Green Hair groaned, "Wei Junze, you've watched this eight hundred times already. If you're not sick of it, I sure am."
They had come to the bar to have a good time, but Wei Junze just sat there, wearing bone-conduction headphones, rewatching that worn-out performance video of the Calf Band—so many replays it might as well have been polished smooth.
Green Hair was convinced.
If the video had a million views, eight hundred thousand of them were from Wei Junze alone.
"You don’t get it. Go play by yourself," Wei Junze grumbled, shoving him away.
Green Hair stubbornly leaned back in. "Hey, how did the meeting go? Did the engagement get settled?"
Wei Junze’s gaze lingered on the girl in the video, lips curling as she bounced to the beat. He replied lazily, "Her dad said no."
"What? Then what are you gonna do?"
Wei Junze smirked. "I’ll manage it myself."
...
"Yang Xinyu, about your dad… Are you sure you don’t need us to protect you?"
Xiang Wan had heard it was Yang Xinyu’s birthday and that he’d invited them to karaoke. Still, she couldn’t help but worry.
Yang Xinyu glanced around before pulling her aside. "Listen," he whispered.
"I was scared too at first, but when I got home, my grandpa told me that guy got arrested—illegal confinement, embezzlement, misusing public funds. The police took him away."
Xiang Wan blinked. "That’s… unexpectedly great news."
"Yeah, yeah! It must’ve been the boss’s doing."
His face lit up with admiration.
Seeing Xiang Wan’s confusion, he eagerly explained, "Once you join our Chicken God Cult, you’ll be under the Chicken God’s protection. When I was sick before, the boss helped me too."
"She’s really kind. If she considers you a friend, she’ll spread her wings like a big hen and shelter you underneath."
"Some things, she just knows without you saying a word. And some problems? They disappear before you even realize they existed."
Xiang Wan thought about Ji Nian’s family background and how their classmates treated her, nodding in understanding. "She really is a good person."
Suddenly, someone bumped into Yang Xinyu. He turned to see He Xiang passing by, arms full of books.
"Sorry," He Xiang muttered softly.
Recognizing him, Yang Xinyu brightened even more and quickly took some of the books. "Let me help! These go to the math class, right?"
He Xiang was about to refuse, but Yang Xinyu had already grabbed half the stack.
As they walked down the hallway together, He Xiang spoke up.
"You said… some problems disappear before you even know about them?"
Yang Xinyu’s jaw dropped in exaggerated shock.
He Xiang: "…?"
Yang Xinyu ducked his head sheepishly. "Uh… that’s the longest sentence you’ve ever said to me."
He Xiang was usually so aloof—sometimes he wouldn’t speak a word all day.
He Xiang: "……"
Why are you acting shy?
Clearing his throat, Yang Xinyu grinned. "Yeah, that’s what I said."
"Have you… not noticed anything?"
"Well… When I was sick, that guy came after me a few times. He even harassed my grandparents. But one day, he just stopped. Later, I found out someone beat him up so bad he ended up in the hospital."
"My grandpa only told me recently, when he saw I was doing better."
"He said he used to feel like someone was watching our place—but not in a bad way. More like… protection."
The only ones capable of such a feat were Ji Nian or Gu Xiuyuan, but when Yang Xinyu asked the latter, even he seemed surprised, confirming it wasn’t him.
He Xiang listened to Yang Xinyu’s words in silence.
He recalled what a neighbor in his apartment building had told him—about the thugs who had been loitering near his door.
They, too, had been caught before they could do anything.
After helping He Xiang carry his books to their classroom, He Xiang unexpectedly pulled out a bottle of soda and handed it to him as thanks.
Yang Xinyu accepted it, flustered, thinking to himself how He Xiang seemed to hate owing anyone anything.
And he was right.
Whenever someone helped He Xiang, he always repaid them within his means.
But there were two people in this world he couldn’t repay, no matter what.
One was the man who had been funding his education.
And the other…
"He Xiang!"
Someone stood at the classroom door, waving at him.
Curly hair, green eyes.
It was Ji Nian.
"Yang Xinyu’s birthday is tonight. Come with us. If your grandma needs help, I can arrange someone to assist."
He Xiang looked at her, his gaze heavy, as if he had something to say.
In the end, it all condensed into a single word: "...Okay."
If he couldn’t repay her yet, then at least he could agree to everything she asked.
...
"He Xiang agreed, didn’t he?"
Lu Jinghuai asked as Ji Nian sauntered back.
"Yeah, how’d you know?"
After the seating rearrangement at the start of the semester, Lu Jinghuai had ended up next to Ji Nian, just an aisle apart, making conversation much easier.
Ji Nian sat back down, turning to face him, only to see Lu Jinghuai smile faintly without answering.
The reason was simple.
He Xiang never refused Ji Nian.
Noticing the pens crammed into Ji Nian’s pencil holder, the corner of his lips quirked up.
But by the time school ended, he wasn’t smiling anymore.
Shen Qingtang and Xiang Wan had gone ahead to supervise the preparations at the reserved private room, while Yang Xinyu, the birthday boy, cheerfully trailed behind Ji Nian and the other three.
Ji Nian walked with He Xiang on one side and Lu Jinghuai on the other, drawing stares wherever they went.
But today, some of the murmurs around them didn’t seem to care about their presence.
As Ji Nian passed through the school gate, she suddenly spotted a red-haired man leaning against the wall beside the entrance, lazily toying with the chain on his jacket.
Sensing her gaze, he immediately lifted his eyes and looked over.
Wei Junze had styled his hair today, sweeping one side back to reveal striking, rose-like features.
Spotting Ji Nian, he raised a hand in greeting and started walking toward her.
He Xiang recognized him as the guy who had pestered Ji Nian during the arts festival.
Lu Jinghuai watched the man, whose entire demeanor screamed arrogance, with an unreadable expression.
Just as Wei Junze strode straight toward them, He Xiang frowned and moved to step in front of Ji Nian—
Only to hear her voice, puzzled: "Wei Junze? What are you doing here?"
Her tone suggested they knew each other.
He Xiang froze mid-step.
Wei Junze was already in front of them.
"No classes today, so I came to see you."
Ji Nian belatedly remembered checking his social media—he was a university student at S University.
"Bad timing. My friend’s celebrating his birthday today, and we’re heading there now."
She pulled Yang Xinyu out from behind like he was some sort of prop, leaving him blinking in confusion.
Yang Xinyu: "...Oh right, it’s my birthday."
Hearing this, Wei Junze let out an "Oh," then turned to Yang Xinyu and said, "Count me in."
Yang Xinyu was baffled. "Huh? But we don’t know each other."
Wei Junze crossed his arms, his crimson hair catching the light. "I’m Wei Junze. And you?"
"...Yang Xinyu."
The strikingly handsome redhead flashed him a lazy grin, his sharp little fangs just visible.
"Now we do."
