Ch 22: How To Be A Good Lackey

Shao Ye wasn’t sure whether Xi Guanming was joking with him again. He stood there, looking at him without saying anything.

For once, Xi Guanming felt a trace of guilt, but it was quickly drowned by a wave of pleasure. He looked up at Shao Ye and said, “This time I’m not lying to you. Really.”

“Then… then I don’t want it,” Shao Ye said, lacking confidence.

“Really?” Xi Guanming asked. His gaze, almost tangible, slowly slid down from Shao Ye’s chest and paused lower.

Startled, Shao Ye panicked a little. There was no way he was that perverted, right? Just a few words and he’d react like that? He instinctively looked down.

Nothing.

Xi Guanming took in the entire reaction. By the time Shao Ye looked back up, his gaze had already withdrawn. Smiling, he said, “I’m not teasing you anymore. You trained pretty hard today, right? Get a good rest tonight.”

Without thinking, Shao Ye replied, “It wasn’t that tiring. About the same as my usual workouts.”

Xi Guanming nodded, his eyes sweeping over Shao Ye’s body with a hint of meaning. “Got it.”

That night, Shao Ye lay on Xi Guanming’s bed as usual. He wrapped himself tightly in his blanket and silently swore that he absolutely would not crawl into the president’s blanket again.

After showering, Xi Guanming got into bed. He carried the same scent as Shao Ye and suddenly asked, “Have you thought about your future? Any plans?”

“Plans?” Shao Ye tilted his head and thought seriously. “Does sticking with you count as a plan?”

Xi Guanming smiled. “Sticking with me? To do what?”

“To be your subordinate!” Shao Ye patted his chest through the blanket. “Anything dirty or tiring, you can leave it to me!”

“Why are you so set on being someone’s subordinate?” Xi Guanming couldn’t quite understand. He had seen many people, but Shao Ye was the only one who treated being a subordinate as a goal. Most others, even when working as assistants, still wanted to become leaders someday.

Shao Ye adopted a solemn posture, like he was about to give a speech under the national flag. “The first time I saw you, President, I was completely impressed by your work ability and personal charisma. Being able to work by your side is the fortune of three lifetimes.”

“Tell the truth,” Xi Guanming said, flipping over and pressing down above him. He supported himself on his elbows, keeping some distance, but his deep gaze locked onto Shao Ye’s eyes as if he could see through him completely.

“It is the truth,” Shao Ye said, though under that gaze he felt inexplicably uneasy. His voice grew quieter until he finally admitted in a small voice, “It’s just that… if I go out and say I’m your person, everyone has to behave themselves. And the school won’t force me to apologize to idiots anymore.”

Xi Guanming nodded, unsurprised, then asked, “There should be plenty of people in this school who could give you that, right? Why choose me?”

For example, Si Xu or Zong Xingze. In some ways, their presence among students was even more prominent. If Shao Ye said he belonged to them, the effect would be similar.

Shao Ye replied without thinking, “There aren’t plenty. There’s only you.”

Clearly pleased, Xi Guanming let out a low laugh, the vibration in his chest almost echoing in Shao Ye’s ears.

He lowered his head, lifted a hand, and lightly flicked Shao Ye’s forehead. “If you want to be mine, being a subordinate isn’t the only way.”

He was too close—so close it almost felt suffocating. Shao Ye could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his chest. Avoiding Xi Guanming’s gaze, he asked stiffly, “Then what else is there?”

Xi Guanming smiled but didn’t answer. “You’ll have to figure that out yourself.”

Figure it out himself?

Wasn’t that asking too much of him?

---

Up until the day the sports meet began, Shao Ye still hadn’t figured it out.

Golden Laburnum Academy didn’t have that many students, and the competitions were split between middle and high school divisions, so it shouldn’t have been too grand—but the school had money. The atmosphere was loud and festive, with drums, banners, and cheering crowds… well, as many people as there were.

Amid the roaring cheers, Shao Ye sprinted across the finish line. Grabbing the red ribbon tied around his waist, he waved it toward the crowd. When he turned his head, he saw Xi Guanming walking toward him from a short distance away, holding a water bottle.

The cool autumn breeze brushed past his face, yet his heartbeat, which should have been calming down, began pounding wildly again like a drum.

The awards were still presented by that same old man from the school. The moment Shao Ye received his medal, he ran straight toward Xi Guanming.

Back in spring, he hadn’t had the chance to properly show off the medal that symbolized his strength. Now, he could directly hang it around the president’s neck.

How inspiring.

Shao Ye felt a bittersweet tear well up inside.

Then, a moment later, he realized there wasn’t really anything bittersweet about it.

When he handed the medal over, Xi Guanming was organizing the afternoon events with other student council members below the podium. With both hands occupied by documents and a pen, he couldn’t take it, so he pressed his lips into a smile and lowered his head slightly.

Shao Ye immediately understood and hung the medal around his neck.

The surrounding student council members stared wide-eyed. “Ehh—”

Shao Ye thought they were acting weird. Honestly, the president must get tired dealing with them every day. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to comfort him now—he still had another event to attend. He waved goodbye and dashed off.

The “Ehh—” from the student council members grew even louder.

The sports meet lasted a day and a half. The remaining half day was for preparing for the arts festival.

The class monitor told everyone to go eat well, get a good rest, and recharge. That night, they would meet at the gym to rehearse their short play one last time before performing the next day.

Shao Ye slept until past six in the evening. After being woken by a phone call, he threw on his wizard robe and sprinted toward the gym like a black whirlwind.

Inside the gym, everyone was already in costume and in position. Shao Ye went up, delivered his domineering curse speech, then went offstage and sat on a small cart by the wall, waiting for his next entrance.

At that moment, his desk mate quietly crept over and whispered, “Brother Ye… do you actually like Xi Guanming?”

“What?” Shao Ye didn’t hear clearly.

His deskmate repeated, “You like Xi Guanming?”

This time Shao Ye heard it loud and clear. He was so startled he practically sprang off his stool, blurting out, “What the hell! Don’t talk nonsense!”

His deskmate crouched there, staring at him blankly, confused. “No, why are you reacting so strongly? I was just asking casually.”

“How did your ‘casual question’ turn into asking if I—I—I like Xi Guanming?” Shao Ye started stuttering again. “Why don’t you ask if I like Si Xu instead!”

Deskmate: “…”

Everyone in school probably knew about Shao Ye offending Si Xu. The deskmate twitched his mouth and said, “That would certainly be… unconventional.”

After saying that, he couldn’t help but seriously consider whether, for Si Xu, this counted as a “man, you’ve successfully provoked me” moment.

Shao Ye narrowed his eyes and looked at him dangerously. “Don’t change the subject. Why are you suddenly asking this? Is there some kind of conspiracy? Villain, prepare to die!”

His deskmate quickly cleared himself. “It’s not just me saying it. The whole school forum is talking about it.”

“The whole forum? Talking about what?” Shao Ye was full of question marks.

His deskmate asked, “You haven’t checked the school forum?”

Shao Ye looked disgusted. “I never look at that stuff.”

Actually, when he first enrolled, he did check it occasionally. But the front page was always full of anonymous posts complaining about terrible roommates. Complaining alone was pointless. Just reading it made him annoyed. A real man would deal with it directly.

His deskmate didn’t know what to say. The forum was practically exploding with shipping discussions, and yet the person involved had no idea.

“Why don’t you take a look now?” he suggested carefully.

“Sure.” Shao Ye glanced at the front of the classroom. It didn’t look like he’d be needed anytime soon, so he took out his phone and logged into the forum.

As soon as he entered, he saw a trending post pinned at the top with dozens of pages of replies:

【Putting everything else aside, the president’s little boyfriend really runs fast. I chased with all my strength and still couldn’t catch up】

The president’s little boyfriend?

Little boyfriend?!

He followed the president around all day, eating and sleeping together. Where did this boyfriend come from?!

Shao Ye’s brows instantly furrowed. Who was shameless enough to ruin the president’s reputation on the forum? If he found them, he’d definitely make them regret it.

With the mindset of delivering justice, he opened the post with a serious expression.

Three seconds later, the main post loaded—and it was a snapshot of himself crossing the finish line at the sports meet.

Below the photo, the original poster had written: “This little boyfriend’s chest muscles look pretty big.”

Shao Ye: “?”

---

Author’s note:

[Qingming (CP name of two leads) thread: Am I the only one who thinks No. 6 is really manipulative?]

Not only manipulative, but also pretending to be innocent. How did the president get fooled by someone like that?

: Uh…

: This is the first time I’ve heard this take. My brain just short-circuited

: It’s true though. In front of so many people, he hung the medal around the president’s neck. Wasn’t that just claiming him, telling everyone they have a special relationship? And now the whole school thinks they’re involved. Yet when he sees people calling him the president’s boyfriend on the forum, he looks shocked. What’s he shocked about?

: Be honest, OP, are you secretly a CP fan in disguise?

: Don’t insult my integrity

: When you put it like that, it does sound kind of manipulative. When the president asked why he chose him out of so many people who could back him up, he immediately said “only you.” If I were the president, I wouldn’t be able to resist either

: And I suspect his earlier friendship with Jiang Yan had ulterior motives too. If Jiang Yan knew he liked the president, given her personality, she’d never accept the president’s pursuit

: Also the dorm bed—No. 6 definitely didn’t report it for repairs. Otherwise it wouldn’t still be broken. He probably told the president he reported it just to make him ignore it, so he could keep occupying the president’s bed

: And before, he “accidentally” exposed himself in front of the president several times. Wasn’t that just to attract attention?

: I’m starting to be convinced by OP, someone help

: Does the president know he’s this scheming?

: Definitely not. The president just trusts people too easily, that’s why he’s being played by No. 6

: stunned.jpg

: Pure, upright, naive top × scheming, manipulative, big-chested bottom?

: Are we even talking about the same president and No. 6?

: This is more out-of-character than Si Xu and Zong Xingze suddenly being a couple

: Not gonna lie, it’s kind of shippable… I’m getting ideas

: ?????

: Did I enter the wrong thread? checks title nope

: OP claiming not to be a CP fan sounds pretty weak

: And yet the shipping angle is very… creative

: She’s not a CP fan, she’s just objectively describing facts

: “Objectively”

: Explain to me what “objective” means!

: Didn’t the moderators just ban a batch of CP fans? What’s going on in this thread?!

: They’ll keep coming endlessly

: @moderator time to boost your stats

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