Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 11

Chu Sinian’s expression darkened slightly. The warmth and gentleness he had shown earlier burst like floating soap bubbles—one by one, quietly popping in the air.

Meng Xuexiao instinctively shrank his neck back.

He had been right all along, Chu Sinian’s earlier kindness was all an act.

“So… my foot isn’t fully treated yet, and I can’t leave?”

Meng Xuexiao didn’t want to end up as one of Chu Sinian’s dolls, so he could only follow the man’s tone and go along with it. As he spoke, he frantically searched for other excuses to leave.

[Fear level has increased by 5%.]

The Enforcer helpfully (and mercilessly) broadcasted the update to Chu Sinian, stomping right down on that exposed nerve with pinpoint accuracy.

Chu Sinian’s expression grew even darker. The room was brightly lit, but the depths of the man’s eyes remained shrouded in shadow. He stared at Meng Xuexiao’s face, but Meng Xuexiao instinctively averted his gaze.

Up until now, his gentle appearance had always worked without fail. This kind of reaction felt like a complete rejection of his entire persona. Could it be that without realizing it, I’ve started looking like some kind of beast? Or worse—scary enough to make children cry?

He turned to look at one of the medics he’d brought along. That medic was a shy young man, and when their eyes met, he gave Chu Sinian a radiant smile, clearly flattered by the attention. Chu Sinian’s mood, instead of improving, sank even lower.

But he still managed to offer Meng Xuexiao a smile, “No, your injury’s already been treated. You’re free to leave whenever you want.”

To Meng Xuexiao, those words were nothing short of a pardon. His eyes widened at once, and he beamed at Chu Sinian with a look of heartfelt gratitude and visible relief, “Thank you so much!”

He was so overjoyed he even spoke in full honorifics.

Chu Sinian’s smile stiffened slightly for the first time, “…No need to thank me.”

Fine. If not this time, then the next.

A worthy prey was always worth the wait.

From the moment he first laid eyes on Meng Xuexiao, Chu Sinian had thought this boy would be perfect standing in his dollhouse. He would prepare the most comfortable little room, the most tailored clothing, the most perfectly matched furniture.

…

Leaving the classroom and seeing the dormitory doors again, Meng Xuexiao felt like he had been reborn. It had clearly only been a few hours, but to him, it felt like a lifetime had passed. He silently made up his mind. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never allow himself to get injured again and would do everything he could to minimize the chances of ever seeing Chu Sinian.

Meng Xuexiao sat in the dorm for a while. After finishing all of his assignments for the day, he glanced over at Xu Gao’s bed. That side of the room still looked exactly the same as when he’d left that morning—Xu Gao hadn’t returned yet.

He’s probably still receiving treatment.

When Meng Xuexiao had left the classroom earlier, he had happened to see Xu Gao being dragged off by one of the medics Chu Sinian had brought. The medic’s movements were rough, as if he were hauling a sack of rice.

He couldn’t help but wonder—once Xu Gao came back, how were they supposed to coexist?

After what happened in mecha operations class, their relationship was completely shattered. There was no way they could go on pretending nothing had happened. Meng Xuexiao had no desire to live next to a ticking time bomb.

He turned the question over and over in his head but couldn’t come up with a clear answer.

Meanwhile, Xu Gao still hadn’t returned.

It’s already been four hours.

Meng Xuexiao remembered that even when Shen Zekai had been seriously injured, it had only taken this long to recover physically.

When the fifth hour finally arrived, the dorm room door opened at last. Meng Xuexiao looked up warily and saw a gaunt, sharp-featured face. It was the dorm supervisor auntie. Her high cheekbones and stern expression made her look like someone who was hard to deal with. Even though the semester had just begun, she had already confiscated a bunch of students’ belongings for “not meeting regulations.”

Many of the students in the neighboring dorms were afraid of her.

Meng Xuexiao’s heart gave a small lurch.

Luckily, the woman ignored him and walked straight over to Xu Gao’s side, then began to pack up Xu Gao’s belongings. The dorm supervisor’s movements were rough and efficient. She swept up all of Xu Gao’s belongings in one go, tossing them into his suitcase with loud bangs and clatters. Some glass items couldn’t withstand the force and cracked, but the supervisor acted like she hadn’t seen a thing.

Meng Xuexiao swallowed hard, then mustered the courage to ask, “What’s going on?”

The supervisor looked up at him, the stiff muscles in her face twitching slightly as she forced what resembled a smile. For a moment, Meng Xuexiao even wondered if he had imagined it.

“Xu Gao was expelled.”

“Just like that… expelled?” Meng Xuexiao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

On the way back to the dorms, he had overheard other students whispering. Apparently, settling personal grudges under the cover of class was pretty common at the Federation Military Academy. There had even been cases of students ending up permanently disabled.

But the dorm supervisor spoke as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world, “Xu Gao had poor character. Even if there was personal conflict, endangering a fellow student’s life is unacceptable. The goal of this academy is to train soldiers to fight for humanity, not to raise a bunch of fools who turn on their own.”

It all sounded righteous and proper, as if this outcome were only natural. But to Meng Xuexiao, it sent a chill through his entire body.

Because no one understood this world better than he did. This world was, at its core, a dark-themed novel—survival of the fittest, where the difference between people could be greater than between a person and a dog.

The fact that he was receiving this kind of special treatment now could only mean that someone with power had pulled strings for him again. Last time, Admiral Shen had used a starship to bring him back to school because he’d helped Shen Zekai.

But this time? No pie ever falls from the sky for free, there’s no such thing as privilege without a price. What he feared most was that the price the other party intended to extract might be something he simply couldn’t afford.

When Meng Xuexiao thought of Chu Sinian, a wave of suffocating pressure rushed over him, as if he were already being displayed inside one of Chu Sinian’s glass cabinets.

His palms grew cold, and he instinctively tucked his hands deeper into his sleeves.

“Did… Dr. Chu say something?”

“No. The request came from Representative Shen, and it was backed by the testimony of the mecha operations instructor.”

Meng Xuexiao froze for a second, but quickly realized it referred to Shen Zekai. Shen Zekai had always ranked first in his grade, so he had been selected as the student representative. At once, Meng Xuexiao’s guard dropped.

Shen Zekai had always been gentle and upright, a shining example of fairness at the Federation Military Academy. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.

So… I was just lucky to have Shen Zekai on my side.

But then the dorm supervisor suddenly changed the subject, “Here. These two keys are for you.”

Meng Xuexiao immediately recognized one of them, it was for the dorm room. The academy was strict about resource usage. There was no way they’d let him have a room to himself. He figured they were probably reassigning him somewhere else.

He wasn’t surprised, after hearing Xu Gao was expelled, he had already mentally prepared for this.

But the other key…

“It’s the key to your new mecha,” the dorm supervisor explained,

“Dr. Chu said your mecha malfunctioned during class, so he specially arranged for a new one for you.”

Meng Xuexiao’s mind went completely blank, he suddenly felt like he had been far too naïve to have relaxed even a little earlier.

Seeing the bewildered look on his face, the dorm supervisor couldn’t help but offer a hint, “If you get the chance, you really should thank Dr. Chu. The school doesn’t assign new mechas to freshmen, he had to personally speak with the headmaster about it.”

It’s over.

Meng Xuexiao could practically see his future self, turned into one of those glass-cased dolls, waving at him.

His lips moved a few times, then he quietly asked, “Can I… not take the mecha key?”

“You don’t want it?”

The dorm supervisor widened her eyes, scanning Meng Xuexiao up and down.

Then, as if she’d suddenly figured something out, her expression shifted from surprise to disdain.

She shoved the key into his hand, “You’d better just behave. That ‘playing hard to get’ act? Doesn’t work on Dr. Chu.”

She had initially thought he was just some naive kid, but now it seemed to her he was greedy too.

Meng Xuexiao, “……”

Looks like there’s no way out of this.

He gritted his teeth and took the mecha key like he was walking to his execution. Several times, he had the urge to throw it away but ultimately held himself back.

Because even though Chu Sinian seemed gentle on the surface, he was actually someone with immense pride. If Chu Sinian found out he had tossed aside something he’d personally given…he might not even make it into the doll collection.

Meng Xuexiao held the key like it was a hot potato and quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

Then he heard the dorm supervisor scoff again, “So pretentious.”

Meng Xuexiao coughed awkwardly and pretended not to hear.

He quickly packed up his things, tugged his suitcase behind him, and went to find his new dorm room.

His new dorm was on the 10th floor, the top of the building. From there, he could look out over the road below and see the teaching buildings in the distance. The lighting was excellent, unlike his old dorm where all the light was blocked by short shrubs and ornamental plants.

The moment he stepped onto the 10th floor, he felt a noticeable softness underfoot, the hallway was covered in thick red carpet, with wall sconces lining both sides. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were in a luxury hotel.

When he pushed open the heavy, carved wooden door, a faint scent of incense wafted through the air. The dorm room was several times larger than his previous one.

It was still a two-person room, but each person had ample private space. Even the bed curtains that draped down on either side were exquisitely made.

Meng Xuexiao instinctively lowered his head, carefully pulling the key back out to examine it again.

With this level of luxury… did the dorm supervisor give him the wrong key?

Just as Meng Xuexiao was about to head downstairs to confirm with the dorm supervisor, the door was suddenly kicked open with force, “So this is the great Representative Shen, huh? Bailing on our duel just to go coddle some low-grade newbie? Been training too long and getting lonely? Spring fever hit you or what? You better give me an explanation for this!”

The one who barged in was a young man with a striking head of fiery red hair, sun-kissed bronze skin, and sharply defined features that radiated a wildness, like a leopard darting through the forest.

When he saw Meng Xuexiao standing in the room, the youth paused in confusion. He stepped back to check the nameplate on the door.

“Nope, this is Shen Zekai’s room.”

His gaze returned to Meng Xuexiao’s face and lingered for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes.

“I remember now, you’re that newbie Shen Zekai was fussing over today, right?”

Xu Gao had become the first student in recent years to be expelled for framing a classmate. The incident had already stirred up major gossip across campus. While students didn’t dare speak recklessly about the mecha ops teacher or Chu Sinian, and the school had suppressed news of the Enforcer’s appearance, their curiosity naturally shifted to Shen Zekai.

Shen Zekai was known for being fair and impartial, but he had never spoken up to the school administration on behalf of any freshman, especially not one ranked as F-class.

So the students’ imaginations quickly turned in a… more romantic direction.

At first, the red-haired youth had treated it all as a joke, just something to tease Shen Zekai with.

But now…

He looked at Meng Xuexiao, whose body had instinctively leaned back in response to the sudden intrusion.

The boy’s milky-white neck arched into a graceful curve, even his Adam’s apple was delicately shaped.

Tsk, tsk, tsk… With someone like this, it suddenly didn’t seem so impossible that Shen Zekai might fall for him.

The young man let out a whistle, his flirtatious tone couldn’t have been more obvious.

“Little rookie, dump Shen Zekai and be with me!”