At noon, Chen Mo first went to the dormitory supervisor to get the key.

The supervisor on duty today was a woman in her forties. While handing over the key, she glanced at him twice and said, “Room 613, mixed dormitory. Don’t go to the wrong one.”

“Got it.” Chen Mo took the key and turned to leave.

“Wait a moment,” the supervisor called after him.

Chen Mo turned back, seeing her poke her head out of the window and frown. She added, “If there’s anything unsettling in the dormitory, try not to get into conflicts with others. Just come and report to us dorm supervisors.”

Chen Mo raised his eyebrows slightly. High school dormitories usually had strict rules—no private electrical appliances, beds must be neatly made, and so on—so that “try not to” felt a bit out of place.

Until he pushed open the door to his dormitory.

The sound of gaming battles, mixed with various curse words, hit him squarely in the face. The six-person room currently held at least ten or more people, either sitting or standing. A Coke bottle rolled to the tip of his foot as the door swung open, and a trash can two meters away had tipped over, spilling garbage all over the floor. Every iron-framed bed had things hanging off it—plastic bags, dirty jerseys, and Chen Mo even spotted what looked suspiciously like a pair of underwear.

Especially when Chen Mo saw Li Rui leaning against a desk, playing a game, everything became clear. The reason this room 613 was so different from all the other dorms was because it housed someone who operated outside of school rules and regulations.

Given that this was the dorm of the school bully, Chen Mo wasn’t surprised at the state of the place.

The room being crowded didn’t mean everyone lived there.

Someone near the door noticed Chen Mo and curiously asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“No one,” Chen Mo replied as he walked in.

The guys who had cornered him in the internet cafe last Friday were mostly present. Upon recognizing him, the tension in the room skyrocketed.

The atmosphere became charged, ready to explode.

Everyone thought he was here to settle a score.

Until he walked over to an empty bed near the balcony and opened his suitcase.

Without paying attention to anyone, he started putting his things on the bed.

Clothes, bedding, toiletries, and even some kind of stomach-soothing tea...

Before long, a foot stepped on the edge of his open suitcase, and the sound of plastic breaking snapped everyone’s attention.

Li Rui’s face was full of hostility. “I didn’t even come looking for you, and here you are walking right into my hands. Who said you could stay here?”

On Friday, he had been too stunned, easily threatened by just a few words from Chen Mo. But in reality, whether it was the mess with his family or Chen Mo guessing his orientation, all he had to do was get a girlfriend, and no one would believe the rumors.

And besides, everyone knew Chen Mo wasn’t favored in the Yang family. That fact was practically common knowledge among the elite families in Sui City. Was the Yang family really going to back him up?

“Move your foot,” Chen Mo said, looking down at the shoe.

Li Rui sneered and pressed harder. “Either kneel and apologize or get out. I’ll pretend nothing happened last week.”

Chen Mo lifted his gaze. “I said, move your foot.”

“Move your—!”

Li Rui kicked harder, smashing the suitcase.

At the same time, Chen Mo snapped the suitcase closed, sending the edge crashing into Li Rui’s shin. Li Rui howled in pain and stood up abruptly, shouting, “You bastard!”

“Fine. I’ll get you another bed,” Chen Mo said as he brought his knee up, diving headfirst into the inevitable fight.

…

Meanwhile, on the basketball court, it was halftime.

Students gathered in layers, surrounding the court. The boys discussed the intense competition of the first half, while the girls, having calmed down, whispered about who looked the most handsome.

Sun Xiaoya, the class representative from the experimental class, was handing out water to the group of boys coming off the court.

One of the boys from another class, wiping sweat from his forehead, joked, “Sister Xiaoya, this isn’t an official match. Why are you personally making an appearance today?”

Sun Xiaoya nodded towards a certain someone who was drinking water with his head tilted back and said, “Well, you saw it. If I didn’t make this sacrifice, a certain someone might get devoured by all the girls in school. What can I say, it’s my burden to bear having such a childhood friend.”

The group of boys playing basketball laughed along.

“That’s why we love having Yan-ge play with us. Hearing the girls scream makes each of us feel like we’re handsome enough to stop the world. We run faster on the court than dogs!”

“Shut up. You’re the only dog here.”

“Yeah, I’m not admitting it.”

“You just envy Xie Siyan’s skills, stop saying such cringy things.”

Xie Siyan sat on the steps, not participating in the banter. His white basketball jersey made his skin look flawless, and despite the sweat matting his hair and neck, he didn’t seem disheveled. Instead, there was a certain wild allure to him.

Another boy teased, “That guy from the experimental class, Yang Shule, isn’t he one of your childhood friends too? I heard he’s back at school. He never missed out before, so why isn’t he here today?”

Sun Xiaoya glanced at Xie Siyan before replying, “Not everyone deserves to be called a childhood friend. I’m not that close with him, anyway.”

“She’s at it again,” Qi Lin plopped down next to Xie Siyan, fanning his collar, “She really can’t stand Yang Shule. Every time he gets brought up, she looks like she’s eaten something bad.”

In truth, if you counted, it was Qi Lin, Xie Siyan, Sun Xiaoya, and a few others—like Liao Tingting from Third Middle School and Zeng Yu from Class 8—who grew up together.

Their families, though not as prestigious as the Xie family, were still well-off, and they lived close by, often spending holidays together.

Yang Shule was really only familiar with Xie Siyan. The relationship between the Xie and Yang families went back to their grandfathers, and while it was still close, it wasn’t as intimate as it used to be in their parents’ generation.

Qi Lin didn’t care much about these adult affairs, but he knew that the current head of the Yang family wasn’t the best, especially after the mess with the false and true bloodlines. It had been handled terribly.

Sun Xiaoya’s dislike for Yang Shule had nothing to do with him not being the biological child of the Yang family.

Speaking of this, Qi Lin was still curious. He draped an arm over Xie Siyan’s shoulder and grinned, “When the high school entrance exams ended, Liao Tingting confessed to you, didn’t she? You really don’t like her? I heard Yang Shule turned her down on your behalf, and he even meddled to the point that Xiaoya’s bestie transferred to Third Middle School. No wonder she can’t stand him. If you regret it, we can all hang out again.”

Xie Siyan screwed the cap back on his water bottle and glanced over, “You seem free.”

“I’m not. I’m busy.”

“Then shut up.” Xie Siyan placed the bottle on the step behind him.

Just as the whistle blew to signal the start of the second half, a boy ran up, panting heavily, and squeezed into the group of experimental class boys, asking, “Chen Mo is in your class, right?”

Gou Yiyang, who happened to be there, laughed, “Yeah, didn’t he move dorms? I offered to help, but he didn’t let me.”

“He’s in a fight.”

“What?”

“Chen Mo’s fighting! It’s like ten or more guys against him. It’s crazy!”

“Shit!” Gou Yiyang jumped up, “I’m going to check it out!”

Xie Siyan, who had been quietly listening, furrowed his brows and stood up. Qi Lin, standing beside him, said, “We should probably inform Old Xiang. Should I go?”

“Yeah, go.” Xie Siyan grabbed the jacket hanging on the basketball net and added, “Check the office to see if anyone else is around. If we can handle this quietly, let’s not blow it out of proportion.”

“Got it.”

When the group of experimental class boys reached the sixth floor, Xie Siyan was at the front.

The atmosphere in the hallway was eerily quiet.

It was far from the chaotic brawl they had imagined. Only a few students from nearby dorms were peeking out of their rooms, but none dared to step outside.

The door to room 613 was shut.

There was no noise coming from inside.

Gou Yiyang was getting anxious, “Shit! Did they kill someone?”

Xie Siyan frowned, switching his jacket from his right hand to his left, and knocked on the door. “Open up.”

Still no response from inside.

At this point, Gou Yiyang rushed to the neighboring dorm and grabbed a boy, asking, “What’s going on? Who’s fighting?”

“It’s... it’s Li Rui and his group,” the boy with glasses answered timidly.

Gou Yiyang kicked the wall in frustration.

He came back, his tone serious, “It’s Li Rui and his gang. They cornered Chen Mo at the ‘Blue Spider’ internet cafe last week.”

Xie Siyan’s expression darkened. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

“What was there to say?” Gou Yiyang sighed. “Nothing happened last week; Li Rui and his guys left for some reason, and that’s why Chen Mo ended up in their hands today.”

Without saying another word, Xie Siyan took two steps back and kicked the door.

With a loud bang, the door crashed into the wall behind it and then rebounded, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

The group at the door was momentarily speechless as they took in the scene inside.

There weren’t many people in the dorm.

Maybe three or five, including the guy sitting backward on a chair, a cigarette dangling from his fingers.

Chen Mo rested his elbow on the back of the chair. When he looked towards the door, his eyes were half-lidded through the smoke, radiating cold indifference.

That coldness ignored the few people on the floor, slumped over and tied up in bedsheets.

Even when he looked at the newcomers, it was as if he were seeing strangers.

The moment Xie Siyan stepped through the door, it felt like he shattered the stillness of the world inside. He crossed over fallen chairs and scattered debris, walking straight to the person seated in the middle.

He didn’t say a word, simply grabbed Chen Mo’s chin and tilted it to the side, inspecting the bruising on his cheekbone and the dark blood at the corner of his mouth.

“Anywhere else hurt?”

Chen Mo tilted his head away. “No.”

His voice was hoarse.

Xie Siyan released him and looked down at his slightly limp arm. He commented, “Not just a fight, huh? Smoking too? You’ve got guts.”

Chen Mo took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling slowly. “Then go ahead and report me.”

For some reason, Xie Siyan didn’t press further.

Chen Mo turned to Gou Yiyang and the others, some of whom he hadn’t even spoken to before, and asked, “Why are you guys here?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Gou Yiyang responded. “Someone picks on a member of our class, and we’re supposed to just stand by?”

The others finally seemed to snap out of it. Gou Yiyang even rolled up his sleeves, ready to give the troublemakers a taste of their own medicine. But when he got a good look at the state of the guys on the floor, he froze.

They were... really pitiful.

Some had blood streaming from their noses, others had eyes swollen shut.

Especially Li Rui, who usually strutted around school like a monkey on steroids. His face was swollen on one side, and from the look of it, his teeth might have been knocked out. Combined with the injury on his head from last week, it was a truly pathetic sight.

The school bully, beaten this badly, no wonder they hadn’t answered the door.

Besides Gou Yiyang, the others couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

Their impression of Chen Mo had been that of a thin, scholarly young man, recently sent to the school by the Yang family, with no time for anyone to get a proper look at him. They only knew him as someone obsessed with his studies, a hidden gem from a wealthy family, covered in dust.

Who would’ve thought he could fight like this?

Right now, as he sat there smoking, seemingly trying to suppress the violent impulses in his blood, he looked composed, but to them, he was someone not to be trifled with.

“Chen Mo.” Li Rui, not yet resigned, spat, “What’s the point of being tough here? There’s someone tougher than you. You’re done for!”

Chen Mo gave him a sidelong glance, biting the cigarette filter as he got up and grabbed a small fruit knife deliberately placed on the table.

He barely took two steps before someone grabbed him.

Xie Siyan had taken hold of his wrist and disarmed him. His gaze was stern as he said, “Concealing weapons too? You want to add more offenses?”

“I wasn’t concealing it.” Chen Mo nodded toward the people on the floor. “I confiscated it from them.”

Xie Siyan’s eyes narrowed as he tossed the knife back onto the table.

He then took the chair Chen Mo had just been sitting on, placed it in front of Li Rui, and trapped Li Rui’s legs under it before sitting down himself.

Li Rui froze. “Xie Siyan, why are you meddling?”

“Meddling?” Xie Siyan replied, “Anyone in the experimental class is under my watch, and that includes him. Got it?”

“Ha.” Li Rui struggled but spat through clenched teeth, “You’re just using your family’s influence to bully others. Without the Xie family, you’re nothing!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his face twisted in pain.

One of the legs of the chair Xie Siyan was sitting on had somehow ended up pressing deeply into Li Rui’s leg.

Without a care in the world, Xie Siyan sat there, casually applying pressure as he smiled and said, “How about I teach you? Teach you what real bullying looks like.”