The Pitiful Guy I Saved Is a Possessive Big Shot - Chapter 27

“Also, in a little while, when the schoolwork gets more intense, we might have to stay at school for evening self-study.”

Shi Qingning’s concerns were very practical.

“If you’re still living so far away then, running back and forth every day might be too much trouble.”

When Shi Qingning had asked before, Bai Yexi said he wasn’t used to collective dorm life, so he didn’t live on campus.

But if it were this apartment outside the school, with only the two of them living there, “Mint” shouldn’t find it uncomfortable, right?

Shi Qingning really hoped to live with Bai Yexi. However, he didn’t want to push too hard, so he added:

“Mom said they just finished renovating. We can move in in about two or three days. Why don’t you think about it for a bit?”

Bai Yexi was silent for a moment. He slowly let go of the plain silver chain between his fingers, which he had been gripping so tightly it left a faint mark.

“Okay.”

The two of them returned to the Shi house together. After dinner, Shi Qingning went upstairs first to walk slowly by the study’s floor-to-ceiling window to help his digestion.

To encourage Bai Yexi to eat more, Shi Qingning often shared portions with him. Without realizing it, his own food intake was increasing. Sometimes, Shi Qingning felt a bit dazed.

Was he feeding Mint, or was Mint feeding him?

While pacing, Shi Qingning’s phone screen lit up.

[Junzi: 1010!! Have you seen the posts?!]

[Junzi: (Web Link)]

“Junzi” was Song Qianqian’s username. According to him, it originally came from the phrase “gentleman” (qianqian junzi), but he thought “Junzi” (meaning mushroom) sounded tastier.

Song Qianqian was very creative with nicknames; he had simplified “Xiao Ning” into “10.”

Shi Qingning clicked the link and immediately saw a candid photo in the opening post. Although the photo was blurry, the long hair and familiar figure were unmistakable.

It was Bai Yexi.

Shi Qingning scrolled up to the thread title:

[Which class is this long-haired handsome guy in?? I need all his info within three minutes!!]

A new message popped up.

[Junzi: It can’t be hidden anymore. Brother Bai’s handsomeness is out! There are seven hot threads on the forum homepage, and six of them are photos of him!]

[Junzi: But he still hasn’t broken your record. On the day you transferred, there were more than a dozen hot threads about you.]

Shi Qingning: “…”

This forum was the student forum for No. 29 Middle School. Song Qianqian had recommended it to him before, saying everyone chatted about gossip there. However, Shi Qingning didn’t care much for gossip and hadn’t checked it yet.

[Lemon: Aren’t you afraid of getting caught using your phone?]

It was currently the first period of evening self-study. Although it was a free study session, Jie Chuxia often came by to check on discipline, and occasionally the grade dean would wander around too.

[Junzi: Hehe, the Class Teacher and the Dean are all at a meeting. No one is watching today.]

[Junzi: The people who first posted aren’t even 10th graders. But since there are so few boys with long hair, it was easy to find out who he was. I bet everyone in all three grades knows him now.]

Shi Qingning clicked into the forum. Sure enough, the homepage was drifting with hot threads containing photos. Besides discussing Bai Yexi’s looks, they were talking about him saving someone that afternoon.

High schoolers love to exaggerate. The threads started out okay, but the more people talked, the more the story fermented. By now, it had reached legendary proportions.

[Junzi: Now everyone is saying Brother Bai must be the descendant of some hidden martial arts master!]

[Junzi: Seriously, the more I think about it, the more it fits. Everyone says he looks like he just came down from a mountain to attend school for the first time, which is why he has such an ethereal vibe and can’t cut his hair.]

[Junzi: And since he doesn’t attend morning or evening classes, is it because he has to go back to do other “homework”? Like carrying a hundred buckets of water or something.]

Shi Qingning laughed.

[Lemon: Maybe he’s just preparing to save the world.]

Wasn’t that the standard task for a protagonist?

[Junzi: If you said that about him, I’d actually believe it.]

[Junzi: Oh, and during dinner, people were coming to our class asking for his contact info. More than one group! But then everyone realized no one in class actually has him added. His contact info is a hot commodity now.]

There was a light knock on the door. Shi Qingning looked up and saw Bai Yexi walking in with a plate of strawberries. Bai Yexi set down the porcelain dish and asked:

“What is it?”

The boy was looking at him and smiling.

“Nothing, just chatting with a classmate. He said there are a lot of posts about you on the school forum.”

Shi Qingning walked over and said with a smile, “If it were me, I’d definitely want your contact info too.”

The young man standing before him was tall with a straight back and cold, handsome features. He was meant to be the center of attention, to be watched and admired. To make countless hearts skip a beat.

Shi Qingning felt more and more that going to school with Bai Yexi was the right decision. Bai Yexi was able to interact with normal people more than before, staying in a healthy, non-twisted environment.

“Oh, right,” Shi Qingning remembered. “I did ask for it back then.”

It was the night of Jian Ren’s birthday party. It turned out he was the first one to make a move.

Bai Yexi didn’t look at any forum posts. He just looked down and used a fruit knife to cut a strawberry. He picked up the sweetest tip of the strawberry with a fork and held it to Shi Qingning’s lips.

Shi Qingning took it and mumbled a “thank you.”

After the boy finished eating, Bai Yexi said, “Big Brother Shi is back. He wants you to come down.”

Shi Qingning nodded, put down the fork, and headed downstairs. Halfway there, he suddenly remembered—I ate the strawberry tip, so what happened to the other half?

Although Bai Yexi was very strict about his own diet, Shi Qingning remembered he never wasted food. Usually, he chose his portions exactly when serving.

Shi Qingning had wondered before: Who eats like they’re calculating measurements? He was even more strict than Shi Qingning himself, the former patient.

While thinking about these random things, his phone lit up again. It was another message from Song Qianqian. He was still talking about Bai Yexi, so Shi Qingning thought for a moment and asked:

[Is there any information about Chen Zibing spreading on the forum?]

The news about Bai Yexi was spreading so fast partly because of the suicide attempt that afternoon. While the news about Bai Yexi was just gossip, for Chen Zibing, it could be a secondary injury.

[Junzi: Our class already agreed not to spread details about this afternoon. Even if we talk, we don’t use her name. Class 4 is the same.]

[Junzi: But there’s still a hot thread digging into her info.]

[Junzi: It even brought up her past history with Qi Ning. There are a lot of details, like the person is an insider. It looks like someone from Qi Ning’s side.]

Shi Qingning frowned. He was deep in thought when he heard a voice calling him.

“What are you doing standing on the stairs? Come here.”

It was Shi Yi, who had just returned.

“Watch where you’re going. Why are you staring at your phone?” Shi Yi asked. “What’s wrong?”

Shi Qingning briefly explained the situation. He usually talked to his family about school.

“I’m thinking about whether I should find the class teacher,” Shi Qingning said. “To ask her to help handle the privacy-related messages on the forum.”

Shi Yi glanced at the phone screen and said, “No need.”

With that, Shi Yi took out his phone and opened WeChat. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle this.”

“Huh?” Shi Qingning was stunned. How could his brother handle this?

He looked at Shi Yi with sudden admiration. He only just remembered that his brother was a CEO. Scenes from web novels about “overbearing CEOs” immediately flashed through his mind.

Shi Qingning was curious. “How will you handle it? Hire a hacker to crash the forum?”

Was he about to witness a real-life “The weather is getting cold, let the forum go bankrupt” moment?

Shi Yi: “…”

“What are you thinking?” Shi Yi reached out to flick him but ended up tapping Shi Qingning’s phone screen instead. “It’s a forum, right? The student forums for No. 4 Middle School and No. 29 Middle School were built by me and my friends.”

Years ago, when Shi Yi was at No. 4 Middle School, he had friends at No. 29. Since they had free time, they built a platform together and made two different “skins” for the two schools. After all these years, the forum had been upgraded, but the basic framework was still the original one.

Shi Yi sent a message. “He still has an admin account. He’ll go on and pull the keywords.”

Shi Qingning was amazed. “That’s so cool!”

Shi Yi glanced at him, the curve of his eyes cold and sharp. But Shi Qingning didn’t feel any chill. He made a new discovery: it turned out his cold-faced brother’s mood visibly improved when he was praised.

Note to self: praise brother more in the future.

Shi Yi didn’t know what his brother was thinking. He had called him down to show him today’s medical report.

“Everything else is mostly fine, but your eye pressure is a bit high,” Shi Yi said. “The doctor said it might be because you just started school and your body is adjusting. He prescribed some eye drops and said you need more rest.”

He tilted his chin up. “Look at your phone less.”

There were other parts to the report, and just as Shi Yi was about to explain further, he received a phone call. It was from work.

“Go back up first. I’ll find you in a bit,” Shi Yi signaled and went to answer the phone.

Shi Qingning took the medical results upstairs, flipping through them as he walked. He entered the study, and Bai Yexi looked over. “The results are out?”

Shi Qingning nodded.

“How is it?” Bai Yexi asked.

“Nothing serious,” Shi Qingning said. “Everything is normal, just the eye pressure is a bit high.”

As he answered, he was about to set the report aside when he suddenly heard Bai Yexi’s voice, which was rarely raised.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?!”

Shi Qingning was startled. The young man was suddenly in front of him, grabbing his forearm. Even through the soft fabric of his sleeve, Shi Qingning could feel the icy chill of the other’s fingertips.

This was the first time Shi Qingning had heard Bai Yexi lose his usual calm tone. Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt Bai Yexi’s fingers trembling slightly.

Shi Qingning took a second before he could explain. “It’s nothing. It’s just eye strain from school.” He instinctively tried to soothe the overreacting Bai Yexi. “I have eye drops. I just need to rest.”

The muscles in Bai Yexi’s tightly clenched jaw twitched imperceptibly. From such a close distance, Shi Qingning saw his Adam’s apple move slowly.

It was as if he was finally able to relax. Or as if he was swallowing an unspeakable amount of pain.

“What’s wrong…?” Shi Qingning asked carefully.

After being together for so long, he could now sense Bai Yexi’s emotional shifts better than anyone else.

Bai Yexi took a very slow breath. “Nothing.” He gently let go of Shi Qingning’s hand, his voice returning to its usual cold, magnetic tone. “Can I see the report?”

Shi Qingning handed it to him. “Everything is in the normal range. It’s really fine.”

Bai Yexi said nothing, looking down and flipping through the report. He looked at it for a long time before suddenly saying:

“The house outside the school—can I live there with you?”

Shi Qingning hadn’t expected him to bring this up so suddenly. The next second, his beautiful eyes lit up.

“You agree?!”

Bai Yexi nodded.

“Then I’ll go tell Mom!” Shi Qingning cheered. He turned to make a call but realized he had left his phone downstairs.

He couldn’t wait. He quickly told Bai Yexi and headed for the door. Shi Qingning didn’t expect Bai Yexi to change his mind so fast. Was this a case of “using his illness to get sympathy”?

Shi Qingning thought to himself that “Mint” was really far too kind. Just because he received a little kindness, he cared so much about Shi Qingning’s health.

Perhaps that was why the protagonist in the novel was tricked by those pursuers? His heart was too good.

While lost in thought, Shi Qingning ran right into a cold, tall figure.

Shi Yi had just walked upstairs and was looking at Shi Qingning expressionlessly. He glanced at the study nearby.

“You want to live with him?”

Clearly, Shi Yi had heard the conversation.

Shi Qingning nodded. “We want to live together. It’s more convenient, and he usually takes good care of me…”

“Care?” Shi Yi repeated the word slowly. His voice dropped, sounding extremely cold. “Can our family not afford a nanny?”

Shi Qingning was stunned, finally realizing his brother’s tone was quite hostile.

“No…”

He was about to explain when he heard the front door open downstairs. Then came Mrs. Shi’s cheerful voice.

“Baby, Mom and Dad are back together!”

Shi Qingning knew his father was coming back soon, but he didn’t expect it to be this early. Thinking of the stern, serious face of Shi Ling from the news, Shi Qingning felt instinctively nervous.

Shi Yi looked at him and didn’t say anything more. He turned and headed downstairs first.

The study door opened, and Bai Yexi came out, having heard the commotion. Shi Qingning’s mind was a bit messy, and he didn’t know what to say, so he just followed Bai Yexi downstairs in a daze.

In the living room, he saw the tall, serious man at a glance. Shi Ling was about the same height as Shi Yi, but the aura around his brow was even stronger than his son’s. The authority of someone who had been in a high position for a long time made him intimidating even without being angry.

Moreover, Mr. Shi always wore an extremely cold expression. It made people afraid to even breathe loudly.

“Baby, come here,” Mrs. Shi called with a smile. “Daddy hurried back early. Luckily the blizzard there didn’t delay the flight.”

Shi Qingning walked over carefully, his steps a bit stiff. The man’s aura was too powerful. He was still thinking about how to address him.

But to his surprise, the man spoke first. The man’s voice was deep and very magnetic.

“Li… Little Treasure, come give Da… Daddy a hug.”

Shi Qingning tripped over his own feet. The next second, he was pulled into a firm, solid embrace.

“Did… Did you miss me?”

Shi Qingning was completely stunned.

Who would have thought that the powerful richest man of Haicheng, the serious Chairman Shi from the news…

Actually, had a stutter.

…and would call his son “Little Treasure.”

None of the reports had ever mentioned Shi Ling’s stutter. Shi Qingning finally understood why his father spoke so little. He hid it too well. In public, he only spoke in single words or short phrases, so no one could see the flaw.

Shi Qingning was held by Shi Ling, then felt his body go heavy. He was actually picked up by his father—carried like a small child, sitting directly on the man’s strong arm.

Shi Qingning’s line of sight suddenly rose. He clearly saw Shi Yi silently take half a step back. Clearly, his brother had expected this and was determined not to repeat his younger brother’s fate.

He also saw Bai Yexi looking at him. The young man’s face was solemn, but there was a hidden warmth in the depths of those cold eyes.

A family reunion. Nothing could be happier.

Shi Qingning smelled a faint, cold masculine scent. It carried the chill of the outdoors but had no smell of alcohol or tobacco. Just like when he first woke up, his mother didn’t have a hint of perfume on her.

For their younger son, the Shi family had done their absolute best.

Shi Qingning’s throat tightened slightly. He took a shallow breath and rested his cheek on the man’s hard shoulder, whispering:

“Dad.”

Shi Ling’s voice carried unmistakable joy. “Good boy.”

“Alright, alright, don’t scare him,” Mrs. Shi said with a laugh, patting her husband’s arm. “Put the baby down.”

Only then did Shi Ling carefully set his younger son down. He looked up at Shi Yi. Shi Yi looked cold and very obviously took another step back.

Mrs. Shi laughed. “By the way, why didn’t anyone answer when we rang the bell? Were you all upstairs?”

Shi Qingning said, “We were talking about living arrangements.”

“Oh, right,” Mrs. Shi said. “That house is almost ready. Do you want to move in with Bo?”

Shi Yi frowned. “Mom.”

With Bai Yexi right there, Shi Yi didn’t say it directly, but his meaning was clear. But before Shi Qingning could explain for Bai Yexi, his father asked:

“Together, right?”

When he wasn’t as emotional, his speech was more fluent. Combined with his usual expression, it sounded even more serious and authoritative.

“Having a classmate look out for you. Good. Very good.”

Shi Yi: “…”

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