BTO CH6

“Student… can you hear me, student?”

“This is strange, why isn’t he waking up yet?”

“Didn’t you say there was nothing wrong with him? If he’s perfectly fine, why can’t we wake him?”

“We’ve done all the checks, and we genuinely couldn’t find any issues.”

“…”

These voices sounded as though they were separated by a thin membrane, reaching Xu Sheng’s ears somewhat indistinctly.

“Hey, Director Gu, don’t worry.”

“What do you mean don’t worry? The two of them were lying together under the wall looking like two corpses; how can I not worry?! Are there really no signs of a struggle on him? You’re sure it wasn’t that Xu Sheng brat’s doing?”

Upon hearing his own name, Xu Sheng’s consciousness cleared a bit, accompanied by a splitting headache. The throbbing sensation extended all the way to his nerve endings, delaying his realization that the context in which his name appeared seemed somewhat off.

The grade director’s surname was Gu, known in the school community as King of Hell Gu. He carried a lot of prestige at Linjiang Sixth High, boasting that there was no student he couldn’t straighten out. That was, until he ran into Xu Sheng during his teaching career.

Xu Sheng had spent his entire freshman year engaging in a battle of wits and courage with King of Hell Gu. If King of Hell Gu told him to go east, he went west; snapping at each other from the reflection stage was standard operation. A single sentence of “I was wrong, but I don’t guarantee I won’t do it again next time” was enough to make King of Hell Gu explode on the spot.

“Xu Sheng, you get the hell back here! If I don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t know why the flowers are so red! Stand up straight—”

Yet King of Hell Gu’s tone right now could only be described as gentle. In a tone Xu Sheng had never heard before, one that easily induced goosebumps, he whispered in his ear, “My child…”

Xu Sheng was thoroughly awake now.

“He’s awake, he’s awake! I told you he was fine!” the school doctor exclaimed happily.

Xu Sheng opened his eyes and found himself lying in an unfamiliar dorm room. Right in front of him was an enlarged version of King of Hell Gu’s face, the slightly chubby visage of the middle-aged man, his expression full of worry. “Do you know how worried I was about you?”

Xu Sheng: “…”

It’s not that you want to beat me up so I know why the flowers are so red, but you were actually worried?

Having just woken up, Xu Sheng was still a bit dazed, his brain struggling to process things. Only belatedly did he realize that the pain was coming from the back of his head. Then, half a beat late, he thought: It was barely a two-meter wall, a sprained ankle at most. How did I end up knocked out cold?

King of Hell Gu’s gaze grew even more affectionate. “Quickly, move your arms, move your legs, see if you’re hurt anywhere. Does your head hurt? Are you thirsty? Should I pour you a cup of water?”

“No need.” Xu Sheng felt overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. However, the moment he spoke, he was stunned by the sound of his own voice.

King of Hell Gu: “You child, why are you being so polite with me?”

Xu Sheng pressed against the bedboard and sat up. “I really don’t…” want to drink water, and I don’t want to trouble you to pour it for me either.

If the earlier sound might have been an auditory hallucination, he was certain this time: that was not his voice.

Xu Sheng belatedly raised his hand.

His hands were slightly slenderer compared to other guys. When he was young, his mom always said they looked like a little girl’s, which even sparked a period of rebelliousness in him. However, the hands in front of him had long, distinct knuckles, straight fingers, and a cold, pale skin tone.

Xu Sheng shifted his gaze down half an inch. What entered his vision was the signature grayish-blue uniform of Sixth High, which he hadn’t worn since his first day of school.

King of Hell Gu actually went to pour a cup of water. He took a disposable paper cup from the water dispenser and very thoughtfully mixed some hot water into the cold water. “You really gave me a fright. I was just getting off work when they called me, saying you and…”

Xu Sheng ignored him and abruptly got off the bed. There was a mirror on the dorm wall, likely left behind by the previous batch of students. It wasn’t used often and looked a bit old.

He rushed to the mirror. Glaring back at him from the glass was a familiar face, one so aloof it practically had the words “Screw off” written across it.

King of Hell Gu let go of the hot water button and finished his sentence: “Saying you and Xu Sheng were both lying on the ground. Tell me honestly, did that Xu Sheng brat hit you?”

Meng Guowei had already paced three circles around Xu Sheng’s dorm room. With his hands clasped behind his back, he was extremely anxious. Yet when “Xu Sheng” woke up, he had actually calmed down, having sorted out his emotions. “Did you hit someone?”

“How many times have I told you to abide by the school rules and the law, to be friendly to your classmates? How could you…” Meng Guowei struggled to get the words out. “How could you resort to violence? And beat someone until they’re lying on the ground, resulting in both of you getting hurt. What kind of massive grudge is this?”

Hit someone?

Hit who?

The moment Shao Zhan opened his eyes, he was saddled with the charge of “violating the law and school rules by beating a classmate to the ground.”

Shao Zhan couldn’t understand a word Meng Guowei was saying. He tried to recall the last scene he saw before being knocked unconscious, it was Xu Sheng crashing into him like a gust of wind, his nose smashing hard into Shao Zhan’s chest. The impact threw him off balance, and the two of them went down together.

Thinking of this, for some reason, Shao Zhan felt a phantom ache in his own nose.

A few seconds later, he realized the pain was actually real.

Meng Guowei was still listing his offenses: “You sleep in class, your grades are a complete mess, we’ll let all that slide for now. But now you’re actually using violence against a classmate!”

Shao Zhan: “…”

Meng Guowei couldn’t bring himself to truly dislike this problem teenager. Aside from the times Xu Sheng dug his heels in with an invulnerable “leave me alone” attitude, the rest of the time he was always smiling playfully, never objecting to anything you said. He was a student in his own class after all; amidst his anger, Meng Guowei was still slightly biased. “This incident even alarmed Director Gu. Even if the principal came, he wouldn’t be able to save you. Reflect on this carefully.”

In just a few dozen seconds, Shao Zhan sorted out his current situation. He was in a dorm room, yes, but clearly not his own dorm room, he wouldn’t stick manga posters on the walls.

And there wouldn’t be a single workbook missing from the desk.

Not to mention, the clothes he was wearing seemed to be Xu Sheng’s.

Xu Sheng’s usually exaggerated style of doing things was fully embodied in his clothing choices. Given that he never wore a uniform, it was hard for this white T-shirt not to attract attention.

Meng Guowei: “What is the motto of Linjiang Sixth High? What is it?! It’s Civilized and Harmonious!”

Shao Zhan interrupted him. “Where is this?”

As soon as Shao Zhan said this, or more accurately, as soon as that clear, arrogant voice rang out, he didn’t even need Meng Guowei to answer. All questions instinctively pointed toward a certain highly fantastical, and highly impossible, answer.

“You don’t even recognize your own dorm room?” Meng Guowei was stunned for a second, then became exceptionally angry. “Don’t play dumb with me! When you make a mistake, you have to admit it. A true man takes responsibility for his actions. Get up and go apologize to classmate Shao Zhan.”

On the other side, Xu Sheng was still putting up his final struggle. His mind was entirely filled with the face in the mirror; he fundamentally couldn’t accept the fact that he had jumped over a wall and landed in someone else’s body. “King… Director Gu, what day is it today?”

King of Hell Gu replied, “Wednesday.”

“What year has human civilization progressed to?” Xu Sheng closed his eyes, and several sci-fi blockbusters flashed through his mind, led by The Years Lost in the Crevice of Time and Space. “Is this year 2019?”

King of Hell Gu looked deeply worried. “…Not only is this year 2019, but you are currently at Linjiang Sixth High. Do you remember we just finished the assessment exams? Did you knock your brain silly?”

“…”

Xu Sheng confirmed that he was not, in fact, dreaming.

Seeing the usually calm and rational student Shao Zhan suddenly spouting nonsense, King of Hell Gu felt an even deeper abhorrence for the main culprit. “That Xu Sheng really can’t do anything right, but he’s always number one when it comes to causing trouble.”

Regardless of whether the crevice of time and space existed, and regardless of whether he was dreaming or not, there is one thing that remains human instinct. By the time Shao Zhan followed Meng Guowei into the dorm room across the hall, Xu Sheng had already been chatting with King of Hell Gu for seven or eight minutes.

“My current situation has nothing to do with him. Director Gu, you’ve misunderstood him. I have to clear classmate Xu Sheng’s name. Although he might look unruly, he actually has many good qualities.”

“There’s no need to mention his handsomeness, of course.”

“Aside from that, he also possesses many spiritual qualities. For example, he is actually very kind-hearted on the inside. He is usually very friendly to his classmates and loves helping others.” Xu Sheng spoke quite convincingly. “Ah, there’s one more thing: he is unique and has a lot of personality. I appreciate him very much.”

Xu Sheng finally gave a simple summary. “So, you see, Xu Sheng is not the kind of person you think he is.”

King of Hell Gu listened in a daze. “Is that so…” Are we even talking about the same person?

Meng Guowei, who had just pushed the door open: “…”

Shao Zhan, following behind him: “…”

No matter who it happened to, no one could stay calm when encountering this kind of situation. Shao Zhan had just managed to pull himself back from the brink of a breakdown, only to be kicked right back down by Xu Sheng. Standing at the door, he said, “You, come out.”

For the first time, Xu Sheng discovered that his own face could radiate such an icy temperature.

Neither King of Hell Gu nor Meng Guowei could figure out what was going on. But after hearing Shao Zhan praise Xu Sheng for so long just now—praising him to the point of confusion—and seeing that both of them seemed to be in a good mental state, they figured there shouldn’t be any major problems.

“Alright then, you two go back and get some good rest,” King of Hell Gu said, before adding, “Oh right, the teachers misunderstood you regarding the fight, but there’s no escaping the wall-climbing incident. Hand in a three-thousand-five-hundred-word reflection tomorrow.”

Shao Zhan stiffened, taking a few seconds to realize that King of Hell Gu was talking to him.

I still have to write a fucking three-thousand-five-hundred-word reflection.

For a moment, Xu Sheng didn’t know who he should pity more.

In the end, the two of them went to Xu Sheng’s dorm room. Only then did Xu Sheng realize that they lived directly across from each other. After the door closed, they stood face-to-face, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out.

Finally, it was Xu Sheng who dropped a curse word first.

“Fuck,” Xu Sheng said. “What the hell is going on?”

Shao Zhan couldn’t stand hearing Xu Sheng use his voice to swear. “Don’t swear.”

“Fine,” Xu Sheng uncomfortably raised his hand and unbuttoned one of the uniform buttons. Then, he opened the drawer of his own desk and pulled out a stack of A4 paper, along with a black pen. “Then write the reflection first.”

Looking at his posture, Shao Zhan didn’t think he looked like he was going to write the reflection himself. “Who’s writing it?”

Although the current situation was completely screwed up, setting that aside, Xu Sheng had finally found an opportunity to take revenge for the wall incident. “Whoever is Xu Sheng writes it. If you think you aren’t right now, go outside and shout to see if anyone answers.”