LABMY CH15

At six in the morning, when the sky was just beginning to brighten, Wei Zhenge woke up naturally thanks to his biological clock. He sat on the soft bed in a daze for a moment before getting dressed and getting out of bed.

It seemed that he couldn’t go to school for the time being. During this period, he had to work harder to avoid falling behind. Senior year had just begun, and there were still many new courses that hadn’t been taught. He couldn’t stop attending school just because of Fu Pengyi’s incident.

Maybe he could stay at Jian Yuanbai’s house for a day or two, then tell him he wanted to go back to school.

With a chaotic mind, Wei Zhenge opened the door and headed to the kitchen to see if there were any ingredients to make breakfast. He thought that at this early hour, Jian Yuanbai wouldn’t be up yet.

However, the next second, he saw a tall figure through the frosted glass door of the kitchen.

Naturally, as he walked in, Wei Zhenge greeted, “Morning. Are you making breakfast?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Jian Yuanbai’s back stiffen. Then, in a flash, Jian Yuanbai dumped the contents of the pan into the trash can by his feet and turned around as if nothing had happened. “Morning.”

Pretending not to notice the confusion on Wei Zhenge’s face, Jian Yuanbai quickly said before Wei Zhenge could speak, “I have to go to work. Buy your own breakfast. I’m leaving, bye.”

With that, Jian Yuanbai grabbed the trash bag and was about to leave. Seeing him reach the entrance, Wei Zhenge blinked and called out, “Wait.”

“No waiting. Work is busy, you know?” Jian Yuanbai replied without turning his head, picking up the keys. “Time is money during the startup phase.”

How could Wei Zhenge not see through his reaction? Holding back his laughter, he said, “Are you going to work wearing an apron?”

Jian Yuanbai’s hand paused on the doorknob. With a stiff expression, he took off the pink bear-patterned apron, calmly hung it back on the kitchen hook, put on the neatly ironed suit jacket from the coat rack, and casually tightened his tie. As if remembering something, he said to Wei Zhenge:

“Why are you still wearing yesterday’s clothes? I hung all your clothes in your closet. Remember to find something to wear.”

Wei Zhenge nodded, assuming Jian Yuanbai had brought a few sets of his clothes when he moved in. He didn’t think much of it.

Frowning at Jian Yuanbai’s poorly tied tie, he hesitated before saying, “Let me retie your tie.”

He stepped closer to Jian Yuanbai and reached out to untie the crooked knot. With his fair and slender fingers, he skillfully adjusted the tie and quickly tied a perfect knot.

With his eyes lowered, Wei Zhenge focused intently on adjusting the tie. Occasionally, his fingertips brushed lightly against Jian Yuanbai’s neck.

The warm touch seemed to linger around his Adam’s apple, causing an almost imperceptible itch. Jian Yuanbai’s Adam’s apple bobbed uncontrollably. He lowered his gaze and saw Wei Zhenge’s soft hair, long eyelashes, and serious expression.

So obedient.

This thought suddenly popped into Jian Yuanbai’s mind.

“Done.”

Hearing this, Jian Yuanbai looked down and saw the perfect tie knot. He couldn’t help but feel delighted. As expected of the kid he had his eyes on — even tying a tie looked so good.

More importantly, it was tied by his little pillow! All his efforts hadn’t been in vain!

When Wei Zhenge stepped back and met Jian Yuanbai’s satisfied smile, he felt his scalp tingle. With a blank expression, he said, “If you can’t cook, let me handle breakfast.”

Jian Yuanbai’s smile froze on his face.

Then he heard Wei Zhenge continue, “I saw the burnt egg you dumped in the trash.”

With a “bye-bye,” the door closed in front of Wei Zhenge. He stared at the closed door, the corners of his lips curling up.

He had originally planned to pretend he hadn’t seen it, but who told Jian Yuanbai to provoke him?

With amusement flashing in his eyes, Wei Zhenge turned and headed to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, after leaving, Jian Yuanbai’s smile instantly vanished. His face darkened as he strode toward the company, full of resentment toward cooking.

Before trying it himself, he had never realized how difficult cooking was. Running a company was easier.

Upon arriving at the company, he hadn’t even sat down when he received a call from the female teacher.

“Hello, is this Wei Zhenge’s guardian?”

“Yes, teacher, please go ahead.” Jian Yuanbai pulled out his chair and sat down, handling documents while answering the call.

The female teacher on the other end said, “Since this false accusation didn’t cause any actual consequences, the situation isn’t considered serious. Fu Pengyi was bailed out by his family. Chen Ji and Classmate Lin, the false witness, were considered accomplices and failed in their attempt, so they only received a warning.”

“Chen Ji and Classmate Lin will be given a major demerit on their school records. To make things look fair, Fu Pengyi will also receive a demerit, but beyond that, nothing else will happen.”

Jian Yuanbai wasn’t surprised by this. “I expected this outcome.”

The three of them didn’t succeed in their false accusation, and since they were still high school students, even getting caught wouldn’t result in severe punishment.

The female teacher remained silent for a long time. Jian Yuanbai, confused, glanced at his phone. The call was still ongoing. “Teacher, is there anything else?”

A sigh came from the other end of the line, and the female teacher stopped beating around the bush. “What I mean is, during this period, it’s best for Wei Zhenge not to come to school for the time being.”

She hesitated on the phone for a long while before slowly saying, “I don’t know what’s going on with you as his guardian, but if you can act on behalf of his parents, you should help him transfer to another school.”

“Although Jinyang First High School is the best high school, with Wei Zhenge’s grades, any school would be willing to accept him.”

“The principal of Jinyang No. 1 High once told all the teachers not to get involved in Fu Pengyi’s affairs. He said that Wei Zhenge’s family would never allow him to transfer, even if he faced unfair treatment here. He would still have to endure it and take the college entrance exam to bring glory to Jinyang No.1 High.”

Upon hearing this, Jian Yuanbai chuckled. “No need for a transfer. I’ll make Jinyang No.1 High famous.”

The female teacher said no more. After all, it was someone else’s family matter. She had once turned a blind eye to what Fu Pengyi did, and now she was suddenly stepping in to persuade him. Even she found it a bit ridiculous.

…

In the room, after doing practice papers all morning, Wei Zhenge looked up, stretched his fingers to relax his hands, and glanced at the phone next to him. His hand, which was cracking his knuckles, paused.

He dialed a number. As the beeping sound echoed through the phone, an inexplicable tension filled his heart. This strange nervousness caused him to remain silent when the call was answered.

Jian Yuanbai: “Little Pillow?”

Wei Zhenge pressed his lips together and softly replied, “Are you coming back for lunch? I’m preparing to cook.”

Jian Yuanbai spoke quickly, with some noise in the background. “I won’t be back for lunch, and I’ll probably be late tonight too. Don’t bother cooking; it’s too time-consuming. Just order whatever you want, and I’ll transfer you the money.”

With that, he hung up the phone. He seemed really busy. The next second, a notification sounded—Jian Yuanbai had sent him money.

The amount was quite large for a high school student—50,000 yuan.

Staring at the orange transfer box, Wei Zhenge didn’t click on it. Instead, he got up and went to the kitchen.

The fridge was nearly empty, but fortunately, he wasn’t picky. He cooked a bowl of rice for one and made himself a simple tomato and egg stir-fry. Sitting quietly at the dining table, he finished his meal.

Time alone wasn’t hard to endure. Immersed in practice papers, he lost track of time. When the doorbell rang, he realized he had been doing papers for another two hours.

Opening the door, he was stunned to see a group of people standing there. “Who are you looking for?”

At the small doorway stood six people of various ages, from their twenties to their seventies.

Leading the group was an elderly man, around sixty or seventy, with a stern expression. He adjusted his glasses and smiled, “Are you Wei Zhenge? We are the tutors your brother hired.”

“For the next year, I will be your math teacher.”

A slightly plump middle-aged woman beside him smiled as well. “Hello, I am your Chinese teacher.”

The rest introduced themselves one by one. Finally, the math teacher concluded, “We are here today to create a study plan for you and assess your performance in each subject.”

After they finished speaking, six pairs of eyes stared at Wei Zhenge in unison. He smiled awkwardly. “Please wait a moment while I check with my brother.”

He called Jian Yuanbai, who confirmed, “Didn’t I tell you just now? I thought I mentioned it.”

“Little Pillow, just focus on your studies. I’ll handle everything else.”

Jian Yuanbai’s tone was full of energy, but after saying that, he hung up again.

Putting down his phone, Wei Zhenge respectfully invited the six teachers into the house.

Even for someone as calm as Wei Zhenge, after an entire afternoon of practice tests for the teachers to assess his abilities, his head felt like it was spinning. The teachers didn’t stay for dinner. When he checked the time, it was already 11:30 PM.

Hungry, he made himself a bowl of noodles. After eating and washing the dishes, it was already midnight.

Yet, Jian Yuanbai still hadn’t come home.

For some reason, Wei Zhenge opened the transfer message again and stared blankly at the 50,000 yuan.

He recalled the first day he met Jian Yuanbai.

At the door of that garbage-filled apartment, he told Jian Yuanbai that he only needed his share of the money and could take care of himself. There was no need to trouble him.

But he still remembered the contract Jian Yuanbai showed him. The contract stated that Jian Yuanbai would act as his guardian until he turned eighteen.

Most importantly, the contract revealed that the Wei family only paid 50,000 yuan in total.

The chat interface was clean, with only that single transfer message. The number 50,000 quietly rested there as Wei Zhenge stared at it until the sound of the door opening snapped him out of his thoughts.

Jian Yuanbai entered, dressed in a suit. His clothes and hair were still neat, but he couldn’t hide his exhaustion. Seeing Wei Zhenge, he was surprised. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Startled, Wei Zhenge quickly closed his phone and stood up. “I wanted to wait for you to ask if you wanted something to eat.”

Jian Yuanbai’s expression softened. He walked over and ruffled his hair. “I already ate outside. Go to bed early. You have class tomorrow, right?”

“Do you find the tutors suitable? If you’re uncomfortable, let me know.”

“They’re great,” Wei Zhenge replied. “They’re top-notch teachers.”

“Thank you, ge,” he added after a pause. “And thank you for the new clothes.”

After Jian Yuanbai left, he opened the wardrobe and discovered it was filled with new clothes—not just a few sets of spare outfits as he had thought.

Jian Yuanbai waved his hand and slumped onto the couch, exhausted. “Enough of that. Go to bed early.”

Wei Zhenge nodded, took a few steps, then stopped. Under Jian Yuanbai’s confused gaze, he simply said, “Goodnight.”

Back in his room, he pulled out a bank card and an ID card from the hidden compartment of his school bag.

The ID showed that he would turn eighteen in less than a week.

No one in the Wei family cared about his birthday or age. They assumed he would only turn eighteen after graduating high school. But in fact, he had started school late and was about to become an adult.

In theory, as his father, Wei Chengye should have known this. But clearly, he was never a qualified father.

When he first saw the contract, he knew it was a disgusting trick by the Wei family to torment him in his final year of high school. But fortunately, they overlooked him so much that they didn’t even know his real age.

Originally, he planned to avoid trouble and quietly wait until adulthood. That’s why he didn’t object when he saw the contract and followed Jian Yuanbai without hesitation. After all, it was only a little over a month until he turned eighteen.

According to the contract, he and Jian Yuanbai would part ways in a week.

But now, holding his ID, Wei Zhenge hesitated.