The Academic God Becomes an Internet Sensation After Joining a Dating Show - C52 - The Past

High School.

Qing Lin finished evening study very late.

Qing Baihu wouldn’t let him stay at the dorm, saying the accommodation was too expensive. That tiny, broken place still cost hundreds.

After a brief review of his notes and hastily packing his bag, he stepped out into the night. It was nearly midnight. His bike had been left at the repair shop, so he walked home, the weight of his backpack pressing against his shoulders.

Above him, the moon hung like a lonely witness among the treetops, half-hidden behind drifting clouds. The alley before him narrowed and stretched into darkness, seeming to go on forever.

The distance between school and home felt heavier in the still night. Each step was slow, deliberate, and dry, and he had no sense of how long it would take before he finally reached the safety of his own door.

Just before he reached the residential area, dark figures emerged from the shadows ahead.

They blocked the road and surrounded him.

The tallest one at the front said, “Hey, where’s Qing Baihu?”

Qing Lin only glanced at them, said nothing, and turned to walk to the side.

The solid, wall-like thug shoved him hard on the shoulder. “I’m asking you, where’s Qing Baihu?!”

Qing Lin stumbled back a few steps. He scanned the surroundings, realizing escape was impossible. Then, he spoke calmly, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” The tall collector tapped the stick in his hand. “Bullshit! Isn’t he your father?!”

Qing Lin’s voice stayed even, unflinching. “He hasn’t come back for five or six days.”

“Shit…” The thug scratched his head, frustrated by the unafraid, expressionless kid. “I don’t have time for your crap. Hit him!”

A dark figure lunged at Qing Lin.

He used his backpack to block several punches, trying to drop it and run, but the crowd yanked him back and sent him crashing to the ground.

He had fought the drunk Qing Baihu before, but this time, perhaps because there were too many people, he didn’t even get a chance to fight back.

“Go tell your useless father that if he doesn’t pay up the debts by tomorrow, we’re going to smash his house!”

Qing Lin lay there, every part of him aching. It took nearly half an hour just to gather a thread of clarity in the oppressive night.

The darkness was thick and suffocating, not even a star daring to pierce its pitch-black veil.

As he walked a bit further, he suddenly heard a noise at a nearby alley. Peering inside, he found Qing Yejie.

Yejie was sitting on a protruding stone near a crate, his head buried in his arms, hugging himself tightly. Cuts and bruises marred his hands and legs.

Qing Lin was startled and hurried over.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, worried the debt collectors might have found him too.

Yejie lifted his head, his eyes red and clearly tear-stained.

When he saw Qing Lin, his gaze immediately turned away. His voice was hoarse as he said stubbornly, “None of your business.”

“Did you get into a fight?” Qing Lin asked.

Yejie didn’t answer.

Qing Lin frowned.

He crouched down, inspecting the cuts on Yejie’s legs, and pulled a first-aid kit from his backpack.

“What are you doing?” Yejie tried to pull away, but Qing Lin held his leg firmly, pressing a cotton swab soaked in alcohol against the wounds.

“Ugh!” Yejie grit his teeth in pain, the alcohol burning. “Who carries this stuff around…”

Qing Lin lowered his eyes and said softly, “How can a boy be afraid of pain?”

Though the sting lingered, Qing Lin’s words struck a chord. Yejie clenched his jaw and endured it in silence.

He sneaked a glance at Qing Lin.

The same expressionless face, calm and detached, eyes pale and bland like everyone else’s. Yet a bruise marred the area near his eye, and the corner of his mouth was cut, blood visibly trickling.

Yejie said nothing, only stared. After a moment, he kicked his leg impatiently.

“Hey,” Yejie said, “give it here.”

Qing Lin looked up, puzzled.

Seeing no response, Yejie clicked his tongue in irritation and snatched the cotton swab from Qing Lin’s hand. He took a fresh one, soaked it in alcohol, and pressed it against Qing Lin’s cut lip.

Qing Lin flinched slightly.

“Good students fight too, huh,” Yejie scoffed, wiping the blood from his mouth and tossing the cotton swab aside. “What’s the difference between you and me?”

Qing Lin said nothing. His gaze drifted to Yejie’s fingers, paint still clinging stubbornly in the creases. He murmured softly, “Yeah…”

Then he stood up. “Let’s go.”

But before he could walk a few steps, something tugged at him from behind.

Qing Lin turned and saw Yejie holding onto his coat.

For a long moment, the air between them seemed to pause, heavy and unspoken. Finally, Yejie, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, muttered, “I’m afraid you’d run off.”

A faint smile tugged at Qing Lin’s lips. “Alright, then, hang on tight.”

Yejie: “…”

They made their way back home.

Together, they made their way back home. Even in that rundown residential building, their room still glowed with light.

Qing Lin opened the door and noticed shoes scattered across the entrance. Looking up, he saw Qing Baihu seated at the dining table.

“Ah, you two came back together today? Brotherly bond’s strong, huh,” Qing Baihu said, drinking beer, in a surprisingly good mood.

Qing Lin hadn’t expected to see him home.

“Come, come, come, today’s my treat. I just made a little money and bought some roasted chicken.”

Qing Lin and Yejie stood rooted in the doorway, wordless, only staring at him in silence.

The moment he caught their expressions, Qing Baihu’s cheer vanished. His temper flared, and with a crash he kicked the table aside, beer spilling everywhere. He jabbed a finger at them, roaring, “What the hell are you staring at me for? I bring you food, and that’s the attitude I get? Looking at me like that?!”

Qing Lin’s face remained impassive. His voice, however, was cold as steel. “Pay back the money.”

“Pay back money my ass…” Qing Baihu snarled. “Didn’t I say the day after tomorrow? Why the hell are you hounding me today? I finally make a little, and now it’s all going to pay debts!”

Yejie frowned, stepping forward to shield Qing Lin with his body.

For a brief moment, Baihu seemed to realize something. His eyes narrowed slyly, then his tone softened with forced ease. “I’ll pay it back, I’ll pay it back. You two should rest. Don’t you still have school tomorrow?”

Neither Qing Lin nor Yejie answered. They simply turned and walked into their room, shutting the door behind them.

The next day, Qing Baihu was gone.

Afraid the debt collectors might turn on Yejie instead, Qing Lin began waiting to pick him up after school. Yejie often looked reluctant, but in the end his feet still carried him toward Qing Lin.

One evening, when Qing Lin stayed late to finish exams, he found Yejie by the fence, idly kicking at stones. He didn’t know how long Yejie had been waiting. The boy swayed on his feet, looking as if he could barely stand, yet when Qing Lin finally appeared, Yejie muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse with impatience, “Why are you so slow?”

Qing Lin didn’t reply.

Yejie’s face clouded with frustration, but he still grabbed Qing Lin’s wrist with a stubborn grip, insisting on walking him home.

It should have been fine.

But trouble had a way of finding them.

One afternoon, during the lunch break, the peace of the classroom was shattered by a sudden, violent crash.

“Bang—crash!”

The sound split the air, followed by the tinkle of broken glass scattering across the floor. A stone had been hurled straight through the window of Qing Lin’s classroom.

“Ah!!” The girls screamed and rushed over, none of them knowing what had happened.

After handing in his assignments, Qing Lin quietly returned to his desk. A timid girl tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “Qing Lin, be careful… your desk is covered in glass shards.”

He stepped closer. The window had been blown open by the stone, its jagged edges glinting in the sunlight. Across his desk, shards of broken glass lay scattered, catching faint rainbow hues as though mocking him.

He lowered his gaze, standing in silence. No words came.

That night, Qing Lin walked home alone.

The debt collectors looked as if they had been waiting for him. When they saw him walk by with his backpack, they grinned and closed in around him, sneering, “Did you receive our little gift?”

Qing Lin’s brows drew together, his eyes turning cold.

“Oh, a fierce little one,” one of them laughed, taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing smoke in his face.

“But you’re tougher than your brother. I heard from Heizi that he almost cried when he got his ‘gift. Hahaha!”

The pack burst into harsh, grating laughter.

Qing Lin clenched his teeth. His voice was tight as he asked, “You went after him too?”

“Yeah… sort of. We couldn’t track down that deadbeat Qing Baihu,” one of them said, feigning thought. “We didn’t corner your brother… but…”

He pressed his cigarette out against the wall. “A family should stick together, don’t you think~”

A sudden chill gripped Qing Lin’s heart. The smoke stung, growing worse in the narrow alley.

Silence brought no escape. Qing Lin hesitated, then finally lowered his head, surrendering to fate.

“I’ll pay the money.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Another summer day.

Qing Lin skipped class, climbing alone to the rooftop.

The air pressed down, thick and humid, carrying the heavy scent of impending rain.

His facial wounds hadn’t healed; blood scabs crusted his lips. Lack of sleep made his eyelids grayish-blue, lifeless.

The school rooftop had raised edges along the perimeter, but no guardrails. Qing Lin stood there quietly, unwrapping a piece of candy and slipping it into his mouth. He had heard that sweetness could dull pain and lighten the heart.

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence.

“Are you going to jump off the roof?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Qing Lin noticed a boy standing behind him.

“It’s not a pleasant way to go. First comes the weightless panic, then the rush of blood in your head and ears. The wind tears at your ears, chokes your neck, twists your joints, binds you as you hit the ground, shattered into seven or eight pieces.”

The voice sounded lazy, with no hint of persuasion.

At first, Qing Lin figured it was just some dramatic kid. Standing on the edge of the rooftop didn’t necessarily mean he intended to jump.

But he really had thought about it, wondering what it might feel like if he actually did.

The boy continued, “Why be so desperate?”

Qing Lin bit down on the candy.

Rising onto his tiptoes, his eyes level with the horizon, he said lightly, “I won’t jump off the building. It’s just a rare chance to come up here. I simply wanted to stand at a high place and enjoy the sight before me.”

The boy didn’t seem to care much, but perhaps Qing Lin looked fragile, as if he might melt under the sun. He muttered, “You’d better come down.”

Qing Lin didn’t look at him. “Or you could come up.”

There was a trace of jest in his words, yet to his surprise, a few moments later the boy really came up.

He was tall, half a head above Qing Lin, wearing a wide black bucket hat and a mask.

Qing Lin couldn’t see his face. But he felt that this person was definitely not normal, either far too idle or simply a lunatic.

Out of courtesy between fellow “lunatics,” Qing Lin handed him an earphone. “Want to listen?”

“Did you come up here to listen to music?” the boy asked.

Still, he took the earphones and put them on. When the music started playing from the phone, he froze slightly.

Silence lingered for a moment before he finally asked, “Why do you listen to… this kind of music?”

“What do you mean, ‘this kind of music’?” Qing Lin replied evenly.

“…Just… meaningless songs,” the boy muttered.

Qing Lin’s gaze drifted toward the distant cityscape. “I don’t really understand music,” he said quietly. “As long as it sounds good to me, that’s enough.”

“A song that can make someone empathize… that’s a good song,” the boy said.

Summer cicadas buzzed endlessly. From the high rooftop, everything below that had once seemed so large now looked small, leaving only the pure blue of the horizon where sky met earth.

The boy stood beside Qing Lin, letting the wind whip around them, listening to the entire song in silence.

They didn’t speak again. There was no other interaction, no names exchanged. Qing Lin didn’t even know what the boy looked like.

Before leaving, the boy asked, “So… what were you thinking while listening?”

“I was thinking…” Qing Lin stared at the uneven skyline and said, softly,

“Death is so painful.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Qing Lin walked out of the street lined with internet cafés.

The conversation with Yejie had left him utterly drained. Shen Xuzhi’s car waited at the entrance to the alley.

Actually, Shen Xuzhi shouldn’t have come with him. As a public figure, being photographed in a place like this would be damaging to his image.

“Mr. Shen,” Qing Lin said as he got in. He didn’t know if Shen Xuzhi would ask questions—about the IP investigation, why he had come here, or what he had done—but Shen Xuzhi didn’t say a word.

He simply ran a hand gently over Qing Lin’s hair and said, “Let’s go,” before starting the car.

In the darkness, the shadows cast by streetlights flickered past on either side. Qing Lin leaned back in his chair, a wave of drowsiness steadily overtaking him.

As Shen Xuzhi pulled up near the school, he saw that the person in the passenger seat had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep.

Even asleep, the boy’s face was as gentle and quiet as it was when awake, long lashes brushing over even, steady breaths. Shen Xuzhi watched him silently for a long while.

He remembered the first time he wanted to look for that boy he had met on the rooftop. That day, he had gone out of his way to the regular high school division.

He didn’t know the grade or name.

He thought it would be difficult to find him.

But passing the school’s exam honor wall, his eyes were immediately drawn to a photograph.

The boy from the rooftop, his photo displayed prominently, had been recognized as the top student of the year in science.

The face in the picture was just as cool and expressionless as he remembered that day—a face impossible to forget.

“First Place in the Final Joint Exam of Ten Schools

Grade 10, Class 7 – Qing Lin”

Ah.

Shen Xuzhi thought.

Turns out he was a truly remarkable person.