yuan recognized them—they were the same guys who had played basketball with him that day. Except for He Xinyang, they were all tall.

“Brother He, are you leaving?” He Xinyang greeted him. “Let’s have dinner together. My treat.”

Clearly, He Xinyang was still feeling guilty about the broken model. He Yuan glanced at his roommate. Xu Zhaoyuan spread his hands, meaning “either way works.”

“Then let’s go together,” He Yuan said.

Xiao An, still clutching his textbook, glanced over when he heard that but didn’t say anything.

The group walked out of the library. Just behind them was the south gate of the Medical University, facing a lively food street.

There was a street like this near almost every university—only two or three hundred meters long, lined with shops selling all kinds of food.

At the end of December, the weather turned especially cold after sunset. Steam billowed from oden stalls on the roadside, and the milk tea shops were packed with students. With the rich aroma of food filling the air, it was impossible not to feel hungry.

The group strolled along the street, chatting about exams, games, and basketball, until they finally entered a large hot pot restaurant.

Since He Xinyang had offered to treat them, he followed through and even requested a private seat by the window with a better environment. Most of the guys were tall with long legs, so squeezing into the private room was a bit cramped. He Yuan sat between Xu Zhaoyuan on his left and Xiao An on his right, their elbows occasionally bumping.

As the shabu-shabu pot was brought out, they waited for the soup to boil. Finally, Xiao An asked, “Have you finished your exams?”

“How could it be that fast?” Xu Zhaoyuan, never one to hold back, answered directly. “The New Year is so late this year. The real highlights are still ahead.”

“It’s not easy for us either,” Xiao An said. “We have exams until mid-to-late January, and our break is later than that of junior and senior high school students.”

“No way, you have that many classes in your freshman year?” Xu Zhaoyuan actually started getting into the conversation.

He Yuan figured he should make room for them to talk.

The soup in the pot gradually reached a boil, and plates of meat were served one after another. The meat lovers wasted no time digging in.

Annoyed by the chaos of chopsticks darting in and out, Xiao An took the initiative to use a large colander to cook the meat for everyone.

The guys next to him helped watch the timer and signaled him when the meat was done.

Xiao An scooped up a full spoonful of fatty beef. With the polite gesture of “guests eat first,” he poured the beef into He Yuan’s bowl.

“Thank you…” He Yuan had barely started saying another word of thanks.

The beef landed in his bowl. Xiao An’s hand holding the spoon froze—he couldn’t scoop it back. “My hand shook.”

“Are you that worried about Brother He? What are we supposed to eat?” The other guys burst out laughing.

Xiao An’s head was filled with well-shaped patterns of annoyance. Without another word, he dumped an entire plate of fatty beef into the colander. “I’ll give each of you a spoonful of beef.”

He Xinyang hurriedly ordered a few more plates—otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough for the table.

Xiao An ended up serving everyone the whole time, while his “brothers” were true to form—busy eating while he stood off to the side like he was being punished.

Feeling bad for him, He Yuan placed two meatballs into Xiao An’s bowl.

“…Thanks, Brother He.” Xiao An stiffly thanked him, looking like a street performer who had just received two copper coins in his bowl.

He Yuan immediately felt even worse for him and reached out to give him a bowl of white rice too.

Dinner didn’t last long. The medical students planned to head back to the library and study until closing time, while He Yuan and Xu Zhaoyuan hadn’t reserved seats, so they decided to return to their dorm.

A light drizzle started falling on the way back. As He Yuan’s phone vibrated, he picked it up.

Pick Up a 98K: Wanna game?

Wall: I’m busy lately. Let’s wait two weeks.

Because of finals, he had temporarily stopped streaming. He was practically a monthly anchor at this point.

Pick Up a 98K: Why are you and Xixizi both busy? I just asked him, and he said he was busy too. [lighting a cigarette.jpg]

He Yuan frowned. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t received any messages from Xixizi for a while.

Before, he would come to him every now and then and chat with him casually about anything.

He Yuan was busy reviewing and didn’t pay attention. He thought Xixizi was preparing for the final exam. Now that he thought about it carefully, it was true that he hadn’t talked to him since the anniversary celebration.

Nine out of ten conversations in the past were initiated by Xixizi. Now that Xixizi didn’t contact him, it was as if they had directly lost contact.

He Yuan held the phone, and the screen was covered with raindrops in an instant. He wiped them off with his fingers and opened the chat box with Xixizi.

“Speaking of which, how is the little apprentice you found before?” Xu Zhaoyuan, who was walking next to him, suddenly asked.

“Just like that.” He Yuan sent Xixizi an emoticon pack of “Big White Bear Fishing.”

A few steps ahead, Xiao An’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He Yuan looked up and saw him take out his phone.

“The activity is over, and I’m no longer an apprentice.” He Yuan said.

“Didn’t they say they would organize a new one?” Xu Zhaoyuan had talked to him about this topic before.

At that time, He Yuan had just picked up Xixizi by mistake and found out that it was a misunderstanding. So he planned to wait for a month to pass and pick up a new one when the second phase of “Mutual Help” was held.

“How about it, have you seen a suitable newbie?” Xu Zhaoyuan continued. “This time, pick someone from the same district, it will be easier to lead.”

“Let’s see.” He Yuan said casually.

He Yuan’s phone vibrated, and Xixizi replied to his message.

An An: Brother.

An An: I plan to study hard and won’t play V-station much in the future.

An An: Brother, you worked hard to lead me some time ago. I still want to say sorry to you for registering the wrong name for the previous activity. [Little Yellow Bird Bow.jpg]

An An: If I meet a suitable newbie, I will lead him again, and his results will definitely be much better than mine!

He Yuan was a little stunned when he saw these words, which seemed quite sudden.

But he thought that the other party was still in high school, and generally had to start reviewing for the college entrance examination in the second semester of the second year of high school, so it was not suitable for him to play videos and games every day.

Thinking about the fact that Xixizi came home early from the anniversary celebration that day, it was estimated that this time he had reached an agreement with his family and was ready to concentrate on studying.

If that was the case, He Yuan would certainly support it, as teenagers were still suitable for studying.

He wiped the raindrops on the screen again and typed a reply: Study hard.

This time, Xiao An’s phone didn’t vibrate again, and Xixizi didn’t reply to the new message.

When they arrived at the south gate of the Medical University, Xiao An stopped, thought for a while, and said generously: “Brother He.”

He Yuan put away his phone and looked up at him.

“Do you have an exam on Saturday afternoon? If not, come and play ball with me.” This was the first time Xiao An looked at him directly today.

Xu Zhaoyuan looked at the two of them and found that when they talked, it felt like no one else could get a word in.

“No exam.” He Yuan said.

“Okay, wait for me to find you.” After Xiao An finished speaking, he turned around and followed his brothers.

===========================

It always rains during exam month, and students feel like they are reviewing all day and night every day.

He Yuan finished his architectural design exam and had three days of free time to rest.

Xu Zhaoyuan ran out to date his girlfriend without stopping. He Yuan stayed in the dormitory alone. It was too cold, and he didn’t want to go anywhere.

The exams had disconnected him from the internet for several days. As soon as he logged into the PC version of QQ, He Yuan was bombarded with messages from the six-person group. When he clicked in, everyone was tagging him and Xixizi. Xixizi was obviously not online and didn’t reply, so he responded with a question mark.

Huahua Kindergarten: Wall!!!

Huahua Kindergarten: I’ll bring it down for you! [Picture]

He Yuan clicked on the picture and saw that it was “Wanshi Keai” again. Since He Yuan blocked him, he had never received any harassment from him. In the picture, Wanshi Keai posted a new status on V-station, and the time was last night.

The content was: “I came to your city @Wall,” and the picture was… the main entrance of the University of Science and Technology.

He Yuan had never told the people he met online where he was studying. Even Xixizi, who chatted with him most frequently, thought he was a construction worker.

Big White Goose: This bitch is simply crazy. I think we should really call the insane asylum to arrest him.

Big White Goose: The second phase of “Mutual Help” is about to start. He wants to use this to attract more attention. Can’t he be a little bit innovative?

Pick Up a 98K: I wish him ****.

Pick Up a 98K: It’s easy to imagine how Wall could accept a scumbag as his apprentice.

Huahua Kindergarten: Is Wall really studying here? I’d better pay more attention to him recently. I feel like he really seems to be a pervert. [Cat Crying.jpg]

He Yuan replied, “I know.” He was still wondering how this psychopath found him.

Huahua Kindergarten: Also, check the forum, this person might be Xixizi. [Link]

Huahua Kindergarten: He posted a thread tearing down Wanshi Keai. He cursed very vigorously. [Shuang Ah.jpg]

He Yuan clicked into the post.

The OP was wearing a vest this time, but he directly greeted Wanshi Keai’s eighteen generations of ancestors. Unlike last time, when Xixizi started a thread to argue and just copy-pasted from the internet, every word the OP wrote this time was a real attack on Wanshi Keai.

The post had been up for half a day and was very popular on the V-site forum. Just like previous argument threads, Wanshi Keai would never just lie down and let others ridicule him. He had to jump out and perform, arguing with the OP one comment after another, even saying, “Believe it or not, I will post your home address tomorrow.”

At the 200th comment, someone began to suspect that the OP was Xixizi, and the entire thread took a turn. The OP himself disappeared quietly.

281L: The OP seems familiar… May I ask if it’s Xixizi himself?

282L: What? My little apprentice came to protect his master?!?!!

283L replied to 282L: They are no longer a master-disciple relationship now. Xixizi has over 10,000 fans. They will never have the chance to be master and disciple again →,→

284L: If they’re not master and disciple, they can develop into something else. [Sideways smile.jpg]

285L: I guess they met offline before the anniversary celebration. Recently, neither of them updated. Maybe they’re just enjoying their own world offline. [Covering face.jpg]

He Yuan had to admit that people on the internet had rich imaginations.

Huahua Kindergarten: Wall, look! [Picture]

He Yuan saw from the small picture that it was another post from Wanshi Keai and immediately had a bad feeling.

Wanshi Keai: @What is Xixizi Eating Today? What’s the point of hiding in an anonymous forum? If you have the guts, come and fight me offline!

Big White Goose: What the hell is this psycho? @What is Xixizi Eating Today? If you see him, don’t pay attention to him!

Huahua Kindergarten: He posted again. [Picture]

This time, Wanshi Keai left an address and tagged Xixizi again.

Wanshi Keai: I’ll wait for you at 3 o’clock this Saturday afternoon. I’ve picked a place with a lot of people. Don’t be scared. @What is Xixizi Eating Today?