Our Entire Family Has Secrets [Transmigrated] - Chapter 45
Life seems to have undergone subtle changes without anyone noticing.
If Yuan Bozhu had to pinpoint a specific moment, it would probably be right after his eighteenth birthday.
Now, Yuan Bozhu think it might have been after meeting Lin Shuanghuai.
At the school gate, what was once just Lin Shuanghuai waiting for Yuan Bozhu to turned into both Lin Shuanghuai and Qin Rui.
But compared to the upright and resolute Lin Shuanghuai, Qin Rui appeared a bit anxious.
He tried to position himself in front of Lin Shuanghuai, hoping to prevent Yuan Bozhu from seeing him at first glance.
However, Lin Shuanghuai took a step forward and stood right in front of him.
It felt like a game: you take a step; I take a step.
They walked from the school gate right up to Yuan Bozhu.
“Good morning, bro!” Qin Rui shouted, trying to outshout Lin Shuanghuai.
Lin Shuanghuai didn’t engage in that.
He turned and walked alongside Yuan Bozhu, saying, “Ah zhu, I dreamed about you last night.”
Yuan Bozhu didn’t respond to that, continuing to walk in silence.
But Qin Rui, excited, chimed in for Lin Shuanghuai:
“Don’t make things up! How could you dream about him? I don’t believe it!”
Lin Shuanghuai remained calm but replied provocatively, “It’s normal to dream at this age. Don’t you dream?”
Qin Rui thought for a moment, then his expression turned oddly.
He glanced at Yuan Bozhu face and, seeing him didn’t seem to react, silently prayed that Yuan Bozhu would never discover Lin Shuanghuai’s little secret.
“Wait a second.”
Qin Rui suddenly tugged at Lin Shuanghuai from behind.
They stepped back a couple of paces from Yuan Bozhu, and Qin Rui lowered his voice to say, “Lin Shuanghuai, why are you thinking so dirty? Don’t fantasize about my brother!”
Lin Shuanghuai pulled his sleeve free from Qin Rui’s grip, shooting him a half-smile and a sideways glance.
“What’s so dirty about dreaming of going to college together?”
After saying that, Lin Shuanghuai jogged back to catch up with Yuan Bozhu, leaving Qin Rui stomping his feet in place.
“Ah zhu! Ah zhu! Ah zhu!” Once he caught up, Lin Shuanghuai began repeating Yuan Bozhu name ear like a parrot.
If Yuan Bozhu ignored him, he could probably go on until they reached the classroom.
Yuan Bozhu had no choice but to look at him and ask, “What is it?”
Lin Shuanghuai beamed at him.
“Nothing.”
“…”
“I just wanted to confirm something.”
“What?”
Yuan Bozhu found himself curious about what he wanted to confirm.
At that moment, Qin Rui finally caught up with them, a bit late to the game.
Not wanting him to hear their conversation, Lin Shuanghuai stood on tiptoe, leaned on my shoulder, and whispered, “I wanted to confirm that you’re used to me calling you this way.”
After saying that, he let go and skipped ahead, holding onto his backpack straps happily.
At that moment, Yuan Bozhu glasses suddenly fogged up.
Yuan Bozhu lowered his head and gently wiped them with his sleeve.
His expression remained neutral, as if he didn’t care about what he said.
Qin Rui glanced between me and Lin Shuanghuai, then stomped his foot and rushed to catch up with Lin Shuanghuai. He couldn’t hold back and asked, “What did you just whisper to him?”
Lin Shuanghuai intentionally teased him, saying, “I confessed to him.”
“Ah!” Qin Rui’s mind buzzed.
“No, no, no! He—he is… You two… you’re not suited for each other!”
“Mind your own business.”
Lin Shuanghuai shot him a cold glance, then turned back to wave at Yuan Bozhu.
“Ah zhu, hurry up!”
As they chattered away, Yuan Bozhu really didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he heard every word clearly.
Yuan Bozhu furrowed his brows and lowered his gaze.
He ignored their conversation and walked slowly, testing his acting skills since he had decided from the start not to listen.
After a heavy rain yesterday, the temperature in the city suddenly dropped from around ten or twenty degrees to seven or eight degrees.
The classroom was filled with a chorus of coughs throughout the morning.
During the break of the first class, Han Banlan and Yu Yangen squeezed into the doorway of Class 7, waving at Lin Shuanghuai.
When their gaze fell on Yuan Bozhu, they instinctively changed the direction of their waving and called out, “Yuan, Yuan!”
After a while, they struggled to recall his name.
They only remembered his heroic act of saving people in the fire, but they didn’t know much about Yuan Bozhu in everyday life.
He gave them a slight nod, offering little response.
Lin Shuanghuai noticed his discomfort and quickly ran to the doorway to push the two of them away. “What are you two doing? You’re not allowed to switch classes in this grade.”
He put on a serious expression, even though he wasn’t in Class 1 anymore.
He still felt responsible for supervising the atmosphere and discipline of the senior year.
“Don’t give me that! Since when do you care about us switching classes? You’re just worried we’ll disturb your precious ‘Ah zhu’…”
Lin Shuanghuai stepped on Han Banlan’s foot, and she immediately changed the subject.
“I just noticed the temperature dropped today. You’re not feeling well, and you always get sick when it’s cold. I brought you some winter supplies.”
As she pulled things out of her bag, Yu Yangen helped her list them. “Cold medicine, masks, air freshener, hand cream, scarf, gloves.”
Han Banlan shot him a glare. “He can look after himself, can’t he?”
Yu Yangen replied, “I just want to make sure you’ve got everything!”
“If I didn’t have everything, how could you possibly help me?”
“I…”
Their bickering continued endlessly.
Lin Shuanghuai didn’t intervene but reached out to take the things Han Banlan had prepared. “Why are you bringing me so much? I can take care of myself.”
Suddenly, Han Banlan and Yu Yangen both fell silent and looked at him with a hint of concern.
In unison, they said, “Can you really take care of yourself?”
Lin Shuanghuai thought for a moment and replied, “Of course.”
Han Banlan started counting on her fingers:
“Remember that year when it snowed, and you ran out to build a snowman without gloves or earmuffs? You ended up with cracked hands, that was you, right?”
“That year when everyone had the flu, you showed up for gym class with a runny nose and fainted, and had to be rushed for emergency care? That was you, right?”
“That year when the cold snap hit and everyone was jumping around to stay warm, but you just hibernated in the classroom for the entire morning and woke up with a 39-degree fever? That was you, right?”
Yu Yangen added, “And in the second year of high school when there was a strong wind, the teachers announced a holiday, but you boldly ran to the school gate to clock in and asked why the school wasn’t open? That was you, right?”
Han Banlan clicked her tongue and said, “That doesn’t count; the school didn’t notify properly.”
Lin Shuanghuai scratched his head in surprise. “Did that really happen?”
Most of the time, he was good at taking care of himself, but there were exceptions.
In the past, he would often have minor illnesses.
Although there was a housekeeper at home, he didn’t like to rely on others for everything. If the housekeeper didn’t notice when he was sick, he usually wouldn’t realize it himself.
This was especially true in winter.
His body would slow down in cold environments, and his brain would take longer to process things. He always wanted something warm to hold.
Whenever there were viral infections going around, he would be one of the first to catch them.
With his lack of self-care, things would sometimes escalate into something serious, leading to an emergency room visit.
People say that kids without maternal care are prone to illness, and Lin Shuanghuai used to think that way.
But recently, he seemed to have come to understand.
It wasn’t just that he had a poorly developed energy gland that lacked nutrients; it was that now, with his bloodlines awakened, his energy gland had become a bit “stronger,” making him less susceptible to illness than before.
But he still felt cold easily.
Knowing this, Han Banlan and Yu Yangen prepared a bunch of things that Lin Shuanghuai might need.
“You’re good at taking care of others, always so thoughtful and meticulous, but when it comes to yourself, you either forget this or forget that,” Han Banlan said seriously. “You’re old enough to pay attention to these things.”
“Well, if he forgets, we’ll remember for him, right?” Yu Yangen chimed in.
Lin Shuanghuai looked at them and said nonchalantly, “You two are like that.”
“Like what?”
Lin Shuanghuai replied, “Like a doting father and a strict mother.”
There was a two-second silence before both Yu Yangen and Han Banlan’s faces visibly flushed—Yu Yangen from embarrassment, and Han Banlan from anger.
“Ridiculous! He’s practically my son at this point!!!”
Han Banlan spun around and ran off like the wind.
Yu Yangen stood there scratching his head and asked Lin Shuanghuai seriously, “Do I look like a dad?”
Lin Shuanghuai winked at him and said, “Not anymore.”
“Ah, then what do I look like now?”
Lin Shuanghuai honestly told him, “Like a fool.”
The cold weather didn’t affect Yuan Bozhu much.
He was one of the few students in class who hadn’t worn a thick coat yet.
While others layered sweaters or thermal shirts under their uniforms, he wore just a thin outfit, as his body maintained a stable temperature year-round, making me often forget about seasonal changes.
To avoid seeming out of place, he decided to wear more clothes tomorrow. But Lin Shuanghuai didn’t know that.
All morning, Lin Shuanghuai kept looking at him with concern. “Ah zhu, are you cold? Do you want to wear my clothes?”
After measuring his arm length against his sleeve, he thought it wouldn’t fit and continued to frown at him.
“What should we do? It’s going to get colder in the afternoon, and you’re wearing so little. You’ll catch a cold.”
Lin Shuanghuai rarely nagged like this.
Usually, he picked the most important things to say, keeping it brief, then observed reactions. He always knew where his limits were.
But today, Lin Shuanghuai was especially chatty. Maybe he felt that his tolerance for him had increased a bit, allowing his rebelliousness to rise to a new level.
He couldn’t blame him for pushing the boundaries because he was the one who had given him that impression.
As the last class of the morning ended, Qin Rui headed out to the restroom. He saw Lin Shuanghuai trying to put a pair of gloves on Yuan Bozhu, and he scoffed, “My Brother Yuan doesn’t need your ordinary gloves!”
Realizing he had spoken out of turn, he quickly covered his face and dashed out of the classroom.
On Lin Shuanghuai’s fourth attempt to hand the gloves, which Han Banlan had given him, to Yuan Bozhu, Yuan sighed.
“Just put them on. If your hands get cold, they’ll crack, and it really hurts—super painful.”
Yuan Bozhu still didn’t take them.
Lin Shuanghuai felt a bit dejected and was about to retract the gloves when Yuan Bozhu suddenly raised his hand.
His large, warm palm unexpectedly grasped Lin Shuanghuai’s wrist, sending warmth and excitement coursing from skin to heart.
Lin Shuanghuai tensed up, cautiously lifting his eyes to meet Yuan Bozhu’s gaze.
“I’m not cold,” Yuan Bozhu said, then pulled his hand back.
This action had no other significance; it was simply to show Lin Shuanghuai that his hand was warm and he didn’t need gloves.
Lin Shuanghuai swallowed hard and replied,
“Oh.”
The next moment, he moved his hand from the adjacent desk, inching closer to Yuan Bozhu, saying, “Let’s try again. I feel like you’re pretty cold.”
He sounded quite self-righteous; his face filled with an earnestness that seemed exaggerated.
Yuan Bozhu looked at him helplessly and asked, “How do you plan to try?”
“I’ll just touch your hand to see,” Lin Shuanghuai replied, extending a finger to poke at Yuan Bozhu’s hand.
Yuan Bozhu opened his palm for him, and Lin Shuanghuai pressed his hand against it.
Just then, Qin Rui returned from the restroom and happened to catch this scene.
He felt like he had swallowed a fishbone, letting out an “ah” that got stuck in his throat, leaving him speechless for a long while.
The sound of high heels echoed outside the classroom.
Qin Rui gasped, not knowing what he was thinking, but he felt that even if the sky fell, the teacher must not see those two holding hands in the classroom.
So he threw himself forward, perfectly positioning himself between the two desks.
With his whole body—his very life—he blocked the almost exposed secret of those two.
Lin Shuanghuai: “???”
Yuan Bozhu: “…”
The moment the teacher walked in, she saw Qin Rui’s backside.
“Qin Rui! Class is starting! What are you doing? Get back to your seat!”
With great sorrow, Qin Rui turned to Lin Shuanghuai and Yuan, saying, “You two, hide it better!”
Only when their hands slipped away from under him did Qin Rui stand up dramatically, tears in his eyes as he left.
“Pfft…” Lin Shuanghuai collapsed on the desk, laughing so hard his ears turned red.
Yuan Bozhu should have found the whole thing childish and absurd, but for some reason, he couldn’t help but smile slightly.
This was the liveliest lunch Yuan Bozhu had experienced since starting at Qiancheng No. 1 High School.
He didn’t quite understand how things had turned out this way.
At first, Lin Shuanghuai followed him as usual.
They sat in a corner.
Within two minutes, Han Banlan and Yu Yangen joined them at the table.
Lin Shuanghuai moved around to sit next to Yuan Bozhu, while Han Banlan and Yu Yangen sat across from them.
Ten minutes later, Qin Rui suddenly rushed in with a huge bag of takeout he had ordered from outside the school, laying out five dishes and a soup on the table, making Han Banlan and Yu Yangen’s eyes light up.
His habit of splurging perfectly matched Han Banlan and Yu Yangen’s hearty appetites.
All three were chatterboxes, and before long, they were in full swing with conversation.
“Didn’t you guys buy that gaming console? The experience is totally different! I have three still in their boxes; I’ll give you one tomorrow.”
“Huh?!”
“How much does that cost?”
“Why worry about money? I’m not short on that.”
Han Banlan interjected, “That’s not fair; I can’t just take it for free. How about this: tomorrow at noon, we’ll meet here, and I’ll treat you!”
Yu Yangen slammed his hand on the table, causing Lin Shuanghuai’s soup bowl to jolt. “Then the day after tomorrow, I’ll treat!”
Qin Rui had never encountered a situation like this before.
Was it common for someone to treat and then have the other person reciprocate?
He was shocked but instinctively said, “With your little money, what can you even buy that’s good?”
That remark was so thoughtless that both Yuan Bozhu and Lin Shuanghuai shot him a look, feeling that Qin Rui was being a bit dense.
However, by coincidence, Han Banlan and Yu Yangen—one bluntly straightforward and the other even duller than Qin Rui—didn’t take Qin Rui’s comment to heart.
Han Banlan said, “Don’t worry about it! I’ll treat, and there will definitely be meat!”
Qin Rui eagerly solidified plans for their upcoming lunches.
The three who had never interacted before quickly became as friendly as sworn brothers.
Yuan Bozhu silently finished his meal and stood up.
Making friends had always been irrelevant to him; it would be best if Qin Rui could shift his focus from him to others.
However, Yuan Bozhu was surprised when, as soon as he stood up, the other four at the table immediately followed suit.
First was Lin Shuanghuai.
He hadn’t finished his soup but got up, clutching his bowl as if worried he might fall behind.
Qin Rui and Han Banlan quickly followed, one trailing Yuan and the other Lin.
Yu Yangen was a little slower, shoving the best dishes from the table into his mouth as he mumbled, “Wait for me, wait for me!”
Yuan Bozhu was stunned for a moment.
Then he suddenly set down his plate and quietly sat back down.
Lin Shuanghuai, taking his time to sit beside him, asked softly, “Aren’t you leaving?”
Yuan Bozhu glanced at the untouched food on the table, then at Lin Shuanghuai, who had only taken a couple of bites, and said, “I’m waiting for you.”
—
At 2 PM, it was prime naptime after lunch.
“What?!” Yuan Qifeng leapt up from the couch in the dorm arranged by the management bureau, his energy surging as he shouted, “You guys really have no one left at the bureau? You’re sending her to Qiancheng No. 1 High School as a teacher?!”
“Don’t get too emotionally involved. Yun Yun’s ability is perfect for assisting you. With her around, she can restrain most non-S-class rare species in the Spider Domain. Also, we still don’t know who the inheritor of the Divine Bird bloodline is; if they suddenly explode at school, having Yun Yun’s help can minimize casualties.”
“But, but!” Yuan Qifeng raked his fingers through his hair, “You don’t know the relationship between her and me?!”
“Uh… your ex-girlfriend… right?”
“You know that and still arranged this? You must be doing it on purpose!”
“It’s been ten years; she knows how to keep things professional and won’t mix personal feelings with her tasks.”
Yuan Qifeng bit his nails, a vision of the woman flashing in his mind, making him shiver with goosebumps. “No way, she’ll definitely let her emotions affect her work!”
“Ye Shiyun.”
The woman at the podium adjusted her cold, thin-framed glasses and wrote her name on the blackboard, her voice icy as she said, “From today on, I’ll be your foreign language teacher.”
Her features were sharp and defined, with a more serious and fierce air than the average woman. At nearly 1.8 meters tall, she wore a pair of ten-centimeter black stilettos, exuding an imposing presence that felt unapproachable.
“I heard she’s thirty, but she doesn’t look it; she’s pretty young.”
“So beautiful, but her expression is too fierce.”
“I heard she’s a female PhD and probably can’t find a boyfriend, so she gives off a nun vibe, haha~~”
Many students in the classroom were whispering to each other.
Suddenly, three pieces of chalk flew simultaneously towards the boys who had been talking, striking them accurately near their mouths, causing them to shudder in pain and cover their mouths.
Ye Shiyun raised her hand to adjust her glasses and commanded, “Stand up.”
The boys who had just spoken trembled as they stood.
Ye Shiyun asked, “Am I pretty?”
One boy, thinking the teacher was giving him an out, quickly replied, “Yes, you’re the prettiest teacher in the world!”
Ye Shiyun nodded. “Good. Now repeat that sentence thirty times.”
“…Huh?”
“Repeat it.”
The sharp pressure from Ye Shiyun bore down on the boy, making him shiver all over.
Then he started repeating the phrase. After thirty times, feeling dry-mouthed was nothing compared to the embarrassment. With a flushed face, he looked at Ye Shiyun and hoarsely said, “Ahem… Teacher…”
“Sit down,” Ye Shiyun replied, shifting her gaze to the other two students. She pointed at the one who had said she looked young and said, “You, come here.”
So this student repeated, “My teacher is the prettiest in the world” thirty times and then successfully sat back down.
By the time it was the third student’s turn, he was already preparing to repeat the phrase thirty times when Ye Shiyun said, “You don’t have to; from now on, you will stand and listen to my class.”
“W-Why?”
Ye Shiyun looked at him, her piercing gaze emanating from behind her glasses. Although the corners of her mouth curved into a smile, the air felt even colder. “There’s a reason why a female PhD does things this way. When you earn your own doctorate, you’ll naturally understand.”
In this way, the new teacher successfully established her authority. Her fierce reputation quickly spread.
It wasn’t just their class; word was that Ye Shiyun had four classes in total, and each one had been well “disciplined” by her.
Yuan Bozhu never paid attention to teachers’ tempers. He never did anything to draw attention to himself. He never daydreamed in class, never cheated on exams, was never late or left early, and treated all teachers and classmates with indifference.
With Ye Shiyun’s arrival, Yuan Bozhu felt that foreign language class had simply become quieter; there didn’t seem to be any other difference.
Until the end of this class, when Ye Shiyun stepped down from the podium with her teaching materials and paused in front of Yuan Bozhu’s desk.
Lin Shuanghuai looked up at her with even more vigilance than Yuan Bozhu.
Ye Shiyun’s gaze fell on Yuan Bozhu, taking a quick, cold glance up and down, before saying, “You’re Yuan Bozhu?”
Yuan Bozhu nodded in response.
“Good.” Ye Shiyun suddenly gave a strange smile, “You will be my class representative.”