Accidentally Caught The Eye Of A Yandere - Chapter 8

【J: I don’t have any friends at school.】

【J: At school, if people see you getting too close to me, they might not dare to interact with you. If you mind, you don’t have to talk to me at school.】

These two messages contained a massive amount of information. Shen Ying was completely stunned as he read them, wondering what was going on. Could the line he fabricated to put Peng Sheng’s mind at ease have actually hit the nail on the head?

But could that really be true?

【Ying: How could I possibly mind? Besides, you’re the only person I know at Yinan No. 1 High. If I don’t talk to you, who am I supposed to talk to?】

Confused as he was, Shen Ying made sure to state his stance immediately—after all, he wasn’t stupid.

【J: It’s alright. You don’t have to worry about me. You can pretend not to know me at school. Just knowing that you’re there is enough for me.】

“……”

For a moment, Shen Ying genuinely couldn’t tell if Jiang Shi was testing his loyalty or telling the truth.

However, if it was the truth, the waters at Yinan No. 1 High were deeper than he thought. Jiang Shi was a high school student who could casually pull out hundreds of thousands of yuan and even use connections to expedite a transfer for him. Shouldn’t a person like that have crowds of people lining up to flatter him?

Just like Zhuang Kangbo—always surrounded by a horde of lackeys, constantly sucking up to him whenever Shen Ying saw them.

Of course, Zhuang Kangbo wasn’t comparable to Jiang Shi in any way.

Staring at Jiang Shi’s messages, Shen Ying couldn’t help but wonder: Had the wealthy kids at Yinan No. 1 High already become competitive to a degree beyond his imagination?

【Ying: Don’t worry, from now on I’ll protect you at school. If others won’t talk to you, I’ll only talk to you.】

Instinct told Shen Ying that unconditionally expressing his loyalty to Jiang Shi first was definitely the right move. As for the rest, he could figure it out after he arrived at Yinan No. 1 High on Monday.

Jiang Shi waited a few minutes before replying.

【J: Thank you.】

“Holy crap.” Looking at the pile of luxury items sitting in Shen Ying’s living room, Peng Sheng picked up a pair of shoes. “He just gave these to you like this? These are a limited edition! I thought I’d only ever see these online in my lifetime.”

Shen Ying looked at the running shoes in his hand, having no concept of what “limited edition” meant. Jiang Shi had asked for his home address this morning and subsequently sent a large pile of items over via a delivery service. The staff member responsible for delivering them had run up and down the stairs three times.

There were backpacks, school supplies, clothes, shoes, and watches.

“Holy shit, this watch…” Peng Sheng picked it up to examine it for a few seconds before pulling out his phone. “Let me check. It’s probably a limited edition too.”

“……”

Ignoring him, Shen Ying took out his phone to message Jiang Shi.

【Ying: Jiang Shi, I received the things you had sent over. Why did you send all of this?】

【Jiang Shi: For you to use. If you don’t like them, I can send you other styles.】

【Ying: It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that this is too expensive. You really don’t need to give me all this.】

【Jiang Shi: If you really don’t want to use them, you can give them to someone else. It doesn’t matter.】

“……” Shen Ying choked up.

【Ying: No, no, don’t misunderstand! How could I possibly give away the things you gave me? I’ll wear them to school tomorrow. Honestly, I was actually worried I wouldn’t have a good set of gear going to Yinan No. 1 High.】

【J: I’m glad you like them.】

【J: Brother Lin will pick you up from your home tomorrow to take you to school.】

Subconsciously, Shen Ying didn’t dare say anything more to decline, fearing Jiang Shi might hit him with another line like, ‘It’s alright. If you don’t want Brother Lin to pick you up, we can fire him.’

【Ying: Okay, got it. Thank you.】

It felt very strange. Even though Jiang Shi presented an easygoing image, Shen Ying subconsciously didn’t dare go against him. What made it even stranger was that the reason he didn’t dare go against him was because he felt Jiang Shi was being too good to him, investing too much capital into him. It would feel cold and ungrateful not to listen or accept it.

Could this be the magic of the contract?

Usually, when people submit to someone, shouldn’t they be taking orders? How come in his case, he was getting freeloads and free gifts instead?

“Yinan No. 1 High is quite far from here. Are you going to board there or what?” During lunch, Peng Sheng and Shen Ying were eating out together when the former suddenly asked halfway through his meal.

“I don’t know, I’ll just commute back and forth for now. I’ll make plans after my grandfather gets discharged,” Shen Ying said while slurping up his noodles.

Peng Sheng nodded thoughtfully, then reminded him: “My guess is that Jiang Shi will let you stay with him.”

“Ah? That’s probably unlikely, right?”

“Just wait and see.”

“……” Shen Ying pondered the possibility. He swallowed his noodles and looked at Peng Sheng. “Then wouldn’t I get to experience what it’s like to live in a huge house? Rich people’s houses in TV dramas look like big castles where regular people get lost upon stepping inside. If Jiang Shi’s home is also a big castle, wouldn’t it be super embarrassing if I got lost inside?”

Peng Sheng: “………………”

Is that the main point here?!

“Alright, that’s enough out of you.” Shen Ying had teased Peng Sheng on purpose. He hadn’t expected him to not laugh at all and instead look completely speechless. “I told you, you don’t need to worry about me. Just do your own thing as usual. If you really have that much spare time to worry about me, put that energy into your studies—Uncle Peng and the others would be happy too.”

“Brother.” Peng Sheng set down his chopsticks, placed a hand on Shen Ying’s shoulder, and said with earnest gravity, “Sometimes being too straightforward isn’t necessarily a good thing. All my life, I’ve always been very at ease with you since you’re more reliable than me. But you are honestly… way too straightforward!!”

He didn’t realize the severity of the situation at all!

“Hiss—are you crazy, Peng Sheng?” Shen Ying’s eardrums rang from the sudden jump in volume, and he cursed at him while covering his ears.

The noodle shop boss was clearly startled by Peng Sheng as well, shouting, “What are you doing! Keep it civil in a public space, schoolboys.”

Shen Ying immediately turned around to apologize to the boss on Peng Sheng’s behalf.

After apologizing, he turned back to give Peng Sheng a piece of his mind, only to notice that his phone screen on the table kept lighting up. Notifications were flooding in from group chats and private messages on WeChat and QQ.

Shen Ying picked it up to read them. Before long, his expression darkened, his brow furrowing deeply.

“What’s wrong?” Noticing his expression, Peng Sheng quickly leaned over to check his screen.

The people sending messages to Shen Ying were all classmates from Linbei No. 3 High. The ones tagging him in group chats were acquaintances, while the private messages were from people he was somewhat close with.

【Classmate 1: Shen Ying, are you okay? No wonder you didn’t come to school this week. My condolences.】

【Classmate 2: Why is the school group chat saying your grandfather didn’t make it through surgery? Is that true? Are you okay?】

【Classmate 3: Bro, hang in there.】

【Classmate 4: If you were short on money, why didn’t you tell us? We could have pooled some money together to help pay for your grandfather’s treatment.】

Countless messages like these flooded in, a mixture of genuine concern and fake sympathy.

“Fck.” Shen Ying read a few before closing his phone screen with a dark face. The phone made a sharp clatter as it hit the table, and a curse slipped past his lips.

“Where did these people hear about your grandfather being hospitalized? When people at school asked me, I only said you had a family matter and needed a week’s leave! Are they out of their minds!” Peng Sheng swore as he yanked out his phone. “Which scumbag is spreading rumors? Watch me tear him a new one! How dare he curse Grandpa Shen like that!”

Shen Ying clenched his hands into fists, his head lowered and his voice thick with anger.

“Zhuang Kangbo.”

“Shen Ying, your face? What happened?” On Monday morning, Brother Lin picked up Shen Ying right on time. At first glance, he noticed the injury on Shen Ying’s face—a prominent, glaring bruise over his left cheekbone.

Shen Ying was surrounded by a gloomy aura and clearly wasn’t in good shape, but he still shook his head at Brother Lin. “I’m fine, Brother Lin, I just accidentally bumped into something. Let’s go, I don’t want to be late on my first day after transferring.”

Brother Lin looked at him for a few seconds without prying further. “Alright, let’s head out then.”

Having woken up half an hour earlier than usual, Peng Sheng rushed over to knock on his neighbor’s door before even brushing his teeth. However, there was no movement from inside.

Shen Ying had already left for his new school.

Peng Sheng stared at the tightly closed door, his eyes downcast as he thought about something. A moment later, he went back home, brushed his teeth, grabbed the baozi his grandmother had prepared, and headed to school with his backpack.

When he arrived at school, Peng Sheng was stopped right at the gate by several classmates asking what really happened to Shen Ying’s grandfather, and why Shen Ying wasn’t walking to school with him like usual, given that they always commuted together.

Yesterday, Peng Sheng had single-handedly cursed out the rumor-monger in every group chat containing Linbei No. 3 High students. Although he hadn’t named names, many people knew he was referring to Zhuang Kangbo.

“He transferred. He doesn’t go to Linbei No. 3 High anymore,” Peng Sheng said to a few guys he and Shen Ying were close with as they walked toward the teaching building.

“Transferred? So suddenly? Where did he transfer to?” one of them asked.

“To a school that actually matches his grades, of course. He never belonged in—” Peng Sheng cut his words short as he saw someone appear in his line of sight up ahead. The person looked back at him with a disdainful glint in his eye.

It was Zhuang Kangbo.

Peng Sheng originally intended to pretend he didn’t see the scum, but as Zhuang Kangbo walked past him, Peng Sheng noticed up close that the guy’s face and the corner of his mouth were covered in injuries—and they looked pretty severe.

“Holy crap, did you see that? Zhuang Kangbo’s face sure is colorful today. This is the first time I’ve seen that idiot beaten up like that.” The guy next to Peng Sheng noticed as well, his tone filled with unhideable gloating.

Peng Sheng stared at Zhuang Kangbo’s posture of trying to act tough, falling into deep thought.

After he and Shen Ying had lunch yesterday noon, the two of them spent the entire afternoon at the hospital accompanying Grandpa Shen. After dinner, Peng Sheng had left the hospital early because he had gaming commissions to complete. By the time he returned home from another friend’s place and messaged Shen Ying, Shen Ying said he was already home and getting ready for bed.

They had even chatted casually about game difficulty.

That couldn’t have been Shen Ying’s doing… right?

Yinan No. 1 High, Grade 11 Class 3.

“Did you guys know? I just passed by the teachers’ office, and it looks like there’s a transfer student today! Our homeroom teacher is even receiving him! Could he be transferring to our class? How come there wasn’t any leak about this beforehand!” A shorter guy ran into the classroom, having just acquired first-hand news, and rushed back to tell his classmates.

There were still twenty minutes before morning self-study, and only five people had arrived in the classroom.

Zhao Lingfan was munching on a baozi. Hearing this, and given that the guy had a history of making things up, he raised his head, rolled his eyes at him, and paid him no attention.

“A transfer student?” The only girl currently in class was kind enough not to let his comment fall flat, though she clearly didn’t believe it either. “It’s been so long since the semester started, how could there still be a transfer student? Bringing fake news on a Monday morning will only annoy us more, okay?”

“I’m not lying!! It’s real! I just don’t know if he’s coming to our class or not. Don’t blame me for not telling you in advance—this transfer student is pretty handsome, but he has injuries on his face. He looks like someone you shouldn’t mess with.”

Having finished his baozi, Zhao Lingfan laughed. “Dahuang, you’re making up quite a detailed story today. You even added specific details?”

Dahuang grew flustered and red-faced. “I really didn’t lie to you guys today! Why don’t you believe me! I’m telling the truth!”

“Oh~ Right, got it. So you did lie to us before.”

“……I’m really done with you. I can’t be bothered to explain anymore, just wait and see! There’s definitely a transfer student!”

“Well, let me tell you this too: the English teacher is going to quiz us today on the article we learned last Friday. If we don’t memorize it quickly, we’ll be kept after class again. Don’t disturb our reciting, say another word and I…”

“Zhao Lingfan! Your homeroom teacher asked me to call you to his office! He said for you to pick another guy from your class to come along. It seems your class has a transfer student coming, and he needs you guys to lend a hand moving a desk and chair!”