Our Entire Family Has Secrets [Transmigrated] - Chapter 20

Ten minutes later.

A flashy green sports car drove slowly towards the school at a speed of fifty kilometers per hour.

Yuan Qifeng looked unreliable, but surprisingly, he drove steadily.

Steady, to the point of being slow.

Yuan Bozhuo couldn’t help but ask, “Is this car broken?”

“It’s not broken, isn’t it fine?” Yuan Qifeng proudly patted his beloved car.

But Yuan Bozhuo felt uncomfortable.

It was more unsettling to have a sports car cruising at sixty kilometers per hour than to have it speeding at one hundred and twenty.

He always felt that Yuan Qifeng was holding something back.

However, they arrived safely at their destination.

Yuan Bozhu signaled for him to stop and got out of the car at a corner before reaching the school.

Yuan Qifeng was extremely curious and wanted to follow him to see if he would run into a female classmate at the next corner and hold hands.

However, there was no place to park nearby, so Yuan Qifeng had to carefully inch the car forward, following Yuan Bozhu.

His tailing was too obvious, but Yuan Bozhu ignored it.

In fact, Yuan Bozhu had no “girlfriend” to expose, so he was quite at ease.

Ding–

A private message notification suddenly rang.

Yuan Bozhu rarely received messages from friends. He had few people on his contact list and couldn’t imagine what he could usually talk about with them.

When he heard the sound, he paused, unable to guess who it was from.

Upon opening it and seeing that it was a message from Lin Shuanghuai, he was not surprised.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: Yuan, what a coincidence! I just came out of the stationery store and saw you.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: I’m across the street.

When Yuan Bozhu read this, his eyebrows raised.

He looked up and indeed saw Lin Shuanghuai standing at the entrance of a stationery store across the street.

Perhaps recalling Yuan Bozhu’s previous advice, Lin Shuanghuai didn’t greet him publicly.

But it was clear he was smiling at him.

One hand half-raised, then held back, behind his back, with his mouth open, looking like he wanted to call out his name but restrained himself.

As soon as Yuan Bozhu made eye contact with him, he looked away.

Yuan Qifeng, in the car, glanced at him.

Yuan Bozhu lowered his eyes, holding his phone, and walked faster—not because he was afraid of Yuan Qifeng misunderstanding anything. Lin Shuanghuai was a boy; there was nothing to misunderstand.

But Yuan Qifeng had a keen sense of smell.

He would notice things Yuan Bozhu didn’t want to reveal.

Yuan Bozhu quickened his pace, reaching the corner in a few steps.

The phone suddenly vibrated again.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you with my greeting. I won’t do it next time.

Lin Shuanghuai probably misunderstood Yuan Bozhu, thinking Yuan Bozhu disliked him to such an extent that he almost ran away to avoid him.

Yuan Bozhu hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should explain.

Although he and Lin Shuanghuai were not friends, they were not enemies either. Was it right to let the other person misunderstand?

“That car is so cool.”

“The driver is even cooler…”

Two young people passed by, whispering about the sports car behind him as they walked past Yuan Bozhu.

Yuan Bozhu silently put away his phone.

He thought, perhaps this was better. If Lin Shuanghuai misunderstood him, he would naturally be disappointed and realize that Yuan Bozhu was not an approachable person.

Naturally, he would give up his inexplicable enthusiasm for Yuan Bozhu.

So Yuan Bozhu didn’t reply.

Finally, under Yuan Qifeng’s pointless tailing, he walked into the school.

Lin Shuanghuai, like a wilted eggplant, lay on his desk.

No one knew what was wrong with him.

Many people showed concern, but Lin Shuanghuai only said, “I didn’t sleep well, I’m tired.”

In fact, he didn’t know why he felt so downhearted.

Yuan Bozhu just didn’t reply to his messages, just didn’t want to greet him on the street.

But he had made it clear that he didn’t need friends.

It was Lin Shuanghuai who insisted.

Now, Yuan Bozhu was merely rejecting and ignoring him as usual. Given Lin Shuanghuai’s character, he would either continue trying or give up.

He had never been so torn about anything before. On one hand, he feared disturbing Yuan Bozhu, but on the other, he couldn’t help paying attention to him.

“Do you really have to make so many friends?”

Han Banlan was the only one who noticed the problem. She took the opportunity during break time to sit next to Lin Shuanghuai and persuade him, “You already have enough friends.”

It would have been better if she hadn’t said anything, but as soon as she did, the emptiness inside Lin Shuanghuai spread rapidly.

Yeah, he had enough friends. Why did he still have to get close to Yuan Bozhu?

What void was there that only Yuan Bozhu could fill? It would be great if he could answer that question.

Right now, Lin Shuanghuai didn’t know anything; he just felt that having so many friends didn’t matter.

None of them were Yuan Bozhu.

“Hey, look at you. I think you’ve just never been rejected in your life, and now you’re stubbornly fixated on it,”

Han Banlan summarized. “Just think about it, you’re someone so popular, always surrounded and praised wherever you go. Now, you’ve finally met someone who rejected you, and you can’t stand it, can you? You’re fixated on it, aren’t you?”

“I get it, it’s like those domineering CEOs in stories, ‘Heh, little minx, you’ve caught my attention.’ ‘The more you resist, the more I like you.'”

Han Banlan immersed herself in her own imagination, feeling more and more that this was the reason.

Lin Shuanghuai pulled at the corner of his mouth, not confirming nor denying it.

But he knew it wasn’t like that.

He didn’t need to be flattered or increase his social circle.

He couldn’t help but get close to Yuan Bozhu because he realized…

If one day he really couldn’t hold on anymore and wanted to confide a little secret to someone, that person probably wouldn’t be Han Banlan, Yu Yangen, Xu Zhilong, or anyone else around him.

Ideally, it would be Yuan Bozhu.

Unfortunately, Yuan Bozhu didn’t want to talk to him.

All morning, Lin Shuanghuai sent Yuan Bozhu a few messages.

He didn’t dare to send too many, afraid Yuan Bozhu would block him.

Class One of the senior year was recognized as the top class in the grade. Sometimes the teachers would specifically suggest they buy some supplementary materials that other classes couldn’t keep up with.

Lin Shuanghuai used this as an excuse to send photos to Yuan Bozhu.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: [Image] Yuan, the teacher said this is very helpful for divergent thinking.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: [Image] Yuan, we have an extra customized workbook, do you want one?

He didn’t send messages too frequently, worried Yuan Bozhu would find him annoying.

But he couldn’t help but send them.

Despite having many people around who wanted to talk to him, he inexplicably felt that none of their conversations compared to sending a single message to Yuan Bozhu.

At noon, Lin Shuanghui declined others’ invitations to eat in the cafeteria.

Han Banlan went with him.

Han Banlan had a sharp intuition typical of girls; she guessed that Lin Shuanghuai wanted to see Yuan Bozhu.

But her intuition couldn’t dissect the purpose of this behavior, always feeling that Lin Shuanghuai seemed less like he wanted to make a friend and more like he was secretly admiring someone he had a crush on.

To avoid being chased away by Lin Shuanghuai, she held back her words.

Finding Yuan Bozhu, someone with no presence, in the crowded cafeteria was a difficult task.

Han Banlan craned her neck for a long time and finally concluded, “He’s not here, he must have gone upstairs!”

However, Lin Shuanghuai quietly ate his meal and occasionally glanced in a certain direction, ignoring her.

Han Banlan asked, “Aren’t you looking for that classmate?”

Lin Shuanghuai concisely replied, “I already saw him.”

Han Banlan: “???”

She stood up abruptly, looked in all directions, but didn’t find anyone.

When she asked Lin Shuanghuai, he refused to tell her.

However, Han Banlan didn’t dwell on it for long.

A few minutes later, Yuan Bozhu drew everyone’s attention in the cafeteria.

As he walked from the serving counter to a corner, he was stopped by four school bullies who had just returned to school.

From their distance, Lin Shuanghuai and Han Banlan couldn’t hear what they were saying. They only saw that Yuan Bozhu remained as indifferent and expressionless as ever, while the four bullies looked arrogant.

“Hui, what’s your friend Yuan’s relationship with these four scumbags?” Han Banlan asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

Lin Shuanghuai silently watched the scene without answering.

The next moment, Chen Mu suddenly knocked over Yuan Bozhu’s tray. There was a gasp from the cafeteria.

Han Banlan touched her chin, “Seems like a pretty bad relationship.”

She glanced at Lin Shuanghuai and noticed his eyes were cold, a kind of somberness she had never seen before.

Han Banlan got goosebumps and said, “Huai’er, do you want to help that classmate? I can call teacher now, and we can deal with them during lunch break.”

Strangely, after those four guys nonchalantly turned and walked away, Lin Shuanghuai looked away.

He took a sip of soup from his bowl before saying, “No fighting. If we fight, we won’t be able to get the scholarship.”

Han Banlan scratched her head in confusion. She had felt that Lin Shuanghuai clearly wanted to take action just now, but she didn’t ask.

“Alright, it’s best not to fight. With that kind of trash, anyone who gets involved will end up in a mess.”

This was the most attention Yuan Bozhu had ever received at school.

Soup spilled on him, surrounded by curious onlookers.

He calmly bent down to pick up his tray, placed it in the sink, and then walked out of the cafeteria.

Yuan Bozhu didn’t have much of a temper, but he had a bottom line: he didn’t want too much attention.

This incident in the cafeteria made Yuan Bozhu feel the rare urge to take action.

He didn’t eat lunch and went to the bathroom to wash his uniform a bit. However, he couldn’t get it clean.

He was wearing only a thin T-shirt, and now the entire hem was covered in grease. Yuan Bozhu looked at his watch; it was still early.

Because he didn’t want to stand out, he had few options for solving this problem.

With a cold face, he suddenly thought: If he could pull out their souls and turn those four into idiots overnight, they wouldn’t be able to trouble him at school anymore.

But that would harm his karma.

Even though he no longer practiced, making a big deal out of something small didn’t suit his character.

So, how about finding those four directly, beating them up face-to-face, and then threatening them not to talk about it?

This was slightly better than the first idea, but still not reliable.

Threats are only effective in the moment of fear; once they leave Yuan Bozhu’s sight, who knows if they would tell anyone?

And if they called the police, things would get even more complicated.

So, was there another way?

Reporting to the teachers?

Even the most irresponsible teachers in Qiancheng wouldn’t allow their students to be bullied.

They would call the four troublemakers to the office for a stern lecture and comfort Yuan Bozhu, telling him not to be afraid.

Coincidentally, there was a parent-teacher meeting on Friday. The school would definitely communicate with both sets of parents and show their commitment to preventing school violence.

But then it would be over.

Yuan Bozhu wasn’t sure what Zhang Shu would do,

But Yuan Jilang would definitely take action. He would either tear down the principal’s office or get rid of those four students.

With one phone call to the Alliance government, nothing could stop him.

But what about Yuan Bozhu? He still had to study here.

If things completely went his way, soon rumors would spread that “Yuan Bozhu forced four school bullies to drop out.”

He would become an even bigger bully than the bullies.

No one would know the truth; it would just become the best gossip.

Thinking it over, Yuan Bozhu found himself stuck.

Since he had chosen to live as an ordinary person, he had to accept that many things wouldn’t go his way.

For some reason, a phrase came to his mind:

If you choose to be ordinary, you have to accept that many things won’t go your way.

Yuan Bozhu rubbed his temples, dispelling these thoughts, and washed his face with cold water.

Suddenly, he heard voices from the hallway.

“Why are you secretly delivering clothes? Just give them to him directly.”

“It’s the same.”

“No, it’s not. If you give them to him directly, you’re helping him out. He’ll be grateful and won’t ignore you.”

“It’s not… you wouldn’t understand.”

“Fine, I don’t understand. I really don’t understand! What are you doing now? Those four idiots are smoking on the rooftop. Why are you going to find them?”

After a moment, Lin Shuanghuai’s voice softly replied, “I’m going to teach them a lesson.”

The faucet turned off, and Yuan Bozhu’s face darkened.

Needless to say, Lin Shuanghuai already knew about someone picking on him in the cafeteria.

And now, Lin Shuanghuai was probably going to “avenge” him.

Yuan Bozhu’s expression was colder than ever.

The logic was simple—Lin Shuanghuai could definitely help him. Everyone in this school would give Lin Shuanghuai face, including the four troublemakers.

As long as Lin Shuanghuai told them that Yuan Bozhu was under his protection, those four school bullies, no matter how unruly, would have to show some respect.

The issue would be resolved just like that.

But for Yuan Bozhu, this would be the worst thing.

The troublemakers would retreat only because of Lin Shuanghuai, not truly letting Yuan Bozhu off the hook.

Instead, because of Lin Shuanghuai’s special intervention, they would reassess Yuan Bozhu, and their mindset would shift from “someone to pass the time with” to “this guy made us lose face, we’ll get him later.”

It was disastrous.

Yuan Bozhu glanced out the window, where dense greenery blocked most of the view.

He frowned, walked to the window, and suddenly leapt, disappearing into the lush foliage.

The four troublemakers were smoking on the rooftop.

They had taken a day off yesterday and only managed to shake off the shadow of the “ghost wall” incident with the help of various experts.

The fear they felt alone at home dissipated once they returned to school. Their spirits were slowly recovering today.

They never linked their ordeal to Yuan Bozhu himself.

Because he didn’t seem like someone who would be involved in such supernatural happenings.

They just felt unlucky and had no outlet for their frustration.

So when they saw Yuan Bozhu in the cafeteria today, they decided to bother him, hoping to vent their bad luck on him.

Their mood improved a bit as they leaned on a few discarded old desks, chatting.

“Let’s get some money from that kid after school today.”

“What? What if it happens again…”

“Stop talking nonsense. The expert said it was just a hallucination from our study pressure! Besides, we need to face our fears. Today, we’ll not only get money from him but also drag him to the internet cafe. Let’s see if it happens again!”

“I agree. Maybe it was that kid causing trouble behind the scenes. We’ll grab him and make him clear away the bad luck.”

Just then, the rooftop door, which was slightly ajar, opened.

The four of them nearly dropped their cigarettes, a “ghost!” almost escaping their lips.

But it was Lin Shuanghuai who stepped out, smiling.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted, waving at them.

Lin Shuanghuai was well-known in the school, though not everyone had interacted with him.

The school bullies, in particular, despised good students like Lin Shuanghuai and wouldn’t give him a second glance if they passed him by.

Seeing Lin Shuanghuai now, the four exchanged puzzled glances but said nothing.

Then they heard Lin Shuanghuai gently remind them, “Smoking will get you a demerit, you know.”

“What? You think you’re still the student council president? You think you can boss us around?” Chen Mu retorted, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

Click.

Lin Shuanghuai took a picture of him.

“Lin Shuanghuai, are you looking for trouble?!” Chen Mu choked on his own saliva in surprise, unable to finish his sentence.

Pang Ke chimed in, “Lin Shuanghuai, we’ve never had any issues with each other. What’s your deal?”

Leaning against the door, Lin Shuanghuai smiled and put his phone away. “Didn’t you know? I’m the disciplinary monitor for the senior class. I’m responsible for reporting violations of school rules.”

“Bullshit! When have you ever done that before?!”

Though the four of them were notorious troublemakers, the teachers had long given up on disciplining them, turning a blind eye.

But if someone reported them to the disciplinary office, it would be a different story.

Even the toughest school bullies would have to read a self-reflection essay on the stage.

Chen Mu, face dark, stubbed out his cigarette and grudgingly asked, “We don’t have any beef with you, do we?”

Unexpectedly, the usually good-natured Lin Shuanghuai started counting on his fingers, saying:

“How can we not? Who touched Han Banlan’s face last time? Who posted in the forum calling me a sissy? Oh, and you, what did you do…oh, right, you bumped into Yu Yangen during basketball last semester. Wow, we’ve got a lot of grudges.”

Although some time has passed since these events, if we examine them closely, they indeed occurred.

They were unsure of what Lin Shuanghuai’s intentions were with his current attitude of settling scores after the fact, so they asked, “What? Really planning to pick a fight? A duel? Fine by us.”

Lin Shuanghuai, however, smiled and said, “We are all classmates; fighting is not a good idea.”

He straightened his clothes, walked over to the four of them politely, and said, “Don’t you know? With the recent alliance education reform, school leaders from other schools often come to inspect. The teacher asked me to keep an eye on the students. So, I’m here to remind you to keep a low profile and not to smoke in school or roam around different classes. After all, I don’t like you. What if I decide to make an example of you?”

As he spoke, Lin Shuanghuai seemed to seriously consider for a moment and continued,

“Oh right, I heard you caused trouble in the cafeteria at noon? That’s great—bullying classmates and disrupting campus order. If I tell the principal about this, wouldn’t that be—”

“Mind your own damn business! We’ll do whatever we want!” The skinny guy lost his temper instantly, kicked over a chair, and pointed at Lin Shuanghuai. “Who do you think you are?!”

His finger was right in front of Lin Shuanghuai, who didn’t move and just continued, “You must have more than one disciplinary record, right? Actually, I think students like you probably don’t care about graduating, so adding another record and getting expelled wouldn’t bother you, would it?”

“…Damn it, do you have to mess with us?”

“No, I was just saying.” Lin Shuanghuai smiled.

Chen Mu, with a dark face, for the first time being openly provoked, couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly grabbed Lin Shuanghuai by the collar.

He cursed under his breath, about to throw a punch, when he heard Lin Shuanghuai laugh happily.

“I’m about to get a scholarship. I’m the only student in our school with a chance for a direct admission to the Alliance Academy. Guess what the teacher will say if you touch me?”

The noon sun made the four of them sweat profusely.

They were angry but didn’t dare to say anything.

The four of them, having experienced the most humiliating confrontation of their lives, didn’t dare to lay a hand on Lin Shuanghuai.

Finally, they snorted, stubbed out their cigarettes, and prepared to leave.

Lin Shuanghuai even reminded them, “Behave yourselves, I’m watching you.”

“Damn it!”

With a bang, they slammed the door and left.

Yuan Bozhu stood in the shadow by the rooftop ventilation shaft.

He had made many plans, but now he didn’t act, just leaned against the wall.

After the four left, Lin Shuanghuai didn’t leave immediately. He looked up at the sun and stretched lazily in a good mood.

Then, suddenly remembering something, he took out his phone and tapped a few times.

For some reason, Yuan Bozhu felt that this message was sent to him.

His phone was off, in his backpack, so he couldn’t confirm if this conclusion was correct.

Lin Shuanghuai typed a bunch of words, then stared at his phone for a while.

It seemed like there was no reply.

Yuan Bozhu saw him purse his lips, a look of disappointment crossing his face.

Contrary to his earlier heroic stance against the school bullies, now Lin Shuanghuai looked weak and helpless.

But just in a few seconds, out of the blue, Lin Shuanghuai jumped twice in place, suddenly making “Hey! Ha!” sounds as if cheering himself up.

It’s like giving yourself a pep talk.

Then he straightened his appearance, opened the door, and left.

Ten minutes later, Yuan Bozhu returned to his classroom seat.

His unremarkable new deskmate didn’t greet him like Qin Rui, just kept his head down playing on his phone.

On Yuan Bozhu’s desk was a clean school uniform T-shirt.

He didn’t ask his deskmate who it was from.

He knew.

Yuan Bozhu suddenly took out his phone from his backpack.

He turned it on, connected to the internet.

Sure enough, there was a new message.

[Lin Shuanghuai]: Yuan, I was helping the teacher grade papers in the office at noon and came out late, so there was no food left in the cafeteria. What should I do?

[Lin Shuanghuai]: It’s still early for lunch break. Can you go out with me to eat? [Pleading.jpg]

He picked up the clean school uniform, looked at his own disheveled appearance, and inexplicably thought of the first time he ran into Lin Shuanghuai.

For no reason, he felt a sense of stagnation.

His Adam’s apple involuntarily moved lightly, and Yuan Bozhu swallowed a strange sense of annoyance.

But maybe, it wasn’t so annoying after all.