Is This Solid Evidence?
Yan Xiao had no interest in this matter at all. He glanced coldly at Xu Huanwen, lifted his foot, and prepared to continue walking. Whether a man liked a woman, another man, a woman liked another woman, or someone didn't like anyone, he simply wasn't interested.
Xu Huanwen noticed Yan Xiao's reaction and tapped the surface of the book he was holding with his fingertips.
"It's fine if he likes a man. But what if the person Gu Lan likes is you?"
Yan Xiao's brows instantly furrowed.
Seeing Yan Xiao react, Xu Huanwen found it even more amusing. He disliked boring lives and loved a crowd, the more the merrier.
Xu Huanwen stood up and walked to Yan Xiao's side, looking towards the entrance of Gu Lan's classroom.
Gu Lan had not left yet; he was talking to the female teacher, and from the perspective of Xu Huanwen and Yan Xiao, the two figures seemed to be closely linked together.
Yan Xiao sneered.
"You're saying he likes me? He likes women."
"Don't stir up trouble for no reason," Xu Huanwen shook his head. "No, it's just a disguise. Just like how Gu Lan used to flirt with An Momo. It's a cover-up for his sexual orientation."
Xu Huanwen's argument made sense.
"Think about it, Yan Xiao. Why would he take such a big risk and come to our dormitory? Doesn't he know that our dormitory is haunted, filled with supernatural occurrences? Many people who went in there never came back."
"Moreover, what kind of people are we? We know it ourselves."
Yan Xiao remained silent, his gaze shifting towards Gu Lan. Unconsciously, he fell into a daze.
They were a group of peculiar beings, and only they knew.
Yan Xiao felt that Gu Lan might be from a different "world" just like them.
He spoke, and his voice had a unique, alluring tone with a slightly hoarse touch, typical of a mature man.
"Perhaps he is one of us."
"I'm still observing."
Xu Huanwen's hazy eyes were filled with amusement.
"Observing, huh? Well, he's observing you too. Gu Lan has been studying at this school for two years; how could he not know what we are?"
"If he's one of us, it means he's been able to hide it all this time."
"But why did he endure it for so long and suddenly come in?"
"I only realized this morning. The reason can be summed up in four words—"
At this point, Xu Huanwen raised the corners of his lips, looking somewhat wicked, but he didn't continue.
Yan Xiao grew impatient.
He couldn't stand people beating around the bush, especially someone like Xu Huanwen who deliberately teased him. If it weren't for the fact that Xu Huanwen couldn't be dealt with easily, he wouldn't mind throwing a punch right there.
Yan Xiao said coldly, "Stop beating around the bush."
"No, it's not beating around the bush; it's about being daring," Xu Huanwen said with a smile, patting Yan Xiao's shoulder. "He's interested in you. Be careful not to be captivated. This guy knows how to handle people well."
With that, Xu Huanwen left confidently.
Yan Xiao stood there for a while. He found it quite amusing but couldn't be bothered to laugh.
"Boring."
As he thought this, Gu Lan suddenly turned his head and waved at him.
Gu Lan's smile was radiant, like meeting an old friend with whom he had been in a relationship for years, rather than just a dormmate he had barely spoken to.
"Yan Xiao, are you still here? Do you want to come inside the classroom?"
Yan Xiao had no intention of paying any attention to Gu Lan.
However, for some unknown reason, Xu Huanwen's words involuntarily echoed in Yan Xiao's mind— "He's interested in you."
Yan Xiao's face turned iron-cold. Without looking at Gu Lan, he walked away in big strides.
Outside the classroom, the female teacher asked Gu Lan in a low voice, "Isn't that your friend? He helped us just now. Which class is he in? I'd like to thank him when I have the chance."
Gu Lan had a rough idea of Yan Xiao's personality, and she greeted him out of politeness.
"I don't know which class he's in. I'll let you know when I find out," Gu Lan replied.
Returning to the classroom, An Momo was crying, lying on the desk. Gu Lan went back to his seat and attentively listened to the lesson. Due to the earlier commotion, the female teacher's patience had decreased a bit. She had a temper too and paid no attention to An Momo's continuous sobbing, focusing on finishing the class.
After the class ended, Gu Lan took the initiative to approach the female teacher.
"These students sure know how to cause trouble. You should take a few days off before coming back."
The female teacher chuckled, "They are all students; what else can we expect? But some of them are a bit too much, taking advantage of their wealthy families. I'll talk to the principal about it."
Gu Lan knew that the newly graduated female teacher seemed quite naive and hadn't experienced the harsh realities of society yet. Well, she'd learn and grow eventually.
"Okay, if you need any help, just let me know. By the way, what's your name, Teacher?"
The female teacher hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand to pat Gu Lan's head.
"You, don't even know your teacher's name? I'm surnamed Xu, Xu Shujun. Remember it, okay?"
Gu Lan nodded, saying that she remembered, but she forgot by lunchtime.
Her memory wasn't that great, and there were too many characters in the original story. It was genuinely hard for her to remember them all.
Around them, many students heard the conversation and began discussing it.
"Gu Lan is shameless! He flirted with the school belle An Momo earlier, and now he's even going after the female teacher?"
"Disgusting! Ugh! People like him have no shame!"
"He's just showing off because of his wealthy family!"
Gu Lan caught onto a particular phrase among the various comments.
"Wealthy family!"
Right, according to the original story setting, Gu Lan was supposed to be an arrogant and overbearing second-generation rich kid! But upon checking, she only had a meal card, and no other cards, not even a bank card. There were no parents' contact details, only a group of people with peculiar names.
What about the money?
As a second-generation rich kid, he should have an abundance of money!
Not far away, Yan Xiao was initially planning to take that path, but when he saw Gu Lan flirting, he immediately changed direction and walked elsewhere.
After a few steps, he found it quite amusing.
Was he afraid of Gu Lan?
No, he wasn't.
Why did he change his path just because of Xu Huanwen's few words?
He was mostly just annoyed. Nothing more.
Yan Xiao chuckled at his own suspicion and realized it was all baseless.
"Is it because of Xu Huanwen's words? I'm just irritated; there's nothing else to it."
Yan Xiao quickly put Xu Huanwen's words aside.
However, during dinner in the evening, Gu Lan brought back those disregarded words.
Inside the cafeteria, Gu Lan held a tray and stood beside Yan Xiao, eagerly eyeing the meat in his bowl. Yan Xiao, being physically active, always had a bigger appetite than their other dormmates. The members of Dorm 444 never gathered to eat together; sleeping together was already their limit. So, when Gu Lan swiped her card in the cafeteria and found that, despite being a second-generation rich kid, she only had 3.2 yuan left, she began looking for someone to share a meal with.
She blinked at Yan Xiao, "Can I sit next to you?"
Yan Xiao tightly furrowed his brows. Since he arrived at this place, no one had dared to sit next to him.
"No," he said in a low voice.
Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Lan had already sat down. She took out a bowl of plain water from her tray and smiled with her white teeth at Yan Xiao, "Thanks! Thank you for letting me sit next to you!"
Yan Xiao: ...
Normally, Yan Xiao disliked small talk, but now he couldn't help saying, "I said no."
Gu Lan blinked innocently, "But I'm already sitting. There's no place around, and I have nowhere else to go."
Yan Xiao: ...
He didn't know what to say, and his forehead almost turned into a small mountain due to the frown.
"Fine, do as you wish," he said, not wanting to engage in further nonsense. He would just finish his meal and leave.
However, while he was eating...
Gu Lan rested her face on her hand and stared at Yan Xiao.
Yan Xiao's hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air, and he looked at Gu Lan coldly, his eyes warning her.
"What are you doing?"
Gu Lan was hungry and broke, so she had no choice but to resort to shamelessly sharing a meal. Once she had money, she would treat Yan Xiao to ten meals, a hundred meals!
But she couldn't directly say that she came here to share a meal. With Yan Xiao's personality, he would undoubtedly kick her out if she did that.
So, she needed to melt Yan Xiao with their dormitory camaraderie.
Ignoring Yan Xiao's warning look, Gu Lan spoke gently, "Silly, I'm just watching you."
Yan Xiao's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.
He looked at Gu Lan, and his voice became lower and deeper, with a more pronounced warning in his eyes.
"I advise you to think carefully before you speak."
Gu Lan wanted to make Yan Xiao notice that she had no food by staring at him while he ate. She hoped that out of embarrassment, he would offer her some of his food, thereby achieving her goal of sharing a meal.
However, that alone would definitely not work.
After all, she was shamelessly asking for help, so she needed to flatter him a bit.
Gu Lan wasn't used to flattering people, but she sighed that even heroes had to bow to the five pecks of rice.
She gazed at Yan Xiao, her eyes extremely earnest.
"Actually, I'm admiring you. Your grace while eating makes me want to learn from you."
Yan Xiao's hand holding the chopsticks trembled with force.
Gu Lan looked at him, feeling her heart ache.
He was about to shake the meat off!
Gu Lan hurriedly continued, "Don't be shy, you are genuinely such a wonderful person. I just like watching you eat; you don't need to feel pressured. Eat to your heart's content, eat well, eat beautifully."
Yan Xiao slammed the chopsticks on the table, looking at Gu Lan with a bright smile, but his mind was filled with Xu Huanwen's voice - "He's into you, you know."
Into you, you know...
Into you, you know...
Yan Xiao shook his head to clear his mind of those strange thoughts. He furrowed his brows coldly and said, "Keep your distance."
With that, Yan Xiao was ready to leave.
At that moment, Xu Huanwen and Jing Yunkui, who were also carrying trays, walked towards them with smiles on their faces.
Xu Huanwen smiled playfully, and the corners of his lips couldn't hide his teasing.
Looking at Yan Xiao, who was about to stand up, and Gu Lan, who was staring intently at him, Xu Huanwen's voice reached them before he did.
"Did we interrupt something?"