Before Jiao Bai entered the comic world, he was a high school senior with all the knowledge from his textbooks still fresh in his mind. He didn't need to spend time reviewing. All he had to do was act like a pretentious disgusting okzxsghmf in front of Young Master Shen every day, and observe his reaction.

Young Master Shen dressed simply, just wearing the school uniform. His sneakers weren’t brand-name and there was nothing to suggest that he was from a wealthy family. Possibly due to his mother’s influence, he led a rather modest lifestyle. He was a very taciturn and unsociable top student with no one around him apart from Liang Dong.

Jiao Bai attended classes for a whole week without hearing Shen Er’an say a single word.

Until more than half a month later, when Jiao Bai went to the office to look for the teacher after school...

“It-it’s fine.” At the corner, the boy muttered to the girl who kept apologising after she accidentally knocked his sketchbook out of his hands. He wanted to say something else, but he seemed to be struggling, as if his tongue wasn’t cooperating.

The boy’s fingers, which were gripping the sketchbook, had turned white and slightly bluish. With his head lowered and his tall, thin figure standing in the shadow of the trees, he gave off a sense of indescribable embarrassment and innocence.

Jiao Bai took a step back and hid in the corner, moving so quickly his toes barely touched the ground. In the later stages of Broken Wings, Li Jue was too cheap and Shen Er’an was too scummy, yet there was no crematorium[1]. A large number of protagonist fans couldn't stand it any longer and demanded the gong to be changed. They didn’t mind any of the supporting characters taking over, be it the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth male supporting characters. Despite the siege of her Weibo account by these fans, the author resolutely refused to change the gong. She only fleshed out Shen Er’an’s character by illustrating his youth arc.

Probably because compared to the main storyline, the youth arc wasn’t dog-aknncx enough, Jiao Bai didn’t remember many details.

It turned out Young Master Shen had a slight stutter when he was younger. That was why he rarely spoke.

Jiao Bai continued to observe.

The girl stuck out her tongue and jogged away, her ponytail swinging in a lively and adorable curve. She didn’t know that the boy she had a crush on also had a crush on her, with her name written on his sincere heart.

The most common thing in this world was being fated to meet but not fated to be together

.

Jiao Bai saw Shen Er’an stand there for a while and then go downstairs. He decided to not look for the teacher anymore and quickly followed him.

Shen Er’an didn’t live in the old residence nor with Shen Ji. Instead, for his three years of high school, he rented an apartment that was not too far but also not too close to the school. He shared the apartment with a classmate who, due to personal reasons, had taken a leave of absence and returned home. As soon as the rental advertisement was posted, Jiao Bai, who had been waiting for an opportunity, seized it and moved in.

Jiao Bai took the morning off to move in, and now he and Shen Er’an were roommates.

At school dismissal time, the warm golden glow of the setting sun danced on the young people. Jiao Bai leisurely rode his bicycle, following Shen Er’an. He entered the neighbourhood with Shen Er’an, parked his bike at Building 27, went upstairs, and stopped in front of Apartment 1101 on the eleventh floor.

Jiao Bai was looking forward to seeing Shen Er’an’s expression change.

To his surprise, Shen Er’an didn't show any noticeable change in emotion. He used his key to open the door, went inside, and headed towards his bedroom. It seemed that, for him, it made no difference who his roommate was.

“Boring.” Jiao Bai bent down to take off his shoes, tossed his backpack into the living room, and casually went to the kitchen to cook dinner.

Shen Er’an’s door remained closed the entire time. After he went in, he never came out.

Jiao Bai felt that Shen Er'an during this period was like a small animal with no sense of security, curled up in its shell, afraid of light and unfamiliar things.

Really cute, I want to hold him in my arms and give him a few pats.

Jiao Bai just thought about it. He wouldn’t dare to pat him. A few days ago, he unexpectedly learned something—Shen Er'an had gotten into a fight at school.

The date was Madam Shen’s birthday. The incident started when a snotty boy tore apart the paper dragonfly in Shen Er'an's desk cubby and, along with his accomplices, mocked Shen Er'an, calling him pretentious.

Students who were too outstanding both academically and in appearance, yet had never shown their fangs, were often prone to attracting jealousy and bullying from others.

Shen Er'an was usually such a quiet and calm person. When he did explode, it would inevitably be shocking and terrifying.

That time, Jiao Bai was sitting in the back seat of the car and witnessed Shen Ji receive a call from the teacher. Shen Ji, with a cold and grim smile, told the teacher to do as they pleased, and after the call ended, he angrily threw his phone.

Shen Ji got angry, probably because the teacher described Shen Er’an with his head covered in blood, lying on the ground clutching a broken paper dragonfly while softly calling for his mother. That woman was the source of Shen Ji’s hatred and the ugliest mark in his life.

After the fight, Shen Er’an went to school as usual with his injuries. The parents of the boy he had beaten to the verge of death and his accomplices’ parents didn’t come to the school to cause trouble.

Rumours about Shen Er’an being the illegitimate child of a wealthy family began to spread because of this, but they didn’t gain much traction. Liang Dong, as his henchman and lackey, wasn’t just a showpiece.

Jiao Bai's thoughts returned to the present. He had planned to go to school with Shen Er’an the next morning, but when he got up, Shen Er’an had already left.

Even after school, it was hard to have any interaction.

Jiao Bai often had to wait until Mama Liang Dong left before he could approach Shen Er'an. Even when he spoke ten sentences, Shen Er’an didn’t make a single sound.

Fortunately, while they weren’t on friendly terms with each other, their relationship as roommates wasn’t strained either. They lived under the same roof, each had their own space, and their relationship could be considered somewhat harmonious.

Sometimes, Jiao Bai would complain to Zhang Zhen about his roommate.

Zhang Zhen wasn’t the type of person to joke around. He reasoned with Jiao Bai, advising him that peace was the most important thing in all matters. If there were any conflicts, they should sit down and talk things out properly. Avoid physical altercations and if it did come to that, then he mustn’t let himself suffer losses.

Zhang Zhen was becoming more father-like with every passing day.

Jiao Bai, on the other hand, hoped that Zhang Zhen would complain about his San-ge so that he could analyse him.

That Qi Yilao, maybe only his old roots were genuine[2]. Jiao Bai intended to wait until his rank had significantly levelled up before going to cross swords with him[3].


[1] In BL wife-chasing ‘crematorium’ novels, the gong treats the shou badly until the shou has had enough and packs up and leaves. The ‘crematorium’ is the gong regretting it, changing his ways and groveling to try to get the Shou back.

[2] 可能只有老根是真的 – ‘only his old roots were genuine.’ I’m having trouble understanding this sentence but I think the general idea is that Jiao Bai is trying to say that nothing you see of Qi Yilao is real. It’s all a mask that he’s wearing - his personality/behaviour/actions etc are all fake.

[3] Level up by taking care of the smaller fry first before confronting the big boss.