Chapter 57: The Donkey Is Only Remembered When There's Dirty Work to Be Done

After two days of chaotic back-to-school turmoil, everyone's study mode smoothly transitioned into a state of fanatical obsession.

It was utterly unbelievable.

The few day-students left in the entire class were rapidly applying for dormitory beds. For the sake of studying, they were ready to abandon their homes entirely.

Zhou Ya's father returned from a business trip and went straight to school that very night to find Teacher Gang.

Nobody knew what magic he worked, but he managed to squeeze an extra bed into a completely full dormitory just to wedge Zhou Ya inside.

Lin Shu helped move her belongings to the dorm.

Looking at the densely packed stacks of books on the large table and a massive countdown sticker someone had slapped onto the wall, her vision went dark—first once, then again.

"How is this any different from going to prison?"

Lin Shu tilted her head back to gaze at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.

Zhou Ya replied, "It literally is prison. You have to apply just to leave the campus on weekends, you can't get out at all during weekdays, and evening self-study goes until eleven..."

"They've lost their minds."

In her past life, Zhou Ya had also lived in the dorms. Back then, she seemed to have had a falling out with her roommates, and both sides had called their parents in.

Because their relationship at the time was distant, Lin Shu didn't know the exact details.

The girl stood up, swept her gaze across the room, and said, "Xiao Ya, if anyone bullies you here, you must tell me."

"Who dares to bully me?"

Zhou Ya retorted playfully.

Uncle Zhou had gone to buy a washbasin and clothes hangers. The heavy quilt was left on the first floor, and Zhou Ya and Lin Shu each grabbed one end, struggling immensely as they climbed.

The dormitory building had no elevator.

By the time they reached the second floor, Lin Shu was supporting her aching lower back and shaking her head repeatedly. "No way, we need outside help."

Zhou Ya sat down on the woven plastic duffel bag, lowering her head and waving her hand.

"Forget it, let's just wait for my dad."

"Didn't your dad have back surgery? We still have to climb to the sixth floor. Let me summon a couple of beasts of burden."

Zhou Ya propped her hands on the woven bag and flashed an all-knowing, matronly smile.

Lin Shu turned around and presented her back to her.

Honestly...

She sent the message.

Within a few minutes, the guys arrived.

Xie Buchen and Zhao Minghui stood outside the girls' dormitory while the dorm proctor held a lunchbox and chatted with them.

Lin Shu hurried over to explain the situation.

The two boys stepped inside, looking slightly awkward and not daring to let their eyes wander.

The proctor told them to come right back down the moment they finished moving the stuff, or else she would come up swinging her mop handle.

Hilarious.

Lin Shu asked, "Why didn't Zhang Bing come?"

"He hadn't finished eating yet..."

Zhao Minghui explained that they had just come from the cafeteria. He still had a few mouthfuls of soup left when Xie Buchen grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over.

Actually, Xie Buchen alone would have been more than enough.

Zhao Minghui couldn't figure out why he had been dragged along.

Zhou Ya started wearing that matronly smile again.

Ah!

Lin Shu pretended not to see it and directed them up to the second floor.

Xie Buchen asked, "Is that just one duffel bag?"

Zhao Minghui wore a speechless expression.

"Don't you girls have any strength at all?"

Zhou Ya put her hands on her hips. "...We're not draft animals, why would we need so much strength?"

Zhao Minghui let out a mock cry, complaining that he had come out of the goodness of his heart to help, only to be called a draft animal!

Xie Buchen kicked him from behind.

Zhao Minghui glanced at Xie Buchen, then at Lin Shu, pressed his lips together, and lowered his head to act like a beast of burden.

For the sake of his brother's happiness, what was wrong with turning into an ox or a horse?

When the two boys actually got their hands on the bag, they realized just how heavy it truly was.

Xie Buchen asked Zhou Ya what she had packed inside, and Zhou Ya replied that there were a few hardcover books and a massage device.

The two boys walked ahead carrying the heavy load.

The two girls followed behind like stern foremen, staring intently.

Zhou Ya leaned close to Lin Shu's ear and whispered, "Has the ruffian boss gotten more handsome?"

"Huh, really?"

"Nonsense!"

Zhou Ya possessed eyes like torches and began detailing the changes to Lin Shu one by one.

His hair had been trimmed, getting rid of that lazy, unkempt vibe, making his facial features stand out clearly. His clothes were carefully chosen; the pants were just the right length and paired well with his shoes, making him look exceptionally neat and sharp.

Of course, he had been handsome before, but it was a somewhat decadent, delinquent kind of handsome.

Now, his looks caught people off guard—well, anyway, it was a healthy and pleasing sight.

Lin Shu muttered softly, "A lot of his clothes used to belong to his older cousin from his non-mainstream phase, which is why they looked a bit颓 (decadent)."

Zhou Ya clicked her tongue, looking at Lin Shu with exasperation that she wouldn't live up to expectations.

Have some mercy.

The peacock had already strutted around three times in full display of its magnificent feathers, yet Lin Shu still thought the guy was just out for a post-meal stroll.

What was the point of displaying those feathers?

If she were Xie Buchen, she would just bang her head against a wall and die.

...

"Thanks a lot."

Zhou Ya pulled out some drinks and shoved a bottle into each of their hands.

Zhao Minghui remarked, "Now you almost look like a sensible person."

Zhou Ya glared at him.

Zhao Minghui remained entirely unfazed, unscrewing the cap and gulping down his drink.

Among Xie Buchen's friends, Zhang Bing was a genuinely good guy, while Zhao Minghui had a notoriously sharp tongue and was always dragging the others into mischief.

Zhou Ya took inventory of her luggage and announced everything was accounted for.

Lin Shu waved goodbye. "Then we'll be heading out."

"Go on, before the dorm proctor comes to hunt us down."

The three of them emerged from the girls' dormitory.

Zhao Minghui remarked that the girls' rooms had so much stuff they looked like convenience stores, and someone had even brought a life-sized doll.

Xie Buchen warned him, "Keep looking like that, and you'll be the one the girls hang on the wall."

"I just saw it by accident..."

Zhao Minghui turned around and noticed Xie Buchen, with his long limbs, walking like a turtle. He flashed a knowing smile, pretended to check his phone, and announced that someone was looking for him before darting away without waiting for Xie Buchen's reply.

This guy made it far too obvious.

Xie Buchen shoved one hand into his pocket.

He watched the path ahead.

Though it didn't really look like he was watching the path.

Lin Shu caught a faint, lingering scent of jasmine and recognized it as the fragrance radiating from Xie Buchen's clothes. Merely realizing this made her body grow slightly warm.

He reached out and gently plucked a small twig from her hair.

Lin Shu lifted her gaze.

Xie Buchen said coolly, "You only remember me when there's dirty and tiring work to do. Am I the donkey you keep?"

Lin Shu replied, "With great power comes great responsibility."

Xie Buchen let out an "oh."

"So I'm Spider-Man."

Lin Shu couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into loud laughter.

She had once quoted that line in an essay. Because writing that it came from Spider-Man would have lacked persuasive authority, she had falsely attributed it to Mr. Lu Xun.

That little trick of hers had fooled both teachers and classmates, and her essay was read aloud everywhere as a model example.

Fortunately, it wasn't read in Class 2 of the Elite Stream, otherwise Xie Buchen would have definitely seen right through it.

How was it that he understood every single reference she made?

Lin Shu asked, "Do you know who the most unsuccessful person in the world is?"

"Peter Parker, obviously."

Xie Buchen lowered his gaze and looked at her tenderly.

Lin Shu perked up and asked, "Why?"

Xie Buchen raised an eyebrow. "Because he's a *Spider-man*."

He deliberately pronounced the English words with a heavy Chinese accent, making it sound like "Failed-man" (Shi-bai-de man).

Lin Shu laughed so hard she felt like she might die.

Deduct points for forced puns!

And yet, she genuinely loved puns.

Xie Buchen sighed in mock distress. "Your sense of humor is so chilly. You can laugh this hard at ancient, moldy jokes."

Lin Shu couldn't stop laughing and instinctively started punching his arm.

Xie Buchen didn't dodge, taking several punches before asking if Lin Shu was a Capricorn who loved dad jokes.

Lin Shu shook her head and said through gritted teeth, "You're the dead Capricorn."

Xie Buchen replied, "I am a Capricorn, though."

Lin Shu couldn't laugh anymore.

No wonder he held grudges for so long, and acted like an absolute frost giant when they weren't close—he was a damn Capricorn man.

Who said astrology was fake?

It was entirely too accurate when applied to Xie Buchen.

Xie Buchen asked for her zodiac sign.

Lin Shu answered, "Cancer."

"July?"

"Mmm."

Xie Buchen let out an "oh."

Lin Shu asked him why he reacted like that.

Xie Buchen explained that he was born in January while she was born in July; they were born in completely opposite seasons.

Lin Shu raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"One is summer, the other is winter. It feels a bit sad," he said.

...

Lin Shu crossed her arms, arched an eyebrow slightly, and retorted, "I'm not that sad, am I? Even though after I was born, the days kept getting shorter and the nights grew longer, at least I still soaked up plenty of sunshine."

"A sorrowful midsummer? Truly a unique perspective and a poetic distortion of facts. As expected of a great author whose web novel has the entire school's girls chasing after it."

Xie Buchen's gaze was full of mock admiration.

Except his two feet... were walking away at lightning speed.

...

...

...

Huh?

Huh? Huh? Huh?

"Xie Buchen, you better stop right there!"

Lin Shu gave chase with all her might, wishing she possessed some secret martial arts technique to poke him to death with a single finger.

That scheming, bottomless pit of a Capricorn man.

Why didn't he take this secret all the way to his grave?

Ahhhhh!

How did Xie Buchen figure out that *The Overbearing Warlord Deeply Loves Me* was written by her?! He had no shame at all!

Absolute, no, shame!