The Delinquent Wants to Be His Rival School Grass's Guardian - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Breaking into the House — Someone opened the door and walked in

At 4:00 PM, Coach Zhang arrived at the school on time. Yan Jun followed him to the back playground for training. Ren Yandong and Yuan Siqi played ball for a while longer, then bought popsicles and ran over to watch the spectacle.

Under the scorching summer sun, a dozen or so sports students were lined up neatly along the track doing specialized drills. High-knee runs, Mach drills, crossovers it was a sea of ultra-short shorts and long legs, enough to make one’s eyes wander.

Ren Yandong compared them with great interest, tilting his head to remark to Yuan Siqi: “Yan Jun’s legs are the whitest!”

Yuan Siqi felt inexplicably proud: “Of course! Our Boss has great skin, fine and white. He doesn’t even tan!”

This amused Ren Yandong: “Wait, why are you proud?”

The formal running drills only began after the series of warm-ups. The pair sat in the shade of the grandstand roof, leisurely admiring Yan Jun’s wind-like speed, occasionally cheering: “Yan Jun, keep it up! So fast!”

Yan Jun, panting and wiping away sweat, walked back to the starting point along the outer edge of the track. He remembered to glare fiercely at them: “The ball game is over, what are you still hanging around here for?!”

The others didn’t dare talk back to him, but Ren Yandong had no such reservations: “Just admiring the handsome form of a star athlete! In the past school sports meets, you always beat me by several meters in the 100m final. Can’t I try to learn a few tricks?”

Yan Jun looked at him with disdain: “Shouldn’t you Rocket Class kids have a lot of homework? Is it finished?”

“Nope,” Ren Yandong smiled lightheartedly, “Done half. The other half I plan to copy from Qin Yize.”

Yan Jun’s heart skipped a beat. He stopped in his tracks, hands on his hips: “Then… won’t your answers be exactly the same?”

“That just proves we both got them right!” Ren Yandong laughed easily. “Our class’s accuracy rate is very high; the teacher won’t think it’s weird.”

…Fuck. Yan Jun’s mind suddenly became a chaotic mess. He glared at him fiercely: “That still means you didn’t do it yourself! Hmph, no wonder you’re only ranked in the thirties!” He clenched his fists and walked away in annoyance.

Ren Yandong was baffled: “Wait, why is he snapping at me?”

Yuan Siqi looked at him sympathetically: “Our Boss is just like that. You’ll get used to it~”

…

At 6:00 PM, Yan Jun returned home, once again covered in sweat. The house was quiet, with only Grandma behind the counter listening to opera. He blinked, looking for Qin Yize upstairs and down: “Grandma, where’s Xiao Shu?”

“Xiao Shu is next door, playing with Sijia.”

…He went next door?

Yan Jun walked to the entrance of the grocery store and saw the two teenagers huddled together behind the counter.

“Brother!” Qin Yize looked up in surprise, half a bright red spicy strip (la tiao) dangling from his mouth. “You’re back!”

Wu Sijia sat beside him as they watched anime together: “Xiao Jun-ge~”

Seeing the identical spicy strips in their hands, Yan Jun let out a frustrated laugh: “I thought you couldn’t handle spicy food?”

“This is delicious! If I eat it slowly, it’s not that spicy~”

Qin Yize smiled, his eyes curving into crescents like a fox. Yan Jun somehow thought of Ren Yandong’s carefree smile and his comment: “I’ll just copy Qin Yize’s homework~”

He felt a wave of irritation, grabbed Qin Yize’s collar, and dragged him out: “Stop eating junk food. Come home and eat real food!”

“Oh!” Sijia leaned over the counter to watch them pull and tug as they left, giggling to herself after a while: “But Xiao Shu-ge really is so handsome~ It’s nice just to have a look at him!”

Having hauled the guy back, Yan Jun could finally shower in peace. The kid seemed to have something to say to him, pacing back and forth in front of the bathroom door holding a half-pack of spicy strips: “Brother~ Brother, do you want a spicy strip?”

“No.”

“Oh.” The fake kid was quiet for a moment, then asked: “Brother, are you really good at frying dough sticks (you tiao)?”

Yan Jun put on a tank top and large shorts, opened the door while drying his hair, and pushed him aside: “How do you know I can fry dough sticks?”

Qin Yize followed expectantly behind him like a large dog wagging its tail: “Xiao Hui couldn’t get into his house again and sat with us for a bit. He was bragging to me, saying that in the past, your family didn’t just sell buns and pies, but also dough sticks, soy milk, tea eggs—so much! He also said the dough sticks you fry are especially delicious, fluffy and crispy, and he could eat two at once! …Brother, why don’t you fry them anymore?”

“It’s just me alone now, how can I fry them?” With his hair half-dry, Yan Jun draped the towel over his shoulder and turned into the kitchen to prepare dinner: “Once you start the fryer, it’s over a hundred yuan worth of oil. I’d have to fry three hundred sticks just to make a profit. I have classes usually, where would I find the time!”

His hopes of eating dough sticks dashed, Qin Yize pouted reluctantly, his back slumping against the doorframe in total disappointment: “I really want to eat some…”

Yan Jun gave a “tsk,” heated the pan, poured the ribs in, and ignored him.

…

After preparing the fillings for the next day, Yan Jun took another shower and headed upstairs carrying the leek and egg pancakes he’d made that morning.

Qin Yize was lying on the bed, wearing Yan Jun’s basketball jersey and playing Tetris. That handheld console was ten years old, the only gift Yan Jun’s father had ever bought him. The quality was good, and the buttons were still responsive.

Yan Jun put the pancakes on the table: “Eat quickly, then go to sleep.”

Qin Yize muttered distractedly: “Wait a sec, I’m almost at 90,000 points.”

…Huh?!

Yan Jun leaned over and was shocked to find that the fake kid had actually set the speed to the highest level; the blocks were falling at a dizzying pace!

Damn! Sensing a threat to his record, Yan Jun immediately hit the “Reset” button. The score vanished instantly. Qin Yize let out a tragic wail, looking up at him with an accusing, deeply aggrieved gaze: “Brother, what did you do that for!”

Yan Jun kept a stern face, appearing very cold: “You were dawdling when a midnight snack was right in front of you. No more snacks for you in the future!”

The fake kid could only sit at the edge of the bed pouting, eating his pancake piteously: “It took me so much effort to get to 90,000…”

Yan Jun ignored his complaints. He sat at the desk, pulled out his phone, and opened a map of the city. He searched for “Galaxy Water Lane.”

…It’s right by the outer city river.

Zooming in on the residential area, Yan Jun attempted to identify the building based on the information Ren Yandong had leaked. But looking closely, there were four buildings right against the river…! He was suddenly faced with a dilemma.

These damn rich people! Yan Jun couldn’t help but shoot a sharp look at the fake kid beside him.

It seemed he would have to try the access card on his keys building by building.

He planned to go to Qin Yize’s house tomorrow morning to find his ID card, making future hospital visits easier. He also wanted to grab some clothes, shoes, and daily necessities so the guy wouldn’t have to wear his clothes every day…

And he wanted to see if there were any “clues” in the house. If his parents really wanted him to go abroad next semester… then time was running out.

“Brother, your turn to brush.” Qin Yize handed over the water cup.

Yan Jun froze, taking it hesitantly, feeling inexplicably uneasy: “Xiao Shu, does… does your head still hurt? Can you remember anything from before?”

Touching the now-smooth wound on his temple, the fake kid tried to recall, but his mind was still a complete blank: “I can’t remember anything.”

He shook his head dismissively, rolled onto the bed, and hugged the quilt with a mischievous grin: “It’s better not to remember. That way I don’t have to go home; I can live here with Brother forever~”

“…Get lost. How could you not go home?” Glaring at him, Yan Jun brushed his teeth, his eyelids gradually dropping in thought.

…

The next morning, Yan Jun was woken up by the heat. He found a hot, large body pressed against him like an octopus.

Irritably giving a “task,” he was about to push the person away when he moved and seemed to hit something hard?

…Holy crap!

Jumping up abruptly, Yan Jun’s face turned from red to white. He couldn’t help but throw the quilt over the other: “Stop sleeping, get up!”

“Mmm…?” Qin Yize sat up dazed, a bulge in his pants that took a long while to subside: “Is it lunchtime?”

“Lunch my ass!” Yan Jun rushed downstairs in a fit of rage, returning a moment later with a wet towel which he tossed accurately onto Qin Yize’s face: “Wipe your face, I’m taking you out!”

“Where are we going?” The fake kid wiped his face with the towel, his hair as messy as a feather duster. Yan Jun saw a cowlick swaying back and forth and couldn’t resist pressing it down hard: “Just follow me, stop asking questions!”

Half an hour later, the two arrived by taxi at the entrance of Galaxy Water Lane.

Yan Jun nervously took out the key fob, but before he could get close, Qin Yize walked naturally toward the gate. It seemed the main entrance used facial recognition.

He looked up and saw his own face reflected on a small screen, followed by a “beep” as the gate opened. At that moment, the security guard in the window looked up at them. Qin Yize was about to say hello when Yan Jun forcefully pulled him inside.

“Brother,” as they walked into the complex, Qin Yize felt a sense of familiarity: “At the end of that corridor is a pond with a rockery.”

Yan Jun looked at him; his initial surprise was immediately replaced by a flustered avoidance: “…Is that so.”

Walking along the tree-lined path toward the four riverfront buildings, Yan Jun looked at the high-rise luxury apartments, clutching the keys in his hand, hesitating silently for two seconds.

Qin Yize also looked around, suddenly pointing to the building next door: “Brother, it’s not this one.”

“It’s not?” Walking to the next building half-doubting, Yan Jun lightly swiped the access card. With a “beep,” the glass door opened.

Qin Yize walked in familiarly, stood in front of the elevator, and looked back with a wave: “Brother, come in.”

Yan Jun shot him a suspicious look and pressed the “20” button.

These buildings seemed to have a “one unit per floor” layout. The elevator opened directly into a spacious foyer. Seeing the wall-to-wall shoe cabinets and the waist-high storage units, Yan Jun’s entire body instinctively tensed up as he stepped out.

He found the key and opened the door. In the foyer sat a pair of messy slippers one blue, one white.

There was also a pair of casual shoes nearby. He didn’t know the brand, but they looked expensive.

Yan Jun couldn’t help but shoot a sidelong glance at Qin Yize, snorting in his heart.

“Who puts their shoes like this? One here, one there.”

Qin Yize blinked and leaned in: “Brother, I always use my left hand to hold chopsticks.”

“What does that have to do with your shoes?!” Yan Jun shoved him inside.

White and cool gray filled the entire space, making it feel inexplicably cold and indifferent, like an airtight ice cellar. The curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows were tightly drawn, letting in no light. The room was lit only by the cold white of the sensor lights, devoid of any warmth.

“This is too monotonous,” he couldn’t help but comment.

Qin Yize wandered around with a lack of interest, even asking: “Brother, is this my house? Why can I unlock the door?”

“Because you live here!” Yan Jun walked to the window and pulled the heavy curtains open. Bright sunlight poured in instantly, illuminating the dust dancing in the air.

At that moment, the electronic lock on the front door gave a prompt.

Click.

Someone had opened the door and walked in.