◎Holy Shit, So Handsome◎

Chun Zao couldn’t understand why there could be someone who loved kissing so much.

Yuan Ye ranked first in the province for college entrance exams, but his kissing addiction could win a world championship.

As for the runner-up, it was probably herself.

When the two were together, they would kiss at the drop of a hat; sometimes, having tasted the sweetness, they would become infatuated and suck on each other for a long time.

Yuan Ye was even more outrageous than her. He was like a large pendant – such a tall, strapping boy, but he would pretend to be “boneless” and lean on her at every opportunity, either restraining her from behind or pouncing on her head-on. Sometimes when she deliberately shrugged her shoulders, trying to shake off this guy’s heavy head, he would act like a rogue and stick even closer, following her every step, making it impossible for her to concentrate on anything.

With her scores as foundation, Chun Zao naturally received many invitations (competitions) for 1-on-1 private tutoring in the short term, from elementary school to high school, with hourly rates competing against each other.

She was the one looking for part-time work.

But Yuan Ye sat in front of his MacBook, nitpicking and criticizing the comparison chart she had organized.

“Second year of high school, male? No good.”

“Third year of middle school also no good.”

“Why are they all boys? Can’t these boys study independently like me, without worrying about people?”

…

“Second year of middle school, girl, English, I think this one works.”

Chun Zao sat cross-legged beside him, sipped her iced fruit tea, and pulled the laptop over to herself: “Are you looking for work or am I looking for work?”

Yuan Ye’s slender fingers tapped back on the screen edge and pulled it back: “Is this your computer or my computer?”

Chun Zao was speechless and also stopped the “computer usage rights battle” that was no different from elementary school behavior.

“You’re amazing. My parents said they’ll take me to the digital city the day after tomorrow. Who’s going to mooch off your computer anymore?” Chun Zao scoffed: “Good days are over, Yuan the landlord. The serfs are singing songs of liberation.”

She hummed an English song as she spoke, da-la-da-la, quite cheerfully.

Yuan Ye frowned slightly: “Who’s the landlord? Since vacation started, have I touched the computer for even one hour total? Who’s been watching tutorials and binge-watching shows? Oh – and following workout videos.”

Chun Zao: “…”

She found a loophole to argue: “I’m not here at night, how do I know if you played or not?”

Yuan Ye: “Either chatting or voice calls. Except when showering, when I can’t hold the phone, where am I the rest of the time?”

Chun Zao continued to be speechless.

She started being unreasonable, acting spoiled: “So what? Did someone force you? You could also ignore me and do your thing.”

Yuan Ye was quiet for two seconds, nodded, then nodded again, saying in a low voice: “Fine, I’ll do my own thing now.”

He leaned over, moved closer, found the girl’s lips, and sucked once.

Caught off guard, Chun Zao’s heart instantly became soft and chaotic. She couldn’t help but smile, stubbornly saying: “Your things have such a high repetition rate, aren’t you bored?”

Yuan Ye didn’t respond or refute, just tilted his head and did it again.

“Hey!” Chun Zao finally pretended to be dissatisfied and pushed him.

The boy picked up the fruit tea from the coffee table with one hand, glanced at the label on top, and raised an eyebrow: “Oh, so that’s what this tastes like.”

Chun Zao snatched it back and bit the straw to block his further sneak attacks.

Yuan Ye smiled gently, pushed the laptop back, and tapped one spot with his finger: “This one, second year middle school, girl. You’re not allowed to look at the others.”

—

Chun Zao’s part-time work progressed methodically, twice a week. That middle school girl lived in the surrounding villa district, just two subway stops from her home.

And Yuan Ye, who had figured out his girlfriend’s work schedule early, would always appear at the main entrance first thing.

Sometimes they would stroll and walk back, passing through the long avenue of plane trees in the lamplight; sometimes they would linger at the busy, noisy roadside food stalls, sharing a meal full of human warmth.

On the way back, Chun Zao touched her belly filled with grilled skewers and took credit: “You should thank me for providing you with the most exercise this vacation.”

Yuan Ye looked at her: “I exercise too, okay?”

Chun Zao glanced at him sideways: “Exercise what? Running in the canyon?”

Yuan Ye hooked his arm over and lifted her with one arm without question, making the girl’s feet leave the ground: “Exercise this.”

“Let go.”

“Nope.”

“I just ate, you’re pressing on my stomach.”

“So?”

Chun Zao was helpless and went to tickle him.

The ticklish boy finally let go, dodging left and right near road signs and markers.

In the midsummer wind, there was all their scattered, overlapping laughter and play.

After confirming that Chun Zao’s first choice was Peking University’s Law major, Yuan Ye followed suit and settled the matter. He had little interest in finance, so he removed “Guanghua College” from his choice list. Looking at life currently, besides Chun Zao there seemed to be no other particular preferences, so he decided to first go to the liberal Yuanpei College that didn’t require choosing a specific major, then consider later.

Moreover, as a freshman, he could legitimately audit Chun Zao’s major courses, increasing opportunities to meet and publicly declaring sovereignty – a beautiful arrangement indeed.

Chun Zao naturally didn’t know about his ulterior motives, but after carefully understanding this separately established college at Peking University, she couldn’t help but make envious, jealous, and resentful sounds: “Wow, you guys even have separate dormitory buildings, and the basement has libraries, study rooms, gyms, and movie theaters. Is this what it’s like to be at the top of the food chain?”

And Yuan Ye smiled without speaking.

This vacation proceeded methodically and smoothly, but it wasn’t completely without troubles.

Yuan Yi, who had previously been semi-hands-off with his son, showed unprecedented eagerness and enthusiasm, sending Yuan Ye messages and calling every few days to inquire about his current situation and college choices, also repeatedly urging him to come home for a short stay and stop holding grudges.

Yuan Ye replied perfunctorily, only saying he would take care of himself.

When this route didn’t work, the man deployed his wife Cheng Yun for a double attack with sweet words and soft persuasion.

One day in mid-July, Yuan Ye, fed up with the harassment, asked his father straight out over the phone: What exactly was so urgent that required him to go back?

Yuan Yi said amiably, “Just family getting together. We haven’t even celebrated you becoming the top scorer yet. Your Aunt Cheng is very concerned, and Chuan Chuan says he misses you, too. You’re about to go to Beijing, and father and son will have even fewer chances to meet. Wouldn’t it be good to spend more time at home this last summer vacation?”

Yuan Ye replied: “Since I’m going to another province, adapting and becoming independent early isn’t bad.”

“You’re not independent enough already?” Yuan Yi snorted: “If you ask me, you’re too independent. I, as your father, find it harder than climbing to heaven to see you once. Also, many teachers at Mingsi want to meet you. You’re the top scorer – parents and students all want to get some good luck from you and hear you share some study experience.”

The selfish fox finally showed his true colors. Yuan Ye pursed his lips: “Aren’t my trophies and certificates enough to see?”

Yuan Yi’s voice turned cold: “Is that what I meant? I just want you to come home, take advantage of vacation to sign up for driving lessons. Once you get your license, Dad will buy you a little sports car to drive. How nice.”

Yuan Ye laughed mockingly, too lazy to beat around the bush with him: “Just say it, what do you want me to do now?”

Yuan Yi stopped being indirect: “Our institution is preparing a course-selling livestream, not public domain, just on our video account, centered around you, with your becoming the top scorer as the theme. So Dad wants to ask you to come over once, just show your face. There will be professional hosts and course consultants beside you. You just casually share a few sentences of experience and make a summary at the end.”

He added: “We’ll prepare the summary script for you. You don’t need to worry about anything, just need to be there in person.”

Yuan Ye clenched his fist: “After this is done, I can have a peaceful summer vacation, right?”

Yuan Yi also got angry upon hearing this: “I don’t like hearing you talk like that. As a father, what’s wrong with hoping you come home more? I think your personality is inherited from your mother – no big picture thinking, no family concept, selfish and cold.”

Yuan Ye fell silent, then emotionlessly curled his lips: “I’ll do as you say. Stop dragging other people into this.”

“Oh, and also,” as if getting permission, the man’s tone relaxed, and he said lightly over the phone: “Those course notes from your three years of high school that you kept at home – I had people organize them into compressed file packages, planning to use them as selling points and gifts for this livestream. Just giving you a heads up.”

Just giving you a heads up.

Since childhood, he had experienced many such moments of “acting first, reporting later,” and had often been used as a cash cow and gimmick for Yuan Yi’s career, even though he had never attended a single day of classes at his so-called institution.

After a few seconds of silence, Yuan Ye responded as usual: “Okay, no problem, you use them.”

—

Two nights later, Chun Zao was still familiarizing herself with her new laptop when a WeChat message suddenly flashed in the bottom right corner.

She clicked it open – it was a message from the pinned “Big Dumb Dog”: I have something tonight, about an hour or so, might not be able to reply to you promptly.

She typed on the keyboard: What’s up?

Yuan Ye shared a link with the topic: [Eighteen Years – Mingsi and I Achieve the Top Scorer Dream Together]

Chun Zao clicked in and was directly redirected to a livestream room. The page showed only over ten minutes until broadcast, and the number of waiting viewers below was rapidly increasing, showing over four thousand. Some users with younger IDs were frantically commenting: Getting some good luck.

Her eyes went round with shock as she asked: You’re going to livestream?

Yuan Ye: Yeah, already sitting backstage.

Chun Zao couldn’t process it all at once and went to confirm the livestream room name: Mingsi Education. This was one of the giants in the city’s tutoring industry. She had heard of it before and had seen it many times on job search websites.

So she took a screenshot and asked: Did this company pay big money to invite you to appear and hype up popularity?

Yuan Ye’s answer shocked her even more: This is my dad’s educational institution.

Chun Zao:?

Yuan Ye: ??

Chun Zao: ???

Yuan Ye: Are you done?

Chun Zao pouted: I just found out that this institution is owned by your family.

Yuan Ye: Yeah.

Chun Zao: You kept it pretty hidden.

Yuan Ye: Something that has nothing to do with me – what’s there to talk about?

Chun Zao quoted that link: Nothing to do with you, but you’re appearing?

Yuan Ye: A person in the martial world can’t help themselves.

Chun Zao sent a confetti emoji: Then I wish you a smooth livestream~

Yuan Ye: Thanks. Please watch the whole thing without blinking. I’m very handsome today.

Chun Zao wrinkled her nose in disgust: Do you have to be so narcissistic?

Yuan Ye stopped replying.

Half an hour later, Chun Zao, who had been staring at the screen motionlessly in a trance-like state, finally saw the black livestream room light up.

Yuan Yi had put full effort into promotion in the past two days. Now, the number of people coming to watch for the top scorer’s reputation had already reached eight thousand, including parents interested in courses and pure onlookers wanting to see the top scorer’s appearance.

At this moment, she understood the true meaning of Yuan Ye’s “I’m very handsome today.”

Indeed, very handsome, undoubtedly so, the kind of handsome that even if the sky fell, you’d have to admit.

This was her first time seeing Yuan Ye in formal wear – a pristine white shirt buttoned meticulously to the collar, shoulder lines straight and crisp. He seemed to have styled his hair and was wearing light makeup. The current Yuan Ye, with thick brows and deep eyes, exuded a texture and tension between boy and man. When he sat down, the female host and course consultant with exquisite makeup on both sides seemed to disappear. In her eyes, she could only see him.

She wasn’t the only one with such thoughts.

Because many people in the comments were incredulously spamming: Holy shit so handsome????? Isn’t this a hired actor?????

She also typed along with the chaos: Holy shit so handsome????? Isn’t this a hired actor?????

Someone else clarified: I’m from the same school as him, he looks like this! Even more handsome in person!

The host glanced at the comments, gave some rainbow flattery about Yuan Ye’s looks, then brought the focus back to his academics and achievements, emphasizing his family identity: the eldest son of Mingsi Education’s founder.

The young man in the center crossed his hands on the table and politely smiled.

The rest of the livestream content was basically controlled by the host and consultant. Yuan Ye didn’t talk much, only briefly sharing some study methods when cued. The two ladies sang in harmony, talking eloquently, and grandly presented the “free exclusive top scorer notes” livestream course registration benefit.

The host held up a dark blue card, waving to signal the camera to zoom in for a close-up: “This is our ‘exclusive benefit’ for today’s registration! Inside are the note file packages from Yuan Ye’s three years of high school. Students who register today will receive this small card on the first day of class. The front has our Mingsi logo, the back has a QR code. Just scan the code to download directly, very convenient…”

Once this bombshell dropped, parents’ buying desire skyrocketed. The order quantity in the bottom right corner jumped up rapidly, soon reaching over six hundred.

Chun Zao was caught up in the livestream atmosphere and excitedly opened the high school summer class course link, wanting to add it to cart and give it to her cousin who was about to start high school.

The second she saw the price, the girl’s eyes paused, and she closed the page, no longer overestimating her abilities.

Single subject 2800, two subjects 5400, still discounted prices.

Fortunately, her learning ability was decent enough that she didn’t need these extra expenses.

But… her gaze fixed on the boy’s face, which still seemed relaxed and natural. Did Yuan Ye like dealing with these things?

Of course, this was his family matter, so she couldn’t ask too much.

Staring at that face she never tired of looking at, an hour slipped away unnoticed. The beautiful female host turned to Yuan Ye again, thanked him, and asked: “At the end of this livestream, does our Yuan Ye have anything else he’d like to share with everyone in the livestream room?”

The camera switched again, freezing the frame on Yuan Ye.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, smiled brilliantly, and began to recite his summary according to script:

“As the son of Mingsi founder Principal Yuan, my father has unreservedly shared his cultivation of me with the public, which led to today’s Mingsi Education. Over these years, I’ve grown and matured together with Mingsi, achieving good results and a sound personality. This is inseparable from the family environment and Mingsi atmosphere’s influence, especially my father’s eighteen years of dedicated nurturing. I can say that without him, without Mingsi, there wouldn’t be this moment of turning stones to gold. Finally, as a student representative of Mingsi Education, I must be honest with everyone—”

The young man tilted his chin up slightly, his bright eyes looking directly at the camera, cold and mocking:

“All my academic achievements and competition awards.”

“Have absolutely nothing to do with Mingsi Education.”

These two sentences exploded like bombs, causing an uproar in the livestream room.

The young man immediately stood up and left his seat, leaving only the host and consultant staring at each other in shock, speechless.

Author’s Note:

Yuan Yi: I’m dying of filial piety.