Transmigrated as the School Hunk's Arch-Nemesis [Book Transmigration] - Chapter 9

Cleaning the piano rooms used to be a task where students organized their own teams, but due to uneven group sizes, it was ultimately changed so that roommates were paired together, with each pair responsible for two rooms.

Students on cleaning duty were required to wake up an hour earlier than the rest of the students. It took a full cycle of alarms on his phone to finally wake Shen Yixing up.

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before turning over, only to be met with a face magnified right in front of his own.

Jiang Baiyi was resting his chin on his hand. Seeing Shen Yixing’s pupils suddenly contract, he chuckled softly, stood up, and said, “Wake up, classmate.”

“Do you have a habit of squatting by people’s beds?” Shen Yixing was so startled that he sat up, clutching his chest and panting.

“If you don’t want me squatting by your bed, stop talking in your sleep.” Jiang Baiyi hoisted the pajama-clad Shen Yixing up and shoved a clean school uniform into his arms. “Hurry up and get dressed, the other dorms have already left.”

Shen Yixing held the uniform for a moment, then asked belatedly, “I was talking in my sleep?”

“It wasn’t just talking, you were practically breakdancing,” Jiang Baiyi said, intentionally exaggerating the situation as he tugged at the collar of Shen Yixing’s pajamas. “Are you going to change yourself, or should I do it for you? Don’t dilly-dally, because Dad here isn’t going to wait for you.”

Shen Yixing had initially thought he really had been talking in his sleep, but when he heard the word “breakdancing” from Jiang Baiyi, he immediately felt like they weren’t even on the same wavelength.

He yanked his collar back from Jiang Baiyi’s grip, turned his head away coldly, and said, “I didn’t ask you to wait.”

It took another half hour for Shen Yixing to slowly finish washing up.

He couldn’t be late for cleaning duty, and he certainly couldn’t slack off while cleaning the piano rooms.

Therefore, Jiang Baiyi, acting in his capacity as the class monitor, was exceptionally diligent. He dragged Shen Yixing to the piano room immediately after breakfast. After finding a clean rag, he tossed it aside and sat down on the side, earnestly supervising Shen Yixing’s cleaning work.

“Over there, higher, yes, that corner.” Jiang Baiyi sat imposingly on the piano bench, pointing out where Shen Yixing should wipe from time to time.

“You are so annoying.”

Shen Yixing was standing on a small stool, wiping the spot Jiang Baiyi pointed at with his rag. There wasn’t even any dirt there, and as for reaching higher, he was already on tiptoes and couldn’t reach any further.

“I haven’t even complained that your cleaning isn’t thorough enough,” Jiang Baiyi said. Seeing that the corner he pointed at still had some dust, he walked over, took the rag from Shen Yixing’s hand, and gave it a flick, causing a layer of black debris to drift down from overhead.

When Shen Yixing looked up, some of the debris fell into his eyes. He hurriedly leaned back, accidentally stepped into thin air, and in his panic, grabbed Jiang Baiyi to keep from falling.

Dong.

The piano keys emitted a low, resonant sound that echoed in the room for a long time.

Jiang Baiyi had one hand braced on the piano keys, while his other hand was tightly gripped by Shen Yixing.

As Jiang Baiyi lowered his head, ready to sneer at Shen Yixing, he happened to lock eyes with a pair of clear, clean eyes.

Shen Yixing’s eyes were misty with tears. His tea-colored pupils looked like flawless amber dropped into clear water, pure and bright, and within that amber, Jiang Baiyi’s own face was reflected.

A moment later, Jiang Baiyi regained his composure and coughed lightly. “I’m telling you…”

“I’m sorry.” Shen Yixing let go of the hand he had been clutching, a faint red flush inadvertently creeping onto his face.

“You’re pretty capable, aren’t you, already learning how to throw yourself into someone’s arms. Do you even understand the concept of keeping a respectful distance between men?” Jiang Baiyi grabbed Shen Yixing, held his chin, and leaned in to get a closer look at those amber eyes. “Did you get something in your eye? There are red blood vessels in there.”

That was only because of the dust he had flicked down!

Shen Yixing frowned and blinked, and just as he was about to raise his hand to rub his eye, his wrist was gripped.

Long, slender fingers brushed past the corner of Shen Yixing’s eye, and warm fingertips wiped away the tears clinging to his lashes. A puff of warm air blew over his eyelids, and it wasn’t until Jiang Baiyi’s fingers pulled away that Shen Yixing opened his eyes again.

“It was just a fallen eyelash.” Jiang Baiyi placed a short eyelash into Shen Yixing’s palm, clapped his hands, and shifted his gaze away as if nothing had happened.

Shen Yixing was still stunned. The person who said “keep a respectful distance” a second ago was Jiang Baiyi, and the person who wiped his eye just now was also Jiang Baiyi. Were people these days all two-faced?

Jiang Baiyi retrieved the rag that had fallen to the floor, tilted his chin toward the eyelash in Shen Yixing’s hand, and said, “Hurry up and make a wish, then get back to cleaning.”

“What?”

“If an eyelash falls, you can make a wish.” Jiang Baiyi added in an unwilling tone with a cold face, “That’s what I heard from others.”

“Oh.” Shen Yixing wasn’t very superstitious, but to save Jiang Baiyi some face, he decided to make one.

“Let’s just wish to get full marks on the next exam.”

Jiang Baiyi suddenly turned his head to stare at Shen Yixing. “Can’t you think of something more practical?”

Shen Yixing looked at Jiang Baiyi blankly. How was getting full marks not practical?

Seeing Jiang Baiyi still staring at him, Shen Yixing took the rag and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

“You…” Jiang Baiyi turned his head awkwardly. “I think your face is quite good-looking.”

“???” Shen Yixing suddenly remembered that he shouldn’t get too close to Jiang Baiyi. He stepped back and changed the subject. “Where should I wipe next?”

Jiang Baiyi’s tone changed after his awkward moment. “Whatever you want.”

After finishing the first piano room, students from another class were already arriving for their lesson. This room was reserved for the first-year students. When the freshmen saw the seniors cleaning, they felt embarrassed to enter and could only knock on the door to remind them.

“Senior, are you finished cleaning?”

Shen Yixing, who was on his way to wash the rag to clean the next room, looked up and responded calmly, “Yes, we’re done.”

Jiang Baiyi had been sitting on the piano bench in silence for a long time. Hearing this, he stood up, glanced at the people at the door, walked to Shen Yixing’s side, and picked up the bucket. “Let’s go clean the next one.”

Several freshmen standing at the door quickly stepped aside when they saw Jiang Baiyi coming.

In the hallway, female classmates would shyly smile at Shen Yixing as they passed him. It wouldn’t be strange if it were just one or two, but when a whole group of girls did it, Jiang Baiyi started to feel puzzled.

“Classmate Shen Yixing, I’m not very good at piano, could you teach me when you have time?”

“Yeah, me too. The monthly exam is in a few days, and I’m afraid I won’t pass.”

“Shen Yixing, didn’t you only get an F on the diagnostic test before? How did your piano skills improve by leaps and bounds in such a short time!”

“Your performance at the showcase last time was amazing!”

Jiang Baiyi returned after changing the water and saw several girls with star-struck eyes surrounding Shen Yixing from a distance. Then he saw Shen Yixing obligingly explaining piano techniques to them, and he felt inexplicably annoyed.

The little brother had stolen the big brother’s limelight; it really was a case of the waves behind the Yangtze River driving the waves ahead, and Jiang Baiyi was being washed up on the beach.

Jiang Baiyi let out a cold, dismissive snort. He pulled Shen Yixing out of the crowd of girls, pushed him into the piano room, and, as if lecturing a subordinate, whispered in Shen Yixing’s ear, “Why are you strutting around like a peacock spreading its tail? Are you afraid people won’t notice that something is off with you?”

“What are you talking about?” Shen Yixing was confused, and only realized what Jiang Baiyi meant after he finished washing the rag.

As Shen Yixing wiped the notes off the whiteboard, he said, “I’ve already come up with an excuse. Besides, if you don’t say anything, no one will know about my situation.”

“What ‘excuse’? You’re lying, just call it lying, why speak so pretentiously?”

Shen Yixing: “…………” He couldn’t be bothered to talk to Jiang Baiyi anymore.

The two were silent for a while. Jiang Baiyi walked to the window and, quite impolitely, lit a cigarette.

The faint scent of mint dispersed in the air. Jiang Baiyi turned his head and looked at the blue figure in front of the whiteboard through the curling white smoke.

Shen Yixing’s school uniform sleeves were rolled up halfway, revealing his fair arms.

There had been a red scratch on this very arm a few days ago, but now it had healed so completely that not even a scar could be seen.

Seeing Shen Yixing suddenly stop his hand and cough a few times, Jiang Baiyi glanced at the cigarette in his hand, thought for a moment, then stubbed it out on the windowsill and tossed it into the trash can.

“Smoking is prohibited in school.” Shen Yixing looked at the culprit that had just made him feel like he was suffering from slow suicide and planned to move further away to avoid being choked by the smoke again.

“Shen Yixing, I’m curious about one thing.”

Shen Yixing looked over. Jiang Baiyi was leaning against the window, his arms crossed on the sill. The sunlight outside spilled onto Jiang Baiyi’s shoulders, and beneath his thick brows, his deep, dark eyes looked like mysterious treasures in the deep sea, tempting one to get lost in them.

“Go ahead.”

Jiang Baiyi’s lips curled up slightly, and he asked, “What kind of person are you, really?”

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